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Early study abroad students in young adulthood

By January 8, 2013July 19th, 201778 Comments6 min read18,707 views
Jogiyuhak (early study abroad) is very popular in South Korea (Source: chosun.com)

Jogiyuhak (early study abroad) is very popular in South Korea (Source: chosun.com)

Readers of Language on the Move will be familiar with South Korea’s English fever, the sweeping zeal for learning English. Parents enrol children in English medium-preschools, arts and sports classes, nursery schools with native-speaking English staff, toddler gyms with English speaking trainers, or hire English-speaking babysitters to talk to their baby in English. Pregnant mothers read an English storybook, attend English medium church services or listen to online English courses for prenatal education in hopes that their foetus will hear and absorb English. Some parents drag their child to a clinic to have tongue surgery, snipping the membrane under the tongue, on the assumption that they will then be able to pronounce the r-sound better.

In short, Koreans are obsessed with English, particularly with native-like fluency and accent.For Koreans who have limited English skills, English proficiency means native-like accent and fluency and the key to this is starting early and being around English speakers. Children’s study abroad, jogiyuhak, is the perfect embodiment of the belief in early exposure in a native environment. While it is often said that Korea’s examination-obsessed education system and intense competition is another reason for early study abroad decisions, the overarching goal is to achieve a native level of English proficiency. More precisely, their ultimate aspiration is to add perfect English to their presumably impeccable Korean.

My first encounter with an early-study-abroad student dates back to the days when I was doing my master’s degree in TESOL as a ‘late’-study-abroad student in Sydney. It was for the first time in my life I was sitting in two hour-long academic lectures in English and I missed much of the lecturer’s instruction. I thought that my problem was normal for an adult international student from Korea who had hardly experienced such a situation before. After the class, I went up to another Korean student, I’ll call her Jenny, and said, in Korean, of course: “It’s hard to understand the lecturer, isn’t it?” Jenny’s response was surprising, “No. I’m used to listening to lectures.” Oh, was this only my problem? To my relief, she added that she had completed her bachelor degree in Australia. Yeah! I was not abnormal after all!

Later on I found out more about Jenny’s background. She had come to Australia at age 16 and had joined a private high school as a boarder, spending a total of eight years in Australia before starting her master’s degree. Soon I started to notice that Jenny often missed the point of an argument or presented irrelevant ideals in informal discussions with other Korean international students. It was obvious that she frequently did not understand the subject of discussions. In addition, she did not understand some words that we were using in discussions, which we had learnt from books or through formal education. These language problems in her ‘mother tongue’ presumably resulted from the fact that she had been absent from the Korean curriculum and other Korean literacy contexts. So, there was a formal Korean register she either forgot or had never learnt.

This observation led me to ponder the role of literacy in language development. The absence of Korean education during jogiyuhak would mean an interruption to the development of formal and literate varieties in Korean.

Well, you might say that stunted Korean is the price Jenny had to pay for her high level of English. However, it did not take long before I found out that, even if listening to a two-hour lecture in English was not arduous to her, her level of understanding of the class contents was not enough to fulfill subject assignments. Jenny often had to ask her Korean classmates, including myself, about concepts and terminologies and she sought assistance with her assignments. I should acknowledge that she wasn’t hiding her difficulties and was straightforward enough to tell everyone that she wrote her essays by cutting and pasting from other texts and that her boyfriend helped her.

Jenny’s struggle with academic English reminded me of Cummins (2000), who argues for the need to distinguish conversational fluency from academic language proficiency, noting that despite their seeming fluency in English, the level of migrant students’ academic achievement is usually far behind their local peers. He suggests that the students may attain age-appropriate levels of conversation fluency within two years. However, it takes at least five to seven years to reach grade-level academic proficiency in English. Furthermore, this does not necessarily mean that migrant students eventually catch up to grade norms after five to seven years. Rather, during that time of language learning students’ academic performance is most likely impeded due to language barriers. This long period of language impairment of migrant students has significant implications for their overall academic development and their preparation for the worlds of employment and citizenship.

My own PhD research on Korean students’ early study abroad and bilingualism in Australia sheds further light on these issues. Many of my research participants reported that they were constrained to select learning areas such as Mathematics and Sciences in which reading and writing was less demanding compared with humanities subjects. So, ironically, early study abroad placed a severe constraint on pursuing language-related areas of inquiry: those who might have had more aptitude for heavily language-dependent fields in the humanities and social sciences were not able to pursue those areas of study in English. Consequently, their choice of careers in Business and IT was linguistically constrained.

To put it differently, early study abroad seems to be more favorable to those with an aptitude for and an interest in these less-language-dependent areas.

On the other hand, the language barriers and impeded adaptation can also mean that early-study-abroad students lose interest in studying. Some of my participants accordingly were regretful that they had come to Australia where they felt they had been transformed from academic high achievers into students with no interest in academic work.

Overall, early study abroad or submersion into English monolingual education in an English-speaking environment seems to entail the under-development of linguistic repertoires in both languages. Most participants revealed that they felt that neither language was fully developed or that they were not as good as a native speaker of either language. This resulted in a sense of confusion and feelings of discomfort. Consequently, they reported difficulties in interactions with speakers of both languages and a sense of not knowing where to belong.

Sending children overseas is costly but many Koreans believe that early study abroad will bring their children advantages outweighing those enormous expenses. While the assessment of the outcome is an individual one, as young adults many of my research participants, whether they continue to reside in Australia or have returned to Korea, struggle to find their place – maybe more so than those who never left?

ResearchBlogging.org Cummins, Jim (2000). Language, power and pedagogy: bilingual children in the crossfire, Multilingual Matters

Bong Jeong Lee

Author Bong Jeong Lee

Bong Jeong Lee is a PhD candidate under the supervision of Professor Alastair Pennycook in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Technology, Sydney. Her research interests include globalisation, language ideologies, language learning and bilingualism and her PhD project is about Korean early study abroad students’ bilingualism.

More posts by Bong Jeong Lee

Join the discussion 78 Comments

  • KyKy says:

    This article tries to explore the pros and cons of foreign country in order to gain proficiency in English. It argues that initially, on the surface, it may seem like an obvious advantage to study in an English speaking country, where you can be immersed in the language and social interactions on a daily basis. However, it appears to be the case that separation from the home country’s education system, as well as a shallow understanding of the English language used in everyday conversation resulted in a lack of high level proficiency in either English or their native language.

