KOREASCHOLAR

Little research exists on expatriate language teachers’ experiences and attitudes toward their students and teaching contexts, particularly venues with younger learners, in an L2 setting. Thus, this study investigated native English-speaking teachers’ (NESTs) experiences of and attitudes toward teaching and interacting with Korean elementary school children in the Korean elementary school context. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with five NESTs who have worked, and are still working, in various areas of Korea. Findings indicated that the NESTs of the current study were holding relatively positive attitudes toward Korean children as well as teaching them English. The NESTs viewed Korean children as engaging and responsive learners, but stressed the importance of their own roles in creating an environment for the children’s better engagement. The NESTs’ experiences varied whether they had upper and lower grade elementary school children and whether they taught main classes or after-school classes, etc. Finally, the NESTs experienced challenges when dealing with children with extremely different levels of English in one classroom and with managing disorderly behaviors of after-school classes. Based on the findings of the study, practical implications for both NESTs and Korean teachers are provided.

 I. Introduction  II. Literature Review  III. Methodology   1. Participants   2. Data Collection Procedure and Data Analysis  IV. Results   1. NESTs’ Beliefs about Teaching English to Korean Elementary School Children   2. The NESTs’ Attitudes Toward and Impressions about Korean Children and Their English Proficiency and Attitudes Toward Learning English   3. The NESTs’ Experiences with Korean Elementary School Children   4. Challenges Encountered When Teaching Children in Korea  V. Discussion and Implications  References

• Sun Young Chun(Kyungpook National University)