English in South Korea. The Hegemony of the English language in a university context (PDF)

Scientific Essay from the year 2019 in the subject Pedagogy - Higher Education, grade: 2,0, University of Vienna, language: English, abstract: This paper reflects upon the concept of hegemony and how post-colonialism can still be observed in the educational environment in South Korea. In this paper, I will analyse and compare previous studies to critically reflect once more upon the predominance of the English language.

International networking and globalisation have made the English language an indispensable medium of intercultural communication. At this point, English has gained the value of a status symbol. In Korean culture, this language is perceived as a sort of gateway to success and the global science community as well as to have better chances at the highly competitive job market. Therefore, Korean universities have made it their goal to aid their students by introducing language policies such as making English the official language. With internationalising campuses in Korea, the question of the hegemony of the English language arises. This paper aims to analyse how this concept of hegemony can be observed at universities in Korea, in particular, the Handong Global University and through which measures taken by the university this hegemony manifests itself.