I like the message this article tries to send us stating that “natives and non-natives have an equal chance to become successful teachers, but the routes used by the two groups are not the same.” (p.340) It is a very positive and promising message for me because I can be a good English teacher by taking the full advantage of this equal chance, and at the same time of the other advantages that natives do not have.
Before reading this article, my belief has been always that the more proficient a teacher is, the more efficient a teaching becomes in teaching English. Many non-native Korean English teachers, including me, compare their language proficiency with that of native and then they become frustrated. They tend to think they are useless in the presence of a native English teacher. Therefore, many non-native English teachers depend on native English teachers too much and consequently spend most of their time observing the class. Surely, many teachers forgot that there are weaknesses and strengths in both native teachers and non-native teachers. Even though native teachers are fluent in English, they have difficulties understanding the needs of students and using some learning strategies effectively. However, non-native teachers can understand students’ difficulties better and use appropriate learning strategies with their students.
I have some experience in teaching with native teachers. I remember that if we had enough time to talk about the lesson, we could teach students more successfully. However, when only a native teacher conducted a lesson at the beginning of the semester, especially, when he was not familiar with students, the class was not so successful. Even though he was a fluent speaker, he failed in figuring out students’ characteristics and needs. Without complementing one another in their strengths and weaknesses, teaching English is not likely to succeed. Native teachers can provide clearer and more accurate input for students, while non-native teachers can help students understand what the native teacher explained, sometimes using mother tongue.
Even though I have some advantages over natives as a teacher, I am very often frustrated by my limited English ability. I have to accept this limitation as my reality. What is a qualified teacher? In my opinion, it is very difficult to answer because teaching is so complicated that it requires many different skills. I do not have to compare my English ability with that of native. However, as an English teacher, language proficiency is the most important element. There are not enough native English teachers in Korea. Therefore, usually only Korean teachers teach students without any help from native teachers. When Korean people evaluate the English teacher’s language proficiency, they tend to take into account only pronunciation. They do not consider other components of language proficiency, such as, vocabulary, grammar, speaking, writing, etc. Many Korean people think that English teachers should sound like a native speaker. Most English teachers do not sound like a native speaker. Therefore, many Koreans, including parents and students, do not trust Korean English teachers. They do not consider the advantages Korean English teachers have. They want to take lessons from native teachers outside the classroom, without considering their qualification.
The class I am taking now is a good example of how a non-native teacher can be a successful teacher. I do not compare her pronunciation with that of native. Her accent is a little bit different from that of native. However, I think accent is not so important. She has high English language proficiency. In addition, she understands students’ difficulties very well. It is very surprising that she understands what I am saying even though there are many mistakes in it although usually natives cannot understand it. She is more empathetic to the students’ needs and difficulties. While I am taking her class, I hope that I can be a good teacher like her.
I heard from her that “the change in the society is very slow compared to the development of theory”. Many people contend that natives and non-natives have an equal chance to become successful teachers. However, it seems that the Korean society reluctantly accepts this message. I hope that in the future many Korean people think that Korean English teachers too have many advantages and are able to create the environment where they can make good of these advantages.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
A sociolinguistically based, empirically researched pronunciation syllabus for English as an International language by Jennifer Jenkins
Many people contend that English is being used as an international language. In Korea, I did not think English as an international language, because American English had a power over the other Englishes. However, since I came here in America, I have had experience in using English as an international language. I have more opportunities to meet many international students than I expected. To my surprise, there are less Americans than international students in my classes. In this context, this article gave me some insights into learning and teaching English.
I realize that I need to be accustomed to different accents from international students. My classes, which consist of various students from different countries, are very good to receive much exposure to different pronunciations. At the beginning of semester, I wanted to listen to only native speaker’s pronunciation. However, as time goes by, I understand that listening to different pronunciations is very essential in learning and teaching English. Now I can guess which country the speaker comes from through his or her pronunciation.
