Korean Job Discussion Forums

[seoulunitarian]

[Big_Bird]

In some ways he's right. Simply being a native speaker doesn't really make you a teacher.

My best French teacher was a Vietnamese. She was the most motivating and interesting teacher I'd ever had. We sat spellbound through all her classes and were so disappointed when we had to have another teacher the next semester.

[Lonewolf]

I think you're full of S***! No matter how you slice the cake. There will always be a need for native speakers. With all the bad English spoken here haven't any of you figured it out yet. It takes the students wanting to learn and use the language outside of the classroom not only in a classroom invironment. I have taught with Korean teachers for such a long time some are fairly good but on average they have a long way to go.

[Smee]

It was a pretty sloppy piece, and it pains me to see academics write like that. Also seems like he's got a case of sour grapes.

He echoes a lot of the points made in academic literature, especially the "myth of the native speaker." There are a number of reasons why, though, Korean English teachers are not necessarily better, (and a number of reasons why lots of foreign teachers aren't very good), but those have been dealt with countless times here, and I won't get into it.

As one of the commentors pointed out on the KT page, the article was poorly titled, and really makes no mention of NNSs being better teachers than native speakers. It all comes down to qualifications and training, in most cases, but we're not there yet in Korea.

[iiicalypso]

Where is this from?

More importantly, is the author a native English speaker?

If so, why are there so many mistakes?

It drives me crazy when people writing in English, about teaching English, cannot follow the most basic conventions OF English.

[Big_Bird]

[ulmaeri]

I'll have to second the sour grapes statement. I sense some resentment in the article. The only advantage I see over a non-native teacher is their experience in learning English as a second language. They can relate to another person in that situation. IMO a trained native teacher would be ideal. I wonder if those Indian teachers share the same accent and speech styles as the call center operators in their country.

[KYC]

[Big_Bird]

I found that my experiences of having learnt other languages helped me a lot as a teacher.

[IncognitoHFX]

[SPINOZA]

Well, the author succeeds in stating the obvious, but otherwise I find it disingenuous; the name of this author is definitely not Edwin. Seon Yeong or Ji Su, perhaps....

[Unposter]

I have to admit that I find his logic faulty and his background confusing. Why don't they capitalize his last name? Why is he studying at a small university in Daegu if he has a doctorate? What is his doctorate in? What is he studying?

What is the connection between Indian nationals being good ESL/EFL teachers in China because Indians in general are good teachers in the West. Does he mean Indian nationals or ethnic Indian teaching in the West? Does he mean teaching ESL or does he mean teaching other subjects? How does he know they are effective in China?

His best argument is that qualified teachers using recognized teaching principles is better than well anarchy. But, this isn't much of an argument, is it? You could find this argument in a million places amongst the plebes of Dave's but he has a Ph.D.? What needs to be addressed is what qualifications and how do we find or create teachers who hold such qualifications? -- both Korean and native. What type of curriculum needs to be followed? Is the current curriculum solid or does it need to be reformed? Is the problem teachers interpretation of the curriculum? To what extent does speaking with native speakers actually improve language skills?

He doesn't even address any of these questions!

Also, at best, he insinuates that the problem is Koreans are infatuated with white people and not just native-speakers but he does not explain how this impacts language learning or even how it impacts cultural understanding.

From sentence one to last, it is a logical mangle of half ideas poorly expressed. It is a good thing that this Ph. D. is still studying!

[Big_Bird]

The writer looks like he needs a few English lessons himself, however the question asked in the thread title is a good topic of debate. He's only spouting off what he himself has read in TESOL Quarterly.

[contrarian]

If one of the young men in my Korean congregation was not a member of the Korean Olympic team, I would boycot the Beijing Olympics. I also find the sing-song sibillence of the Indian English too dame hard to take.

[Big_Bird]

I love the Indian accent. It's so melodic and rather unique. I also like some of their quaint 19th Century uses of English