Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Zackback]

1. International school
2. Elementary grade level
3. English only policy
4. Kid breaks the rule
5. What should be the punishment?

One place I know makes the kid for the rest of the day wear a thing around their neck (paper and string) that reads "I will only speak English". I think this is too embarrassing and humiliating.

Thoughts?

[sadguy]

their punishment is that if they speak korean, they have to listen to go on daves esl and read every post you made about dating korean girls.

sorry i couldn't resist.

[Zackback]

No problem.

Next........

[koreatimes]

[nathanrutledge]

Nothing. Punishing a child for not speaking English just reinforces the idea that English sucks and is something to be avoided.

"Two crap choices? Man, English sucks."

[DaHu]

Punishment is nothing and anyone with half a brain just disregards it unless it is corporal in nature.

What are you going to do when you come up with some punishment and they ignore you?

I'm going to agree with the last guy and this will just make them hate English more.

[northway]

I use a points system in all my classes. Students get points for class participation and lose points for behavior, failing to do their homework, or speaking Korean in class. At the end of the week they get stickers for these points, which can then be redeemed for prizes. While they don't really care about the prizes, they do seem to get a sense of accomplishment from the stickers. Really punishing a kid doesn't accomplish much, but I've found that incorporating English-only into an incentives system is fairly effective (though I'm not sure how effective it is with kids who really, really don't care).

[TellyRules986]

I teach kindy/elementary at a hogwan and my kids, ages 6 and older, do not use Korean in my classes. Even if I know a word in Korean, I do not translate but I explain the meaning in English using vocabulary they understand. At the same time, my bosses are very strict on the English only rule in English classes (it's a Korean kindergarten, only English class is in English) and will get angry if the kids speak Korean in class.

Even though the little ones have a very limited vocabulary, they do not hate English. My classes are fun and active and we play lots of games. The "no Korean" rule is almost a game of sorts, where the students show me that they can be better at English than their peers. For my elementary kids, they are indifferent. They just know that when they walk into my classroom they are to switch to English. It's obviously harder for them to speak English than Korean, but they do it anyway and are reasonably comfortable at using English.

I just got another elementary class (taught by another foreign teacher who left) and they have a little Korean habit, so I'm now in the process of getting them to only use English as well.

I just work with an rewards system. What I do is that if a kids slips up and says something in Korean, they lose points. But I don't focus on the punishment part but instead focus on rewarding kids pretty well when they deserve it. At least when they're young, kids want the stickers and the prizes. They want to show off to their friends. I take advantage of that.

[coetivy89]

They have to stand up in the back of the classroom with their hands up for 5-10 minutes, or longer depending on how severe their behavior is or how many times you let them slide before punishing them. If you really want to make a point, make them hold a book above their head (because they tend to let their arms go pretty slack).

It's effective. Or at least satisfying :roll: