This was explained to the whole ATEs in a lecture given by Dr. Andrew F. earlier in orientation. Dr. F. is a Scottish English teacher who has worked in Korea for a couple of decades now, I believe, and is considered one of the experts on pedagogy for teaching English to Koreans. (I, and number of people at the Program, think his methods are a little optimistic, as they depend on willing students who are paying an obscene amount of money to go to language institutes after 12 hours a day of public education so they can earn high marks on their entrance exams, not students who are actually in compulsory education like ours will be… but whatever.)
He explained that the difference between English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and English as a Second Language (ESL) is huge in terms of pedagogy because in ESL, the student is immersed in English. In other words, when they leave the classroom, they will have to speak English. You can’t assume that in a foreign country, however. In fact, when students in Korea leave the classroom, they will most likely be speaking Korean. Therefore, we must approach the entire process with this aspect of student life in mind. How we are to do this, specifically, he left to our own imaginings.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment