Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tomato]

Why do Korean English teachers speak Korean continuously from 5:00 until 5:50?

We complain about it, but it is important to understand the culture in which we live.
I don't know either, but these are some theories which come to mind:

■ because of the 빨리 빨리 syndrome

The 빨리 빨리 syndrome frequently rears its ugly head in Korean education. Korean teachers are forever on a frenetic effort to cover as much material as quickly as possible. I have heard violin concertos played by students whom my violin teacher would not advance past Mary Had a Little Lamb. I have heard piano sonatas played by students whom my piano teacher would not advance past the John Thompson book.

Likewise in the foreign language classroom. I once worked for a director who relentlessly insisted that I advance the students a page a day. I relentlessly refused. She tried to fire me, but she couldn't find a replacement.

The quickest way is to speak the student's own first language. Never mind how this affects the student's learning in the long run; we have a job to do, and it has to be done yesterday.

■ because of Korea's history as a hermetic kingdom

International relations is all new to the people of Korea, which means that foreign language education is all new to the people of Korea. The Korean have only a vague notion of what a foreign language is.

They do know, however, that it is something which is taught in the classroom. Like all other human beings, Koreans are subject to stimulus generalization. History is learned straight from the textbook with no practice, so foreign language presumably must be learned the same way.

■ because of Korean's authoritarian power structure

I can say one thing for Korean teachers: they're obedient. I haven't seen one yet who doesn't do exactly as the director says and exactly as the textbook author says.

But they draw the line right there. Korean teachers have so much faith in the authority that they see the authority as a substitute for a creative mind.

To show what a cat is, all you have to do is make a Google search and print the first picture you see. But nobody tells us to do that, so the Korean teachers have to say "고양이.� To demonstrate what running is, all you have to do is stand up and run a few steps. But nobody tells us to do that, so the Korean teachers have to say "달리다.�

■ because of the lower value of individualism

Why is your name John Doe and your student's name Kim Min-ju? Because the individual is more important in your culture and the group is more important in his.

Our whole educational system is a rehearsal for that day when our students fly from the nest. When a student draws a picture, that picture is HIS! When a music student performs in a recital, that performance is HIS!

Not so here in Korea. When I taught kindergarten, my teaching opponent--I mean assistant--thought nothing of writing the students' names on the front of their pictures.

In a concert put on by the Hongseong (Chungnam) Children's Chorus, one of the teachers performed a marimba solo at the halfway point in the concert. In our culture, that would be considered preposterous.

My goal is for my students to parachute down anywhere in an English-speaking country and survive with no help from anybody. My students probably don't share that goal. If they travel, they will probably be quite content travelling with a group of other Koreans. If they immigrate, they will probably be quite content living in Koreatown.

So long as one person in the group can understand and translate, all will be well.

■ because of the lesser tendency to see contradictions in Asian culture

If you have read The Geography of Thought by Richard E. Nisbett, you probably know what I'm talking about. Here in Korea, a person would think nothing of embracing Christianity without renouncing Buddhism. In our country, on the other hand, there are people who say that one must renounce any other religion or fall into a Satanic trap.

Likewise in the educational arena. In our culture, teachers organize themselves into Montessori camps, Rudolf Steiner camps, and Bereiter & Engelmann camps and arm themselves against all other camps. I expected the same thing when I came to Korea. I was surprised that prospective customers did not ask the director questions like "What method do you use?" and "Why is your method the best?"

Korean English teachers, then, probably do not see opposition between the Korean-OK camp and the Korean-no camp.

■ because of the lesser tendency to make generalizations in Asian culture

Again, I refer to The Geography of Thought by Richard E. Nisbett. Have you seen a person acting shy at a party full of strangers? Presto! That person is a shy person! Have you seen a person acting nervous at a job interview? Presto! That person is a nervous person!

Not so, according to our Asian hosts. It is dangerous to make a generalization from just one sample. Since they are afraid to slap labels on other people, they might be afraid to slap labels on themselves. For this reason, they might be afraid to call themselves Korean-OK proponents or Korean-no proponents.

Are such labels realistic? To debate this question, we need to look no further than this message board. Over and over again, we hear the term whiner applied to anyone who complains about Korean culture. Likewise, we repeatedly hear the term apologist applied to anyone who defends Korean culture. Yet over and over again, we see messages from people claiming to see both good and bad points in Korean culture.