  • Ngoc Hiep Nguyen says:

    This popular case of linguistic acquisition in South Korea – early study abroad of young adults is also widely witnessed in other countries, especially in the countries where English is not the first language. There have been more and more parents who want to send their young adults abroad or domestic language schools for linguistic learning. Besides the positive results, there are not few cases in which consequences are seen. The case of my son is a good example in point. He is 5 years old and he can speak a little Vietnamese and English as well. However, in comparison with his peers at the age of 5, his Vietnamese competence is lower. In my opinion, one of the reason for this incompetence is that his first language (Vietnamese) is negatively influenced by his English learning. When even his Vietnamese has not been fully achieved, English may be a distractor.

  • Xinyue Ji says:

    I agree with the point that early study abroad or inundated English monolingual education in the English environment seems to be underdeveloped and this causes a confusion. I remember when I talked with a Chinese father who sent his son to Australia twelve years ago. At that time, his son was only six and seldom had chance to make friends with native speakers. In addition, his son needed to learn English to adapt to the new environment. Then he laughed and said: look, now his English is not good and also have difficulty talking with us in Chinese.

  • N says:

    I think studying in higher education everyone may encounter the problem of terminology. As i have talked to my classmate who is Australian, she said that it is hard for her to understand the lesson too because there are many terminologies that we have to learn and find out what do they mean.
    Even for me, I went to study aboard for about 2 years, every time i went back to my country, there were many new words such as slangs and idioms that i would not understand too. So, I think it is normal for people who live aboard for so long. 🙂

  • Nidhi says:

    This article shows the fact of dominance of English and obsession of people to get grip over English language especially in Asian countries like India and china. It also compares the pros and cons of studying abroad from very early age. Moreover, the problems migrant students face due to gap between spoken and academic language as mentioned very well as being late study abroad student I can relate the problems author faced being international student to the challenges I face in understanding lectures in university.

  • Marouane says:

    14. English fever exists in not only South Korea but other countries include Vietnam, too. Sending children to foreign countries like Australia at such early ages has both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, children will have a chance to live independently as well as to gain proficiency in English which provides great helps for their learning. However, it is obvious that even if they have opportunities to settle in an English-speaking environment, not everyone achieves proficiency in all language skills. On the other hand, students can easily loose direction when they are left alone in a different country when they are too young. Thus, children should only be sent overseas when they are ready.

  • Nguyen Thien Duyen Ngo says:

    This article is very helpful to show the advantages and disadvantages of studying abroad at the young age. It is very good to study at the English native speaking country to improve language and communication skills. Moreover, living independently will give the students the real life experiences. However, living away from family at the young age will have many difficulties. Besides, living independently in a different culture at the crucial of growing up and shaping characteristics and identities is an important factor that parents should take into consideration.

  • Salam Moussa Oghli says:

    During the US war on Iraq in 2003, a lot of Iraqi families fled to my country Syria to seek refuge. Some Iraqi students enrolled at my school and even though we had Arabic as a common language, they suffered with the curriculum and with the taught material. Moreover, my Iraqi classmate found it difficult to integrate with the rest of the class and could not make friendships. Korean and English are totally different languages and cultures and I can only imagine how difficult it must be for a Korean student to socialize, make friends, succeed in learning the language and the taught material. My cousins who moved from Syria to Sydney at a very young age attended an Armenian school but they still suffered socially and academically and until this day, they find it difficult to talk about their school experiences.

  • v says:

    This article literally shows to the advantages and disadvantages of students studying abroad from youthful in a Western cultured nation like Australia. I would feel that it is a decent experience for learners to figure out how to live confidently in a western refined nation with individuals around the world. Despite what might be expected, students would experience serious difficulties to instruct themselves on how their seniors experience childhood in their nation of origin in light of the fact that their encounters would be extraordinary and subsequently their stances and thinking would be not quite the same as others.

  • Tamanna Habib says:

    This article is really very interesting. If children go to abroad at very early stage, their English proficiency will be reach in a high level. They also got to know the culture of other countries. If the country will be like Australia, where different ethnic people live, they will able to know about more cultures. At the early age people can adjust more easily. But there will be some problems as well. Sometimes, young people in foreign countries feel very lonely and they suffer from depressions. It also happens that children’s English proficiency becomes a barrier in using their first language. As a result, they can not communicate with their country people even with their parents fluently. Gradually, they start to lose their culture and ethnicity.

  • tting says:

    Study abroad students are faced with acculturative stress by virtue of encountering differences in assumptions, values, and expectations of
    daily living in their host culture. Three general categories in which study abroad sojourners in a foreign culture may react to the acculturation. The first effect is most related to stress, coping, and psychological well-being. The second one is the behavior, focusing primarily on those overt actions and skills that may indicate that a study abroad student is “fitting in” with the host culture. The third one is Cognition which focuses specifically on a study abroad student’s social identification

  • Kim says:

    Being a fluent English speaker, I believe, is most of the L2 students’ wishes. To be a smart student in a particular field, on the other hand, might be another different thing. I agree with a notion that language is just the medium of communication and it might not completely reflect someone’s intelligence. This is because some people may have language aptitude but not science or math. Some people may be born with a specific talent that, to some extent, enables him or her to acquire a knowledge faster than other people. However, to be literate in other fields may also require more than just talent but practices and strong motivation and continuing support from other people and a lot of sacrifices.

  • Rochelle says:

    This article explicitly represents the pros and cons of students who study abroad from young in a Western cultured country like Australia. I would think that it is a good experience for the students to learn how to live independently in a western cultured country with people worldwide. On the contrary, students would have a hard time to educate themselves on how their elders grow up in their home country because their experiences would be different and therefore their opinions and thinking would be different from others. Hence, even if the students want to go back to their home country for good in the future, they would have a hard time to fit in the society.

  • Shaher Mohammed Shaher Asiri says:

    Hello everyone,

    This article is providing interested ideas that sending children to a country where English is spoken may have positive or negative results. Currently, many individuals think that sending young children English country would provide significant progress for acquiring English. This is sometime true. Those who went to English countries have achieved high level in English for communication; however; others may not achieved English for academic study. For example, I have a friend who lived in U.S for 8 years. He speaks English fluently. when he enrolled to university in U.S, he faced many difficulties for understanding and doing assignments so that he decided to withdraw and come back to his home and studied Bachelor degree there.

  • yym says:

    As mentioned in the article, most overseas students say that due to the influence of 挑我different languages, the courses are under-developed, especially in academic learning. Some specific texts, grammar knowledge are easy to be confused because students need to receive two different structures and culture of language. As the example of Jenny, she often fails to understand the theme of the discussion. That is because she always ignores the focus of controversy, or put forward unrelated ideas.

