SOUTH Koreans spend a lot of energy and money on studying English but their efforts seem to be futile as they still come bottom in tests measuring English capability compared with test takers in other countries, The Korea Times has reported.
According to Samsung Economic Research Institute, the South Korean private English education market is estimated at as much as 15 trillion won ($14 billion). In addition to students, office workers are bent on studying the language.
YBM Sisa, South Korea’s leading English language institute, recently surveyed 1,837 office workers and more than 40 percent of respondents said they spend over 100,000 won ($95) a month on English education. More than half answered that they are currently studying the language. About seven in 10 office workers showed signs of “English addiction syndrome” — they feel uneasy if they are not studying it. When asked whether they feel the need to study English, nearly 97 percent said “yes”.
However, despite the passion for English, South Koreans are showing no marked improvement in international scores on English tests.
The British Council, which co-supervises the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) with the University of Cambridge and IDP Education Australia, recently conducted an analysis of the test scores of the 20 countries with the most test takers last year. South Koreans ranked 19th in the general training for immigration purposes with an average score of 5.21 out of a full score of 9 points. In the case of English for academic purposes, they scored 5.71, ranking 15th. In contrast to the common belief that South Koreans are good at reading English, they ranked 18th in general training listening and reading and 19th in general training writing and speaking.
“Although South Korea spends more money on English education and South Koreans are trying to study English at an earlier age, the test scores have remained the same. It means that South Koreans have a poor command of English,” a British Council official said. “South Korean English education is obsessed with vocabulary that is seldom used in everyday life, so the country needs to make changes to the system.”
