Korean Job Discussion Forums

[schwa]

Thats the title of a speech I'm to give early next month & true to Korean bureaucratic form I'm told of it today & need to submit a 3-page outline for inclusion in the program booklet by tomorrow afternoon.

Suggestions sought.

The audience will be about 200 Korean secondary english teachers & I'll have about an hour. I volunteered to do this. I did a similar gig last year & gave them an earful of lots of stuff I find problematic in the system (not that it made any difference! but it felt good to vent). This time out I'd like to offer up more workable suggestions.

I've got a few ideas but I'm reaching out to the collective wisdom of this forum for additional insight. What do you think? Within the constraints of the stupid exam-driven curriculum, what can public school teachers do to make a practical difference?

[Yesterday]

I have been teaching in the public schools (elementary, middle and high) for a while -

here is number one suggestion - DICIPLINE the students

[Mashimaro]

[ohahakehte]

i agree on the discipline thing, but thats only because i teach at a hagwan with a lot of annoying kids who dont wanna learn and its easier for all of us if they just act like they enjoy learning english even if they dont.

for the actual human process of learning a language i dont think discipline is a big deal at all. a person can and will pick up some langauge no matter how much they hate it, its all about exposure to the language. nelson mandela learned afrikaans in prison - a language that was for a very long identified as the "enemy's language" because it was spoken by the dominant apartheid-supporting afrikaner group in south africa - despite his suffering under their horrible treatment. the same could be said abot many palestinian activists learning hebrew in israeli jails. however if a person really wants to undertake learning themselves, discipline can make a big difference. with adults its more about disciplining onself.

with kids, i dont think the discipline factor is very strong. i goofed off constantly all throughout public school and french immersion and didn't give a hoot about learning anything. then i realized years later when i was more mature and interested in languages that i had a really good bedrock understanding of french which had only diminished a little bit after i dropped out of immersion in grade 9. since i never tried in french from grades 1-9 (my formative years) i think thats evidence that one is receptive to language on levels which one is not always aware of.

[Blue Flower]

Tell them to actually speak english to their students, instead of conducting their english lessons in 90% korea, 10% english.

[Ya-ta Boy]

I would like to add to what Blue Flower said.

Don't just explain English grammar to the students. Put them in situations where they have to actually use the language.

Use a variety of teaching techniques. Some learn better in one technique and others learn better from other approaches. A bit of variety is a good thing.

Structure activities so the students gradually gain mastery of at least some parts of English. Start with teacher-controlled activities and gradually wean them into taking the lead.

Use lots of pair and small group work so the maximum number of people are talking in the available time.

There are thousands of decent communication gap activities out there. Raid the books and steal the good ones.

Make the point that speaking English is a skill, not just a body of knowledge, and therefore the students need to actually do something besides sit at their desks and take notes.

Those are the points I'd make if I were going to make a speech about English.

[coolsage]

Schwa: no doubt you have endured tiresome lectures on similar topics. Now it's your turn. Baffle them with BS. Some words about 'student-centered learning' are usually helpful, as are phrases such as 'active learning' ,' student participation', will impress your audience. It's the same gig; we do what we do , and we strive to do it well. Putting it into speech somehow makes it feel contrived. Good luck with it. The fact that you've been called upon to do this indicates that in the eyes of someone, you are moving up the food chain. Cheers!

[sprite]

not to be a bummer, but taking a group of 40 people and setting them to pair work is a recipe for chaos.

if you're interested in workable ideas (and i think most of the audience would love some), try to keep in mind the class sizes they'll be dealing with, and typical korean student-teacher relationships. this is not a culture where your average student feels comfortable leading an exercise in a role that might resemble that of a teacher. and most teachers would feel quite uncomfortable with the switch as well.

(btw--i'm not trying to talk down to you--i don't know you and have no idea what you do and do not know. except that you've been in korea for at least a year.)

depending on your time frame, you might do a couple of the activities, using volunteers from the audience. your audience might also appreciate a handout with net resources, and a list of texts with a (very) brief description--theory, activities, grammar, listening, adults, kids, etc.

good luck!

[schwa]

Thanks for the input folks. I zapped off my outline this afternoon which I kept general enough to hang just about any elaborations on when the time comes. Further ideas welcome!

Discipline got me thinking. In fact my classes are invariably the noisiest in the hall but I'd say its at least semiproductive noise. I guess I encourage that. But teacher self-discipline to get on with their own english improvement & over their 'mistake' hangups -- right on. Part of my usual harangue.

Teaching in english is slowly gaining converts around here. What tends to happen is teachers have the best intentions in March & try to go 'all english' & the students complain & the teachers give it up as 'too difficult' after a month or so. So I encourage them to increase their classroom english incrementally & stick to it.

Pairwork isnt on in a class of 40 under-motivated kids.

Sorry Coolsage, I just aint any good at the jargon! So true though, my yammering isnt likely to make much difference anyhow. A handful will pay attention but the majority will just tune out the onslaught of english noise. (The administrators will full-out fall asleep.)

But for those few that do care, yes, I think the suggestion of providing practical fresh resources is on the mark. I'll list up some faves. Given the size & disparity of the crowd though, & only having an hour, I dont think its the time for workshop-style presentations.

No condescension detected, Sprite! I'll give the teacher-student dynamic some thought & possible comment.