Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Len8]

I am teaching a group of Korean English middle and highschool teachers, and they all can speak English reasonably well. Some are quite fluent in fact. However when they face a student in their classes who has lived abroad for many years and speaks English better than they do, they tell me they clam up, because they lose their confidence.
My answer to them is to continue speaking in their own English the way they have always been doing, and not worry. Unfortunately however, they start to sweat and worry about such things as losing face and all that crap, and their effectiveness diminishes.
How do you convince them that students in that age group don't give a heck about the quality of their teachers spoken English, if it has some degree of fluency. My own personal experience from my school days was to initially feel sorry for such a teacher, but then buckle down and see what I could get out of the class anyway. Any comments out there about how I can convince my teacher students to not let fluent English speaking students get to them.

[Ya-ta Boy]

Yikes! That's a tough one. It would be an embarrassing situation.

I came up with three ideas (which you probably have already thought of):

a. During your class, give as much praise and cofidence-building support to the teachers that you can.

b. Suggest they use the students as a 'resource' for pronunciation etc. when appropriate.

c. Suggest they convince their school to assign all the 'advanced' students to a special English class so they can continue to progress. (And remove them from a class that is below their level.)

[Zyzyfer]

It's kinda offtopic, but I'll talk about it anyways.

I'm not Korean, and I know that when I go in a middle school class, and one of the students is givin' me dap, it is pretty strange...and I'm a native speaker! Odd situation indeed, this one.

[VanIslander]

Interesting, I have two students who spent time in Canada and America, and THEY are the ones who clam up and don't express themselves with confidence in the classroom.

It's so frustrating to hear such wonderful English spill from their lips during the breaks, when the other kids are absent, but in class they seem inhibited around the much lesser speaking skills of classmates. The reason the two aren't in a separate class is their understanding of written grammar rules is at a similar level,.... and it's the only class the director could plunk them into at the time slot they were available.

[rapier]

My directors wierd. he's been interviewing korean teachers to fill 3 vacancies lately. He has consistently chosen the ones with the worst english. Due to the influence of the bi-atch supervisor who wants to remain queen bee, any hotties have been denied employment as well.

[phaedrus]

[jajdude]

rapier......................

The ones with the worst English are the least threatening? (fitting in with the group so important in korea?)

Hey just read Michael Breen...

[peppermint]

Perhaps you could suggest that the teachers use the students as helpers. Get them to do lots of reading, and help the other students. It would take some of the pressure off the teachers, and make the advanced students feel important.

[ajstew]

This is a little off topic... just wanted to share my thoughts on those Korean English teachers who teach in Elementary schools and above and who clam up when around students who know and speak better English than they do.

I teach at an Education University and I can tell you that 90% of the English majors don't practice.... and either have the mistaken belief that when they graduate they'll magically become good English speakers... or they don't care if they learn English at all and have chosen English as a major because having it will look better on their resumes.

Having said that, if they get embarrased when students know more than they do... it's what many deserve.