대학 내 새터민들의 영어 장벽: 서울소재 사립대학의 사례연구를 중심으로

Abstract

The number of North Korean defectors entering universities in the South has rapidly increased in the past decade. Their transition into the South Korean university system has been reported to be accompanied by a number of obstacles, one of which pertains to the difficulty with mandatory English classes offered in South Korean universities. The current study is an attempt to better understand the North Korean defectors’ experiences and difficulties with English classes at a South Korean university, in an attempt to better cater to their unique English-learning needs. Data were collected from 31 North Korean defectors enrolled at a private university in Seoul via means of questionnaires and interviews. The survey and interview questions were aimed at gauging the participants’ prior educational experiences including the type of English-language training they received in North Korea and after arriving in South Korea, as well as their difficulties and initial reactions to the General Education English classes offered by the university. The results revealed that the majority of students received some form of English education in the North (58%) as well as in the South (90%). Such experience notwithstanding, they still face a number of difficulties in English classes in the South Korean university system. Such difficulties may be attributed to factors such as their lack of knowledge in foundational English, inability to understand the professors’ lectures and the English textbooks, and their lack of familiarity with the format of classroom activities and midterms, among others. The results also indicated that even after taking foundational English courses especially designed for North Korean defectors, these students still face difficulties in regular English classes where they have to compete with regular South Korean students. Results are discussed with pedagogical implications.