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English Medium Instruction in Korean Higher Education: Challenges and Future Directions

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English Medium Instruction in Higher Education in Asia-Pacific

Part of the book series: Multilingual Education ((MULT,volume 21))

Abstract

Korean universities started offering English-medium instruction (EMI) classes in the 1990s, and the number has significantly increased since the Korean government began providing financial support for universities in the mid-2000s. This paper attempts to examine the past, present, and future of EMI in Korean higher education using document analysis of an extensive volume of research papers, newspaper articles, books, and internet sources on EMI in Korean tertiary education. Documents related to the Korean government’s official EMI policies were also collected and analyzed. The paper discusses why and how the Korean government initiated and supported EMI implementation in Korean universities, why and how universities have adopted and implemented EMI policies, professors’ and students’ perceptions of and attitudes toward EMI, and what are considered desirable EMI methods for Korean university students. The paper concludes with some remarks about future directions that Korean universities are likely to take in relation to EMI.

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  1. School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, South Korea

    Eun Gyong Kim

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Correspondence to Eun Gyong Kim .

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  1. School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Ben Fenton-Smith

  2. Griffith English Language Institute, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Pamela Humphreys

  3. School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Ian Walkinshaw

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Kim, E.G. (2017). English Medium Instruction in Korean Higher Education: Challenges and Future Directions. In: Fenton-Smith, B., Humphreys, P., Walkinshaw, I. (eds) English Medium Instruction in Higher Education in Asia-Pacific. Multilingual Education, vol 21. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51976-0_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51976-0_4

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-51976-0

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