Discursive conflicts in news media and the suspension of a government-led test of English in Korea

Abstract Drawing on critical discourse analysis methodologies, this study examines the discursive conflicts and strategies employed by newspaper media surrounding the National English Ability Test (NEAT) in Korea. NEAT was reported to cause severe competition among young learners of English and lack...

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Main Authors: Dongil Shin, Eunhae Cho
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2020-06-01
Series:Language Testing in Asia
Subjects:
Online Access:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40468-020-00100-7
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spelling doaj-a24fccd74cc64833829f4382f55da24c2020-11-25T03:52:45ZengSpringerOpenLanguage Testing in Asia2229-04432020-06-0110111810.1186/s40468-020-00100-7Discursive conflicts in news media and the suspension of a government-led test of English in KoreaDongil Shin0Eunhae Cho1Department of English Language and Literature, Chung-Ang UniversityDepartment of Applied Linguistics, The Pennsylvania State UniversityAbstract Drawing on critical discourse analysis methodologies, this study examines the discursive conflicts and strategies employed by newspaper media surrounding the National English Ability Test (NEAT) in Korea. NEAT was reported to cause severe competition among young learners of English and lacked public support. Discursive conflicts over whether NEAT would be legitimized flourished in the media. In this study, the discursive practices adopted by both proponents and opponents of NEAT in two leading Korean newspapers of different political orientations—Chosun Ilbo and Hankyoreh—were analyzed from 2006 to 2016. Over this decade, there were three periods of transformation: creation, expansion, and extinction. During the creation period, the discursive conflict focused on the TOEFL crisis in Korea, expansion on the implementation of NEAT, and extinction on its abolition. From creation to abolition, there were competing rationales for developing, suspending, or abolishing NEAT. This study investigated the underlying orientations (neoliberal and evaluative state) of the two newspapers and found that they examined the pros and cons of using the test. Moreover, the government’s implementation of high-stakes testing and its attempt to reward those who complied and to curb the private education sector stresses market-friendly state interaction, which accordingly perpetuates neoliberal conditions.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40468-020-00100-7Critical discourse analysisDiscursive conflictsHigh-stakes testingNational English Ability Test (NEAT)NeoliberalismEvaluative state
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Dongil Shin
Eunhae Cho
spellingShingle Dongil Shin
Eunhae Cho
Discursive conflicts in news media and the suspension of a government-led test of English in Korea
Language Testing in Asia
Critical discourse analysis
Discursive conflicts
High-stakes testing
National English Ability Test (NEAT)
Neoliberalism
Evaluative state
author_facet Dongil Shin
Eunhae Cho
author_sort Dongil Shin
title Discursive conflicts in news media and the suspension of a government-led test of English in Korea
title_short Discursive conflicts in news media and the suspension of a government-led test of English in Korea
title_full Discursive conflicts in news media and the suspension of a government-led test of English in Korea
title_fullStr Discursive conflicts in news media and the suspension of a government-led test of English in Korea
title_full_unstemmed Discursive conflicts in news media and the suspension of a government-led test of English in Korea
title_sort discursive conflicts in news media and the suspension of a government-led test of english in korea
publisher SpringerOpen
series Language Testing in Asia
issn 2229-0443
publishDate 2020-06-01
description Abstract Drawing on critical discourse analysis methodologies, this study examines the discursive conflicts and strategies employed by newspaper media surrounding the National English Ability Test (NEAT) in Korea. NEAT was reported to cause severe competition among young learners of English and lacked public support. Discursive conflicts over whether NEAT would be legitimized flourished in the media. In this study, the discursive practices adopted by both proponents and opponents of NEAT in two leading Korean newspapers of different political orientations—Chosun Ilbo and Hankyoreh—were analyzed from 2006 to 2016. Over this decade, there were three periods of transformation: creation, expansion, and extinction. During the creation period, the discursive conflict focused on the TOEFL crisis in Korea, expansion on the implementation of NEAT, and extinction on its abolition. From creation to abolition, there were competing rationales for developing, suspending, or abolishing NEAT. This study investigated the underlying orientations (neoliberal and evaluative state) of the two newspapers and found that they examined the pros and cons of using the test. Moreover, the government’s implementation of high-stakes testing and its attempt to reward those who complied and to curb the private education sector stresses market-friendly state interaction, which accordingly perpetuates neoliberal conditions.
topic Critical discourse analysis
Discursive conflicts
High-stakes testing
National English Ability Test (NEAT)
Neoliberalism
Evaluative state
url http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40468-020-00100-7
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