The Role of the Korean Military as a Bridgehead for the Spread of English

Abstract

This study explores the role of the Korean military as a bridgehead for the spread of English through the lens of English Linguistic Imperialism (ELI). In so doing, it is particularly concerned with the question of how Galtung`s (1980) four distinct categories (cC, pC, cP, and pP) of the structure of imperialism, or the Center-Periphery dichotomy, can apply to the introduction and expansion of English in the socio-historical and political contexts of Korea during the nation-building period (1945-the 1960s). The U.S. Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) (1945-1948) declared English to be the official language of Korea and, in modernizing the Korean military, paid special attention to English education. Connected with the dominant power of the USAMGIK (cC), the Korean military became the new elite group (cP) in Korean society. Enjoying supremacy over the civilian sector, the Korean military committed to playing a pivotal role in spreading English into the civilian sector (pP). Not only anglocentricity, or the supremacy of English, but also professionalism, typically represented by the English Language Teaching (ELT) method of audiolingualism, was widely disseminated from the U.S. military to the Korean military, and then to the Korean public. Though short-lived, the language policy and practices of the USAMGIK have had a long-term effect on English education in Korea. The spread of English in Korea, in this sense, cannot be disassociated from the military as one of the social institutions.