Korea's "English Wave" - a struggle for survival or a struggle for popularity

For someone who hardly follows Korean trends or pop culture, I am definitely threading on new territory here. My views are purely that of an outsider – of someone that has never been nor spent any time in Korea. Pardon my ignorance.

The apparent “obsession” with English language amongst the Korean public is an interesting point of exploration. Firstly, I am hesitant to label the increased dedication to acquiring English language fluency as a form of obsession. When viewed as an isolated phenomenon, one might be somewhat accurate to categorize the “English wave” as a social obsession, but with similar happenings throughout Asia, it would be rather premature if not irresponsible to slap Korean society with the “obsession” label. Villagers in India name their children with random English nouns (light bulb, sun, etc.) with the hope that that would help their children’s advancement in the future, the Malaysia government recently restored English as the medium of instruction for Science and Math courses in schools after a 30 year lapse, and Tsinghua University’s School of Management recently increased the number of courses taught in English.

What I believe is that the Asian continent is confronted with the reality that the English language will still remain the only global language for the next few decades, if not longer. Former Prime Minister Mahathir predicted that the 21st century would be the Asia Century, with the restoration of Asia’s previous glory. However, according to Mahathir, 9/11 helped realign USA’s position at the very heart of global politics, and the ongoing “War on Terror” will remain the de facto modus operandi to preserve the USA’s global hegemony (www.pmo.gov.my). Instead of challenging the status quo, governments in Asia and Asian society in general are embracing the reality and integrating English into their lifestyle. When viewed from this point, Korea’s embrace of the English language is purely strategic. It is crucial for a country devoid of any natural resources to mobilize the only thing it can depend on – its labor force. One can draw comparisons to the island nation of Singapore. Foreign firms heavily favor Singapore as a business center (now even for manufacturing and biotech research) because its labor force is almost entirely fluent in English despite its relatively high cost of operations. Korea’s heavy dependence on other economies (Japan and US previously, and now China) does not allow it the luxury of being able to assert much of a revisionist position like China. Whereas China businesses can demand foreigners to comply with their language and local customs, Korea businesses unfortunately do not have that bargaining power (but of course, there are exceptions to this claim).

On a more individual basis, English undeniably provides the much-needed competitive edge within the job market. But I personally believe that it is bilingualism that provides such a competitive edge – not just the sole fluency in English, especially if one is competing in a more globalize labor market in Asia. For example, recruiters for law firms, banks and consulting firms in Asia have started imposing strict language requirements. Entry-level candidates for the Greater China offices must be proficient if not fluent in the national language, likewise for the Tokyo or Seoul offices. Interestingly, even seasoned employees (3rd year analysts for example) will be denied transfers to the Beijing or Tokyo offices if they do not have the prerequisite language proficiency. Indeed, there is a rather stark increase in the practice of employing candidates who have no relevant work background whatsoever but have the required language skills – “One can learn accounting in two days, but not a new language.” The Korean superstar, Kwon Sang Woo, provides an example more relevant to the title of our course. He recently hired a bilingual manager to help improve his English with the ambition of penetrating Hollywood. Talent is not good enough to get you into Julliard and Curtis – English proficiency is required to enable maximized learning with the English-speaking faculty. The Korean virtuoso, Kyung Wha Chung, can attest to this as a young prodigy at Julliard some 30 years ago. The theme of English-providing-social-mobility echoes within the scientific world too. Pioneering current scientific publications and archives are mostly in English. Coveted US and European fellowships do impose an English language requirement.

Thus, the “English wave” that is sweeping Korea represents the urgency of maintaining individual and national competitiveness. It is part of a strategy of self and national improvement, which is crucial in preserving Korea’s strength and importance within the extremely competitive Asian and international economy. But at the same time, it is important to emphasis that it is bilingualism that would provide Korea with that competitive edge. Loosely labeling English learning as an obsession would only promote unintended misconceptions – the desire to be “cool,” to sing English songs at the local Karaoke, or even worse, to bag an American with the hope of a better life in the US. The label dilutes the already subtle struggle of self and national survival.

ps: Of course, one can argue that the phrase "English Wave" might evoke the same connotations as the label "obsession" but that can be a blog entry by itself. Thus the use of inverted commas.

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