Even though American English is so powerful in English education in Korea, there are some shifts in English education. When I was very young, I listened to American pronunciation in TV or radio, however, today, I can listen to different accents from Australian, Canadian and Newzealander. In addition, when I had an Internet Based TOEFL test, I had to understand the passage recorded by people with different accents. Not only in the world, but also in Korea, students need to experience different accents. However, it is difficult to cover all the different accents in the homogeneous classes. Therefore, it is very significant to listen to various accents through mass media. Before I came here, I did not realize how important to be exposed to different English accents through mass media. I am so pleased that Korean English education is on the right track.
Whenever I needed to teach pronunciation, I had plenty of difficulties in deciding what to teach. I did not have any confidence in teaching pronunciation, so the easiest way is to let students repeat after the native speaker’s voice recorded in CD. After I have read this article, I think that teaching some difference influencing the interpretability is very important when my students have opportunities to exchange some ideas with people from different countries. The ways mentioned in this article are very practical for me to cover in my classes. The tendency to compare my pronunciation with native speaker’s leads me to be frustrated and to lose my confidence when I speak and teach my students.
I realize that I need to be accustomed to different accents from international students. My classes, which consist of various students from different countries, are very good to receive much exposure to different pronunciations. At the beginning of semester, I wanted to listen to only native speaker’s pronunciation. However, as time goes by, I understand that listening to different pronunciations is very essential in learning and teaching English. Now I can guess which country the speaker comes from through his or her pronunciation.
Even though American English is so powerful in English education in Korea, there are some shifts in English education. When I was very young, I listened to American pronunciation in TV or radio, however, today, I can listen to different accents from Australian, Canadian and Newzealander. In addition, when I had an Internet Based TOEFL test, I had to understand the passage recorded by people with different accents. Not only in the world, but also in Korea, students need to experience different accents. However, it is difficult to cover all the different accents in the homogeneous classes. Therefore, it is very significant to listen to various accents through mass media. Before I came here, I did not realize how important to be exposed to different English accents through mass media. I am so pleased that Korean English education is on the right track.
Whenever I needed to teach pronunciation, I had plenty of difficulties in deciding what to teach. I did not have any confidence in teaching pronunciation, so the easiest way is to let students repeat after the native speaker’s voice recorded in CD. After I have read this article, I think that teaching some difference influencing the interpretability is very important when my students have opportunities to exchange some ideas with people from different countries. The ways mentioned in this article are very practical for me to cover in my classes. The tendency to compare my pronunciation with native speaker’s leads me to be frustrated and to lose my confidence when I speak and teach my students.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Teaching English as an International Language: Rethinking Goals and Approaches by Sandra Lee Mckay (Chapter 1-2)
Nowadays English is being used as an international language. English is spreading all over the world. There are some negative effects of the spread of English. I want to talk about these negative effects.
Firstly, I’d like to talk about the association of the language with the economic elite. In Korea, English ability is closely related to parents’ wealth. Parents and students feel that public school can not satisfy with their needs of English education. They usually depend on private language institutes. However, only people with wealth can access to private language institutes. It causes a big gap between students’ abilities and opportunities to succeed in society. English education is very essential for students’ success in many ways. Students with high proficiency can enter high qualified schools. It guarantees students’ success in their lives. They can receive a high salary job more easily and more opportunities to become the elite. In this situation, I think that public schools need to create more practical programs for English educations. Besides, the Korean government should provide English teachers various programs for improving their expertise. One of the ways to improve English education in Korea is hiring many native English teachers. However, it does not guarantee the success of Korean English education. Korean English teachers are a lot more important than native English teachers. Usually, native English teachers teach for one or two years and after that they leave Korea. Also, some native English teachers are not qualified as an English teacher. However, we English teachers depend on native English teachers too much. Their pronunciation is the main criteria to judge a good teacher. Even though Korean English teachers are qualified, they seem to be frustrated by comparing them with native English teachers’ pronunciation. Korean English teachers should get over this sense of inferiority and build their expertise through various kinds of training programs. More importantly, Korean society should create an environment for parents and students to trust English education in public school. Only public school can narrow inequality between students’ opportunities.
