CONNECTION - KoTESOL

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The English Connection January 2002 Volume 6 / Issue 1

Also in this issue

To promote scholarship, disseminate information, and facilitatecross-cultural understanding among persons concerned with theteaching and learning of English in Korea.

continued on page 6

www.kotesol.org

A Publication of Korea Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages

Volume 6

Number

1

2002

T h e E N G L I S H

CONNECTIONSpeaking a foreign language is, at times, like jumping over the GrandCanyon or Han River. That is, even native speakers forget words andget hung up trying to communicate their meaning with the strait jacket

of language. These lapses are evengreater for non-native speakers, who haveless experience using the language. Allspeakers face such gaps in lexicalknowledge and grammar and must dareto leap the vast divides to maintaincommunication. Korean English teachers,who wrestle with the monster of Englisheveryday, in addition to their students,would greatly benefit from strategies andtactics for crossing these gaps.

When I mention compensation strategies, many people think thatI’m referring to tactics for negotiating better pay from employers.That’s the article that I wish I had the knowledge to write. This article,however, focuses on the compensation strategies defined by RebeccaOxford (1990: 47): that “enable learners to use the new language foreither comprehension or production despite limitations in knowledge.”In other words, compensation strategies aid students and non-nativeteachers in bridging the divides in their target language knowledge orability. They are problem-solving techniques that, in spite of targetlanguage deficiencies, aid people in catching the meaning whilelistening or reading and in communicating their meaning while writingor speaking.

Many Korean students, for example, have memorized long lists ofEnglish words and grammar rules, but are unable to access thisknowledge for communications. Compensation strategies are tacticsthat students can learn that will help them to begin accessing andusing this knowledge. Oxford (1990: 48) lists the followingcompensation strategies: guessing intelligently, code switching,getting help, using gestures, avoiding communication partially ortotally, selecting the topic, adjusting or approximating the message,coining words, and resorting to circumlocution. I group compensationstrategies into two camps: engagement and disengagement strategies.Disengagement strategies take students outside of the interaction forhelp in bridging the gap, or fail to bridge it. Looking up words in abilingual dictionary or avoiding topics are two examples. Engagementstrategies, on the other hand, keep students communicating andmaintain the interaction. Asking for clarification or confirmation orusing metaphors and approximations are examples.

In a recent study about compensation strategies (Margolis, in press),Korean university students were found to use disengagementstrategies the most and circumlocutions and asking their interlocutor

IntroducingCompensationStrategiesby Douglas Margolis

Teachniques:Starting Off on the Right Foot... 9

Training Notes:Self-Assessment ... 11

Research Acts: Action Research?You Must be Joking! ... 12

Word Whys, Web Wheres,Conference Reports, Pan Asia,and more.


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The Korea TESOL JournalInformation for Contributors

EDITORIAL POLICY

The Korea TESOL Journal, a refereed journal, welcomes previously unpublished practical andtheoretical articles on topics of significance to individuals concerned with the teaching of Englishas a foreign language. Areas of interest include:

1. classroom-centered research 4. cross-cultural studies2. second language acquisition 5. teaching and curriculum methods3. teacher training 6. testing and evaluation

Because the Journal is committed to publishing manuscripts that contribute to bridging theoryand practice in our profession, it particularly welcomes submissions drawing on relevant researchand addressing implications and applications of this research to issues in our profession.

Action Research-based papers, that is, those that arise from genuine issues in the Englishlanguage teaching classroom, are welcomed. Such pedagogically oriented investigations andcase studies/reports, that display findings with applicability beyond the site of study, rightfullybelong in a journal for teaching professionals.

The Korea TESOL Journal prefers that all submissions be written so that their content isaccessible to a broad readership, including those individuals who may not have familiarity withthe subject matter addressed. The Journal is an international journal, welcoming submissionsfrom English language learning contexts around the world, particularly those focusing uponlearners from northeast Asia.

GENERAL INFORMATION FOR AUTHORSSubmission Categories

The KOTESOL Journal invites submissions in three categories:

I. Full-length articles. Contributors are strongly encouraged to submit manuscripts of no more than 20-25double-spaced pages or 8,500 words (including references, notes, and tables).

II. Brief Reports and Summaries. The KOTESOL Journal also invites short reports (less than 1,200 words),manuscripts that either present preliminary findings or focus on some aspect of a larger study. Papers written inpursuit of advanced studies are appropriate for summarization.

III. Reviews. The KOTESOL Journal invites succinct, evaluative reviews of scholarly or professional books, orinstructional-support resources (such as computer software, video- or audiotaped material, and tests). Reviewsshould provide a descriptive and evaluative summary and a brief discussion of the significance of the work inthe context of current theory and practice. Submissions should generally be no longer than 1,200 words.

To facilitate the blind review process, do not use running heads. Submit via email attachment or on diskette inMSWord or RTF file. Figures and tables should each be in separate files, bitmap files (.bmp) are preferred.Hardcopy versions may be requested at a later time.

Inquiries/Manuscripts to:[email protected]

The Korea TESOL Journal accepts submissions on a continuous basis.Find the Korea TESOL Journal in ERIC. more info at www.kotesol.org

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CO

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EN

TS Feature

Introducing Compensation Strategies ... 1Douglas Margolis

ColumnsPresident's Message: Considering Who We Are ... 5Teachniques: Starting Off on the Right Foot ... 9Training Notes: Self-Assessment ... 11Research Acts: Action Research? You Must be Joking! ... 12Membership Spotlight ... 15Word Whys: Food Fiascos and Folk Etymology ... 16Web Wheres: Jobs: For Better or for Worse ... 16Pan Asia: Sharing Case Studies About Asian Countries ... 19Conference Report: Taiwan, English Teaching & New Eyes ... 20Conference Report: PAC3 at JALT2001 ... 21Global Contexts: Context: Azerbaijan ... 24

What's Up in KOTESOL (Chapter Reports, etc...)Busan, Jeolla, Daejeon, KTT, ... ... 22Tough Questions Asked at the KOTESOL Leadership Retreat ... 23

For Your InformationCalendar ... 25Who's Where in KOTESOL ... 26Membership Application and Information ... 28KOTESOL Constitutions & Bylaws ... 31

January 2002Volume 6Number 1

ISSN: 1598-0456

www.kotesol.org

A Publication of Korea Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages

T h e E N G L I S H

CONNECTION


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is a publication of

Korea Teachers of English to

Speakers of Other Languages

The English Connection, published six times a year, bimonthly, is the officialnewsletter of Korea Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages(KOTESOL), an academic organization, and is distributed free of charge as aservice to the members of KOTESOL.

Advertising is arranged through Robert Dickey at <[email protected]>or contact KOTESOL by fax at 054-746-1097.

All material contained within THE ENGLISH CONNECTION is copyrightedby the individual authors and KOTESOL. Copying without permission of the individual authors andKOTESOL beyond that which is permitted under law is an infringement of both law and ethical prin-ciples within the academic community. All copies must identify Korea Teachers of English to Speakersof Other Languages (KOTESOL) and THE ENGLISH CONNECTION, as well as the author. Theideas and concepts, however, are presented for public discussion and classroom use. Please write tothe editors and individual authors to let them know how useful you find the materials and how you mayhave adapted them to fit your own teaching style or situation.

The articles and opinions contained herein are solely those of the individual authors and do notnecessarily reflect the policies of KOTESOL or the opinions of the editors, officers of KOTESOL, orindividual members.

PRICE: FREE to members / 2,000won (US$2) to non-members

Managing EditorTrevor H. Gulliver, KOTESOL Publications Chair

(Email) <[email protected]> or<[email protected]>

Column EditorsRobert J. Dickey (President's Message)

(Email) <[email protected]>Trevor H. Gulliver (Web Wheres)

(Email) <[email protected]>Terri-Jo Everest (Word Whys) (Email) <[email protected]>Louis L. Dragut (Calendar)

(Email) <[email protected]>David McMurray (Pan Asia)

(Tel/fax) +81-99-262-2285 JAPAN(Email) <[email protected]>

Editorial StaffTerri-Jo Everest (Editor-at-large) (see info above)

(Email) <[email protected]>Demetra Gates Choi (Editor-at-large)

(W) 053-620-1426, (H) 053-584-4292, (HF) 053-584-4294(Email) <[email protected]>

Dr. David Shaffer (Editor-at-large)(W) 062-230-6917, (WF) 062-232-4704, (H) 02-323-9152(Email) <[email protected]>

Robert J. Dickey (Editor-at-large)(Email) <[email protected]>

Section EditorsKirsten Reitan (Features, Editor-at-large)

(Email) <[email protected]>Douglas Margolis (Training Notes)

(Email) <[email protected]>Michael Duffy (What's Up in KOTESOL)

(W) 051-200-7054 (H) 051-248-4080 (Pager) 012-789-4080(Email) <[email protected]>

Jerry Foley (Membership Spotlight)(W) 054-467-4392, (WF) 054-467-4040, (H) 054-461-5933(Email) <[email protected]>

Stephanie Downey (Teachniques)(Cell) 018-553-3346, (Email) <[email protected]>

Robert J. Dickey (Book Reviews) (see info above)

Productionadvertising by Robert J. Dickey (see info above)this issue's layout by Trevor Gulliver

(see info this page)

Printing by Seo-rim Printing , Taegu

ISSN: 1598-0456

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President'sMessage

byRobert J.

Dickey

Considering Who We AreAt the annual KOTESOL Leadership Retreat in December a number of dedicated people came togetherto prepare for the new year. (See related article within this issue. Ed.) It’s no small task. While takingstock of what we have done, and what we hope to do, it is also important to recognize the environmentand resources around us. Perhaps the most significant resource for any group of people is the peoplethemselves.

As one component of the weekend, I asked this team to come up with asingle sentence that defined KOTESOL. It was not an easy task.KOTESOL is an extremely diverse collection of individuals who havevarying interests in fields related to language education. Not all of usare teachers, not all teach English. Roughly 40% Korean, 60% expatriate,some of us no longer live in Korea, and some of us never did! We teachat all different levels, with our language learners at all different ages andproficiencies. Our professional qualifications range from doctorates inTESOL, Linguistics, Education, and so forth to none; and our experiencein the Korean classroom ranges from a few weeks to over 30 years.How can we adequately sum up? Following is a draft statement, a workin progress:

Korea TESOL is an association of professionals whose primaryactivities include teaching, teacher training, and research.

Each of us may interpret this a little differently, but for me the key wordshere are association, professionals, and activities. “Association” waschosen over “organization” and “society.” Why? We can argue overdefinition and nuance, but the general thoughts seemed to be that“association” clearly shows the inter-relatedness of the members – we

choose to associate for our own purposes. This is not a “top-down” corporate structure, a loosecollection of disinterested parts, nor an elitist gathering. “Professionals” are those who think ofthemselves as professionals — we are not hobbyists at teaching; we think our work is important, and wework to improve ourselves. And we are not static, or mere recipients. Korea TESOL is based uponmembers’ “activities” such as teaching, participating in conferences, chapter meetings and SIG sessions;and investigating, writing and producing published materials, among other things. We also, as anorganization and as individuals, are active in providing and receiving teacher training. Still we do notoverlook some of the other activities within KOTESOL, such as socializing and language practice,which may not be primary but still of significant importance to many members.

What else was said, left unsaid but understood, or deliberately not included?

Korea TESOL incorporates the acronym TESOL, which means “teachers of English to speakers of otherlanguages.” Thus, this term covers both ESL and EFL, along with ESP, EAP, IEP, and all the rest. We arebased in Korea, and most of our students are Korean, this too is included in our name.

The words “academic” and “scholarly” were deliberately not included. Why? It was not a messagethat KOTESOL is not interested in academic or scholarly pursuits, but that “pure classroom teachers”with little interest in academic advancements should not be perceived as some type of lower-classmember. And that we welcome those just starting out in teaching, those who (like myself) may joinKOTESOL with no teaching qualification, but are inspired to learn from peers, to read, to become betterteachers. We welcome students too, as future teachers.

I want to thank jen lalonde for her energy in organizing the Leadership Retreat. She, and the studentvolunteers from Hyechon College, made things far better for us than we experienced in years past. Asexpected when jen is involved, "well done."

A question left unanswered is whether our primary focus should be within, to our members, or sharedwith the broader teaching community. Your ideas are welcomed, contact us at [email protected]

Collegially, Rob


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for clarification the least. In contrast tothese findings, Tarone and Yule (1989)reported that native speakers tend to resortto circumlocutions the most whencommunication problems arise. Moreover,seeking clarification and assistance fromone’s interlocutor is an act of negotiatingmeaning, which some believe advanceslanguage learning, a point discussedbelow.

Theory & CompensationStrategies

Larsen-Freeman (2000) describes morethan eleven different approaches forteaching foreign languages that havebeen advocated in the last fifty years. Infact, many second language acquisition

researchers (for example, Skehan, 1996)have been reporting findings consistentwith the notion that what languageteachers think they are teaching is notwhat students are learning. Skehan (1996:19) argues that language learning is anatural process and that neither teachernor student simply chooses the timing ofwhat is to be learned. Tarone and Yule(1989: 7) provide support for this point,describing students who can select propergrammar on a test, and even state theappropriate rules, but in conversations,persist in making errors. Pinker (1994: 22)reports the opposite situation, wherelearners acquire correct forms withoutexplicitly having been taught them. Thisinability to demonstrably manipulate thelearning process, and the transition frommethod to method this inability hasengendered, can be frustrating andconfusing to both students and teachers.The move toward learner-centeredapproaches, like task-based learning, andlearning strategy training are offered, inpart, as a means to overcome theseunsettling findings.

As the learning process has shifted to thecenter of more scrutiny, the interactionaltheory of second language acquisition hasbeen gaining popularity. This theoryemphasizes the importance of authenticand meaningful contexts, interaction, andnegotiation of meaning. Students arebelieved to benefit from actively engaging

in communication, receivingcomprehensible input, and producingcomprehensible output (Chapelle 1998;Lee 2000). Many readers no doubtrecognize this theoretical perspective asthe foundation of the communicativeapproach and task-based learning. Lee(2000: 69) reports, however, that while arelationship between interaction and inputcomprehension has been observed, as yet,no clear relationship has beendemonstrated between interaction andlanguage development.

