Oh 1

Joohye Oh

Dr. Song

C&T 598

5 July 2023

Final Reflection

We were gathered around a long table. Most of the interviewees were facing Dr. Cho and

Dr. Song who were seated opposite us. Before the group interview, I had heard just a little about

this program,Teaching English in Korea, through informal encounters. I had heard that it was

pretty wonderful; the food was absolutely amazing; the Kyunghwa students were supposedly

some of the kindest and hard working people that program alumni had met. I was interested in

seeing if I could connect my interest in language learning with my desire to study abroad.

Thankfully, I was able to accept a place in this program. Although I do not come from an

education or TESOL background, I believe that my experience learning Korean, English, and

Spanish combined with my leaning towards creative activities made this program a positive

experience.

Prior to coming to Kyunghwa, I was not sure what it would be like to teach English.

Being raised by two parents who experienced the wave of education fever, I was always aware of

how important the English language was in Korea. After reading about the role of English,

specifically within the Korean education system, I now see how “the neoliberalization of

education” along with “teaching to the test” (Byean, 2015, p. 869) has affected my parents’

English language learning and use. This is also why I wondered, before joining this program, if

the Korean education system emphasized rote memorization and testing over practical

application. To my surprise, I found out that the EB program strives to educate their students by
 Oh 2

using communicative language teaching (Duff, 2014). Students learn real-world dialogue via

five-minute broadcasts where they utilize all four language skills (listening, reading, writing, and

speaking). However, since I spent most of my time inside Steve’s class, I am sure that the native

Korean teachers were making sure that students had the tools to succeed on popular English

language proficiency exams like TOEIC and TOEFL, as described in Choi (2008).

One thing that helped me throughout my time at Kyunghwa was my knowledge of the

Korean language. Although I knew that some students might already be slightly shocked or

surprised that someone who looked different from their idea of an “American” would be teaching

them English, I am glad that I was able to connect with some of them because I could speak to

them in Korean sometimes. This was especially true when considering that some of the students

who were not as inclined to participate or just shy often spoke very little English in front of their

peers. Looking back, perhaps the students’ as well as my perception of my competence to teach

English is influenced by the idea of “ownership” and language (Yoo, 2013). I definitely did

notice some initial hesitation or subtle difference in treatment from the co-teachers at the EB,

possibly due to the teachers’ own ideas of the use of Korean (L1) when learning English (L2)

(Ahn, 2014). However, once I was able to use a few words in Korean to let the students know

that they were doing a good job and that I could assist them with the current assignment, I found

that most of the quieter students started to emerge from their shells little by little; the co-teachers

started to become friendlier as well.

Throughout my time in this practicum, I learned that I have what I need to overcome

challenges. One memorable challenge was organizing my second lesson plan. The first lesson

plan revolved around a fun game so this was a little easier to plan and implement. In contrast to

the first lesson, the second lesson, which was about Valentine’s Day, was more challenging
 Oh 3

because my co-teacher Olivia and I were working with 50 instead of 20 minutes. At first, we

planned on starting our lesson with a brief history of Valentine’s Day. Later, as we started to

finalize the other parts of the lesson, we realized that the sentence length and overall word choice

(pope, jailed, and printed) could be overwhelming for several of the students. After some

thinking and feedback from our supervising native English teacher Steve, we eventually replaced

the mini history lesson with a fun facts section.

I would appreciate it if people noticed how my creativity and language learning

experience were used in this practicum. This is also something visible in my portfolio explicitly

(in the “About Me” section) as well as implicitly (overall design of the portfolio, especially for

the “Lesson Plans” and “Gallery” sections). In terms of my creativity and language learning

experience within the context of teaching, I believe that my choice of simple colors and useful

graphics contributed to a better lesson implementation because I have more knowledge about

what does and does not work as well inside a language classroom from my experience as a

student. Someone looking at my portfolio would also notice that the two lesson plans can be

adapted for different audiences. For example, an EFL teacher in France could use common

French snacks instead of popular Korean snacks to teach the lesson about adjectives to describe

food.

My overall performance in this practicum was excellent because I was able to effectively

balance teaching, learning, and exploring. Since I came to Korea as a student teacher, I was able

to draw on my experience as a KU student to schedule my assignments and draw on my

experience learning Spanish to think about lesson plans. Being aware that I had the

responsibilities of a college student, I was able to plan my leisure time effectively around blocks

of reading scholarly articles and writing reflections. This is one of my strengths that I further
 Oh 4

refined during my time in this program. On the other hand, one area for growth is making the

lessons even more engaging so that I could connect with students. I know that my lesson plans,

especially the first lesson plan which featured the “Snack Attack” game, were successful because

I knew that several of the students were interested in snacks. I was able to connect with the

students by creating lesson plans that they would be motivated by. One part of my lesson that

was a little confusing for most of the EB students was the compare and contrast section. I hope

that I will be able to modify sections like the compare and contrast using my EB experience and

recent literature to make “the classroom as a safe space to try out different rhetorical strategies of

creativity” (Canagarajah, 2014, p. 778).

There are two pieces of advice I would like to give to future program participants. The

first piece of advice is to pack less clothes than you think you need. For example, I packed

around seven blouses, mostly solid colors, along with four pairs of pants. This was more than

enough for six weeks at Kyunghwa. I think that around four or five blouses/tops with two pairs

of pants should be a good capsule wardrobe. You might find some affordable and nice clothes in

Korea at stores like Top Ten. Also, you might want to pack a large bath towel because towels are

much, much smaller. The second piece of advice is to continue to build good study habits. Since

you are still a student, you need to make sure that you are dedicating time to completing course

assignments throughout the week.

Overall, I have had a good experience at Kyunghwa. I liked the selected readings for

C&T 598 as well as the helpful tips from C&T 491’s textbook. I also enjoyed getting to walk

around the Kyunghwa campus and look at the various plants and flowers. I know that I have

developed and identified several professional and personal skills such as navigating a new city,

finding appropriate study spots, and adapting to schedule changes. Navigating a new city,
 Oh 5

especially during the excursions to Sokcho and Seoul, was difficult at first but became easier as I

got more familiar with Korean public transportation. I also think that I have experienced personal

growth from living in a dorm and working with the EB cohort of five other student teachers.

Working and living with others helped me understand more of what I like and dislike in terms of

learning as well as just personal preferences about space. I hope that the future program

participants will be as excited, engaged, and studious when they decide to fly over to Kyunghwa

to start teaching and learning.

 Oh 6

References

Ahn (2014). Teachers’ attitudes towards Korean English in South Korea., No. 2, pp. 195–222.

Byean, H. (2015). English, Tracking, and Neoliberalization of Education in South Korea, p. 869.

Canagarajah, S. (2014). In search of a new paradigm for teaching English as an international

language. (4), p. 778.

Choi, I. (2008). The impact of EFL testing on EFL education in Korea. (1), pp. 39–62.

Duff, P. A. (2014). Communicative language teaching.In Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D., &

Snow, M. A. (Eds.). Teaching English as a second or foreign language (4th ed.). National

Geographic Learning.

Yoo, I. (2013). Nonnative teachers in the expanding circle and the ownership of English, pp.

82–86.