Secondly, I’d like to mention about the cultural identity. While I was teaching English, I did not think about the negative effects on students’ cultural identities. I think that it was a big mistake. I used American culture to attract students’ interest and attention. While I was focusing on American culture, I seemed to look down on Korean culture. For about first five years since I became an English teacher, I did not deal with Korean culture in my English classes. It was not common to find some Korean cultural materials in textbooks. Naturally, I did not deal with Korean cultural materials. This prejudiced teaching attitudes had effects on students’ cultural identities negatively. Recently, I have tried to deal with Korean cultural materials in my English classes. Surprisingly, we had a lot of difficulties in sharing Korean cultural materials in English, even though we are Korean. Students are more familiar with American culture. Now, English is an international language, so English is no longer connected to American culture. I should provide different cultures from different countries as well as help students build abilities to share their cultures.
Finally, English is very essential for students’ future. The opportunities to access to qualified English education should be given equally. In this sense, the qualification of public school English teachers is very important. Teachers should keep in mind that their teaching attitudes can have effects on their students’ identity formation. Also, society should create the mood for teacher to do their best in studying and teaching.
Firstly, I’d like to talk about the association of the language with the economic elite. In Korea, English ability is closely related to parents’ wealth. Parents and students feel that public school can not satisfy with their needs of English education. They usually depend on private language institutes. However, only people with wealth can access to private language institutes. It causes a big gap between students’ abilities and opportunities to succeed in society. English education is very essential for students’ success in many ways. Students with high proficiency can enter high qualified schools. It guarantees students’ success in their lives. They can receive a high salary job more easily and more opportunities to become the elite. In this situation, I think that public schools need to create more practical programs for English educations. Besides, the Korean government should provide English teachers various programs for improving their expertise. One of the ways to improve English education in Korea is hiring many native English teachers. However, it does not guarantee the success of Korean English education. Korean English teachers are a lot more important than native English teachers. Usually, native English teachers teach for one or two years and after that they leave Korea. Also, some native English teachers are not qualified as an English teacher. However, we English teachers depend on native English teachers too much. Their pronunciation is the main criteria to judge a good teacher. Even though Korean English teachers are qualified, they seem to be frustrated by comparing them with native English teachers’ pronunciation. Korean English teachers should get over this sense of inferiority and build their expertise through various kinds of training programs. More importantly, Korean society should create an environment for parents and students to trust English education in public school. Only public school can narrow inequality between students’ opportunities.
Secondly, I’d like to mention about the cultural identity. While I was teaching English, I did not think about the negative effects on students’ cultural identities. I think that it was a big mistake. I used American culture to attract students’ interest and attention. While I was focusing on American culture, I seemed to look down on Korean culture. For about first five years since I became an English teacher, I did not deal with Korean culture in my English classes. It was not common to find some Korean cultural materials in textbooks. Naturally, I did not deal with Korean cultural materials. This prejudiced teaching attitudes had effects on students’ cultural identities negatively. Recently, I have tried to deal with Korean cultural materials in my English classes. Surprisingly, we had a lot of difficulties in sharing Korean cultural materials in English, even though we are Korean. Students are more familiar with American culture. Now, English is an international language, so English is no longer connected to American culture. I should provide different cultures from different countries as well as help students build abilities to share their cultures.
Finally, English is very essential for students’ future. The opportunities to access to qualified English education should be given equally. In this sense, the qualification of public school English teachers is very important. Teachers should keep in mind that their teaching attitudes can have effects on their students’ identity formation. Also, society should create the mood for teacher to do their best in studying and teaching.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Japanese Culture Constructed by Discourses: Implications for Applied Linguistics Research and ELT by Ryuko Kubota
To begin with, this article made me reflect on my English classes. I know the importance of teaching culture but I don’t know what to teach about it and how to teach it effectively. I have always struggled to know how to use culture materials. However, this article gives me some insight into teaching culture.
According to this article, there are three models for teaching culture: the acculturation model; the pluralist model; critical multiculturalism. I think that my attitude toward teaching culture is between the acculturation model and the pluralist model. Korean people, including me, tend to respect only American culture and language, and teachers usually focus on teaching this American culture. This tendency for focusing on American culture seems to come from the acculturation model. In acculturation model, we think American culture is superior to our Korean culture. This evaluation leads us to abandon our culture and follow American culture without any critical thinking. In my English classes, I tend to focus on only American culture, even though there are many different cultures from English-speaking countries. There are two main reasons I put emphasis on American culture. First, many people, including students and parents, want to learn only American culture. In Korea, American culture and language have preferred to another culture and language. People want to enjoy that power of American culture and language guarantee. They want to stay safe within the area of insider power. Second, I do not have enough information about different cultures. I should be the source of information about different cultures. My knowledge about different cultures is very superficial, so I cannot attract students’ interest and attention. Whenever I have an opportunity to teach another culture, except American culture, I feel a lot of burden.