Herein lies the crux to much secondlanguage acquisition research: namely, weneed more empirical evidence about whataffects target language development.

If one accepts the goal of communicativecompetence and the interactional theoryof second language acquisition, thencompensation strategy training should bean important part of foreign languageteaching. Compensation strategiesfacilitate the interactions, increasingstudent ability to comprehend input andproduce output.

Especially in the Korean language teachingcontext, compensation strategy trainingfills an important need. Given the KoreanMinistry of Education mandate thatEnglish teachers must replace traditionalteaching methods with the communicativeapproach, and teach English throughEnglish, both Korean teachers of Englishand students must be able to face gaps inknowledge and effectively compensate tomaintain target language communications.Training both teachers and students ineffective compensation strategydeployment, not only potentially improvestarget language interaction, but also couldincrease risk-taking behavior, sense of self-efficacy, and amount of experienceprocessing input and producing outputof the target language.

For these reasons, teachers need to knowcompensation strategies and preparestudents for their use.

Implications forTeaching

Compensation strategy training aims todevelop student ability to compensate forgaps and limitations in target languageknowledge or skills. To achieve this end,teachers must consider compensation

IntroducingCompensationStrategiescont. from page 1

Teachers need to know compensationstrategies and prepare students for their use.

The author wishes toexpress his gratitudeto Dong Seoul Collegefor the i r generousresearch grant, whichin part has supportedthe research of thistopic.

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strategy development in every aspect oftheir teaching. In particular, decisionsabout instruction, learning activities,feedback, and assessment all must bedecided carefully so as to encourageappropriate compensation strategies.

Instruction forCompensation StrategyTraining

There are several implications of acompensation strategy perspective forinstruction. First, instruction should makestudents aware of compensationstrategies, help students becomeconscious of ones they use, andencourage them to experiment with newones. Moreover, Tarone and Yule (1989)suggest that learners be given models andopportunities for practicing differentstrategies. If students can observe nativespeakers or non-native English expertsusing compensation strategies, they canlearn how to employ strategies naturallyand appropriately. In addition, Tarone andYule, as mentioned above, reported thatcircumlocution and approximation are themost used strategies by native speakers.Thus, they recommend that students betaught core vocabulary necessary forthese strategies (i.e., teach descriptivewords, such as “circular,” “square-shaped,” “cigar-shaped,” “pinkish,” etc.).Finally, they also recommend students berequired to assess their strategy choices.

Learning Activities

The key for language development,according to output theory, is thatstudents must face communicationproblems and struggle to bridge the gaps,thereby noticing a language abilitydeficiency and receiving feedback abouttheir attempted solutions (Shehadeh,1999). This means that learning activitiesneed to be communicative, holistic,meaningful, and authentic. With suchactivities, students will by necessityexperiment with and utilize compensationstrategies. Learning activities can be mademore effective at promoting compensationstrategy use in several ways. One, don’tpermit students to read when doingspeaking activities. Encourage them toexperience the process of discovering themeans to communicate their messagesinstead of avoiding the problem-solvingstruggle. Two, emphasize a focus on

meaning and communication. Studentsmust be trained to realize that there is noone correct way to communicate one’smeaning. For example, refusing a beggar’srequest for money is routinelycommunicated by native speakers in anyof the following ways: 1) “I’m sorry, Idon’t have any change at the moment”;2) “Why don’t you get a job!”; 3) “No!”;4) “I’m poor, too”; 5) “You got to bekidding”; or 6) [silence]. We must breakstudents' mistaken commitment to exacttranslations and perfect English. Three,inform students that the use ofcompensation strategies is desirable andproductive. For example, tell them to guess.Show them that they don’t need tounderstand every detail if they get the gistof the message. Also, demand that theyask for repetitions, confirmations, andclarifications. This process legitimatelymaintains the conversation and isessential for communication and languageskill development.

Four, organize activities with time allocatedfor reflecting on the strategies employedfor resolving problems that arose. Taketime to discuss the types ofcommunication problems studentsexperienced and their solutions. (Thesediscussions could even be in Korean.)Brainstorm new solutions and havestudents try these out. In addition,activities should encourage creativity andorient students to a problem-solvingframework for handling languagedeficiencies.

Feedback

Appropriate feedback is essential fordeveloping effective compensationstrategies. Lee (2000) distinguishesfeedback for correction from feedback forcommunication. Instead of simple “right”or “wrong” feedback, teachers can helpstudents by engaging in real, meaningfulexchanges. If communication was not clear,feigning a lack of understanding toencourage students to self-correct andstruggle to clarify are more appropriate forcompensation strategy development thandeclaring a correct form. Be careful,however, not to cause students to becomefrustrated. They should be encouraged toconfirm, clarify, and negotiate the meaningwithin their English communications.Instead of perfect accuracy, lead studentsto a goal of clear communications. Further,instead of giving them an exact word or

grammar structure, push them toexperiment with speaking around the topic,using metaphor, approximations, andcircumlocutions.

Most importantly, students must be trainednot to quit when they make an error orconfront a gap in their knowledge andability. Feedback must consistentlyreinforce student attempts tocommunicate in the target language, theiruse of compensation strategies, and self-reflection about the strategies theyemploy. As stated above, students mustbe corrected from assuming that only oneexact translation exists for every idea theywant to communicate. Instead, ourfeedback needs to help them access alltheir creative problem-solving potential,become tolerant of ambiguity, andexperience the empowerment of diverseways of expressing themselves throughEnglish.

Assessment

Compensation strategy training can alsobe promoted by our assessment methods.When we give exams, for example, weshould give credit for compensationstrategy use. On a written exam creditcould be given for metaphors andapproximations that aid thecommunication of the student’s point. Inoral exams, when students resort to suchbehavior, or ask for clarification andconfirmation, we should let them knowthat we are rewarding their strategydeployment. Guessing should also berewarded. Anything that students do tostay engaged and continue interactingmust be graded positively.

Compensation StrategyTraining

Oxford (1990: 206) suggests that learningstrategies are best acquired when trainingis integrated with regular courseprocedures. In this section, we look atsome of the components of such aprogram. A first step should be helpingstudents identify the strategies that theycurrently employ and making them realizethe multitude of other strategies availableto them. (For a list of 37 strategies,categorized by the four macro-skills—reading, writing, listening, and speaking,

continued on page 8


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see Margolis, in press.) To be effective,students must be focused oncommunicating meaning in activities, notmerely mouthing words for particularstructure practices. Once students areaware of their usual strategy choices andnew options available to them, guide themto experiment with alternative strategies.During this phase, help students reflecton the effects of their different strategychoices. They should develop a sense ofthe strengths and weaknesses of eachstrategy. Finally, lead students to assesstheir own strategy use and providefeedback that helps maintain focus onmeaningful interaction and engagement.

One activity that encompassescompensation strategy training is to askstudents to observe themselves inconversations throughout a day or week—both Korean and English. Have themidentify experiences of communicationdifficulties in both languages and recordthese in a journal. The journal entries couldthen be discussed in class or used forbrainstorming sessions to identify as manystrategies as possible for compensatingfor the difficulties.

In sum, train students to usecompensation strategies. You never know,it might help you get that pay raise.

The AuthorDouglas Margolis teaches at Dong Seoul Collegeand coordinates the KOTESOL Teacher Trainingproject. His research interests include developingalternative assessment and testing methods,identifying culturally appropriate teachingtechniques, and incorporating learner strategytraining and online teaching methodologies intolanguage learning curriculum. Email:<[email protected]>

ReferencesChapelle, C. A. (1998). Multimedia CALL:

Lessons to be learned from research oninstructed SLA. Language Learning &Technology, 2(1), 22-34.

Larsen-Freeman, D. (2000). Techniques andPrinciples in Language Teaching, (2nd

Ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Lee, H. W. (2000). The role of interaction in

second language learning: Frompsycholinguistic perspectives. Journalof the Applied Linguistics Associationof Korea, 16(1), 67-98.

Margolis, D. P. (in press). CompensationStrategies of Korean College Students.Korea TESOL Journal, 4(1).

Oxford, R. L. (1990). Language LearningStrategies: What Every Teacher ShouldKnow. Boston: Heinle & HeinlePublishers.

Pinker, S. (1994). The Language Instinct:How the Mind Creates Language. NY:William Morrow and Company.

Table 1

Procedures for Compensation Strategy Training

Task Objective Method1) Identify Current Practices Increase Self-Knowledge. Think about gaps in knowledge

and how I (student)deal with them.

2) Identify What More Is Available Raise Awareness. Look at language learning problemsand how other people deal with them.

3) New Strategy Practice Experiment & Explore. Face problems and challenge selfto try new methods for solving them.

4) Self-Reflection Increase awareness about pros Think about what feels right, about strategy use and cons of different strategies. what’s worked in the past,

and what didn’t work.

5) Reflect & Evaluate Test students for Think about choicescompensation strategy use and pros and cons& give feedback. of different strategy uses.

Introducing Compensation Strategiescont. from page 7

Shehadeh, A. (1999). Non-nativespeaker’s production of modifiedcomprehensible output and secondlanguage learning. LanguageLearning, 49 (4), 627-676. RetrievedMarch 13, 2001 from Ebscohostdatabase (Academic Search Premier,AN: 3254239) on the World WideWeb: http://ehostvgw10.epnet.com/.

Skehan, P. (1996). Second languageacquisition research and task-basedinstruction. In J. Willis & D. Willis(Eds.), Challenge and Change inLanguage Teaching (pp. 17-30). Bath,UK: Macmillan Heinemann ELT.

Tarone, E., & Yule, G. (1989). Focus on theLanguage Learner. Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press.

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The first few classes with a new group ofstudents are a critical period in theformation and function of a classroomgroup that sets a tone that will prevail forthe duration of the course. Therefore, howthe language learning journey begins fora new class on the first day is extremelyimportant. With a little forethought andplanning, the teacher can make the mostof the first few classes to create ahospitable classroom atmosphere that ispositive and conducive to learning.

Most students entering a new languageclass suffer from first-day jitters and feelanxious and insecure. Suddenly they findthemselves in an unfamiliar contextsurrounded by unfamiliar people. Theydo not know what is going to happen,what they are supposed to do, how theyshould behave or what they are beingjudged or evaluated on. Not only do theyhave to deal with the new linguisticchallenges facing them, but they also haveto deal with getting to know a newinstructor and finding their place in a newgroup.

By being aware of the questions andconcerns that students have on the firstday, a teacher can take steps to addressthem directly. Students want and need toknow what is expected of them, so one ofthe best ways to start off on the right footis to anticipate your students’uncertainties and plan to resolve them. Itis important to make classroom policies,procedures, and norms explicit to students,especially when a cultural gap betweenthe teacher and student is involved.Sharing a common classroom languageprovides students with access into thecourse, thereby reducing learner anxietyand creating a comfortable and effectivelearning atmosphere.

Since the balance of power in theclassroom typically rests with the teacheron the first day, it is important to makethings clear in a way that is friendly andconstructive so that students will developpositive feelings about the class and theirroles and responsibilities in it. There aremany learner-friendly ways to give yourstudents an overview of the course.

Letter of Introduction

In my current teaching context, I havefound that preparing a Letter ofIntroduction for my students is a highlyeffective way to preview my course andmake things explicit to my students. Inthe letter, which I hand out on the first dayand then discuss with the students, Iusually include important informationabout my class such as the goals andobjectives of the course; the syllabus;required materials; assignments andexams; and classroom policies andconduct. In addition, I try to give mystudents a clear idea of what to expectfrom my class by explaining not only whatwe will be doing in the course, but alsohow we will be doing it. I particularly tryto explain those aspects of my class thatmy students may not expect or understandbecause of our different culturalbackgrounds. This letter outlines myexpectations for our learning including fulland active participation for all, learning incommunity, making mistakes, and givingfeedback as well as a description of mypersonal teaching style.

A Letter of Introduction gives the teachera chance to explain the things that areimportant in pleasant and non-threateningmanner. It is more encouraging than a listof “dos” and “don’ts” and sets a tonefor the class that is positive and full ofgood energy. It is my hope that thestudents will get a sense of how importantit is to me that they understand that theirteacher knows them, sees them, speaks tothem and takes them into account.

To make the information contained in theletter truly accessible to my students, Ihave it translated into Korean and presentthe English and Korean versions side-by-side. Some teachers may object to usingthe students’ first language in Englishclass, but I have found it to be veryeffective for making important informationabout the explicit, especially to lower-levelstudents. If I neglected to do this, I feelthe value of the message I am trying tosend to the students would be lost. Intrying to decipher the content, studentswould be distracted from the deepermeaning of what I am trying to convey. I

want the letter to be something thestudents take in and hold throughout thesemester, not a document that heightenstheir anxiety. As I see it, the letter providesthe students with the necessary accessand scaffolding they will need to do wellin my class

A great follow-up activity to the Letter ofIntroduction is to have the students writepersonal letters of introduction to theteacher. This can be done as homeworkor as an in-class assignment during thefirst few classes. Such letter writingactivities are a wonderful way to establisha personal connection and a good rapportbetween the teacher and the students.They can provide the teacher withvaluable information about the students’personalities, interests, needs, beliefsabout learning, expectations and goals forthe course. They can also be a good wayfor the teacher to assess the students’proficiency level and language learningneeds.

Exploring Norms

Another way to make important courseinformation explicit in the first few days isto actively explore classroom policies andnorms together with your students as partof the lesson. Consciously discussing andformulating the norms operating in thegroup gives students a voice in classroomdecisions. It is empowering and motivatingfor students to share responsibility formaking up the rules of the class and helpsthem to regulate their own behavior.

