This article was downloaded by: [2007-2008-2009 Kyunghee University - Suwon Campus]

On: 17 June 2010

Access details: Access Details: [subscription number 907486136]
Publisher Routledge
Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 3741 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Language, Culture and Curriculum

Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t794297818

Globalization and native English speakers in English Programme in Korea

(EPIK)
Mihyon Jeona
a
Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Online publication date: 24 November 2009

To cite this Article Jeon, Mihyon(2009) 'Globalization and native English speakers in English Programme in Korea (EPIK)',

Language, Culture and Curriculum, 22: 3, 231 243

To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/07908310903388933
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07908310903388933

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdf
This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or
systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or
distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.
The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents
will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses
should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss,
actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly
or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.

Language, Culture and Curriculum

Vol. 22, No. 3, November 2009, 231 243

Globalization and native English speakers in English Programme

in Korea (EPIK)

Downloaded By: [2007-2008-2009 Kyunghee University - Suwon Campus] At: 07:58 17 June 2010

Mihyon Jeon
Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics, York University, 4700 Keele Street,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3
(Received 15 July 2009; nal version received 1 October 2009)
This study demonstrates how English Programme in Korea (EPIK) is an example of
Koreas active response to the globalization process through which Korea not only
accommodates external demands but also strategically pursues national interests
through equipping its citizens with a command of English. EPIK, afliated with the
Korean Ministry of Education, was established in 1995 in order to hire native
speakers of English as teachers, with the mandate to improve the English speaking
abilities of students and teachers in Korea and to reform English teaching
methodologies. After presenting an overview of EPIK, this study highlights that the
South Korean government has responded to and actively participated in the global
spread of English by adopting and implementing the EPIK programme. Furthermore,
the ideology of the native English speaker as the ideal teacher, readily adopted by the
Korean government and people, does not grant native English teachers legitimacy as
teachers in their everyday interactions with Korean teachers of English and Korean
students. This study demonstrates that the dichotomy of the native speaker of English
as a superior teacher, and the non-native speaker of English as an inferior teacher, is
too simplistic to explain real-life experiences of EPIK teachers.
Keywords: language policy; globalization; language ideologies; native speaker of
English; global English

South Koreas wild geese fathers manage a reunion with their children, and often wives, just
once a year after seeing them off for study abroad, invariably to learn in English . . . South
Koreans, anxious to ensure their offspring are well-schooled, spend around $5 billion (2.5
billion pounds) a year to educate them abroad equivalent to nearly 20 percent of the
annual total allocated to education by the government. At more than 100,000, South
Koreans outnumber any other foreign student group in the United States . . .. Kang Ji-hyun
sends her ve-year-old to an English-speaking kindergarten which costs around $800 dollars
a month for a three-hour day, which is fairly average cost for a pre-schooler.

This recent newspaper article (Thatcher, 2008) clearly demonstrates an English fever
(Jeong, 2004) among South Koreans, an obsession with attaining a better command of
English.
As Block and Cameron (2002) persuasively argue, globalization alters the conditions in
which language learning and teaching take place. One of the most prominent impacts of


Email: mihyjeon@yorku.ca

ISSN 0790-8318 print/ISSN 1747-7573 online

# 2009 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/07908310903388933
http://www.informaworld.com

Downloaded By: [2007-2008-2009 Kyunghee University - Suwon Campus] At: 07:58 17 June 2010

232

M. Jeon

globalization on language learning and teaching practices is the rise of the importance of
English in different parts of the world, even in countries like South Korea where English
is not necessarily used in everyday life. English is central to the ongoing process of
globalization (Phillipson, 2003) through the rise of transnational corporations, the increase
in the number of international organizations, and the predominant use of English on the
Internet (Gray, 2002). In the twenty-rst century, it is unquestionable that English has
the status of a global language. South Korea is no exception when it comes to the inuence
of globalization and its impact on English language education.
English is seen as closely tied to the economic survival of South Korea within the
context of globalization. Koreans place great importance on English, even though the
society remains highly monolingual (Baker & Jones, 1998). While there is no absence of
speakers of other languages in Korea, such as the diasporic Chinese and migrant workers
from China, South-East Asia, and other countries,1 the majority of Koreans are rarely in
regular contact with speakers of languages other than Korean, and practically all aspects
of life are conducted in Korean (Park, 2004). Nonetheless, English is seen as an important
key to success and upward social mobility. The importance of English is especially prominent in the domains of education and the labour market. English test scores play a large part
in college entrance and access to employment in white-collar jobs.
As a response to globalization and the ever-increasing (perceived and real) importance
of English, and to counteract the obsession with English and the high expenditure on
English education abroad and in the private sector, the South Korean government has
proposed and implemented various language policies. One example, which is the focus
of this study, is English Programme in Korea (EPIK), a government sponsored programme
which recruits native English speakers as teachers in elementary and secondary schools in
Korea. This study situates the EPIK programme as a policy response to globalization and a
site where global resources are realized locally. In particular, this study seeks to question the
popular view of the superiority of native English-speaking teachers in English Language
Teaching (ELT) by examining an under-researched topic: the lived experiences of EPIK
teachers.
Methodology
The data presented in this section are mainly from my participation as an observer at the
2007 EPIK Reunion and are supplemented by subsequent interviews with EPIK coordinators and teachers in July and August 2008. My participation in the EPIK Reunion and interviews are part of a large-scale on-going investigation into the experiences and participation
of native English-speaking teachers in East Asia. The study focuses on the participation of
native English-speaking teachers in three ofcial Asian government sponsored ELT
programmes, each of which recruits, trains, and administers native English-speaking
teachers: the Japan Exchange and Teaching programme (JET), the EPIK, and Hong
Kongs Native-speaking English Teachers programme.
The four main questions which guide the research are (1) what implications do the different policies and institutional structures in the three Asian countries have on the participation
of native English teachers?; (2) what issues of identity and attachment arise for these English
teachers, and what impact do they have on the programme retention and future participation?; (3) what implications do interactions between the local Asian teachers/students
and native English teachers have for building intercultural understanding?; (4) what kinds
of national and international policies and agreements can improve the quality of the
participation of native English teachers? A multi-method and three-phase data collection

