OP4 : Suggestions for ways English education needs to improve in Korea

Suggestions for ways English education needs to improve in Korea



Imagine you are in an English classroom of a high school. You can easily think of a teacher writing some grammar rules on the blackboard and students busy with translating the text into Korean, scribbling something in Korean under unfamiliar words and circling every preposition and relative pronoun in the textbook. It is a scene of an English classroom, prevalent everywhere in Korea and regrettably such situations have hardly changed since English was taught in Korea in spite of other rapid social and economic advances. Since the inauguration of the new president many radical suggestions have been made, and all of sudden English education has become a hot potato; everyone involved in it or not has a say in this matter. Of all the issues that can be suggested for ways English education needs to improve in Korea, I’d like to pay attention to use of more variety of materials in English class and what teachers and students can effectively adapt in the classroom.



First, for example, let’s say, we learn or teach Lesson 5 I Love Cooking in a middle school. There are vocabularies on the food on the first two 2 pages of the textbook and a page of a text on cooking. The objectives of the lesson would be learning words on food and expressions on cooking. Then, the teacher could show students photos or videos on food or cooking and students could talk about the food they like or hate in groups, or even they could even cook in a real kitchen while speaking in English. Students could make a recipe of the food and present it in front of the class. During this lesson, students could speak every word they know related to cooking in an authentic situation. This would be a very meaningful learning and could be retained in their memory for a long time. Not by rote translation and memorization of words and expressions that could hardly be realized in the real situation, but by using materials that stimulate students with sight, sense, and action the language learners can have a meaningful experience and make it theirs.



Second, by using a variety of materials students can be motivated to learn with interest. Learning in the same format all the time is extremely boring. Students already know and expect what’s going to happen in the class. When students are presented with various and new materials, and sometimes are surprised with them, they will find it interesting and wait for the next lesson. Taking for the same example above, we can learn the same content by really preparing food, making a recipe, scraping photos and words from newspapers and magazines or doing role plays. Learning the same content in different contexts with various materials is very meaningful learning experience for students. It can ultimately lead students to self-study and motivate to learn more.



Developing and using a variety of materials undoubtedly help students improve their English skills. The crucial role in this will be played by teachers. They should always keep in mind how they could motivate students to learn more and efficiently adapt the developed materials in classroom. However, teachers who are already overburdened with teaching and other administrative works could complain about this suggestion, but the first step in a long road is always difficult and needs some sacrifice at first. In the end it could be their invaluable asset in teaching and also help other teachers and students by sharing the materials together. Then, all these small steps could contribute to improving English education in Korea eventually.

Learning new vocabulary is always difficult, and really hard to teach.

Because teachers have to be really imaginative when they try to teach such things.

But in a real word, teachers said it's a bit difficult to manage things like that with 35 or more students in a class.

But, I guess it's all depends on the ability of the teacher.

I think it's really good idea, and we should think about it as a future English teachers.