The activity Norms Clarification is awonderful way to discuss and establishimportant classroom norms, policies andregulations in a learner-centered way. Itallows students to take an active role inshaping an effective learning environmentand makes them accountable for their ownactions and learning.

Starting Off on the Right Footby Stephanie Downey

Teachniquesedited by

Stephanie Downey

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1) Begin by introducing the idea ofnorms as ‘shared feelings’.

2) Have each student write examples ofpossible norms on a piece of paper.Allow 10 minutes.

3) Then have the students share theirideas in small groups of 4-5 studentsand make a group chart on a piece ofnewsprint that represents theconsensus of the group.

4) Next, have each group post theirchart. The students then circulateand discuss the various items listed.

5) The students then decide whichnorms they would like to adopt forthe class and make a master chart.

6) As an ongoing activity, the teacherand students look at the chart eachweek and make changes.

Walking in to teach a new class on thefirst day is like setting out on a journey.Although I may have an end in mind andan itinerary of the stops my students andI will make along the way, I have no idea ofexactly where the path we travel may leador what we will encounter along the way.The challenges we will face in the learningadventure that is about to unfold dependlargely on how I, as the teacher, initiatethe teaching-learning process with thisnew group. Therefore, the choices I makein preparing for the first day will shape ourjourney and determine our finaldestination.

By explicitly explaining goals andobjectives, classroom policies andteaching procedures to them, a teacher canmake students feel more comfortable byhelping them transition into a new class.Time invested preparing for the first fewclasses is time well spent as the teacherand the students will continue to reap thebenefits throughout the duration of thecourse.

What’s in yourbag of tricks?

Teachniqueswould love to

know.I invite you to share your favoriteclassroom activities by submitting awrite up to “Teachniques”. Doing so is agreat way to be professionally active andto contribute to the professionaldevelopment of others. If you would liketo see your ideas in print or have anyquestions or comments contact:

Stephanie Downey at<[email protected]>

continued from page 9

The English CONNECTION is accepting submissions on matters related to the teaching of English as a second or foreignlanguage. Appropriate topics include, but are not limited to, classroom research, methodology, reports of events inKorea and commentary on issues facing the TESL profession. See page four for contact information.

The English CONNECTION welcomes any previously unpublished article in the following categories:

Feature articles should be 1,500-2,500 words and should present novel ESL/EFL methodology, materials design,teacher education, classroom practice, or inquiry and research. Feature articles should be lightly referenced andshould present material in terms readily accessible to the classroom teacher. Findings presented should be practicallyapplicable to the ESL/EFL classroom. The writer should encourage in the reader self-reflection, professional growthand discussion.

Short Features or Reports should be 500-1500 words and should focus on events of interest to TESL professionalsof a noncommercial nature.

Guest Columns should be limited to 750 words. The English CONNECTION publishes columns under the followingbanners: "Teachniques" (submissions should present novel and easily adopted classroom activities or practices withfirm theoretical underpinning); "Global Contexts" (submissions should describe language teaching in countries otherthan Korea), and "Training Notes" (submissions should address one teaching issue and give relevant practical solutions).

Reviews of books and teaching materials should be 300-700 words in length. Submissions should be of recentpublications and not previously reviewed in The English CONNECTION.

Calendar submissions should be less than 150 words for conferences and calls for papers, less than 50 words forevents. Submissions should have wide appeal among ESL/EFL practitioners.

Your submission should follow APA (American Psychological Association) guidelines for source citations and shouldinclude a biographical statement of up to 40 words.

Contact information should be included with submissions. Submissions cannot be returned. The English CONNECTION

retains the right to edit submissions accepted for publication. Submissions will be acknowledged within two weeks oftheir receipt. Submit to the relevant editors, as listed on page 4.

T h e E N G L I S H C O N N E C T I O N

C o n t r i b u t o r G u i d e l i n e s

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One of the newer teaching techniques inKorea is self-assessment, a procedurewhereby students examine their own workto identify areas in which they do well andthose where they need improvement. Thistechnique gives students autonomy overtheir learning. The good news is that self-assessment procedures can be taught tostudents at all levels, from elementaryschool through college. In addition, self-assessment activities can utilize the fourcommunication skills. Moreover, teacherscan use self-assessment as one tool in thegrading process. Given this potential, self-assessment deserves attention.

In communicative language teaching,students are viewed as active participantsin the learning process and encouragedto take responsibility for their ownlearning. Self-assessment is one techniquethat meets these criteria. It helps studentsbecome more conscious of themselves aslearners and helps them apply awarenessof their learning needs to new areas ofstudy. It promotes self-esteem and self-confidence, which are vital for personalgrowth. Moreover, critical thinking anddecision-making skills are also encouragedby self-assessment. Most of all, it increasesparticipation and motivation throughevaluation and interaction.

For the teacher, self-assessment providesanother source of information regardingstudent abilities. Although some maythink students will assess too generously,and therefore cannot be trusted, researchsuggests students are often harsher onthemselves than they should be. Ratherthan downplaying students’ intrinsicabilities, then, self-assessment enables theteacher to maximize student abilities whileconcurrently obtaining information onindividuals and the class as a whole.

There are several steps to implementingself-assessment correctly. First, studentsmust be able to distinguish different levelsof performance. This is best achieved bythe teacher first outlining the concept ofgoal setting, and then discussing itsparticular importance to proficiency incommunication. The teacher needs to givestudents models and appropriate

measures for their level. Middle schoolstudents, for instance, might have Englishwriting goals that include punctuation,basic grammar, and sentence coherence.The teacher could show students samplesof properly and improperly punctuatedsentences to focus their attention.

The next step is to give them previouslywritten student papers (names removed!),highlighting those features to bediscussed in relation to class goals.Students can evaluate these papers inpairs or small groups, using examplesprovided by the teacher to determine theirquality. Simple marking criteria, such asPoor, Average and Good, are sufficient toget them speaking to one another andexplaining their evaluations. Used in thismanner, the papers are a prompt to enhanceverbal and critical thinking skills, whileteaching students the assessment processso they will be able to apply it to their ownwork. In addition, the teacher may rotatethe papers and ask new groups to comparethem, or even ask individuals to explaintheir assessments.

Once students can evaluate other people’swork and make decisions regarding goodor poor practices, they are ready for self-assessment. This preparation process canbe done over time, but the teacher mustconvey the importance of studentresponsibility and participation, as well asremind them that they are capable ofaccurate assessment of the limited areasof focus.

Teachers should also tell students that thepurpose is to help them do better in classby improving their ability to identify theirown strengths and weaknesses. Havingintroduced the topic in this way, ask themto compare their own work with previouslyread papers. Alternatively, if they havealready completed several writing tasks,they can review earlier work and makechoices about which is the best. Followup by asking students to justify theirchoices. In addition, when assigning newprojects, have students think about ordiscuss their perceived strengths andweaknesses for the upcoming work.

What the teacher does after self-evaluation depends on a number offactors, including time available and ageor level of students. Teachers might askstudents to review their own evaluationslater in the semester, aiming to identifyprogress. They might have students work

in pairs or small groups to evaluate eachother in order to have students comparetheir self-assessments with evaluationsfrom their peers. This technique might helpstudents develop more collaborativeapproaches to learning. Another extensionwould be to give students evaluationsheets to complete periodically and keepas a form of diary to check progress on aregular basis and support goal-orientedefforts. The common thread to thesealternative strategies, however, is thatstudents see a meaningful purpose to theexercise, as this will increase theirmotivation to continue.

Self-assessment is an additional techniquefor language acquisition. When usedcorrectly, it not only increases classparticipation but also enhances individualconfidence, self-esteem, critical thinking,motivation and sense of empowerment. Inthis article, we’ve focused on self-assessment for writing, but the principlescan be applied to speaking, listening, andreading as well.

The AuthorPeter Nelson, Ph.D., is an instructor inEnglish Education at Chung Ang University inSeoul. He is active in KTT and is a frequentspeaker and writer on the teaching of culturein Korea.

* Teachers looking for self-assessmentactivities should consult Jennifer L. Ballard’sFundamentals of TEFL for Elementary SchoolTeachers (undated), published by TTIInternational (Teacher Training Institute).

TrainingNotes edited by

Douglas Margolis

Self-Assessment*by Peter Nelson


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A dialogue between two middle-schoolteachers: Ms. A & Ms. B.

A: Research? No way! Not me. Icouldn’t research my way out of apaper bag, let alone make a reportabout it.

B: OK, but before you rule it out, whydo you say that?

A: You know. Research is done byprofessors in universities – peoplewho have to “publish or perish”.

B: And you have better things to do!A: You’re not kidding. I have to get all

my grades in by next week. You knowwhat the principal is like aboutgetting grades in on time.

B: And he makes you conform to thosestupid bell curves as well.

A: Absolutely! Yet everyone knows thatbell curve assessment demotivatesstudents and teachers. It has nopedagogic justification, and has beencriticised in professional journals foryears. Even the principal knows this(I heard that he read a book once),but he says he must have the figures,and those figures must conform tothe curve.

B: How about writing a report for him oncriterion-referenced testing?

A: You’re full of jokes today, aren’tyou? What makes you think hewould read it? Even then, what goodcould it do?

B: Well, if you do nothing, then you cancertainly hope for nothing. On theother hand, you could give it a try.

A: Maybe in my next life.B: I know that you’re depressed about

the educational situation here. Youwant to put your knowledge andexperience to good use; you want toeducate your students holisticallyand humanistically; you want toapply all the things you learned onyour MA course.

A: Of course. We all want to do our bestfor the students. But you know howthings are.

B: Is there no alternative? Pardon myquoting at you, but "the ideal ofhongik-ingan (“contributing to the

overall benefit of humankind) hasalways been at the heart of Koreaneducation, and the well-educatedperson is even now defined in officialcurriculum-policy documents in termsof holistic development, creativeability based on knowledge andskills, and ethical contribution to thecommunity”.

A: Yes, that’s all very well. Policy-makers who spout this stuff don’thave to work in the classroom. Theyjust drink green tea and dream upways of making life more difficult forus.

B: I wonder. Have we actually tried torealise such goals? After all, if theMinistry puts these goals on thewebsite, they can’t criticise us fortrying to achieve them.

A: What do you mean?B: I’m going to try something out. I’m

going to use alternative assessmentin my classes, and see what happens.

A: Why alternative assessment? Wehave enough work to do as it is.

B: Well, I read that self-assessment,peer-assessment, portfolios, learnerjournals, etc. are effective becausethey involve the students in theprocess of learning. In addition toenhanced awareness of the learningprocess, they can mean less work forthe teacher?

A: Really? Less work?B: No kidding. For example. If you

involve students in making class-room tests (not final tests, just theweekly ones), then they startthinking about why we have tests,and they get very good at preparingtests based on the materials studiedin class.

A: How does that help us?B: First of all, the students make the

tests, and we get more time to doother things. But in the process oftest-making, the cognitive wheelsstart turning, and students becomemore aware of the learning process.When you ask them to mark eachother’s tests and to talk about thewhole thing afterwards, they reallystart taking an interest in whathappens in class.

A: I know you’re just trying to cheer meup, but how can you be sure that itworks?

B: Well, studies have been done inAmerica, and they came up with very

Action Research?You Must be Joking!

ResearchActs by

AndrewFinch

New Column: Research ActsThis column is about EFLresearch in Korea. For thefirst few issues, it will focuson the "Why" and "How" ofresearch, since it is oftenmisrepresented as a solelyacademic endeavor. In fact itcan be the lifeblood of ourclasses. Every act ofreflection, of questioning, ofinvestiagion, of frustrationand inquiry, is an elementaryform of research that canlead to an improved learningenvironment - the ultimategoal of the teacher.

13


interesting results. Did you knowthat students are more reliable thanteachers in giving scores?

A: Now I know you’re pulling my leg.They’d all cheat.

B: The research is there, but it hasn’tbeen done in Korea. Researchersfound that alternative assessmentactually gave students a chance totake responsibility for their learning,they developed affectively as well ascognitively, and their attitudestowards learning improved as a resultof taking part in the study. I wonder.… If I used the same research method,and tried out peer-assessment on myown students …

A: You’d have a lot of work for nothing.B: Come on, give me a break. Let’s do it.

You can look after the control groupclasses, and I’ll use peer-assessmentin mine. We’ll be teaching the sameunits from the same textbooks, andwe’ll both keep a journal of whathappens in class. There won’t bemuch effort involved for you.

A: And then?B: Then we send the results to TEC or

KOTESOL Journal, and they willreview them.

A: What makes you think that anyonewill read about our efforts?

B: You’d be surprised. Imagine thoseprofessors of yours sitting in theiroffices in the US and Canada. Allthey know about is ESL. Maybethey’ve heard of Korea, but theyhaven’t read about education here,because very little has been interna-tionally published.

A: And .... ?B: And here you are, teaching lots of

EFL classes, swimming in the sort ofdata that those professors wouldlove to hear about. Even if all you didwas to make a journal of the eventsof each day and of your thoughtsabout them, you would be givingpeople a chance to access informa-tion that they can’t find at present.

A: But ....B: And writing a journal is a good

experience in itself, since you find outlots about yourself as a teacher.

A: You’re determined to get me startedon this.

B: Look at yourself. You have no trustor belief in yourself. You are doingthings in the classroom that otherpeople should know about. Iunderstand how much work you put

in, and how worried you are aboutthe outdated books and methodolo-gies we have to use. What makesyou think that you have nothingimportant to say?

A: OK. Sign me up. When do we start?__________________

These two teachers have started on theroad to research. It doesn’t have to beexcessively erudite, and they don’t needto read every book in the world beforethey start. Research begins withidentification of a problem, and with ideasabout that problem. The problem mightnot be solved by the research, but thenthis is also valuable information. The factthat “such-and-such” an approach didnot produce the desired results isimportant information for everyone. Allresearch grows on the shoulders ofprevious research.

