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Real Reality
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul
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 Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 1:27 am Post subject: Non-Natives Can Become English Teachers |
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Non-Natives Can Become English Teachers
by Kang Shin-who, Korea Times (December 28, 2008)
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/12/117_36881.html
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Non-native English speakers from India and other countries that use English as an official language will be able to teach at public schools from next year.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Justice said Sunday the government is opening the door for English teaching positions wider to secure more foreign English teachers at primary and secondary schools nationwide....
"There are about 50 countries that have adopted English as an official language. However, we will not open the door to all teachers from the countries," Oh Seok-hwan, an official of the education ministry, told The Korea Times. "Only foreigners whose countries have trade agreements with Korea can apply for the positions. These include India, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines,'' he added.
The number of foreigners holding English-teaching E-2 visa has increased to 19,934 this year, up from 17,721 in 2007 and 15,001 in 2006. Among the visa holders, some 4,300 are working at public schools as assistant English teachers. However, many schools in rural areas are still in need of native English speakers. The government sees relaxation of the visa rule as a way to help those schools have foreign teachers for English conversation classes.
Requirements for the non-native teachers, however, will be much stricter than those for native speakers. Non-native speakers have to hold a bachelor's degree or above in English studies and teaching licenses from their countries. According to the education ministry, more than half of current foreign assistant teachers don't even have basic English teaching certificates such as TESOL.... |
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asylum seeker
Joined: 22 Jul 2007
Location: On your computer screen.
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| Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 1:39 am Post subject: |
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| Get ready for wages to drop and conditions to worsen. |
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SHANE02
Joined: 04 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 1:42 am Post subject: |
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| yeah right. The opposite may occur. Korean moms won't be having little Jin seok taught by a south Asian. They may pay more to get what they want, a white American. |
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wylies99
Joined: 13 May 2006
Location: I'm one cool cat!
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| Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 1:44 am Post subject: |
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More dummying down for the Korean English education "system."  |
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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| Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 1:45 am Post subject: |
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Has been noted for some time now. At least since last summer.
Hasn't seemed to have had much of an effect. |
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Gimpokid
Joined: 09 Nov 2008
Location: Best Gimpo
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| Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 1:45 am Post subject: |
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| At the worst I see these folks filling gaps. They will get hired only after every available teacher from the 7 native speaking countries has a job (don't think there won't be discrimination) and schools that land a non native will be filled with disgruntled parents and kids who will simply put up with it until they can get a Western teacher. |
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wylies99
Joined: 13 May 2006
Location: I'm one cool cat!
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| Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 1:56 am Post subject: |
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Agreed. It's up to Korean parents. If they accept it, it will happen.
But,the smart money is on a Korean mothers' revolt.  |
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OnTheOtherSide
Joined: 29 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 1:58 am Post subject: |
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| I have been seeing some contracts that say they want a "native or near-native" speaker of English. Whatever that is. |
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Real Reality
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 1:59 am Post subject: |
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| Gimpokid wrote: |
| At the worst I see these folks filling gaps. They will get hired only after every available teacher from the 7 native speaking countries has a job (don't think there won't be discrimination) and schools that land a non native will be filled with disgruntled parents and kids who will simply put up with it until they can get a Western teacher. |
Non-Natives Can Become English Teachers by Kang Shin-who, Korea Times (December 28, 2008)
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/12/117_36881.html
| Quote: |
| Parents' groups also showed positive reaction to Asian English teachers. "Korean English education has put too lopsided focus on American English so far and there have been many unqualified teachers at schools. We don't oppose English teachers from India or the Philippines as long as they are proven teachers," said Yoon Sook-ja, chairwoman of the National Association of Parents for True Education. |
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wylies99
Joined: 13 May 2006
Location: I'm one cool cat!
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| Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 2:02 am Post subject: |
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| Real Reality wrote: |
| Gimpokid wrote: |
| At the worst I see these folks filling gaps. They will get hired only after every available teacher from the 7 native speaking countries has a job (don't think there won't be discrimination) and schools that land a non native will be filled with disgruntled parents and kids who will simply put up with it until they can get a Western teacher. |
Non-Natives Can Become English Teachers by Kang Shin-who, Korea Times (December 28, 2008)
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/12/117_36881.html
| Quote: |
| Parents' groups also showed positive reaction to Asian English teachers. "Korean English education has put too lopsided focus on American English so far and there have been many unqualified teachers at schools. We don't oppose English teachers from India or the Philippines as long as they are proven teachers," said Yoon Sook-ja, chairwoman of the National Association of Parents for True Education. |
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That's a political person- lets' see what the average Korean mother thinks about the issue. Betcha they won't be rolling out the red carpet. |
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Smee
Joined: 24 Dec 2004
Location: Jeollanam-do
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| Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 2:04 am Post subject: |
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Hiring more trained teachers can be a good thing, and I suspect that even, say, 2.0 a month would be a big pay increase for someone from a South or Southeast Asian country.
