Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T21:22:51.020Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Assessing proficiency in the National English Ability Test (NEAT) in South Korea

A critique of a government's approach to testing English proficiency

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2015

Hyejeong Ahn
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The English language as a symbolic resource holds more notable cultural and social significance in South Korea than any other foreign language. In the current trend of globalisation, proficient English skills have been identified by the government as a critical resource for the country's survival, and developing these skills has been a major priority in all areas. A number of elite universities and sought-after conglomerates such as Samsung, LG and Hyundai have policies which noticeably favour and recruit students with high English proficiency levels (Lee, 2006: 67). In particular, scores achieved in the international proficiency tests such as the TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) and TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), in preference to scores gained in other English tests, have become a major determining factor in gaining employment and promotion. According to the Samsung Economic Research Institute between 2004 and 2005, 102,340 Koreans sat for TOEFL. Koreans represented 18.5% of the total 554,942 people taking the test worldwide and they spend 700 billion Won (approximately US$700 million) a year on tests to evaluate their English proficiency.

Type
Research Article
Information
English Today , Volume 31 , Issue 1 , March 2015 , pp. 34 - 42
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ahn, H. 2013. ‘English policy in South Korea: A role in attaining global competitiveness or a vehicle of social mobility?’ Journal of English as an International Language, 8(1), 1–20.Google Scholar
Ahn, H. 2014. ‘Teachers' attitudes towards Korean English in South Korea.’ World Englishes, 33(2), 195–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bolton, K. 2010. ‘Creativity and World Englishes.’ World Englishes, 29(4), 455–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bolton, K., Graddol, D. & Meierkord, C. 2011. ‘Towards developmental world Englishes.’ World Englishes, 30(4), 459–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Canagarajah, S. 2006. ‘Changing communicative needs, revised assessment objectives: Testing English as an International language.’ Language Assessment Quarterly, 3(3), 229–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crystal, D. 2003. English as a Global Language (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies, A. 1996. ‘Proficiency or the native speaker: What are we trying to achieve in ELT?’ In Cook, G. & Seildhofer, B. (eds.), Principle and Practice in Applied Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 145–58.Google Scholar
Davies, A. 2003. The Native Speaker: Myth and Reality. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Firth, A. 1996. ‘The discursive accomplishment of normality: On conversation analysis and ‘lingua franca’ English.’ Journal of Pragmatics, 26(2), 237–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graddol, D. 2000. The Future of English. London: British Council.Google Scholar
Graddol, D. 2006. English Next: Why Global English May Mean the End of English as a Foreign Language. London: British Council.Google Scholar
Holliday, A. 2006. ‘Native Speakerism.’ ELT Journal, 60(1), 385–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenkins, J. 2006. ‘The spread of EIL: A testing time for testers.’ ELT Journal, 60(1), 1–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenkins, J. 2009. World Englishes: A Resource Book for Students. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Jeon, H. C. 2006. ‘The economics of English.’ Economic report. Online at <http://www.seriworld.org/01/wldContV.html?mn=A&mncd=0301&key=20061120000001&sectno=&cont_type=C> (Accessed October 15, 2013).+(Accessed+October+15,+2013).>Google Scholar
Jeong, Y. K. 2004. ‘A chapter of English teaching in Korea.’ English Today, 20(2), 40–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jung, K. & Min, S. 1999. ‘Some lexico-grammatical features of Korean English newspapers.’ World Englishes, 18(1), 23–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kachru, B. B. (ed.) 1982. The other tongue: English across cultures. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
Kachru, B. B. 1996. ‘World Englishes: Agony and ecstasy.’ Journal of Aesthetic Education, 30(2), 135–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KICE & MEST. 2011. National English ability test (NEAT) and the revisit of nationalwide enducation curriculum plan (NECP). Seoul: KICE.Google Scholar
Kirkpatrick, A. 2007. World Englishes: Implications for International Communication and English Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kirkpatrick, A. 2008. ‘Learning English and other languages in multilingual settings.’ Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 31(3), 31.33-31.11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirkpatrick, A. 2010. The Routledge Handbook of World Englishes. Hoboken, NJ: Taylor & Francis.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawrence, C. B. 2010. ‘The verbal art of borrowing: Analysis of English borrowing in Korean pop songs.’ Asian Englishes, 13, 22–43.Google Scholar
Lawrence, C. B. 2012. ‘The Korean English linguistic landscape.’ World Englishes, 31(1), 70–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, J. S. 2004. ‘Linguistic hybridization in K-Pop: Discourse of self-assertion and resistance.’ World Englishes, 23(3), 429–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, J. S. 2006. ‘Linguistic constructions of modernity: English mixing in Korean television commercials.’ Language in Society, 35(1), 59–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowenberg, P. 2012. ‘Assessing proficiency in EIL.’ In Matsuda, A. (Ed.), Principles and Practices of Teaching English as an International Language. Toronto: Multilingual Matters, pp. 70–84.Google Scholar
Nunn, R. 2007. ‘Redefining communicative competence for international and local communities.’ Asian EFL, 9(4), 77–110.Google Scholar
Park, J. 2009. ‘English fever in South Korea: Its history and symptoms.’ English Today, 25(1), 50–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Park, K. 2009. Characteristics of Korea English as a glocalised variety. In Murata, K. & Jenkins, J. (eds.), Global Englishes in Asian Contexts: Current and Future Debates. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 94–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rohdenburg, G. & Schlüter, J. 2009. One Language, Two Grammars?: Differences between British and American English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, E. 2003. ‘The dynamics of new Englishes: From identity construction to dialect birth.’ Language, 79(2), 233–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seth, M. 2002. Education Fever: Society, Politics, and the Pursuit of Schooling in South Korea. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.Google Scholar
Sharifian, F. 2009. Cultural conceptualizations in English as an international languague. In Sharifian, F. (ed.), English as an International Language: Perspectives and Pedagogical Issues. Toronto: Multilingual Matters, pp. 242–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharifian, F. 2013. ‘Language and intercultural communication: From the old era to the new one.’ In Sharifian, F. & Jamarani, M. (eds.), Language and Intercultural Communication in the New Era. New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharifian, F. & Clyne, M. 2008. ‘English as an international language: Challenges and possibilities.’ Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 31(3, special issue), 28.21–28.16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shim, R. J. 1994. ‘Englishized Korean: Structure, status, and attitudes.’ World Englishes, 13(2), 225–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shim, R. J. 1999. ‘Codified Korean English: Process, characteristics and consequence.’ World Englishes, 18(2), 247–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Song, J. 2011. ‘English as an official Language in South Korea: Global English or social malady?’ Language Problems & Language Planning, 35(1), 35–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tottie, G. 2002. An Introduction to American English. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Xu, Z. 2010. Chinese English: Features and Implications. Kowloon: Open University of Hong Kong Press.Google Scholar