Elite English Education in North Korea: A Multifaceted Corpus-based Comparative Analysis of English Textbooks*

Abstract

This study offers a systematic investigation into the attributes of English language instruction in North Korea’s elite high schools, utilizing a comprehensive, corpus-based method. We scrutinize various linguistic features—lexical coverage, lexical variety, lexical complexity, and syntactic complexity—that define the privileged education imparted under Kim Jong-un’s regime. The findings unearth unique traits that distinguish English education in North Korean elite schools from general high school English education in South Korea. The study exposes a limited lexical coverage and a diminished lexical variety in North Korean instructional materials. Intriguingly, North Korean resources exhibit low lexical complexity despite a pronounced focus on scientific texts. Additionally, the mean sentence length, indicative of syntactic complexity, was markedly shorter than in South Korean curricula. These findings hint at potential constraints in providing North Korean gifted students adequate exposure to intricate syntactic structures, which may, in turn, limit their proficiency in engaging with advanced English texts in future academic or professional contexts. The paper culminates with examining the implications of these results, speculating on the factors contributing to such phenomena in the context of North Korean elite education compared to South Korean regular high schools. It advocates for including a more diverse set of lexical items and sentence structures in the curriculum to enrich the learning experience of North Korea’s advanced students. © 2023 KASELL All rights reserved.