The Current State of Korean Language Education in Australian Schools
Seong-Chul Shin PhD
School of Languages and Linguistics, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, The University of New South Wales
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The Current State of Korean Language Education in Australian Schools
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Contents
List of Tables
List of Graphs
List of Acronyms
Executive Summary
Context and Purpose
Key Findings
Recommendations
1	Introduction
1.1	Background to the Report
1.2	Aims, Objectives and Method
1.3	The Korean Language
1.4	Brief History of Korean Language Education in Australian Schools
1.5	Issues Concerning Teaching Korean
2	Provision and Participation
2.1	Schools and Programs
	2.1.1	Numbers, Types and Trends
	2.1.2	Programs
	2.1.3	Time Allocation
	2.1.4	Proficiency Levels
	2.1.5	Curriculum and Resources
	2.1.6	Supporting Programs with Partnerships
2.2	Student Participation
	2.2.1	Student Numbers
	2.2.2	Background of Students
	2.2.3	Year 12 Certificate Enrolments
	2.2.4	International Baccalaureate
2.3	Teachers
	2.3.1	Teacher Number and Availability
	2.3.2	Background and Qualifications of Teachers
	2.3.3	Language Competence
	2.3.4	Teacher Training Programs
	2.3.5	Professional Learning
	2.3.6	Korean Teacher Networks
	2.3.7	External Support
3	Discussion of Key Issues and Strategies for Change
3.1	The Rationale for Korean Language
3.2	Teacher Supply and Quality
	3.2.1	Teacher Mobility
	3.2.2	Native Speaking Language Assistants
	3.2.3	Itinerant Teacher Initiative
3.3	Development of Resource Materials
3.4	Online Delivery and New Technologies
3.5	Support Networks
3.6	School Clusters
4	Case Studies of Exemplary Practice
Case Study 1 Pedagogy – Korean through iPods
Case Study 2 ‘Plant a School’ Program
Case Study 3 Clustering of Schools – A Regional Approach
Case Study 4 School-based Awareness Raising
5	Recommendations for Change
6	Conclusion
7	References
8	Appendices
Appendix 1: Statistical Data Graphs
Appendix 2: An Example of Interview Questions
Consultation List
Acknowledgements
List of Tables
Table 1	Number of Schools Offering Korean in Australia by State, Territory and Type 2009
Table 2	Number of Schools Offering Korean in Australia by State, Territory and Type 2000–2009
Table 3	Number of Australian International Baccalaureate Schools Offering Korean 2000–2009
Table 4	Type and Focus of Korean Programs
Table 5	Weekly Time Allocation for Korean per Course/Class
Table 6	Expectant Proficiency Levels
Table 7	Korean Compared with All NALSSP Enrolments, 2008
Table 8	Total Number of Students Currently (2009) Taking Korean in Australian Schools
Table 9	Number of Students Taking Korean in ACT by School Level 1999–2009
Table 10	Number of Students Taking Korean in NSW by School Level 2000–2009
Table 11	Number of Students in NSW Saturday School of Community Languages 2007–2009
Table 12	Number of Korean Enrolments in Qld by School Level 2005–2009
Table 13	Number of Students Taking Korean in SA (SL), 2003–2009
Table 14	Number of Students Studying Korean in SA Government and Ethnic Schools 2001–2009
Table 15	Number of Students Taking Korean in Vic by School Level 2007–2009
Table 16	Number of Secondary Korean Enrolments in Vic Government Schools by School Level 1998–2007
Table 17	Number of Vic Students Who Completed VCE Korean 2001–2008
Table 18	Background of Students of Korean
Table 19	Year 12 Enrolments 2009
Table 20	Trends in Year 12 Enrolments 2001–2008
Table 21	Number of IB Students Taking Korean 2000–2009
Table 22	Number of Teachers of Korean in Australian Schools
Table 23	Cultural Background of Teachers
Table 24	Number of Teachers with Australian Teacher Qualifications
List of Graphs
Graph 1	Number of Schools Offering Korean in Australia by State and Territory 2009
Graph 2	Number of Primary and Secondary Schools Offering Korean in Australia
Graph 3	Number of Schools Offering Korean in Australia by State, Territory and Type 2009
Graph 4	Number of Schools Offering Korean in Australia 2000–2009
Graph 5	Number of Australian International Baccalaureate Schools Offering Korean 2000–2009
Graph 6	Weekly Time Allocation for Korean
Graph 7	Korean Compared with NALSSP Enrolments by Number 2008
Graph 8	Korean with NALSSP Enrolments by Percentage 2008
Graph 9	Number of Students Taking Korean in Australian Schools 2009
Graph 10	Number of Students Taking Korean by School Type 2009
Graph 11	Number of ACT Students Taking Korean by School Level 1999–2009
Graph 12	Number of Students Taking Korean in NSW by School Level 2000–2009
Graph 13	Number of Students in NSW Saturday School of Community Languages 2007–2009
Graph 14	Number of Korean Enrolments in Qld by School Level 2005–2009
Graph 15	Number of Students Taking Korean in SA 2003–2009
Graph 16	Number of Students Studying Korean in SA Government and Ethnic Schools 2001–2009
Graph 17	Number of Students Taking Korean in Vic by School Level 2007–2009
Graph 18	Number of Secondary Korean Enrolments in Vic Government Schools by School Level 1998–2007
Graph 19	Number of Vic Students Who Completed VCE Korean 2001–2008
Graph 20	Background of Students of Korean
Graph 21	Year 12 Enrolments 2009
Graph 22	Background of Year 12 Students 2009
Graph 23	Trends in Year 12 Enrolments 2001–2008
Graph 24	Number of IB Students Taking Korean 2000–2009
Graph 25	Number of Teachers of Korean in Australian Schools
Graph 26	Cultural Background of Teachers of Korean
Graph 27	Cultural Background of Teachers by State, Territory and School Level
Graph 28	Teachers with Australian Teacher Qualifications
List of Acronyms
AEF	Asia Education Foundation
AEU	Australian Education Union
AHES	After Hours Ethnic Schooling program
AIS	Association of Independent Schools
AKF	Australia-Korea Foundation
AKTV	Association of Korean Teachers in Victoria
APEC	Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (organisation)
ATAR	Australian Tertiary Admission Rank
ANU	The Australian National University
BOS	Board of Studies
BSSS	Board of Senior Secondary Studies (ACT)
CEC	Community Education Centre
CEO	Catholic Education Office
CLOTE	Community Languages Other Than English
DECS	Department of Education and Children’s Services
DEEWR	Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
DET	Department of Education and Training
FL	First Language
HSC	Higher School Certificate (NSW)
IB	International Baccalaureate
KAREC	Korea-Australasia Research Centre
KB	Korean Background (native) students
KEC	Korean Education Centre
KF	Korea Foundation
KH	Korean Heritage students
KNST	Korean Native-Speaker Teacher
KOLSA	Korean Language and Studies Association
KOLTA	Korean Language Teachers Association (NSW)
LOTE	Languages Other Than English
MLTA	Modern Language Teachers Association
MWP	Ministerial Working Party
NALSAS	National Asian Languages and Studies in Australian Schools
NALSSP	National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Program
NIIE	National Institute of International Education
NIKL	National Institute of the Korean Language
NKB	Non-Korean Background
NKBT	Non-Korean Background Teacher
OP	Overall Performance
PD	Professional Development
SACE	South Australian Certificate of Education
SL	Second Language
SSCL	Saturday School of Community Languages
TOPIK	Test of Proficiency in Korean
VCE	Victorian Certificate of Education
VELS	Victorian Essential Learning Standards
VSL	Victorian School of Languages
WHO	World Health Organisation
WTO	World Trade Organisation