Downloaded By: [2007-2008-2009 Kyunghee University - Suwon Campus] At: 07:58 17 June 2010

Language, Culture and Curriculum

233

process, one which utilizes both qualitative and quantitative tools, such as the online survey,
in-depth interviews, focus group, and on-site observations, has been and will be adopted to
gain multiple viewpoints on the research questions from a variety of stakeholders.
My participation in the EPIK reunion, conducted at the initial stages of data collection,
was realized through the approval of EPIK coordinators with whom I met in April 2007 at
York University, Toronto. They visited York University as a part of their promotion tour of
the EPIK programme in Canada. My participation in the reunion enabled me to gain
insights into EPIK teachers experiences and concerns, which in turn informed the
design of the online survey and interview questions. The reunion was held in 21 22
December 2007 in Yousung, a mid-sized city in central Korea, and brought together
from different parts of Korea about 50 EPIK teachers who had started teaching in September of that year. The two-day gathering was organized by the EPIK programme. It consisted
of three EPIK teachers presentations and an open discussion forum on the rst day, and a Q
& A session and eldtrip to a local temple on the second day. In total, 4 h of the event were
both audio- and video-recorded. The informal conversations with EPIK teachers during the
mealtime and the eld trip were recorded in my eld notes afterwards.
I also draw on the interviews2 conducted in July and August 2008 with each of the
following participants: three former and present EPIK coordinators, two current EPIK
teachers, and two Korean teachers of English. The interviews lasted from 40 min to 1.5
h. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed for analysis.
Global English and Koreas response
This section presents, rst a theoretical framework for globalization and second its relationship with ELT in order to lay out a conceptual background for the discussion of the EPIK
programme which brings native speakers of English to Korea. Discussions on the highly
contested term globalization entail much debate and disagreement. Globalization is inseparably linked with developments and demands of neoliberal capitalism. Emphasizing the
cultural dimensions of globalization, Appadurai (1990) characterizes globalization as a
dense and uid network of global ows, including: (1) ethnoscapes (ows of people);
(2) technoscapes (ows of technologies, machinery, and plant); (3) nancescapes
(ows of money); (4) mediascapes (ows of images and information through media);
and (5) ideoscapes (ows of ideas associated with state and counter-state movement
ideologies) (p. 296). Appadurai maintains that the new global cultural economy has to
be understood as a complex, overlapping, disjunctive order, which cannot any longer be
understood in terms of existing centre-periphery models (even though that might account
for multiple centres and peripheries) (p. 126).
Appadurais perspective on globalization resonates with Halls conceptualization of
contemporary globalization as postmodern. Hall (1997, p. 183) distinguishes modernist
globalization from postmodern globalization. The former occurred during periods of
Western colonization and was characterized by the unilateral exertion of inuence from
the centre (the global) to periphery (the local). In contrast, contemporary globalization is
characterized by more complex, multilateral forces, and varied local realization of global
resources (Hall, 1997, p. 183). The acknowledgment of the complexity of contemporary
globalization, however, does not negate the existing continuity of colonial inuence. For
example, although UK- and US-based institutions do not by any means run the show
globally, they continue to be disproportionately inuential. While globalization is perceived
as a homogenizing process by the dominance of the global over the local (Gray, 1998;
Ritzer, 1998), it is also seen as a process which entails a synergetic and dialectic relationship

Downloaded By: [2007-2008-2009 Kyunghee University - Suwon Campus] At: 07:58 17 June 2010