  • Fern says:

    It is interesting how early study abroad learners echo a kind of ‘submersion learning’ where they learn the content in English and this practice results in ‘subtractive learning’ where the content knowledge is not grasped as efficiently as when they were learning it in their mother tongue. And this is the price these early study abroad learners pay in order to master near perfect English. However, I believe there are other factors that contribute to the hindrance of gaining knowledge in them. They are acculturation, isolation in a new environment and a loss of motivation that make these learners not as sharp as their counterparts in the home country. Additionally , this trend has created other social issues such as teenagers from overseas attending high schools cooped up in share houses without adult supervision because these ‘helicopter parents’ (rich parents of these kids) send their children to countries such as Australia to ‘fix their English’ or ‘fix their lives’ for that matter. This trend has detrimental effects on the lives of these young learners.

  • Hasnahana Hasnahana says:

    In Bangladesh, there are two types of schooling system. One is Bangla(L1) medium education system and another is English(L2) medium education system. Nowadays parents are attracted to the English medium school because of the demand of English proficiency. This English fever is in all sectors. For example, in the job sector, when there are two candidates for a one position and one candidate is from Bangla medium but their result is outstanding and he has good knowledge of everything; and another candidate from English medium and their English speaking proficiency is excellent but their result and knowledge is average; still the administration will select the candidate with high proficient of English speaking. Thus so many qualified people are not getting better job and getting frustrated.

  • Luis TV says:

    Korea’s English fever could be explored from different perspectives. To begin with, it is remarkable how the English language has had such an influence among Koreans. This seems to be a sign of what it is called linguistic imperialism which may also explain jogiyuhak (or even those ‘tongue surgeries’). In addition, a radical interpretation of the critical period hypothesis may aid to understand why parents rely on jogiyuhak to guarantee their children’s English language attainment while studying abroad. However, as the article points out, studying abroad at early ages may disable learners’ chances to acquire high academic instruction as in Jenny’s case, and it is this crucial factor the one that may undermine Korean students’ learning when undertaking tertiary education. Furthermore, the losing sense of belonging may also be an interesting aspect to consider from a sociolinguistic point of view. In short, jogiyuhak may have some benefits but these may reveal only when students pursuit less-language-dependent areas of study.

  • Gab says:

    This blog post is fascinating and it gives me light on my perception towards studying abroad at the earliest possible age. While it is true that there are many benefits of studying abroad at an early age, the negative thoughts about it cannot be discounted. The problem presented here may be the reason why returning individuals (to their home country) find catching up in terms of language usage difficult for them.

  • Nana says:

    When parents send their children overseas they think it will give them advantages and in some way, it can be true. However, children may struggle with different situations; on one side, they can feel lonely and loose interest on academic aspects; on the other side, children may miss a lot their families and friends and at the end it can be hard for the children to find their own identity. The experience is different when students travel abroad being young adults who want to learn English. They come probably with the purpose of access to higher education after learning English because they will have a degree from a overseas university, which may have benefits for them back in their country; in spite of being still difficult, students are more mature and conscious about their goals as well as more independent and self confident.

  • Natalie says:

    I have taught students as young as 8 who have been sent away from their families to be educated in the Australian education system. Indeed my son’s best friend is a Korean boy whose family migrated to Adelaide when he was 4 years of age, specifically so that he could be educated in Australia and learn and speak English with an Australian accent. Despite migrating at the age of 4, and now being 14 years of age, my son says that he identifies as being Korean, rather than Australian. I think it is unfortunate and unfair that non-English speaking families feel the need to uproot their children from their cultures and families so that their children can learn English and therefore improve their quality of life or employment opportunities. In the case of my sons friend’s family, the mother speaks average English however the father has low English proficiency. This limits their employment prospects in Australia and I’m sure places enormous pressure on the shoulders of the children, knowing that their parents have made this sacrifice for their future, to achieve academic success.

  • Karly says:

    The article provides a great illustration of some of the potential problems which early students who study abroad face. Although their English capabilities may be more advanced than those from their original country, the time they have spent abroad inevitably means that their literacy abilities in their mother language will be underdeveloped than others. At the same time, it is unlikely that their English skills will also be as good as native speakers. This puts them in a strange situation where they are neither fully comprehensively competent in their mother or second languages.

  • Yan Yan says:

    I don’t support studying abroad for a better language learning environment. I don’t think it will have a good impact on their academic ability. Most of the Early study abroad students in young adulthood have no strong self-control. In an environment without parental supervision, their autonomy is stronger, so the enthusiasm for learning will also be affected.

  • xqx says:

    It has always been controversial that whether students should study abroad in their early age. Sure, an immersion language teaching environment could help a lot on improving one’s language skill. However, for an early age student, it might be too difficult to learn both mother tongue and their second language simultaneously, and the changes of environment and lifestyle might also be big challenges for them. Hence, my opinion is that studying abroad is one step beyond mastering their own language.

  • Lai Ng says:

    Speaking and writing are two outputs of language. Speaking is frequently practised by students in academic discourse, while writing does not. Academic writing is more difficult to master than it seems to be. First, the time practising writing is not as frequent and common as speaking. Second the more advance and refine the tertiary education becomes, the more different of the academic writing. The special terms, the format and the readers are far more different.

  • AzPc says:

    This post remind s me that story when I was a painting and drawing teacher in a high school in Japan, I was surprised that the head of the department asked me “Could you teach painting in English, because of our students want to learn painting and English at the same time, their parents believe that environment is the most important for learning a new language”. There is also English fever in other Asian countries such as China. some families employed the babysitter from other countries especially English speaking countries, and they will have a much higher salary than local babysitting staff.

  • Cami says:

    I used to tutor two boys who had come to Australia from Korea to stay with relatives and learn English. I think they were 10 and 12. Although there are some benefits to learning English at such an early age, it comes at the cost of losing their family, culture and strong connection to and understanding of Korea/Korean. Some children who go on jyogiyuhak never to return to Korea to live, are separated from their families and lose their Korean. Some parents regret sending their children overseas and children who may have liked to have returned to their home nation are too alienated from the culture and language to feel comfortable returning. Given the financial burden that parents have to bear, not to mention the emotional burden and cutting of family ties, I wonder if Koreans shouldn’t push for more bilingual education in Korea.

  • zhongliang lin says:

    In fact, sending children abroad for study too early may have an adverse effect on their native language expression. At the same time, we should note the difficulty of academic writing faced by international students like Jenny. They may be fluent in speaking, but they do not mean their success in academic English achievement. In fact, the language that people use depends on how they think. And this is why international students like Jenny always met problems in academic writing.

