Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Cornfed]

It seems to me that apart from explaining the odd English idiom and point of pronounciation, FTs in public schools are largely surplus to requirements. The standard of English is too low for any advanced skills you might have to be of use. The textbooks and lessons are all obviously designed to be given by Korean teachers. Hence if one is to feel the slightest bit useful, or just reduce one's chances of being fired, what exactly is one to do?

[Fishead soup]

The best teaching is done in the halls. Try to talk to the students on you're way to work.or in the halls. This way you get at least some one on one talking ,and less of the whole lecture seminar thing that the Korean teachers tend to do.

[Cornfed]

On a related note, does anyone know of any textbooks or resources specifically designed for FTs that couldn't be taught by Korean teachers. If I could find any could ones I could just pick lessons out of those and leave the stupid textbooks to the KTs.

[Fishead soup]

[Draz]

[Cornfed]

Yes, good one, thanks.

[R. S. Refugee]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Every textbook chapter has a theme with grammar points and vocabulary. Try employing these in communicative and task-based teaching.

[Cornfed]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[Smee]

I agree about some of the points the OP brought up. Debating the usefulness of FTs is something that could---and has---gone on for pages and pages and pages. Students are often very low level and aren't equipped with the skills to benefit to the fullest from a native speaker. And, because they often haven't learned a damn thing from the KTs over the 6, 7, 8 + years they've been studying English, there is a huge disconnect between what they've STUDIED (stories, essays, advanced grammar) and what they've LEARNED (can't recognize verbs or adjectives, can't build sentencees, can't apologize without saying "I'm so sorry but I love you.") There's soooo much work that needs to be done it can be overwhelming and hard to know where to start.

But a big part of being an FT is to provide them with a positive experience around a foreigner. Don't reduce yourself to a monkey and don't let your coteachers do it to you. Just like good KTs can do much more than simply translate stuff or beat students, a good FT can do a lot more than be a pronunciation guide.

I teach lessons based off the book, and like YBS I try to take the material and make it relevant to them. I remember a month ago the unit was "What does your father do?" and of course the Korean teacher did all the pages of the activity, translated everything, conducted the class in Korean, had the students memorize all the dialogues . . . but didn't actually have the students say what their fathers actually DO. So there are vastly different ideas of what language education entails, and for foreign teachers our emphasis is on using and producing the language rather than passively observing it. I do a lot of information gap activities, make a lot of interview activities they use with a partner or a team. Even though there's a lot I could teach them, I stick to the sentence patterns in the book. The students who are interested in speaking English will talk to me after class or will talk with me as I'm making my rounds among the groups. But for most students, doing the book is enough, and trying to introduce more to them---after they've been bombarded with English and Engrish they don't understand the past 6, 7, 8 years---would serve no purpose.

[Smee]

I'll add that I see each class once or twice a m onth. Because of holidays, tests, and other cancellations, there are some classes I haven't seen since mid March. Now, obviously that makes it difficult to be particularly useful, and since my classes are always subordinated to the grammar/reading tests, in reality my class isn't constructed to be useful or meaningful to them. With the exception of about a quarter of my coteachers, the KTs can't be bothered to come to class and are obviously not interested in English conversation as a subject. Some of them even speak Korean to me. So, as far as meaning goes, in my case there isn't any meaning or utility beyond what I create on my own. I can think of a million things I need to teach them, but in reality there's generally not a place for it. I try to teach some respect for their teacher and for his language, and I try to get them to practice the language they've studied with their KT. I keep it simple, and am patient with the students, and hopefully they learn something. A surprising number of them have, after all this time, remembered to say "It's nice to see you again" rather than "Nice to meet you." So that's good.

[Fishead soup]