There are many people studying English in libraries and private educational institutes because nowadays, English ability is necessary when you apply to a company. We can confirm the importance of English ability in our society and also expect that it will be much more important. Under these circumstances, POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology) declared the initiation of a bilingual campus plan. I agree with the declaration of the university.

The bilingual campus plan means accepting English as an official language. That is, all meetings and lectures are in English and all documents are written in English and Korean. It is not easy to use only English in every part of university. However, we have to consider a bilingual campus plan to survive in a global society. In this era of globalization, the people who have good English ability can get more experiences and chances than those who do not. For example, you need a high English test score which meets or exceeds the standard to apply for an exchange student program or to get a job.

LG Electronics Inc. in Korea started a bilingual company. Afterward, the employees’ SEPT (Spoken English Proficiency Test) level rose from 3.3 in 2006 to 5.2 in 2009, and also foreigners’ preference for entering the company increased. Launching a bilingual company not only improved the employees’ English ability, but also made the company global. In addition, Sunggi Baik, the president of POSTECH, said that launching a bilingual campus is one of the reasons that HKUST (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) ranked fourth in the Asian University Rankings in 2009.

The real globalization of a university is attracting top foreign professors and students to a university which doesn’t have any language barriers. Therefore, the initiation of a bilingual campus plan is a necessary condition for the globalization of a university.




On March 2, POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology) started a bilingual campus plan in which English is used as an official language in lectures and official meetings in the university. After the beginning of the bilingual campus plan in POSTECH, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) also announced that they will complete a bilingual campus plan by 2012. A bilingual campus plan is a system using only English on campus including lectures, official meetings, and graduation theses. The purpose of the bilingual campus plan of POSTECH is to make students familiar with English and ready to go abroad. However, there are many problems under this system.

First, this is inefficient. Giving English lectures is helpful for students to improve their English skill. However, using English in official meetings and seminars and all kinds of documents is not efficient. It is more difficult to deliver participants’ opinions in meetings. In addition, writing documents in English takes a longer time than writing these in Korean. If some works are delayed, it causes people working in university inconvenience and other works also will be delayed.

Second, there is a discrepancy in English proficiency. Because all activities on campus proceed in English, low level students will face difficulties. Above all, it is difficult to understand a lecture. If students can’t understand a lecture, they lose interest in the lecture.

Third, the expense of English education will increase. Students who want to get better grades in university will spend more to improve their English skill from an early age. It will bring about the serious consequence that parents’ financial capability influences students’ English ability.

Now, many universities are trying to develop students’ English skill through many programs such as English-only dormitories, English towns, and English lectures in major subjects and liberal arts. Keimyung University also has KELI House and the International Lounge where students can develop their English skill. Like this, there are enough opportunities and programs in which students become familiar with English. I doubt the effectiveness of a bilingual campus plan.

English skills are necessary in the future, but there are many side effects in the system. It is better to give students an opportunity to get familiar with English naturally through programs like KELI House and the International Lounge than starting a bilingual campus plan by force.