NEWS

2021.06.11

The 28th AJI Frontier Seminar on the “The Role of ESL Schools in Transnational Migration: the Case of ESL Schools in the Philippines”

On February 16, 2021, the 28th AJI Research Frontier Seminar took place online. This time, Ms. Lee Jung-Eun (Ph.D. candidate of the College of International Relations in Ritsumeikan University) delivered a presentation in Japanese under the title of “The Role of English-Language Schools in Transnational Migration: A Case of English-Language Schools in the Philippines”, which tackled a quite contemporary and novel question of how English-language schools in the Philippines are playing a role in contemporary ways of international migration. In her presentation, she captured the role and history of English-language schools in the Philippines that have been accepting many Korean students. She persuasively argued this theme in terms of the transformation of markets for employment and education in Korea, and in doing so, she critically investigated the gender norms and racial hierarchy that has resulted from these English-language schools in the Philippines. After her presentation, participants comments and questions highlighted further issues such as governmental subsidies to these schools, students’ views of their career paths, and so on.

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Ms. Lee Jung-Eun delivering her presentation