Abstract

China and Korea, in recent decades, have made major efforts to improve the English education of their students, so as to promote globalization .Reflecting these trends, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, for example has now planned job interviews in English and an English Experience Village. Busan is also planning a similar village following the Seoul initiative. As well, Incheon is building a "bilingual" international free economic zone, a project considered of mammoth proportions.

Meanwhile, China has welcomed English immersion schools and partnered western university "English Only" programs - some of which are accredited with western governments. Even in Seoul, there is an English immersion elementary school. And finally the Korean government has directed teachers by way of the curriculum to create a sort of "English Only" classroom though this initiative has been an incomplete success. Whatever the quality of these initiatives, the overall trend in these two countries is to create more places of English speaking "zones" thus the importance of examining the issue.

Recommendations will be provided to reinforce the sustainable success of these initiatives as well as to reinforce a more equitable relationship between the L1 and L2 target cultures through for example, two way (dual) language and culture learning. Various ideas and principles will be borrowed from the likes of Jim Cummins, Rebecca Oxford, Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, as well as from the author's own research.