Critical foreign language education : the basis for strong national competitiveness

Koh Taejin, Director, Center for Critical Foreign Language Education at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies

1. Tell us about the ‘Center for Critical Foreign Language Education’. What is a ‘critical foreign language’? My name is Koh Taejin, and I head the Center for Critical Foreign Language Education at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.
The Center for Critical Foreign Language Education (CCFLE) was established under the “Act on the Promotion of Education of Critical Foreign Languages” (enacted February 3, 2016), which designates the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies as a specialized education institute. The purpose of the act is “providing various and specialized educational opportunities to people who wish to learn critical foreign languages and contributing to the enhancement of national competitiveness by nurturing talents with the ability to use critical foreign languages.”
Under Article 2 of the “Act on the Promotion of Education of Critical Foreign Languages”, a ‘critical foreign language’ is ‘a language prescribed by Presidential Decree as a language strategically required for national development’. Korea currently has 53 designated critical languages.

2. Recently, the KSIF and the CCFLE came together to provide critical foreign language education to Korean language educators dispatched to critical foreign language-speaking regions. Why do Korean language educators need to learn the local tongue of the critical foreign language locales they are dispatched to? For a foreigner, Korean is learned, not acquired. A learner’s mother tongue is often the biggest obstacle to learning a foreign language.
In the case of foreigners learning Korean as a second language, learners in the same linguistic sphere often have similar errors in pronunciation and grammar. Understanding the local tongue is a good approach to being able to analyze and understand these errors.
Educators having a knowledge of their mother tongue not only helps Korean language learners improve their language capacity, but also helps the educators themselves communicate better with their learners through knowledge of their language, an important part of their culture. The CCFLE is engaged in cultural education as well as local language training, helping educators adapt to unfamiliar environments and understand cultural differences.

3. From the perspective of a learner of Korean at a King Sejong Institute, Korean could be a ‘critical foreign language’ too. What is the significance of learning a ‘critical foreign language’? Education in critical foreign languages is supported through various policies and institutions in the advanced countries like the USA, the EU, the UK and also Japan, with the aim of bolstering national competitiveness and national security. Of course, these other countries lack legislation to stipulate the scope of ‘critical foreign languages’, making it unclear which countries are considered ‘critical’ in each, but in the case of the United States, Korean is one of the key critical foreign languages and is being taught through a variety of programs.
In other words, the circumstances of each country determine the definition and concept of ‘critical’ foreign languages. Indeed, the definition of a critical language differs between the state and individual levels as well.
To those who are learning Korean because they like Korean culture and BTS, Korean is a special, not critical, foreign language.
Those who are learning Korean because of the strategic importance of the Korean peninsula and the strength of the Korean economy, the same language would be ‘critical’.

4. The faculty at King Sejong Institutes teach the Korean language to local foreigners.
To locals, Korean may be perceived as a ‘difficult foreign language’. As a foreign language educator, what aspects do you consider most important when teaching foreign language? Numerous races and nations are represented in the world, but ultimately we all fall under the species ‘Homo Sapiens’. Likewise, while there are thousands of tongues out there, they are all ultimately languages. Though they all have different grammar and sound systems, all languages ultimately have subjects and verbs, and consonants and vowels are universal.
Because these components manifest in different forms in different languages, we classify and categorize them typologically, and group them in terms of how different they are grammatically. The latent effect of the mother tongue in every speaker’s head makes learning a foreign language a difficult task no matter who you are. But acquisition of language by children is a completely different process. There is no latent effect, and no specificity. The process of acquiring and learning a mother tongue is purely creative. That is why the act of learning a language must center on communication. If we make mistakes along the way, so what?
Yes, there are a variety of languages. But humans have a strong desire to communicate. So what if we lose a bit of specificity in the process? There are times when it helps not co compare a new language against one’s native tongue. Sometimes we need to just accept how a language is, and move on. In other words, rather than always try to understand languages using precise, mathematical yardsticks, we sometimes need to just accept things the way they are. That said, the former approach still works in the context of language proficiency evaluations. That is, the grand institution of tests. There really is no one correct answer to foreign language education and learning.

5. Any words of advice for the King Sejong Institutes, or thoughts on future directions? The KSIs in all corners of the globe are playing an instrumental role in teaching and proliferating Korean language and culture. They provide professional and systematic services, including learner-centric education, online learning, and development of tailored contents, and are becoming established as institutions not only of learning but also of communication.
When I was in India, I found the KSIs in the country to be as competent and popular as any Korean language department in their universities.
However, if we are to have the beauty of Korean language and culture, as well as our excellent Hangeul writing system penetrate farther and deeper into the world, we need to better understand the languages and cultures of our target countries. The Hankuk University of Foreign Studies boasts an unparalleled wealth of knowledge and experience of regional languages and cultures, giving us a substantial advantage in this department.
I hope to see the CCFLE and KSIF work closer together in the future not only in providing language and cultural education to Korean educators dispatched abroad, but also in programs to make Korean a pluricentric language, joint development of online contents, and the building and utilization of local networks.