234

M. Jeon

between the global and the local, as proposed in the concepts glocalization (Robertson,
1995) and hybridization (Pieterse, 1995). To understand the complexities involved in
contemporary human interaction, the seemingly contradictory conceptualization of globalization as both a homogenizing and hybridizing process can be helpful because of the paradoxical nature of globalization (Kubota, 2002), as expressed in Appadurais (1990)
assertion that the central problem of todays global interactions is the tension between
cultural homogenization and cultural heterogenization (p. 295).
In the subsequent analysis of the EPIK programme, as the South Korean governments
response to the spread of English in the global market, I examine the broader global, social,
political and economic structures and widely circulating ideas about English and its native
speakers in which the EPIK programme is situated. Then, in analysing the EPIK teachers
position in ELT, I focus on globalization as a hybridizing process and examine how, in the
process of the particularization of the globally circulating ideologies of English and native
English speakers, these very ideas and images of self and other are altered in specic
contexts.
As one of the consequences of globalization, languages have been treated as economic
commodities (Block & Cameron, 2002). Heller (1999, 2003) argues that in the new globalized economy, language and identity become marketable commodities. English has the
highest value as the linguistic capital among the languages of the world. Why and how
has English gained the status of a global language, an international language, or a lingua
franca? There are different approaches to explain the global spread of English, from an apolitical view, treating English as a neutral tool (Crystal, 2003; Kaplan, 2001) to more critical
perspectives linking the global spread of English to linguistic imperialism (Phillipson,
1992), linguistic neoimperialism (Phillipson, 2008), a threat to linguistic human rights
(Skutnabb-Kangas, 2000), and colonialism/post-colonialism (Pennycook, 1994, 1998;
Shin & Kubota, 2008). These critical approaches have in common a conceptualization of
the spread of English, linked to wider political issues, as inherently problematic and a perception that ELT practices are not value-free (Gray, 2002). The values and discourses
attached to English have been constructed within specic historic and socio-cultural contexts. In relating current ELT theories and practices to colonialism, Pennycook (1998)
argues:
The history of the ties between ELT and colonialism has produced images of the Self and Other,
understanding of English and of other languages and cultures that still play a major role in how
ELT is constructed and practiced: from the native speaker/non-native speaker dichotomy to
images constructed around English as a global language and the assumptions about learners
cultures, much of ELT echoes with the cultural constructions of colonialism. (p. 19)

Echoing Phillipson (1992), Pennycook (1998) asserts that colonialism should be understood as the context in which current ideas about English and ELT were framed, by laying a
foundation for the maintenance of structural and cultural inequalities between English and
other languages in the post-colonial age (p. 123).
In the process of the global spread of English, the nation-state is not a passive victim of
linguistic globalization but an active participant. Although some theorists conceptualize
globalization as an external force which undermines national sovereignty (Sonntag,
2003), others such as Cohen (2001) argue that globalization over the decades has been
the product of the actions of the state and the use of its sovereign authority, not the
cause of its demise (p. 80). Following the East Asian model of development, which has
resulted in the tiger economies, Korea, as an agentive state, has been a successful and

Downloaded By: [2007-2008-2009 Kyunghee University - Suwon Campus] At: 07:58 17 June 2010

Language, Culture and Curriculum

235

active participant in the globalization process. In fact, South Korea, which took a clearly
interventionist role in economic development, was widely admired as one of the most successful tiger economies of Asia (Kim & Hong, 2000). As South Koreas national economy
has grown, so have the South Korean governments expenditures on education (Shin,
2004). The South Korean education has been controlled by a state-led centralized management system (Shin, 2004), and the South Korean government has considered education as a
tool for the state to accomplish its own goals. Therefore, I pay attention to the Korean
governments role in the process of globalization and language education by creating and
maintaining the EPIK programme.
The following section surveys how the South Korean government has responded to and
thus participated in the global expansion of English. The South Korean government has
actively responded to globalization. In 1995, the Korean government announced a strong
(segyehwa globalization in
drive towards globalization under the slogan of
Korean) in order to enhance Koreas global competitiveness (Kim, 2000). Through this
globalization campaign in the 1990s, accompanied by South Koreas international exposure
through hosting the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Olympic Games, English has gained
increasing signicance in the country (Yim, 2007). As part of the segyehwa effort to
globalize and further the growth of the South Korean economy by reforming education, the
government developed the sixth National Curriculum which was implemented in middle
schools in 1995 and in high schools in 1996 and focused on developing uency and communicative competence rather than accuracy (Shin, 2007). Since the inception of ofcial English
education in Korea in 1883 (Kwon, 2000), grammar translation and emphasis on grammatical
knowledge had been the dominant method in English teaching in Korea, remaining so
throughout the Japanese colonial period and up until the sixth National Curriculum.
In addition to this shift in the teaching method, the Korean government adopted a policy
to start mandatory English language education in the third grade of elementary school, 4
years earlier than the previous policy of starting English classes in the rst grade of
middle school (Jung & Norton, 2002; Park, 2004). This decision, which was implemented
in 1997, further reinforced Koreans obsession with English (Jeon & Lee, 2006). After the
Asian nancial crisis in 1997, the importance of English was further enhanced (Park, 2004),
as English was recognized as a tool for enhancing South Koreas competitiveness in the
global market and for thus rebuilding the economy. In its continued effort to facilitate
English education, the Korean Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development
announced, in May of 2005, a Five Year Plan for English Education Revitalization (Jeon
& Lee, 2006). The plan would place a native English-speaking teacher at each junior high
school by 2010 (a total of 2900 teachers nationally) and promote a one native Englishspeaking teacher per school policy at the elementary and high school levels. In the long
run, the government plans for each elementary and high school to have at least one
native English-speaking teacher. The rationale for the plan is that interaction with native
English-speaking teachers will provide students with more English input, a more authentic
English environment, and greater cultural understanding. This plan emerged as a result of
the signicant economic loss incurred by sending students abroad to study and as a response
to increasing criticism about and mistrust of the public English education system among
Koreans (Jeon & Lee, 2006).
English programme in Korea
This section will situate the EPIK policy in the process of globalization and demonstrates
how South Korea has responded to and participated in the global spread of English by