Now, I am in America. I am thinking of what made me to come here. There are different countries I could choose to study English; however, I have made up my mind to study in America. Maybe I was eager to obtain the power in Korea. Studying English, especially in America, can give a power over other English teachers in Korea. In this sense, I was in the stage of the acculturation model when I came to America.
While I am dealing with this article about culture and language, I am changing my attitudes towards them. My goal has been changed. My first goal was improving English ability to get a power. However, my revised goal is learning English to explore culture and language in a critical way. I want to get a freedom from the subordinate and slavery position from American culture.
Nowadays, I am very surprised that the words, for instance, native language and western culture, I used without thinking have a power to control other languages and cultures. I did not realize that using these mystified words made me more frustrated and inferior as a teacher. I will make efforts to reconstruct the meanings of these words; however there are numerous barriers I should get over, such as the needs from students and parents, the expectation of my English ability as a teacher from our society, and the blind acceptance of American culture and language.
Finally, teaching has a tendency to evaluate language and culture. However, as an English teacher, I should be very careful not to evaluate language and culture. This evaluation can give us prejudice against language and culture. Besides, this prejudice creates cultural stereotypes. These prejudiced and cultural stereotypes can keep students from exploring different cultures and languages in a critical way. Today, I am thinking that teaching culture and language can be influenced by society but teaching culture and language can change the society. I understand the significant role as an English teacher.
According to this article, there are three models for teaching culture: the acculturation model; the pluralist model; critical multiculturalism. I think that my attitude toward teaching culture is between the acculturation model and the pluralist model. Korean people, including me, tend to respect only American culture and language, and teachers usually focus on teaching this American culture. This tendency for focusing on American culture seems to come from the acculturation model. In acculturation model, we think American culture is superior to our Korean culture. This evaluation leads us to abandon our culture and follow American culture without any critical thinking. In my English classes, I tend to focus on only American culture, even though there are many different cultures from English-speaking countries. There are two main reasons I put emphasis on American culture. First, many people, including students and parents, want to learn only American culture. In Korea, American culture and language have preferred to another culture and language. People want to enjoy that power of American culture and language guarantee. They want to stay safe within the area of insider power. Second, I do not have enough information about different cultures. I should be the source of information about different cultures. My knowledge about different cultures is very superficial, so I cannot attract students’ interest and attention. Whenever I have an opportunity to teach another culture, except American culture, I feel a lot of burden.
Now, I am in America. I am thinking of what made me to come here. There are different countries I could choose to study English; however, I have made up my mind to study in America. Maybe I was eager to obtain the power in Korea. Studying English, especially in America, can give a power over other English teachers in Korea. In this sense, I was in the stage of the acculturation model when I came to America.
While I am dealing with this article about culture and language, I am changing my attitudes towards them. My goal has been changed. My first goal was improving English ability to get a power. However, my revised goal is learning English to explore culture and language in a critical way. I want to get a freedom from the subordinate and slavery position from American culture.
Nowadays, I am very surprised that the words, for instance, native language and western culture, I used without thinking have a power to control other languages and cultures. I did not realize that using these mystified words made me more frustrated and inferior as a teacher. I will make efforts to reconstruct the meanings of these words; however there are numerous barriers I should get over, such as the needs from students and parents, the expectation of my English ability as a teacher from our society, and the blind acceptance of American culture and language.