There is very little research that is writtenin English about Korea, so thatinternational ideas about Koreaneducation tend to be mythical and basedon individual prejudice. Have you heardthe old joke about Korean students notbeing able to speak in class? It is only inthe past few years that people have beenlooking into these anecdotal assumptionsand coming up with findings that say theopposite. The same is true about thecommunicative classroom. Variouscommentators have written that Koreanstudents don’t like student-centredmethods, because they can’t cope withthem. As in the game of “ChineseWhispers”, such rumours becomeaccepted truths, and sweepinggeneralizations offer easy excuses for“communicative” classes which are“more of the same in a different package”.How often have EFL practitioners in Koreafound that their students in fact love beingcreative, responsible, active participantsin the learning process? This is the sort ofarea that needs our input, to clear up theold myths and to document the rapidlychanging face of education in Korea.

We are “on the ground floor”; we are therein the classroom, dealing with situationsthat other people write about, often in error.We see the reality of the situation everyday, and we have an opportunity and aresponsibility to tell our internationalcolleagues about this reality.

Take a look at yourself; take a look at yourclassroom; take a look at your students.What happens in your lessons? Whatrestrictions do you have to work with?What deadlines do you have to meet?What qualifications do the students haveto acquire? What testing methods areused? Are they imposed from outside?What are the motivations of yourstudents? What are the attitudes of yourstudents towards learning? What are yourown attitudes to learning and teaching?

These questions are all potential action-research topics. Pick up a pen (or akeyboard) and a diary now, and startmaking notes. Keep making them, andwhen the semester (or school term)finishes, write an introduction and aconclusion, and ask a colleague to readthem. Finally, put them in an envelope andsend them to one of the journals in Asia.

Good luck!

The AuthorDr. Andrew Finch , currently assistantprofessor of English Education at KyungpookNational University, Korea, was born in Walesand educated in England (MA music), wherehe had various teaching positions before goingto Korea in 1988. He lectured in Hong Kong atthe Polytechnic University from 1994 to 1996and 2001, and received his PhD in ProgramEvaluation from Manchester University.Andrew has co-authored three task-basedConversation-English books, whichincorporate alternative assessment in a learner-centered holistic approach, and which areavailable online at http://www.finchpark.com/books. Email: [email protected]


14

Film 1

15


Now our spotlight goes to Paul Meadworking for two years now at DongjuCollege, Goejong Dong, Busan, in theTourism and Hotel ManagementDepartment teaching English

Conversation.He began histeaching life inKorea at a Busanhagwon.

Paul was born inthe SolomonIslands, raised inNew Zealand byNew Zealandparents. He says,

“My father was and is very Edwardian inmanner, loves and lives life fully at nearly80 years old. My mother was a middleclass New Zealander. I was brought upon a farm during my primary school years.If there is a home place that I could name,it is Takaka, Golden Bay. I went barefootto school during the summer, playedrugby every spare moment that I couldescape the 55-plus size class and wasentirely confused by the girls in my class.Farm life was a wonderful dream. It rainednearly every day, there was native bird lifeand Christmas was hot, full of flowers andhaymaking. In our mildly anti-Americanhousehold, I somehow managed to watchmany North American television shows. Iabsolutely loved them. I think it was thenthat I developed an interest in phonology.I moved to an expensive boarding schoolwhere my fellow students couldn'tunderstand a word I said.”

Mr. Mead received his academic educationfrom the University of Otago, Dunedin,New Zealand where he majored in Frenchand Mandarin. Adding that he has thusfar received life education from beingmarried, from having a teenage daughter,from having worked in business for 20-plus years and from his immediate family.

Being involved now with KOTESOL fortwo years, first as someone who almostnever attended meetings, then aspresident of Busan Chapter, he was justelected at the annual conference as 2ndvice-president on the national level.

Mr. Mead’s teaching philosophy andstyles are notable. He thinks Koreanstudents are accustomed to lots ofstructure in and out of school, so he triesto avoid offering them too many choicesor asking them to be creative in a Westernsense. He avoids loud enunciation in class,and is experimenting with multi-levelteaching and has students call himProfessor Mead. He continues with, “Ilike my students very much, but I avoidbeing friends with them. My observationis that all my students are well behaved ifthey are aware of the rules that I set. Ithink that it is important to set rules firmlyat the beginning of the semester. I focuson revising basics even with highperforming students as I find it normal thatsome students with a high acquisition levelmay still not have automated subject verbagreements, for example.”

For the future Profesor Mead wants toexpand the horizon for KOTESOL. “Forme”, he says, “education means educationfor life, so I would like to see KOTESOLmirroring the diversity of life as we knowit.” He also wants to finish an M.A. inApplied Linguistics and move to a Ph.D.

For hobbies and extracurricular activitiesPaul plays the piano. Beethoven sonatasare his favorites. He also likesinvestigating things phonological, forexample the TELSUR project being rununder the auspices of Pennsylvania StateUniversity. Then he likes to daydream alot.His travel experiences include Korea andChina.

Professor Mead comments further that heis very interested in Confucianism andhow it compares with Western thought.He is interested in this particularly from ateaching perspective. He is aware thatthere is too much struggle in his teachingand that this possibly comes from thedeep-rooted differences in thoughtbetween him and his students. He wouldlike to investigate this further, and wouldalso like to bring the differences betweenConfucianism and Westernism into thecollective awareness of KOTESOL.

MembershipSpotlight

edited byJerry Foley

Congratulations Dr. Miller!Les Miller's teaching background is wide and varied. At one time or another hehas taught physics and mathematics at a community college; developedprograms for developmentally disabled adults; coordinated religious educationprograms for junior and senior high school youth, young adults and adults;and taught ESL in a junior/senior high school and at a community college. Hisdissertation was received from Berne University in July 2001 in the field ofEducation. The topic: Needs analysis and program evaluation in an Englishlanguage conversation program in a South Korean university.

T h e E N G L I S H

CONNECTION

... needs proofreaders, layout artists, writers, backseat drivers,and innocent bystanders. If you want to participate inproduction or just provide valuable feedback, contact TrevorGulliver (managing editor) at [email protected]


16

Wine, words, and, well, food, are myweaknesses. Unfortunately, this tricky triointimates culinary chaos: I often stop,musing mid-stir at the stove, and dash

dictionary-wards on a food forage.Where’s the “cock”, let alone “tail”, incocktail, the “mush” in mushroom, and“sock” or “eye” in sockeye salmon?Gourmet goosechases equal burnt,forgotten fare but the failed chef usuallyemerges somewhat sager on the folketymology front. Folk (or popular)etymology may entail imaginative storiesexplaining words’ origins, or, second, theprocess whereby (loan)words are changedby the laity or learned to better fit the (host)language’s phonotactic patterns andresemble more familiar words. Thefollowing English menu includes both.

Let’s be naughty: dessert first. Thebutterscotch sundae may have been aSunday-only treat, but is “butterless” andnot necessarily Scottish. Some argue this“scotch” comes from Latin “cocca”(notch). Apparently crisscrosses on theoriginal candy facilitated breaking it.Equally nonsensical is the donut, acompound more digestible asorthographically older doughnut (nut-shaped dough). Fancy a more Koreandessert, non-fattening fruit? Apricot,concealing Arabic article “al”, may oweits form to Latin “apricum” (sunny place)as considered “precocious”, early-ripening.

Next, some fishy and meaty main dishes.Crayfish (crawfish) was cooked up fromOld French “crevis”: taxonomically andetymologically, however, it is more crabthan fish. In things Germanic, we have less-than-lean spareribs, representingmetathesised Low German “ribbesper”,then pickled pork ribs. Ever-popular too isthe prolific, toponymic hamburger,originally anyone/anything from Hamburg.With “ham-” reanalysed as a Spamequivalent, “(-)burger” multiplied

Food Fiascos and Folk Etymology

WordWhys by

Terri-JoEverest

morphemically: chew on “bacon-”,“cheese-”, “chicken-”, “veggie-”,“kimchi-”or “kalbi-”.

Finally, a few starters. A deceptively aviansoup is sparrow grass, none other thancorrupted, semantically opaque asparagus(from Greek). Another special is Jerusalemartichoke, an American sunflower withartichoke-flavoured roots whose originswere confused by Italian “girasole”(sunflower). Last, avocado, guacamole’smain ingredient, denoted testicles (soWebster’s) and the aphrodisiac, pear-shaped fruit itself in Nahuatl, the Azteclanguage. Borrowed into Spanish, theterm was, further, perplexingly paired withSpanish “abogado” (lawyer); in turn,English inherited avocado, inventedsynonymous alligator pear.

Insatiable? Leftover potluck samples aresweetbread, sirloin, sandwich, posh,penthouse, mistletoe, kitty-corner, island,humble pie, hotdog, gyp, gringo, gook,frankfurter, female, eggnog, crapper,cockroach, chestnut, catsup, bridegroom,and more. Eat, drink, and be merrily word-wary, prescribes the descriptive dietician:always season with a grain of salt.

Half (and full-) baked ideas are welcomed:[email protected]

The good news is there seems to be noshortage of jobs for English teachers in thiscountry. The bad news is that there arereasons for that.

Finding jobs is easy. There are a number ofsites with links to jobs. The PusanwebClassifieds has many job offers fromrecruiters or hakwon (private academies), buta few from universities. Find it at: http://pusanweb.com/wwwboard/classifieds.html .The Korean Job Post (http://members3.boardhost.com/postjob/) seemsto be pretty active and frequently updated.But, there were only a few universitiesadvertising and nothing that I hadn’t already

seen at Dave’s ESL Café. (http://www.eslcafe.com/jobs/korea/).

Once you’ve read a post on Dave’s, ifyou’re really interested in one of the jobs,you can jump over to the Korean JobDiscussion Forum and get the gossip. Ofcourse, that’s all it is – gossip. Still, theright gossip might help you to know whatquestions to ask during the interview.Find it at: http://eslcafe.com/korea/

For better or for worse, complaints aboutKorean employers have been given a semi-permanent home on the web. There are anumber of ‘blacklists’ that postinformation that is admittedly unverifiedand unverifiable. Again, take everythingthat you read with a grain of salt but itmight be worth visiting the best blacklistI’ve found (http://seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/~jonb/blacklisted.html). There’s also theGraylist Database at http://www.geocities.com/koreagraylist/Database.html. At the very least, these two

sites are more terrifying than anything bythe likes of Steven King or Clive Barker.Really scary stuff!

For a general overview of teaching inKorea visit the United States Embassy inSeoul's guide to Teaching English inKorea. It seems fairly informative,especially for a newcomer to the country.It is a site worth recommending to thatcollege friend who is thinking of comingover. Find it at: http://usembassy.state.gov/seoul/wwwh3550.html. There are times,however, when even the sole remainingsuperpower can’t help you (visit http://s e a m o n k e y. e d . a s u . e d u / ~ j o n b /warning_letter.html if you don’t believe me).

An amazingly similar site is made availableby the Canadian Department of ForeignAffairs and International Trade. TheCanadian site has more detailedinformation in some places, but otherwisethe resemblances are startling. See: http://voyage.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/Consular-e/Publications/korea-e.htm

Send your favorite Korean government linksto [email protected]

Jobs: For Better or for Worse

WebWheres by

TrevorGulliver

17


The 10th Korea TESOL International ConferenceCrossroads: Generational Change in ELT in Asia

October 5 - 6, 2002Seoul, Korea

Call for Papers

There has been a shift in theory, methodology, and classroom procedure in ELT classrooms during the past decade.The effects of this shift have been felt all over the world, especially in Asia, and in Korea in particular. Now is a goodtime to examine the changes that have occurred, to see what has (and has not) worked, and to determine the directionin which ELT should continue.

Therefore, for its tenth International Conference, The Korea TESOL Conference Committee invites presentationproposals in the following English Language Teaching (ELT) areas, dealing particularly with change and innovation,in an Asian context:

• Elementary Education• Secondary Education• Adult Education• Learning strategies and learning styles• Action research/classroom based research• Music, Art, and Literature in the EFL classroom• Video in the classroom• Cross cultural teaching methodologies and approaches• Global and environmental education• Trends in second language acquisition/applied linguistics• Testing and evaluation techniques• Alternative approaches and methodologies• Teaching techniques for mono-lingual classrooms• Course and curriculum development• Issues in language and literacy• Teaching in under-resourced environments• English for specific purposes (ESP)• Computer Assisted (CALL) or Multimedia Assisted (MALL) Language Learning• Socio-linguistics in the classroom• Teacher training and development• On-going research• Other relevant areas of EFL and foreign language teaching

The closing date for the receipt of abstracts and biographical data is June 15, 2002. THIS DEADLINE WILL NOT BEEXTENDED. See below for Presentation Proposal form.

PLEASE NOTE: It is now the policy of Korea TESOL that all non-commercial presenters at the Korea TESOLInternational Conference be members of Korea TESOL at the time of the Conference.

