As the world is growing further interconnected, people have more and more opportunities to tell and share their stories, experiences and opinions. To get their messages heard on a global scale, a common language is needed. So far, this honor has been bestowed upon the English language.

For those people who have not grown up with English as their native language, the importance of education is key to the future. Even though people can be, and usually are, exposed to English from an early age by consuming entertainment products, simply watching movies in English is not enough for a full comprehension of the language.
In Finland, most students begin their foreign language studies at the age of nine. In most schools, depending on their sizes, there are three choices available: English, Swedish which is the second official language of the country, and German. Most students end up studying English as their first foreign language and continue their studies until their graduation at the age of nineteen.

Communicative approach
“The focal points and methods used in this ten-year timespan vary from classroom to classroom and from school to school,” says Tanja Mertanen, a teacher of English and Swedish. “Even though there is a national curriculum for each subject taught in schools, there is a lot of freedom of choice for teachers concerning the areas they want to focus on and the methods they want to employ. Some teachers like myself, want to engage the class in spoken language by using for example, group or pair discussions.”

Discussions are also important in classes taught by Robert Smith, a professor at Kookmin University, who prefers a communicative language approach in his courses. This method, teaching by communicating, differs from the teacher centered method that Korean students might have grown accustomed to during their middle and high-school years, he points out. “The students are taught to pass a written exam, and on their university entrance exam there is no spoken exam. It is a lot of grammar testing. My classes are based on communication: Pair work, group work, and language acquisition from each other. But this method is not common for students, and for some it is the first time they encounter this method.”

However, looking back on his career at teaching, Smith says that the students are more at ease with this method now than they were when he began teaching. One of the reasons for this, he muses, is that Koreans travel more now than they did in the past.

Differences and similarities
Though from different countries and cultures, both teachers have to overcome similar obstacles. For Mertanen, noticing and taking into consideration the differences in the levels of proficiency and motivation within the groups are some of such obstacles. “There are some pupils who might be a little shy or not that interested in the language which leads to restlessness. In these instances I might give one group a spoken assignment and another, a reading or a listening one. It is all about finding the right combination for each group and for each student so that they are motivated to study.”

From Smith’s perspective, the challenge for teachers is to boost the students’ confidence and to change their attitudes towards the language where needed. “The biggest obstacle for a teacher is that the students have to be there. Maybe the students would want to study Chinese or French, to have a semester of something different. Since they have just come from high-school where they have had non-stop grammar, I have to make them interested in the language.”

Where the differences begin to show between Finland and Korea is in the number and public perception of private educational institutions. In the Finnish capital, Helsinki, the number of students enrolled in all-English schools is estimated to be about 150, comprised mostly of students whose families are bilingual. This low number can, perhaps, be explained by the free, high-standard public-schooling system which has been laid out of the cornerstones of the society.

As for Korea, the ubiquitous ‘hagwons’, which offer not only languages but also math, sports and everything in between in their curriculum, stem partly from the communal culture of Korea, according to Smith. “Also, when the Korean students first go to elementary school at international age seven, they usually finish at 1p.m., whereas in England, they finish at 3:30p.m.; so the Koreans might go to take further classes on top of their morning classes.”

Technology sets us free?
Another difference between the countries arises from their attitudes towards using multimedia and new technology. Mertanen feels that one of the adverse effects is the inability to hold on to a logical train of thought when faced with a writing assignment. “Students have grown used to word processing programs and texting from an early age. But when faced for example, with an essay which they have to do with a paper and a pencil, some have difficulties structuring them.”

On the other hand, the new technology offers some new possibilities, as Smith notes. “Kookmin University has embraced the opportunities presented by multimedia, and since the students have grown up with the new technology, I try to use them in my classes and to encourage the students to, let’s say, use the dictionaries on their phones. After all, it is a language class!”