Finally, teaching has a tendency to evaluate language and culture. However, as an English teacher, I should be very careful not to evaluate language and culture. This evaluation can give us prejudice against language and culture. Besides, this prejudice creates cultural stereotypes. These prejudiced and cultural stereotypes can keep students from exploring different cultures and languages in a critical way. Today, I am thinking that teaching culture and language can be influenced by society but teaching culture and language can change the society. I understand the significant role as an English teacher.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Breaking Them Up, Taking Them Away: ESL Students in Grade 1 by Kelleen Toohey
“Breaking Them Up, Taking Them Away” : ESL Students in Grade 1 by Kelleen Toohey
I was very shocked to read this article because some very insignificant looking things in daily life can make a big negative difference. Even though it was written about 10 years ago, it made me think about my English classes and my two sons’ English classes from the different aspects. I realized that what I did in my class without thinking have has serious negative effects on their learning and self identities. In addition, this article made me curious about my two sons’ classrooms in America.
This article deals with three things mainly: the location of participants; the management of the material; and the source of the intellectual sources. First I want to mention about the location of participants. Ms. Jones who worked as a homeroom teacher shows that she didn’t like her students moving around the classroom and making noises and so decided to assign seating to students. There are many teachers with the same thinking like Ms. Jones, including me. It is a lot easier to control students with assigned seats. Besides, I don’t have to worry about my class disrupting neighboring rooms. In my case, there was a library next to the principal’s room at school I worked. Most teachers hesitated to use the library because they felt an extra burden to make students stay calm and quiet. Sometimes, when there are loud noises from the students’ activities in the library, the principal came and looked around the library. That made teachers hesitate to use the library. Even though they used the library, they tended to plan individual work for students. I think the location of classroom is also important.
If I look at the classroom in Korea, an individual desk is assigned to each student. There is only one student whom to talk to and to receive a help from side by side. Each student should not change their seats without any permission from the teacher. Therefore their interactions between classmates are very limited. It is natural for students to stay calm. We teachers tend to think if there is no noise, it means students will study hard. What a cruel situation this is! I thought about my two sons. What if there is no one they can get help from in America, especially when they can’t speak English well and they are very intimidated. So I was very curious about my two sons’ seating arrangement and asked them about it. In the case of my second son, his seating was in the front row, so the teacher could watch him very well. Whenever he had a problem in the classroom, the teacher helped him. However, one month later, his seating changed. He is sitting in the middle surrounded by friends. It’s very easy for him to get help from friends and to make friends. Also, he told me that he is feeling more comfortable than before. He felt awkward while the teacher was watching him even though he received lots of help from the teacher. I am very delighted because he does not have any difficulty in making friends. For my own convenience, I assigned students’ seating without considering any side effects on my students. This was selfish of me.
There is a big difference between Korean students’ English abilities according to their parents’ economic status. We parents should spend a fortune to improve our children’s English abilities. Some people say that if the parents want their child to succeed in getting good grades, they should meet three requirements; grandparents’ wealth, mother’s resourcefulness, child’s intelligence. Parents who do not have enough money to spend for their children’s English education need to ask for money from their parents. Mothers should have lots of information about English education, especially English academies. The last one is the child’s intelligence. People think that if there is enough money and information for their children’s education, less intelligent children may still succeed. It is a sad and harsh reality. However, the similar things happen in the classroom where children should be treated equally. Students who are not fluent in English have difficulty in borrowing materials. Usually students who are fluent in English have power in the classroom. It seems that interactions between students are decided by students with the power in terms of language and wealth. To prevent students with less power who are isolated from students with power, teachers need to provide many opportunities for students to share their educational materials with their classmates. For this purpose, grouping students is better than assigning individual seating to students because these students can receive help from many students with less difficulty.
I have experience in studying TESOL in Sookmyeong Women’s University. At that time, all the professors put emphasis on cooperation and collaboration. At the beginning of studying, I didn’t understand the importance of these two ideas. However, while I was studying with my classmates, I realized the importance of cooperation. We usually shared all the things, for instance, place, materials, and knowledge, with one another. Once we shared the desk, it was very easy to share materials and knowledge. Especially, by sharing knowledge, we can expand our knowledge more effectively.
After I have read this article, I think that when I manage my classroom I need to take into account all the possible side effects I have learned. The convenience in controlling students should not be the main element in planning seating arrangements. I agree that there are many benefits from moving individual desks together and sharing the supplies and materials. However, I think that teachers should plan lessons appropriate for grouping. Some lessons are suitable for individual work. I don’t think grouping tables is the best one for all students. Teachers should be flexible in grouping according to their students’ needs and contexts.
