Young students take part in a study course at a so-called “English Village” camp in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province in this March 29, 2006 file photo.
/ Korea Times

By Dr. Edwin sunder
Contributing Writer

South Koreans are passionate to learn English. This craving to learn the English language has led them to spend millions of dollars per year. Students attend hagwon or private language institutes, English camps and even go to the extent of making trips abroad to native English speaking countries.

However, the outcome is not that fulfilling. Although many students gain some ability to read and write English, they seldom improve their skills in listening and writing, which is disappointing. Most parents are ambitious and desire to see their children conversing in English fluently.

For this, they leave no stone unturned to ensure their children gain the ability to speak English fluently. They send their children to good hagwon where they use books written by renowned authors and publishers usually from the west.

Moreover the teachers hired by these hagwon are normally from native English speaking countries. In spite of this, it is surprising to note that, most students are not able to learn to speak the language as expected. This has caused anxiety not only to the students but also to their parents.

When this problem is analyzed according to the norms of educational research, it is found that teaching principles are relegated in English learning centers by the students, parents and teachers, especially in hagwon. One renowned educationist said, “In teaching and learning, what you teach is not important, but how you teach is very important.”

In some Asian countries, proper teaching methods are adopted with qualified teachers. They employ a uniform syllabus in all educational institutions so that students learn English with much ease. They teach English to their students through the medium of English only; no native language is used to convey meaning. Trained teachers help them to understand meaning.

One of the best present examples is China, according to the reports of Times of India daily. Recently China has recruited significant number of Indian English teachers to teach English and prepare Chinese to converse in English for the upcoming Olympics, because, Indian teachers have proved their ability to teach well in the West also.

Whatever you teach should be taught in a methodical way by qualified and trained professionals to facilitate effective learning. Without proper teaching methods, however good the reference books are, they will have little effect. That is what is happening here in South Korea. Somewhere someone has made a huge blunder by influencing the minds of Koreans that only native speakers can teach English!

Korean hagwon and English camps and schools are hiring English native speakers who are not suitably qualified and trained to teach English. Most of them are untrained to teach and know little or nothing about teaching. These ones teach ignorant and innocent South Korean students. What a tragedy indeed! Many of them come here as a stopgap and for traveling.

To make English learning more effective in Korea, the wrong notion of native English speaking teachers has to be removed from the minds of Korean students, parents and hagwon, because, most of the students cannot keep pace with the speed these native speakers talk. One cannot understand why there is such discrimination! Color and race is not important in teaching -- this has to be borne in mind by all.

How many Black Americans do these educational institutes hire here in Korea? Recently the writer had applied for a teaching job in one of the universities. Though he is highly qualified, he was denied by the university authorities because he is not a North American white! It is disappointing to note that, some universities hire teachers though they have no master’s degree just because they are North American whites.

To improve English ability among students in Korea, qualified and trained teachers have to be appointed in all the educational institutions. English should be taught as English without the help of the Korean language. Most of the schools and hagwon know this problem and they are interested in hiring Indian and other Asians qualified and trained teachers to teach. But the Korean authorities are not ready to issue an E2 teaching visa to these qualified and trained Asian teachers.

They are however ready to issue the E2 teaching visa to non-qualified and untrained persons who want to come here to teach from English native speaking countries.

dredwin1@gmail.com


Dr. Edwin sunder is studying at Keimyung University in Daegu.