Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ed Provencher]

This could probably be two posts.

At my former place of employment, I witnessed Korean teachers teaching English completely in Korean. Students (elementary and middle) didn�t say hello or goodbye in English, they didn�t ask to get a drink of water or use the bathroom in English either. Basically, all interactions from the teachers� side and the students� side were in Korean. There was no sense of importance around using the language they were learning about. I found this in all levels of English in our curriculum, high and low.

Is this the same where you work?

It was also against the rules for the native teachers to use any Korean in class. Sometimes I�d get a class who�s level was so low I was sure they didn�t understand 50% of what I was saying. I really felt ineffective and had I been able to speak fluent Korean, I think I would have used it.

I see my desire to use Korean in these situations different than how the Korean teachers I witnessed used Korean all the time. If I were to use Korean, it would be to explain a word, a phrase, or piece of grammar as it is needed, and then move on by using English. Korean would be a bridge to or scaffolding for learning English in this method.

Not being fluent in Korean (yet) or having the opportunity to see this kind of teaching at work, I can only speculate about it�s effectiveness as a teaching method.

I plan to be much more fluent in Korean at the start of my next contract (sometime around August 2008) as I am entering a Korean language program fulltime. I�m hoping I can find an employer who would appreciate having a native teacher who does the things I mentioned.

Please share your thoughts and experiences.

[tomato]

[dogshed]

I've gone back and forth on this issue.

Right now I have portions of the class where the teacher translates certain
things for me and portions of the class where the students are suppose to only speak English.
Although, sometimes she translates things I don't think she needs to translate.

During the portion of class where the students are supposed to speak
English I can tell the difference between giving a friend a hint or
getting way off task even if I can't speak Korean.

[Easter Clark]

My coteachers encourage me to use Korean whenever I can--it goes a long way towards building rapport with the students (as well as the faculty) at my public high school.

As for the translating, they usually use Korean when giving instructions or when I didn't do a good job of explaining something. It's not a crutch (nor should it be), but it can be a time-saver!

Since the learners are so low-level, I find that trying to learn the vocab in Korean before I go into the classroom to teach it helps me tremendously when identifying with what the students are going through.

[mongrelcat]

[Ed Provencher]

[Zaria32]

The Korean English education system does seem to learning "about" the language, not learning the language...

[Fat_Elvis]

There seems to be this bizarre schizophrenia in the way English is taught in this country, where on the one hand grammar is taught almost entirely in Korean without any exposure to the target language, and then 'conversation' English is taught without any reference to grammar or without any use of Korean. Where does this thinking come from? Korean notions of language baffle me.

Surely as much exposure as possible to the language is the best way to learn it, even if the students are only ever going to read in the language. Grammar is not something that can be effectively taught deductively, you have to use it to get a real feel for it, in as close to natural contexts as possible.

However, as for this idea that Korean or any L1 can't be used in the classroom at all, there is no research that I know of that shows this is of benefit to the students. My Korean is far from perfect but I often use Korean terms for English grammar to explain things to students. In a monolingual class like you get here in Korea it's much quicker.

Of course, there are perils with direct translation from Korean to English, but I use Korean to point this out as well. Korean is a good tool to use in the classroom if used in moderation.

[tomato]

Why do Korean English teachers speak Korean continuously from 5:00 until 5:50?

We complain about it, but it is important to understand the culture in which we live.
I don't know either, but these are some theories which come to mind:

■ because of the 빨리 빨리 syndrome

The 빨리 빨리 syndrome frequently rears its ugly head in Korean education. Korean teachers are forever on a frenetic effort to cover as much material as quickly as possible. I have heard violin concertos played by students whom my violin teacher would not advance past Mary Had a Little Lamb. I have heard piano sonatas played by students whom my piano teacher would not advance past the John Thompson book.

Likewise in the foreign language classroom. I once worked for a director who relentlessly insisted that I advance the students a page a day. I relentlessly refused. She tried to fire me, but she couldn't find a replacement.

The quickest way is to speak the student's own first language. Never mind how this affects the student's learning in the long run; we have a job to do, and it has to be done yesterday.

■ because of Korea's history as a hermetic kingdom

International relations is all new to the people of Korea, which means that foreign language education is all new to the people of Korea. The Korean have only a vague notion of what a foreign language is.

They do know, however, that it is something which is taught in the classroom. Like all other human beings, Koreans are subject to stimulus generalization. History is learned straight from the textbook with no practice, so foreign language presumably must be learned the same way.

