Final thoughts on English policy and education

This study abroad has been an opportunity for me to step out of my comfort zone and grow personally and professionally. Here are some reflections on what I've learned and experienced.

English Language Policy in Korea

Korea is determined to continue to be a major player in the global economy and the country needs citizens who can effectively use English as an international language.  For this reason, English language education is an academic subject in Korea’s national curriculum. Korea’s extreme, high-stakes testing culture has driven parents to spend substantial sums of money to send children to English tutoring and/or study abroad experiences. Many elementary and middle school students spend hours outside class studying one or more subjects (English, math, science, dance, art and others) in hagwons. High school students’ school days start around 7 and end as late a midnight. My home-stay parent and our host at CNUE both said they believe students work too hard. Both were also somewhat resigned to the fact that it’s necessary for success in Korea.

Although fluency in English as a foreign language opens doors and access to information, there are negative affects to its spread in foreign countries. It has the potential to result in a loss of cultural identity and can serve as a way to stratify society by setting the English speakers apart as a cultural elite (McKay, 2002).

Potential impacts on cultural identity

Before coming to Korea, I wondered how the country’s English language policy impacted student life and family life. Was it so competitive that students had a hard time making friends? Did students who were sent abroad to study and encouraged to only speak with English speakers abroad (Park & Abelmann, 2004) feel out of place when they returned to Korea? Did learning English take away from their Korean identity?  I imagined a rigid, serious classroom dynamic and pictured overbearing parents interacting with submissive children. That’s not at all what I found. The classrooms we visited oozed with enthusiasm. The students we encountered were extremely poised, articulate and funny. The brief interactions between mother and child I observed showed nurturing (not overbearing) mothers who were focused on getting their children the best education they could afford. To me, these students and families seemed to be acquiring English for pragmatic reasons – for access to the best educational and career opportunities. They appeared to me to be Koreans who knew how to speak English. 

Social stratification

Not unlike the situation in the U.S., where you live and the amount of financial resources you have impacts the quality of one’s education. In Korea, parents tend to spend as much as they can afford to help their children compete for the best exam scores and get into the best high schools and universities.

It’s important to note, the students with whom I had extended contact in Korea (our English instructor, Chunee’s college-age children and my home-stay daughter) all had opportunities to study abroad. Their families had resources to provide English instruction beyond what they would get at school. They were proficient in English and were shining examples of how the competitive nature of education in Korea can develop well-educated students. What about students who don't have additional opportunities for learning or students who don't get high test scores in spite of all their effort? I imagine they'd provide a different image of what Korean's competitive society produces.

English Language Pedagogy

The focus of English language instruction in Korea is shifting from a curriculum that places emphasis on grammar and translation to a more communicative approach that develops oral fluency. In spite of having English as an academic subject beginning in elementary school, rigorous teacher training and the high number of students who get additional English instruction outside school, Korea’s students’ TOEFL scores ranked 93 of 147 countries in 2004 and 2005 (Park, 2009).

Many Korean teachers do not feel qualified to teach English oral communicative skills. These teacher perceptions can have a negative influence the teacher’s confidence, teaching skills, student motivation and student success (Butler, 2004). Our conversations at the schools we visited and my conversation with my home-stay mom confirmed this. Before coming to Korea, I wondered why so many teachers didn’t have the language proficiency they felt they needed. I now understand how much practice is needed to acquire and maintain language fluency. The few adults I spoke with don’t have many opportunities to practice conversational English. Many of the home-stay parents for our group relied, at least partially, on their children for translating. Since the shift toward more conversational English didn’t happen until the 1990’s (Park, 2004), these parents and many practicing teachers were likely to have received English training that was grammar/translation based when they were in school.

The native-English-speaker teacher program is a way to help bridge the gap between the Korean teacher’s conversational skills and those needed to provide the instruction necessary to develop oral fluency. It could create an ideal situation where instruction can be taught in English, with support in Korean as needed. This would be especially effective if both the Korean teacher and the NES teacher were trained teachers. Based on the English of the younger generation of students we met, I imagine the next generation of teachers will have stronger oral fluency and won’t have to rely as much on NES teachers to teach conversational English. I’d love to have the expertise of a native speaker for all the languages in my classroom. How wonderful for students to be able to learn English language and culture with support in their home language as needed. I don’t have that luxury, but I do have access to parents and a family literacy program that I could leverage to create rich language and cultural connections in my classroom.

Language Learning

My experience attempting to learn Korean had a profound impact on me. It gave me an authentic opportunity to experience the impact good teaching strategies (comprehensible input, visuals, corrective feedback, creating a safe learning environment, connecting to one’s cultural background, and using a variety of instructional theories and styles) have on language learning. I knew it would be challenging, but I honestly expected to be able to say more than two words after spending two weeks here. As a tourist, I knew people weren’t expecting me to speak the language, but I wanted to be respectful make a good impression. I was surprised by my apprehension to speak in Korean to the people we met.

