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Teaching English To Koreans
The need for highly trained professionals proficient in English has expanded with Korea’s development in recent years, resulting in a corresponding increase in the number of English programs and instructors in Korea. A review of EFL literature, however, reveals that very little has been published in English specifically related to the Korean teaching situation. Teaching English to Koreans will help to fill the existing gap by providing a collection of up-to-date articles touching on some of the major areas of concern related to teaching English and written by highly-qualified, experienced professionals with hands-on experience in Korean classrooms.
This book should be of particular interest to EFL professionals, both English native-speakers and Koreans, currently working in Korea. It should also be helpful to ESL teachers in other countries (e.g., the U.S., the UK, Canada, Australia) who need to know more about their Korean students’ backgrounds, as well as ESL/EFL teachers who might be interested in seeking employment in Korea. Finally, as an overview of the Korean teaching situation, this book will add greatly to the existing literature and therefore should be of general interest to educators and researchers in the fields of ESL/EFL, Applied Linguistics, Second Language Acquisition, etc.
When we planned this book, our aim was simply that all the chapters would be practical and helpful to teachers and the material would relate directly to teachers’ and students’ needs in the classroom. We also hoped that it would promote a view of teachers as autonomous and creative professionals–and that this theme would bind the work together into a coherent whole.
We wanted the authors to include an in-depth overview of the practical applications of theory, methodology, and principles to the specific topic. We anticipated that each author would draw on his/her experience, observations, and if appropriate, classroom-based research to provide insights into the unique context, problems, and practice of teaching English in a Korean setting.
The various contributions to Teaching English to Koreans are arranged in logical order with the four-skills core chapters of reading, writing, listening, and speaking presented at the beginning. In addition to these skills-focused chapters, we have included several others intended to address the more global issues that teachers of Korean students may face. Included then are a chapter on classroom management, a chapter on teaching large classes, a chapter on teaching English for academic purposes, and finally, a chapter on cultural issues that may arise in the classroom. We have also provided a glossary at the end of the book. The glossary terms are generally used in TESOL and refer to the key terms most frequently used in the chapters highlighted in bold.
To accomplish their goals, teachers want to feel that they are functioning within a framework based on sound theoretical principles. An awareness of the teaching situation in Korea and classroom exigencies is essential as teachers strive to improve their students’ abilities and prepare them for the challenges of functioning in an English-speaking environment. After reading each chapter, we hope teachers will be encouraged to reflect on their own teaching and learning in the classroom and to make their own choices as they cope with the types of problems they may encounter in Korean classrooms. We trust that the material in Teaching English to Koreans will provide practical assistance and be a source of ideas on how to approach specific problems that may arise during a language lesson. The theoretical and practical suggestions are intended to be of immediate use as and when needed by the teacher, and we hope that the material will be useful in any language-learning situation in Korea.
This book should be of particular interest to EFL professionals, both English native-speakers and Koreans, currently working in Korea. It should also be helpful to ESL teachers in other countries (e.g., the U.S., the UK, Canada, Australia) who need to know more about their Korean students’ backgrounds, as well as ESL/EFL teachers who might be interested in seeking employment in Korea. Finally, as an overview of the Korean teaching situation, this book will add greatly to the existing literature and therefore should be of general interest to educators and researchers in the fields of ESL/EFL, Applied Linguistics, Second Language Acquisition, etc.
When we planned this book, our aim was simply that all the chapters would be practical and helpful to teachers and the material would relate directly to teachers’ and students’ needs in the classroom. We also hoped that it would promote a view of teachers as autonomous and creative professionals–and that this theme would bind the work together into a coherent whole.
We wanted the authors to include an in-depth overview of the practical applications of theory, methodology, and principles to the specific topic. We anticipated that each author would draw on his/her experience, observations, and if appropriate, classroom-based research to provide insights into the unique context, problems, and practice of teaching English in a Korean setting.
The various contributions to Teaching English to Koreans are arranged in logical order with the four-skills core chapters of reading, writing, listening, and speaking presented at the beginning. In addition to these skills-focused chapters, we have included several others intended to address the more global issues that teachers of Korean students may face. Included then are a chapter on classroom management, a chapter on teaching large classes, a chapter on teaching English for academic purposes, and finally, a chapter on cultural issues that may arise in the classroom. We have also provided a glossary at the end of the book. The glossary terms are generally used in TESOL and refer to the key terms most frequently used in the chapters highlighted in bold.
To accomplish their goals, teachers want to feel that they are functioning within a framework based on sound theoretical principles. An awareness of the teaching situation in Korea and classroom exigencies is essential as teachers strive to improve their students’ abilities and prepare them for the challenges of functioning in an English-speaking environment. After reading each chapter, we hope teachers will be encouraged to reflect on their own teaching and learning in the classroom and to make their own choices as they cope with the types of problems they may encounter in Korean classrooms. We trust that the material in Teaching English to Koreans will provide practical assistance and be a source of ideas on how to approach specific problems that may arise during a language lesson. The theoretical and practical suggestions are intended to be of immediate use as and when needed by the teacher, and we hope that the material will be useful in any language-learning situation in Korea.
