Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jo777]

Our school has the rule of no Korean speaking in class, but it is not enforced by any of the teachers. What is your experience? Can it be done or is it a lost battle?

[mokpochica]

I think it definitely can be done. Especially if you have smaller classes and a good rapport with your students.

I've heard of people taking small sums of money from kids (to fund a party later) when they speak English. There are also a lot of different reward systems you can use to encourage English-only speaking in class. The discipline portion/idea cookbook of this web site has a lot of good ideas.

It's hard to do it if you don't have support of other teachers at your school though. You really have to present a united front. I've decided not to freak out about 'only English' at my school because I teach classes of 35 kids and the other (Korean) English teachers have an 'almost only" Korean policy in their classes. I think I would just be banging my head against a wall, but maybe it coudl be done. Anyone?

[JackSarang]

Well, my school of thought is that Korean speaking in class is ok if its constructive. You can usually tell when they're helping each other out or talking about Wrestling. And after one kid explain the excercise to another in Korean is not a bad thing. Better for them to attempt the work then sit there blankly because they have no idea what they're supposed to do.

Thats what I allow anyway, namely because the kids have differing abilities. Most of them understand "what" to do, but often don't understand the verbal instructions. Once they understand the instructions they often can complete the excercise themselves.

[weatherman]

[J.B. Clamence]

[BTM]

What weatherman (and JackSarang) said.

[The Bobster]

kangnamdragon :

[Jaundiced Jonz]

Use of native language in class can be great. As long as the final product of a student's effort is in English, that is. In fact, the first language is almost essential for grammar lessons. For more detailed information, check the preface of a Parade teachers' guide.

Just make sure your kids are laughing with you, not at you, if you know what I mean.

[The Bobster]

[Zyzyfer]

Er, I tried, I really did, to enforce "No Korean" in my classes. But I found that the students really lost interest when they can't even comment on how something's funny that just happened when they first have to think about it and wonder how to say it in English.

I also found that it took overall participation in many of my classes waaaaaay down.

Hell, half of what I say in class is Korean. And I rarely ever have any problems with students not understanding me. I just got better results when I allowed students to act natural...

[Homer]

Speaking Korean in class can be a very effective teaching tool.
It can help the teacher explain simple things to his or her students in their own language.
Abusing this can be counter-productive of course, its a question of balance and common sense.
Also, its pretty easy to tell when the students are helping each other out and when they are goofing off in Korean.
A little discipline will cure that.
For me, Korean is a great tool, even an asset in class as it gives me the chance to communicate more effectively with my students. Usage of Korean by the teacher should gradually decrease as the level of the class gets higher, especially if you are teaching conversation classes.
After a certain point, an all-English policy will become more effective. You could still use Korean to resolve the more difficult communication problems.
This however requires the teacher to have some proficiency in Korean!

[The Bobster]

Yes, I guess it CAN be a very effective teaching tool ... but how often is it, really?

Seems to me, the main advantage to having native-speakers in the classroom is to give the students a chance to hear English as it is spoken by native speakers - AND to put them in a situation in which they must generate language in order to communicate.

Having said that, most rules need to be observed and enforced juiciously. It's your room. Something bad happens (like parents calling or kids dropping out cuz no one sees the point of paying more tuition for a native-speaker who speaks Korean half the time) you get the blame - if something good happens (we're all trying for that, right?) you oughta get the credit, too.[/i]

[Man of Changwon]

I have learned a system which works well for late elementry or early middle school students. Basically I have what is called the K.T. Box or Korean Talking Box and put all their names in this box with 3 ticks. Everytime they talk Korean then take a tick away and once three times they go outside. I don't get angry just quietly shuffle them out and make a joke about it. It works fantastically and they try really hard because it is a competition between them not to get kicked out. For early elementary they are too young so I let them get away with a lot, and mid to late middle school if they supplement their korean with english then I find the conversationa dn topics aremore interesting and have more flow. I hope that helps people.

[Rand Al Thor]

I don't let any student use korean in my classes. I am teaching at a university so the students may understand why more than younger kids would. If someone speaks Korean I tell them to stop. Usually they are using Korean because they don't know one or two words in English. I then have them try to explain it to me or another student. Usually that works and they get the word they are looking for.

If not then I will allow one Korean word in a sentence. for example How do you say ��� in English? or What does green mean in Korean? ���.

This usually works, if know one knows the answer, including myself I may let them use a dictionary - only if it is imperative for the class to continue otherwise I tell them to write the word down and look it up after class is over.

[tomato]

Hello, Jo777!

I'm glad you brought the question up.
It's an important question.

regarding the teaching hangukmalling

With a little ingenuity, you can eliminate the need for the teacher to hangukmall. I teach preschool and elementary kids and I have no trouble getting my message across. Children learn my most common utterances, even if they are not part of the official curriculum. ("Scoot back." "Not quite." "There you go!")

Since a preschool lesson must be kept as simple as possible, I center much of the day's lesson around one word. Supposing that the word for the day is bear, we would:

repeat "this is a bear" in a loud, soft, high, and low voice
say "this is a bear" in sign language
manipulate alpabet tiles with the letters B, E, A, and R
manipulate dots on a flannelboard to simulate the word BEAR in Braille
play impromptu musical settings of "this is a bear" on the xylophone

The portions of the lesson which do not pertain to the word for the day are also regular rituals. That includes:
[list]greeting each child rhythmically or musically
reading a picture book with text in a repeated pattern ("Under the sky there is a tree. Under the tree there is a flower.")
gross motor activity relating to the picture book ("Let's march for the tree: This-is a-tree! This-is a-tree! Let's jump for the flower: This-is a-flower! This-is a flower!")
selecting the children who behaved the best and doing sit-ups, push-ups, curls, and squats using those children as barbells
playing "good-by" on the xylophone as so-mi


regarding students hangukmalling

My preschool classes take place in someone else's terrority.
But my elementary school classes take place in my own classroom.
There I'm more strict.

When Kevin hangukmalls, I have the class chant, "Kevin! English yes, Korean no!"

If the class behaves well enough, I let the class divide into small groups for card games. It doesn't seem that the Go Fish game has disseminated into Korea, go I teach it to them.

If the class doesn't behave quite that well, I play a game with the entire class, such as bingo. I make adaptations on the bingo game to make sure that it is educational as well as fun.

I keep a stack of Side by Side books on hand. My students hate that series. So when the class behaves terribly, they get a lesson in the Side by Side book.

I keep a list of offenders on the blackboard. Those who do not offend get to leave the classroom a few minutes early.

If you are interested in group rewards and punishments, you can read this book:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0070327823.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg