While majoring in East Asian Studies at the University of Kansas I have been granted many

Education is taken earnestly in primarily all countries throughout the world including America, but even more so in South Korea. While high school is considered to be one of the best times of your life in America, it is not the same for Koreans. In America, sports,

“Each household pays 288.000 Won (about 250 USD monthly), which is about 8 percent of household income, for their children’s private tutoring. As a whole, Korea spends about 2.2 percent of GDP on private tutoring.” (Nakamura 43). The aspiring universities are usually located in the capital and big cities, which are the center of business trading and academic training. It is not surprised when lots of parents want their children to study and achieve academically in there. For instance, in South Korea, the capital Seoul has been a place for people who wanted to work in academia or government. “Many parents in rural areas or small cities have been sending their children to schools in bigger towns or large cities. As people, especially younger generations, move to Seoul to study or work and then settle in/near Seoul metropolitan area, rural areas are becoming “empty nests.” Schools in rural parts of Korea are now being closed in rural parts of Korea due to an extremely low number (or none) of school-age students; meanwhile, many schools in Seoul and vicinity are overcrowded.” (Nakamura 33). After graduating, students will also face with a tight contest of getting a good job with the limited number of positions. One of the qualifications required by most employers is English proficiency, which is evaluated through some exams such as TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), IELTS (International English Language Testing System), TOEIC (Test of English for

Currently, I’m teaching a group of high intermediate Academic English students from China and Saudi Arabia. They are all on a path to enter an American university and complete their bachelor's or master's degree in a variety of majors. My class size is 14 students and I teach them in the classroom 6 hours per week.

Students in South Korea take their education very seriously. Eric described their school system as a “pressure cooker”. “rigor mattered, koreans understood that mastering difficult academic content was important. They didn’t take shortcuts.”(pg.116) These students have to compete with each other in order to get accepted into the most prestigious colleges. Not only do students attend school from seven in the morning to three in the afternoon, they also have to attend hagwons which are private tutors after school. They study at least twelve hours a day to make sure they get the best grades.

In 2000, 6 out of 7 elementary school students and 2 out of 3 middle school students lived in homes where English was not available. Over the past five years, ELL has increased language isolation even in schools that are concentrated in a few schools. Research has begun to document the impact of such isolation trends. For example, in an analysis by a metropolitan school district, Frankenberg and Lee argued that black and Latino exposure to white students was reduced and language isolation was not confined to Latino ELL students. Some Asian ELL students are also isolated. Almost 40% of all children with parents born in Vietnam and China were linguistically isolated and low income backgrounds. Korean parents' ELL children are also linguistically isolated at a relatively high level. In addition, most schools with a high ELL population show a strong correlation between the lack of English language skills and poverty, as confirmed by the 2000 Census data, due to the large number of low-income populations. As a result, poorer schools that target an intensive population of low-income ELLs generally have low educational capacity. In addition to not speaking or reading English, schools with a high ELL population face the problem of communicating with parents whose literacy level is lower in their native language. Many ELL parents did not graduate from

When examining the District handbook, it is clear that West Chicago highly values student achievement and seeks to create lifelong learners. The handbook is reviewed every year and the district values and asks for the input of students and parents in order to increase investment. Throughout its history “Providing a foundation for excellence in learning” has been the district’s vision. This, coupled with its mission statement: “To impart the knowledge and skills that will empower all students to pursue their maximum potential to confidently contribute to and benefit from our society locally and globally,” inform their policies and attitude towards all students, especially English Language Learners. In a Frequently Asked Questions portion, the District answers the question of whether students will fall behind due to learning an extra language by explaining that dual language is a form of enriched education and that learning two languages has many cognitive benefits as evidenced by research that has shown how students who participate in Dual Language programs outperform their peers on standardized tests.