  • The Curious Learner says:

    This article presents an interesting view of how early study abroad programs may be both advantageous and disadvantageous for students who are non-native speakers of a language (i.e. at which country the students are sent to study abroad). Having brought up in a society in which English is a common language spoken, I was not fully aware of the implications faced by other students who arrive here to study without a similar background (i.e. with English as the mode of instruction for every lesson or as a common language to converse with other students of different nationalities).

    In relation to this article, it is a common assumption that studying abroad at an early age provides a suitable environment for language immersion, thus ultimately leading to a native-like language acquisition. The process is however, often more complex than that (a fascinating topic to read about). Acculturative stress faced by students exposed to an entirely new environment – encountering differences in assumptions, values and expectations of the host culture – may often impede, or burden, their learning. Adding to the challenge of hearing and speaking a different language, the study abroad experience may affect even the most robust of students (Berry, 2005). In a different light, this experience may bring about a more positive outcome in some. The “differentness” of the environment might result in a degree of ‘openness’ in an individual, producing an ethnorelative and inter-culturally competent individual (Bennet, 1993; Deardorff, 2008) that allows the ‘unfreezing’ of typical mindsets in order to encourage positive outlook of the learning experience. But, it does not end here (and is in fact, not that simple). There are still many other factors that may clash with the students’ journey in acquiring that language – a “dynamic disequilibrium” (Joyce, 1984) that may result in discontent, distress or dejection, complicating the process of overcoming hardships (and cultural clashes) and abilities to cope.

    An interesting read (and topic that I would continue to read into) that would help me as a teacher to understand the needs of students with a similar background as Jenny, and the author (as a student).

    Bennett, M. J. (1993). Towards ethnorelativism: A developmental model of intercultural sensitivity. In M. Paige (Ed.), Education for the intercultural experience, 21-71. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press. Inc

    Berry, J. W. (2005). Acculturation. In W. Friedlmeier, P. Chakkarath, & B. Schwarz (Eds.) Culture and Human Development, 291-302. New York, NY: Psychology Press.

    Deardorff, D. K. (2008). Intercultural competence: A definition, model, and implications for education abroad. In V. Savicki, (Ed). Developing Intercultural Competence and Transformation: Theory, Research, and Application in International Education, pp. 32-51. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.

  • Adia says:

    From this article we can learn and figure out that learning EFL/ESL by integrating into the target language community can be beneficial in some ways, such as the language exposure is bigger and natural or the practice of making meaning and make sense of the language can be done effectively. However, it also can be unfavourable when it causes the development of their mother tongue and the new language they are learning impeded just because one language is improved and the another one is stagnant or neglected. For those reasons, it also may be better to support learners by sending them into a school which applies language immersion program (in this case would be Korean and English) in their adaptation phase, so the learners can effectively learn both languages without having to feel confused and discomfort.

  • Sirin says:

    I want to touch on a specific aspect mentioned in this article, namely Korean speakers’ goal to achieve a native level of English proficiency. It is important to understand the dimensions of the English language as far beyond the two as standard recognized varieties, Received Pronunciation and General American. When having a look at Kachru’s model of World Englishes, one can see that, in fact, most speakers of English are non-native users of the language. As linguists correctly emphasize, no variety, dialect or accent of English is superior to any other, and it is important to embrace that a German-English accent, for instance, is completely acceptable. The foundation for this shift needs to happen within educational settings, where we need to move away from native-norms and raise awareness for all kinds of English varieties.

  • Laura says:

    In my opinion, it is significant to study overseas after the students experience learning their own language in their countries because just like this article they might not be able to develop their competence of both mother tongue and second language. If students study abroad in their early age, it can be faster to acquire second language and adapt them into the environment, however, it is also at the same time not easy for them to communicate with people from their home country. This topic seems controversial since there are many advantages and disadvantages about early study abroad.

  • J says:

    Not only sending children overseas to learn English but also being exposed them in English from an early age has been controversial. This is because the experience of learning English in early age could have a negative effect on learning mother tongue. Some people say that it is more important to learn the first language properly. As they learn two languages at the same time, they might be confused between the first language and English. However, in light of my experiences (I have experience working at English kindergarten, and the school was designed to provide English speaking environment to the children), I believe that learning English from an early age is effective regarding enhancing English ability. However, I think that English proficiency in real life and English skills in academic fields are different.

  • Luv says:

    It seems that early study abroad has both advantages and disadvantages. Parents, in their seek for a better future for their children, might not be conscious of all the implications of moving into a new country with a different language. They might also have other concerns rather than the difficulties their children could encounter when trying to adapt. When moving to a new place at an early age, literacy skills in the native language are not fully developed, leading to a lack of enough strategies to get them in a new language. In my experience as a late-study-abroad student, I can relate to the author in that we face the challenge of a new academic context. Although I have more background in academic skills in my native language, it has been hard to transfer them to this context.

  • gab88 says:

    This is a really interesting article as I have never thought that early intervention with another language was not as advantageous as one would think. In the case of Jenny, it is interesting to read that despite her emersion in English from 16, the academic skills she needed at a higher level were challenging. As a teacher you think why? She had every affordance but what was missing? Was it something that she hadn’t been exposed to or learnt?
    Maybe it was the social element, the emotional support we often forget about when students move halfway across the world by themselves.
    In my experience with international students, I found that those who either came with a friend or partner or bonded with people early on, often stayed longer and succussed in their goals.

  • Au says:

    In Viet Nam, those families whose finance is comparatively strong have inclination to send their children to an English speaking country since their children are in high school or after finishing high school. Those children also perform really well in speaking and listening skills, however in terms of reading or writing skills there is still a doubt. On the other hand, recently when parents realize the importance of English, they usually let their children have early access to English in different ways. They may let their children watching English songs on YouTube, TV channel such as Disney channels. They also enroll their children in English class in a private English centers. They believe that the sooner their children access to English, the better their English fluency is. When I work in a English language, there was a case that a child was forced to learn English in a really hard way when she was young which creates an obsession to her. When she was in lower secondary school, she refused to study English both in formal or informal school.

  • Ary says:

    Having had spent a certain amount of time working as a teacher for one of the so-called “language prep-schools”, I find the points made in the blogpost very relevant to the experience that I had. In Vietnam, parents with strong and stable financial background usually start preparing their children with courses provided by institutes resembling the one I used to work for so that they can, later, send their children to study in international education platforms. More than often, I observed, and was told about, the fact that such learners, once they’re overseas, found it difficult to function well in both their academic life and personal/social one. Despite having high scores in the international English tests (i.e. IELTS and TOEFL iBT), it’s not rare to find them, after living in the environment for quite a while, struggling with the studying and communicating, neither effectively nor competently, in their mother tongue.