For that matter, we need to look no further than this thread. Several times, we have seen one person trying to force another person in one camp or the other, only to meet resistance from the other person.

I started writing this message to explain why Koreans are so stupid.
Maybe Koreans aren't so stupid after all.

[Peter Jackson]

I use Korean sometimes but I have horrible pronunciation so I will usually write it and have the students say it. (My reading and writing are far better than my speaking). It does save a lot of time as I am not the best drawer and some words (like suddenly) just can't be drawn.

But I have taught in Thailand and Vietnam as well and my vocabulary and pronunciation in these two languages in worse than my Korean and I had success teaching there, only in English...though I DID miss being able to use the local tongue as much.

[crazylemongirl]

I don't use Korean in my classroom. Outside of 천재 but that's because it's kind of inside joke with my kids. I also ask that the Korean teachers use it only if the class is really lost.

I think they rely too much on Korean in the classroom, they don't let kids struggle and come up with the answer by themselves. I won't let korean teachers translate classroom commands that are in regular use.... like 'attention' 'volunteers, please raise your hands' 'open your books' 'close your eyes' 'stand up' 'sit down.'

All my students say please and thank you when asking for and receiving things. They might get a prompt from their friends, but I'll let them struggle until the right answer comes out.

[ontheway]

Demophobe,

First of all, since you seem to be offended, I have to tell you that my comments were not directed at you or anyone. The only person I mentioned in my post was someone who seems to me to be the kind of person who COULD AND WOULD take the care to teach translated words correctly. I also said "a few others" as, indeed, there are probably a few others who can handle this. Then I said "for most of us" thereby including myself, "it's best to stick to 'English only' in the classroom". Perhaps you are one of the few others who could teach translated words correctly.

Most of the native speaking English teachers here, however, know very little Korean. They have no ability to discern correct translations and incorrect ones. One of my early lessons when I was learing Korean was that "fish = 고기". Of course you recognize this as an error, but it was in a book being used to teach translation. This might appear obvious to you, yet many teachers in Korea, and perhaps most newbies, would just repeat it and teach it to their classes. The book was made by professors at a major Korean university.

At one time I had a research doctor for a student who insisted on using a grammar book produced by the "most famous English teacher in Korea" as I was told - a top professor at a top University in Seoul. It had mistakes on nearly every page. Mistakes that the students were forced to memorize and utilize as if they were correct The book was horrible. This top professor would never pass Freshman English at an American university.

One of my current special classes is to teach university professors. I have Korean English teachers at three schools who call on me to review their test questions and writing. So, yes, I do have some experience in saying what I say about the error level in Korea. They agree. Today I reviewed a 10th grade high school level English test. It was made by Koreans who teach high school English. The test was riddled with English grammar errors, wrong words, even math errors that make "choosing the correct (or incorrect) sentence" problematical. The test was copied from the textbook being used in many Korean high schools. Most of the errors were copied right out of this defective text. Additional typographical errors were introduced as well, compounding the problem.

I teach at a hogwan with no Korean teachers. We teach English in English to all ages beginning with young children who don't know "Hi" or the ABC's. I believe it is easier to teach this way than through translation. We do not allow translation. We do not allow the use of K/E E/K dictionaries, because of the errors.

Maybe this is a rant. If so, so be it. Koreans have no business making their own English textbooks or tests. They hire native speakers for a reason, then fail to utilize them. I realize that part of the problem is that many of the native speakers who come to Korea lack the skills to identify and correct these errors. That is why, for most native English speakers here, they should utilize books and tests produced by native speakers in a native English speaking country, and they should teach English in English.

[Farnsworth]

Interesting comments everyone. I think one thing that has emerged from this discussion is the idea that there may be a difference in how much L1 is needed if you are teaching kids or teenagers/adults. I personally think that there is less of a need for L1 in young kids classes.

Actually, the point I was trying to make is that L1 can be useful more as a tool for classroom management than teaching language. By classroom management I'm not just referring to discipline, but also making students feel comfortable and holding their attention while you are teaching. When you have a class of students whose attention easily wanders, I find it counter-productive to speak too much English. Also, when you have a class of middle school students that are very sensitive about speaking English, I think it helps to give them something in Korean (text) that boosts their confidence enough to speak English.