Downloaded By: [2007-2008-2009 Kyunghee University - Suwon Campus] At: 07:58 17 June 2010

236

M. Jeon

implementing the EPIK programme. Afliated to the Korean Ministry of Education, EPIK
was launched in 1995 and promoted as part of the education reform task under the slogan of
reinforcing foreign language education and reinforcing globalization education (http://
epik.ied.go.kr/). According to Soo-Taek Rhee, president of the National Institute for
International Education Development, the goal of EPIK is to improve the English speaking
abilities of Korean students and teachers, to develop cultural exchanges, and to reform
English teaching methodologies in Korea (Jeon & Lee, 2006, original in English). Rhee
maintains that through EPIK, English language education will cultivate open-minded
and well-rounded Korean individuals capable of advancing Korea in this age of information
and globalization (Jeon & Lee, 2006).
During the period of operation between 1995 and 2007, more than 1992 teachers have
joined the programme. The EPIK programme species the following eligibility requirements for prospective teachers: (1) citizenship in one of the following countries: Australia,
Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the USA, and South Africa; (2) a BA
degree; (3) good mental and physical health; (4) good command of English; and (5) ability
to adapt to Korean culture and living. Applicants must have studied from the junior high
level (seventh grade) and resided for as least 10 years or more in the above-listed countries.
An EPIK teachers duties include: conducting English conversation classes for Korean
teachers and students, preparing teaching materials for English language education, assisting in developing teaching materials, assisting with activities related to English language
education and other extracurricular activities, assisting Korean teachers with English
classes and/or jointly conducting English classes, and performing other duties as specied
by the host Provincial Ofce of Education (Jeon & Lee, 2006). Salaries range from
US$1,900 to US$3,000 per month, depending on the candidates eligibility, the location
of the school, and the contract period.
In situating the EPIK programme within the processes of globalization, I adopt Appadurais characterization of globalization as a network of global ows of people (ethnoscapes), money (nancescapes), technology (technoscapes), images (mediascapes), and
ideas (ideoscapes). The willingness of EPIK teachers, as guest workers or temporary
migrant workers, to move to South Korea for at least a year and sometimes longer
makes the EPIK programme possible. The very idea of temporarily working in a foreign
country such as South Korea is facilitated by the rapid ow of people who constitute the
shifting world. The ow of EPIK teachers is also inuenced by nancial ows. The transfer
of money from the Korean government to EPIK teachers and eventually their countries of
origin is an incentive for EPIK teachers to move to Korea. In the long run, the Korean
government aims to secure a counter-ow of money from foreign countries to Korea by
strengthening Koreas competitiveness in the global market through developing the
Korean peoples English skills. The ow of people and money through the EPIK
programme include the Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
teaching materials, examinations (e.g., TOEFL, GRE, etc), know-how, and teachers,
which are signicant export items for the countries from which EPIK teachers come
(Phillipson, 2008). The ows of people and money through the EPIK programme are
also facilitated by ow of technology. The advertisement and recruitment processes rely
heavily on the Internet, and EPIK teachers make use of information about teaching
resources and materials available on the Internet.
In terms of ows of images, the EPIK programme was founded on the reality of the
global spread of English that has been accompanied by the spread of an image/ideology
of English as a Global Language and English speakers as global citizens. The EPIK
programme also demonstrates that Korea is a part of the ow of ideas in the ideoscapes

Downloaded By: [2007-2008-2009 Kyunghee University - Suwon Campus] At: 07:58 17 June 2010