Executive Summary
Context and Purpose
The Korean language is spoken in the Korean peninsula and Korean-speaking communities in other parts of the world. The language:
•	has about 80 million speakers including approximately 150,000 residents and long-term stayers in Australia
•	has, arguably, one of the easiest and yet most scientific alphabets in the world, and the only script in human history whose inventor and the exact date of invention are known.
The Republic of Korea (South Korea), in particular:
•	has strong economic, political and strategic partner relationships with Australia
•	is Australia’s major export market and two-way trading partner
•	has multinational companies that are major sponsors of Australia’s biggest and most popular sports such as rugby, football and tennis
•	is a leading researcher and manufacturer of high- tech commodities such as semiconductors
•	has one of the fastest and highest broadband penetration rates in the world
•	has produced a number of heads of world organisations, including WTO, WHO and the current UN Secretary-General
•	is the co-founder of the APEC concept with Australia and is one of its firmest supporters
•	is a key player of G20, a newly formed group of leading world countries
•	has made significant contributions to humankind as recognised by international organisations such as UNESCO.
The Korean peninsula has a rich and proud history and is home to a resilient and well educated people with a unique cultural tradition in north-east Asia. To continue to develop the current relationship between Australia and the Korean peninsula for future economic, cultural and social benefit, Australians who communicate at an appropriate level in Korean and possess an in-depth understanding of Korean culture and society are required. Data from 2008 indicates that a mere 0.1 per cent of Australian school students studied Korean or Korea-related subjects and of students at Year 12 nationally, only 0.1 per cent take Korean, of which more than 97 per cent are Korean L1 background or Heritage speakers (Reference to footnote 1) and less than 5 per cent have learned Korean as a second language.
Footnote 1 In this document ‘L1’ refers to first/native speakers of a language who have also mostly or completely been educated in that language; ‘L2’ to speakers who have acquired or are acquiring a second language. ‘Heritage speakers’ speak the language at home but are educated and live in a country where another language is the lingua franca.
Given this context, the Australian Government’s National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Program (NALSSP) offers a timely and welcomed intervention to support the teaching and learning of Korean language in each state and territory. Several promising projects and initiatives funded through the NALSSP are currently underway, each with potential to consolidate and advance existing programs, and to support incremental growth of new programs. The project being led by the University of New South Wales under the NALSSP’s Strategic Collaboration and Partnership Fund, establishment of a Korean bilingual school and development of distance education materials for delivery of online Korean programs in NSW are each positive steps forward.
While these developments are cause for optimism, a scan of the key activities and strategies to be funded by states and territories through NALSSP indicates that Korean is significantly underrepresented in relation to the other three target NALSSP languages (Chinese, Indonesian and Japanese), illustrating the vulnerable space that Korean language fills in the Australian school education context.
Key Findings
This report is the outcome of research undertaken to investigate the current state and issues of Korean language programs in Australian schools. It intends to support the NALSSP by providing education systems nationally with baseline data and recommendations for future action supporting Korean language teaching.
Main Issues
•	There is a noticeable ambiguity about the importance and place of Korean language in schools. The current status of Korean as a small candidature language, while at the same time identified as a major priority of the Australian Government, provides policy makers and practitioners with significant challenges. On one level the language is supported nationally through Australian Government initiatives such as the NALSSP and NALSAS (National Asian Languages and Studies in Australian Schools) strategies, yet it receives varied commitment at state and territory education system level and low take-up in schools. Recent evidence of this ambiguity can be found in the Australian Education Review (Lo Bianco 2009) which proposes Korean be categorised as a language of ‘Tier 2’ level importance.
•	Provision of, and participation in, Korean language programs nationally is alarmingly low. Currently there are approximately 3,000 Korean Heritage speakers nationally not studying Korean in their secondary years, mainly due to an absence of courses that are suitable for their unique needs. To support the NALSSP target of increasing the number of Year 12 completions by 2020, provision of suitable curriculum for the large untapped pool of Korean Heritage speakers is a priority.
•	Mainstream awareness of Korea, and the profile of Korean language, is very low, even in places where a relatively large Korean community has been formed (for example, metropolitan Sydney). This has implications in terms of building demand for Korean language in schools, particularly among L2 learners.
•	Strategies that specifically target increasing the L2 student cohort studying Korean are a priority. In contrast to Japanese and Indonesian, at Year 12, Korean is overwhelmingly undertaken by L1 learners with less than 5 per cent of students L2 learners.
Schools
•	There are 49 schools teaching Korean in Australia (2009). Nine of these schools offer Korean through the International Baccalaureate program. Forty schools teach Korean during normal or after school hours.
•	Most schools teaching Korean are government schools (33 or 67.3 per cent). Twenty-six schools (53 per cent of the total 49 schools and 78.7 per cent of the 33 government schools) are day schools offering Korean within normal school hours. Remaining schools are government-run special language schools offering languages on Saturdays or after school hours.
Students
•	The number of students studying Korean in 2009 was just over 4,000 (approximately 0.1 per cent of all K–12 Australian school students) and includes 322 Year 12 students, also approximately 0.1 per cent of all Year 12 students.
•	Korean had approximately 0.5 per cent of total NALSSP language enrolments K–12 and 1.5 per cent of the NALSSP Year 12 enrolments (2008). Chinese had 14.5 per cent of K–12 NALSSP enrolments, Indonesian almost 30 per cent and Japanese 55 per cent.
•	In 2009, 100 per cent of Year 12 students taking Korean in NSW, SA and Vic (the states which offer it) were Korean L1 students. In past years, the L1 cohort at Year 12 has been around 95 per cent, with only a few Heritage speaker students.
•	Most students (78.4 per cent) at junior secondary level discontinue their study of Korean at senior secondary level due to the absence of suitable courses, a lack of qualified, skilled teachers, no clear pathways for continuation of studies and approaches to curriculum delivery that are not engaging and connected to students’ interests.
•	Four groups of Korean learners in three categories at senior secondary levels have been identified (Reference to footnote 2): Korean L2 (Beginners and Continuers), Korean Heritage speakers and Korean L1 Background Speakers. Each learning cohort has particular requirements and needs its own curriculum and assessment framework. National recognition is a precondition for the development of these curriculum and assessment structures.
Footnote 2 At senior secondary level, ‘Beginners’ commence the study of Korean in Year 11 for the first time in the classroom setting; ‘Continuers’ are students who continue the study of Korean in Years 11–12 from junior high or post-compulsory.
•	Locally educated Korean Heritage speakers who would benefit from pursuing their home language are deterred from doing so by having to compete with students who have been raised and largely educated in Korean.
Resources
•	There is a shortage of quality teaching resources available to support existing programs. Most resources used for Korean programs in primary and secondary schools are outdated, culturally inappropriate or lacking in quality.
Teachers
•	In 2009, there were 69 teachers of Korean in primary and secondary schools across the country, the majority (83 per cent) of whom are Korean Native speaker teachers. Nationally, there is a very limited supply of non-native speaking teachers of Korean and pockets of oversupply of native speaking teachers (for example, NSW).
•	While there are excellent exceptions, many teachers of Korean are not adequately prepared for the work they do. Korean L1 teachers have little problem with Korean language competence; however, in areas such as intercultural understanding of the Australian educational context, pedagogical practices and the development of their English competencies, they lack knowledge and training. The language proficiency of L2 teachers of Korean is largely at the Beginner to Lower Intermediate level.
•	There are only occasional or short-term training opportunities for teachers and even those programs are limited in their quantity and duration compared to desirable professional standards.
Support Networks
•	There are small-scale networks operating among Korean L1 teachers around Sydney and Melbourne but there are no nationwide associations for teachers of Korean and the integration of L1 and L2 teachers is virtually nonexistent. In particular, Korean L2 teachers, mostly working in regional or country towns, have been neglected in terms of collegial support, external support and networking opportunities.
•	There is no centralised organisation actively coordinating, initiating and supporting Korean language education in Australia.
Recommendations
The report recommends changes to support Korean language program provision and participation based on the following strategies.
1	National Leadership and Advocacy
A Korean Language Working Party should be established immediately, consisting of representatives from education systems, the tertiary sector, Australian and Korean government agencies and Korean language teachers. A key task of the Working Party will be to develop a five-year strategic plan for provision of Korean language programs and to provide high-level program advice. The strategic plan and advice needs to focus on each of the change recommendations outlined in this report.
•	The Working Party should oversee a project that leads advocacy and championing of Korean language programs nationally. Despite Korean being an Australian Government priority language through initiatives such as NALSAS and the current NALSSP, a strengthened vision for Korean language is required at education system and school levels. There is an urgent need for nationally coordinated advocacy of Korean language teaching.
•	The Working Party should oversee a project to articulate the rationale(s) for the study of Korean language in Australian schools. The very low demand for Korean derives in part from a lack of community understanding of the importance of the Korean language and the rationale must encompass the economic, strategic and sociocultural relevance of the Korean peninsula to Australia’s future, as well as the intrinsic educational value of the learning process.
2	Supporting Program Provision
Education authorities need to take action to support the large untapped pool of Korean Heritage speakers to complete Korean at Year 12. An immediate doubling of current Year 12 enrolments from 320 to around 700 is both realistic and feasible through support of this cohort. Achieving this will involve the following.
•	Official recognition nationally that there are four groups of Korean learners in three categories at senior secondary level, all of whom require separate curriculum and assessment frameworks.
•	The immediate development of new teaching and learning print and electronic resources for all levels and types of learners that engage students in novel ways, maximise the possibilities offered through new technologies and provide students with experience in using, hearing and experimenting with the language in formal and non-formal settings.
•	The incremental growth of the L2 cohort remains a priority and requires a targeted and sufficiently resourced strategy. Growth should be based on each state and territory supporting one or more small clusters of schools (‘lighthouse schools’) to teach Korean. Some of these clusters will necessarily be new, others building on current clusters (for example, Qld, NSW). If well supported, this growth is both sustainable and a model for other small candidature languages.
3	Addressing Professional Learning Needs
There must be a renewed commitment to sufficiently support the professional learning needs of the two different cohorts of Korean teachers.
•	L1 teachers are already proficient in Korean. They require support to develop their teaching methodologies to better suit the Australian educational context. This is an area of Korean language teachers’ professional learning that has been insufficiently addressed.
•	L2 teachers are usually well equipped with methodology that suits Australian school contexts but their Korean proficiency levels are, at best, Lower to Intermediate. This affects student outcomes and teachers’ own sense of professional standing. Professional learning must include onshore and offshore opportunities.
4	Partnerships with Korean Schools
To further support program provision, a project should be established to ensure Australian schools teaching Korean have direct partnerships with schools in Korea. On current program numbers this would involve up to 50 partnerships. The project will require collaboration from Australian and Korean government and education agencies.
1	Introduction
1.1	Background to the Report
Key stakeholders (education systems, principals, teachers, parents and students) require specific information and baseline data on the current status of Korean language in Australian schools if the NALSSP target of doubling the number of Year 12 students undertaking Korean language by 2020 is to be achieved.
While many of the issues hindering provision of quality Korean language programs are well known and shared by other languages, these issues have been mostly documented in other research projects. This report highlights issues and change strategies specific to Korean language, some of which will be relevant for other small candidature languages.
1.2	Aims, Objectives and Method
The report aims to provide an evidence-based analysis of issues from which stakeholders can draw on as they work towards practices and programs that result in more students undertaking and continuing Korean to Year 12. The following specific objectives are addressed.
•	Present, analyse and discuss the latest available statistical information on Korean language study in schools (schools, teachers and students).
•	Describe factors that support or strengthen Korean language programs in schools.
•	Describe factors and issues that limit or hinder the success of Korean language programs in schools.
•	Provide case studies and a literature review to identify exemplary or promising practices in Korean language education.
•	Offer support strategies specific to Korean language education in the current education environment.
To undertake the research, five steps were taken.
•	Review recent evaluation reports, relevant Australian and international research on Korean language education, policy statements, curriculum and syllabus documents, units of work, guidelines and resource materials.
•	Gather statistical data to understand the uptake of Korean – the number and nature of schools, students and teachers – through correspondence, meetings in person or public sources such as website information.
•	Carry out interviews with representatives from state and territory education systems, principals, Korean teacher associations, academics and other representatives from the Korean community to identify issues or factors that promote and hinder success in the Korean language.
•	Further examine some cases of exemplary or promising practices in Korean language education in depth and review current literature that identifies such practices in other countries.
•	Develop strategies and models specific to Korean that may assist in strengthening Korean as a sustainable program.
1.3	The Korean Language
The Korean language is spoken by about 80 million people, including at least 6 million overseas Koreans, making it the 11th largest spoken language in the world (Sohn, 1999). It is the official language of both communist North Korea (22 million) and democratic South Korea (48 million), the latter possessing a strong economic and strategic relationship with Australia. Korean is also the native language of about 150,000 people living in the Korean community throughout Australia. In terms of genealogical classification, many linguists place Korean in the Altaic language family along with Japanese. Korean is grammatically quite similar to Japanese (although they are not mutually intelligible) so speakers of one language can learn the other language relatively easily. In terms of language acquisition, Korean is a character-based language that is regarded as requiring more instruction time for English L1 speakers to learn than European or Roman letter- based languages. However, anecdotal evidence has shown that the personal achievements of students in language proficiency are more closely related to individual factors and educational environments.
1.4	Brief History of Korean Language Education in Australian Schools
It was only in the late 1980s that Korean started to gain recognition in Australian language policy documents such as the National Policy on Languages (Lo Bianco, 1987) and NSW’s State Language Policy (MWP 1988), and government-commissioned reports such as the ‘Garnaut Report’ (Australia and Northeast Asian Ascendancy, 1989). With recommendations from these policy documents and reports, a series of Korean curriculum and syllabus documents were developed through the National Korean Curriculum Project which started initially in the ACT, then transferred to NSW (Board of Studies) in the early 1990s.
During the early to mid 1990s, Australian schools began teaching Korean in NSW and the ACT, then in Vic. By the mid 1990s, a number of significant curriculum and delivery projects such as Korean Using Technology (NSW DET) were undertaken while tertiary and secondary Korean programs were supported by organisations such as the National Korean Studies Centre (defunct after five years of operation). After over 15 years of various development stages from the early 1990s to the mid-2000s, summarised as ‘honeymoon, adjustment and the fight-for-survival’ periods (Shin S-C, 2006), the current state of Korean language in schools gives cause for concern. Data shows that Korean is ranked 14th in terms of the number of enrolments in language courses in Australian schools. The total number of students studying Korean is very low (around 4,000 students, or 0.1 per cent of all Australian school students, 2009; and approximately 0.5 per cent of NALSSP enrolments, 2008). Much work needs to be done to address what is hindering the advancement of Korean in mainstream Australian schools. The Australian Government’s NALSSP strategy has presented an excellent opportunity for Korean language to renew and revitalise its status by nurturing new programs to new schools while nurturing and providing support to existing Korean language programs and consolidating existing programs.

1.5	Issues Concerning Teaching Korean
The NALSAS Taskforce (1998) identified factors working against primary and secondary Korean programs, such as funding restrictions, limited pool of teacher availability, background teachers’ teaching style, lack of appropriate classroom resources, lack of relevance to students, absence of appropriate courses for specific groups of students and competing priorities such as time and subject choices. It also pointed out that Korean programs based on technology, such as Korean Using Technology, make them vulnerable and are questionable for the long-term sustainability since such programs carry significant resource and infrastructure implications. Other important issues the study raised included a lack of promotional activities, a lack of continuity from feeder schools and tensions between Background and non-Background speakers of Korean.
Erebus Consulting Partners Project Team (2002a) found that Korean has been small in enrolment numbers and growth over time nationally, and warned implicitly that Korean needs to attain sufficient critical mass to be self-sustaining if it is to retain focused national support.
In his keynote address, a former Ambassador to Korea, Mack Williams (2002), maintained that the images of Korea in the Australian mass media (and vice versa) tend to be dominated by negative connotations. This has slowly improved with the emergence of more positive images in both countries due to a significant increase in human interaction, the impact of Korean consumer goods in the Australian market and a generational change. At the same time, Williams recognised there are more challenges ahead to correct the stereotypes that still exist, suggesting that education must play a major role in this and the prime targets should be the young generations of both countries.
Shin S-C and Baik (2002) presented key findings of a survey study on Korean teacher training needs.
•	Non-Korean teachers are more interested in language training programs to improve their Korean language skills, while Korean Native speaker teachers are more interested in teaching methodologies and resource development.
•	A graduate diploma or certificate program that can be offered as an ongoing in-service program to refresh teachers’ knowledge of language teaching methodologies and to upgrade their qualifications is desirable.
•	Given the number of restrictions, such as time and geographical distance, such programs are more feasible when a combination of distance education (for example, e-learning) during the school terms and an intensive on-campus face-to-face mode during the school break is provided.
•	The program should include both theories and practice, with greater emphasis on aspects which focus on practical application of theories and an immediate use in the classroom.
Lee (2003) examined the teaching of foreign languages in secondary schools in the US with particular reference to the US Korean Language Pilot Flagship program, mandated by the American National Flagship Language Initiative aimed at producing speakers with ‘Professional Working Proficiency’. This initiative can be viewed as the equivalent to the Australian Government’s NALSSP strategy. Lee estimated that a minimum of 1,320 hours (or 11 years of study based on four hours per week) are required for average students to reach that level of proficiency, and argues that such a level of proficiency is not achievable within the US secondary curriculum. Lee, while recognising the importance of promoting the teaching of Korean to non-Korean background students, argues that secondary Korean programs are more realistic, effective and beneficial when they focus on the large pool of Korean heritage students who have already reached a considerable level of proficiency, especially at receptive skills.
Sohn (2005) listed six benefits that Korean heritage students will gain when they learn Korean: contribution to their communities; confidence with identity issues; individual competitiveness; academic performance; proficiency attainment; and career opportunities.
As strategies to advance Korean language education in Australia, Shin S-C (2006) made recommendations in eight areas, including: the necessity to form an action group to prepare a short- and long-term plan that specifies feasible strategies to increase enrolments in Korean and advance Korean programs; the need to undertake promotional activities not just focused on a trade relationship but, more importantly, on human interactions with sociocultural relevance; and the need to encourage Heritage speaker students to undertake Korean in regular educational systems.
Byon (2008) outlined four factors that have contributed to the recent growth of Korean language programs in the US: South Korea’s increasing visibility in the international community; the increasing Korean-American population; the continuing support from the Korean government; and the US government’s bilingual and foreign language policy. As ways of improving the profile of Korean programs, Byon raised two important issues: students and parents (especially Korean-Americans) need to be aware of the importance of bilingual and bi- cultural competence; and the necessity of active communication and cooperation among community schools, K–12 schools and universities, preferably in the form of a national body.

2	Provision and Participation
2.1	Schools and Programs
2.1.1	Numbers, Types and Trends
Table 1 shows the current (2009) number of schools offering Korean in Australia by state and type. In this data, ethnic schools run by ethnic community organisations are not included unless they offer Korean as an approved school certificate curriculum (for example, VCE). (Reference to footnote 3)
Footnote 3: P = Primary school; S = Secondary school/centre; E = Ethnic school.
Table 1: Number of Schools Offering Korean in Australia by State, Territory and Type 2009
School Type	Number of Schools	
ACT	
Government	1	1S	
Catholic	0		
Independent	1	1P	
NSW	
Government	24	13P + 11S	
Catholic	0		
Independent	0		
International Baccalaureate	2	2IB	
NT	
Government	0		
Catholic	0		
Independent	0		
Qld	
Government	5	4P + 1S	
Catholic	1	1P	
Independent	2	2S	
SA	
Government	1	1S	
Catholic	0		
Independent	0		
International Baccalaureate	3	3IB	
Tas	
Government	0		
Catholic	1	1P	
Independent	0		
Vic	
Government	2	1P + 1S	
Catholic	1	1P	
Independent	0		
Ethnic (Reference to footnote 4)	1	1E	
International Baccalaureate	4	4IB	
WA	
Government	0		
Catholic	0		
Independent	0		
TOTAL	49	22P + 17S +1E + 9IB	

Footnote 4: One Korean ethnic school offering VCE Korean
The state with the highest number of schools teaching Korean is NSW, where Korean is offered at 26 schools. Within the government school sector, Korean is offered at 19 day schools, four different centres of the Saturday School of Community Languages (SSCL) and one open high school through distance education programs. With more than 120,000 residents and long-term stayers of Korean background living in Sydney alone, it is not surprising that NSW dominates these statistical accounts.
In Qld, Korean language is taught at four government primary schools, one government high school, one Catholic primary school and two independent secondary schools. The Qld model of supporting Korean language through school cluster arrangements has proven to be successful and offers a model for other states and territories and for other small candidature languages.
In Vic, the number of schools offering Korean at secondary level has diminished significantly over the past five years. Currently, only the Victorian School of Languages (VSL) offers Korean for secondary students. An additional VCE program is offered through an ethnic school. In the primary years, only two schools are offering Korean.

