The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), an academic society with an overall membership of about 13,000, annually hosts a five-day general meeting in November. On the first and last days, workshops are held to examine the general trends of foreign language education in the U.S.
The other days are dedicated to academic conferences. This year, Richard Haas, president of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, gave a keynote speech on the theme of “Language Abilities as a Tool to Serve the Society.”

Growing Participation of Korean Educators

During the 2010 ACTFL conference, about 4,000 educators took part and some 700 research papers were presented, including 10 on Korean language education. With 62 guests attending a dinner reception hosted by the Korea Foundation, the 2010 ACTFL can be regarded as the most well-attended event among Korean language-related educators in the U.S. As part of the dinner program, which I was fortunate to preside over, four individuals gave presentations: Lee Kwang-chul, director of the Korea Foundation’s Washington, D.C. Office; Prof. Lee Hyo-sang of the State University of Indiana; Choi Sun-mi, a school teacher in California; and Prof. Yoo Young-me of the State University of New Jersey.
Prof. Lee explained about Korean language education organizations and their activities in the U.S, while Choi gave a briefing about Korean language classes at elementary, middle and high schools in the U.S., and current enrollment levels. Prof. Yoo spoke about the efforts to standardize Korean language education in the U.S.

Standardization of Korean Language Education

The standardization project for Korean language education in the United States, which has been carried out by the ACTFL over the past two years with the participation of 17 professors and public school teachers, was completed in 2010. From February 2011, the related contents will be available for purchase from the ACTFL website. The project was undertaken as a collaborative initiative among elementary, middle and high schools, and universities in the U.S., making it the first such endeavor of its kind and scope.

The project sought to standardize the levels of Korean education and student competency, which currently vary from school to school, and from state to state. The system is designed to help a student, who has mastered the first level of Korean language at a particular school, to directly advance to the second level when he/she attends another school. The next ACTFL conference, on a theme of the “Power of Foreign Language Education through Affiliated Projects,” is scheduled to be held in Denver, Colorado, in November 2011.

Cho Sung-dai Professor, State University of New York, Binghamton
Chairman, Korean Language Education Committee of ACTFL