1. Communicative Competence A look at South Korea’s struggle for English proficiency By Kevin Silverson

2. Copyright 2009 2 78 Years of Korean History in 5 Steps 1910 - 1945 Korea under Japanese rule 1948 Formation of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) Formation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) 1950 - 1953 The Korean War 1960 - 1987 2 revolutions and 3 coup d'états 1988 First democratic elections held in South Korea Source: Wikipedia. (2010). Timeline of Korean history. Retrieved December 28, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Korean_history

3. Copyright 2009 3 Korean GDP from 1911 - 2008 South Korean GDP (PPP) evolution from 1911 to 2008 in millions of 1990 international dollars. Source: Wikimedia Commons. (2010). South Korea’s GDP growth from 1911 to 2008. Retrieved December 23, 2010, from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:South_Korea%27s_GDP_%28PPP%29_growth_from_1911_to_2008.png

4. Copyright 2009 4 The Asian Tigers South Korea Taiwan Hong Kong Singapore Source: Artbackwash. (2010). Grab a tiger by it’s tail. Retrieved December 27, 2010, from http://artbackwash.blogspot.com/2007/08/grab-tiger-by-its-tail.html

5. Copyright 2009 5 Seoul and the Han River 1910 Source: Flickr. (2010). Colonial Seoul. Retrieved January 5, 2011, from http://www.flickr.com/photos/kernbeisser/sets/72157610634154316/

6. Copyright 2009 6 Subway System 1974 2009 Source: SMRT. (2008). Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corporation. Retrieved January 9, 2011, from http://www.smrt.co.kr/Train/Subwaymap/Eng/Subwaymap.jsp /

7. Source: Wikipedia. (2011). Economy of South Korea. Retrieved January 11, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_South_Korea /

8. 8 Copyright 2009 “Strengthen Korea’s bridging role between advanced and less-privileged countries.” “Seek more free trade agreements to expand Korea’s economic territory.” “Attract more attention from global investors.” “Become a more advanced and globalized country.” ~ President Lee MyeongBak Source: J.J. Na. (2010). Lee impressed by foreigners’ calm reaction to NK attacks. Retrieved January 14, 2011, from http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/12/113_78874.html /

9. 9 Copyright 2009 “Foreigners rate Koreans as the worst communicators in English among 12 Asian countries.” ~ H.C. Jeon “The estimated amount spent on English education in 2005 reached up to $15 billion US.” ~ J.K. Park Source: Jeon, H. C. (2006). The economics of English. CEO Information, 5(445), 11-17. Source: Park, J. K. (2009). English fever in South Korea: its history and symptoms. English Today, 97(25), 50-57.

10. 10 Copyright 2009 Between 3rd grade in elementary school and 10th grade in high school, students have 680 hours of English class time. Source: MEST. (2010). Primary education. Retrieved January 14, 2011, from http://english.mest.go.kr/web/1695/site/contents/en/en_0205.jsp

11. 11 Copyright 2009 The Grammar Translation Method “does virtually nothing to enhance a student’s communicative ability in the language.” ~ H.D. Brown Source: Brown, H. D. (2007). Principles of language learning and teaching. (5th ed.). White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.

12. 12 Copyright 2009 CLT = Communicative Language Teaching The basic premise behind CLT is “the idea that the goal of language learning is to become good at using language for communication.” ~ P. McKenzie-Brown Source: McKenzie-Brown, P. (2006). What is CLT?. Retrieved January 14, 2011, from http://languageinstinct.blogspot.com/2006/09/what-is-clt-language-competencies.html

13. 13 Copyright 2009 Conference Paper Outline Introduction of CLT and its application in Korea Textbook and teacher training deficiencies Issues faced by students, including exposure to the target language and insufficient language testing methods Recommendations

14. 14 Copyright 2009 Thank you!