Table 2: Number of Schools Offering Korean in Australia by State, Territory and Type 2000–2009
	Level	Type	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	
ACT	Prim.	Independent					1	1	1	1	1	1	
	Sec.	Government	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	
	Total	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	
NSW	Prim.	Government	7	6	6	8	10	9	9	12	11	13	
	Sec.	Government	21	15	13	11	10	9	8	10	12	11	
	Total	28	21	19	19	20	18	17	22	23	24	
Qld	Prim.	Government	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	
		Catholic									1	1	
	Sec.	Government	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	
		Independent	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	
	Total	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	7	8	8	
SA	Sec.	Government		1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	
	Total		1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	
Tas	Prim.	Total										1	
Vic	Prim.	Government	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	
		Catholic				1	1	1	1	1	1	1	
	Sec.	Government	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	1	1	1	
		Independent	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	
		Ethnic	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	
	Total	6	6	6	7	7	7	7	5	4	4	
TOTAL	41	35	33	34	36	34	34	37	38	40	

In SA, Tas and ACT there are only one or two schools offering programs at either primary, secondary, or college level.
Table 2 shows the trends in the number of Australian primary and secondary schools teaching Korean over the past 10 years (2000–2009). IB schools are not included. They are shown in Table 3.
Korean language education in Australia has traditionally had a very low base. The total number of schools teaching Korean in Australia is extremely small compared to other NALSSP languages and has not increased for the past 10 years. The only state that has increased the number of schools teaching Korean over the past decade is Qld.
Of note is that IB schools offering Korean have increased in the past 10 years. With only one school prior to 2000 offering Korean through the IB, there are now nine schools doing so.
Interestingly, the increase of IB schools in Vic has coincided with the closure of Korean programs in three secondary schools in the 2005–2007 period, suggesting perhaps that schools offering IB programs have filled a ‘gap’ in the marketplace for students wanting to study Korean. Also notable is that there has been an increase in enrolments of Korean Background Speaker students in private schools in Vic, NSW and in SA. These schools offer Korean through the IB program.
Table 3: Number of Australian International Baccalaureate Schools Offering Korean 2000–2009
Number of Schools	
	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	
ACT	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	
NSW	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	3	2	2	
SA	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	3	
Vic	1	1	1	1	2	4	4	6	4	4	
TOTAL	1	1	1	2	3	5	5	9	8	9	

2.1.2	Programs
The nature of programs in each state and territory differ slightly. Korean has been taught either through a program targeting second language learners or Background speakers, or both through second language programs and community language or Background speaker programs. In the majority of programs, especially in primary schools, cultural components are integrated into the Korean language program, rather than teaching the language and culture separately. Table 4 is a summary of the types of Korean programs in each state and territory.
Nationally, what is absent is a Beginners course in Korean in the Senior Secondary Certificate program. There was a Beginners course offered through the HSC curriculum in NSW until the beginning of 2000 but due to the low interest and enrolment of students, the NSW Board of Studies suspended the course. In Vic, the VCE program does not offer a specific Beginners course. A Beginners course is vital for the incremental expansion of Korean for L2 learners in Australian schools.
Table 4: Type and Focus of Korean Programs
	School Level	Focus	Program	
ACT	Primary	L2	LOTE Korean	
	Secondary	L1 + L2	BSSS Yrs 11–12 Beginner, Continuers and Advanced	
NSW	Primary	L1, L2 or Cultural integration	K–6 Community Language (6); Second Language (4); CL + L2 (2); Integration (1)	
	Secondary	L2 or Background Speakers	Yrs 8–10; HSC Continuers (4); HSC Background Speaker (4); HSC L2 + BS (3)	
Qld	Primary	L2	CLOTE Korean (5)	
	Secondary	L2 or L1 + L2	L2 Korean (2);
L2 + Background Speaker (1)	
SA	Secondary	L1 + L2	SACE L1 Background Speaker
SACE L2 Beginner Korean	
Tas	Primary	L2	LOTE Korean	
Vic	Primary	L2	LOTE and/or VELS Korean	
	Secondary	L1 + L2	VCE Korean and VELS Korean	

Furthermore, what should be emphasised is the lack of course provision for Heritage speakers. There are no appropriate learning opportunities available for Korean heritage students born in Australia or for those who migrated to Australia at very young ages. In this regard, the announcement made by the NSW Board of Studies at the beginning of 2009 to create a new Heritage speaker course, and the subsequent curriculum development being undertaken for implementation in 2011, funded by the Australian Government under the School Languages Program, is encouraging.
The availability of a Heritage speaker course has the capacity to increase the number of students studying Korean exponentially, especially in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane where relatively large populations of Korean-born residents and their children live.
While the opportunity to increase the number of Heritage speaker students in schools across Australia is welcomed, and the development of the mechanism to do so cause for optimism, progress towards a Heritage speaker course is only part of the challenge.
The need remains to build demand for Korean language programs among non-Korean background students. The experience of learning the language, the intellectual and ‘life-skills’ benefit that this pursuit can bring, should be open to any learner. The reality though is that very few non-background Korean speakers have, or choose to take up, this opportunity. Efforts to grow the non-background cohort requires careful management if it is to be sustainable and effective. History shows past efforts have not been entirely successful.
2.1.3	Time Allocation
As reported by schools and teachers, overall weekly time allocation for language programs, including Korean, on a national basis is very similar. It appears that most primary schools run approximately 45 minutes a week while secondary schools allocate 2–3 hours a week (approx. 100–200 hours a year). Certain primary schools or year levels run classes for only 30 minutes a week, while IB schools allocate up to 5 hours of class time per week. Table 5 below is a summary of weekly time allocation for Korean based in face-to-face delivery mode.

Table 5: Weekly Time Allocation for Korean per Course/Class
	Primary	Secondary	
State & Territory	Range (min)	Average (min)	Range (min)	Average (min)	
ACT	40	40	240	240	
NSW	30–120	90	120–210	165	
Qld	30–90	60	45–180	120	
SA			150–180	150; 180	
Tas	40–45	43			
Vic	45–50	48	180–200	190	
IB			150–300	150; 240	

Table 6: Expectant Proficiency Levels
	Primary	Secondary	
ACT	Hangeul (Reference to footnote 5), very basic to simple conversational	Beginner, Lower Intermediate, Advanced	
NSW	Hangeul, very basic to advanced conversational	Beginner, Lower Intermediate, Native Speaker	
Qld	Hangeul, very basic to simple conversational	Beginner, Lower Intermediate, near-Native
Speaker	
SA		Beginner, near-Native Speaker	
Vic	Hangeul, very basic to simple conversational	Lower Intermediate, Native Speaker	

Footnote 5 Hangeul is the term generally used to describe the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is the official script of both North and South Korea.
There are two key issues for consideration regarding the allocation: the differences among the class time allocation across states and territories, and schools; and the general insufficiency of class time spent studying the language. In some schools the primary Korean class lasts 30 minutes per week while other States and schools run it up to 120 minutes. The 30-minute classes in primary schools may not be enough to be considered a serious language program. In secondary schools, a mandatory program is obliged to do two to three hours per week, but in elective years the class is only held for one hour or less.
While acknowledging that school timetabling and teacher availability restrict the duration of language classes, the fact that Korean is a character-based language necessitates a minimum of 90 minutes per week (or 60 hours per year) for primary school courses, and a minimum of 180 minutes per week (or 120 hours per year) for secondary school courses to achieve anything near proficiency. Further research is required to better understand how contact hours can be best structured to meet this requirement.
2.1.4	Proficiency Levels
Entry proficiency levels for Korean courses differ slightly depending on the state or territory’s specific curriculum, program and school sector. However, the proficiency levels that students seek to achieve are either similar or the same nationally. Table 6 summarises the expectant proficiency levels where Korean programs exist.
Generally, Korean programs at primary schools, and the Beginner programs of secondary schools, teach basics including greetings, counting and simple conversation. Students in Advanced, Background Speaker and First Language courses at the senior secondary levels are expected to reach levels of native or near-native Speakers who can deal with, for example, Korean literature. The proficiency levels of Korean A and B courses in IB programs are similar to those of these programs.
Teachers report that many L2 primary students achieve a reasonable level of reading and writing but textual comprehension is lacking. Teachers report that for many Korean heritage students, speaking and listening achievement is satisfactory but the standard of reading and writing remains low.
2.1.5	Curriculum and Resources
Data received from Korean teachers, teacher associations and language managers of various education systems suggests that one of the most urgent issues is the lack of adequate resource materials that can be used to support existing primary and secondary Korean programs. Most of the resources are outdated, culturally inappropriate for Australian contexts and lacking in quality.
There are three main types of resource materials used in schools. First is the Arirang series, Nu-gu-ni?, and Cho-ah-yo, all of which were developed in the mid 1990s. There are few materials to replace these books so they remain core resources.
A second type comes from abroad, mainly from Korea. These materials have been made for primary and secondary level students in Korea or for Koreans living abroad. In most cases, the resources do not suit the Australian educational environment (for example, they contain patriotic references and are very specific to Korean icons, social norms and cultural nuances), or they do not correspond with Australian curriculum requirements and teaching and learning styles. The resources do not provide scope for the approaches to intercultural learning that are the contemporary aspiration of many languages programs in schools.
The third type is developed by teachers. These materials often closely follow the curriculum, but the quality of the materials is questionable as they are usually not adequately researched and are simply based on secondary sources. Nor are there any quality control processes in place.
2.1.6	Supporting Programs with Partnerships
In a number of schools where Korean is taught, students participate in a range of extracurricular activities such as food tasting, performances of music, plays and dance, speech and essay contests and an annual United Nations day event. Some schools have partnerships with sister schools in Korea, involving occasional student exchanges and some in-country experiences. However, most schools have no such partnerships. This issue urgently needs to be addressed and a project established to partner all Australian schools teaching Korean with a school in Korea.
2.2	Student Participation
The following figures do not include numbers of students studying Korean in ethnic schools with the exception of one ethnic school in Vic, which has offered the VCE Korean program for over 20 years.
2.2.1	Student Numbers
Before examining details of student participation in Korean, it is worth examining enrolments in Korean within the context of the four NALSSP languages and the total number of Australian students.
Table 7: Korean Compared with All NALSSP Enrolments 2008 (Reference to note 1)
	K–12	Year 12	% out of NALSSP K–12 Total	% out of NALSSP Y12 Total	% out of K–12 Total (3,434,291) (Reference to note 2)	% out of Y12 Total (202,453) (Reference to note 2)	
Chinese	92,931	5,256	14.5	45.1	2.7	2.6	
Indonesian	191,316	1,311	29.9	11.2	5.6	0.6	
Japanese	351,579	4,910	55.0	42.1	10.2	2.4	
Korean	3,190	177	0.5	1.5	0.1	0.1	
TOTAL	639,016	11,654			18.6	5.8	

Note 1: K–12 data drawn from education systems. For Indonesian and Chinese, K–12 data does not include SA AIS, NT AIS, NT CEC. Year 12 data is drawn from Curriculum and Assessment Authorities and in some cases (Korean) directly from schools.
Note 2: Number of students enrolled in schools across Australia obtained from ABS, 2008.
Table 8: Total Number of Students Currently (2009) Taking Korean in Australian Schools
	Primary	Secondary	Total	
ACT-Government	0	30	30	
ACT-Independent	128	0	128	
Subtotal	128	30	158	
NSW-Government	1,110	905	2,015	
NSW-International Baccalaureate	0	3+	3	
Subtotal	1,110	908	2,018	
Qld-Government	338	74	412	
Qld-Catholic	263	3	266	
Qld-Independent	1	117	118	
Subtotal	602	194	796	
SA-Government	0	66	66	
SA-International Baccalaureate	0	5+	5	
Subtotal	0	71	71	
Tas-Catholic	235	0	235	
Vic-Government	441 (Reference to note 1)	170	611	
Vic-Catholic	238	0	238	
Vic-Ethnic	0	70 (Reference to note 2)	70	
Vic-International Baccalaureate	0	21 (Reference to note 3)	21	
Subtotal	679	261	940	
TOTAL	2,754	1,464	4,218	

