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

Background and Context 
A glance of the South Korean English educational situation.  Hanguel, the 
official South Korean language, was created by King Sejong in 1433, and South Korean 
has been used as the official language in South Korea ever since.  However, in South 
Korea today, there is a mania for learning the English language.  Many parents and the 
South Korean government now think that the language of English is much more 
important than the language of Korean because of globalization.  According to Korea 
Broadcasting System (2008), “Many kids begin to learn English long before they start 
attending elementary school.  The results of a survey conducted in 2001 showed that of 
1,116 private kindergartens nationwide, 64.3 percent teach infants to speak English.”  
This was an incredible statistical result at that time, and the percentage of those who 
teach infants to speak English in South Korea is likely much higher now.  This is why 
parents push their children to go to private English institutes to learn English, even 
though their children cannot speak Korean at all, because the parents think that when 
their children learn English early, they can have more of an opportunity to be a native 
English speaker.  In other words, the parents may think that the language of Korea is not 
important at all for living in South Korea and around the world.  Moreover, parents send 
their children to more than one English institute per day.  According to Swartz (2009), 
“This reality is widely recognized by the Lee Myung-bak government, which, in a very 
bold initiative, suggested that English become the medium of instruction in all subjects in 

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Korean schools” (p. 1).  Because of the government-reformed educational regulations and 
social trends, some parents decide to send their children who are one-year-old or above to 
America, Australia, New Zealand, and England.  If a family makes this decision, the 
mother and her children will go to one of the above countries without the father.  Then, 
typically the husband will live alone and work in South Korea to support his family.  
According to Hwang (2001),  
An average of 16.5% of a South Korean family’s income is used to provide their 
middle school child with private schooling.  For example, a family consisting of 
two parents and two children spends one-third of their total income on private 
costs for education. (p. 611) 
 
Many parents believe that their efforts and sacrifices for their children will help their 
children improve their futures and change their socioeconomic statuses if they have 
exceptional English skills.