Korean Job Discussion Forums

[withnail]

Groundhog Day? Autonomous learning is the only answer.

The sentiments below might very well be those expressed by Korean school students at any age. The argument that I am going to make is that unless we can inspire students to engage with English outside the classroom, then we are really only just playing games - literally

The obstacles we face when attempting to really learn English in Korea, where English is not needed outside the classroom are formidable. Think about it for a moment.

We normally have large numbers of students in our classrooms. We all speak the same language. If some students came from different countries we might have motivation to learn to speak English to have fun with them but all our classmates are Korean. As a Korean student, there is nothing to motivate me to speak English to another Korean. Except to please the teacher.

The only real reason I can see to learn English is to pass the English part of the test to get into college. My Korean teachers prepare me for this and they do a really good job so what�s the problem? Of course I see I am not learning to communicate in English but nobody is testing this skill so I am not motivated to do that.

My parents and others tell me that being able to speak English well will be so important for my future but that�s such a long time away. I have enough to deal with right now anyway.

Having a weekly lesson with a native speaker teacher in my school is fun but what the teacher does in the short time available to her only just scratches the surface in helping me to make progress with the communicative skills.

Just when we are beginning to warm up, she�s gone again for another week and I step back into a rainstorm of Korean.

In the meantime what can I do? I need to be really motivated to do anything in English when I am not in the classroom.

It has to be something fun, something I enjoy. It should be something that isn�t going to be tested so I can just relax and enjoy it. It also needs to be something that really helps to improve my English. I need my teacher to give me something to do that I will want to do!
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We are having no real effect because we don�t teach our classes every day � on average we just see them once a week. By the time a lesson comes round for our students, it�s like starting all over again�

What we need to do is start investing our time, effort and money in what we can motivate the students to do outside the classroom. Extensive reading, extensive listening, journal writing, watching movies with English subtitles, preparing mini presentations � these are some of the things that are going to give us worthwhile gains.

Using a textbook and going through the units, never really revisiting what we learned in one when we move to the next, is not going to cut it. Even a teacher who is absolutely dedicated to the art of language recycling would of necessity have to move at a snail�s pace.

The message is simple � unless we can inspire our students to actively engage with English on a day to day basis and outside the classroom, we are whistling in the wind and when we walk into the classroom, we might one day hear our students mock us with the shout of �Groundhog Day!�

[Juregen]

That is why there are hagwons ....

[some waygug-in]

That is why there are so many opportunities for private tutors (F-2 visas etc.)

[Demophobe]

While I agree that we should structure our classes to be as motivating as possible and provide opportunities for students to be learning outside the classroom, there is no way that I am going to assume responsibility for the laziness and apathy that is rampant among student populations.

I cannot remember the last time I had an in-class paper-based test; I use project-based assessments that take place outside the classroom. This is one reasonable way to assure that the students will undertake some self-directed learning - when there are points on the line. All homework is done outside the classroom as well as weekly journal submissions, in keeping with the same 'grades are the best motivator' theory.

Apart from holding this gun, learning outside the classroom must come from within the student. I have all types in my classes; from lethargic, apathetic freshmen to students who are winning scholarships in foreign countries. Intrinsic motivation is a variable that I am not going to take responsibility for. I provide as much extrinsic as possible, but the student must take it from there.

[The Cosmic Hum]

[detourne_me]

Could you please explain the Groundhog Day part?
Is it because like the movie, every class we have with them is like repeating itself?
Honestly I would love to be able to assign more projects, however with 11 classes for each grade and nearly 40 students in every class, it's hard enough to make sure they all keep up with the textbook material in order to cover everything for the exams.

[I'm no Picasso]

While all of this is right on......

I see nothing wrong with a Korean who doesn't speak English. They're not all going to go on to be little diplomats. Some of them can't be bothered, and why should they? Maybe they're focusing on their math classes because they want to be engineers, or their art classes because they want to be designers.

Trying to force them all to spend their free time perfecting their conversational English is just not reasonable. The ones who have an interest in English will take the initiative on their own. For the others, all we can do is try to make class time as interesting, engaging and bearable for them as possible, while we actually have the time with them. We can try to show them that English doesn't have to be a miserable, boring, repetitive subject. But if they don't want to learn English, so what?

The real problem is the hiring practices that require young Koreans to give interviews in English for a job that has f all to do with speaking English. I think until Koreans get over the craze of English language learning, and accept that a moderate, reasonable approach can be taken to the subject, they don't stand a chance. Korea will be fine if a portion of the population is well-educated and fluent in English. Trying to make everyone speak English like a native language is just over-complicating things and slowing everything down.

Imagine how much more effective the learning environment would be if English was an elective, and only the students who wanted to learn it were there. Imagine how many students' attitudes would change toward English once they had to choose it to study it, instead of having it forced down their throats.

[withnail]

hmmm....