Understanding the Importance of English Education in South Korea and Exploring the Reasons Why South Korean Students Come to a University in the Midwest

The future occupation preferences of Korean students. Fifteen out of 30 
Korean students stated that they want to work for the following organizations: Korean 

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conglomerate companies, such as Samsung, Hyundai, and LG; public enterprises, such as 
Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPC), Korea Water Resource Corporation (KWRC), 
Incheon International Airport (IIA), and so forth; foreign companies, such as Google 
Korea, IBM Korea, 3M Korea, and so forth; and Non Profit International Organizations 
(NPIO), such as the United Nations (UN), Organization for Economic Cooperation and 
Development (OECD), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 
(UNESCO), and so forth.
Seven out of 30 Korean students indicated that they want to pursue specialized 
jobs, such as Certified Public Accountant (CPA), pharmacist, news reporter, psychologist, 
fund manager, and musical actress. In addition, 4 out of 30 Korean students look forward 
to being English teachers at public schools or private institutes.
The rank of English education in Korea and the United States. Figure 1 
shows 11 out of the 30 Korean students ranked English education in Korea at 6 out of 10.
Seven out of 30 Korean students gave a score of 4 out of 10 and 5 out of 30 Korean 
students gave a score of 3 out of 10 for English education in Korea. In addition, 4 out of 
30 Korean students ranked English education in Korea at 7 out of 10, and 3 out of 30 
Korean students gave a score of 5 out of 10 for English education in Korea.
As described above, they strongly believed that English education in Korea has 
not been effectively and efficiently taught because they did not have enough opportunity

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Figure 1.
Rank of the Quality of English education in Korea.
to properly learn English speaking and writing skills through the public schools and the 
private institutes. Instead, the 30 Korean students mentioned that they were forced by 
their English teachers to intensively study English reading, grammar, and vocabulary 
skills through English education in Korea. One of 30 Korean students, Dorothy, stated: 
Actually, I studied a little bit of English speaking through my high school and 
college, and I thought that I could speak English with American students.
However, at the beginning of semester, it was very difficult for me to 
communicate with my American friends because of the lack of English speaking 
skills and the different English word choices than what I used to learn English in 
Korea. One time my friend said to me, ‘I am getting married,’ and I replied back 
to her, ‘Are you expecting?’ Then, my American friend said to me, ‘What did you 
say to me? Did you say expecting? I am not pregnant.’ During this conversation, 
I was so confused because I did not know the practical meaning of ‘expecting.’ I 
only knew about the dictionary meaning of ‘expecting.’ After my friend 
explained about the actual meaning of ‘expecting,’ I fully understood that 
meaning. Because of this kind of experience, I frequently thought that my