Check the KOTESOL web page for updates:

www.kotesol.org


18

2002 Korea TESOL International ConferenceCrossroads: Generational Change in ELT in Asia

October 5 - 6, 2002Seoul, Korea

Presentation Proposal

Please follow the instructions below or you will be required to resubmit information:1. Do NOT fax any documents. Submissions must be received by June 15 th, 2002. THIS DEADLINE WILL NOT BE

EXTENDED.2. Submit 2 copies of your abstract on separate sheets of paper, one copy with your name and affiliation, and one copy

with no names and no affiliations.3. Proposal titles are limited to 9 words in length .4. Abstracts should not exceed 150 words and will be used in the program, so please edit carefully.5. Biographical data should be not exceed 100 words per presenter and should be in the third person.6. Use separate sheets for your biographical data and abstract.7. Only e-mailed proposals will be accepted. Please send in the body of the e-mail OR as an .RTF attachment.8. Please email to: [email protected]

Please include the following information with your submission

Presentation title: ________________________________________________________

Length: _____ 25 minutes ____ 50 minutes _____ 80 minutes

Type: ____ paper _____workshop ____ panel ____colloquium ____ poster

Number of presenters: _____

Equipment: ____OHP ____ VCR ____Cassette ____ Computer (Windows/PC)

** Please note: Requests for multi-media equipment will be charged a rental fee.

Category of presentation (see other side for categories): __________________________

Presentation time preferences (please mark at least 2 choices)

_____Saturday, Oct 5, 9 am – 12 noon _____Saturday, Oct 5, 1 pm - 6 pm

_____Sunday, Oct 6, 9 am – 12 noon _____Sunday, Oct 6, 1 pm - 4 pm

Name_________________________________________________________________

Affiliation (Work)_________________________________________________________

Mailing Address__________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

E-mail(s): _______________________________________________________________

Work fax: ____________________________ Work phone: _______________________

Home fax: ___________________________ Home phone: _______________________

Are you, at present, a member of Korea TESOL? ____Yes _____ No

Please direct any questions or concerns to …

KOTESOL Conference Program CommitteeProfessor Gerry Lassche, Chairman

<[email protected]>Ajou University, Graduate School of Education

(TESOL)+82 31 219 1793 (office)

Suwon, Republic of Korea

19


Pan Asiaedited by

David McMurray

The third in a series of Pan Asian conferencesbrought together an estimated 1,800language teachers from 20 countries in Asiaand further abroad. The ten main speakersshared their research and stories from theirexperience as teachers based in Korea, Japan,Thailand, Taiwan, England, Hong Kong,Australia, America and they debated issuesrelating to the Asian region. Prior to the fourthPAC — to be held Nov. 8 - 10, 2002 in Taipei -- this Pan Asia column seeks to publisharticles that continue the debate and openthe discussion even wider to include thevoices of teachers based in other countriesin Asia for our readership of teachers basedhere in Korea.

The scope of the Pacific East Asian regioncomprises some 21 Asian countries: theRepublic of Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, thePeople’s Republic of China, Taiwan,Thailand, the Lao People’s DemocraticRepublic, the Philippines, Vietnam,Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, PapuaNew Guinea, Singapore, Australia, NewZealand, and the Pacific Islands: Fiji,Micronesia, Tonga, and the Cook,Solomon and Marshall Islands. The FarEastern region of Russia, notably the cityof Vladivostock is also an important partof the region and previous Pan Asiacolumns have introduced Englisheducation programs from there. To thewest, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Indiaand Pakistan all have interesting English-teaching opportunities and teachers therehave many interesting stories to sharewith language teachers in KOTESOL.

The education programs in these countriesdiffer in terms of the level at which English isintroduced and teacher education programs.Country-by-country comparisons areavailable for the performance of students ontests such as TOEIC and TOEFL and anation-by-nation comparison of thecharacteristics of classroom teaching andlearning, relevant government policies andinitiatives, current issues and debates, andemployment prospects could providevaluable insight for our teaching profession.

The United States serves as the primaryforeign absorber of Asia's productive outputand the primary provider of English-languagetechnology and labor. The EuropeanEconomic Community, and most notablyBritain also do substantial amounts of trade

in the region and correspondingly BritishEnglish is a recognized standard forcommunication and many textbooks.

While Japan on its own, and Asian countriescombined, are important purchasing powersfor individual countries in Asia to sell to, theamount of trade done with the US meansmuch business is carried out in English. Untilrecently — notably minister of educationconferences in Singapore (SEAMEO), APECand G-8 education ministerial meetings, AILAand PAC conferences — there had been littlesharing of English-language researchbetween teachers of Asian countries. Inter-regional trade and cooperation now accountsfor 40% of the entire trade of East Asia.

Continued economic growth in China couldweigh this balance to more than half.Mandarin Chinese, with 844 million nativespeakers is the dominant first language inChina but still must compete with English asthe foreign language used for trade. China’sopen door policy, the increasing number ofstudents it sends overseas for training, andits goal of hosting major international eventssuch as the Olympics means it may driveEnglish language education. China has over250 million EFL students, similar to thepopulation of the US.

In Australia and New Zealand, nationalvarieties of English are primarily taught as asecond language (ESL) to immigrants andnative speakers of other languages forcommunication with the Anglophonemajority. New immigrant non-native Englishspeakers (NNES) in Australia also use Englishto speak with other non-native speakers.

The multilingual nations of Malaysia,Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippineshave developed unique, institutionalizedforms of English, referred to as English as anAdditional Language rather than Englishas a Foreign Language countries such asKorea, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand.

Consideration of who our students arecurrently speaking English to also needsanalysis. In the past century most Englishspeech was directed from individual countriesin Asia toward centers in America and Britain.Regional communication between Asiancountries proceeded through translation oflocal languages. As inter-Asian economictrade and the use of English grew, these

dominant bipolar axes migrated to multi-nodalcommunication between Asian countries. Bymy count, there are approximately 360 millionnative speakers of English (summation of the

population of countries where English isspoken as a native language). By estimatingthe number of non-native speakers of Englishin main land China and India, one can quicklyconclude that non-native speakers faroutnumber native speakers of English.Because of geography, and because nolanguage is as widely spoken as Englishbetween peoples of different countries it canbe reasoned that non-native speakers comeinto contact with each other more often thanthey do with native speakers. This impliesthat students need to learn skills to help themto communicate with other EFL speakers.

In my classroom in Japan for example adramatic shift in demographics has occurred.Where once homogeneous EFL classescomposed of Japanese students were thenorm, now they are interspersed withstudents from Asia just like ESL classes inAmerica and Britain have been for years.Borrowing ESL teaching models andtextbooks is not an appropriate solution tomeet my students needs however, becausewhen EFL learners leave the classroom theydo not come face-to-face with American orBritish English and culture; rather they areencountering Asian and Englishsoundscapes (the wide variety of Englishthat can be heard in a particular place orregion). Students are more likely tocommunicate on campus, via email andtelephones with other non-native speakersof English than to native speakers of English.

Contributors to upcoming Pan Asia columns arevery welcome to assess the changing role of Englishin government, economics, trade and educationin the region as a whole, by comparing twocountries or by focussing upon one. Proposalsfor Pan Asia articles of up to 900 words may besubmitted directly to the column editor DavidMcMurray by email <[email protected].>

Sharing Case Studies About Asian Countries


20

Has there ever been a time in your lifewhen you were given the chance to dosomething for the first time or somewhatdifferent from your usual daily routine?In your mind there might have been someapprehension or legitimate concern as towhether you were able to handle theresponsibilities that came with the work.Well, KOTESOL allowed me thisopportunity by sending me as arepresentative to the 10th InternationalSymposium and Book Fair on EnglishTeaching in Taipei, Taiwan on November16-18, 2001. Although it was my first timeto serve as an international representativefor KOTESOL, I was eager to experienceanother conference environment, otherthan the regional or internationalconferences in Korea. The EnglishTeacher’s Association of the Republic ofChina (ETA-ROC) was definately an eye-opening experience that I will rememberfor quite some time.

The conference was held at the Chien TanOverseas Youth Activity Center, which willalso serve as the venue for PAC4 onNovember 8-10, 2002. I was met at thedoor by Andy Leung, the president ofETA-ROC. He escorted me to my roomand expressed warm words of welcome.After unpacking, I made my waydownstairs to take a look around thefacility to familiarize myself with the area.At this time, I met Johanna Katchen, oneof the founding members of ETA-ROC in1992. After meeting Johanna, I was certainthat I had little to be concerned aboutregarding the activities of the conferencesince she seemed to know every detail andactivity of the event like the back of herhand. We talked for a few minutes andthen I noticed three men strolling towardus. These men began talking quitenaturally with Johanna and I simply stoodobserving their discussion. Johannaintroduced me to each of the men and weshook hands. It was at this time, I realizedthat I was in the presence of somedignitaries in the field of English languageeducation. These men were RameshKrishnamurthy from BirminghamUniversity, UK, Adrian Underhill,president of IATEFL, UK and Stephen

Krashen, from the University of SouthernCalifornia, USA. I was familiar with all oftheir names and kept saying the nameKrashen over and over in my head. Atfirst, I thought it was just someone elsewith the same last name, but soon realizedit was the “real” Krashen. I suddenly feltquite small, but realized I was in the midstof excellence in the field of EFL/ESL.Adrian Underhill invited everyone up tohis room for some tea and conversation. Iaccepted his invitation and was given aonce in a lifetime opportunity to sit in aroom and have conversation with thesewell-known authors and speakers inEnglish learning. I sat quietly, but was in-tune to everything which was mentioned.It was only one hour of my experience inTaiwan, but it will certainly be an hourworth remembering in my life. And thebest part was that the conference had noteven begun.

The theme for the conference was ELT inTaiwan: Retrospect and Prospect andattempted to look back at the last ten yearsof existence and also look forward into itsfuture. This was done by having over 240presenters for their conference, coveringvarious areas within ESL/EFL. ETA-ROCinvited many outstanding speakers fortheir three-day conference.

As the name of the conference states, thisevent was also for the purpose of sharingELT materials and also new technology inELT and computer learning. Publishershad over 80 booths set up around thefacility for selling and introducingtextbooks and teaching/learning materialsfor all ages and levels. I learned that eachyear the number of interested publishersand bookstores who come to theconference continues to increase. Greatnews to hear for a conference.

ETA-ROC seems to do a great job inadvertising their conference throughoutTaiwan. This year, they received almost1800 pre-registrations for the event andconcluded with more than 2000 attendeesat the conference; an excellent turnout forany conference. They hope this year’sconference will be a good stepping stone

for their holding of PAC4 on November 8-10, 2002 at the same venue. The theme forPAC4 is ELT in Asian Contexts: Four PC’sin the 21st Century. For those interestedin specific information about the event,the web-page address for PAC4 can befound at http://mx.nthu.edu.tw/~katchen/pac4.htm. It should be another greatconference for ETA-ROC.

Personally, I had the opportunity to hearthree of the invited speakers at theconference and was greatly impressedwith how they spoke and used their storiesto clarify point after point. Dr. NeilAnderson, the president of TESL spokeon Developing Metacognitive Skills inForeign Language Learners. The nextspeaker which I was able to hear was Dr.Stephen Krashen from the University ofSouthern California, USA; Yes, THEStephen Krashen of “ I+1 and the loweringof affective filters in learners.”. He spokeon the benefits of free voluntary readingfor students. Finally, I was invited to aspecial lecture by H. Douglas Brown fromSan Francisco State University, USA. Dr.Brown was promoting his new textbook,Strategies for Success: A Practical Guideto Learning English, but the presentationhad no focus toward selling his book.Instead, he gave us some interestingcomments for better evaluating ourstudents in order to lead them to pursuelearning by themselves.

After Dr. Brown’s lecture, a special dinnerwas provided for invited speakers andinternational guests at the Landmark Clubin the city area. The dinner was hostedMr. Paul Chen, the president of CavesBooks Ltd., a long-standing supporter ofETA-ROC. At the dinner, I had theopportunity of meeting Curtis Kelly fromHeian Jogakuin University in Japan. Iremembered his name from Cambridge Dayin Korea a month prior and had a niceconversation with him. He was greatlyimpressed with Korea and was interestedin returning to Korea to speak. I felt my heartjump because I had been thinking about theneed for a speaker at the Jeolla regionalconference on April 13, 2002 at ChosunUniversity. Since our meeting that evening,I have been in conversation with him andothers in order to invite him to the provinceof Jeolla for a few days. Isn’t it interestinghow a short five-minute conversation canturn into something much grander?

Taiwan, English Teaching &New Eyesby Brian Heldenbrand

continued on page 21

21


The quality of all three Pan AsiaConferences has been impressive. InJanuary 1997, Thailand hosted the firstPan Asia Conference in Bangkok, and itwas an eye-opening experience for me.Two years later I found myself drawn intothe PAC dream as program chair for PAC2,hosted by Korea TESOL in October 1999.On November 22, 2001 the PAC dreamcontinued in Japan. The JapaneseAssociation of Language Teachers(JALT) hosted PAC3 in Kitakyushu, Japan.

Thursday, November 22nd involvedfeatured speaker workshops in themorning and the afternoon. Unfortunately,due to fog at Inchon airport, I was notable to participate in any of the featuredspeaker workshops. Several of thefeatured speakers are also familiar namesat KOTESOL: Leo Jones, Steven Gershon,and Michael Rundell. One of the nicethings about the featured speakerworkshops was the inclusion of AnNguyen thi Hoai from Vietnam and FakrulAlam from Bangladesh. This added a trulyPan Asia feel to the line-up. Thursdaynight, the city of Kitakyushu hosted awelcome banquet for all the featuredspeakers, international guests andpresenters. It was a nice opportunity tomeet presenters from around the world andto informally talk to well-known speakerssuch as Adrian Underhill and TessaWoodward.

While talking to Adrian Underwood,currently serving as IATEFL president, Ihad the chance to renew KOTESOL’spartnership ties with IATEFL(International Association of Teachers ofEnglish as a Foreign Language). For thefirst time in over 4 years, we will be sendingsomeone to IATEFL’s conference thiscoming March. You can look forward to

our 1st Vice-President Woo Sang Do’sreport on IATEFL in the May issue ofTEC. In addition, I talked to TessaWoodward about the possibility of beinga plenary speaker at the 2003 KOTESOLconference. Tessa Woodward has one ofthe most personable, accessible, andpractical presentation styles I have everseen in a plenary speaker. If we arefortunate enough to get her as plenaryspeaker, KOTESOL conference goers arein for a treat.

Friday afternoon marked the openingceremonies of PAC3 with a rousingperformance by the Kitakyushu City BrassBand. During their performance, theaudience was treated to a multimediavideo presentation showing images andreflections on the PAC series. A numberof KOTESOL volunteers, including JerryFoley and myself, passed out the first PACJournal to all the opening ceremonyattendees. For those of you who don’tknow, KOTESOL sponsored andproduced the first issue of the PAC Journal.After the opening ceremony speeches,KOTESOL kicked off the plenary sessionswith a talk by Dr. Han Sangho, pastKOTESOL president, and Robert Dickey,current KOTESOL president. Dr. Park Joo-Kyung, another past KOTESOL president,served as the moderator for the openingplenary. The title of their session was“Collaborations in Foreign LanguageMedium Instruction” which focused onan innovative program at KyongjuUniversity, where core subject classeswere offered in English and Japanese. Anumber of other KOTESOL people gavepresentations at PAC3, including GerryLassche, Jerry Foley, Andrew Finch, Dr.Hyun Taeduck, Doug Margolis, KirstenReitan, and Park Jookyung. Altogetherthere were over 500 presentations overthree days.