  • Arnon says:

    Many countries in Asia parents tend to send their children to study abroad especially in native English speaking counties because they aim at proficiency and fluency in English for children. Although studying abroad can be a good opportunity for learning a foreign language or career opportunity in the future, many students can face a number of challenges especially academic skills. They have to spend more than few years to overcome academic skills in language.

  • Preeya says:

    Sending children to studying aboard at early age and its growing trend for inbound and outbound students. We cannot deny the fact that English language is the world’s primary source of communication. According to this article, Jogiyuhak as a trend for Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Japanese students who are non- native English- speaking countries. It is a good chance for children who want to develop their English language skills but depend on another forces. However, at a later time, they can achieve their goals for learning English, especially in SFL approach and they can understand by analysis and interpretation of what is read. In my point of view, studying aboard at early age has two sides, firstly, the bridge side; the children can catch up the new things fast and they have more time to learn how to develop their English skills. However, the dark side would happen such as the may feel homesick or face the difficulties in culture shock and it hard for them to cope with the academic problems in the new learning system.

  • Yuki says:

    Children’s study abroad, jogiyuhak, becomes a trend not only in Korea but also in other non English-speaking countries such as Vietnam, China and Japan. From parents’ points of view, this is a good way for their children to develop their language abilities in an English environment since early ages. However, the article puts an emphasis on the other side of this tendency when learners’ academic performances largely depend on other factors rather than their exposure to languages. My Korean friend who has been living in Australia for 15 years has struggled with his Master thesis. Hence, it is said that there exists both benefits and drawbacks of studying abroad in early ages.

  • Mengyao APPL941 says:

    In terms of English fever, from my experience, it also happens in China. When I worked as an English early education instructor, I had to speak English during the class, I asked my boss why do we need to speak English even babies are impossible to understand that, she told me this is because those parents hope their children can immerse in an English speaking environment, babies can easily hear and absorb English. But in the class, I found my students did not hear me or understand any instruction when I speak English, so I doubted if it useful as the parents look forward to, isn’t benefit for children’s language learning when it starts early?

  • Farzaneh Morovati says:

    Hello,

    Firstly, the Korean obsessions of learning English can be evident in my country to some extent as well. Parents are nowadays more obsessed to enrol their kids in English institutes and make them familiar with the English context, while it was not that common in past years. From my personal point of view, the real literacy stems from real integration of the person in all aspects of the language and the contexts from which it sprigs from. It is completely evident that being exposed to a language from childhood does not bring high literacy in that language especially in academic contexts, as I think that proficiency is mostly accompanied by the designated focus and efforts for mastering a concept or skill like I see many native English speakers at university who are not good at academic writing or even reading skill, since their main obsession has been communication and this is what they have always practiced for in daily life and mostly involved with in comparison to other skills like many native speakers in their mother tongue. Therefore, a student who speaks English may have better academic writing skills because they have put focused efforts on that since they wanted to, for example, get higher marks in IELTS for entering the university. I mean subconscious training that individuals provide for themselves is a considerable point which makes the person master in that specific field.

    Thank you
    Farzaneh Morovati

  • Chunja says:

    To be honest, I have always thought that sending students to international schools or study abroad in the early age would definitely bring significant benefits to their higher language proficiency as they have chance to get exposed to the “native” speaking environment. In fact, as far as I know, this trend appears to be popular in many Asian countries, not only Korea. In fact, I have known many children who benefit from their early access to English. For example, their accent sounds more natural and they also speak more fluently. Therefore, I felt quite surprised when the down-sides of early study abroad were mentioned here. The blog motivated me to search for other studies to widen my knowledge and understanding of this issue. I’m interested to find out more reasons and explanations why many L2 students despite their longer exposure to English still have difficulties in academic study.
    From my own experience, I found out that my students who have learnt with native teachers are more likely to speak confidently and fluently in my class. Their performance in academic study is also outstanding. Therefore, I may have to delve deeper in the field to find out the answer whether it is more effective and essential to study abroad or study in bilingual classroom as the very early age.

  • Orpheus says:

    It is true that in Vietnam, recently, some parents tend to send their children, who are at young ages and spend just a few years learning English, to study abroad with the hope that they will become more proficient in English and gain a great number of benefits in the future. Like the case of parents in Korea, a number of Vietnamese parents also believe that if their children are surrounded in an English-speaking environment, they can easily achieve a native level of English proficiency. In my opinion, however, these students would face a lot of difficulties when studying in the classroom as well as communicating with native speakers because of the sudden change of the learning environment and the lack of language proficiency. This could even lead to poor academic performance and make these students lose their interests in learning.

  • Nasser says:

    Poor academic performance of dual language learners (DLLs) compared to their peers could be due to a number of factors. These factors as Hammer, Jia and Uchikoshi (2011) point out include the environmental elements and interaction with literary affordances, such as the use of the library, parents’ literacy levels, mother’s use of L1 in early ages of the child, exposure to media and their social interaction and connections.
    Even though the efforts made by Korean parents in this article to surround their children with English might seem to be inadequate in terms of gaining academic proficiency in L1, it would prepare them to join the academic community initially and obtain the membership of this community through literacy practices in later stages. Moreover, the role of educators to identify learners’ weaknesses, especially in writing skills and to provide appropriate response seems prominent.

  • ABC says:

    Before coming to Australia I used to think that the earlier the exposure to English the more beneficial it would be for the child. However, after observing some real-life cases and reading this post and other posts in the blog that could relate in some way to the same topic, such as: https://www.languageonthemove.com/educational-outcomes-of-migrant-children/ and https://www.languageonthemove.com/long-term-english-language-learners/ I have realised that indeed migration, age, and literacy development are intertwined comprising a very complex topic in which many different factors in the life of the student play a role in the development of both conversational fluency and academic language proficiency.

  • Wendie LIU says:

    I do agree that sending children at their early age to study abroad may be detrimental to their language repertoire in the long term, there is no denying that the whole English speaking context may hinder the students to develop their native language proficiency especially when they did not have a good command of their first language or still struggled to learn their native language. Whereas, they are forced to an entire English speaking context, the anxiety and fear entailed from their limited accesses to their native language may distract their attention to concentrate on the learning a new language. In that case, the disadvantages of studying abroad at their early ages far outweighed its advantages. However, this kind of situation could be reversed through the efforts combined with the schooling activities and family practices. On one hand, bilingual education could be implemented in the schooling activities, and Korean-speaking teachers from the same cultural background to help the students to reach the appropriate services. On the other hand, in the family practices, the parent of the children could help them develop the bilingual learning habits, for example, supervising their homework and helping them to practice their literacy in bilingualism.