One of the many things that impressed me about Korea was the kindness of the people we encountered. They appreciated our meager attempts to communicate and used gestures and phrases to help us. Sometimes they would offer help before we even asked – I’m certain I looked quite confused a good portion of the time. 

Friday at lunch we played a real-life game of telephone. We wanted to have Korean food one last time before we left. The restaurant we chose did not have a menu with pictures but we thought we knew the names of enough Korean foods to be able to order something. Unfortunately, we exhausted or Korean food word bank very quickly. They did not serve kimbap, bibimbap, or bulgogi. Just when I thought we were going to have to point to a word and hope for the best, the hostess came and handed her cell phone to Ted. The bilingual (or multilingual) speaker on the other end of the phone helped us order our food. Ted would speak to the person in English on the phone, then hand the phone to our hostess so the person on the phone could explain our order to her in Korean. I’m not sure the name of the beef noodle soup we had, but it was delicious.

Implications for practice

I am by no means an expert on Korean English education or culture after a two-week visit. However, first- hand, authentic experience attempting to understand and be understood in a foreign culture/language helped me comprehend what my students and their families’ experience. It also deepened my awareness of my own cultural lens. The articles we read prior to coming to Korea have a different meaning for me as I reread them because I have more background knowledge from which to construct meaning.

I know I’ll continue to process this experience and consider ways to improve my practice. Here are my thoughts at this point for where to begin:

• Include more ways for ELL students to learn about and maintain their cultural identity as they learn English through partnerships with parents and our family literacy program.

• Be more deliberate about planning which multicultural books to include during shared reading and for independent reading. The LPS media has excellent resources for this.

• Continue to use reciprocal teaching strategies during shared reading and guided reading so students have authentic opportunities for academic conversations.

• Incorporate more frequent use of formative assessments (like exit tickets, white boards and performance-based activities) to inform instruction and provide effective feedback for students. No more, "You understand it, right?"

• Share effective practices for language acquisition and vocabulary instruction with classroom teachers.

Teaching middle school English

The Korean government sets national education policies and English is a mandatory academic subject starting in elementary school. In the past, English education in Korean classrooms focused heavily on grammar. While this is still important, the expectation is to shift more towards oral communication skills. However, the Korean teachers surveyed in Butler’s What Level of English Proficiency Do Elementary School Teacher Need to Attain to Teach EFL? reported they felt their level of English was not high enough to teach to the expectation of the country’s education policies. Korea is starting to hire native English speakers to help bridge the gap between Korean teacher’s English proficiency and the expectations of the curriculum. Our middle school visits gave me some insight into this trend.

Our first middle school visit started in the library. When our group of 16 Americans walked in, a group of five boys darted into the rows of bookshelves laughing. Welcome to middle school.

According to our hosts, middle schools tend to be the most challenging schools for teachers because of behavior issues. I was surprised to learn the underlying cause of some student misbehavior is that the work is too easy.  Many parents in Korea enroll students in tutoring programs for English and other subjects. It’s not uncommon for parents with financial resources to send their children abroad for a year or two to study in an English-speaking school.  Because of this trend, some students complete the middle school curriculum while still in elementary school. Also, some students’ English oral communication skills are stronger than the Korean teachers'. In the schools I visited, students receive the same English curriculum regardless of their English language proficiency.  In two separate discussions I heard, “We teach to the middle.” 

This middle school has a native-English-speaking teacher (NEST) who co-teaches with a Korean teacher. Their NEST teacher (who may not even have teaching certification or experience) teaches the class and the Korean teacher is there to help with translation of instruction as needed. The Korean teacher leads the class one day a week to teach grammar. We did not get to see a classroom in action at this school, but I wonder if this co-teaching arrangement makes it even more difficult for the Korean teacher to maintain his or her authority. The NEST focuses on oral communication and develops interactive learning activities.

No touch is their anti-bullying campaign

I had a chance to go into a classroom of boys and explain my job as an ELL teacher.  As luck would have it, I was one of three people in our group who toured the building in traditional Korean clothing. I got quite a reaction when I walked into the room.  When I asked them what they would want their English teacher to do to help them learn English, one student replied, “Make it easy.” Sounds like a typical middle school response to me.  

The next middle school we visited had a similar program for English instruction. We got to meet their NEST teacher and see his classroom.  He came to Korea to teach English without a teaching background. He develops his own curriculum and appreciates having a Korean teacher in class to help bridge the English-only instruction. The NEST teacher said he and the Korean teacher have a good working relationship.

These middle school visits helped clarify the trend to hire native-English-speaker teachers as co-teachers. Koreans are driven to be competitive in a global world. Since Korean is not the language of international business, the Koreans need to learn English. I noticed many of the adults who spoke to us apologized for their English proficiency. With the younger generation’s wider access to English through technology, tutoring and study abroad opportunities I wonder if the next generation will be more fluent in English. I wonder if it’s possible for Korea to eventually develop a critical mass of Korean teachers who don’t need a NEST teacher in their classroom.  