Over the next few days, I attended bothformal and informal meetings on the futureof PAC. PAC4 will be hosted by ETA-ROC (English Teachers; Association –Republic of China) on November 8 – 10,2002 in Taipei, Taiwan. The formal PACsession on Sunday morning included apower point presentation by JohannaKatchen, PAC4 Chair, on the site for PAC4.In addition, the original four PAC partners(Thailand, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan)welcomed Russia into the PACpartnership. FEELTA (Far Eastern EnglishLanguage Teaching Association) basedin Vladivostok has proposed hostingPAC5. A final decision on the locationand dates of PAC5 have not yet beenmade.

The responsibilities of a KOTESOLrepresentative at an internationalconference go beyond attending meetings,finding potential plenary speakers forconferences, and networking with ourinternational partners. I also had to set upand maintain a display table on KOTESOLand facilitate an informational session onKOTESOL. I have to thank RogerFusselman of the Pusan chapter and Dr.Han Sangho for their assistance infacilitating the session. Otherresponsibilities of the representativeinclude forging links and associations forKOTESOL. Often reps. bring back verygood ideas and lessons that improveKOTESOL organizationally. They alsohelp to solidify our academic and researchties with other organizations andindividuals, to facilitate teacherdevelopment and education in Koreathrough attending presentations andsharing the information learned, andfinally to spread the word about KOTESOLand its mission. PAC4 gave me theopportunity to serve KOTESOL in manyof these capacities, but due to spacelimitations I only shared the highlightswith you. If you’d like to know more,contact me at [email protected].

PAC3 at JALT2001By Kirsten Reitan

Well, I should wrap it up, but all I can say isthat this was an exhilarating four days andwell-worth the time. I want to thank ETA-ROC and its officers for providing myaccommodations, meals and excellentopportunities to grow in my involvement withESL/EFL. Also, I want to thank KOTESOLfor trusting me as their representative for

attending this conference. It was one of mymost memorable experiences of 2001 andprobably my greatest time spent in an ELTenvironment. Thank you for allowing me toparticipate in this conference which hasprovided me with a new perspective towardteaching and new eyes to see the future ofESL/EFL in Asia.

Taiwan, EnglishTeaching & New Eyescontinued from page 20


22

BUSAN

by Paul Mead

At our November meeting, Steve Garriguesof Kyongbuk National University gave anexcellent presentation of ways to use song

lyrics to encourage learners to experimentwith and to delve deeper into meaningsinherent in well written poetry. As anexample he used the Eagles' HotelCalifornia, a song particularly rich incultural references.

At the same meeting, we held a cross-cultural symposium. As far as I know, thiswas a first in more than one way, with aKorean-Canadian married couple leadingthe symposium together. Jim and SunmiCorbett fielded questions about cross-cultural issues in their marriage, and, fromthis, we were able to explore a few issuesin cross-culturalism that affect us as nativespeakers. As a chapter we intend todevelop the investigation of cross-culturalism as it affects the classroom andwork environment, and there will be afurther symposium at our January meeting.This is a very rich area for both the Koreanand Western teacher. The Korean teachermust try to impart Western notions thatare conveyed by the English language,and the Western teacher must try tounderstand the kind of behavior that heor she encounters in the Korean classroom.

At the Christmas party on December 15,turnout was low, but a good time was hadby all who attended. We look forward tomore good times in 2002.

JEOLLA

by Adam Lee

March’s monthly meeting will be heldshortly after the new semester begins,

Saturday the 9th, at Jeonju University. PaulaBass from Howon University and DouglasMargolis representing KTT (KOTESOLTeacher Training) will be givingpresentations at the meeting, which willbegin at 2:30 PM.

Preparations for the Jeolla KOTESOL 2002Regional Conference are already wellunder way. It will be held again this yearon the Student Hall on the ChosunUniversity campus in Gwangju onSaturday, April 13th. Please note the Callfor Papers also printed in this issue of TEC.If you are interested in giving apresentation or leading a workshop thisyear, be sure to submit your applicationas early as possible.

Elections for chapter executive officerswere held in November, exclusively via e-mail for the first time in chapter history.New officers for 2002 are Vice-PresidentPhil Owen (Kunsan National University),Treasurer Tammy Heldenbrand (JeonjuUniversity), Membership CoordinatorJung You-jin (Jeonju University) andWebmaster Dan Armfeldt (LG Chemical inYosu). Brian Heldenbrand and Adam Leewere reelected to continue as presidentand secretary. Jeolla KOTESOL is deeplygrateful to former officers Joseph Nicholasand Tammy Park for their years of serviceand hard work on the local executiveboard.

DAEJEON

by Kevin Parent

The Daejeon chapter’s Christmas was agreat success. Thanks to everyone whocame and made it so wonderful! We willbe down for January and probablyFebruary as the academic terms arefinished and many teachers are headinghome for the holidays. We are, however,looking for volunteers for the DramaFestival that will be just around the corner.Anyone interested in helping out is askedto contact Kevin Parent [email protected]. Finally, happyholidays to all, and see you when schoolstarts back up.

KTT

by Douglas Margolis

KTT jumps into the new year withexcitement! Stephanie Downey steppedforward to co-coordinate KTT and ensurethat 2002 becomes the year of high qualitytraining events. She plans to recruit moretrainers, focus on better meeting teacherneeds, and improve presentation quality.Hats off to her dedication and volunteer spirit.

In line with meeting these goals, Stephanie isinitiating a teacher survey project to collectdata regarding teacher training needs. Thisresearch project will help KOTESOL developa more focused picture of English teachersand their teaching situation in Korea.

In addition, KTT welcomes new presenterJames Ranalli, who teaches at YonseiUniversity’s Institute of Language Researchand Education. He holds the RSA Diplomain Teaching English as a Foreign Languageto Adults and works as a trainer on the RSAcertificate and diploma courses. He has apresentation on teaching listening skillswhich will soon be available at training eventsnear you!

Also this month, check out the KTT TrainingNotes column in the TEC. Dr. Peter Nelson,long time KTT trainer and Chung AngUniversity professor, provides anintroduction to using self-assessmenttechniques for communicative practice anddeveloping learner autonomy. We mustacknowledge our appreciation for yet onemore of his contributions to KTT. If you area writer interested in contributing to TrainingNotes, please contact me for guidelines (seeemail address below).

By the way, for those new to KOTESOL, KTTstands for KOTESOL Teacher Training. Weare a standing committee of volunteer teachertrainers who aim to uphold the KOTESOLmission of improving the teaching andlearning of English in Korea by providingtraining workshops and presentations forteachers. We are always looking for newvolunteers interested in developing trainingmaterials and presentations. For moreinformation, please contact StephanieDowney (email: [email protected])or me (Douglas Margolis, email:[email protected]). We want to meet you!

What's Up in KOTESOLedited by Michael Duffy

For more information on your chapter's

activities contact the chapter executives

(contact info page 26 of this issue) or visit

your chapter's website (www.kotesol.org).

23


Participants Answer Even Tougher Questions.

Participants Answer Tough Questions.

David Kim introduces the Research SIG.

Tough Questions Asked atthe KOTESOL LeadershipRetreatIs KOTESOL a professional association exclusively for trainedEFL teachers or a loose coalition of expat/backpackers? Is it aKorean organization which follows Korean cultural norms ofhow an organization should be run or is it an 'international'organization which, on occassion, flagrantly disregards the rulesof organizational etiquette of its host country? Should weconcentrate on helping to train EFL teachers or on beingadvocates for them? These were a few of the tough questionsbeing asked at the KOTESOL Leadership Retreat (LR) onDecember 15th and 16th.

Held at Hyechon College in Daejeon, the LR is KOTESOL'scontinuing effort to develop the leadership skills of its activemembers. Recognizing that the volunteers of this year are thepeople most likely to sit on the executive in the future, KOTESOLinvests in its future leaders. The LR attempts to develop membersawareness of the organization, time management ability, andapproach to leadership. Perhaps just as importantly, it is a rarechance to meet other active members in an organization withchapters spread across the country.

The day began with some teamwork/cooperation buildingexercises which involved building enormous freestandingstructures out of a few plastic straws and paper clips. Jeff Lebowfollowed shortly thereafter with a motivating workshop on thenature of leadership.

Before the day was through, our president Robert Dickey wasasking the hard existential questions: 'Who are we?' and 'Whereare we going?'. As always the most important question beingasked was not 'How do we attract new members?' but, rather'How do we better serve our current membership?'. The answersmay be one and the same.

jen lalonde deserves praise for the excellent job she did inorganizing this year's LR, and the student volunteers from theTourism Department of Hyechon College deserve our thanks.

KOTESOL is anorganization run byvolunteers.Conferences,presentations,publications, and thewebsite are all produced byour volunteers. Without youwe're nothing.

KOTESOL invites you to participate in shapingthis growing organization. To get involved withyour chapter or a committee see the contactinformation on pages 26 and 27 of this issue.

Thanks.

?The Future

of KOTESOL

SIGS UPDATE

Young Learners, Research, Global Issues and TeacherDevelopment Special Interest Groups now all have their ownweb sites. These are easy to find under www.kotesol.org. Theywill be updated regularly. The facilitator of Young LearnersSIG, Jake Kimball, would like someone to help him facilitateworkshops during the year. Please contact him through theweb site e-mail address. The Teacher Development SIG needsan enthusiastic facilitator. Along with Jake Kimball of the YoungLearners SIG, David Kim of the Research SIG and Jen Lalondeof Global Issues all have strong visions for the developmentof their SIGs. 2002 should be a good year!


24

Azerbaijan BackgroundAfter the USSR collapsed, 15independent states appeared on itsterritory. One of those new countries wasAzerbaijan, the largest territory in thegeopolitically important Caucasusregion which links Europe and Asia. Itis situated on the west bank of theCaspian Sea with Russia to the northand Iran to the south. It is famous for itsoil and caviar. The population is 7,771,000and the country is 98% Muslim.

Nowadays, it is a little country with bothbig problems and bright opportunities forthe future. Azerbaijan, which hascontinually been a part of other countriesand empires including Rome, the ArabianCaliphate, Persia, Russia, and the USSRrecently celebrated its 10th anniversary ofindependence. This was a very meaningfuloccasion for its people. Unfortunately, themost terrible problem which this countrycurrently faces is war with its neighborArmenia over the Nagorno-Karabakhterritory. Although the active part of thewar ended in 1994 and the countries are incease-fire, this has not solved the problem.We cannot start living in peace with eachother. This conflict has created many otherproblems which have changed Azerbaijanisociety. One of the results of the ongoingconflict are some disturbing statistics: 20%of Azerbaijan is currently occupied byArmenia and there is no other country inthe world where every 8th citizen is arefugee or IDP (internally displacedperson).

Education in AzerbaijanIn spite of these challenges, educationin the Azerbaijan Republic is more or less

well developed, possibly becauseAzerbaijan was a part of the SovietEmpire where there was a strongeducation system. Children begin theireleven years of schooling at age six.After that, those choosing to go touniversity have to pass multiple-choicenational exams that take place eachsummer. English is the subject of one ofthe exams required to enter mostuniversities. This kind of exam is betterfor students because when you look atthe question and four answers, the rightanswer can come into your head.

The most popular universities inAzerbaijan are Baku State University,Azerbaijan Medical University, Universityof Foreign Languages, EconomicsUniversity, and Western University, aprivate institution. The most popularfaculties are Law, International Law, andEconomics. This creates another problemin that there are only a few people who areinterested in other specialties. It means thatwe have a large number of lawyers butonly a few representatives of otherprofessions, for example, historians.

English in AzerbaijanEnglish is the language whicheverybody tries to learn as their first orsecond foreign language. It is a commonlanguage used to speak with foreigners —not only with representatives of English-speaking countries, but also those fromother nations. This makes it even moreimportant to learn English as Azerbaijanearns much of its money through oil andbusiness with foreign companies. Thereare more foreign businessmen inAzerbaijan than in other ex-Soviet states.

English is the first or second foreignlanguage Azerbaijanis learn because of thehistorical importance of the Russianlanguage. Azerbaijan was first a part ofthe Russian Empire, then a part of theUSSR, during which time Russian wasnecessary as it had the status of statelanguage. Because it was this, the majorityof older people speak only Russian.Consequently, a significant portion of thepopulation speaks Russian. Now, it is nota state language but people haven’tforgotten it. Most shopkeepers andaverage people speak only a little English,but it is better than ten years ago whenthey spoke no English. For the most part,there are still two foreign languages being

taught in schools from - English andRussian. Foreign language educationbegins in the first grade and continues tothe higher grades.

However, nobody learns Russian now asactively as they learn English. Children ofAzerbaijan start learning English at 5 yearsof age, sometimes even before going toschool. I myself began studying with myfirst pre-school English teacher when I was5 years old. About 3 months ago, I was ina Refugee Camp and I went to visit aschool for refugee children. The first classwhich I attended was an English class.People try to give English to their childreneven in the bad conditions in which theserefugees live.

After secondary education, Englishlessons continue in almost all universities.At this time, most students start studyingit harder and harder to pass the variouskinds tests like TOEFL or British Counciltests, or just for proof that they knowEnglish. There are two reasons for thisdesire to know English. First, they wantto find a good job in foreign or Azebaijanicompanies or a branch of the government.Or, they want to continue their educationabroad, as I was lucky enough to do in theUnited Kingdom.

More and more people are learningEnglish, but in the future Russian andEnglish will be on the same level. Russiais not far from Azerbaijan and thatcontinues to have an impact.

