Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Hank the Iconoclast]

Well, I think I want to be in Korea for the long haul (getting married in Aug)and my lack of educational credentials bothers me daily. I don't want to coast on a BA throughout my stay here because I really don't want to teach kids for the rest of my life and I would like to teach at the university level.

So I was thinking of a few options and a few schools. As of now, I am interested in Uni. Birmingham and Farmingham. I am a tad worried about Birmingham because my GPA took at dip at undergrad during my junior year because of some arts and science requirements and I don't want that to bite me in the ass. However, I heard if they consider your GPA to be a little bit low that they can admit you into the diploma program. In addition, I prefer distance over purely online and I want a ESL degree that could potentially be useful for relocating to Germany sometime in the distant future. I was also thinking of a MAT in the US if I ever wanted to teach ESL in the States. I could always decide to go further down the whole research field at some later point.

Summarizing, I need the best option for someone who has around a 3.1 cummulative undergrad GPA, one year public school teaching experience by the time I would potentially start a grad program and a school with a solid reputation as a distance program.

I

[aarontendo]

Eh I can tell you that I'm in the Framingham program and I'm enjoying it thus far. I really like having the teacher come to meet us and teach in person. It's a pretty good program thus far, the most irritating part is commuting into Jochiwon for the intensive classes, but it's a small price to pay.

Only problem is last I heard we have a wait list 10 deep to get into the program. The vast majority of people will finish up classes in August 2009, so I'm assuming that if someone else steps up to coordinate the program after that then there will be a February 2010 cohort group.

I could see the program running a few cohort sessions, seems there's a demand for good quality and good priced masters degrees here in Korea =)

But yeah, if you're trying to get something done faster then you might want to look elsewhere. It's a pretty long wait till the next cohort group starts (if it starts).

[Hank the Iconoclast]

[aarontendo]

If you're staying in Korea the whole time then you might be able to do Sookmyung's MA TESOL program as well. I did the certificate program and there were a couple of other western guys in it who were doing the MA. I would be worried about what it's worth back home, but here I'm sure it's fine. I'm told in regards to TESOL they're the best in Korea.

If you keep your grades up you can get a pretty big discount too. I think as long as you keep like an A- average or higher then you get a 70% discount, so it ends up being around $10,000 for the total program.

Also Cubanlord was talking up the one from his school, Shennandoah? (I probably got that wrong). He seems one of the few cats on here that's got his head screwed on right so I figure it's probably an ok program too.

[yeremy]

One point I would like to add is that whichever program you do, you will have to change your lifestyle to fit it all in. A decent program, and yes I do believe some on-line/distance programs merit that distinction, won't be a cakewalk. Most of those who are actively doing a program are working full or part-time in addition to taking classes. My hat goes off to those who are juggling work and their studies at the same time.

[bookemdanno]

Why not earn your MA here and write a thesis based on teaching in the local context, with which you are presumably familiar?

Two all-English programs stand out:

The TESOL Department at Woosong University in Daejeon and Sookmyung Women's University in Seoul. Either way, you can't go wrong, especially if you plan to make roots here. And you'll gain more exposure to American English, which most Koreans prefer.

I know that last note will make you wince, but there it is.

[cubanlord]

[Pyongshin Sangja]

[felton3]

[cruisemonkey]

[smedini]

Hey all

For what it's worth, I'm just finishing up an Masters of Applied Linguistics from the University of Southern Queensland in Australia (but I'm in Canada). It's not the least expensive program out there but it's not the most expensive, either. It consists of eight courses and they are fairly intensive, but they've given me a very solid core of theory, methodology, technology-assisted teaching and learning, syllabus design, materials writing, testing, etc. In other words, I've been quite happy with the program and cannot WAIT to graduate . I did some research before I joined the program to find out that the school is well-reputed and that its programs are well received. I've also looked ahead to my next destination to see if a masters learned by distance is accpeted and 'tis.

IMHO,
~smedini

[RedRob]

How many hrs p/w would you estimate a distance MA to take up (ie: is it possible to work f/t as well?)

[bassexpander]

I'm in the University of Missouri's distance TESOL program. Although unrelated, the head of the department is coming to visit next spring, and plans to meet up with me.

You should also look at the University of Illinois and the University of Michigan's online programs in various MA-ed fields.

[HapKi]

http://www.cels.bham.ac.uk/prospectus/ODL/odlfaqs.htm

I'm here to suggest you go with the University of Birmingham.
And you are right about the probationary period for lower GPA admission. Your first year would be to see that you can write academically, and keep your grades up. At which point you would changed over to a regular student in the course. However, I would think you don't even need to worry about that, as your GPA seems respectable as is.

[indytrucks]

I will personally vouch for Bham. I earned my MA with distinction. PM me for any details you might need.