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Korean vs. English: Contrasts in Phonology, Morphology and Culture

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If you are teaching English as a second or foreign language, it is important to understand the native language of your students. Since I have been living in South Korea for over 8 years, I will show you how to learn and understand more about a language, without necessarily becoming fluent, in order to become a more effective teacher by contrasting Korean with English.  The first, and easiest, step begins with exploring the history and culture of the language in order to lay a solid foundation of understanding. Often understanding the language will lend you further awareness of social norms and codes of other cultures.  Next, is learning the actual pieces of the language. The characters, words, vowels, consonants and other basic functions of language will absolutely help with efficient second language instruction.  History and Culture The Korean language, called Hangul, was created by one of its most beloved Kings during the Joseon Dynasty – King Sejong. His intention was t
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Sheltered Instruction - An Early Strategy

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Sheltered Instruction is one of the most effective methods for teaching ELL’s and ensuring their comprehension and ability to progress in their fluency after beginner levels. It helps ELL students gain proficiency and literacy in their L2 via exposure to content lessons. Science is a great content area for students to participate in sheltered instruction because it allows them to learn through means than other, traditional classes; especially effective are thematic lessons based on a central theme and this can let students learn more intensely and effectively. Speaking and Presentation are other good areas for learning in a sheltered instruction environment. It is very good for building academic knowledge and helping students prepare their presentation skills. Additionally, speaking in front of peers allows students to bridge the gap between social and academic language,  because they are forced to use more formal language and full sentences when presenting information to t
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Advocacy - It Starts With You!

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There are many ways to define advocacy, but when specifically referring to education, you are left with three main areas: Parent advocacy, educator advocacy, and administrative advocacy .  All of these areas have a common goal: helping, representing and encouraging students to grow and learn to the best of their abilities. As an educator, it is my job to ensure my students have the best resources, opportunities and individual support to guarantee they have the best possible environment for learning.                 Teaching at a private kindergarten in South Korea provides so many challenges for teachers as advocates. There is a business model that runs the school and administrators are often focused on the enhancement of profits rather than students. There is a delicate balance to be had between educators and parents as well, and there are many cultural and social barriers that affect students' abilities to communicate their needs clearly.             With all of these
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Thematic Lessons Integrating Bloom's Taxonomy

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When teaching the English language in a foreign country, most teachers utilize similar curriculum and strategies as American schools and our research and development teams consult American standards for testing, textbooks, and level placements. However, because of the difference in language, culture and general content of the textbooks, students can sometimes get lost very quickly. Their overall literacy is good, but some find they cannot readily understand concepts that an American child might grasp quickly, due to being raised in an American culture. An example of this is one of the stories in the textbook, Reading Street, in  a piece of non-fiction text about ranch hands’ responsibilities on a cattle farm. Most of the vocabulary for them is new since they do not grow up with farming vocabulary. We, therefore, need to teach a lot of background information. This is an example that demonstrates, first-hand, that, “Reading comprehension requires not only the skills of reading…
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