I promise no news from other places tomorrow. I was going to post something very diffident today, but this one is a real "YEA!(on the English subject part)" article. I might be here for other reasons as well, but I do actually want to teach the children something and have them use that in the outside world.
The Korean Herald carried this article this morning...
High schools to teach in English from 2010
High schools across the nation will be required to teach selected subjects in English from 2010, officials on the presidential transition committee said yesterday.
English classes must also be conducted exclusively in the language beginning that year.
The committee is expected to hold a public hearing next Wednesday and formally announce the plans early next month.
English-language classes will be introduced in model schools in rural areas first within this year, a measure that is hoped will the English education gap between rural and urban areas.
The program will then be adopted in public boarding high schools and autonomous private high schools, and will be expanded later to ordinary schools, officials said.
The committee is looking at running English-based classes for math, science and other subjects in which language differences will have less impact on student comprehension.
"(The new government) will conduct a sweeping reform of school curricula, textbooks and teacher-related systems from 2010 so that students who take the new English proficiency test in 2013 will be sufficiently prepared for college education just with public education," an official at the committee said.
The incoming government announced on Tuesday it would eliminate the English section in the current state-run College Scholastic Aptitude Test in 2013. Instead, the authorities will conduct a new TOEFL-style English proficiency test four times a year.
The committee expects the English immersion programs to help relieve parents of the financial burden related to private English classes - estimated at 15 trillion won ($15.8 billion) a year.
Meanwhile, concerns are rising about the practicality of "immersing" students in classes where they will learn other subjects in English.
"To create the right environment where teachers are capable enough to smoothly lead a class in English, and students can understand the lesson, is of paramount importance. Rather than discussing whether the policy is good or not, we should create the conditions first, which is fairly difficult, at present," said Cha Kyung-whan, a professor in the English education department at ChungAng University.
"It would be very difficult in the actual subjects, although the policy itself looks really ideal. Even in a highly advanced class, only one-third of the students understand my English lecturing. Teaching other subjects in English would increase the anxiety of the students and make them shy away from the subjects, while those who are good at English enjoy the classes. This could, in turn, exacerbate the social gap," said Kang Dong-heun, an English teacher in Incheon.
By Song Sang-ho(sshluck@heraldm.com)
I would love to just link to their site and give them the hit they deserve for publishing this, but they are running a script that prevents me from getting the link.
The Korean Herald carried this article this morning...
High schools to teach in English from 2010
High schools across the nation will be required to teach selected subjects in English from 2010, officials on the presidential transition committee said yesterday.
English classes must also be conducted exclusively in the language beginning that year.
The committee is expected to hold a public hearing next Wednesday and formally announce the plans early next month.
English-language classes will be introduced in model schools in rural areas first within this year, a measure that is hoped will the English education gap between rural and urban areas.
The program will then be adopted in public boarding high schools and autonomous private high schools, and will be expanded later to ordinary schools, officials said.
The committee is looking at running English-based classes for math, science and other subjects in which language differences will have less impact on student comprehension.
"(The new government) will conduct a sweeping reform of school curricula, textbooks and teacher-related systems from 2010 so that students who take the new English proficiency test in 2013 will be sufficiently prepared for college education just with public education," an official at the committee said.
The incoming government announced on Tuesday it would eliminate the English section in the current state-run College Scholastic Aptitude Test in 2013. Instead, the authorities will conduct a new TOEFL-style English proficiency test four times a year.
The committee expects the English immersion programs to help relieve parents of the financial burden related to private English classes - estimated at 15 trillion won ($15.8 billion) a year.
Meanwhile, concerns are rising about the practicality of "immersing" students in classes where they will learn other subjects in English.
"To create the right environment where teachers are capable enough to smoothly lead a class in English, and students can understand the lesson, is of paramount importance. Rather than discussing whether the policy is good or not, we should create the conditions first, which is fairly difficult, at present," said Cha Kyung-whan, a professor in the English education department at ChungAng University.
"It would be very difficult in the actual subjects, although the policy itself looks really ideal. Even in a highly advanced class, only one-third of the students understand my English lecturing. Teaching other subjects in English would increase the anxiety of the students and make them shy away from the subjects, while those who are good at English enjoy the classes. This could, in turn, exacerbate the social gap," said Kang Dong-heun, an English teacher in Incheon.
By Song Sang-ho(sshluck@heraldm.com)
I would love to just link to their site and give them the hit they deserve for publishing this, but they are running a script that prevents me from getting the link.
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