ABSTRACT
This chapter describes English education in South Korea, and denotes South Koreans' education fever, the obsessive desire of South Koreans to achieve high levels of education. It examines the history of South Korea's exposure to mainly American English from the perspective of English educational policies as the main vehicle of South Korean contact with, and their understanding of, the English language in two parts. The 6th national English curriculum policy, with the launching of English Program in South Korea and the adoption of communicative language teaching pedagogy, greatly increased the importance of the roles played by native English teachers in English language education. The chapter discusses the South Korean obsession with English learning, referred to as 'English fever' in the discourse of 'Education fever'. This discussion is included to help the reader better understand how highly English is valued in South Korea and the nature of public attitudes towards English language education.
