TEFL blog - June, 2007

The winner of a teaching contest in Korea, secondary school English teacher Song Jung-sun, has said that a college admissions test is to blame for inefficient English language teaching in the country.

The focus on preparing students for the tests, which “emphasise only reading skills”, means that English education is only a “yardstick for student selection”, according to Song.

She also says that many parents do not trust the school teachers, and enrol their children in private language schools where high scores in the tests are the main aim. The governement should spend its money on educating Korean teachers, rather than increasing the number of foreign teachers in the country, she argues.

One reader’s comment on the article suggests instead that the fear of making mistakes as a result of the “face” aspect of Korean culture is the biggest inhibitor to learning.

Do you teach in Korea? Is English teaching inefficient? If so, what is to blame? Post a comment below…

Carpentersville, a suburb of Chicago with 37,000 residents, voted this week to make English the only official language, despite the fact that 40% of the residents are Latino.

According to Trustee Judy Sigwalt, quoted in the Chicago Tribune, multiple languages are responsible for tearing her community – and country – apart.

Village President Bill Sarto, however, thinks that the measure will only succeed in painting Carpentersville as an unwelcoming community.

So who’s right? Should multilingual communities be encouraged or suppressed? Do they help to unite or divide? Have a look at the article and decide for yourself…

Two different views “from the field” today.

Firstly, have a look at T’s blog for her fascinating account of the highs and lows of volunteering as an English teacher and Development Instructor in Mozambique.

Secondly, a more lighthearted look at one blogger’s first teaching experience (in Switzerland) since securing a two-month TEFL certificate by correspondence.

Finally, and on a totally unrelated note, teaching English abroad has made it to the top of this list on CNN of the top five jobs that let you see the world. The others, incidentally, are Chef, Massage Therapist, Au Pair and Caterer.

That’s the view of the Simplified Spelling Society, who protested outside the National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. This month.

The aim of the Society is to replace what they consider the nonsensical system of English spelling, which they see as being responsible for illiteracy and problems for kids at school, with a logical, phonetic system.

Steve Shives, however, disagrees with the idea, pointing to differences in pronunciation in different places. Who is to decide, he argues, the correct phonetic spelling of his home state, Maryland, which he has variously heard pronounced MARE-a-lund, MARE-lund and MARY-land. Is a British or an American pronunciation of “drawing”, or neither for that matter, the “correct” pronunciation. He also points to the embodiment of language and cultural history in the spelling of many words.

The solution, Steve suggests, is not to simplify spelling and “rob the language of its historical and cultural heritage”, despite the Simplified Spelling Society’s argument that this could free educators from spending large amounts of class time teaching spelling (and, incidentally, make competitions such as the National Spelling Bee redundant).

Steve instead sees a solution in spending more time on the essential skills of reading, writing and spelling: “Children…should be taught [these skills] …not as a chore, not as work, but as necessary and wonderful skills that will serve them the rest of their lives.”

What do you think?

First of all, our apologies to all our readers for the long absence. But the TEFL blog is back…

The phrase “you know” is the 57^th most frequently used word or phrase in English. In fact, 60% of all use of the word “know” is in this phrase. That’s according to Professor Ronald Carter of Nottingham University, speaking at a session of the 5^th Asia TEFL Conference, which took place last week in Malaysia.

Another talk to make an impact, reports the Malaysia Star Online, was “Learning English with a Mobile Phone”. Dr Timothy Collins said that “a mobile phone can support many kinds of learning… where learners can see, hear and touch as they press buttons to express their understanding”.

Do you agree with Dr Collins? Or do you see mobile phones as a menace to English language classrooms, with teenage students spending whole lessons texting their friends under the table?

If you attended the 5^th Asia TEFL Conference this year, tell us what you thought. Next year’s conference will be in August in Bali, Indonesia, with the theme “Globalising Asia: The Role of ELT”.