  • Ann says:

    This fascinating article about sending young Korean children overseas to study, gave opportunity to understand real situation of migrant Korean students. According to Lee, students who were sent to Australia suffered a lot. Lee has revealed that they neither fully developed languages. This blog post motivated me to read the article by Jim, C. (2000). Language, power and pedagogy: bilingual children in the crossfire.
    I have been experiencing my life here with my children and I related this story to mine. I realised real situation with my children and have to find out solutions which can be applied to other migrant students. It is not good to let students to ruin their life.
    This story reminded me another true story. Parents specially Asians take big effort to enrol their children for grade 7 (high school) at the best selective school in NSW. For this children were sent to numerous classes form grade 4 or 5. Children do lot of practice tests. However, very few students were selected to selective school. A known child who migrated from Singapore sat for this exam within a short time after arriving to Australia. That child was able to achieve a very best selective school in NSW. One reason for his achievement is his previous learning in English and was able to face that highly competitive exam.
    I should be thankful to my Lecturer for giving valuable blog post to read.

  • Van Le says:

    Interestingly, this article made me think of the down side of early study abroad that I had never thought of before. The first paragraphs about English obsession of many Koreans is the situation that I found relevant in my country ( Vietnam), too. Ever since people (especially parents) realize how important English is, they make every opportunities for their children to be in English speaking environment and sending their children abroad to study is a dream of every parent to ensure their children’s future. This is understandable. However, it turns out from this article the fact about early study abroad is not always bringing youngsters all the advantages. Being confused, losing the sense of belonging and having problem with both their mother tongues and English, especially in academic performances might be the negative aspects that need to be carefully considered.

  • Naoya says:

    It is taken for granted that overseas experience in the early stages of child hood is beneficial to children for acquisition of a second language, especially English. In fact, there is a tendency of introducing English education into primary schools in Japan to allow Japanese students to gain more opportunities to touch English and acquire high English proficiency, especially communicative language competences. I am one of those who believe the positive effect of early immersion into a foreign country. However, this article has given me a second thought about defects in the studying abroad experience in terms of not only linguistic facets but also academic subject matters.

  • Siyi Wu says:

    The example of Korea is interesting. Age is always an advantage for most of people who are willing to learn more. In China, parents love to send students to learn art, piano and so on for making them to have different skills. For me as well, my mom loves to send me to learn English in my early stage and I used to have 4 different after school English classes. It makes me who is tired about studying and loss motivation. But obviously, it helps me in language learning and I can speak better more English than normal Chinese. There are always some critical thinks about this topic related to this article.

  • Ito says:

    This article may imply that early English education has little to do with academic success in English. Early education of English is popular among households with small kids, and they spend so much money taking them to English institutions. English became a mandatory subject in primary schools, so more and more children learn English in their childhood. Even some TV variety shows feature small kids who speak English fluently and they are admired.
    Personally, however, early English education does not make any sense without children’s motivation or curiosity to learn another language. It is because they may find it boring to learn English without a new discovery for a new language. Furthermore, even though their pronunciations are clear, it is useless unless they have voices for what they are going to argue. Such a logical way of thinking is nurtured by a mother language.
    Speaking English fluently does not mean intelligent communicators of English with logical ideas. Parents should be very careful of forcing children to use a foreign language, which might deprive them of their curiosity or motivation to learn English. It is never too late to learn a foreign language as long as we have motivations and clear goals.

  • Thet says:

    This craving for the impression of English fluency skills, especially for speaking skill, is also a popular trend in Myanmar. Parents who can afford high tuition fees tend to send their children to English-medium international schools and to abroad in young age.
    The finding mentioned in the blog post shows the other side of the coin in that studying abroad in young adulthood does not always have bright sides. Instead, in my view, there are some critical issues which the stakeholders, especially the parents of the students need to be considered carefully such as how students have learnt in home countries comparing the education systems, including lecture delivery and assessment and social and cultural values in the host countries.

  • student says:

    As someone with minimal contact with Korean culture, Lee’s article was fascinating. I am particularly interested in the emphasis on “native-like fluency and accent”. I’d be very interested to know if a particular variety of English is most sought-after. Is it more socially desirable to speak English with an Australian accent, because of Australia’s geographical proximity to Korea? Or is British Queen’s English preferred, as the ‘original’ source of the language? Or American English, popularised by American tv and movies? Or perhaps even a hybrid accent, an ‘International’ English, if you will?

  • Sunny says:

    The phenomenons mentioned in the artical is interesting and made me feel that I shall count it as a personal favour. I think these phenomenons are not just restricted in Korea, for example, in my country, China, it is also like that mentioned in this artical.
    Parents trend to send their children to various preschools, e.g. arts, language and sports. They just hope that their children will not fall behind with their peers and most of them do not consider about money in their children’s education. In China, some scientists comprehend these phenomenons as a sense of social anxious.
    However, recently, I found a really interesting change that is nowadays it is the children themselves who tell their parents that they want to learn an instrument or a kind of dance or drawing.
    I think students need to learn more in their early life, because it is much easier for them to absorb what they learn, like learning a second language. However, as parents they need to respect their children’s own attitudes and they need to realise playing is also an important lesson for everyone’s childrenhood.

  • Yang says:

    It is very true that some early study abroad students or some local students are showing the inefficiency in English just because they did not receive a complete curriculum of English in their own country. As these students may show the fluency in oral communication, however, they are not doing well in the academic skills especially the academic writing. For those later study abroad students whose levels around undergraduate or postgraduate or higher, they have already enhanced by a set of curriculum in English learning especially in the field of lexico-grammar, and the English comprehension and proficiency were also been improved. So that they can finish the writing and understand lectures better than the earlier students.

  • Anas says:

    This is an interesting study as I have not personally experienced such phenomenon in my country, Jordan. Yes, English is important and we do recognise it plays an integral role in our academic pathway and post-academic life. For some reason, parents do not send their children abroad to learn English within the native environment. This could be due to culture, religious and political propaganda of the Western world, which in itself is a different discussion forum altogether. Going back to the article, I am reminded of a Tedtalk shown in one of my classes when I was learning academic English in preparation for my master: a talk by Jay Walker on English Mania in China https://www.ted.com/talks/jay_walker_on_the_world_s_english_mania?language=en. This brings me to the questions posed by the article – how proficient are they in their L1 and L2? What is their sense of belonging especially when they have language gaps in both their L1 and L2? After a long period in a native speaking country, what do they think their L1 is? I have friends and family who have migrated to Australia when they were young. They are bilinguals and some of them do struggle with their sense of identity and ownership of language.

