Korean Job Discussion Forums

[stevemcgarrett]

Aloha,

If you've taught students from at least two East Asian cultures, what are your general impressions of how they compare in terms of motivation, behavior, cognition, and overall responsiveness to learning EFL?

I have my own view, but would like to hear others first.

No rants or flamethrowers, please.

Book this, Danno.

[laogaiguk]

Well, it depends. For the CHinese, a big factor is age. If they are a child of the "one child policy" they tend to be much more spoiled than older Chinese people (I think the cutoff age is about 24-25 now).
I can't really think of much because social factors (like wealth) tend to make an even bigger difference, and someone who might say something about Japanese people after only working in a eikaiwa (which is expensive, so most studetns are somewhat well off) and someone working in the countryside in China wouldn't really be comparing the two countries but more their social status (though country factors would come into play). Most people I doubt are able to distinguish between all those things.

[rothkowitz]

Koreans and Japanese are both big on non-verbal communication so I find myself repeatedly telling them to "speak here",don't go 응,Hai,or nod.Both Japanese and Koreans(especially)thought complaining to the school was natural-as opposed to asking teacher to slow down or whatever.

They had a lot in common,I felt, in terms of their participation level and self-expectation in classes.However,overseas,Japanese students mix more whereas Koreans will clump together.Japanese were better at exposing themselves to different forms of English which improved their fluency.Koreans would keep repeating their mistakes and would NEVER speak English together.Japanese wouldn't bother with studying with tutors, instead going for immersion ie drinking with and bonking half the populace

Chinese students I had were pretty spoilt but I think generally less self conscious about speaking.

Had some really excellent Taiwanese students

Thai students were pretty outgoing and chatty

Um,and one Vietnamese who was both exceedingly polite and incomprehensible.

[Hotpants]

As laogaiguk says, there are so many variables in making definitive comparisons.

As a very generalized assessment from experience, I would say:

Chinese students (in developed cities, incl. Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singap.) have come across as more competitive and aggressive, and understand that they have to study hard outside of class if they want to make it to the top.

Korean students seem more to be pushed into learning, as the sole aim is typically to get a good TOEIC score and to sit through an English job interview. Therefore, motivation and productive output is not always high, but I have noticed that Koreans often have an excellent listening comprehension capacity - probably as a result of all that TOEIC practice.

Japanese students (again, just my experience, and not applicable to the entire population) expect that if they just sit in an English class, they will automatically come out being able to 'speak' English. They have to be guided through the learning process every step of the way, and have an obsession with grammar which gets in the way of fluency. Self-consciousness and fear of making a mistake is also a huge barrier to learning English. They can attend classes for many years and make little progress. As a teacher, you need so much patience.