Note 1: including 64 Primary students from the Victorian School of Languages (VSL).
Note 2: showing only VCE students taking Korean at Years 11 and 12 levels.
Note 3: meaning that there may be a few more but the exact figures are unavailable.
When enrolment numbers in the four NALSSP languages are compared, and looked at in relation to total student numbers K–12 and Year 12, it clearly shows where Korean stands in the overall Australian languages education landscape. Enrolments in Korean nationally in 2008 were 0.5 per cent of total NALSSP language enrolments. At Year 12, they were just 1.5 per cent. In simple terms, if students learning Asian languages were asked which Asian language(s) they were studying at school in 2008, one in two would say Japanese, around one in three Indonesian and one in seven Chinese, while only one in two- hundred students would say that they were studying Korean. Even using the 2009 Korean enrolment figures (approximately 4,000 K–12 and just over 300 in Year 12), the percentages are not much changed: 0.6 per cent and 3.3 per cent, respectively.
While there is a need to increase enrolment numbers in Asian languages across the country (18.6 per cent of students studied Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese or Korean in 2008), particularly at senior secondary level (where only 5.8 per cent (reference to footnote 6) of Year 12 enrolments in 2008 studied one of these languages), the data clearly shows that Korean is among the most vulnerable of all of these languages.
Footnote 6 The figure of 5.8 per cent includes international, full fee paying students (sometimes enrolled off-shore) and background speakers completing senior secondary years of schooling only in Australia, studying a NALSSP language at Year 12 level.
The total number of students studying Korean is just over 4,000 (Table 8). This represents about 1.1 per cent of students of Japanese (approx. 350,000), around 2 per cent of students of Indonesian (200,000) and approximately 4.3 per cent of students of Chinese (94,000) in Australian schools. Among the 4,000 students, approximately half are from NSW with 2,018 students; Vic has about one quarter with 940 students; 796 students in Qld; 235 in Tas; 158 students in the ACT and 71 students in SA.
There are 2,754 primary students studying Korean, 1,464 secondary school students and, among them, 322 students study senior secondary certificate courses in Year 12.
When looking at these figures per state and territory, NSW has the most primary school students with 1,110; followed by Vic with 679 students; Qld with 602 students; then the ACT and Tas which only have one primary school each with 128 and 235 students, respectively. At secondary level, NSW also has the most secondary school students with 908 students; followed by Vic with 261 students; Qld with 194 students; SA with 71 students; and 30 in the ACT.
Trends in Student Enrolments
Drawing on the data provided by states and territories it is possible to illustrate student enrolment trends in each state and territory for the past 10 years.
While there is evidence of some growth in student numbers, all data should be read within the context of the extremely low base of student participation from which Korean language operates in Australian schools.
Australian Capital Territory
Notable in the ACT is that no students were studying Korean in primary schools in the period 1999–2003. Beginning in 2004, one school commenced a Korean program, causing a gradual rise in student numbers in the Territory. Also notable is that no ACT students in Years 7–10 studied Korean over the past decade. The number of senior secondary students, including 60 per cent of non-Korean background students studying Korean, has risen gradually over the decade, albeit from a low base.
Table 9: Number of Students Taking Korean in ACT by School Level 1999–2009
School Level	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	
Yrs K–6	0	0	0	0	0			90	100	142	128	
Yrs 7–10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	
Yrs 11–12	12	11	11	16	19	21	22	24	27	29	30	
TOTAL	12	11	11	16	19			114	127	171	158	
New South Wales
In NSW during the last decade, there has been an overall decrease of 4.6 per cent in student numbers. Primary school numbers have decreased by 3.2 per cent; junior secondary numbers by 2.8 per cent; and senior secondary by 13.9 per cent. Since 2008, student numbers have increased slowly to return to somewhere near the levels of 2000, with most of this growth in primary and junior secondary schools.

Table 10: Number of Students Taking Korean in NSW by School Level 2000–2009
School Level	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	
Yrs K–6	1,147	852	1,031	948	804	1,122	1,122	798	837	1,110	
Yrs 7–10	672	572	373	417	411	416	335	314	325	653	
Yrs 11–12	296	179	210	345	337	191	176	257	235	255	
TOTAL	2,115	1,603	1,614	1,710	1,552	1,729	1,633	1,369	1,397	2,018	
Table 11: Number of Students in NSW Saturday School of Community Languages 2007–2009
School Level	2007	2008	2009	
Yrs 7–10	119	115	136	
Yr 11	125	118	124	
Yr 12	108	96	84	
TOTAL	352	329	344	

As shown in Tables 10 and 11, currently (2009) approximately 82 per cent of Years 11 and 12 HSC students are studying Korean through the Saturday School of Community Languages (SSCL). If this number is combined with the 36 Year 11 and 12 students studying Korean through distance education mode at the Open High School only 4 per cent of students are studying Korean at the school they attend on a weekday.
Among the 653 Junior-Middle Secondary students, there are 136 (20.8 per cent) heritage students enrolled at SSCL. Therefore, one might reasonably assume that a considerable number of the remaining 517 (79.2 per cent) students would be non-Korean background students. However students continuing Korean through the HSC Continuers course over the 2001–2008 period make up only 6.5 per cent, or 9 students on average, per year.
Queensland
Currently the state showing the most growth in student numbers is Qld. For the past five years, junior and senior secondary participation numbers have been steadily growing and it is the only state that has offered Korean in at least one school in each school sector.
Due to some gaps in the data provided to the researcher, it is not possible to develop a ‘complete’ picture but as shown in Table 12, Qld enrolments have increased by 103 per cent from 2005 to 2009. Increases have occurred across primary, secondary and senior secondary levels and are attributable to a number of factors: attempts made to secure continuity in pathways for Korean language from primary to senior secondary (the result of cluster schools involving one state high school and four primary schools in Gladstone); the excellent work of an independent school to manage their Korean program effectively; and the fact that bonus Overall Performance (OP) marks (Queensland tertiary entrance assessment scheme) are given to students studying NALSSP languages.

Table 12: Number of Korean Enrolments in Qld by School Level 2005–2009
School Level	2005 (Reference to note 1)	2006	2007 (Reference to note 2)	2008	2009	
Yrs K–7	366	440	524	459	602	
Yrs 8–10	17	0	3	108	130	
Yrs 11–12	9	6	7	34	64	
TOTAL	392	446	534	601	796	

Note 1: 2005 (excluding government school students in Years 8 to 10)
Note 2: 2007 eg (K–7 are for government school students and AHES students only, Years 8–10 include only AHES students, and Years 11–12 include government school students only)
South Australia
In SA, there are no primary schools teaching Korean. The School of Languages (SoL) is the only school currently teaching Korean at secondary level, apart from IB schools. Table 13 shows the trend of gradual growth in Years 11 and 12 students studying Korean in SoL. It is notable that a Beginners course was introduced in 2005, possibly contributing to its gradual growth.
Table 13: Number of Students Taking Korean in SA (SoL) 2003–2009
School Level	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	
Yrs 11–12	9	18	31	30	42	42	66	

Table 14: Number of Students Studying Korean in SA Government and Ethnic Schools 2001–2009
School Level	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	
Yrs R–7	18	21	34	32	49	50	76	77	98	
Yrs 8–10	4	6	3	5	3	3	3	4	4	
Yr 11	20	20	20	25	37	36	31	44	37	
Yr 12	20	22	24	25	33	37	37	33	33	
TOTAL	62	69	81	87	122	126	147	158	172	

Also notable is the considerable number of students from primary to Year 12 studying Korean in a Korean ethnic school registered with the Ethnic School Board. With the introduction of a Heritage speakers’ course, this cohort will have opportunities to learn Korean in the mainstream system. Table 14 shows the combined figures of students from the School of Languages and the Korean ethnic school.
Victoria
The impact of three secondary schools in Vic phasing out Korean programs over the period 2004–2007 has been significant. Two of these programs had generally been seen as high quality models of Korean language in schools. As shown in Table 15, there was a sudden drop in student numbers coinciding with the phase- out, although with the Victorian School of Languages (VSL) program numbers have recovered some ground in the past one or two years. Primary level students have increased by 61.7 per cent compared to the 2007 figure, again, from a very low base.
Table 15: Number of Students Taking Korean in Vic by School Level 2007–2007
School Level	2007	2008	2009	
Yrs K–6	420	650	679	
Yrs 7–10	43	9	37	
Yrs 11–12	157	34	224	
TOTAL	620	693	940	

Table 16: Number of Secondary Korean Enrolments in Vic Government Schools by School Level 1998–2007 (Reference to note 1)
	School Level	1998	1999	2000	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	
Secondary Govt	Yrs 7–10	383	325	391	431	102	100	81	0	
	Yr 11	10	10	22	13	14	9	1	0	
	Yr 12	8	8	8	14	8	11	9	1	
	Total	401	343	421	458	124	120	91	1	
Secondary VSL	Yrs 7–10	10	9	12	8	25	19	23	32	
	Yr 11	3	6	4	20	8	25	19	34	
	Yr 12	0	4	3	20	7	42	55	59	
	Total	13	19	19	48	40	86	97	125	
Other VSL		36	37	17	29	31	42	58	55	
TOTAL		450	399	457	535	195	248	246	181	

Note 1: 2001 and 2002 figures are incomplete or unavailable.
The impact of two government schools closing their Korean programs between 2004 and 2006 is further evident in Table 16, which shows only one Year 12 student in a Victorian government school (outside of VSL) studying Korean in 2007.
On the other hand, the number of junior and secondary level students in the VSL Korean program has been increasing for the past 10 years. Effectively, the VSL program is offering a ‘lifeline’ for Korean language within the secondary years of Victorian government schools. However, from 450 students in 1998, numbers in VSL have decreased by 60 per cent to only 181 students in 2007.
Table 17: Number of Vic Students Who Completed VCE Korean 2001–2008
UNIT Name	Unit	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	
Korean L1	1	6	5	2	3	12	13	33	33	
	3	34	72	66	79	61	79	89	101	
KL1 Total		40	77	68	82	73	92	122	134	
Korean L2	1	30	28	23	41	30	28	33	50	
	3	27	30	32	43	55	64	54	73	
KL2 Total		57	58	55	84	85	92	87	123	

The number of students at VSL taking Unit 1 and Unit 3 in the Korean First Language stream has increased from 40 students in 2001 to 134 students in 2008. The number of students in the Korean Second Language stream increased from 57 students in 2001 to 123 in 2008.
2.2.2	Background of Students
The background of students studying Korean differs depending on the state and territory, the educational sector, the school program and how the students are ‘classified’. As shown below, most students studying Korean across the country, especially at the secondary level, are Korean Heritage or Background speakers.
Table 18: Background of Students of Korean
Table note 1: NKB: Non-Korean background students; KH: Korean heritage students; KB: Korean background students (including international students)
	Background	Primary (n/%)	Secondary (n/%)	
ACT	NKB	128	100	18	60.0	
	KH or KB			12	40.0	
NSW	NKB	564	50.8	518	57.0	
	KH or KB	546	49.2	390	43.0	
Qld	NKB	601	99.8	149	76.8	
	KH or KB	1	0.02	45	23.2	
SA	NKB			12	16.9	
	KH or KB			59	83.1	
Tas	NKB	235	100			
Vic	NKB	615	90.6			
	KH or KB	64	9.4	261	100	
TOTAL		2,754		1,464		

2.2.3	Year 12 Certificate Enrolments
Currently, Vic has the largest number of Year 12 students with 142 students, (Reference to footnote 7) slightly higher than NSW which has 100 students, followed by Qld with 39, SA with 37 and 11 in the ACT. Table 19 summarises the 322 Year 12 enrolments in 2009. (Reference to footnote 8)
Footnote 7: Around 25 of these students could be full-fee paying international students who sit their external examination in Korean.
Footnote 8: Additionally, 81 students in Qld and 38 students in Tas, most of whom are full-fee paying international students, sit external examinations in Korean. These students are not included in Year 12 enrolments for the purpose of this report.
Table 19: Year 12 Enrolments 2009
	Year 12	% out of secondary enrolments	Background	
			NKB (%)	KH or KB (%)	
ACT	11	36.7	7 (63.6)	4 (36.4)	
NSW	100	12.0	0	100 (100)	
Qld	39	20.8	13 (33.3)	26 (66.7)	
SA	30	45.5	0	30 (100)	
Vic	142	54.4	0	142 (100)	
TOTAL	322	22.0	20 (6.2)	302 (93.8)	

When looking at the background of Year 12 students, 100 per cent of students are Korean Background or Heritage speaker students in NSW, SA and Vic. The exception is the ACT and Qld with 63.6 per cent and 33.3 per cent of non-Korean background students, respectively. The author is aware that in Sydney alone there are hundreds of Korean Heritage students in the Korean community who opted out of enrolling in HSC Korean as the course content was either too hard for them or because they felt they would be disadvantaged when competing with Korean L1 speaker students who came to Australia after undertaking primary and/or junior high school studies in the Korean educational system. The situation in Melbourne is similar to Sydney, and for this reason the introduction of a Heritage speaker program and associated support is urgent. Running parallel to this is the urgency to make provision for non-Korean background speaking students in senior secondary levels to study Korean as a second language through Beginner or Continuers courses.
Table 20 demonstrates that with the exclusion of NSW (where enrolments have decreased by around 10 per cent), Year 12 Certificate Korean enrolments have increased for the past 10 years. In Vic, the number of Year 12 enrolments increased by 185 per cent from 60 Unit 4 enrolments in 2001 to a total of 171 in 2008. In Qld, it increased from five enrolments to 38.

