On December 27, 2017, the Ministry of Education in Korea published a policy intended to ban English education in public kindergartens and day-care centers. The policy instantly sparked a strong backlash from the public, who voiced concerns and opposition to it in online news comments. This study analyzed 5,815 online news comments to identify public perception of the ban in particular and early childhood English education in general. The findings revealed that the number of opponents of the ban was much larger than that of supporters (85.1% vs. 14.9%). The opponents disapproved the ban for the following reasons. First, the ban would make parents turn to private education and eventually end up widening the gap between those who can afford it and those who cannot. Second, the ban clearly infringes on the basic right to get an education. Third, English is being taught through play-based curriculum, which causes little stress and emotional burdens for children despite the concerns of the government. On the other hand, the supporters underscored the role of parents and the importance of children's native tongue to back up their arguments for the ban. Overall, this study may provide insights about how to utilize online news comments to study public perception of English education.

Recognizing English as an increasingly powerful lingua franca, many governments in East Asia have implemented English-language education at the primary school level. The zeal for teaching English to younger and younger learners extends to both within and outside of the formal education system. While there are many unique local issues, a number of challenges and issues apply across the East Asian region. In this article, I focus on three such topics: (a) the widespread belief in the increased benefit of starting English-language learning when children are very young; (b) the emergence of new instructional models in early English teaching; and (c) the growing gaps in English-language achievement by children’s socio-economic status (SES). In discussing these issues, I draw on examples from previous studies as well as my own applied linguistics research in East Asia. I conclude by offering suggestions for future research directions that will inform pedagogy and policies for early English education.

This study investigates elementary school parents’ perception concerning the starting age for early English education. Four hundred and eighty-four parents located in Seoul and Kyonggi province areas participated in this study. The questionnaire for exploring parents’ perception was used and the major findings revealed that: (1) the children who started to learn English before the official school year tend to learn English from native speakers of English; (2) about 90.9 percent of children learned English before the third grade of elementary school; (3) most parents reported that the proper starting age for learning English is 5 or 6 years although they perceived that it was not an important factor in enhancing their children’s English proficiency. These results indicate that the current status of early English education should be restructured to meet the parents’ perception and needs. Major implications will then be discussed.

The main goal of this study is to review the role of the age factor in foreign language education and to discuss its implications in Korean English education. ‘The younger, the better', under the critical period hypothesis, has recently played a critical role in the introduction of English language education to young children in Korea and the public and the govemment seem to be highly dependent upon the hypothesis when they decide children’s English education. For example, the English education program in Korean elementary schools is an offspring of this theory. This study, however, casts a doubt on the effect of age on English education by reviewing theoretical and experimental studies focusing on whether age or the critical period hypothesis is a meaningful factor to validate the early exposure of foreign language education and its following success. Findings from foreign language education in US, French immersion programs in Canada and other foreign countries and adult second language leaming and studies dealing with the critical period hypothesis were critically reviewed to provide evidences to such argument that age is not a primary factor to determine early English education in Korea. On the contrary, time or the amount of exposure to the English language should be a more critical factor in a context where a very limited exposure to the target language is only possible. A list of generalizations and implications are also provided.

본 연구는 유아영어교육에 대한 교사와 학부모의 인식을 조사하여 추후 유아영어교육이 나아갈 방향에 도움이 되는 기초자료로 제공하는데 목적이 있다. 이를 위해 K시에 근무하는 유아교육기관의 교사 250명, 학부모 250명을 대상으로 설문 조사하였으며, 수집된 자료는 SPSS 23.0 프로그램을 사용하였으며, 빈도분석, 기술통계분석, 독립표본 t검증, 카이제곱검증(x2)을 실시하였다. 연구결과, 첫째, 교사와 학부모 모두 유아영어교육이 필요하다고 인식하고 있었고 학부모의 인식이 교사의 인식보다 더욱 높게 나타났다. 둘째, 유아영어교육의 목표로 교사와 학부모 모두 영어에 대한 친밀감 갖기가 가장 높게 나타났다. 셋째, 유아영어교육의 적합한 교육방법으로 교사와 학부모는 만3~5세의 유아들에게 유아교육기관에서 주 2~3회 20분 이내 모든 유아들에게 일시적으로 실시하는 것이 가장 적합하다고 인식하고 있었다. 또한 유아영어교육의 적합한 교수법으로는 데일리루틴 교수법이 가장 높게 나타났다. 넷째, 유아영어교육의 문제점에 대한 인식은 교사와 학부모 유아의 실제 영어 활용기회 부족에 대한 인식이 가장 높았으며, 유아영어교육의 효과에 대해서는 영어에 대한 유아의 흥미와 동기유발이 증진된다는 것에 가장 높게 인식하고 있는 것으로 나타났다.