I am currently working at Bucheon University in South Korea.
Bucheon University is a privately owned institution which has a variety of
programs ranging from technical diplomas to 4 years bachelor degrees. The ELL
program at Bucheon is essentially a mandatory elective that students have to
enroll in but the grades they obtain have little to no bearing on their overall
GPA. This can sometimes have negative affect on class participation as many
students have the knowledge that the course is not important to their grades.
Luckily, I get many opportunities to observe freshman
students at Bucheon University but I rarely get a chance to observe a coworkers
class and interview their students. The students that I observed range from 19
years to 21 years of age. Korea has a different way of determining age so these
ages translate to 18 to 20 years of age internationally. There were 14 males and 8 females. There were
a variety of students from different locations and backgrounds. Unfortunately,
we rarely have any international students that attend Bucheon University as it
is not a very well recognized institution in South Korea. Students Ell
abilities usually range from low beginner to low intermediate. Most of the
students can read English but have a lot of difficulty with writing and
speaking. This is quite common with students here in South Korea from my
experience.
The Persona of Bucheon University Students:
Age:
The average age of the students in my observed classroom was
19 years. It has been my experience that Korean university students are often
immature. Many cultural issues have led to this fact, such as Korean students
very rarely have taken on responsibilities outside of their school work and their
rigorous study schedules have led to poor socialization skills. It often feels
like I am teaching middle school or lower high school students.
Students have a common impression that university is a time
to relax and enjoy the experience. Most have just finished a gruelling
experience in high school to study for the CSAT
exams in high school. If you are not familiar with South Korea, these are
the equivalent of the SAT exams in the United States. However, the amount of
pressure put on students and the preparation they must endure for these exams
can be highly stressful. Korea has the highest suicide rate in the OCED. The
rate of suicide is almost triple
that of the entire OECD. According to
the National Youth Policy Institute, 1 in 4 Korean students contemplate
suicide. Once they have arrived at
Bucheon University, it is almost understandable that they feel that
participation is up to them and are not as motivated to learn.
Socio-Economic:
Money can be a weird topic in Korea. People can be quite
open about the amount of money they make and the appearance of wealth is very
important. It is very rare that students do not wear some sort of brand name
attire. Every student in the observed class owned a smartphone and also carried
a tablet with them. Korea ranks second in mobile phone penetration according to
ThinkInsights with Google. I have experienced situations where students are
treated quite differently if they are perceived as being in a lower
socio-economic class. The class system is quite prominent in South Korea and is
deep rooted in their culture.
It is quite uncommon for students at Bucheon University to
have a job. Although in the classes I observed there were several students who
worked part time. Out of the 22 students I surveyed, five had part time
jobs. From my experience, this number is
quite high. Most worked for their parents at their businesses or had part time
jobs at fast food restaurants. These jobs were mostly weekend positions and
unfortunately for the students were quite low paying. However, when I asked the
students what motivated them to learn, many listed getting a job and making
money has their highest motivation for studying. It very common that a Korean
student’s first job may be their last job, as employment mobility is not as
common here.
When I surveyed the class about the jobs their parents
performed, most of the students fathers were office workers of some sort and as
mentioned some owned small businesses. Most of the mothers were homeworkers and
only 4 of out the 22 surveyed had mothers who were in the workforce. These
women either worked at a small business or again were office workers.
Cultural Influences
The class I observed was homogenous in nature. All 22
students were Korean and none had any relatives who were from anywhere other
than South Korea. For teachers who teach ELL in South Korea, it can be
sometimes challenging to get students to participate in classroom discussions.
Korean students are used to lecture classes and are very hesitant to speak out
in class even when called upon. Students have been taught that mistakes are a
negative thing so they resist speaking out because they are afraid to look
foolish in front of their peers. I noticed in my own classes and in the
observed class that this aspect of is changing slowly in Korea. Most students
have had a native speaking teacher in their past and now have a better understanding
of how English teachers conduct their classes. As the class I observed was
quite familiar with their teacher, it was easier for him to get the students to
participate.