Table 20: Trends in Year 12 Enrolments 2001–2008 (Reference to footnote 9)
		2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	
ACT	Beginning A	na	na	na	na	0	1	0	3	
	Beginning TA	2	3	2	7	5	1	13	8	
	Continuing TA	1	0	0	3	0	9	0	4	
	Advanced TA	4	1	4	2	7	6	4	2	
	Subtotal	7	4	6	12	12	17	17	17	
NSW	HSC Beginner	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	
	HSC Continuer	7	13	17	12	5	11	5	6	
	HSC BS	111	109	141	142	141	123	112	102	
	Subtotal	118	112	158	154	147	135	117	108	
Qld	Subtotal	5	2	7	15	8	12	45	38	
SA	Subtotal	20	22	24	25	33	37	37	33	
Vic	VCE FL (Unit 4)	33	74	65	69	57	71	86	98	
	VCE SL (Unit 4)	27	29	32	43	55	63	54	73	
	Subtotal	60	103	97	112	112	134	140	171	
TOTAL		395	472	554	596	312	335	356	367	

Footnote 9: Beginning A: A stands for ‘Accredited’ as a course appropriate for Years 11 and 12 students. This course achieves grades only and does not give credit towards an ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank). It does count towards a Year 12 certificate requirements.
Beginning T: T stands for ‘Tertiary’. Accredited as Years 11–12 tertiary entry course and counted as tertiary entry mark.
T/A: Combined Beginning A and Beginning T group of students in one class, with different assessments and slightly different goals with different grade descriptors. The course is written with the 2 courses together to show the commonality of curriculum between the courses. Students would do different assessments. The T course has more rigour expected of the student.
HSC BS: NSW Higher School Certificate Background Speaker course. Designed for students with a cultural and linguistic background in Korean.
VCE FL: Victorian Certificate of Education (Korean) First Language course. Korean First Language is designed for students who will typically have spent some time as a resident and/or have had significant experience of studying Korean in a country in which Korean is a major language of communication.
VCE SL: Victorian Certificate of Education (Korean) Second Language course. Korean Second Language is designed for students who will, typically, have studied the language for at least 200 hours prior to the commencement of Unit 1. It is possible, however, that some students with less formal experience will also be able to meet the requirements successfully.
2.2.4	International Baccalaureate
IB student numbers reflect the increase of schools offering Korean through the IB program. As shown in Table 3 in section 2.1.1, there was only one IB School in Vic in 2000, but this increased to a total of nine schools in three States (NSW, SA and Vic) in 2009. These schools offer Korean A and B to 21 students.
Based on data provided by the IB Schools Association, the majority of the 21 students taking Korean are Korean Heritage or Native Speaker students (most likely Native or Background speakers). These students are enrolled in Korean A and study Korean literature and world literature, a sign that they must be operating at a high level of language proficiency.
Table 21: Number of International Baccalaureate Students Taking Korean 2000–2009
	Number of Year 12 students	
	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	
ACT	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	
NSW	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	3	3	2	
SA	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	5	
Vic	7	8	8	3	5	9	8	12	5	14	
TOTAL	7	8	8	5	6	10	9	15	10	21	

2.3	Teachers
2.3.1	Teacher Number and Availability
Currently there are 69 teachers of Korean in Australian schools, including Melbourne’s ethnic school which offers VCE Korean programs. As shown in Table 22, there are 49 secondary schoolteachers and 20 primary schoolteachers teaching Korean. Looking at the figures by state and territory, NSW has the largest number of teachers with 45, followed by Vic with 15, including five ethnic school VCE teachers and eight VSL teachers. There are five teachers in Qld, two in the ACT, and one each in SA and Tas. Some full- time teachers also participate in weekend teaching at language centres such as the Saturday School of Community Languages, the Victorian School of Languages or at the Korean ethnic language school.
Table 22: Number of Teachers of Korean in Australian Schools
	Primary	Secondary	TOTAL (n/%)	
ACT	1	1	2	2.9	
NSW	14	31	45	65.2	
Qld	2	3	5	7.2	
SA		1	1	1.4	
Tas	1		1	1.4	
Vic	2	13	15	21.7	
TOTAL	20 (29.0)	49 (71.0)	69	100	

The issue of teacher supply needs to be understood in terms of the two distinct cohorts of teachers available to teach Korean and whom these teachers teach.
L1 focused courses such as Background and Heritage speaker programs
If we accept that Korean native speaking teachers are generally best placed to teach L1 focused programs, there currently exists a pool of qualified teachers available to meet existing and/or increased demand for teachers. Information supplied by the NSW Department of Education indicates that there are more than 21 qualified teachers of Korean currently teaching other subjects in NSW schools. Many of these teachers are willing to teach Korean, but the combined impact of a lack of suitable courses, limited teaching resources and low student demand mean they do not teach the subject.
Further, information supplied by the NSW Department of Education and Training also indicates that there are approximately 40 qualified teachers of Korean in NSW who are not currently employed simply because there are not enough schools offering Korean or because they are unwilling to work in schools outside of metropolitan areas. Many of these are Korean second or ‘1.5’ generation bilingual speakers who did all or most of their schooling in Australia.
L2 focused courses such as Beginners and Continuers/Continuing programs
The teacher supply situation for this cohort is very different. If we assume L2 courses are generally best taught by L2 teachers (who are most likely to understand Australian language teaching methodologies and school culture/s), there are simply not enough L2 teachers of Korean available to cater for any rapid growth in schools offering Korean as L2 focused courses. The shortage of these teachers is acute in all states and territories, even in regional and rural NSW. This fact needs to be acknowledged and any strategies to expand the number of schools across Australia offering Korean to L2 students needs to be cognisant of this reality.
2.3.2	Background and Qualifications of Teachers
As shown in Table 23, the majority (82.6 per cent) of the 69 teachers of Korean nationally are Korean Native Speaker Teachers (KNST).
Table 23: Cultural Background of Teachers
	Primary (20)	Secondary (49)	
	KNST (14)	NKBT (6)	KNST (43)	NKBT (6)	
ACT	1		1		
NSW	10	4	26	5	
Qld	1	1	2	1	
SA			1		
Tas		1			
Vic	2		13		
TOTAL	14 (70.0)	6 (30.0)	43 (87.8)	6 (12.2)	

In terms of teacher qualifications, the majority of the practising teachers of Korean are qualified with Australian degrees and/or diplomas as shown in Table 24.
Table 24: Number of Teachers with Australian Teacher Qualifications
	Primary	Secondary	TOTAL	
	KNST	NKBT	KNST	NKBT		
ACT	1		1		2 (100)	
NSW	10	4	23	5	42 (93.3)	
Qld	1	1	2	1	5 (100)	
SA			1		1 (100)	
Tas		1			1 (100)	
Vic	1		10		11 (73.3)	
Subtotal	13 (92.9)	6 (100)	37(86.0)	6 (100)	62 (89.9)	
TOTAL	19 (95.0)	43 (87.8)	62 (89.9)	

