Korean Job Discussion Forums

ESL Milk "Everyday · Joined: 12 Sep 2007

I really don't think the OP should come here. If you really have the attitude that you're better than this place, then you're not going to have a very good time.

oldtrafford · Joined: 12 Jan 2011

Yes, why is he/she being so persistent!! If you don't like not being able to do L1 then don't come here! Idea

edwardcatflap · Joined: 22 Mar 2009

demitri · Joined: 06 May 2008

[quote]It's because you showed yourself to be utterly clueless about teaching any students less than advanced level without resorting to constant translation[/quote]

Fair enough, you're entitled to your opinion. My students' results in their Cambridge and Anglia examinations suggest otherwise though. But, you know best. I must be a terrible teacher because I revert to translation.

I think it boils down to different circumstances. From the way you talk about it, I'm guessing you're in a position where all your students are in appropriate classes in relation to their ability/level ( a high one). That's just not the case here in Greece. There are students sitting FCE who are really intermediate level etc. And the schools won't change it because the parents won't stand for moving their kids back. It's nonsense.

Teachers here, including people with vast experience and credentials, laugh at the idea of not using Greek whatsoever in the class. It just wouldn't work.

Coincidentally, two native monoligual English speakers have come and gone at my school, and they were let go because their students performed by far the worst at end of year examinations. The 2nd year Juniors couldn't comprehend the new grammar rules in English (all they needed was an explanation in Greek which the teacher couldn't give), and intermediate students complained that they would encounter too much new vocabulary that wasn't easy for the teacher to explain in English and so they would revert to dictionaries (but this was too time consuming and so much of the time they just continued without learning the vocab.)

I know you might see this as just a coincidence and not indicative of anything but there you go. Everyone forms their opinions based on their own experiences.

ESL Milk "Everyday · Joined: 12 Sep 2007

^^^ That's why we shouldn't be teaching grammar lecture-style.

We're not really involved in the tests in Korea... we're basically enrichment with the long-term goal of filling in the holes in things like fluency and you know, actual communication in English (not just test-taking). I also believe that we are in a better position than most of the KTs to help with less mechanical, more organic styles of language acquisition.

I'm a pretty big believer in the whole Vygotsky learning-is-social thing... whether or not this helps them with their test-taking is another matter, I suppose... but it can't hurt, and it's probably a better overall way to go about things in the long run.

Anyway, I still think you should stay out... you'll get frustrated. If you're so happy where you are you should stay there... and in the future, stop thinking of the world as a hierarchical pattern of winners and losers... it makes you seem pompous and people will want to argue with you.