Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mhills]

Hi...

I am curious about why the English education system is failing in Korea.
What do you think??
Is there a main reason??
Is it because we, the teachers, are oversexed monkeys and we are ruining it??
And who is better at teaching English, Korean English school teachers or Korean English hogwan teachers??

And be nice, I am drunk at work and looking at pictures of Lee Hyo Ri.

M

[John Henry]

Who says it's failing?

You're obviously failing if you're drunk and looking at girlie pics at work, but other than that...

[mhills]

Well said, it might not really be failing.....

..... and as for being drunk at work and looking at pics........ terrible teacher.

So then to the teachers that think it is failing..... what do you think???

Minus the part about being drunk at work.

M

[Zark]

I'm not sure that it is failing. Certainly could be more effective, but maybe not failing.

While teaching at university, it was quite clear to me that the incoming students each year were significantly better skilled in English than in each preceding year. Something is happening out there to make that happen.

[Boodleheimer]

because English is taught here the way Latin is taught in the USA.

[some waygug-in]

I think you may change your mind after a while....or not.

One thing I've noticed is that it takes a lot longer than I ever expected to see improvements in my students' English abilities.

I still have days....like today...where I feel like the whole thing is a big joke and I would do well to pack up and move to another country.

But I have to realize how hard it is for most students here.

I think if you want to see rapid improvement, private lessons are the only way to go. Not that teachers aren't doing their level best, it's just the whole way Korean culture and education are set up. They tend to focus on learning new and complex vocabulary rather than something as basic as making a sentence. Schools are expected to produce high results with very little time and the only way they can is to ....rig the system.
(so to speak)
They all want to produce students who can recognize a lot of advanced vocabulary that they will need to pass the TOEIC or TOEFL, but they don't want to take the time necessary to actually become proficient in the language. So they spend a lot of time and energy getting students to study things they are not really ready for, so they can say, "look at the advanced levels our students are achieving".

This is an over-simplification of a complex issue, and there are many reasons why EFL seems to be failing, but that's my take on it.

Cheers

[Homer]

I do not think it is failing.

I do think it has suffered from some core problems in the past and that these need to be adressed to get the ESL program under a full head of steam.

I agree with the assessement that new university student are coming better skilled in English each year. This is clear to see at my university anyway.

The problem (in my opinion) lies in a lack of available practice (for younger students) time, lack of quality teachers (yes thats us in many cases) and a lack of regulation in the private sector. These are all problems that are getting fixed slowly (I can see differences between now and 1997 for example, in each problem area).

Finally...I hopeyou were not drunk and looking at pictures at your school.....that would be truly sad.

[chilgok007]

I admit I don't know too much about the system in general, but in my opinion, I think its too early too tell. Alot of kids do seem to be learning the basics. If anything, the flaw in the system is that they rely too much on unqualified, untrained teachers (such as myself ) to get the job done.

[Hater Depot]

For a good number of students, it is failing. It should be unacceptable that kids who've been studying English for 3 years can't manage anything more than "I'mfinethankyouandyou" but it is if they can pass tests after being all but told what questions will be on it. But since they pass the test....

For my sweet, mildly retarded uni student who wants nothing more than to teach the alphabet in kindergarten -- I have to agree, the system failed for her. In fact, I am not exactly doing a great hob for her now but without private lessons or loads more prep time there isn't much else I can do.

[Grotto]

Because Koreans want English taught the way they teach other subjects and refuse to listen to English experts or people with experience in teaching ESL.

They buy whichever book is cheapest or what they think is the best....the people making the decisions often dont have a clue and are influenced by others who have hidden agenda's!

They also want to keep the books within Korea....in short made by Koreans for Koreans and they keep perpetuating Konglish and poor English.

[rothkowitz]

I think English for tests(school,company)has priority over English for communication.

Couple with that ,class size and lack of interest caused by the first point.

Lots of students pick up what they can really well though.Other students need more time which simply isn't available.

[Juregen]

[Jamin]

The primary problem with English education is the attempt to make everyone learn the language. The reality is that most Koreans have no need to learn the language; it is only in a select few fields that knowing a language is needed. With this in mind, Korea would be better served using thier resources providing quality opportunities for a smaller pool of thier population to develop a second language ability. As we know, we can't force people to learn a language; one must be highly motivated to actually become fluent in another language.

What is needed are public schools and universities that only offer education in a selected second language. Entrance to these schools would be based on language ability. Yes I know students of richer parents would mostly attend. Really, who cares. Having a strong population base fully fluent in second languages will benefit the economy as a whole and by extention impact the quality of life of all the citizens in the country.

Again, the biggest problem Korea has is the assumption that everyone must have an equal opportunity to learn English. This philosophy stretches resouces and ensures the quality of education and the subsequent level of language ability will continue to languish in mediocrity.

[poker player]

I think it has a lot to do with the parents. As a uni instructor I see all levels come into 1st year from virtually unable to communicate to virtually fluent in English (the ones who have lived or studied in an English speaking country). Any of my students which I call "drop dead a+ seem to have the attitude that in order for them to succeed in life they must become fluent in English so they make the effort. One girl told me she still isn't necessarily sold on why this is the case but that her respect for her father is so great that since he has told her she should excel at English that she makes a huge effort to learn it even though she is by no means a natural. Another student told me that his father told him "English is garbage" and even told him not to bother studying for English so that he can spend more time on his major. Guess what his grade is?

Of course many parents send their kids to hagwons but once they hit high school they don'thave time for that so their exposure to English is a Korean teacher who usually excels at grammar but not much else. If they are lucky, they might see a Western teacher in their high school once a week. So as I see it, it's up to the parents. If they don't think English is of value, the kids will take the path of least resistance and not make the effort. Of course you have the extreme opposite and if they have enough money, those kids end up studying in a North American country because no matter how hard they try, the Korean high school system is not capable of producing fluent students.

What I want to know is how can a kid get into Uni here without having some knowledge of English? Don't they have tp pass some kind of test to get in? After all, it's a mandatory first year course. There aren't many but how can there even be 1?

[manlyboy]