Teachers of Korean generally fall into three groups according to their teaching qualifications.
•	Multiple qualifications: teachers with both Korean and Australian degrees such as Korean BA or higher + Korean Teacher Certificate + Australian BA or higher + DipEd. Many of the Korean Native Speaker Teachers belong to this group.
•	Australian qualifications: teachers qualified with Australian BA or higher plus DipEd. Most of the non-Korean background teachers and Korean heritage teachers belong to this group.
•	Korean teacher qualifications: teachers often working at special language centres such as SSCL, VSL or ethnic language schools on a part-time or fractional time basis with Korean qualifications and/or while completing Australian qualifications.
2.3.3	Language Competence
Korean Native Speaker Teachers are generally highly skilled in regards to language competence. The major challenge for this group is their approach to language teaching in the context of Australian schools, combined, in some cases, with limited language competence in English. While there are individual Korean Native Speaker Teachers who are exceptionally competent in Australian learning contexts, some administrators interviewed raised the issue of this cohort’s generally limited understanding of Australian pedagogical practices and their limited English language competence, which can often impact less than positively on the quality of program delivery.
Non-Korean background teachers generally do not experience the same level of challenge with regards to pedagogical issues. However, their Korean language competence is a major stumbling block. Information obtained from interviews, surveys and consultations indicates that this cohort’s proficiency in Korean is generally at Beginner to Lower Intermediate level by Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) scales. This is reflected in their teaching portfolio where half the non-Korean teachers are involved in teaching Korean at the primary level and the remaining half at junior secondary years, mostly Years 7–8. Only one non-native speaking Korean teacher currently teaches at senior secondary level in Australia (a Year 11 class).
2.3.4	Teacher Training Programs
All teachers of Korean require ongoing support to develop and expand the full set of skills and competencies that support their work in Australian classrooms. There are effectively no tertiary programs that systematically offer both language and methodology courses for teachers and student teachers. This is a major issue that needs to be addressed at the teacher training level.
2.3.5	Professional Learning
Australian teachers routinely participate in all sorts of professional learning programs. For teachers of Korean, the availability of ongoing professional learning is virtually nonexistent in every state and territory except NSW. There is a need for professional learning opportunities to be provided for both native- speaking and non-native Korean language teachers.
2.3.6	Korean Teacher Networks
While there are some individual Korean teachers affiliated with different networks such as the Modern Language Teachers Association (MLTA) and the Australian Education Union (AEU), historically there has never been a national association for teachers of Korean. In 2001, the Korean Language and Studies Association (KOLSA) was established with the leadership and funding assistance of the Korea- Australasia Research Centre (KAREC) but it was NSW-based and thus its main activities were limited to NSW. It has now changed its name to the Korean Language Teachers Association (KOLTA) NSW and has approximately 30 members. The association holds two or three workshops annually and supports its members by sharing resources and exchanging information and ideas. Notably, there are no non- native Korean speaking teachers who are members of the association or involved in its activities.
In Vic, the Association of Korean Teachers in Victoria (AKTV) was established more than 10 years ago, but with the closure of Korean programs at three secondary schools, many of its functions have been reduced or discontinued. Approximately 15 members are currently affiliated with this association and meet sporadically.
2.3.7	External Support
External support for teachers and schools offering Korean is minimal, and access to support is unbalanced across the country. Teachers and schools in NSW have access to a considerable level of support from the Sydney-based Korean Education Centre, which is funded through the Korean Ministry of Education. Teachers in other states and territories do not have access to this support.
3	Discussion of Key Issues and Strategies for Change
3.1	The Rationale for Korean Language
A general lack of awareness about contemporary Korean society across mainstream Australian society works against the uptake of Korean language in schools. Korean is a language ‘less known’ by the general public, and students, parents, principals and education systems do not place a high value on learning Korean.
The lack of awareness is a result of mainstream Australia having very little access to information about North Korea and South Korea and what information is available, for example about the political tensions on the Korean peninsula, often does not present a balanced and attractive image. In contrast to their very visible neighbours, Japan and China, both North Korea and South Korea remain, to a large extent, invisible to most Australians. Very few Australians know about tourist destinations on the Korean peninsula, or understand South Korea’s contribution to popular culture in the Asian region, its excellence in the advancement of modern science and technology, or that many of their personal household goods are produced there. Many Australians are also unaware of the significant Australian contribution to the Korean peninsula’s political and economic development over the past 50 years.
A unified Korea is to become the world’s second- richest economy after the US by 2050 with a per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of $81,000 (as predicted by Goldman Sachs, a global investment bank). It is both vital and practical for a significant number of Australian students with Korean language, and knowledge of Korean culture and society, to operate effectively in this changed environment. Long-term strategic support for the enhancement of the study of Korean has particular relevance to Australia’s future.
A language without a strong, visible, well understood and profiled rationale is likely to struggle to sustain a presence in Australian schools as policy and other overarching influences on language programs change. Korean language remains highly vulnerable to such change.
An essential first step in the development of Korean language learning in Australia is to create a sound, contemporary rationale for its place and value in our schools. Such a rationale needs to appeal to students, parents, principals and education system audiences.
3.2	Teacher Supply and Quality
Teacher supply and quality go hand-in-hand when considering key issues supporting effective language programs. There is no substitute for a good teacher. Korean language is no different in this respect. The broad cohort of Korean teachers can be divided into three distinct sub-cohorts, each having its own specific supply and quality issues to address.
Korean Native Speaker Teachers
As described in 2.3.1, a relatively large pool of qualified L1 teachers exists. The main support these teachers need relates to teaching methodologies appropriate for contemporary languages education in Australia, as well as more in-depth practical experience of the Australian school culture. Secondly, they need continuing opportunities to upgrade their English language proficiency. L1 Korean teachers’ perceived lack in these two respects is a major source of disquiet for school principals and education authorities. Currently, these issues are not addressed openly or adequately.
Korean Heritage speaker teachers
Although they are sufficiently qualified and/or able to teach Korean, this sub-cohort is often found teaching other subject areas. They need support to update their Korean language skills to a level that will enable them to teach L2 and Heritage speakers, and professional development of their teaching skills in the area of language pedagogy.
Korean L2 teachers
There are only 12 Korean L2 teachers at work nationally. Clearly those who study Korean at university do not often go into teaching. Yet this group is an essential component of a strong modern languages program. L2 speakers are usually passionate about the language, society, culture and people of their second language and they are also great role models for English speaking learners. While appeals to tertiary learners to enter teaching are important, as well as providing support while they prepare, most L2 teachers also need strong, ongoing support to further their language proficiency beyond their degree years.
3.2.1	Teacher Mobility
To meet any increased demand for Korean language programs (for example, in states and territories not currently offering Korean) and to support Korean teachers currently not employed as teachers of Korean, a nationally consistent approach to recognition of teaching qualifications will be an important step forward. A number of teachers interviewed noted the limits on career mobility caused by the existing lack of consistency. Even if they so desired, NSW teachers of Korean, for example (where there is an apparent oversupply of teachers) may not be recognised as qualified to teach Korean in other states and territories.
3.2.2	Native Speaking Language Assistants
A scheme to attract native speaking language assistants from Korea to work in schools has potential to significantly enhance program delivery. Such assistants could provide a layer of authenticity to programs through their contemporary language usage, and expressions of culture and identity, that is too often absent from classrooms. For students, assistants offer a very real link to the language being learnt, and a ‘champion’ or role model for the language. Japanese language assistant schemes (with assistants drawn from Japan) are well known to have successfully supported Japanese programs over many years and have played a large role in the relative popularity of Japanese in school education. Korean language teaching in Australia has never benefited from such a scheme.
A supply of potential Korean language assistants can be found in universities across Korea, where many students would be keen for the chance to live and work in Australia for a short period. In addition, international or Australian Korean speaking students doing postgraduate studies at Australian universities might look favourably on an offer to support Korean language in a school with the incentive of receiving formal recognition for doing so. Importantly, the success of such a scheme will depend heavily on the academic background of assistants and their motivations for being involved. Ideally, assistants would be studying education related courses and/or have a desire to work with young people. Success will also depend on the conditions and support afforded to assistants. The author’s reflection on the experience of Japanese language in Australian schools offers evidence that conditions and support for assistants that are less than satisfactory (for example, long working hours, harsh living conditions, low level acceptance in the school community, no mentoring) may result in the initiative being counterproductive.
Korean communities in Australia offer another supply of potential language assistants. To date, this group has remained a largely untapped resource. The opportunity to involve locally available expertise has the benefits of ‘cultivating existing language competencies’ (Lo Bianco 2009), harnessing local community involvement in school programs and acknowledges the rich language and cultural heritage within communities. There are likely to be many suitable and willing members of Korean communities around the country who would consider supporting Korean language learning in schools.
3.2.3	Itinerant Teacher Initiative
An ‘itinerant teacher’ initiative would also be a step forward for supporting Korean language, particularly for reaching students disadvantaged by not having direct access to a teacher. This initiative is already implemented to support German, where a cluster of schools shares a teacher of German across the schools. This strategy has never been trialled on a large scale for Korean language and could be a component (program demand pending) of teacher supply planning moving forward.
3.3	Development of Resource Materials
All teachers interviewed spoke about the urgent need for a renewed focus on resource material development for students learning Korean as a first or second language. As discussed in 2.1.5, a lack of quality resource materials is hindering program implementation in all states and territories offering Korean. Existing resources are disconnected from syllabuses and, too often, not contextually or culturally relevant to Australian schools.
3.4	Online Delivery and New Technologies
The utilisation of technology provides an opportunity to add value to the teaching of Korean. A note of caution is needed, however. Reflecting on the NSW Department of Education’s Korean using Technology project, it is evident that Korean courses, if they are to be sustained, should not be based solely on online delivery, for which learning outcomes are mixed and the medium itself is still new and relatively unfamiliar to many educators and students. Korean language study is still very embryonic in Australian schools. A solid foundation of quality teachers, resources and programs, as well as increased demand for the language and a heightened value placed on learning the language, needs to be embedded prior to the broad implementation of online delivery.
During interviews, states and territories not offering Korean, for example, NT and WA, or limited Korean (ACT, SA and Tas) expressed interest in accessing online courses in Korean. But, given the note of caution above, provision of Korean in this mode alone is highly unlikely to produce the type of learning outcomes that systems, schools or students may desire, nor is it likely to improve the overall strength and sustainability of Korean programs.
That said, new technologies do have an integral role to play in supporting students studying Korean. The world wide web is full of Korean language websites, many with a youth focus and authored by young people. Students must be encouraged to engage with this material in and outside of formal classes. Students must utilise new technologies to access Korean popular music, Korean fashion and sports e-magazines and online games in Korean language. These types of experiences will elevate student engagement. Likewise, the web gives teachers access to vast resources to develop new teaching and learning activities. New technologies allow for easier and more economical real-time connections to people and institutions in Korea that can provide the intercultural experiences students need to stay engaged with the learning experience.
3.5	Support Networks
Like any profession, Korean teachers require access to networks that support their professional needs. Teacher networks usually operate both formally and informally to support professional learning around new pedagogies, resources and teaching opportunities and to keep teachers ‘connected’ to each other. Support networks in states and territories, and nationally for teachers of Japanese, demonstrate the positive impact and leadership that this type of support can have on teachers’ work.
Currently, Korean teachers lack this type of support. NSW is the only state with a dedicated Korean Language Consultant. The consultant is based full- time at the NSW Department of Education and is jointly funded by the Korean Ministry of Education. Teachers in NSW describe the consultant’s role as crucial in supporting them to share information, develop and implement curriculum, undertake professional learning, establish exchange programs with Korean schools and, most importantly, offering them a central point of contact for the profession about these matters. Teachers of Korean outside NSW do not have easy access to an equivalent level of support, and hence they feel isolated from central decision making and from colleagues. With respect to their own development, they either have to take on the extra burden of finding ways to improve themselves, or let these matters simply go unattended. Their situation needs urgent, positive intervention.
Furthermore, a body or agency that promotes and advocates Korean language in the way that the Japan Foundation and the Confucius Institutes do for Japanese and Chinese respectively does not exist.
This effectively means there is no coordinated voice speaking on behalf and representing the interests of Korean language teaching. A strategy to achieve both networking and advocacy functions needs to be established and implemented as a matter of priority if other reforms are to be sustained.
3.6	School Clusters
The school cluster approach in Gladstone, Qld (highlighted in Case Study 3) demonstrates a very effective strategy for supporting Korean language over the longer term and proves that increasing the number of L2 students in sustainable ways can be achieved. It points to a way forward for incremental and properly supported growth of the L2 cohort of students based around continuity between primary and secondary education language study and whole school community commitment to the language. The Queensland Department of Education is considering forming two more clusters of this kind, and the Northern Sydney Region in NSW is exploring the feasibility of clustering schools in one or possibly two suburbs in the region. This seems to be a very promising prospect for improving the situation in the future.
This report recommends expanding the ‘cluster’ model to grow the number of schools offering Korean for the L2 cohort, both in states and territories where little or no Korean is taught, as well as to sustain it in regions where it is currently offered.
4	Case Studies of Exemplary Practice
Four cases of exemplary or promising practice in Korean language education are provided to demonstrate how teachers, schools and government can positively support Korean language teaching and learning.
Case Study 1: Pedagogy – Korean through iPods
In 2008, Faith Lutheran College in Plainland, Qld (Reference to footnote 10) trialled the use of iPods as portable language learning devices supporting innovative teaching and learning. The aim of the trial was to improve student language learning outcomes and increase the uptake of Korean language study more generally. The College purchased a set of seven iPod Nanos, a docking station, wall charger and a lockable case. The iPods were incorporated into language programs in different ways, depending on class sizes and learning goals.
Footnote 10: The College’s use of iPods for language learning grew from a project entitled ‘Digital Showcasing’, funded by the Languages Special Initiatives Project, part of the Australian Government School Languages Program, and carried out with the support of Independent Schools Queensland and Lutheran Education Queensland.
Individual use
In mixed-level or mixed ability classes, when one or more students were completing different work to the rest of the group, these students were each allocated an iPod to access prerecorded audio or video content. Content included vocabulary banks, listening exercises with accompanying worksheets, tutorials and cultural videos. Students also used the iPods for individual audio recording and playback.
Small group use
Students worked in groups to script simple dialogues using target vocabulary and grammar. After some rehearsing, groups were allocated an iPod to record their dialogues. Students were keen to improve their pronunciation and enjoyed being able to hear themselves speaking in Korean. This practice has advantage over live performances as students can delete then re-record dialogue to perfect it, thereby reducing levels of self-consciousness about performing in front of an audience.
Whole class use
One iPod was used to play audio to the whole class using the docking station. This was usually done to play student recordings, podcasts, prerecorded tutorials or to model correct pronunciation and intonation by a native speaker. This practice was often supported by accompanying exercises.
Home use
For each unit, the teacher recorded listening tasks to supplement student workbooks. An ever-increasing bank of prerecorded audio resources was posted on the College’s EduKate site, making them available for students to download from home and sync to their own MP3 players as desired. This also served as a showcase for student recordings.
Tapping into students’ digitally influenced learning styles and interests, the project was very successful and student engagement with Korean increased. Students had a much more serious and enthusiastic approach towards improving their speech than when taught without iPod support. Teachers reported that students demonstrated improved learning outcomes and that enrolment numbers for elective Korean had increased.
As a future option, students may be able to script, record, then broadcast their own podcasts, either in the classroom or while on field trips or study tours. They can take iPods with them to record their observations, interviews or performances. Prerecorded audio content may be embedded into blog pages, digital whiteboard flip-charts or sent as attachments to e-pals in Korea, thus providing a real-life setting for students’ language production and use.
Case Study 2: ‘Plant a School’ Program
There has been a significant level of support from the Korean government for Korean programs in NSW through the Korean Education Centre (KEC) which is an overseas representative office of the Korean Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and located at the Korean Consulate General office in Sydney. This support was made possible with agreements made between the NSW Department of Education and the Korean Ministry of Education represented by and acting through the Korean Education Centre (KEC) in 2004.
Among a number of activities stemming from Korean Government support, one initiative is worth noting as it underpins a key recommendation of this report and provides a model for other small candidature languages.
The ‘plant a school each year’ initiative is a scheme that involves identifying one new school to commence the teaching of Korean annually. This, of course, requires one new teacher of Korean to be identified and employed. To facilitate this process, the KEC pays two days per week of the Korean teacher’s salary for the first year, with the balance of time fraction being paid by the school. In the second year, the KEC pays one day’s salary with the school contributing the balance and by the third year and thereafter, the school covers all salary payment. A classic story of seed funding!
Crucially, schools that apply for this scheme must make a commitment, in writing, to a long-term investment in a Korean language program. The intention of the scheme is not speculative. It is based on partnerships and shared agreements on what is being aspired to as outcomes and requires financial and in-kind contributions from all partners.
As a result of the scheme, the number of schools teaching Korean in NSW has increased by at least one annually since 2006. The schools that have instigated programs – Chatswood High School, 2007; Cabramatta High School, 2008; and Bathurst Public School, 2009 – each have very promising Korean programs.
What must be noted is that all schools involved in the scheme to date are from NSW, where the KEC is located and where the majority of Australia’s Korean population can be found. The scheme needs to be ‘exported’ or made available to other states and territories. In states and territories that have few or no Korean language programs, as well as in remote and rural areas, this scheme presents a proven and relatively economical way forward to support the incremental and properly structured growth of Korean language programs. When an agency like KEC provides seed funding in collaboration with schools, the evidence is that growth will occur.
For other small candidature languages and languages ‘at-risk’, this case study demonstrates the benefits of steady, incremental and planned growth, and the influential role that can be played by agencies whose specific mission is to support a target language in Australian schools.
Case Study 3: Clustering of Schools – A Regional Approach
Gladstone, Qld provides a unique and fabulous story in the development of Korean language education in Australia. The town is host to a ‘cluster’ of schools (one high school and four primary schools) where Korean has been taught for about 15 years. Interestingly, nobody, including principals, teachers or Queensland Education Department administrators, can articulate exactly how and why Korean was first taught in a town where only one or two Korean families are living. What was the motivating rationale for introducing the language?
One explanation put forward is persuasive. As a mining town with a large port, trade relations between Gladstone and Korea have existed for a long period of time. These relations were enhanced during the 1980s when trade between the two countries started to increase significantly. Korean ships have regularly accessed the port on their way south to Sydney or Melbourne, so it is suggested that both business and school communities intrinsically ‘knew’ the relevance of Korean to their lives and the local community. Rumour has it that once the idea of introducing Korean was suggested to the Gladstone mayor, and had positive support from the Queensland Department of Education, things just ‘fell into place’ thereafter.

At around the same time a recent graduate from Griffith University who had majored in Korean and had done a DipEd program was both ready and willing to teach Korean in the Gladstone area cluster. The five schools – Gladstone High, Central State, Calliope State, West State and Yarwun State – are all located in close proximity to each other. In 2009, there were three teachers (a high school teacher and two primary school teachers) working across the cluster.
The secret of how these schools are able to offer Korean in such a remote town, where 40 per cent of students are of non-English-speaking background, is found in the commitment of each of the cluster schools, the skill of the teachers and the continuity ensured between primary and secondary school language study: there was provision for Korean language study from K–12.
The students in the five schools are all Korean L2 students and make up more than half (51.8 per cent) the total number (796) of students of Korean in Qld (56.1 per cent of the total primary students and 38.1 per cent of the total secondary students). The teachers are in frequent contact with each other and Korean students in a local university are often invited to the schools for social interactions with students and for special events like the Korean- Australian BBQ Day. Although these schools need constant support from the education department and other organisations to sustain their programs, the model of forming clusters provides a number of new opportunities. As this report was being written, there was great news that Gladstone High School had won $1.8 million in grants to set up a new language centre where Korean will be a focus language.
Through the NALSSP, the Queensland Department of Education intends to create two more clusters of a similar type, one in suburban Brisbane and the other in a regional town. In NSW, the Northern Sydney Regional Office is also keen on the idea of a regional cluster approach and has formed a working party led by the Regional Director to explore the feasibility of setting up a school cluster for Korean along the region’s north shoreline.
The Gladstone school cluster supporting Korean language demonstrates that programs for second language learners in small candidature languages can be successfully introduced and sustained. The Gladstone model also proves that ‘normalisation’ of a language program within a school will happen over time when adequate levels of support are provided, the school community understands something about the links between the language and their daily lives, and a team of skilled and committed teachers is available.
Case Study 4: School-based Awareness Raising
Many schools teaching Korean implement strategies to promote the language within their school. At a Melbourne primary school, the Korean teacher has successfully secured sponsorship funding from Korea in the form of scholarships for students to travel to Korea for two weeks, participating in a home stay at a host school. A group of Korean students from the host school then travel to Melbourne and spend three to four weeks alongside their Australian peers.
While not a new strategy for supporting language study, this form of experiential learning and intercultural exchange is crucial in maintaining student engagement with the language, and both Korean and Australian students have greatly benefited from in-country experiences. The impact of their learning permeates into other aspects of school life and helps to ‘normalise’ the study of Korean. The establishment of partnerships between Korean and Australian schools has been proven to be a successful strategy and this report recommends that these partnerships be expanded to include all Australian schools teaching Korean.
At a primary school in Sydney, a whole day is designated as a ‘Korean Day’ as part of the school’s annual multicultural awareness event. Parents and government representatives are invited to attend the celebrations. With support from the Korean Education Centre, a performing arts group from the local Korean community and parents, various cultural activities are conducted to promote Korean culture. They include taekwondo demonstrations, dance performances, Korean craft-making and food tasting opportunities. In addition, students are encouraged with a small Korean gift each.
A ‘Korean Day’ event is an example of an effective way of promoting Korean language and culture by providing teachers, students and parents with a cultural experience of the language. These forms of cultural activities have proven to be hugely successful at the school and are a necessary element of successful Korean language programs.
These forms of cultural interaction are particularly important in states and territories where there are few or no schools teaching Korean. They contribute to the students’ motivation to learn Korean. This report recommends an in-depth study to better understand effective Korean language awareness-raising activities.
In a senior secondary college in Canberra, a number of promotional activities were conducted in partnership with a local university and the local Korean ethnic school. The activities included the awarding of the Korean Ambassador’s prize to the best performing Year 12 student in Korean (since 2002), a biennial speech contest in which students from the ethnic school, the college and The Australian National University (ANU) participate, and a concert by a professional Korean music group organised through ANU.
Partnership arrangements among local ethnic schools, primary and secondary schools, and universities are another effective way to promote Korean language study. This form of collaboration can extend the reach of Korean programs and unify student cohorts learning Korean.
The presentation of prizes or awards (involving dignitaries such as the Korean Ambassador and Consul General) to outstanding students for Korean writing and speech should be expanded nationally to all levels of Korean language education. This will not only serve to recognise student achievement but it will also raise the profile of Korean language and provide strong incentive for students to continue their pursuit of Korean language.