Language, Culture and Curriculum

237

of the globalization process. The rationale behind the policy of hiring native English
speakers to teach English in Korea is that English should be taught monolingually by
native speakers. Native English teachers who are not bilingual in both English and
Korean have of course no choice but to teach English only through English. This rationale
is not specic to the South Korean government; it is a commonly held belief in many
teaching and learning situations in the eld of ELT. Pennycook (1998), citing Auerbach
(1993), argues that ELT theories and practices, including the exclusive use of English,
need to be understood not so much in terms of pedagogical rationalizations but rather
in terms of the ideological implications that emerged as part of British neocolonial
policy (Phillipson, 1992). Such ELT practices, which are assumed to be pedagogically
grounded, can be summarized by the following statement: English is best taught
monolingually, by native speakers, as early as possible, and as much as possible, and
preferably to the exclusion of other languages (Pennycook, 1998, p. 158). These
discourses are consequences of the perpetuation of colonial constructions of the images
of superior self and inferior other in theories and practices of ELT. Such ideologies
of ELT are taken up by the South Korean government and materialized in the EPIK
policy, which in turn contributes to the spread of such ideologies to its citizens. South
Korea plays an active role in the circulation of the ideology of the native English
speaker as the ideal teacher, since both the government and its citizens actively subscribe
and contribute to the further circulation of the ideology.
Superior teachers vs. performing monkeys
In current global ows of images (mediascapes) and ideas (ideoscapes) of ELT, included in
Korea, English is seen as the most powerful language, and native English speakers are positioned as superior while non-native English teachers are positioned as inferior. Shin (2006)
maintains that colonial discourse surrounding English and its various speakers leads
Koreans to assume the superiority of native English teachers and the inferiority of local
Korean teachers of English.
My interaction with EPIK teachers at the reunion showed that the superior position of
native English teachers was not always realized in their lived experiences. Of course, the
Korean governments subscription to the discourse of native English speakers as ideal
English teachers made it possible for some EPIK teachers without teaching certicates or
backgrounds in education to teach at Korean public schools as long as they held BA
degrees and were citizens of one of the seven inner circle countries. This requirement
reveals that the South Korean government privileges only inner circle varieties of
English and holds a narrow denition of what constitutes English (es) and native English
speakers, which has been abandoned by the paradigm of World Englishes (Brutt-Grifer,
2002; B. Kachru, 1992; Y. Kachru, 2004). The linguistic capital they possessed as native
speakers of very limited and specic varieties of English guaranteed EPIK teachers fulltime teaching positions regardless of their qualications as teachers. However, the lived
experiences of EPIK teachers demonstrate that the dichotomization of native English
speakers as superior teachers vs. non-native English speakers as inferior teachers is too
simplistic and rigid to reliably reect the complexities involved in interpersonal interactions
between EPIK teachers, Korean teachers of English, and Korean students.
The experience of Mike, an EPIK teacher from the USA, provides an illustration of this
complexity. He expressed his position as an EPIK teacher in his school and his role in
English education in Korea in the following comment during the open discussion forum
(21 December 2007):

238

M. Jeon

Downloaded By: [2007-2008-2009 Kyunghee University - Suwon Campus] At: 07:58 17 June 2010

We want to plan class together, but co-teachers are too busy. They have a lot of paper work . . .
Teachers are wonderful but there is disconnect between what we were told and what they were
told. I was a JET [a Japan Exchange Programme participant] before. I had the same problem.
Co-teachers go, Great teachers! You have great ideas. But youre here only one hour per week.
We are here until sixty-two years old. No, thanks.

There were similar comments from other teachers such as: Most native English teachers do not know the curriculum requirements their co-teachers follow nor have they
seen their students textbooks (Clair, presentation, 21 December 2007). As illustrated in
the previous extracts, many EPIK teachers experience their place in Korean English education in marginality and isolation. Although Mike hoped to contribute to the improvement
of Korean English education by sharing his ideas, local English teachers ignored his advice.
As Clair, an EPIK teacher at a middle school, added, We simply show up one day a week as
an isolated entity with our own lesson entirely separate from whatever it is our classes do
the rest of the time.
EPIK teachers lack of integration in the regular curriculum tends to be more prevalent
in middle and high schools than in elementary schools (interviews with Hazel, 23 July 2008
and with Janice, 8 August 2008, both EPIK teachers; interview with Ms Lee, an EPIK coordinator, 1 August 2008). Janice, an EPIK teacher at an elementary school, reported that she
taught one quarter of a lesson unit, while her co-teacher taught the rest. But her teamteaching worked out with only one of the two Korean co-teachers, because of the lack of
cooperation of the other co-teacher (interview, 8 August 2008). This shows that an individual EPIK teachers experience in team-teaching can vary according to the Korean
co-teachers. Janice ascribed the lack of interest of the co-teacher in team-teaching to the
low English prociency of the teacher. My interview with Mr Park, who served as a
local English teacher at an elementary school, revealed that his administrative duties and
the lack of time prevented him from planning team teaching with an EPIK teacher at his
school, although he was very interested in team-teaching and his English prociency
was sufcient (interview, 26 July 2008). Janice also shared the experiences of her colleague
EPIK teachers who taught in middle and high schools in that they rarely team-teach with
Korean co-teachers, which echoes the experience of Clair who taught at a middle school.
Given the fact that EPIK teachers were assigned middle schools rst, high schools next,
and elementary schools last (interview with Ms Lee, an EPIK coordinator, 1 August
2008), the majority of EPIK teachers experience the lack of integration in the regular
curriculum, which is reinforced by the lack of implementation of team-teaching. Choi
(2001) also found that team teaching, which was intended to be a key notion in EPIK,
was not widely enforced in practice.
In her presentation during the open discussion forum (21 December 2007), Sharon, an
American, voiced her response to the EPIK teachers subsidiary position in Korean English
education:
Why are we hired? I dont know. They pay me $2000 a month . . . But were here as performing monkeys, like what we do is we stand there, we do a dog and bunny show for 45 minutes.
Everybody laughs and giggles, having a good time. We sit around in front of a computer. That
works for me. Two grand for that? Youre kidding. I have my job. Its brilliant. It could be done
differently. I am not here to x the problems. Its not my country. Im not here to change the
world. I love my job. Its a nice, great country. Love it.