My home stay

I had a wonderful time with my host family on Saturday.  Choon Hwa, the mother, is a first grade teacher. Her daughter, Ho Yuen is a 16-year-old high school student. 

My visit began with a cooking lesson. Choon Hwa taught me how to make kimbap – it’s kim (seaweed) wrapped around rice, pork, carrots, danmooji (a radish), cucumber and crab. It was delicious and a fun way to start getting to know each other. 

Making kimbap

Ho Yuen's desk

After a visit to a park and a walk around a lake, we visited Ho Yuen’s high school. I was surprised to find the school was open and students were in some of the classrooms working. Ho Yuen’s classroom looked similar to another high school we’d visited. The student desks were covered with books, paper, snacks, makeup and drinks. One desk even had a hair straightener on it. When she explained that she spends all day in the same desk (teachers move from class to class) and that she stays at school until 9:00 pm or later, the variety of things stored on their desks made more sense. 

Next we did little shopping in downtown Chuncheon and arrived home in time for Choon Hwa’s favorite drama:  A Gentleman’s Dignity.  It seemed like tamer version of Sex in the City, except from the perspective of four men rather than four women. 

Student work - first grade writing

On Sunday, we had an incredible breakfast – bulgogi, soup, and a homemade fermented juice.  It was the best meal I’ve had so far. Then we visited Choon Hwa’s classroom.  The classroom was very similar to the elementary classrooms we'd seen on our visits. It was very organized and clean with plants on the students’ windowsill and beautifully illustrated student work hanging on the walls. She spends a significant amount of time keeping it organized and clean (she has to mop and clean it herself) in addition to preparing for her teaching duties. She teaches her students physical education, art and music in addition to math, reading and writing.  I found it interesting that her reading curriculum is taught whole group with no differentiation for different level of readers. If a reader is struggling, Choon Hwa stays after school and works with them to help them keep up. Next year, the school will add English class to first grade. She expressed concern about her ability to teach it because of her English proficiency. 

This home stay provided additional context to what we’ve seen this week. Choon Hwa thinks the schools and parents make children work too hard, but is resigned to the fact that it’s a necessity for students to be successful in Korea. Ho Yuen starts her final exams tomorrow. These are high-stakes exams that play a major role in options for higher education.  Ho Yuen planned study today, but seemed confident and prepared. I wish her well.

Elementary school visit

Our first exposure to an elementary school in Korea was the elementary school affiliated with the Chuncheon National University of Education. It is a public school, but a lottery system determines who gets to attend the school.

My first impression was the impeccably clean, bright, cheerful facility. The classrooms and hallways were filled with smiling, energetic students and laughter - lots of laughter. We were greeted by students waving from windows two stories above us shouting, "Hi teachers, we love you!"

First grade classroom

Based on what I'd read about Korean education and culture, I expected to see classrooms filled with students sitting obediently in rows waiting for permission to participate. Imagine my surprise when I entered a first grade classroom to find students bowling in teams and cheering each other on. I was bowled over...literally.

Third grade lesson on measurement

In the third grade classroom students were engaged in a boys against the girls review game. I could not understand what the teacher was saying, but I could tell they were learning about estimating and measuring. The teacher's effective instruction and use of manipulatives and visuals helped me make sense of the situation and kept students engaged.

As an ELL teacher, I was interested to see the English classroom. This school employs a native speaker of English, a recent college graduate from Toronto, in addition to the Korean English teacher. The native English speaker works with fifth and sixth grade students in 50-minute sessions three times per week. His focus is developing speaking and conversation skills in an interactive environment. He uses games and role plays to engage the students in conversation. He also helps prepare students for their school's English speech contest. In the speech contest, students are judged on content as well as use of hand gestures. The students' work from his class is not assessed formally. The school's English tests are based more on English grammar and vocabulary than on speaking. 

Student work in English class

Student work in English class

I  noticed evidence of Chuncheon National University of Education's teacher certification curriculum in many areas of this school. For example, there was a small electric piano in most of the classrooms.  Small potted plants, with student's name on them, lined the windowsill of the classrooms. Georgeous artwork was on display in the classrooms and hallways. In physical education class, the students were practicing a traditional dance and playing Korean drums. The school also had a beautiful outdoor space and garden.

Prior to our site visits, our professor host from CNUE told us many Koreans would wonder why teachers from the United States would come to Korea to learn about education. Korean's education system is heavily influenced by the United States' education system. Many Koreans want to come to the United States to attend college. The enthusiasm of the students and the professionalism at this school impressed me. I wondered what a Korean teacher would think if he or she visited my school. 

Lunchtime

Physical education class