5	Recommendations for Change
Korean language does not operate in a vacuum. It is subject to the same policy variables as all second languages taught in Australian schools (see Lo Bianco 2009). The intent of this report has been to analyse the current state of Korean language under existing policy, to identify obstacles and possibilities facing the discipline, and to suggest ways of moving forward, particularly through the period of the NALSSP. The following, interrelated recommendations for change are based on two key underpinnings.
•	The current NALSSP presents a window of opportunity to implement some immediate change strategies to support progress towards the NALSSP 2020 target, and Korean language generally. Recommendations are necessarily action oriented.
•	Each strategy recommended requires the commitment and input of all government and education sectors and a range of stakeholders with an interest in provision of effective Korean language programs.
1	Change through National Leadership and Advocacy
As a first step, a Korean Language Working Party should be established immediately. The Working Party should consist of representatives from education systems, the tertiary sector, Australian and Korean government agencies, and Korean language teachers. A key task of the Working Party will be to develop a five-year strategic plan for provision of Korean language programs and to provide high level program advice. The strategic plan and advice needs to focus on each of the change recommendations outlined in this report.
•	The Working Party will oversee a project that leads advocacy and championing of Korean language programs nationally. There is a strong argument that the absence of any national body or agency coordinating advocacy for Korean has been detrimental to the advancement of Korean programs. There is an urgent need for nationally coordinated advocacy of Korean language.
•	As part of its brief, the Working Party will oversee a project to articulate the rationale(s) for the study of Korean language in Australian schools. Requiring in-depth study and modelling, the project will be a prerequisite for the broader awareness-raising activities urgently required to raise the profile of the Korean peninsula and Korean language across mainstream Australia. South Korea, in particular, despite its significant relationship with Australia, has been under-represented and therefore, not surprisingly, its language undervalued in schools and the wider community.
•	The very low demand for Korean derives in part from a lack of community understanding. The Working Party should find ways to articulate the economic, strategic and sociocultural relevance of the Korean peninsula to Australia’s future, as well as the intrinsic educational value of the learning process. This research will need to identify the audiences for whom messages need to be tailored, for example students, their parents, principals, career advisors and education systems.
2	Change through Supporting Program Provision
Education authorities need to take action to support the large untapped pool of Korean Heritage speakers to complete Year 12. An immediate doubling of current Year 12 enrolments from 350 to 700 is both realistic and feasible through support for this cohort. Achieving this will involve the following:
•	Official recognition nationally that there are four groups of Korean learners in three categories at senior secondary level, all of whom require separate curriculum and assessment frameworks. Korean L1 and L2 students require a separate curriculum and assessment structure, as do Korean Heritage speakers and Korean L1 background (native) speakers. The lack of an appropriate course for Korean Heritage students is one of the key reasons for the closure of Korean programs in Victorian secondary schools and the extremely low participation rate of Korean Heritage students in NSW senior secondary Korean courses, despite the large pool of students in the community. There are similar problems in other major cities such as Brisbane where there is an increasing Korean population. The Korean Heritage speaker curriculum being developed by the NSW Board of Studies should be nationally recognised.
•	The immediate development of new teaching and learning resources for all levels and types of learners. Resources, both print and electronic, must engage students in novel ways, maximise the possibilities offered through new technologies and provide students with experiences in using, hearing and experimenting with the language in formal and non-formal settings. Teachers of Korean frequently report their frustration with the lack of quality resource materials. There is an urgent need to develop materials for Korean L2 Beginners, Korean L2 continuing students, Korean Heritage speakers and Korean L1 Background Speakers in Years K–12. All new resources must maximise the opportunities presented by new technologies and be consistent with the directions of national curriculum for languages.
At the same time, the incremental growth of the L2 cohort remains a priority and requires a targeted and sufficiently resourced strategy. Growth should be based on each state and territory supporting one or more small clusters of schools (‘lighthouse schools’) to teach Korean. Some of these clusters will necessarily be new; others can build on current clusters (for example, in Qld and NSW). If well supported, this growth can be both sustainable and a model for other small candidature languages.
As demand for Korean programs in schools is very low, it is unrealistic to expect the number of L2 Korean programs to grow exponentially. A proven model for incremental expansion is the identification of an area or region where clusters of schools (for example, one secondary school and two or more neighbouring primary schools) commit to teach Korean and resources are combined to ensure the programs are well supported. Ideally, these areas/ regions will have a connection of some kind to the Korean peninsula and Korean-speaking communities (industrial, farming, mining, services, education, manufacturing, community, and so on). There are many locations across Australia with these connections.
3	Addressing Professional Learning Needs
There must be a renewed commitment to sufficiently support the professional learning needs of the two different cohorts of Korean teachers.
•	L1 teachers are highly skilled in Korean proficiency. They require support to develop their teaching methodologies to better suit Australian educational contexts. This is an area of Korean language teachers’ professional learning that has been insufficiently addressed.
•	L2 teachers, on the contrary, are usually well equipped with methodology that suits Australian school contexts but their proficiency levels are, at best, Lower-Intermediate level. This impacts on student outcomes and the teachers’ own sense of professional standing. The professional learning in proficiency must include on-shore and off-shore opportunities to upgrade the L2 cohorts’ skill base.
While there are some very good practices in schools teaching Korean, the overall quality varies significantly due to the inadequate training of teachers in both Korean language proficiency and teaching pedagogies. A major investment in the professional development of teachers of Korean is now required to ensure that they are equipped to be ‘the ultimate resting point of all language education planning and policy work’ (Lo Bianco 2009). Professional learning must include a variety of short, long and continuing in-service courses in language proficiency, cultural understanding and/or teaching methods offered locally and in Korea (for example, one year in Korea, one year graduate diploma course and weeks of in- country training).
4	Partnerships with Korean Schools
As a further support for program provision, a project should be established to ensure Australian schools teaching Korean have a direct partnership with a school in Korea. On current program numbers this would involve up to 50 partnerships. Given that some Australian schools teaching Korean already have Korean partners and the general demand from Korean schools to connect with Australian schools, this is achievable. Importantly, the project will also support Australian schools commencing Korean programs to partner with a Korean school. The project will require collaboration from Australian and Korean governments and education agencies.
The most effective way of increasing one’s awareness of, and interest in, other cultures and languages, and to sustain interest and turn it into action, is through human interaction, whether it is in the form of student exchange programs, in-country trips, penpals or internet chatting. The partnering of Australian schools teaching Korean with Korean schools will be mutually beneficial. It will support the learning of Korean language in schools and meet the needs of Korean schools wanting to internationalise their students’ school experience and their English language skills.

6	Conclusion
The NALSSP provides a timely and welcomed intervention to support the teaching and learning of Korean nationally. Korean is a small candidature language with a tenuous foothold in mainstream Australian schools. At the same time, it is currently designated as a priority language by the Australian Government through the NALSSP. This status quo is greeted with a level of ambiguity among Australian education systems and schools.
As a small candidature language striving for a presence alongside large candidature or ‘more fashionable’ languages (for example, Japanese, Chinese, French), the level of support required for Korean from national and state and territory education systems is considerable and must be ongoing. The teaching and learning of Korean needs support to survive.
The Korean language is undervalued in the general Australian community. Despite South Korea’s multilayered and mutually beneficial trade, commerce, cultural and people-to-people relationship with Australia, the value of learning Korean has not been adequately translated into the educational sector. The rationale for Korean language teaching and learning needs renewal. This work requires joint commitment from a range of stakeholders including both Australian and Korean governments.
There are some excellent examples of support for the learning of Korean and exemplary practices of Korean language teaching. Despite this, the number of schools offering Korean has been the same for the past 10 years, stagnating at around 40 schools nationally, with minimal numbers of students studying Korean. While the number of programs offered and the number of students involved in programs tells only part of the story of the ‘health’ of a language, the vulnerable state of the Korean language in Australian schools is pretty clear.
This report suggests that the growth and longer-term sustainability of Korean language programs, the quality of the learning outcomes and ultimately the success of the programs are dependent on a number of interrelated provisions and factors, which must be addressed through an achievable, well planned and implemented strategy.
In addition to addressing teacher supply issues, there must be sufficient and adequate teaching resources tailored for L1 and L2 learners of Korean to ensure that the Korean language programs have every chance of being sustainable or expandable.
A centralised organisation capable of coordinating, supporting and nurturing Korean language programs for schools must be established. This requires a further commitment from both federal, state and territory governments.
The future of Korean language in Australian schools is indeed at risk. This report offers a plan of action to maximise this opportunity and calls on education systems, the tertiary sector, Australian and Korean government agencies and teachers of Korean to collaborate to make Korean language a success story, a model for other small candidature languages.

7	References
Buzo, A Dalton, B M & Wood, C (1995), Unlocking Australia’s Language Potential: Profiles of Languages in Australia – Korean Language in Australia, Vol. 6. Canberra: National Languages and Literacy Institute of Australia, ACT.
Byon, Andrew Sangpil (2008), Korean as a Foreign Language in the USA: The Instructional Settings. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 21:3, 244–255. Routledge.
Cho, Hang-Rok (2004), Present State and Issues of Korean Language Education Policy for Overseas Koreans, Journal of Korean Language Education, 15–2: 199–232. The International Association of Korean Language Education.
Erebus Consulting Partners Project team (2002a), Evaluation of the National Asian Languages and Studies in Australian Schools Strategies. Erebus Consulting Partners.
Erebus Consulting Partners Project team (2002b), Review of Commonwealth Languages Other Than English Programme. Erebus Consulting Partners.
Lee, Dong-Jae (2003), Korean language education and pedagogy for secondary school students in the U.S.: A short cut to globalization of the Korean language, Journal of Korean Language Education 14:2, 205–226.
Lo Biano, J (with Slaughter, Y) (2009), Australian Education Review – Second Languages and Australian Schooling. Australian Council for Educational Research.
McRoberts, Sookhee (2002), Current Issues and Challenges in Primary, Secondary Korean Language Programs in NSW, in Shin, G-H. and Suh, C-S (eds).
National Asian Languages and Studies in Australian Schools (NALSAS) Taskforce (1998), Factors influencing the uptake of Modern Standard Chinese, Korean, Modern Greek & German at Primary & Secondary Level in Australian Schools. Education Department of Western Australia and Commonwealth Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs.
Orton, Jane (2008), Chinese Language Education in Australian Schools. University of Melbourne.
Research Centre for Languages and Cultures Education Project Team (2007), An Investigation of the State and Nature of Languages in Australian Schools. Research Centre for Languages and Cultures Education, University of South Australia.
Shin, Gi-Hyun and Suh, Chung-Sok (eds.) (2002), The Future of Korean Language Education in Australia: An Ecological Perspective. Sydney: Korea-Australia Research Centre, The University of New South Wales.
Shin, Seong-Chul (2002), Korean in NSW: Is It Sinking? Or Diving?, in Shin, G-H and Suh, C-S (eds.) The Future of Korean Language Education in Australia: An Ecological Perspective. KAREC, University of New South Wales.
Shin, Seong-Chul (2006), Australasian Strategies for an Advancement of Korean Language Education, in the Proceedings of the 1st International Conference for Korean Language Educational Organizations and Local Representatives. (99–109). Korea Foundation and International Association for Korean Language Education.
Shin, Seong-Chul (2008), How to Advance Korean Programs in Australian Schools, in Korea Focus (online webzine). December 2008 edition. Korea Foundation.
Shin, Seong-Chul (2008), Language Use and Maintenance in Korean Migrant Children in Sydney, Teaching Korean as a Foreign Language, Vol. 33. pp 139–168. KLI Institute of Language Research and Education, Seoul.
Shin, Seong-Chul and Baik, Gene (2002), Learning to Teach: Needs Analysis for a KFL Teacher Training Program – Australian Survey. Teaching Korean as a Foreign Language, Vol. 27. 169–203. KLI Institute of Language Research and Education, Seoul.
Sohn, Ho-Min (1999), The Korean Language. Cambridge University Press.
Sohn, Ho-Min (2005), Seykyey hankwuke kyoyuk-uy kwacey-wa palcen panghyang [The tasks and future direction for the Korean language education abroad]. In H. Min et al. (eds) Hankwuke kyoyukron [The Korean Language Education], Vol. 1, pp 70–88. Seoul: Hankuk Publishing.
Suh, Chung-Sok (2002), Creating Demands for Korean Language Education: Courses on Korea, in Shin G-H and Suh, C-S (eds.).
Williams, Mack (2002), Korea and Australia: The Challenge of the Knowledge Gap, in Shin, G-H and Suh, C-S (eds).
Wood, Colleen (2002), Current Issues and Challenges in Primary, Secondary Korean Language Programs [in Victoria], in Shin, G-H and Suh, C-S (eds).