Student Interests and Talents
For the male students that I surveyed, one word can sum up
their interests: GAMES. Online gaming is amazingly popular in South Korea.
There are several entire television channels dedicated to just showing video
games. Students are obsessed with either PC games or smart phone games. When I
surveyed the class, 13 out of 14 males listed playing PC games as their hobby
and 3 of 8 females. The group had a few other interests, including listening to
music, watching television and watching movies. One thing that I observed and
have observed over the years in teaching at Bucheon University, students rarely
have any hobbies. Out of the 22 students surveyed, only 2 females played a
musical instrument and only 2 males played a sport on a regular basis. I have
noticed during past surveys that this trend is quite common. I can only
attribute this to a lack of time to participate in hobbies during their grade
school years which has translated to no hobbies in their college years.
Access to Technology
If there is one thing in South Korea that is not lacking it
is access to technology. Most schools aggressively integrate technology into
their programs. All the students in the classroom have and use their smart
phones for classroom activities, along with the use of tablets or laptop
computers. The classroom I observed has a personal PC and projector.
Unfortunately, the electronic blackboard has yet to catch on in most schools in
Korea and Bucheon University does not make this technology available to it
students and teachers. I asked the teacher what digital tools were utilized in
his classroom and he said primary the personal computer and projector were the
main tools he used. On occasion, he created lessons that involved the students
using their smart phones but because of their tendency to use the chat features
on the phone and waste time he usually avoided those activities. The teacher
said that he felt when he used technology in his class he usually got a much
better response from this students. He has recently begun using Prezi and finds
the dynamic presentations really catch his student’s attention. The teacher explained that he had no issues
with access to technology as all of the classrooms he uses have computers and
projectors available. Wi Fi is generally not an issue as Korea has an extensive
4G network.
Special Needs
There were no students with special needs in the class I
observed. Bucheon University only has a few students who have disabilities. However, like most students in the world,
Korean students can lose focus if they get bored. The teacher agreed that being
able to integrate technology more into his class improved the attention spans
of his students. When I surveyed the students and asked if the teacher asked
them regularly about their interests they all responded yes. The teacher often
surveyed his classroom about what they were interested in and used the
technology he had access to create lessons that reflected those interests. For
example, the lesson he conducts about food makes use of YouTube videos. He gets
the students to watch cooking show and then they write down the sequence of the
chef uses to prepare the food. Another
way the teacher was able to meet the needs of this student was by
differentiating his lessons. He told me he has prepared several different
lessons on the topics he has cover so he has the flexibility he needs to
properly adjust he teaching to meet his student’s needs.
Summary
In conclusion, the students in the classroom come from
average middle class Korean families. They all have similar interests and live
similar lifestyles. Students are concerned about their financial futures but
for now take a fairly relaxed approach
to their learning as they have all just finished probably the three hardest
years of their lives. Korean students are tech savvy and technology is
integrated into just about every facet of their lives. Students depend highly upon their smartphones
as a connection to their friends and family. Unlike, many North Americans,
email was not highly used amongst the group but rather chat applications like
Kakao talk was used as primary source of technological communication. They all
seem to be using their experiences at university as an opportunity to grow as
individuals and finally get some time to experience some youthful activities.
Sources
OECD Factbook 2013: Economic, Environmental and Social
Statistics. (2013, January 1). <i></i>. Retrieved June 18, 2014,
from
http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/factbook-2013-en/12/01/03/index.html?itemId=/content/chapter/factbook-2013-97-en
Our Mobile Planet. (n.d.). <i>Our Mobile
Planet</i>. Retrieved June 18, 2014, from
http://think.withgoogle.com/mobileplanet/en/graph/?country=au&country=ca&country=cn&country=in&country=jp&country=kr&country=nz&country=ae&country=uk&country=us&category=DETAILS&topic=Q00&stat=Q00_1&wave=2013&age=all&gender=all&chart_type=bar&active=country
Sistek, H. (2013, December 8). South Korean students wracked
with stress. <i>- Features</i>. Retrieved June 18, 2014, from
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/12/south-korean-students-wracked-with-stress-201312884628494144.html
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