Global Courant
SEOUL – In 2021, South Korea’s Ministry of Education took a proactive step to create a government-run curriculum for Korean language education. This was in response to the growing international demand for learning the Korean language.
Before the intervention of the central government, the selection and distribution of language courses and textbooks was mainly handled by local Korean language education centers. This raised concerns about the lack of structured content that could accommodate the varying language proficiency levels and ages of foreign students.
The government initiative launched two years ago has sought to encompass the development of textbooks and supplementary educational materials to date.
The free textbooks are distributed to students and teachers in primary and secondary schools around the world who have adopted the Korean language as an official subject.
According to the ministry’s overseas education support department, a total of 201,788 textbooks have been distributed to 28 countries in 2022.
The type and number of textbooks are issued annually in September (as many schools start their academic year that month) after conducting a demand survey, the ministry explained, adding that about 7.2 billion won (7.4 million dollars) has been spent. 2021.
The textbooks are created based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) – an international standard that describes language proficiency on a six-point scale, from A1 for beginners to C2 for those who master a language.
Currently, the textbook levels in Korean are divided into eight groups: Pre-A1, A1, A2 and A2+ for beginner levels and B1, B1+, B2 and B2+ for intermediate levels, which consist of textbooks, workbook materials and a teacher’s guide.
In 2021, the ministry collaborated with Hybe Edu, the educational technology division of Hybe, the K-pop agency that houses BTS, to develop supplementary learning materials for Korean classes in local schools. This helps students delve into Korean culture and its language more effectively.
The Korean-language textbook package with BTS is largely video-based and contains practical sentences and expressions that are useful in everyday situations. In addition to the BTS content, the additional material also covers the history, culture and society of South Korea.
The ministry has also collaborated with education authorities, teachers and language education specialists at home and abroad to compile customized Korean-language textbooks.
This aims to better meet the needs of the target learners and meet the needs of learners at different skill levels. These countries include Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Vietnam, Brazil, Uzbekistan, Thailand and the Philippines.
However, language experts pointed out that more efforts are needed to improve the quality of Korean language education worldwide.
