Teach English in Chengkou Xian - Chongqing

Problems for learners in KoreaFrom the end of the korean War in the 1950's English education has been an important part of the education system. The government seeks to ensure that each child has available to him or her, access to an English education. English language skills are acquired and taught from elementary school to high school and are an important part in University entrance exams. Parents place a great deal of importance on their children learning English and are willing to spend a lot of money and time on supplemental private English education. It is highly desirable for korean students to learn English from a native english speaker, and thus, the government and parents alike seek this authentic learning experience out by recruiting and employing native speakers from up to eight english speaking countries. Because of the differences between English and korean, this extra focus on English education presents some specific challenges to the korean student. One set of challenges consist of the basic language differences between English and korean. These differences include phonetic differences and differences in consonants. Next, there are differences in vowels and stress. For example, English is a stress-timed language. korean is a non-rythmatic, syllable-timed language lacking both word stress and sentence stress.Because each syllable is given the same prominance, each word is pronounced evenly with little to no variation in sound or rythem. Therefore, becoming initially familiar with the rythem and stress patterns of English can present a challenge for korean students. Also, syntactic differences can complicate learning. English follows a SVO subject-verb-object order. However, korean follows a SOV order, subject-object-verb.Therefore, before speaking, korean students usually have to carefully plan out the word order in their own minds first. Further, the position of adverbs is different in korean. Modifiers come before modified elements. For example, "shout loudly" becomes "loudly shout." Here, the adverb comes before the modified verb. Therefore, a common mistake is for students to mistakenly put the adverb at the beginning of the sentence. Finally, there are differences in verb inflection. The korean language does not contain conjugation or inflection. In fact, verbs in the present tense fail to take -s in the third person singular. korean students miss inflection at the end of sentences in both written and spoken form. The position of relative clauses are also commonly mistaken. In English, relative clauses come after the nouns that they modify. This is in contrast to korean where they come before. Therefore, these language differences carry over into other aspects of learning and cause korean students to face problems in writing, grammar, speech, listening, and reading. Differences in the language itself is not the only issue facing korean students learning English. There exist several cultural differences that affect their learning process, causing issues with individual words and word choice, idiomatic expressions, and adapting to differenet teaching methods, particularly those that are brought in from native english speakers that are guests teaching in korea. For example, korean students are not used to discussion or debate, unlike their western counterparts where a lively debate shows oral skill and intelligence. On the contrary, korean students tend to act shy when singled out or engaged in debate style discussion. Instead, they prefer to express themselves in indirect ways and have a preference and natural tendency toward group-thinking. Family and society at large are seen as being more important than the individual self. This can be reflected in their names which feature family names first, followed by given names. Similarly, possessiveness and ownership is transferred from the self into the family or group. A korean student would be more likely to say, "our classroom," or "our teacher" over "my classroom" and "my teacher." Another issue for korean learners is to become aware of bad habits they hold in their native language in an effort to ovoid carrying the habit over into their English practice. For example, korean students are in the habit of taking a negative question format and responding using both elements of positive and negative expression. Here, asking the negative question, "Didn't you enjoy the movie?" may get a response, "Yes, I didn't like it," or, "No, I did like it." English learners in korea must also overcome behavioural obstacles that could get in their way. Because of their respect for elders and the widely practiced philisophical teachings of Confusionism, korean students will often times avoid eye contact with elder persons. This can make it difficult to know if they are paying attention or undestanding the lesson material. Further, facial expressions are not always as they appear. students frown when they are content and contentment and comprehension can be hard to detect. Also, students are extremely nervous of making a mistake and being embarrassed in front of their peers. Even when confidence levels are high, students may revert back to group-thinking and in an effort to not appear to be showing off, they may hesitate to freely display the scope of their ability and knowledge. Because humility is a prized personality trait, korean students may not be used to a native English teacher's teaching methods that incorporate plenty of praise and recognition. Finally, students struggle with maintaining morale and motivation, particularly when studying for many years of their lives and feeling as if their skills have not markedly improved at the pace they desire or feel pressure to achieve. Acquiring English language skills are of the utmost important in korea. In particular, korean parents place a great deal of emphasis on their children's English study. Fluency in English is essential for students to be admitted into a top University, which is the end-goal every korean parent places upon the expectations of their child's academic success.