Both Korea and Japan have experienced heated debates triggered by proposals to give the English language official status (Hatta 2002; Honna and Takeshita 2004; Yoo 2005). The controversy continues over the status of the English Language – for example, whether or not to make it official, whether or not to rely on native speaker or whether or not to encourage a more multilingual English language teaching approach are just some questions for which a solution acceptable to most has yet to be found. Further debates will no doubt develop, and more social phenomena will arise out of people’s remarkable enthusiasm to master ‘good’ English. Cultural, financial and personal sacrifices will inevitably continue to be made in this search for ‘better’ English. Many Koreans and Japanese have clearly seen that the English language continues to increase its importance as an international language and as a language that enables Koreans and Japanese to communicate with each other.
As young children learn English in schools, efforts should be made to help them become aware of the many different varieties of World Englishes and show that these function as useful tools for inter-regional and function of English, in particular, the roles of one’s own variety of English, is the key to a more effective and productive use of English for Korean and people.