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| Jieun Kiaer, a professor of Korean Language and Linguistics at the University of Oxford / Courtesy of Jieun Kiaer |
'Children have their own languages in the digital, metaverse world': Jieun Kiaer
By Dong Sun-hwa
Are Korean students becoming less smart because they do not read enough books?
This question arose in Korea after the Korea Educational Broadcasting System (EBS) aired a six-episode documentary titled, "Your Literacy," last March. The documentary featured scenes in which numerous students had trouble understanding their textbooks due to their unfamiliarity with some "basic" Korean words.
As to why their literacy skills have deteriorated, some critics say videos should be blamed. They claim the students of the MZ generation ― which refers to millennials (those born between 1981 and 1995) and Generation Z (born between 1996 and 2005) ― have lost their literary abilities as they began replacing books with videos found on platforms like YouTube.
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| Students in a middle school in Seoul / Korea Times file |
But Jieun Kiaer, a professor of Korean Language and Linguistics at the University of Oxford, disagrees. Kiaer believes that both books and videos are useful communicative mediums, and that there is no use in deeming one as better than another. Kiaer is an expert on language learning, who co-authored the 2021 book, "Young Children's Foreign Language Anxiety."
"We must accept that books and videos are simply two different branches of our diverse communication repertoire," Kiaer told The Korea Times in a recent Zoom interview. "Every form of communication has its own function. When we try to figure out how to use machinery or software, it is often time-saving to watch a video, rather than reading a booklet."
She added, "Many adults blame their kids for not knowing the 'basic' Korean words, but they should be aware that these children have their own languages in the digital or metaverse world. They are part of a new generation with high digital and social media literacy, who frequently use newly coined terms originating from English and other foreign languages."
The professor explained that young people often do not understand the terms used by their parents, simply because words naturally change as a consequence of "people's constant interaction."
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| Jieun Kiaer, a professor of Korean Language and Linguistics at the University of Oxford / Courtesy of Jieun Kiaer |
"Language changes as our environment and interactional patterns change," she stressed. "As we interact, we shape our communication to suit our immediate needs, and over the time, our communication patterns develop and change. Chinese characters, for instance, were widely used in written communication throughout East Asia until the turn of the 20th century, but by the turn of the 21st century, English became much more common. People of the older generation are still more familiar with Chinese characters, but the members of the MZ generation hardly know any Chinese characters."
According to Kiaer, young people are just learning the literacy of their time.
"There is no need to reprimand them for adopting a new way of communication," she said. "At the same time, it is also crucial for people of the older generation to become more open-minded and try to enhance their digital literacy skills, because image-based communication is likely to gain more momentum in the future."
To demonstrate the significance of image-based communication, Kiaer is set to publish a new book titled, "Emoji Speak," in 2023, which explores the roles of emoji words ― such as image-based emojis, emoticons, memes and animated videos ― in diversifying our communication patterns.
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| The cover of Jieun Kiaer's upcoming book, "Emoji Speak" / Courtesy of Jieun Kiaer |
Kiaer also predicted that learning a foreign language will become less stressful with the help of the technology.
"When we write something using a pen, spelling and grammar do matter," she said. "But when we type it on our computer, the technology fixes our grammatical errors, helping us focus on developing our content. Given that more schools ― even conservative Oxford ― are getting rid of pen-and-paper tests, I am pretty sure that other educational institutions will follow suit."
This is why the professor believes Korea needs to update its education policies.
"When it comes to English learning, most Korean schools still put excessive emphasis on spelling and grammar, just like they did two to three decades ago," she pointed out. "But this way of teaching is already outdated. They need to explore different ways to help students maximize their digital literacy and become more creative."
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