Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Eazy_E]

Does anyone else have a problem giving intrinsic motivation to their students?

One of the conversation questions for my elementary and middle school aged children is: "Why do you study English?" The answer, without exception, has to do with their mother's insistence that they have to learn English. I thought I would get at least one response that had to do with English songs, English movies, or meeting a friend from another country.

I know that these are children learning a language that is completely alien to their native tongue. That is an inherent problem that will not go away. But how do the rest of you make your students WANT to learn English for themselves rather than to satisfy mommy dearest?

[Saxiif]

Well I had one student tell me that she studied English to help Korea "win" the evil Americans.

[prosodic]

It isn't just about satisfying mommy dearest. For the older students, it's often about a feeling of moral duty.

Here's how I explain adult hagwons to people in the U.S. I tell them that most Koreans think of learning English like most church-going Americans think of going to church. Koreans believe they have a moral responsibility to learn English so they go to hagwon and sit there, listen, and try not to fall asleep. This is just like a large number of churchgoers in the U.S. who believe they have a moral responsibility to go to church, so they go, listen and try not to fall asleep.

The analogy can easily be extended to children. Why do most church-going children in the U.S. attend services? It's because mommy and daddy tell them it's the right thing to do. So, they go, squirm in the pews, sing hymns when everybody else is singing, goof around with other kids who don't really want to be there, and occasionally get yelled at by adults. I think you can supply the hagwon part of this analogy.

I think an important question is, why were you asking elementary and middle school children a question like that? It's something they've probably never thought about. More importantly, it's a boring question. Just try to have fun with them and then ask them whether or not they enjoyed the class.

(Disclaimer: I am not trying to criticize anybody who goes to church. If anybody who reads this goes to church, I am sure that you do so for all the right reasons and that you bear no resemblance whatsoever to what I described above. Please don't write nasty things about me and my private parts in response to this post. )

[Paddycakes]

I myself like to use O'Brien's famous "Imagine a Boot Stomping on your face Forever" one-liner to remind students that in spite of whatever self-deluded nationalistic slogans the public schools may fill their heads with, a non-English Korea is a non-first world Korea.

[Zyzyfer]

Heh.

I just finished a class with a girl who I am preparing for an interview with Ehwa University. It's the first class, and I saved the tough, "real" interview questions for the end. She was stumped on the first one, "How would you describe yourself?"

She didn't know how to answer. So I brought up hobbies again. Computer playing, music listening, TV watching. OK...how about extracurricular activities? None, since she studies at high school all day...mandatory study for all students. OK...I hit up her intended major. "Why do you want to study social sciences? Why do you want to become a diplomat?"

"Because my mother wants me to study that."

Priceless.

[Pyongshin Sangja]

Well, I dunno. Did you all go to school because you so passionately cared about economics, Russian literature or cognitive behaviour when you were 18? Nobody pointed you in any direction?

[Gwangjuboy]

It is the single most depressing part of working in a hagwon for me. My students just don't want to be there. Irrespective of who is stood there, they just won't do the work unless they are threatened with punishment. Of course, there are some exceptions. However, these enthusiastic children are often put in a class full of unenthusiastic children so their influence on the classroom environment is mitigated. Very sad indeed, and it makes me feel very negatively about a job I othersise might have felt very positively about. The hagwon industry's biggest crime is letting some of Korea's brightest, and most broad minded children get dragged down with the waste. Very depressing indeed.

[Alias]

[wannago]

[jajdude]

Good thread. I like prosodic's church comparison.

It is sad. There are many reasons Koreans still suck at English. I think most of us can recognize them.

1. Foreigners aren't real people. We never meet them. They don't fit into our little world of Confucianism and "Dae Han Min Guk mal"
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A closed society with an ethnic family doesn't blend well with the rest of the planet. The past lingers in the consciousness. Foreigners are still regarded with suspicion, they are enemies. A few exceptions exist.
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2. Kids need fun.

3. The languages are so different!

4. We never meet foreigners, except the occasional trip abroad. We never practice speaking English. We just attend classes, read, do grammar, try to respond to waegook on basic questions. No wonder we still suck after years of this crap.

5. Korea is very much NOT an international country. With less than 1% of the people from other countries, most of them other Asians, there is no exposure to the world here. Itaewon and a few restaurants excepted.

Did I mention that kids need fun? Being stuck in foreignville isn't fun usually except for a few bright kids. Some kids are better off on the soccer pitch or playground. I wish they'd go there!

Then by the time they are adults it's pretty much too late! Pronunciation is very hard to master at an older age no matter how many words you know.

Suffice to say... it will take a while! And I doubt Korea will ever be a touristy type place.

[Zyzyfer]

[quadra87]

Edit

[matthewwoodford]

They suck at English because they aren't taught right.

[prosodic]

[Eazy_E]

Thanks for your understanding prosodic. Our jobs can be so tough sometimes. It's good to get encouragement from people who are in the same boat. I believe that what we do is worthwhile, and the students will be grateful for it. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but when they want to use English in their adult lives.