Outsourced Korean Tutors to Teach English
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
The presidential transition team is considering hiring qualified outside experts to get its planned English-only classes in public schools underway, spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said Monday.
Lee said the team was looking at several options to place proficient English-speaking Korean teachers in primary and secondary schools as teachers.
``We are now considering placing male college and graduate school students seeking degree programs in English-speaking countries in public schools as teachers. Male students can replace their mandatory military service duty with public school service,'' he added.
Lee said members of the transition team were also studying hiring qualified housewives to meet the rising demand for fluent English-speaking teachers.
A team official said on condition of anonymity in an interview with Yonhap News that the incoming administration is studying the introduction of a so-called Teaching English in English (TEE) certificate to hire qualified Koreans meeting the high standard for teaching jobs in schools.
Under the plan, a source said Koreans who had completed the Teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) program or earned a master's or higher degree in English-speaking countries will be eligible for the TEE program.
The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) also said it will hire English teachers who've completed a TESOL program.
The transition team official said the incoming government would conduct oral expression tests on these applicants before hiring, and that outside expert recruitment is a separate measure to tackle the shortage of fluent English-speaking teachers in schools.
Sources said the TEE program would be part of the English education reform plan, of which complete elements will be announced on Wednesday.
The move comes amid mounting skepticism from schoolteachers that the vast majority of English teachers are not fully prepared to lead classes in English.
These teachers have questioned the effectiveness of the proposed plan to lead high school English classes in English from 2010.
A 2006 survey of 51 English teachers having completed a short-term English immersion program supports these educators' worries.
Using the English Speaking Proficiency Testing (ESPT), the survey found 66 percent of these teachers ``have a general ability to communicate in English but mistakes in grammar and pronunciation often occur.''
The 2005 Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) survey of English teachers having completed a short-term immersion program also supported the results.
Only 16.1 percent of teachers had proficient command of English without any difficulties, the result said.
Amid the tough environment, Chairwoman Lee Kyung-sook of the team has not shown any signs of stepping back, saying ``It's time to move on.''
``Our goal is clear. We are going to take English education to a level where the next generation feels confident in expressing their ideas in English without difficulties,'' the chairwoman said.
Spokesman Lee clarified that the goal of the new government's English education policy is to tackle the so-called English divide.
He dismissed the criticism that English-only classes, to be introduced from 2010 in high schools, would only deepen social polarization as more and more students would seek private tutoring to cope with class contents.
Household spending on private education will rise as a consequence, critics have said.
The spokesman denied the speculation, saying, ``The goal of the educational reform plan is to strengthen public education in an effort to cut household spending on private education.''
He said the new government has no plan to introduce English content classes in other courses and the English-only class in high school English class aims to strengthen students' speaking and writing skills.