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Straits Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
South Korean students' motivation to study English drops as use of AI tools rises: Report
Find out what's new on ST website and app. An increasing number of middle school students in South Korea are asking whether they need to study English at all, now that artificial intelligence (AI) can do the work for them. A new government report shows a clear drop in student motivation to learn English, and education officials posit that the widespread use of AI-powered translation apps is playing a key role. According to the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Achievement, released on July 22 by South Korea's Ministry of Education and the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation, just 61.3 per cent of third-year middle school students ( roughly Secondary 3 in Singapore ) said they are 'highly motivated' to study English. That marks a drop of 2.5 percentage points from 2023. The report also found that fewer students see English as valuable for their academic or professional futures. In 2023, 73.1 per cent of surveyed students said they believed English was a 'highly worthwhile' subject. That number dropped to 69.6 per cent in 2024. The 2024 survey drew responses from a nationally representative sample of 27,606 middle and high school students. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Singapore's domestic recycling rate drops to all-time low of 11% Singapore HDB launches 10,209 BTO and balance flats, as priority scheme for singles kicks in Singapore Local buyers are key to recovery of prime district condo market Singapore New online channel for public to report illegal ride-hailing services Singapore Ex-Tanjong Pagar United footballer charged with assault after Singapore Premier League match in Feb Singapore COE prices for cars mostly unchanged; premium for commercial vehicles up 2.9% Life The Projector will resume daily screenings at Golden Mile Tower. Is it exiting Cineleisure next? Singapore Cyclist charged after allegedly hitting elderly pedestrian, killing him Classroom teachers say the change is palpable. Many students now complete homework assignments by plugging English sentences into translation apps like Naver's Papago or OpenAI's ChatGPT. One Seoul teacher told researchers that students who returned from overseas trips and showed a renewed interest in learning English now heavily rely on AI tools, feeling less need to improve their skills on their own. An official from the Education Ministry put it this way: 'In Korea, English has mostly been something you study to pass exams, not something you actually use. That's always been a challenge.' 'But now, with AI tools handling translation so easily, some students are asking themselves why they need to study at all. The ones who already lacked confidence in English are the first to give up, and over time, that might widen the learning gap,' he added. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
Korea Herald
7 days ago
- Korea Herald
Korean students' motivation to study English drops as AI tools rise: study
An increasing number of middle school students in South Korea are asking whether they need to study English at all, now that artificial intelligence can do the work for them. A new government report shows a clear drop in student motivation to learn English, and education officials say the widespread use of AI-powered translation apps is playing a key role. According to the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Achievement, released Tuesday by South Korea's Ministry of Education and the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation, just 61.3 percent of third-year middle school students (roughly ninth grade in the US) said they are motivated to study English. That marks a drop of 2.5 percentage points from 2023 and a more significant decline of 10.1 points compared to 2022. The report also found that fewer students see English as valuable for their academic or professional futures. In 2023, 73.1 percent of surveyed students said they believed English was a worthwhile subject. That number dropped to 69.6 percent this year. The survey drew responses from a nationally representative sample of 27,606 middle and high school students. Classroom teachers say the change is palpable. Many students now complete homework assignments by plugging English sentences into translation apps like Naver's Papago or OpenAI's ChatGPT. One Seoul teacher told researchers that students who returned from overseas trips and showed a renewed interest in learning English now heavily rely on AI tools, feeling less need to improve their skills on their own. An official from the Education Ministry put it this way: 'In Korea, English has mostly been something you study to pass exams, not something you actually use. That's always been a challenge." "But now, with AI tools handling translation so easily, students are asking themselves why they need to study at all. The ones who already lacked confidence in English are the first to give up, and over time, that's going to widen the learning gap,' he added.
Korea Herald
08-06-2025
- General
- Korea Herald
Boys outscore girls in math, while girls lead in English on Suneung: data
Male students outscored their female peers in math on the national college entrance exam, or Suneung, in 2024, a trend that has continued for four consecutive years, data shows. In contrast, female students continued to lead in English, while performance in Korean remained nearly identical across genders. According to the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation on Sunday, which oversees the annual College Scholastic Ability Test, male students had a higher average score of 102.7 in math, compared to 97.1 points for female students. The average standard score in Korean was higher among female students, at 100.8 points, compared to 99.1 points for male students. These figures are not raw scores, but are weighted and adjusted to reflect performance relative to other test takers. The institute's analysis also showed that a higher percentage of male students ranked in the top two performance levels in math. Specifically, 5.9 percent of male students were in Level 1 and 9.4 percent in Level 2, compared to just 2.2 percent and 5.3 percent of female students, respectively. In Korea's college entrance exam, students are ranked in nine levels based on their relative performance, with Level 1 representing the top 4 percent of test takers and Level 2 roughly covering the top 11 percent. In English, a higher percentage of female students placed in the top two levels. Among female test takers, 6.3 percent scored in Level 1 and 16.6 percent in Level 2, slightly higher than the 6.1 percent and 16.1 percent recorded for male students. In Korean, the proportion of top-performing students was nearly the same between male and female students. In Level 1, 4.3 percent of male students and 4.4 percent of female students were represented — a difference of just 0.1 percentage point. The gap was equally narrow in Level 2, with 7.1 percent for male students and 7 percent for female students. A total of 463,486 students took the College Scholastic Ability Test in 2024, up 4.18 percent from 2023. Of them, 238,346 were male and 225,140 were female.
