Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Real Reality]

Classes to Be Conducted in English From 2015
English teachers in schools nationwide will have to conduct English classes without the help of native English speaking teachers by 2015. According to the plan, school English teachers will have to begin to conduct classes in English in 2009, and the government aims at making all schools use only English in their classes by 2015.

Koreans are poor in English. Of 227 countries, South Korea only ranked 93rd on TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) scores last year. Among the 32 Asian countries, it ranked 16th. "From next year until 2015, 10,000 English teachers across the nation will receive intensive English courses so that every English teacher will be able to carry out classes in English."
By Park Chung-a, Korea Times (November 3, 2006)
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200611/kt2006110317180110160.htm

[Yesterday]

Your title is misleading because.......

[Son Deureo!]

I'll believe it when I see it.

[SuperHero]

[chronicpride]

Korean mothers have the last word on anything being permanently adopted. If they don't have confidence in the english levels of who is teaching their kids, then there will not be any drop off in the hiring of native teachers. And the 'keeping up with the Kims' mindset is not going to go away for a long, long time, if at all. In other words, there will always be the 'Did you here that Minsu is studying with a foreigner?', 'Oh really, I worry about the accent that my Jeesun is getting with the Korean', gasp-panic-gossip, etc...

[Yaya]

Real Reality certainly has a lot of time on his hands, I wonder if he has a life.

[Son Deureo!]

[jaganath69]

Does anyone sniff the foul hand of the KTA behind this? I'm sure once URI are rolled and all those simpering KJI-kissbutts are deported or hanged for treason this will fall by the wayside. But honestly, where do they think they will get the requisite amount of competent Koreans to fill these positions? Training through EBS? C'mon, 55 minutes of pure Korean translation of a weighty English text does not a teacher make.

[that guy]

To whom ever thought of this idea, I want to send a quick

Bravo your life!

You've given a well-being fresh effort.

[mindmetoo]

The plan and the intent seem to not be well connected. First, I think the Seoul government just launched some initiative to hire almost a thousand foreigners for the public school system. It would appear now they're all to go once one single cohort of children make it through k-7.

More to the point, the intent seems to be to save parents hagwon costs. How will having Koreans (be they real Koreans or these mysterious legions of adoptees who will some how make up the ranks vacated by whitey) teaching Koreans in public school accomplish this? Koreans will deliver superior English education and speaking ability to Korean children and parents will be so satisfied with this that they won't throw their kids in hagwon?

The whole EBS initiative a couple years ago was meant to drive expensive hagwons into the sea... like that worked.

[mindmetoo]

[rothkowitz]

Institute a body of fluent teachers across the board through overseas study and intakes of English majors so as to rid the need of native instructors?

1,What happens to those ensconced teachers that don't meet whatever standard?

2,Who'll check how much English is used?

3,What about the current teach-by-test-not -produce system?

Need one go on.

[SeoulMan6]

I think it's a brilliant move. It will take time, but the governement is taking steps to educate their own teachers and have them take over the English education in the elementary, middle, and high schools.

Think about it, when you learned French, Spanish, or German back home, did they import native speakers to teach you? Heck no! All my classes were taught by (semi?) fluent teachers from my local area.

There will be jobs for qualified EFL teachers for years to come, but I have no problem seeing the Koreans take over as it may change the whole concept of English as a secondary subject to a more important one. I also have no problem getting rid of unprofessional foreign teachers who don't provide much education for their students.

[dogshed]

From what I was told by my German teacher in college research shows that early immersion is the best way to teach a new language.

Korea has not adopted this for the same reasons American schools have not adopted this. It's just easier to keep doing things the same way. My job is secure for a few years if I want to stay in a public school and if not I'm sure the Hagwons will still be hiring foreigners.

-Jeff

[Real Reality]