You may think this a rhetorical question, but it¡¯s not. Of course, everyone knows that the official language of Korea is Hangeul, but language represents more than just symbols that meld together and form words, sentences and eventually, some type of discourse. Cultural influences often affect the meaning of a person¡¯s response when interacting with others.
In many cultures, what people say or what they don¡¯t say reflect certain nuances that are hidden deep in one¡¯s culture. This conundrum becomes apparent when I see Korean students trying to acquire a foreign language such as English. I sometimes find it amusing yet sad when I hear my student¡¯s response to the following question: Professor: ¡°So Tae Young, why didn¡¯t you do your homework?¡± Student: ¡°Sorry.¡±
When I first started teaching, I thought they didn¡¯t understand the question, I asked: ¡°Why, not,¡± Are you sorry that you didn¡¯t do your homework?¡± I realized, after hearing ¡°Sorry¡± a few hundred times that Korean culture has influenced this type of response, the notion of saving face. Cute isn¡¯t it?
Maybe if you teach students that are not in university, but I find it difficult to reason why it is still being used at the university level. I would rather hear my students exercise their right to take responsibility and say something truthful like: ¡°Professor, I didn¡¯t understand!¡± In this case, both professor and student have the opportunity to work on the real answer, as opposed to disguising the communication in favor of trying to save face.
When learning a foreign language, many people go through what some linguists call ¡®language shock¡¯. Native English speakers learning Korean also have their ¡®language shock¡¯ moments. Just like culture shock, when people experience language shock, they refrain from speaking the language that they are learning from fear of making mistakes, or simply trying. This fear negates the chance for students to relax and the need to bridge the gap that exists, culturally, when it comes to learning.
What does saving face have to do with learning? After all, it¡¯s alright to ask questions and make mistakes when you are learning, especially when you are learning a foreign language. So, what language do Korean students speak? Hopefully, they will speak their foreign language with: ¡°No Fear of having to save face!¡±