Patrick Killelea

C&T 491

6/17/2019

Ahn and Yoo Article Response

A resonating statement that stood out from the Isiah Woo’s paper “Nonnative Teachers in the
Expanding Circle and the Ownership of English.”

A local variety of language can develop when the language is used intranationally; an increasing number
of Koreans and Chinese are indeed learning English, but it is not the case that an increasing number of
often serves as a gatekeeping mechanism to control access to higher social status in these countries. (p.
84)

I have little doubt that for Koreans learning English is important for their future economic success. Due
to lack of natural resources, most of the Korean economy is service-based, with employees working in
the health, medical, tourism, education, finance, logistics and software fields. To succeed,
communication with foreign customers in compulsory, and these conversation are usually conducted in
English. To get a job in the service field, applicants need a high score on a language tests TOEFL or IELTS.
Sadly, there are some applicants who have the technical skills, but not the language skills. Succeeding
the TOEFL is not easy; for many it means a lifetime of language study at language academies which is
extremely costly. Students whose parents can afford it have access to the skills needed to get into good
universities and companies, whereas the students whose parents don’t have the means must settle for
less-prestigious universities and lower-paying jobs. So, English language skills in the “expanding circle”
are used to solidify the class system and limit upward mobility. This is painful to hear because a free
public school education should be the great equalizer and give students the freedom to get their dream
jobs and meet their goals. Instead, English education becomes a barrier rather than a path upward.

Random Question: I wonder if American English has always been the preferred accent in Asia, and if it is
in other parts of the world.

A resonating statement that stood out while reading Ahn’s 2014 paper which described the perceptions
of Korean English (Konglish) by English teachers living in Korea. In an interview, one said the following

I suspect I am speaking American styled KoE but I wish I spoke better English. I feel embarrassed when
foreigners do not understand my English [ . . . ] I sometimes hope they should learn KoE so that I can use
it without feeling of embarrassment’. The interviewee was not satisfied with her use of KoE, revealing her
embarrassment in using it when it became unintelligible to other FETs in Korea, yet she also showed
loyalty and attachment to KoE in her statement, wishing KoE to be acknowledged and for others to learn
it (p. 211).
There is a different interpretations of what Konglish is. I had always thought Konglish was English words
changed and to fit into the Korean language, so words like “car center” which means an auto repair shop
is call “cha centa”. However, I now think that Konglish is the way that Koreans speak English, which
includes their interlanguage or even their accents. While tutoring, I have had many conversations with
Korean parents of my students and I have learned a lot about how their attitudes towards Konglish.
Two main themes stand out: one is that they are always worried about their child’s accent, even at a
young age, and another is that they are very self-conscious of their own speaking skills and what affect
that might have on their child. For the parents of young students, I always recommended that they read
with their children, but they were reluctant to do so. Their greatest fear is that a strong Korean accent
would be a barrier in their later lives, no matter how adept they were at using the language. In the
report, one the interviewees considered Secretary of the U.N. Ban-ki-moon to be speaking “Konglish,”
which is frowned down upon by many. One problem with negative attitudes toward Konglish is that it
makes learners feel that their inter-language or their L2 speaking is forever inadequate. There are very
few speakers who are able to fully speak an L2 without an accent, and they forever feel that they are
speaking a substandard dialect even though they may be able to communicate just as effectively as any
native English speaker. Much of this discussion ties into my thoughts from Woo’s discussion of the
English language being used as a gatekeeper function. My hope is that the Koreans with non-native
accents of this generation, like Ban-ki Moon, will be able to reach their true potential.

Random question: I wonder if there is some evolutionary reason why we discriminate against others
with non-standard accents. Having a standard accent may have helped our ancient ancestors maintain
group identity and keep away outsiders.