More and more Korean students are learning to become Korean teachers as the demand for the language grows.
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More and more Korean students are learning to become Korean teachers as the demand for the language grows.
Korea News via Google
11 Comments
I have mixed feelings about this. It’s great that Korean language is getting more popular and are being taught abroad. But it’s too bad in that if Korean gets anymore popular, Koreans’ head will fill more with hot air, and all we’ll end up reading for the next generation and a half is the “hanryu wave”. A little more humility and modesty please.
Me, too, somehow I don’t feel well about it. It means more mf*ing foreigners in our country.
I think the article’s assertion that the number of KSL (Korean as a Second Language) teachers is growing more rapidly than the demand. Here in the States, there is little demand for Korean, especially compared to Chinese or Japanese. Moreover, a lot of foreign language teaching positions are only part-time in both universities and K-12 schools. I admire the Let’s Speak Korean host, who was the first foreigner to earn a KSL teaching certificate in Korea, but I wonder about his career path post-Arirang TV.
Interest in the Korean language is growing in China and Russia, but a teacher’s salary wouldn’t pay for overseas study in Korea.
Sonagi, the guy doesn’t just have a certificate, he has a master’s degree in teaching Korean.
Sonagi,
I also admire Stephen. He did something that I had only thought about doing.
Kushibo,
According to the article, Korean Language majors automatically receive the teacher’s certificate, which should mean that Stephen qualifies, unless the law is new and not retroactive. If his program does not qualify, then it should.
To Whom It May Concern,
There may be an oversupply of Korean language teachers, but that does not mean there are no opportunities in the field. In the article, Mr. Oh only listed two ways that a person could use his or her teaching certicate, but aren’t there more? He said a teacher could teach at institutes in Korea or or overseas, but can’t he or she also start his or her own institute or specialize in private tutoring?
From what I see, there is still a lot of room for improvement when it comes to developing an effective Korean language learning program. In the article, Mr. Oh gave me the impression that he is unimaginative and somewhat narrow-minded. Here is one of his quotes that gave me that impression:
“In Korea, we learn English from Korean teachers at elementary, middle and high schools. Learning from native speakers of English is the next step, and it is effective only after we are accustomed to the language,” he said.
“It’s the same for foreigners learning Korean. They learn from the very beginning with the Korean alphabet. At that stage, native Koreans would not be helpful to them,” he added
I wonder if I am the only one who started laughing when I read Mr. Oh suggesting that Korea’s English language program was “effective”?
I can imagine a study program and environment that could teach foreigners the Korean language in, maybe, half the time the schools are currently doing it. Many of the programs today seem to spend too much time playing games, entertaining, and promoting, and not even time challenging students to use the language and adopt it in place of their native language in dealing with everyday issues. To do that quickly and effectively, a student much follow a very regimented program from the time he or she gets up to the time he or she goes to bed. That does not mean you just throw the language at the person all day, which is what the Defense Language Institute (DLI) in Monterey, California tried doing to me many years ago. It must be done in a way that breaks down the language into edible, tasty bites. You cannot stuff Korean down someone’s throat.
I admit that I have not been in a study program for a while, but the ones I remember had a lot of big holes in them.
“It’s the same for foreigners learning Korean. They learn from the very beginning with the Korean alphabet. At that stage, native Koreans would not be helpful to them,” he added.
What a load of garbage.
I wonder if I am the only one who started laughing when I read Mr. Oh suggesting that Korea’s English language program was “effective”?
I think you parsed his utterance incorrectly. I read it as Mr. Oh saying that Koreans are ready to engage (native or non-native) speakers of English only after acquiring some basic foundation — from Korean teachers with familiarity with English. This is probably true. And while it’s also true that not many of the Korean teachers are doing much of a job preparing their students for the eventual encounter with English-speakers, Mr. Oh is not asserting such.
Brendon,
Mr. Oh said that Koreans “learn English from Korean teachers at elementary, middle and high schools,” and that learning from a foreigner is the next step, suggesting that that starts in college. Why should it take six to nine years acquire enough of a foundation to study with a native speaker? That is pretty inefficient if you ask me.
Besides, from my experience, many Korean students do not get the basic foundation even after six years of study in the Korean school system. I think that is because the Korean English teacher spends too much time explaining the language instead of allowing students to practice it. Plus, Korean English teachers are often not good enough in the language to reproduce the stress, intonation, rhythm, linking, reduction, and all the other things that change the sound of a word when it is used in a sentence. The same would most likely be true for a non-native Korean speaker teaching Korean. Even after all the years I have been studying Korean, I still have trouble distinguishing certain Korean consonant and vowel sounds.
Learning a foreign language is different from learning to drive. There is no risk of crashing and burning if you get behind the wheel before learning the rules of a language. Those rules can be introduced along the way. Besides, if you crash in a conversation for failing to observe a verb rule, then it is much more likely that you will remember that verb rule better than if you were to just read about it in a book.
I can see certain advantages of being able to explain a foreign language to someone in their native language, but I think the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. One disadvantage would be that the student would become dependent on the explanations and would be afraid to speak on his or her own, just like a child is often afraid to take off the training wheels on his or her bicycle.
Brendon, if were a right-off-the-boat Korean language student and had a choice of learning from a native speaker or non-native speaker, who would you choose?
Mr. Oh said that Koreans “learn English from Korean teachers at elementary, middle and high schools,” and that learning from a foreigner is the next step, suggesting that that starts in college. Why should it take six to nine years acquire enough of a foundation to study with a native speaker? That is pretty inefficient if you ask me.
Gerry, I don’t think your interpretation of Mr. Oh’s statement is wrong, but I do think Mr. Oh’s statement itself is incorrect. In the old days, what he said was pretty much true, except that instruction began in middle school, not elementary school; it continued with Korean non-natives all the way through high school. Then a chance to learn from natives at the college/university or hagwon thereafter.
Nowadays, of course, starting in elementary school and especially in junior high and high school, there is a two-tiered approach even in many schools, with both Korean and native English teachers. And of course, it is expected that the hagwon will supplement that, with native English speakers.
I do see the value in a non-native Korean speaker explaining the basics of the language. Some I know could be highly effective Korean teachers at most levels, even all of them, if they were so inclined. But that high a level is the exception.
Ah, the native speaker versus non-native speaker teacher debate.
Based on my experiences learning and teaching language, I would agree that learners do benefit from native language instruction in grammar and usage. This does not mean that grammar and usage cannot be taught in the target language. ESL teachers in the US with multilingual classrooms prove that it can be done, but learners in those classrooms are probably receiving some native language help either from friends and family or from reference books at least.
As Gerry pointed out, errors in pronunciation, grammar, and usage can be a problem for non-native teachers. I have observed that my Asian elementary learners are more accurate in using articles, plurals, and other inflections than adults who’ve completed several years of English study. They also develop clear pronunciation early. This is because the kids are getting correct modeling of the language at the beginning.
In working with kids as opposed to adults, a good teacher needs an understanding of child development and effective classroom management strategies. In a monolingual classroom, knowledge of the native language of the students is helpful in maintaining an orderly classroom.
Gerry,
A prospective Korean language teacher could start his own classes or institute, but who would fill those seats? I don’t think the demand is there, in Korea or overseas, at least not in the US, Japan, or China, judging by the paltry selection of Korean learning materials in local bookstores.