  • Haley says:

    I have seen this appetite for ‘native level/sounding’ English in many places in the world. I feel that not only is unrealistic but also, as evidenced in the examples above, it is possibly detrimental to the student’s development.

    While knowing English is definitely a useful and marketable skill in the modern world, there should be no requirement to sound like a native speaker. The need is to be able to master the functions of grammar so that meaning can be expressed succinctly and to master pronunciation to an extent that one can be understood. Beyond that, there are many more important areas to focus. Worrying about sounding like a native speaker is wasted effort.

    It is obvious that there will be disruption in a students learning if they change from one language to another and what should be a priority is that all students get the content education they need to develop requisite academic abilities.

  • Pegah Marandi says:

    Dear all,

    Being exposed to a native language since an early age does not lead to high proficiency and literacy when grown, and in academic levels specifically. I see this among my students whom I teach, they are all natives, but when it comes to writing they struggle. This implies that literacy, reading and writing (two interrelated skills), is nothing to do with listening and speaking: Specifically when it comes to writing skill. Being brought up in a native context can help, but it is not necessarily the only reason for good literacy. However, the obsession with learning a language apart from one’s own language cannot be overlooked, as stated above many parent send their children to foreign countries for a brighter, ideal learning.

    With regards,
    Pegah

  • Piiigah (kamali) says:

    In my opinion, the attraction to studying abroad at an early age has many positives. Study abroad is not only about literacy – it has many other aspects which should be considered as improvements to an individual’s life. The identity conflict which can occur in some people is undeniable… but it’s ultimately a part of approaching many positive achievements. And I think in this multicultural world, being a native of a country or not is not a big issue, especially with the technology and communication channels available. Of course, being proficient in academic assessments is valuable and important, but it shouldn’t affect individuals lives who are improving and learning other skills as well as their academic competence.

  • Mark says:

    Hello Bong.

    Thanks for the interesting read, it helped me understand something that now seems obvious in hindsight, but I had utterly neglected to consider it. The fact that for some of these students like Jenny, the interruption in their education resulting in less exposure to formal and academic forms of education in their first language. It makes perfect sense in hindsight and it is something I myself have somewhat neglected, the more formal and academic registers of my second language. I get only infrequent practice now, and upon reflection it is only in a friendly and informal communication context, which as another commenter noted can be deceiving and not conducive to maintaining a high level of fluency in an academic context. I may have been deceiving myself and am endeavoring to now include a wider variety of contexts and environments where I get to use my second language beyond informal conversations, so thank you for this realisation.

    -Mark

  • Thuy Linh Nguyen says:

    In my opinion, the disadvantages of early study abroad outweigh the advantages. One of the most serious consequences of studying overseas at an early age is that the initial level of language proficiency affects on major choices, academic performance and interests at school. Moreover, it is also worth noticing that those international students may get a low level of academic norms even though they seem to be fluent in speaking English.
    These consequences can exert huge impacts on their future careers.

  • Li says:

    Before I came to Australia, I believed that students who have studied in English speaking countries for many years, their English speaking and writing skills should be highly fluent. However, when I met some people who have studied in Austalia in their early age, their speaking skills are so fluent whereas they have problems with academic assessments in the university. Therefore, I think even overseas study seems attractive and children can do improve their English performance in English-speaking countries, parents should not ignore literacy development of English is also significantly important for students’ academic achievement.

  • Nancy says:

    When I was in my home country, I used to think that the longer you stay in an English-speaking country, the more native-like your language proficiency will be. However, this perception has changed since I moved to Sydney to pursuit my higher study. The reason is that I met a lot of friends who were like the “case” in the article, studied abroad at very young age but were not able to be fully mastered in both languages. And I found out that if you live in a English-speaking country but you just stick to your own society and speak the first language, your English proficiency is likely to remain the same.

  • V.ca says:

    This is quite interesting and the reason I say this is because I was probably a little like the two characters here. In a way I am like the writer where I come from a different country to study abroad here in Australia, but not to learn English, but to learn more about English. With that being said, I am also like Jenny where lectures are something that I can keep up with. I remember during my first semester I had classmates asking me how I “did” it. Perhaps this is because I have been taught English at a young age? Or perhaps because I was exposed to it so much (TV, print, business, etc.)? Or because I had a strong interest in the language at a young age?

    Yes, academic English is something I struggle with because had no proper instruction of this in my undergrad uni or high school, believe it or not. But I have been blessed with the exposure and my keen interest in English which helped me come a long way.

  • Yeongju Lee says:

    As a Korean, it is somehow true, Koreans are “crazy” about learning English. Koreans think English is an essential skill that we have to have. We actually try hard and spend lots of money for learning English. That is why young children are sent to abroad for native-like pronunciation and accents and the institutions where they can study English, which seems Koreans are forced too much about learning English and they must have a lot of stress about it, which is true. However, as @naminarimatsu:disqus mentioned below, I think English is no longer a language that we can choose to learn as an option. English has become a global language and some people who can not speak English actually encounter difficulties of getting a job or at least when they travel. Koreans probably started learning English to fulfill their requirements, however, their expriences of learning English could benefit their present or future lives. And also, there are many students who has already realised that they need to learn English for their own lives, not for their parents or whoever else, and they actually try hard to learn English by their choices.
    I somehow agree with this article, but I also believe it is the time for learning English no matter because of their choice or others’ forces, and if they learn English because of other external forces, they should appreciate them that they become capable of at least one qualification of this global world.

  • 44277660 says:

    All Vietnamese people I know, no matter how old they are, have the same thought that studying abroad can ensure higher proficiency in English and a better life as a result. I used to have the same idea until I read the news about a group of international students who have been in Australia for two years but there is still no improvement in their English. I do not remember clearly what happened to them but they were put in prison because of their involvement in drugs. After 6 months in jail, their English competence increase dramatically. Thus, it is not satisfying to say that studying abroad is the optimal way to achieve a native level of English proficiency. Furthermore, as mentioned in the article, early study abroad also brings some constraints to migrant students. Being aware of those facts, personally I think that studying abroad should not be done at all cost (some people in Vietnam even borrow money around or sell their houses to send their children abroad) as the results do not always meet our expectation.

  • 000 says:

    Thanks for challenging my perception on study abroad students during young adulthood.