I was very shocked to read this article because some very insignificant looking things in daily life can make a big negative difference. Even though it was written about 10 years ago, it made me think about my English classes and my two sons’ English classes from the different aspects. I realized that what I did in my class without thinking have has serious negative effects on their learning and self identities. In addition, this article made me curious about my two sons’ classrooms in America.
This article deals with three things mainly: the location of participants; the management of the material; and the source of the intellectual sources. First I want to mention about the location of participants. Ms. Jones who worked as a homeroom teacher shows that she didn’t like her students moving around the classroom and making noises and so decided to assign seating to students. There are many teachers with the same thinking like Ms. Jones, including me. It is a lot easier to control students with assigned seats. Besides, I don’t have to worry about my class disrupting neighboring rooms. In my case, there was a library next to the principal’s room at school I worked. Most teachers hesitated to use the library because they felt an extra burden to make students stay calm and quiet. Sometimes, when there are loud noises from the students’ activities in the library, the principal came and looked around the library. That made teachers hesitate to use the library. Even though they used the library, they tended to plan individual work for students. I think the location of classroom is also important.
If I look at the classroom in Korea, an individual desk is assigned to each student. There is only one student whom to talk to and to receive a help from side by side. Each student should not change their seats without any permission from the teacher. Therefore their interactions between classmates are very limited. It is natural for students to stay calm. We teachers tend to think if there is no noise, it means students will study hard. What a cruel situation this is! I thought about my two sons. What if there is no one they can get help from in America, especially when they can’t speak English well and they are very intimidated. So I was very curious about my two sons’ seating arrangement and asked them about it. In the case of my second son, his seating was in the front row, so the teacher could watch him very well. Whenever he had a problem in the classroom, the teacher helped him. However, one month later, his seating changed. He is sitting in the middle surrounded by friends. It’s very easy for him to get help from friends and to make friends. Also, he told me that he is feeling more comfortable than before. He felt awkward while the teacher was watching him even though he received lots of help from the teacher. I am very delighted because he does not have any difficulty in making friends. For my own convenience, I assigned students’ seating without considering any side effects on my students. This was selfish of me.
There is a big difference between Korean students’ English abilities according to their parents’ economic status. We parents should spend a fortune to improve our children’s English abilities. Some people say that if the parents want their child to succeed in getting good grades, they should meet three requirements; grandparents’ wealth, mother’s resourcefulness, child’s intelligence. Parents who do not have enough money to spend for their children’s English education need to ask for money from their parents. Mothers should have lots of information about English education, especially English academies. The last one is the child’s intelligence. People think that if there is enough money and information for their children’s education, less intelligent children may still succeed. It is a sad and harsh reality. However, the similar things happen in the classroom where children should be treated equally. Students who are not fluent in English have difficulty in borrowing materials. Usually students who are fluent in English have power in the classroom. It seems that interactions between students are decided by students with the power in terms of language and wealth. To prevent students with less power who are isolated from students with power, teachers need to provide many opportunities for students to share their educational materials with their classmates. For this purpose, grouping students is better than assigning individual seating to students because these students can receive help from many students with less difficulty.
I have experience in studying TESOL in Sookmyeong Women’s University. At that time, all the professors put emphasis on cooperation and collaboration. At the beginning of studying, I didn’t understand the importance of these two ideas. However, while I was studying with my classmates, I realized the importance of cooperation. We usually shared all the things, for instance, place, materials, and knowledge, with one another. Once we shared the desk, it was very easy to share materials and knowledge. Especially, by sharing knowledge, we can expand our knowledge more effectively.
After I have read this article, I think that when I manage my classroom I need to take into account all the possible side effects I have learned. The convenience in controlling students should not be the main element in planning seating arrangements. I agree that there are many benefits from moving individual desks together and sharing the supplies and materials. However, I think that teachers should plan lessons appropriate for grouping. Some lessons are suitable for individual work. I don’t think grouping tables is the best one for all students. Teachers should be flexible in grouping according to their students’ needs and contexts.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