Currently, in South Korea there are more than 28,000 North Korean refugees seeking refuge from the communist sister nation (Hamilton). Since English is becoming more of a necessity in South Korea’s workplace and daily life, it is therefore essential for North Korean refugees to learn the Western language in order to fully assimilate into the new culture. Recognizing this problem, Lee Eunkoo, who is a South Korean, and Casey Lartigue, an American, started an organization called Teach North Korean Refugees, TNKR for short, in 2013 (FQA-Track 1). Unique to many organizations, TNKR allows North Koreans refugees to choose their volunteer tutor who will educate them in English language skills. To date, the non-profit has seen 190 students come through the program and 290 volunteers (FQA-Track 1). Additionally, in order to meet the unique needs of their students, Teach North Korean Refugees provide two unique English language tracks. Track one primarily focuses on providing English language skills in basic English, grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. The second track focuses more on perfecting writing and public speaking skills. In order to keep Teach North Korean Refugees running, the organization needs proficient English speaking teachers to volunteer to invest in their students. Volunteers will help refugees cultivate English speaking skills that will enable them to thrive in a fast pace nation of South Korea. The primary requirement for teachers to be a part of TNKR is that they must have a college degree and speak English as a first language. As proof of the program’s success, several of the refugees have published books and have become professional orators (FQA-Track 1). While Teach North Korean Refugees is not directly located in the hermit kingdom itself, the opportunity for TESOL professionals to impact the émigré lives

The author emphasizes this phenomenon by presenting how competitive the job opportunity is in the United States. With the growing English-speaker demand by the English language market in South Korea, there is an increasing number of Korean-Americans returning to South Korea to look for jobs. Nevertheless, many Korean-American English teachers have become more worried about their stable lives in South Korea after one-year contracts with English institutions. The author deems this anxious feeling is bonded with timing problem that most returned Korean-Americans have

In “Saving Languages through Korean Soap Operas” Rose Eveleth details the global efforts to save dying languages. She begins by citing globalization and the increasing pressure to understand and speak English as the primary reasons for decline of many local languages. Eveleth asserts that language is a key part to a people’s cultural identity and should be preserved. Because the benefits of learning English are so high, many of the younger generations lack the desire to learn their own local languages. But globalization and diffusion of culture may be the key to saving these languages; specifically, through cultural commodities such as movies and popular television shows.

In Euny Hong’s book, The Birth of Korean Cool, she tells the story of the rise of “hallyu” or the “Korean wave” that is sweeping the globe. Having been born in the U.S. then immigrating to Korea, Hong gives a unique dual perspective on the changes Korea has undergone in the past decades. Korea today has a reputation of being modern technology hub, but this was not always the case. In fact, as Hong describes, the majority of the social, technological, and economical advancements came about within the past thirty years. Euny Hong details her experiences and observations as Korea traveled at a breakneck speed from a third world country to one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world.

South Korea’s social structure revolves around the individual’s professional, family, and education background. People who have attained prestigious job titles, graduated from a first-rate university, or was born into an influential family are placed very high on the social structure. People who do not have a respectable education background are usually on the bottom of the status pole; however, it is possible for social mobility. The South Korean education system is similar to the one in the United States. Even though the years of attendance might be dissimilar from the US, the education system still consists of an elementary, middle, and high school. After graduating from high school, most students apply and attend universities from all across the nation.

English is the first foreign language learned in Indonesia. As the international language, many people try to master English to adapt in this modern era. English is also become an aspect which determines people’s life. For example, English is one of important feature in deciding whether a job seeker is accepted on certain work field. It is proven by TOEFL score as one of requirement mostly needed in signing a career. By realizing the importance of English in further life, many people learn this foreign language as young as possible. Even several parents whoever concerned about their children’s future start to put their at English course since pre-school.

Parent’s role in South Korea is taking care of their children until they get married. Children usually live with their parents until they are married, even if they are full grown adults. Parents are desperate attempt to give children an educational advantage, and grant them explore to a globalized worldview (in contrast with Korea's strictly homogenous culture and community), children are often sent to boarding schools abroad usually to the U.S., Canada and Australia, and family members strangely separated for many years.

A candidate for the Ed.D. degree program in interdisciplinary Education Studies in Long Island University as a well-balanced bilingual English and Korean linguist to use my language teaching, research, translating and interpreting between English and Korean in researching and developing more efficient and practical teaching and learning methodologies in SLA.

In South Korea, social demand for normalization of public education and the burden of private education expenses has been constantly demanding for decades. Recently, government enacted the 「Special Act on the Promotion of Normalization of Public Education and Regulation of Prior Education」. Education policies such as normalization of public education have been promoted for a long time. The major reason for the enactment of such a regulatory law is that Korean society is intensifying competition in education system with the overheated educational passion of the older generation. Such an indiscriminate competition in education has led to the expansion of private tutoring to the extent of