    Growing up in Australia, I always thought people who had the opportunity to go to school in another country were so lucky because they could experience and learn new cultures and languages. The high school I attended in Sydney had a lot of international students. I remember thinking they were so cool because they could speak their own language fluently and gain English skills while studying under the Australian curriculum. However, overtime, I realised that they would only socialise with other students from their own countries and rarely interact with local students, thus, never really enhancing their English oracy skills. At the time, I never thought about their home language or English writing skills not being achieved to their full potential because of the discontinuation of learning their home language in a school setting, and their struggle in understanding English in a monolingual high school. So, in the end I think they never achieved both oracy and written skills to be able to communicate academically in any language.

    It is a dilemma in trying to decide what is best, but I think everyone wants the finest opportunities possible and ultimately makes decisions on what they value most in their lives.

    • Anas says:

      I agree with you about students socialising with other students from the same country. I have done the same, either consciously or subconsciously. It is to do with comfort knowing the other person knows your L1, has the same cultural and belief systems. Also, in a way, it was comforting to know they have the same language struggles as you do. However, this then causes a person to be like the hamsters running in wheels. We think we are going fast and getting somewhere when it actual fact, we are doing a disservice to ourselves. I see this as a common occurrence from my English language classes to the Master’s classes I attend. We automatically move towards classmates that are similar to us in terms of L1 background and looks. In fact, I do notice, even within the Asian groups, the Koreans and Japanese would work together and the Chinese would find their own groups. This by no means a criticism, but merely an observation. I found this interesting because I did not experience this in Jordan as we were predominantly Jordanians speaking Arabic in English classrooms.

  • NAMI NARIMATSU says:

    When I read this interesting article about early study abroad, I started thinking about the possibility that many parents increasingly encourage their young children to study abroad in my home country, Japan. Since English has become an important subject to succeed in high school and university entrance exams, the number of parents who let their children study abroad, such as summer schools for a short term in English-speaking countries, has gradually increased. Although they tend to believe vaguely that studying abroad gets children to develop English skills and spend much money on it, it would be necessary to consider how their experience can benefit or affect their future academic life or everyday life.

  • Flora Launay says:

    This article brought up two interesting topics: the relationship between language and identity; and the difference between being fluent orally but not having such a good level of proficiency in academic writing.

    I am myself an International student and I have spent much time with bilinguals and/or local Australians so my speaking skills in English are very good. However, since these people are my friends, I tend to speak in a very casual way to them. Consequently, I feel like I am not able to write formally and that my academic skills will never improve. The more I spend time practising my English skills in a friendly environment, the less chance and opportunities do I have to improve my academic skills. I feel like academic English is another language and it is very challenging to code-switch from Spoken English to Academic English.

    When I first moved abroad, I feared that I might lose part of who I was. I wanted to be myself, but how can one be themselves in another language? The language you grow up with determines your way of thinking. I was wondering how I could manage to still be myself while speaking, living, eating, and breathing in another language. Even though the first few months were a bit tough, I eventually found a balance and I now feel like I am myself, being a citizen of the world, rather than just a ‘French lady’.

  • Neil Blonstein says:

    It can be debated what historically motivates people to dedicate ten years of their lives in learning a second language. Some people have looked at both English and the easy, neutral language, Esperanto comparing their present and future practicality in international communication–notably for FRIENDSHIP. Since this site seems to be based in Australia, I’ll mention Australian Ambassador to the United Nations, Ralph Harry and Australian (regional) Minister of Justice, Kep Enderby. When Ralph Harry passed away he was president of the Esperanto Association of Australia. Kep headed the largest Esperanto organization: UEA. I volunteer in the office Harry co-founded in New York. I found many English teachers, like myself, who advocate on the side for Esperanto so I founded a blog: English Teachers for Esperanto.

  • Dionisio Franca says:

    @Bong,

    Very interesting research.
    What is your opinion on youths that participated in shorter study abroad programs, one year for instance? Do they face similar problems?

    @Elizabeth,

    I’ve learned lots of Spanish when I first came to Japan and spent two months on an intensive Japanese course with fellow students from Latin America, “Portunol” was the lingua franca of our group. This extra learning did not impair my improvement in Japanese by the way.

    • Bong Jeong Lee says:

      Returnees, those who returned to Korean having spent even only one year overseas, seem to be confronted with readaptation tasks and experience difficulty due to their Korean language skills and difference in behavioural norms. They experience difficulty in understanding classroom instruction and their communications with their teacher and classmates are often unsuccessful, for which they are bullied by their classmates. Conflicts are mutual. They also think that Korean classrooms are behind and not interesting.
      In the news report about the research on 200 returnees from short term early study abroad, 88% of the respondents (200 in total) answered that they would like to go back overseas again, reporting that they experienced difficulty due to their Korean language skills and cultural differences. Some of them reportedly received psychiatric consultation.
      The age seems critical in that even one year absence from the Korean educational system seem to make remarkable difference. Their perspective and behavioural norms have changed although they have not well adjusted to English monolingual classrooms. One of my research participants told me that her cousin did not enjoy her life in an Australian high school, missing Korea so much and looking forward to going back to Korea, but when she returned to Korea, she found that she could not readjust to the life in Korea easily. In the end, she accompanied her father who left for America for his overseas work assignment.

  • I just received the link to this post while writing a letter to a member of the Victorian parliament arguing for more bilingual programs in schools. I find it really heart-breaking to read about the educational outcome for Jenny and how our monolingual education let her down.

    As an ESL teacher interested in bilingual education and its potential for enlivening language teaching pedagogy in Australia I like to do little straw polls at TESOL conferences to find out what educators think about the idea of Australian institutions capitalising on the language capabilities and interests of international students. I’ve suggested that academies could offer students not only the chance to study in English but also in other languages to enhance their Australian educational experience. Not only might learning content via their own language be beneficial, Koreans might also be interested in learning other languages while studying in Australia. Chinese is a language used by many Australians for example. Most international students spend quite a bit of time informally learning their classmates’ languages. Innovation of this sort in programs for international students could invigorate a flagging industry. Australian students could join in these language classes too.

    Respondents to my poll usually look at me as though I’m completely insane.

    Does anyone else think introducing other languages to the bland diet of ‘English only’ would be an interesting proposition?

    • Bong Jeong Lee says:

      I think your bilingual or multilingual diet for language learners is brilliant but I also understand how people may feel or think having listened to this idea. I suppose it is simply unimaginable for those who haven’t had a chance to observe or experience bilingual classrooms. I’d love to see any of such classrooms too.

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