8	Appendices
Appendix 1: Statistical Data Graphs
Graph 1: Number of Schools Offering Korean in Australia by State and Territory 2009
Graph 1 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 2: Number of Primary and Secondary Schools Offering Korean by State and Territory 2009
Graph 2 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 3: Number of Schools Offering Korean in Australia by State, Territory and Type 2009
Graph 3 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 4: Number of Schools Offering Korean in Australia 2000–2009
Graph 4 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 5: Number of Australian International Baccalaureate Schools Offering Korean 2000–2009
Graph 5 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 6: Weekly Time Allocation for Korean
Graph 6 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 7: Korean Compared with NALSSP Enrolments by Number 2008
Graph 7 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 8: Korean with NALSSP Enrolments by Percentage 2008
Graph 8 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 9: Number of Students Taking Korean in Australian Schools 2009
Graph 9 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 10: Number of Students Taking Korean by School Type 2009
Graph 10 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 11: Number of ACT Students Taking Korean by School Level 1999–2009
Graph 11 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 12: Number of Students Taking Korean in NSW by School Level 2000–2009
Graph 12 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 13: Number of Students in NSW Saturday School of Community Languages 2007–2009
Graph 13 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 14: Number of Korean Enrolments in Qld by School Level 2005–2009
Graph 14 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 15: Number of Students Taking Korean in SA 2003–2009
Graph 15 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 16: Number of Students Studying Korean in SA Government and Ethnic Schools 2001–2009
Graph 16 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 17: Number of Students Taking Korean in Vic by School Level 2007–2009
Graph 17 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 18: Number of Secondary Korean Enrolments in Vic Government Schools by School Level 1998–2007
Graph 18 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 19: Number of Vic Students Who Completed VCE Korean by Course 2001–2008
Graph 19 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 20: Background of Students of Korean
Graph 20 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 21: Year 12 Enrolments 2009
Graph 21 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 22: Background of Year 12 Students 2009
Graph 22 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 23: Trends in Year 12 Enrolments 2001–2008
Graph 23 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 24: Number of IB Students Taking Korean 2000–2009
Graph 24 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 25: Number of Teachers of Korean in Australian Schools
Graph 25 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 26: Cultural Background of Teachers of Korean
Graph 26 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 27: Cultural Background of teachers by State, Territory and School Level
Graph 27 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.
Graph 28: Teachers with Australian Teacher Qualifications
Graph 28 has been removed to enable this document to be available to people with various information accessibility needs. The graph is included in the PDF version of this publication.

Appendix 2: An Example of Interview Questions (Reference to footnote 11)
Footnote 11: Not all these questions were addressed to administrators and teachers. The interview questions were modified from An Investigation of the State and Nature of Languages in Australian Schools, prepared by the project team (2007), the Research Centre for Languages and Cultures Education, University of South Australia.
1	What is the current state of language policy for Korean in [ ] schools?
What documents shape Korean language education in your system?
• 	Expectations placed on schools for delivering Korean language
• 	Gaps between policy for Korean and actual practice in schools
2	What system-level support is available for Korean languages education?
3	What is the current profile of language teachers of Korean in the system(for example, background, non-background speakers, experience, etc)?
• 	Issues in teacher supply in Korean
• 	Strategies to recruit language teachers of Korean
4	What professional development is available for teachers of Korean?
• 	Current and proposed focuses for professional development
• 	Models of delivery
5	What resources/curriculum support is available for Korean language education?
6	What are the factors which strengthen or limit Korean programs in [ ] schools?
7	What directions do you think Korean programs need to take in systems or schools?
8	Additional questions:
• 	statistical data, for example, schools, students, teachers
• 	problems/deterrent
• 	needs/new provision
• 	exemplary practice

Consultation List
Organisation	Position	Name	
ACT	
Department of Education and Training	Curriculum Executive Officer, Languages Studies of Asia	Elizabeth Courtois	
Board of Senior Secondary Studies	Curriculum Officer	Marion McIntosh	
Catholic Education Office	Consultant	Michael Traynor	
NSW	
Department of Education and Training	Manager, Languages	Julie Flynn	
Department of Education and Training	Senior Curriculum Advisor, Asian Languages	David Jaffray	
Department of Education and Training	Senior Curriculum Advisor, Saturday School of Community Languages	Maria Lomis	
Department of Education and Training	Senior Curriculum Advisor, Community Languages	Nina Conomos	
Department of Education and Training	Korean Consultant	Sookhee McRoberts	
Department of Education and Training	Regional Director, Northern Sydney Region	Jane Simmons	
Department of Education and Training	R/School Education Director, Peninsula Network	Patricia Gillett	
Department of Education and Training	Acting Coordinator for
Equity Program	Judith Gerber	
New South Wales Board of Studies	Inspector, Languages	Dr Margaret Silink	
Catholic Education Commission	Consultant – Languages	Dr Berenice Kerr	
Association of Independent Schools of New South Wales	Education Consultant	Ghislaine Barbe	
Qld	
Department of Education, Training and the Arts	LOTE Manager, Curriculum Branch	Tamara Romans	
Catholic Education Commission	Executive Officer, Education Program	Jane Slattery	
Association of Independent Schools of Queensland	Program Officer, Languages	May Kwan	
NT	
Department of Education and Training	Acting Manager, Languages	Melissa Kosciuk	
Catholic Education Office	Education Officer, ICT and Primary Education	Rebecca Maxwell	
SA	
Department of Education and Children’s Services	Curriculum Director, Literacy and Languages	Lia Tedesco	
Department of Education and Children’s Services	Curriculum Manager, Asian Languages Secondary	Philip Wilson	
Department of Education and Children’s Services	Policy and Program Officer, Languages Education	Maribel Coffey	
Catholic Education South Australia	Languages Consultant	Gabrielle Marafioti	
Association of Independent Schools of South Australia	Languages Advisor	Linda Wright	
Tas	
Department of Education, Learning Services South-east	Principal Education Officer, LOTE	Susan Tolbert	
Catholic Education Office	Consultant	Jill Morgan	
Association of Independent Schools of Tasmania	Program Officer	Juliana Shea	
Vic	
Department of Educationand Early Childhood Development	LOTE Manager	Concetta Andreana	
Department of Educationand Early Childhood Development	Manager, Data Analysis, Measurement & Reporting Unit	Michael Dalton	
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority	Curriculum Project Manager, LOTE	Anne Fisher	
Catholic Education Office	Consultant	Carla Woodruff	
Association of Independent Schools of Victoria	Education Consultant – Languages	Sharyne Rankine	
WA	
Department of Education and Training	Principal Consultant, Teacher, Curriculum, Assessment & Reporting	Brian Rogers	
Department of Education and Training	Principal Consultant, Languages	Clare Buising	
Catholic Education Office	Consultant	Cherie Hess	
Association of Independent Schools of Western Australia	Languages Consultant	Claire Leong	
Association of Korean Teachers in Victoria	President	Young Soon Hong	
Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers Association	President	Dr Lesley Harbon	
Korean Language Ethnic Schools Association Inc.	President	Song Bon Lim	
Korean Language Teachers Association – New South Wales	President	Yu Chul Kim	
Korean Studies Association of Australasia	President	A/Prof. Chung-Sok Suh	
University and School Staff	
Monash University	Head and Senior Lecturer, Korean Studies	Dr Young-A Cho	
University of New South Wales	Head, School of Languages and Linguistics	A/Prof. Hans Hendrischke	
University of New South Wales	Head, School of Education	Prof. Chris Davison	
University of New South Wales	Senior Lecturer, School of Languages and Linguistics	Dr Gi-Hyun Shin	
University of Queensland	Lecturer, Korean Program	Dr Issac Dong Bae Lee	
University of Queensland	Associate Lecturer, Korean Program	Dr Jae-Hoon Jung	
University of Sydney	Senior Lecturer, School of Languages and Linguistics	Dr Duk-Soo Park	
University of Technology, Sydney	Senior Lecturer, School of Management	Dr Bronwen Dalton	
Canberra Montessori School	Teacher	Mi Kyung Kim	
Narrabundah College	Deputy Principal	Nick Vonthethoff	
Narrabundah College	Teacher	Hee-Kyoung Lee	
Canberra Korean School	Principal	Jacob HJ Chong	
Canberra Korean School	Teacher	Soomin Park	
Bathurst Public School	Teacher	Jeongah (Charla) Song	
Castle Hill Public School	Principal	Bryan Mullan	
Chatswood High School	Principal	Sue Low	
Chatswood Public School	Principal	Tim Dodds	
Chatswood SSCL	Teacher	Sun Ok An	
Chatswood SSCL	Teacher	Qeefaa An	
Denistone East Public School	Teacher	Haekyoung An	
Dulwich Hill SSCL	Teacher	Hee Jung Lee	
Eastwood Public School	Teacher	Ji Won Yeom	
Homebush Public School	Teacher	Hae-ryun Martin	
Marsden High School	Teacher	Joo Yoon Lee	
Open High School New South Wales	Principal	Stephen Murray	
Open High School New South Wales	Deputy Principal	Suzan Dickson	
Open High School New South Wales	Teacher	Yu Chul Kim	
Shellharbour Public School	Teacher	Belinda Dawson	
St Andrews Public School	Teacher	Fiona Pereira	
Strathfield North Public School	Teacher	Jin Sook Yoo	
Strathfield SSCL	Teacher	Hee Jung Choi	
Temora High School	Teacher	Jill Corby	
The Hills Sports SSCL	Teacher	Janette Ra	
Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts	Teacher	Ted Cheal	
Wollumbin High School	Teacher	Suzanne Lofts	
Faith Lutheran College	Principal	Janelle Anderson	
Faith Lutheran College	Teacher	Andrea Blakely	
Calliope SS, Gladstone West SS	Teacher	Mi-A Lim	
Gladstone Central SS	Principal	Leane Martin	
Gladstone Central SS, Yawun SS	Teacher	Jack Hibbard	
Gladstone State High School	Principal	Sally Thompson	
Gladstone State High School	Teacher	Baba (Won-Hee) Chung	
Windaroo Valley SHS	Teacher	Phillip Buttigieg	
Yawun State School	Principal	Pauline Porch	
School of Languages South Australia	Acting Principal	Karmen Petric	
School of Languages South Australia	Coordinator, Asian Languages	Andrea Corston	
St John’s Catholic School	Teacher	Andrea Gadon	
School of Languages South Australia	Teacher	Chungsoon Pak	
Korean Language School of Melbourne	Teacher	Jae Yoon Lee	
Korean Language School of Melbourne	Teacher	Eun Hee Kim	
Korean Language School of Melbourne	Principal	Sun Nie Lyw	
Korean Language School of Melbourne	VCE Coordinator	Lidia Park	
Ormond Primary School	Cultural Aid	Anna Park	
St Brigid’s Primary School	Teacher	In Sun Chang	
Victorian School of Languages	Principal	Frank Merlino	
Victorian School of Languages	Teacher	Hee-Jeong Yang	
Victorian School of Languages	Teacher	Young-Soon Hong	
Victorian School of Languages	Teacher	Sang-Hyo Koo	
Victorian School of Languages	Teacher	Joy Winstone	
Victorian School of Languages	Teacher	Sun Yi Song	
Victorian School of Languages	Teacher	Young Ae Kim	
Organisations	Position	Name	
Asia Education Foundation	Projects Director	Kurt Mullane	
Australia-Korea Foundation	Manager	Ruth O’Hagan	
Embassy of the Republic of Korea	Counsellor	Jong-Han Kim	
Korea-Australasia Research Centre	Director	A/Prof. Chung-Sok Suh	
Korean Education Centre, Sydney	Korean Consulate-General Office Director	Mr Young Woon Jo	
Korea Foundation	Director, Korean Studies Department	Kyoung-Chul Park	
Korea Foundation	Head, Korean Language Team, Korean Studies Department	Hyeon-Seon Choi	
Korea Foundation	Program Officer, Korean Studies Department	Chang-Shik Yoon	
Ministry of Education, Science and Technology	Supervisor, Overseas Korean Education Division	Hyeon Seok Ko	
Ministry of Education, Science and Technology	Program Officer, Overseas Korean Language Education	Hyun A Yoon	
National Institute of the Korean Language	Department Manager, The Korean Language Education and Promotion Department	Dr Yong-Gi Choi	
National Institute of the Korean Language	Senior Researcher	Dr Ho Sung Chung	
Centre for Korean Language and Culture, Sangmyung University	Director	Prof. Hangrok Cho	

Acknowledgements
This report was influenced by the work undertaken in 2008 by Dr Jane Orton in the report The Current State of Chinese Language Education in Australian Schools and the findings and recommendations it generated.
In completing this report, I have received invaluable support, advice and assistance from many individuals. I would like to acknowledge the support and assistance provided by representatives from state and territory education jurisdictions, non-government school organisations, state and territory Catholic Education Offices, principals, Korean language teachers, teacher associations, academics and professional and community organisations. I appreciate the time and effort they took providing me with valuable information by responding to my requests and participating in interviews with me. Their insightful responses and suggestions have contributed significantly to our understanding of the current state of Korean language education in Australia and the challenges that must be overcome for its future growth and success.
I would like to thank staff from the Asia Education Foundation, particularly Kurt Mullane who provided me with extensive support, guidance and encouragement throughout the project. The administrative efforts and assistance provided by the staff of the University of New South Wales and the University of Melbourne is greatly appreciated, as is the enthusiastic assistance provided by Hannah Kim during this project, as well as Brad Wilke’s proofreading of the draft report.
Finally I wish to thank the senior staff of the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, senior academics, the members of the Project Advisory Committee and senior administrators from the various education systems who provided feedback on the draft report. However, I understand that the accuracy of the findings, the conclusions drawn and any shortcomings that might be found in this report are my responsibility.
Seong-Chul Shin