Context:Azerbaijanby Nabi Ragimov

GlobalContexts

edited byjen lalonde

Nabi Ragimov

The AuthorNabi Ragimov is working towards a Master'sdegree in International Law at Baku StateUniversity. He has also studied in the UK. Hehas visited Iran, Turkey, Russia, the UnitedArabian Emirates, France, Georgia, Australiaand Japan. He hopes to encourage knowledgeof his country through his travels.

25


CONFERENCES

Jan 17-19 '02 “Inspiring Change in ELT” The 22nd Annual Thai-land TESOL International Conference, Chiang Mai, Thailand.Contact: Busaraporn Munkham (Tel) +66-38-754450 ext 2800(Fax) +66-38-754447 (Email) <[email protected]>

Jan 20-22 '02 “Learners from Diverse Cultures” Australian Coun-cil of TESOL Associations (ACTA) 2002 National Conference,Glenelg, Australia. Contact: (Tel) +61-8-8296-9610 (Fax) +61-8-8296-8188 (Email) <[email protected]> (Web) http://www.tesol.org.au

Feb 22-24 '02 “Evaluation in ELT” NELTA Ninth InternationalConference, Kathmandu, Nepal. Contact: Ganga Ram Gautam(Email) <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>

Mar 9-10 '02 “Broadening Horizons in ELT” TESOL Greece’s23rd Annual Convention, Athens, Greece. Contact: (Email)<[email protected]> (Tel/Fax) +30-1-7488411 (9am-2pm local time)(Web) http://www.tesolgreece.com

Mar 20-22 '02 “Critical Reflection and Practice” The TESOLArabia 8th Annual International Conference, Abu Dhabi,United Arab Emirates. Contact: Zafar Syed (Email)<[email protected]> or Miled Hassini (Email)<[email protected]> (Web) http://tesolarabia.org

Apr 9-13 '02 Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages,Inc. (TESOL). Annual conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. Contact:(Tel) +1-703-836-0774 (Fax) +1-703-836-7864 (Email)<[email protected]> (Web) http://www.tesol.org

Apr. 13, '02 Jeolla KOTESOL Regional Conference. Real WorldEnglish: Relevance in the Classroom Place. Chosun University,Gwangju, South Korea. Contact: Brian Heldenbrand (Email)<[email protected]>

Oct 5-6, '02 The 10th Korea TESOL International ConferenceCrossroads: Generational Change in ELT in Asia (KOTESOL).Seoul, Korea. Contact: Craig Bartlett, Conference chair (Email)<[email protected]>

Nov 8-10 '02 “ELT in Asian Contexts: Four PCs in the 21st Cen-tury” The Fourth Pan-Asian Conference and Eleventh Interna-tional Symposium and Book Fair on English Teaching, Taipei,Taiwan. Contact: Johanna E. Katchen (Fax) +886-3-5718977(Email) <[email protected]>

Dec 16-21 '02 “13th World Congress of Applied Linguistics: Ap-plied Linguistics in the 21st Century: Opportunities for Innova-tion and Creativity” Singapore. Contact: Anne Pakir (Email)<[email protected]>

Mar 25-29 '03 Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Lan-guages, Inc. (TESOL). Annual conference, Salt Lake City, Utah.Contact: (Tel) +1-703-836-0774 (Fax) +1-703-836-7864 (Email)<[email protected]> (Web) http://www.tesol.org

CALL FOR PAPERS

Mar 15 '02 “ELT in Asian Contexts: Four PCs in the 21st Cen-tury” The Fourth Pan-Asian Conference and Eleventh Interna-tional Symposium and Book Fair on English Teaching, Taipei,Taiwan. Contact: Johanna E. Katchen, Department of ForeignLanguages, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30043, Tai-wan; (Fax) +886-3-5718977 (Email) <[email protected]>

SUBMISSIONS

To post information on job opportunities in thecalendar section please contact: Dr. Peter Nelsonby Email at <[email protected]>

All information on upcoming conferences or otherteacher-related events, should be sent at leastthree months in advance to: Louie L. Dragut,Hannam University, 133 Ojung-dong, Daejeon 300-791 (Email) <[email protected]>, (Tel) +82-(0)42-629-7387.

For a comprehensive list ofupcoming conferences and eventsplease look at the TESOL Affiliates’

Conference Calendar Website at:http://www.tesol.edu/isaffil/confcalendar.html

Calendaredited by

Louie L. Dragut

TESOL, INC.ELECTRONIC VILLAGE ONLINE 2002

The CALL Interest Section of TESOL Inc.,in conjunction with the EFL InterestSection, is proud to announce its secondround of online sessions, includingreadings, discussions, chats, guestspeakers, and task-based activities. Ifyou can’t come to the conference, nowthe conference can come to you!

l You do NOT have to be a member of TESOL

l The EV Online 2002 sessions run for two months,starting on January 25 and ending on March 25, 2002

l Sign-up for the sessions will be via email fromJanuary 7 to 24, 2002

For more details, please visit the web site:http://personalweb.smcvt.edu/gsl520/TESOL/ev_online02_TESOLblast.htm


26

NATIONAL OFFICERS &COMMITTEE CHAIRS

Robert J. Dickey, President Kyongju University 42-1Hyohyun-dong, Kyongju, Kyongbuk 780-712 (H) 055-356-0968, (W) 054-770-5136, (Email)<[email protected]>

Dr. Woo Sangdo, 1st Vice President Gongju Nat'l Universityof Education. 376 Bonghwang-dong, Kongju, Chungnam314-711, (W) 041-850-1741, (WF) 041-850-1700, (C) 011-436-1749, (Email) <[email protected]>

Paul Mead, 2nd Vice President Dong Ju College, Kwejong-dong, Saha-gu, Pusan 604-715 (Cell) 019-463-0582, (F) 051-201-5420, (Email) <[email protected]>

Joseph Nicholas, Secretary Inchon University (Cell) 017-642-5771, (Email) <[email protected]>.

Dr. David E. Shaffer, Treasurer Chosun University, College ofLiberal Arts and Sciences, English Language and LiteratureDivision, 375 Seoseok-dong, Dong-gu, Kwangju 501-759.(W) 062-230-6917, (WF) 062-232-4704, (H) 062-521-2013,(Seoul H) 02-323-9152. (Email) <[email protected]>

James Gongwer, Nominations & Elections Chair (Email)<[email protected]>

Craig Bartlett, KOTESOL Conference Chair English Educa-tion Department Chuncheon National University of Educa-tion (Email) <[email protected]> or<[email protected]>

Trevor Gulliver, Publications Chair (see info on page 4)

Kirsten Reitan, International Affairs Chair Graduate Schoolof Pan-Pacific International Studies, Kyung Hee University,1 Seochun-ri, Kihung-eup, Yongin, Kyunggi 449-701 (W)031-201-2386, (WF) 031-204-8120, (Email)<[email protected]>

John Phillips, Technologies Committee Chair (TechComm)Fulbright Korea (Cell) 011-9436-4609, (Email)<[email protected]>

Dr. Ju Yangdon, Conference Co-Chair Hyechon College(Email) <[email protected]>

Dr. Andrew Finch, Research Committee Chair KyungpookNat'l University (Email) <[email protected]>

Hee-Bon Finch-Park, Domestic Relations Committee Chair(Email) <[email protected]>

SEOUL CHAPTER OFFICERS

Kang Myung-Jai, President Yeojoo Institute of Technology (W) 031-880-5316 (C) 019-246-1251 (Email)<[email protected]>

Kevin Landry, Vice president Catholic University (W) 032-340-3448 (Email) <[email protected]>

Tory Thorkelson, Secretary Hanyang University (C) 018-850-0778 (Email) <[email protected]

Choi Yoon-kyung, Membership Coordinator (H) 031-840-8953(Email) <[email protected]>

Asif Siddiqui, Interim English Beat Editor KAIST and YonseiUniversity (C) 016-737-7397(Email) <[email protected]>

Peter Nelson, Member at large Jungang University (C) 016-211-53969 (Email) <[email protected]>

CHONGJU CHAPTER OFFICERS

Paul Hwang, President Chongju University (Email)<[email protected]>

Larry Hoffarth, Vice-president and Webmaster Chongju Uni-versity (Email) <[email protected]>

Kim Hye Ran, Treasurer (Email) <[email protected]>

JEOLLA CHAPTER OFFICERS

Brian Heldenbrand, President Jeonju University, Dept. of En-glish (W) 063-220-2670 (C) 019-678-2378 (F) 063-224-9920(Email) <[email protected]>

Phil Owen, Vice President Kunsan National University, Dept.of English Language and Literature (W) 063-469-4337 (C)016-665-6915 (Email) <[email protected]>

Tammy V. Fisher-Heldenbrand, Treasurer Jeonju University,Dept. of English (W) 063-220-2670 (F) 063-224-9920(Email) <[email protected]>

Adam Lee, Secretary Sohae College, Dept. of English (W)063-460-9320 (Email) <[email protected]>

Youjin Jung, Membership Coordinator Jeonju University(W)063-220-2089 (C)016-685-0754(Email) <[email protected]>

Daniel Armfelt, Webmaster, LG Chemical, English Instructor(W) 061-680-1531 (H) 061-681-4700(Email) [email protected]

BUSAN CHAPTER OFFICERS

Ken Fitzpatrick, President (C) 016-9218-2406 (Email)<[email protected]>

Roger Fusselman, 1st Vice President (Email)<[email protected]>

Kathleen Shaw, Treasurer (W) 051-320 1687 (Email)<[email protected]>

Huh Seon-A, Treasurer (C) 018-570-2343 (Email)<[email protected]>

Paul Mead, Secretary (W) 051-200-3467 (Email)<[email protected]>, <[email protected]>

Mike Duffy, Adviser (W) 051-200-7054 (Email)<[email protected]>

Terri-Jo Everest, Adviser (W) 051 640-3228 (Email)<[email protected]>

Who's Wherein KOTESOL

27

The English Connection January 2002 Volume 6 / Issue 1Sunmi Corbett, Cross-Cultural Understanding (W) 051-756-

0722 (Email)<[email protected]>

Jim Corbett, Cross-Cultural Understanding (W) 051-756-0722(Email)<[email protected]>

John Baker, Webmaster (Email)<[email protected]>

Ken Fitzpatrick, Trainee Webmaster (Email)<[email protected]>

DAEJEON CHAPTER OFFICERS

Kevin Parent, President Chungnam National University Lan-guage Research Institute, 220 Kung-dong, Daejon 305-764,(H) 042-369-6435, (Cell) 019-9155-9745, (Email)<[email protected]>

Donna Myers, Vice-President Woosong University (W)042-630-9783, (Cell) 018-402-9344, (Email)<[email protected]>

Brian J. Quirk, Treasurer Woosong University (W) 042-625-6922, (Cell) 019-470-5316, (Email)<[email protected]>

Sharon Morrison, Communications Coordinator Gongju Na-tional Univ. of Education (W) 041-850-1748, (Email)<[email protected]>

DAEGU-GYEONGBUK CHAPTER

OFFICERS

Steve Garrigues, President Kyongbuk Nat'l Univ., Dept. ofEnglish Language & Lit., Taegu 702-701 (W) 053-950-5129,(Email) <[email protected]>

Lee Kilryoung, Vice President Yeungnam Univ, Dept of En-glish Education (Email) <[email protected]>

Chae Joon-kee, Treasurer Kyongbuk Nat'l University (W)053-950-5291, (H) 053-424-7158, (F) 053-950-6804

Julie Stockton, Secretary 054-850-5698, (Email)<[email protected]>

Cho Jae-Young, Library (Email) <[email protected]>

Suh Kong-ju, Council Member (Email)<[email protected]>

Kim Kyung-yong, Council Member (Email) <[email protected]>

Mike Stockton, Council Member (Email)<[email protected]>

SUWON CHAPTER OFFICERS

Dr. Lee Mi-jae, President University of Suwon, Dept. of En-glish Lang. & Lit., San 2-2, Wayu-ri, Bongdam-eup,Hwasung, Kyonggi 445-743 (W) 031-220-2375, (H) 031-222-7697, (WF) 031-222-7522, (Cell) 016-739-7697, (Email)<[email protected]>

Dr. Boyce T. Fradsham, Vice President University of Suwon(W) 031-220-2113, (H) 031-352-7150 Ext. 1514, (F) 031-352-4616, (Email) [email protected]>

Gye hyeng Yu, Membership coordinator Suwon Buk MiddleSchool (Email) <[email protected]>

Gerry Lassche, Outreach coordinator Ajou University Gradu-ate School of Education (TESOL), (W) 031-219-1793 (Email)<[email protected]>

Jeomjong Song, Secretary/Treasurer ESL Dept., Universityof Suwon (Email) <[email protected]>

KOTESOL DEPARTMENTS

Research SIGDavid Kim, Facilitator (Email) <[email protected]>

<[email protected]>

Teacher Development & Education SIGPaul Mead, Facilitator (see info under national officers)Global Issues SIG

Jen Lalonde, Facilitator (Email) <[email protected]>

Oral Testing SIGDavid Dugas, Facilitator (Email) <[email protected]>

KTT (KOTESOL Teacher Training)Douglas Margolis, KTT Co-Coordinator Dong Seoul College,

#423 Bokjungdong, Sujunggu, Sungnam City, Kyonggido461-714, (W) 031-720-2245, (Email) <[email protected].>

Stephanie Downey, KTT Co-Coordinator Kyungnam Univer-sity, Wolyoung-dong 449, Masan, Kyungam, 631-701, (C)018-553-3346, (O) 055-249-2827, (Email)<[email protected]>

TechCommJohn Phillips, Chairperson, System Administrator (see info

under national officers)

Seo Eun-Mi, Secretary Hoseo University (Email)<[email protected]>

Hwang Sungsam, Treasurer (Email)<[email protected]>

Tory Thorkelson, Inventory Manager (Email)<[email protected]>

Dan Grabon, Webmaster (Email)<[email protected]>

KOTESOL PAST PRESIDENTS

Scott Berlin, 1993-94Dr. Kim Jeong-ryeol, 1994-95Dr. Oryang Kwon, 1995-96

Dr. Park Joo-kyung, 1996-97Carl Dusthimer, 1997-99Dr. Han Sangho, 1999-00

Dr. Andrew Finch, 2000-01Dr. Hyun Taeduck, 2001


28

Korea TESOL

Membership Application / Change of Address

Please fill in each item separately. Do not use such timesaving conventions as "see above." The database programs used to generatemailing labels and membership directories sort answers in ways that make "see above" meaningless. Long answers may be truncated.Use abbreviations if necessary. Please complete this form in English -- and also include Hangul if possible.

