Understanding the Importance of English Education in South Korea and Exploring the Reasons Why South Korean Students Come to a University in the Midwest

 
List of Tables
Table 1 
Racial Representation among American College Students, by 
Type of Institution, 2010.......................................................................... 
18 
Table 2 
Thirty Korean Students’ General Information ......................................... 
38 
Table 3 
Push Factors ............................................................................................. 
90 
Table 4 
Pull Factors .............................................................................................. 
90 
 
 
 
 
 

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List of Figures
Figure 1 Rank of the Quality of English Education in Korea ................................ 
56 
Figure 2 Rank of the Quality of English Education in America ............................ 
58 

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List of Appendices 
Appendix A Emails (3) Sent to UNK Korean Students ......................................... 
102 
Appendix B Interview Protocol .............................................................................. 
106 
Appendix C IRB Approval Letter .......................................................................... 
109 
 
 

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Chapter One 
Overview of Study 
Introduction 
There are more than 7,000 different languages used daily around the world, and 
Mandarin Chinese, English and Spanish are the three most widely spoken languages 
around the world (BBC, n.d.). The world-renowned United Nations (UN) has designated 
six official languages: English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, and Arabic. English 
is one of the only working languages used by the UN Secretariat, and English is also 
commonly used in most business meetings (UN, n.d.). Additionally, the increasing 
number of international students coming over to English-speaking countries shows how 
important the English language is all around the world. Furthermore, Swales (1987) 
found there were more than several million research papers and published articles written 
in English, and he expected that “English will remain the primary language of research” 
(p. 42). Consequently, many countries which do not have English as a first language 
have invested for several decades much money and effort into improving their English 
proficiency. In addition, these countries have sent large amounts of students to the 
following English-speaking countries to learn English efficiently and effectively: the 
United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada.
South Korea is one of the countries described above, and one of the most 
prominent. The South Korean government puts large amounts of money toward English 
education and frequently revises the entire English education system to improve students’ 
English proficiency. In addition, South Korean students not only study English for 

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numerous hours, but their parents are also willing to invest in their children by sending 
them to private English tutoring services and institutions. The cost of sending their 
children to these private schools is often more than half of their incomes. This kind of 
phenomenon could be hardly seen around any other Asian or European country. The 
global importance of English education has significantly influenced the entire society of 
South Korea. As a result, having English proficiency is now essential for all Korean 
people who wish to successfully find a good job, improve social status, gain admission to 
the top universities in Korea, build a good career, and so forth. 
Interestingly, South Korean students spend the most amounts of time and money 
for their English education in the world, but their English proficiency is still lacking (Jin, 
2006). In other words, the efficiency of learning and studying English in South Korea is 
very poor, and the English education in South Korea could be a serious problem in South 
Korea. As previously stated, the South Korean government has tried to change the 
English education structures and policies quite a few times, but it has still been struggling 
to improve the English proficiency of the whole country. These academic reforms, 
combined with the importance of English education, make South Korean students go 
abroad to English-speaking countries —specifically America.