Echoing Sharon, William pointed out that EPIK teachers as performers have entertainment value (personal communication, 22 December 2007). Performing monkeys with

Language, Culture and Curriculum

239

entertainment value is a metaphor for EPIK teachers position in which they have limited
power to improve Korean English education by contributing to the students learning of
English. Without the reward from making things better as a teacher, xing the problems
in her own words, Sharon found the value of her work in the good salary that she earned for
a relatively easy job as a performing monkey and by spending time in front of a computer during her downtime. Like Sharon, John also implied that the work was overpaid, since
he taught only 22 h per week. The economic benet of the job is, of course, one of the major
motivations for EPIK teachers to teach in South Korea.

Downloaded By: [2007-2008-2009 Kyunghee University - Suwon Campus] At: 07:58 17 June 2010

Discipline and power

The presentations made by Mike and Sandra (21 December 2007) showed how they were
received by Korean students, which further reveals EPIK teachers lack of legitimacy.
Mike shared common class management problems that he faced, such as: (1) frequent cell
phone use; (2) sleeping during the class; (3) looking at mirrors; (4) spitting; (5) throwing
things out of the windows; (6) vandalism of the air conditioner; and (7) coming to the class
without pens, books, and dictionaries. Regarding sleeping during class time, his students
always gave him the excuse that they had had to stay up late studying for a test. But Mike
added that his students gave him the same excuse even when they did not have a test. Spitting
and vandalism of the air conditioner appeared to be specic to Mikes school, because other
EPIK teachers rarely reported these problems. However, many EPIK teachers shared Mikes
experience on one or more of the class management issues listed above. For example, Sandra,
a Canadian EPIK teacher, said, At my rst day at the school, my students did everything but
listen to me. They were using cell phones, listening to music, drawing, talking to each other, or
sleeping . . . I cried and thought about going back to Canada the following day (presentation,
21 December 2007). It scarcely needs to be said that such class management difculties may
not be part of every EPIK teachers experience and not every Korean student misbehaves. It is
also worth noting that another way of construing these problems is to see them as representing
EPIK teachers Othering (Pennycook, 1998) of Korean students (for more cases on the
Othering of English language learners, see Holliday, 1999; Kubota, 1999, 2001; Littlewood,
1999; Pennycook, 1994, 1996, 1998; Susser, 1998).
Nonetheless, these class management problems can be better understood in light of the
power issues in English conversation classes led by EPIK teachers. Although EPIK teachers are teachers in English conversation classes, their legitimacy as teachers is systematically limited, because what they teach is rarely an integral part of the assessment of
students English prociency. Jennifer, an EPIK teacher, rightly pointed out the main
reason for the class management problems: Korean students did not consider her English
class a real class, because what she taught was not on their tests. She added that Korean
public education has a test-centered curriculum in which tests determine what is taught
in class. In this system, the local Korean teachers of English who are in control of assessment and examinations can exercise more power in ELT in general and in student management in particular than can EPIK teachers who do not have such control. Even in the case of
Janice, who taught one quarter of each lesson unit, she was not given a chance to see the
tests and the nal grade of each student, except to the extent that she was asked to evaluate
the students oral prociency (interview, 8 August 2008). Thus, the management problems
are less a result of individual performance, such as the inabilities of EPIK teachers and
misbehaviours of Korean students, than the structural constrains of the ELT systems in
Korea that situate the relationship between EPIK teachers and Korean students, and that
creates a specic power relationship between the two.

Downloaded By: [2007-2008-2009 Kyunghee University - Suwon Campus] At: 07:58 17 June 2010

240

M. Jeon

Even with this systemic and structural marginalization of EPIK teachers, there are some
EPIK teachers who have tried to make changes and succeeded in part. For example,
Jennifer, to overcome her limitations as an EPIK teacher, memorized over 600 students
names using ash cards with photos matched to the names. Sandra also surmounted her
initial difculties by using incentives, such as copies of $5.00 bills and group points, and
by adopting games in her class. Based on his observations on team-teaching and interviews
with EPIK teachers and local teachers in Korea, Carless (2004) found some positive
impacts of team teaching on students and described an example of good practice in
team-teaching between a local teacher of English and an EPIK teacher (Carless, 2006).
Some EPIK teachers intended to build their careers as EFL/ESL teachers. For example,
David, who used to be a substitute teacher in California, planned to pursue online his
MA in TESOL while in Korea. These individual success stories, however, cannot validate
the structural and systemic contexts in which EPIK teachers nd themselves, having limited
legitimacy as teachers.
What, then, does the South Korean government gain in exchange for the funds spent to
hire EPIK teachers? The entertainment value of native English teachers alone does not
adequately justify the signicant costs of running the EPIK programme. Rather, hiring
native English speakers serves as a political tool for (re)gaining the trust of parents who
sent their children abroad or to private English language institutes (e.g., English kindergartens). The local realization of the global resource of English as the linguistic capital, and the
local adoption of the discourse of the native English speaker as a superior English teacher,
are complex processes. Ironically, in real classrooms, the EPIK teachers assumed superiority as native speakers of English does not guarantee local acceptance; Korean teachers of
English and Korean students do not perceive EPIK teachers as legitimate teachers.
Neither does the position of EPIK teachers in Korean ELT automatically grant local
Korean teachers of English more legitimacy as English language teachers. Dichotomizing
native speakers of English as superior teachers and non-native speakers of English as
inferior teachers is too simplistic to explain the real-life experiences of EPIK teachers,
local Korean teachers, and Korean students.
Conclusion
In the analysis of South Koreas EPIK programme, I have focused on the broader global,
social, political, and economic structures and widely circulating ideas about English and
its native speakers in which the EPIK programme is situated, while also paying attention
to how the globally circulating ideologies of English and its native speakers are realized
in the particular context of EPIK. The macro-level analysis of the EPIK programme in
relation to globalization has highlighted the South Korean governments response to and
active participation in the global spread of English by adopting and implementing the
EPIK programme. An examination of EPIK policy has demonstrated that the South
Korean government adopted the ideologies of English as a global language and the
native English speaker as the ideal language teacher. While intended to enhance its citizens
command of English, South Koreas English language policies have contributed to the
spread of such ideologies to its citizens and resulted in the active participation of both
the South Korean government and citizens in the further circulation of such ideologies.
The South Korean government, parents, and students willingly and zealously invest
resources to obtain the linguistic capital by learning English. The South Korean case is
one of the numerous examples of symbolic power in use (see Phillipson (2003, 2008),
for the case of English in EU), showing active complicity (Thompson, 1991) on the part