❑ New membership ❑ Membership renewal ❑ Change of address / information

Type of membership:

❑ Individual (40,000 won/year) ❑ Lifetime (400,000 won)

❑ International (US$50.00/year) ❑ Undergraduate Student (20,000 won/year, attach ID)

Payment by ❑ Cash ❑ Check ❑ Online transfer Please make online payments to " (KOTESOL)" at

Kwangju Bank ( ), account number 004-107-002321. If you transferred funds online, please indicate:

Bank Name:__________________________ City:______________________ Date of Transfer:____________________________

Family name: ________________________ Given name: ______________________________ Title: _________

Chapter Affiliation (circle your choice): Seoul, Gyeonggi-Suwon, Chongju, Daejeon, Daegu-Gyeongbuk, Busan, Jeolla, International.

Confidential: ❑ YES or ❑ NO (If you answer YES, the following information will not be included in any published form of the

membership database. The information will be used by KOTESOL general office staff only for official KOTESOL mailings.)

Email address(es): ___________________________________, ______________________________________Telephone:Home Phone: (_____)_________________Work Phone: (_____)_________________Fax: (_____)_________________Cell Phone: _______________________

Work Address: _______________________________________________________________________________

School/Company Name

_______________________________________________________________________________Address Line 1

_______________________________________________________________________________Address Line 2

___________________________________________________________City / Province / Country * POSTAL CODE *

Home Address: _______________________________________________________________________________

Address Line 1

_______________________________________________________________________________Address Line 2

___________________________________________________________City / Province / Country * POSTAL CODE *

To which address would you prefer KOTESOL mailings be sent? ❑ Home ❑ Work

Please check all those areas of ELT that interest you:❑ Global Issues ❑ Elementary Education ❑ Teacher Development❑ Reading/Writing ❑ Secondary Education ❑ Learning Disabilities❑ Speech/Pronunciation ❑ Post-Secondary Education ❑ Inter-Cultural Communication❑ Video ❑ Adult Education ❑ Applied Linguistics❑ CALL ❑ Intensive English Programs ❑ Research❑ Testing ❑ Teaching English to the Deaf ❑ Other: __________________

Date: _____________________ Signature: ____________________________________

Send this form to: (Fax) 054-746-1097 or (Email) <[email protected]>Anyone can join KOTESOL by attending a local chapter meeting.

www.kotesol.org Rev. 2002-01-10

29


KOREA TESOL MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

All English teachers, regardless of level or nationality, are invited to join KOTESOL. We welcome native and non-nativespeakers teaching at elementary, middle and high schools, hagwons, colleges and universities.

College students are also welcome to join as student members. The student rate only applies to undergraduate students;graduate students are under the “regular membership” category.

People who are interested in the Learning and Teaching of English in Korea are also welcome to join, as regular members,even if they are not currently teachers or students.

MEMBERS ...1. Can attend chapter meetings (of any chapter), and conferences and other events. Currently Korea

TESOL has 7 active chapters: Jeolla, Daejeon, Chongju, Suwon-Kyonggi, Seoul, Daegu-Kyongbuk, Busan.

2. Can participate in KOTESOL SIG (Special Interest Group) activities, which currently include GlobalAwareness and Teacher Development & Education.

3. Receive a discount to attend the annual International Conference and Educational Materials Exposition.

4. Receive The English Connection (TEC), a bi-monthly publication featuring articles related to languageteaching/learning, teaching tips, reviews, job announcements, and notices of upcoming meetings andconferences, as well as information about a variety of language teaching materials.

5. Receive The Korea TESOL Journal, an annual publication featuring both practical and theoreticalarticles and research reports.

6. Receive the annual Conference Proceedings, a publication of papers and important releases frompresentations of the annual International Conference and Educational Materials Exposition.

7. Receive a local chapter newsletter (whichever chapter you officially signed up through).

8. Advance announcements, pre-registration discounts, calls for papers, and early registration for theannual KOTESOL conference and other events (drama festivals, regional conferences, etc.).

9. Opportunities to build a network of important professional and cross-cultural contacts.

10. Access to the latest in quality teaching resources and related materials.

11. Access to employment postings and the Employment Center.

12. Professional recognition as a member of the leading multi-cultural EFL organization in Korea.

13. Opportunities to give presentations at KOTESOL venues and publish articles in TEC, the KoreaTesol Journal, Conference Proceedings, etc.

14. Opportunities to gain experience as a KOTESOL volunteer and leader at both national and locallevels.

Regular Membership, Annual dues are 40, 000 won.*Undergraduate Student Membership, Annual dues are 20, 000 won.*International Membership , Annual dues are US$50.*Lifetime Membership, Lifetime dues are 400,000 won.Educational/Institutional Membership & Associate/Commercial Membership, cf. our website.

* Period of membership: 12 months, from the month of application to the 1st day of the 12th month following that date.* Renewals shall run for a full 12 months. Membership expiry date: 1st line of address label used to mail TEC magazine.

We need your feedback, active participation and help! Join us!

www.kotesol.orgEmail: [email protected] Rev. 2002-01-10


30

2002 KOTESOL JEOLLA CHAPTER REGIONAL CONFERENCE

CALL FOR PAPERSReal World English: Relevance in the Classroom

April 13, 2002 at Chosun University, Gwangju, South Korea(The deadline for receipt of proposals is April 1, 2001)

The 2002 Regional Conference Committee invites presentation proposals in areasrelevant to teaching and learning English in the environment of NE Asia. Proposalsof specific concern to English Education in Korea are especially encouraged. Pre-sentations will be limited to slots of 50 minutes unless mentioned at the time of pro-posal submission. Please post, fax, or email your proposal to:

Brian Heldenbrand Office fax: (063) 224-9920Jeonju University (Write “To Brian Heldenbrand” at the top)1200 Hyoja Dong 3-ga, Office Phone: (063) 220-2670Wansangu, Jeonju E-mail: [email protected], S. KOREA 560-759

PRESENTATION PROPOSALPresentation title (maximum 9 words):__________________________________

Type (check one): Workshop Paper Workshop/Paper Panel Poster/ ExhibitLevel (check all that apply): Elementary Secondary University Adult EducationEquipment needed (check all that apply): OHP VCR/TV Cassette Computer Other

Number of presenters for this presentation: ______

List the following contact information for each presenter (Use a separate sheet if needed):Name: __________________________________ E-mail: _________________________________Work phone:_____________________________ Home Phone: ____________________________Work Affiliation: __________________________ Fax: ___________________________________Address: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Biographical Information . Write a brief personal history for each presenter. Please use the third person (“he”,“she”, NOT “I”). Maximum length: 100 words. (Use a separate sheet of paper if necessary)____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Abstract Information.Please use a separate sheet for your abstract. Include the title, all presenters’ names and affiliation on each abstractsubmitted. Maximum length: 150 words.

2002 KOTESOL JEOLLA CHAPTER REGIONAL CONFERENCE

31


Constitution (Adopted April 1993 AmendedOctober 1996, March 1998)

1. Name The name of this organization shall beKorea TESOL (Teachers of English to Speak-ers of Other Languages), herein referred to asKOTESOL. The Korean name of the organi-zation shall be .

II. Purpose KOTESOL is a not-for-profit or-ganization established to promote scholar-ship, disseminate information, and facili-tate cross-cultural understanding amongpersons concerned with the teaching andlearning of English in Korea. In pursuingthese goals KOTESOL shall cooperate inappropriate ways with other groups hav-ing similar concerns.

III. Membership Membership shall be opento professionals in the field of languageteaching and research who support the goalsof KOTESOL. Nonvoting membershipshall be open to institutions, agencies, andcommercial organizations.

IV. Meetings KOTESOL shall hold meetings attimes and places decided upon and announcedby the Council. One meeting each year shallbe designated the Annual Business Meetingand shall include a business session.

V. Officers and Elections 1. The officers ofKOTESOL shall be President, a First Vice-President, a Second Vice-President, a Sec-retary, and a Treasurer. The First Vice-Presi-dent shall succeed to the presidency thefollowing year. Officers shall be elected an-nually. The term of office shall be from theclose of one Annual Business Meeting un-til the close of the next Annual BusinessMeeting.

2. The Council shall consist of the officers, theimmediate Past President, the chairs of allstanding committees, and a representativefrom each Chapter who is not at presentan officer, as well as the KOTESOL Gen-eral Manager. The Council shall conductthe business of KOTESOL under generalpolicies determined at the Annual Busi-ness Meeting.

3. If the office of the President is vacated, theFirst Vice-President shall assume the Presi-dency. Vacancies in other offices shall bedealt with as determined by the Council.

VI. Amendments This Constitution may beamended by a majority vote of members,provided that written notice of the pro-posed change has been endorsed by at leastfive members in good standing and has beendistributed to all members at least thirtydays prior to the vote.

Bylaws (Adopted April 1993 AmmendedMarch 1998)

I. Language The official language ofKOTESOL shall be English.

II. Membership and Dues 1. Qualified indi-viduals who apply for membership andpay the annual dues of the organizationshall be enrolled as members in good stand-ing and shall be entitled to one vote in anyKOTESOL action requiring a vote.

2. Private nonprofit agencies and commercialorganizations that pay the duly assesseddues of the organization shall be recordedas institutional members without vote.

3. The dues for each category of membershipshall be determined by the Council. Theperiod of membership shall be twelve (12)months, from the month of application tothe first day of the twelfth month follow-ing that date. Renewals shall run for a fulltwelve (12) months. For the those mem-bers whose membership would lapse onthe date of the Annual Business Meetingin 1998, their renewal year will commenceon October 1, 1998.

III. Duties of Officers 1. The President shallpreside at the Annual Business Meeting,shall be the convener of the Council, andshall be responsible for promoting relation-ships with other organizations. The Presi-dent shall also be an ex-officio member ofall committees formed within KOTESOL.The first and second Vice-Presidents shallcooperate to reflect the intercultural dimen-sion of KOTESOL.

2. The First Vice-President shall be the super-visor of the Chapters and work with theCouncil representatives from each Chap-ter. The First Vice-President shall also un-dertake such other responsibilities as thePresident may delegate.

3. The Second Vice-President shall be the con-vener of the National Program Committeeand shall be responsible for planning, de-veloping and coordinating activities.

4. The Secretary shall keep minutes of theAnnual Business Meeting and other busi-ness meetings of KOTESOL, and shallkeep a record of decisions made by theCouncil. The Treasurer shall maintain a listof KOTESOL members and shall be thecustodian of all funds belonging toKOTESOL.

IV. The Council 1. All members of the Councilmust be members in good standing ofKOTESOL and international TESOL.

2. Five members of the Council shall consti-tute a quorum for conducting business.Council members shall be allowed to ap-point a qualified substitute, but that per-son shall not be allowed to vote at the meet-ing.

3. The KOTESOL General Manager (GM)shall be an equal member of the Council inall respects, except that the GM will beexcluded from deliberations and voting con-cerning the hiring, compensation, retention,discipline, or termination of the GM oraffecting the position of GM. The GMserves as Chief Executive Officer forKOTESOL, and retains such authority asis vested by the action of the Council forday-to-day management of KOTESOL ac-tivities.

4. Minutes of the Council shall be available tothe members of KOTESOL.

V. Committees 1. There shall be a NationalProgram committee chaired by the SecondVice-President. The Committee will con-sist of the Vice-Presidents from each of theChapters. The Program Committee shallbe responsible for planning and develop-ing programs.

2. There shall be a Publication Committee re-sponsible for dissemination of informationvia all official publication.

3. The Council shall authorize any other stand-ing committees that may be needed toimplement policies of KOTESOL.

4. A National Conference Committee shall beresponsible for planning and developing theAnnual Conference. The National Confer-ence Committee Chair shall be elected atthe Annual Business Meeting two yearsprior to serving as Chair of the NationalConference Committee. This person shallserve as Cochair of the National Confer-ence Committee for the first year of theterm. In the second year of the term theCochair shall become the Chair of the Na-tional Conference Committee.

5. There shall be a Nominations and ElectionsCommittee responsible for submitting acomplete slate of candidates for the respec-tive positions of KOTESOL to be elected.The Chair of this Committee shall beelected by a majority vote of members. TheChair is responsible for appointing a Nomi-nation and Elections Committee and forconducting the election.

VI. Chapters 1. A Chapter of KOTESOL canbe established with a minimum of twentymembers, unless otherwise specified by theCouncil.

2. The membership fee shall be set by theCouncil, 50% of which will go to the Na-tional Organization, and 50% will belongto the Chapter.

3. The Chapters will have autonomy in areasnot covered by the Constitution and By-laws.

VII. Parliamentary Authority The rules con-tained in Robert's Rules of Order, NewlyRevised shall govern KOTESOL, in allcases in which they are applicable and inwhich they are not inconsistent with theConstitution and Bylaws.

VIII. Audits An audit of the financial transac-tions of KOTESOL shall be performed atleast (but not limited to) once a year asdirected by the Council.

IX. Amendments The Bylaws may beamended by a majority vote of membersprovided that notice of the proposedchange has been given to all members atleast thirty days before the vote. The By-laws may be amended without such priornotice only at the Annual Business Meet-ing, and in that case the proposal shall re-quire approval by three-fourths of themembers present.

The approved minutes of recentKOTESOL Council meetings maybe found on the website.

Constitution & Bylaws of Korea TESOL


32

Film 2

CONNECTION - KoTESOL

Documents