■ because of Korean's authoritarian power structure

I can say one thing for Korean teachers: they're obedient. I haven't seen one yet who doesn't do exactly as the director says and exactly as the textbook author says.

But they draw the line right there. Korean teachers have so much faith in the authority that they see the authority as a substitute for a creative mind.

To show what a cat is, all you have to do is make a Google search and print the first picture you see. But nobody tells us to do that, so the Korean teachers have to say "고양이.� To demonstrate what running is, all you have to do is stand up and run a few steps. But nobody tells us to do that, so the Korean teachers have to say "달리다.�

■ because of the lower value of individualism

Why is your name John Doe and your student's name Kim Min-ju? Because the individual is more important in your culture and the group is more important in his.

Our whole educational system is a rehearsal for that day when our students fly from the nest. When a student draws a picture, that picture is HIS! When a music student performs in a recital, that performance is HIS!

Not so here in Korea. When I taught kindergarten, my teaching opponent--I mean assistant--thought nothing of writing the students' names on the front of their pictures.

In a concert put on by the Hongseong (Chungnam) Children's Chorus, one of the teachers performed a marimba solo at the halfway point in the concert. In our culture, that would be considered preposterous.

My goal is for my students to parachute down anywhere in an English-speaking country and survive with no help from anybody. My students probably don't share that goal. If they travel, they will probably be quite content travelling with a group of other Koreans. If they immigrate, they will probably be quite content living in Koreatown.

So long as one person in the group can understand and translate, all will be well.

■ because of the lesser tendency to see contradictions in Asian culture

If you have read The Geography of Thought by Richard E. Nisbett, you probably know what I'm talking about. Here in Korea, a person would think nothing of embracing Christianity without renouncing Buddhism. In our country, on the other hand, there are people who say that one must renounce any other religion or fall into a Satanic trap.

Likewise in the educational arena. In our culture, teachers organize themselves into Montessori camps, Rudolf Steiner camps, and Bereiter & Engelmann camps and arm themselves against all other camps. I expected the same thing when I came to Korea. I was surprised that prospective customers did not ask the director questions like "What method do you use?" and "Why is your method the best?"

Korean English teachers, then, probably do not see opposition between the Korean-OK camp and the Korean-no camp.

■ because of the lesser tendency to make generalizations in Asian culture

Again, I refer to The Geography of Thought by Richard E. Nisbett. Have you seen a person acting shy at a party full of strangers? Presto! That person is a shy person! Have you seen a person acting nervous at a job interview? Presto! That person is a nervous person!

Not so, according to our Asian hosts. It is dangerous to make a generalization from just one sample. Since they are afraid to slap labels on other people, they might be afraid to slap labels on themselves. For this reason, they might be afraid to call themselves Korean-OK proponents or Korean-no proponents.

Are such labels realistic? To debate this question, we need to look no further than this message board. Over and over again, we hear the term whiner applied to anyone who complains about Korean culture. Likewise, we repeatedly hear the term apologist applied to anyone who defends Korean culture. Yet over and over again, we see messages from people claiming to see both good and bad points in Korean culture.

For that matter, we need to look no further than this thread. Several times, we have seen one person trying to force another person in one camp or the other, only to meet resistance from the other person.

I started writing this message to explain why Koreans are so stupid.
Maybe Koreans aren't so stupid after all.

[tomato]

I try not to speak Korean, but sometimes I don't know any way around it.
In the Let's Go series, there is a lesson on always, usually, sometimes, and never.
I always have to explain those words the quick and dirty way.

Believe it or not, one time I had to teach a Korean child a little Korean.

I was reading I See Colors. The student couldn't understand why I was saying "I saw read, I saw blue. . ." when the text in the book said "I see red, I see blue . . ."

I told her that the lesson was on past tense.
She didn't know what that meant.

I told her that past tense meant 과거 시제.
She didn't know what that meant either.

So I gave her examples, such as 갔습니다 and 봤습니다.
She finally understood.

[nomad-ish]

i try to throw in a korean word whenever i can in class. my co-teachers don't mind, in fact, i think they encourage it.
using some basic korean words (not a lot) will help the students pay attention more (look--the foreigner is speaking korean!), understand a bit better, and when they see u, the teacher, trying to speak another language, whether successfully or not, it will encourage them to not be afraid of making mistakes or trying to speak English.

that being said, i also think TOO MANY korean English teachers speak all in korean during their lessons, and that is definitely not helping the kids.

[Juregen]

A gentle balance and patience are missing in a lot of classrooms.