Korean Job Discussion Forums

[anthrograd]

Hi Everyone,

I was an English teacher in South Korea for 2004-06 and now I am doing my MA in anthropology. When I was in Korea I became interested in the English language industry and the stories of the teachers that went to teach overseas. My research is going to focus on English language learning and teaching in South Korea from the perspective of both the foreign teachers and the students. I want to hear everything including the good, the bad, and the ugly. Part of my research is to pose questions on this BBS to get your perspectives on your experience. If you are not interested in answering the questions just ignore this, but I think this may give some people an opportunity to talk about living and working in South Korea. I will attach a copy to my letter of information to this so you all know what I am doing for my research. If you have any questions for me don�t hesitate to ask.

Letter of Information

I am a graduate student in the department of anthropology at the University of Western Ontario in Canada and I would like to invite you to participate in my research project. The information you provide will be used in my M.A. thesis. In order to better understand the processes involved in the market for English teaching, I am inviting you to participate in my research project. One of my main aims is to find out why there is an increasing movement of individuals to teach English in South Korea and the processes involved in that movement. Consequently, I am interested in how people decide to come to Korea and what their experiences have been in the country. I am going to look at the kinds of exchanges which take place between participants to see whether they are sharing information on personal, work-related, or social matters. The research will examine the relations between participants by looking at the strength of the ties and the content of the relations. I am interested in what kinds of questions get asked and investigating what, if any, rules govern the exchange of information and advice.

If you would like to participate in my study please answer the questions posed on this thread on �Dave�s ESL Caf�.� You may refuse to participate, refuse to answer any questions or withdraw from the study at any time.

I want to make clear that I do not work for the government, an English language institute, a recruiting agency, a marketing agency or a legal entity. Your participation in this study will not give you any direct benefit, nor will it harm you in any way. Participation in this study is voluntary. Your confidentiality will be respected. By submitting an answer to a question, consent to use this material for my research project will be implied.

Thank you for your participation and greatly value the information that you will be able to provide.

[chronicpride]

I'll help if you include in your caveat that this is not being done for market research for a business venture like recruiting, etc...There's been other times in the past where enterprising posters who aspire to be recruiters, opt to solicit to the board under the guise of 'educational research'.

[anthrograd]

Thank you for letting me know. I have been having sort of a similar problem when trying to get some interviews with recruiters. My questions are more about the experiences of foreign teachers and their relationships with their students and other Korean people. I will change the letter of information as well to include those things. Thank you again.

[Qinella]

What exactly do you want to know about? You did not ask any questions, unless I missed it.

Here's the thing about message board users: they loooove prattling on about themselves (yeah, I'm condemning myself, too). But you need to be a bit less vague.