TY - JOUR
T1 - Learned Through Labour
T2 - The Discursive Production of English Speakers in South Korea
AU - Curran, Nathaniel
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Cambridge University Press.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Korea has long been recognized as host to an English 'fever' (Kim, 2013; J. K. Park, 2009; Shim & Park, 2008), the intensity of which is such that 'the entire nation, from the president to average citizens, is emotionally and discursively invested in globalization and English language education' (Lee, 2011: 146). Many universities have minimum TOEIC/TOEFL scores as a graduation requirement (J. S. Y. Park, 2009: 42), and of Koreans who took the TOEIC exam in 2016, more than eight out of ten were re-taking the test (Educational Testing Services, 2017). It was estimated that by 2006, Koreans were spending up to $752 million a year on English proficiency tests alone (Song, 2011: 38). The question of who is able to speak English is clearly not a trivial one.
AB - Korea has long been recognized as host to an English 'fever' (Kim, 2013; J. K. Park, 2009; Shim & Park, 2008), the intensity of which is such that 'the entire nation, from the president to average citizens, is emotionally and discursively invested in globalization and English language education' (Lee, 2011: 146). Many universities have minimum TOEIC/TOEFL scores as a graduation requirement (J. S. Y. Park, 2009: 42), and of Koreans who took the TOEIC exam in 2016, more than eight out of ten were re-taking the test (Educational Testing Services, 2017). It was estimated that by 2006, Koreans were spending up to $752 million a year on English proficiency tests alone (Song, 2011: 38). The question of who is able to speak English is clearly not a trivial one.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85105462487&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S0266078417000608
DO - 10.1017/S0266078417000608
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85105462487
SN - 0266-0784
SP - 30
EP - 35
JO - English Today
JF - English Today
ER -