But as we've seen with the white or brown people already here, Koreans don't really care about certifications or training. If you have training you earna few dollars more per month, but you're still the "assistant native speaker teacher." You're still second fiddle to the Korean teachers, your classes still get cancelled in favor of test-prep, you're still expected to teach from a textbook that stresses grammar translation, and you and your teaching methods are still viewed as a threat to Korean culture. Yeah yeah yeah not always, but with enough frequency to warrant comment.
I don't think this plan is a bad idea . . . things can't get much worse, as clearly schools aren't using their foreigners effectively as is. If they can get a certified teacher for half my wages to do the same job, why wouldn't they? |
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wylies99
Joined: 13 May 2006
Location: I'm one cool cat!
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| Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 2:08 am Post subject: |
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| Brian, have you ever dealt with any of those "Parents Committees"? When it comes to English education they're not exactly known for being reasonable or approaching things with an "open mind." Principals FEAR them, too, or should I say Principals fear losing control of them. |
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Gimpokid
Joined: 09 Nov 2008
Location: Best Gimpo
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| Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 2:13 am Post subject: |
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| Real Reality wrote: |
| Gimpokid wrote: |
| At the worst I see these folks filling gaps. They will get hired only after every available teacher from the 7 native speaking countries has a job (don't think there won't be discrimination) and schools that land a non native will be filled with disgruntled parents and kids who will simply put up with it until they can get a Western teacher. |
Non-Natives Can Become English Teachers by Kang Shin-who, Korea Times (December 28, 2008)
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/12/117_36881.html
| Quote: |
| Parents' groups also showed positive reaction to Asian English teachers. "Korean English education has put too lopsided focus on American English so far and there have been many unqualified teachers at schools. We don't oppose English teachers from India or the Philippines as long as they are proven teachers," said Yoon Sook-ja, chairwoman of the National Association of Parents for True Education. |
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Well I guess time will tell, but from my personal experience my job is secure. There are two English teachers at my PS. Myself and a guy from the phillipines (not sure how, he might be married to a Korean.)The kids want to take my class, the parents love me, I go on every official school function and am present at all the events. The phillpino guy can't get the time of day despite his fairly good grasp of English. This job is all about appearances (like so much in Korea) and I don't see that changing.
I wonder how many of these "Parent's for True Education" when confronted with the choice between Jon Smith from Canada and Push Pack from India would pick the "nearly native" speaker when it came to their own child's school. |
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asylum seeker
Joined: 22 Jul 2007
Location: On your computer screen.
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| Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 2:36 am Post subject: |
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| SHANE02 wrote: |
| yeah right. The opposite may occur. Korean moms won't be having little Jin seok taught by a south Asian. They may pay more to get what they want, a white American. |
More available labor = lower wages. It's the law of supply and demand. When Korean parents see that some of the "near-natives" can teach English just as well as some of the natives (in some cases probably better) the prejudices will start dropping. Korea can not remain a gravy train of easy hours for good money as it is at the moment, something has to give.
We all know that some of the native 'teachers' here are completely useless at teaching and spend most of their classes playing games with students.
I've taken over a class which a fellow native teaching had been teaching phonics and the kids were barely able to read a single word from the text book. Then I took over a class where the same book had been taught by a Korean teacher and the kids were able to read every word correctly.
Some native speakers are, sorry to say, complete garbage as teachers but they get hired contract after contract because of the lack of real competition. I feel really sorry for the parents sometimes.
Koreans aren't as stupid as you might think. It takes a while for prejudices to change but eventually they're going to realise that they can get better-qualified, harder-working teachers who will be willing to work much longer hours for less. (Not saying this applies to all NT's of course.)
The economic domination of the world by western countries (particularly America) is ending and eventually Koreans are not going to look up to you because you have a white face anymore. Already Korean exports to China are worth more than their exports to the US.
It's not just competition from the 'near-natives' either. High unemployment rates are going to drive greater and greater numbers of westerners here. As it said in the OP the number of E-2 teachers is growing every year. The word on Korea is getting out and social networks like Facebook make people a lot more secure about coming here. The teaching market here will soon reach the same saturation point as in Japan and IMO that will mean the end of free accommodation and airfares.
Those who are well-qualified/experienced/connected will be fine but I think in a few years conditions for newbies are going to be rough. If I'm wrong feel free to resurrect this thread in a few years time and prove it.
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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| Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 3:10 am Post subject: |
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From a taxi cab window:
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/pickup.jpg
It's in Korean, but it's a phone English place advertising that they don't employ non-native speakers (from other Asian countries) to teach English. Now imagine this on a larger scale -- Hagwon A employs teachers from Bangladesh, India, and the phils. Hagwon B employs blondes. Public school tries to employ people from Bangladesh, India, and the Phils. More money goes to hagwon B -- totally defeating the purpose of the public school teacher idea in the first place.
If there is no concern from parents about who their child learns English from, then why are there ads like this around Korea?
The article at the front of the Korea Times is highly political in nature, and specifically targeted (front page) for waygooks. |
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