Historical Overview of English Learning in South Korea: An Era of Economic and Cultural Prosperity from the 1990s to the 2010s

Abstract

This chapter investigates the changing role of English as a useful device for communication among South Koreans from the 1990s and 2010s. It also explores how such changes have influenced Korean students’ and parents’ attitudes toward learning and teaching English. Furthermore, it looks at how the multitude of socio-educational phenomena that occurred in South Korea, such as the introduction of elementary school English education and the TOEIC fever, changed Koreans’ perceptions of English and eventually impacted the students’ motivation to learn English. © 2021, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.