Downloaded By: [2007-2008-2009 Kyunghee University - Suwon Campus] At: 07:58 17 June 2010

Language, Culture and Curriculum

241

of South Koreans in subscribing to the legitimacy of English and native speakers of English
in ELT.
The ideology of the native English speaker as the ideal teacher, readily adopted by the
Korean government and people does not, however, grant native English teachers legitimacy
as teachers in their everyday interactions with local Korean teachers of English and Korean
students. The lived experiences of EPIK teachers have illustrated that the dichotomy of the
native speaker of English as a superior teacher and the non-native speaker of English as an
inferior teacher is too simplistic to explain real-life interactions of EPIK teachers, local
Korean teachers, and Korean students. The experiences of EPIK teachers, positioned as
language teachers with limited legitimacy, illustrate how local adaptations of English
language policy have altered the images of superior self vs. inferior other. Instead of
attempting to prove or disprove the truthfulness or falsehood of particular ideologies
regarding English and the native English speaker, I have focused on the ways in which
these ideologies are constructed, appropriated, and reconstructed at the macro-level of
educational policy and at the micro-level of everyday interactions among EPIK teachers,
local Korean teachers, and Korean students. Before we can start to talk of change, resistance, opposition, and counter-discourse, we need to pay attention to the complexities of
the contemporary reality of the lives of the diverse people involved in ELT in a postcolonial, globalized, and market-driven world. ELT in Korea can benet from an enhanced
understanding of these complexities.

Acknowledgements
The research project reported in this study was funded by two grants: (1) a Faculty of Arts
Research Grant, York University, in 2007 to 2008; and (2) a policy research grant from Asia
Pacic Foundation of Canada in 2008 2009.
Notes
1.

2.

According to the Korean National Statistical Ofce, in 2007, among 765,746 registered
foreigners who reside in Korea more than 3 months, 708,474 were from Asia, 310,485 were
Korean Chinese (ethnic Koreans who live in China), 111,008 Chinese, and 67,197 Vietnamese
(http://www.index.go.kr/egams/default.jsp), 34,083 were from North America. In the same
year, there were 223,464 unregistered foreigners in Korea.
The interviews were conducted in part by my colleague, Eve Haque, and myself.

References
Appadurai, A. (1990). Disjunction and difference in the global cultural economy. In M. Featherstone
(Ed.), Global culture: Nationalism, globalization and modernity (pp. 295310). London: Sage.
Auerbach, E. (1993). Reexamining English only in the ESL classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 27(1),
932.
Baker, C., & Jones, S.P. (1998). Encyclopedia of bilingualism and bilingual education. Clevedon,
UK: Multilingual Matters.
Block, D., & Cameron, D. (Eds.). (2002). Globalization and language teaching. London: Routledge.
Brutt-Grifer, J. (2002). World English: A study of its development. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual
Matters.
Carless, D.R. (2004). The deployment of English native-speakers in state school systems:
Comparative perspective. Conference Proceedings of Kotesol Conference, 2002. Seoul, South
Korea: Kotesol.
Carless, D.R. (2006). Good practice of team teaching in Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong. System,
34(3), 341351.

Downloaded By: [2007-2008-2009 Kyunghee University - Suwon Campus] At: 07:58 17 June 2010