255 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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April 4, 2013
One thing that this book briefly addresses throughout the many academics articles within is the South Korean government's goals and expectations of English education versus the reality of the situation. From what the authors state, the government's hopes seem to be that through English, Koreans will be able to proficiently communicate on the international scene thus helping Korea be a major part of the world community. In reality, however, after hundreds of years of Confucian educational practice of rote memorization (without any real testing to see if the student actually understands the material) and an over dependency of the grammar-translation method, it appears that the Korean educational system has produced a society of people ready to translate English documents in to Korean.
With that lengthy introduction being said, who should be reading this book: a native Korean teaching English or an native English speaking ex-pat teaching in Korea?
Let's start with a native Korean. First of all, while the grammar-translation method definitely has its benefits (I for one should probably take a month and use this approach in my Korean studies to improve my knowledge and accuracy), it really isn't going to help a student learn to communicate. If a Korean who teaches English is ready to move into the world of communicative language teaching, this book could definitely be a decent introduction to the teaching styles of English that most of the world outside of the East Asia region uses. Of course, the Korean in question should probably not being working for a public or private school whose main goal is to only prepare students for the college entrance exam, nor for a private hagwon that focuses only on helping students pass the TOEFL exam. They should be working in an environment where the students actually want to learn how to use English to effectively communicate.
Now the major downside to the book would probably be the fact that most of the articles are written in a very academic style which leads an excessive amount of jargon and unnecessarily complex language. Luckily, many of the advance and specialized words that are directly related to linguistics and English education are in bold. These words then can be found in a glossary in the back of the book with a sometimes clear and apt description. Fortunately, there are a couple of articles that are written in a real down to Earth style that is easy to read and contains plenty of practical knowledge that can be applied to the classroom setting. My particularly favorite article was written by Andrew Jackson (not the seventh president of America) about managing classes with a large number of students.
As for native English speakers, there are parts in the book that definitely repeat much of the information taught in the Cambridge CELTA program. If you haven't taken that course or something akin to it, you will definitely find some good information. However, this type of information might be a bit overwhelming and may require additional reading materials to really grasp these teaching concepts.
For those native English speakers who have taken courses along the lines of CETLA, there is still other valuable information in this book. Much of that information is based around understanding the overall Korean mentality as it relates to education. Additionally, there are a few parts that deal with the differences between the English and Korean languages, along with comparisons of the American and Korean cultures. The other section that I found valuable even after teaching English in Korea for four years was some of the common errors that Koreans make in English, why they make it and how to teach them to overcome these mistakes.
Overall, there were some strong points to the book. However, coming from my position, I think a book that focused on practical activities that can be used in the classroom along with more information on helping Korean fix their common mistakes would be right up my alley.
With that lengthy introduction being said, who should be reading this book: a native Korean teaching English or an native English speaking ex-pat teaching in Korea?
Let's start with a native Korean. First of all, while the grammar-translation method definitely has its benefits (I for one should probably take a month and use this approach in my Korean studies to improve my knowledge and accuracy), it really isn't going to help a student learn to communicate. If a Korean who teaches English is ready to move into the world of communicative language teaching, this book could definitely be a decent introduction to the teaching styles of English that most of the world outside of the East Asia region uses. Of course, the Korean in question should probably not being working for a public or private school whose main goal is to only prepare students for the college entrance exam, nor for a private hagwon that focuses only on helping students pass the TOEFL exam. They should be working in an environment where the students actually want to learn how to use English to effectively communicate.
Now the major downside to the book would probably be the fact that most of the articles are written in a very academic style which leads an excessive amount of jargon and unnecessarily complex language. Luckily, many of the advance and specialized words that are directly related to linguistics and English education are in bold. These words then can be found in a glossary in the back of the book with a sometimes clear and apt description. Fortunately, there are a couple of articles that are written in a real down to Earth style that is easy to read and contains plenty of practical knowledge that can be applied to the classroom setting. My particularly favorite article was written by Andrew Jackson (not the seventh president of America) about managing classes with a large number of students.
As for native English speakers, there are parts in the book that definitely repeat much of the information taught in the Cambridge CELTA program. If you haven't taken that course or something akin to it, you will definitely find some good information. However, this type of information might be a bit overwhelming and may require additional reading materials to really grasp these teaching concepts.
For those native English speakers who have taken courses along the lines of CETLA, there is still other valuable information in this book. Much of that information is based around understanding the overall Korean mentality as it relates to education. Additionally, there are a few parts that deal with the differences between the English and Korean languages, along with comparisons of the American and Korean cultures. The other section that I found valuable even after teaching English in Korea for four years was some of the common errors that Koreans make in English, why they make it and how to teach them to overcome these mistakes.
Overall, there were some strong points to the book. However, coming from my position, I think a book that focused on practical activities that can be used in the classroom along with more information on helping Korean fix their common mistakes would be right up my alley.
Displaying 1 of 1 review