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

ASEEA - 8.36 
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Number of Student-12
Number of Student-11
Number of Student - 5
Number of Student - 2
Number of
Student-12
Number of
Student-11
Number of
Student - 5
Number of
Student - 2
Avarage of
Score of
English
Education in
America
(ASEEA)
Rank of English Education in
America
9
8
5
10
8.36
Rank of the Quality of English Education in America  

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speaking environment every day.  For instance, one of the 30 Korean students, Elizabeth, 
said:  
I think it is much better for me to study English in America than in Korea because 
I can be easily surrounded by Americans more often and listen to them 
consistently.  Moreover, I have a great chance to improve English reading skills 
by taking UNK courses, doing English assignments, sharing opinions with UNK 
classmates, and reading local and national English newspapers at the UNK library 
and on the Internet.   
 
In addition, another student, Susan, pointed out that the environment of UNK constantly 
provides international students with several programs, such as the International 
Friendship Program which helps UNK international students connect with the local 
community members; cultural activities and events, such as the African festival, Korean 
festival, Chinese festival, and Japanese Festival; and international organizations, such as 
the International Student Association, Asian American Student Association, and Korean 
Student Association at Kearney.  Therefore, she has participated in these kinds of 
programs and kept improving her English proficiency and building a relationship with 
American friends and international students.  Because of these diverse opportunities, she 
has been satisfied with studying English in the United States, and the other Korean 
students have a similar impression and feel the same level of satisfaction while they 
stayed at UNK.   
 
In addition, 4 out of 30 Korean students mentioned that they enjoyed taking UNK 
classes because they felt that it was much easier and more comfortable for them to 
directly discuss a variety of topics and questions with UNK professors and UNK students 
during the classes.  Dorothy, indicated: 

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60 
 
I really like the atmosphere of the UNK courses.  Comparing a class in Korea to a 
class in the United States, especially in Kearney, NE, I thought that the class in 
America had much more freedom and interaction with classmates and professors 
than in Korea.  For example, not many Korean students typically ask a question to 
his/her professor in the class in Korea.  However, when I was in the UNK classes, 
I saw that many American students kept asking questions to their professors, and 
the professors answered the students’ questions in the classes continuously.  After 
I had this kind of experience in the United States, I strongly believe that this kind 
of interaction between a student and a professor is very important to follow the 
classes well and to understand the concept of the classes, so that is why I felt that 
learning English in America is much more efficient and effective than in Korea. 
 
 
A couple of the 30 Korean students described that it has been very valuable for 
them to meet diverse ethnic groups of people from all around the world in the United 
States, to enunciate their improper English accents by meeting with native-English 
speakers, and to practice and to learn a real and genuine English while they stayed in the 
United States.  Because of the above positive factors, the average score of English 
education in America was 8.36 out of 10, and it is a much higher score than English 
education in Korea.  Therefore, this shows that the majority of 30 Korean students felt 
that to learn English, it is better for them to come to the United States instead of staying 
in Korea.