242

M. Jeon

Choi, Y. (2001). Suggestions for the re-organization of English teaching program by native speakers
in Korea. English Teaching, 56(1), 101122.
Cohen, A. (2001). The politics of globalization in the United States. Washington, DC: Georgetown
University Press.
Crystal, D. (2003). English as a global language (2nd ed.). UK: Cambridge University Press.
Gray, J. (1998). False dawn. London: Granta Books.
Gray, J. (2002). The global coursebook in English language teaching. In D. Block & D. Cameron
(Eds.), Globalization and language teaching (pp. 151167). London: Routledge.
Hall, S. (1997). The local and the global: Globalization and ethnicity. In A.D. King (Ed.), Culture,
globalization and the world system (pp. 1940). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota.
Heller, M. (1999). Linguistic minorities and modernity: A sociolinguistic ethnography. London:
Longman.
Heller, M. (2003). Globalization, the new economy, and the commodication of language and
identity. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 7(4), 473492.
Holliday, A. (1999). Small cultures. Applied Linguistics, 20(2), 237264.
Jeon, M., & Lee, J. (2006). Hiring native-speaking English teachers in East Asian countries. English
Today, 22(4), 5358.
Jeong, K. (2004). A chapter of English teaching in Korea. English Today, 20(2), 4046.
Jung, S., & Norton, B. (2002). Language planning in Korean: The new elementary English program.
In J. Tollefson (Ed.), Language policies in education: Critical issues (pp. 245265). Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum.
Kachru, B.B. (Ed.). (1992). The other tongue: English across cultures (2nd ed.). Urbana, IL:
University of Illinois Press.
Kachru, Y. (2004). Teaching and learning of world Englishes. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of
research in second language teaching (pp. 155173). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Kaplan, R.B. (2001). English-the accidental language of science? In U. Ammon (Ed.), The dominance
of English as a language of science (pp. 326). Berline, Germany: Mouton de Gruyter.
Kim, S.S. (2000). Koreas Segyehwa drive: Promises versus performance. In S.S. Kim (Ed.), Koreas
globalization (pp. 242281). UK: Cambridge University Press.
Kim, I.J., & Hong, U.H. (2000). The Republic of Korea: The taming of the tiger. International Social
Science Journal, 52(163), 6177.
Kubota, R. (1999). Japanese culture constructed by discourses: Implications for applied linguistics
research and English language teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 33(1), 935.
Kubota, R. (2001). Discourse construction of the images of U.S. classrooms. TESOL Quarterly, 35(1),
938.
Kubota, R. (2002). The impact of globalization and language teaching in Japan. In D. Block &
D. Cameron (Eds.), Globalization and language teaching (pp. 1328). London: Routledge.
Kwon, O. (2000). Koreas English education policy changes in the 1990s: Innovations to gear the
nation for the 21st century. Yeongeo Gyoyuk [English Teaching], 55(1), 4791.
Littlewood, W. (1999). Dening and developing autonomy in East Asian contexts. Applied
Linguistics, 20(1), 7194.
Park, Y. (2004). Globalization, language, and social order: Ideologies of English in South Korea.
Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Pennycook, A. (1994). The cultural politics of English as an international language. London:
Longman.
Pennycook, A. (1996). Borrowing others words: Text, ownership, memory, and plagiarism. TESOL
Quarterly, 30(2), 201230.
Pennycook, A. (1998). English and the discourses of colonialism. London: Routledge.
Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic imperialism. UK: Oxford University Press.
Phillipson, R. (2003). English-only Europe? Challenging language policy. London: Routledge.
Phillipson, R. (2008). The linguistic imperialism of neoliberal empire. Critical Inquiry In Language
Studies: An International Journal, 5(1), 143.
Pieterse, J.N. (1995). Globalization as hybridization. In M. Featherstone, S. Lash, & R. Robertson
(Eds.), Global modernities (pp. 2544). London: Sage.
Ritzer, G. (1998). The McDonaldization thesis. London: Sage.
Robertson, R. (1995). Glocalization: Time-space and hemogeniety-heterogenity. In M. Featherstone,
S. Lash, & R. Robertson (Eds.), Global modernities (pp. 2544). London: Sage.
Shin, J.S. (2004). Equalization and educational totalitarianism. Korea Journal, 44(3), 252270.

Downloaded By: [2007-2008-2009 Kyunghee University - Suwon Campus] At: 07:58 17 June 2010

Language, Culture and Curriculum

243

Shin, H. (2006). Rethinking TESOL from a SOLs perspective: Indigenous epistemology and decolonizing praxis in TESOL. Critical Inquiry In Language Studies: An International Journal,
3(2&3), 147167.
Shin, H. (2007). English language teaching in Korea: Toward globalization or glocalization. In
J. Cummins & C. Davis (Eds.), International handbook of English language teaching
(pp. 7586). New York: Springer.
Shin, H., & Kubota, Y. (2008). Post-colonialism and globalization in language education. In
B. Spolsky & F. Hult (Eds.), The handbook of educational linguistics (pp. 206219).
Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (2000). Linguistic genocide in education or worldwide diversity and human
rights? Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Sonntag, S.K. (2003). The local politics of global English: Case studies in linguistic globalization.
Lanham, MD: Lexington Book.
Susser, B. (1998). EFLs othering of Japan: Orientalism in English language teaching. JALT Journal,
20(1), 4982.
Thatcher, J. (2008, May 27). Speak English, child! This is Korea!. Reuters. Retrieved May 28, 2008,
from http://uk.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUKSEO2301120080527
Thompson, J.B. (1991). Editors introduction. In P. Bourdieu (Ed.), Language and symbolic power
(pp. 131) (Introduced by J.B. Thompson (Ed.). trans. G. Raymond and M. Adamson),
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Yim, S. (2007). Globalization and language policy in South Korea. In A.B.M. Tsui & J.W. Tollefson
(Eds.), Language policy, culture, and identity in Asian contexts (pp. 3754). Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.