Korea's English Education Policy Innovations to Lead the Nation into the Globalized World

This study is to historically survey the development of English language education policies in Korea to show that English education policies in Korea have developed to cultivate Korean students who are capable in a globalized world. This study has the following purposes: first, this paper surveys the origin of English education from the ending period of Chosun dynasty, and the developmental process through the Japanese Colonial period into the modern national curriculum periods. Second, this study emphasizes the development of English education policy by analyzing the 6th and the 7th national curriculum policies based on the progressive principles of educational philosophy. Based on the 6 progressive principles, this research paper can prove that English education policies in Korea have many traits for progressive orientation, which can play essential evidence for the development of English education policy. Third, this study can reveal the innovations of English education policies from the 1990s after the 6th and 7th national curriculums were reformed to direct English education in Korea appropriate for the globalized world. From the historical survey on the development of English education, we can conclude that the policies of English education in Korea have developed in the direction of cultivating the communicative competence of Korean learners. In the future, English education policies of Korea have to develop in the direction that can lead the communicative and cultural competence of Korean learners. Further, the direction of English education in the future needs to accommodate World Englishes with Korean, English as one variety of World Englishes. (Contains 1 table.)