The present study explored the experiences of six elementary teachers as they had strived to develop expertise in teaching English since it was introduced as a regular subject in 1997. The focus was on what they have done for their professional development, what they perceive to have influenced on the acquisition of expertise, and how they reflect on their professional growth over time. Two rounds of life story interviews were conducted with each teacher, and they were all recorded on digital audiotape and transcribed verbatim. Interviews centered on uncovering teachers’professional histories, teacher education experiences, past and current work with children, conceptions of themselves as an English teacher, critical incidents in their teaching careers, and their future career plans. Five themes emerged from the content analysis of the interview data. They include teacher development as social development; the unique challenges of being and becoming an English teacher; learning for and from students; developmental concerns and needs in teachers’ career cycle; and the impact of policy changes on teachers. The study concludes with some implications for educating in-service teachers.

This study investigates English teacher-learners' perceptions of secondary English teacher roles. Seventy English teacher-learners' responses to a teacher role questionnaire and focus group interviews are analyzed to find out the teacher-learners' perception of the teacher roles in classroom teaching, around school, and outside school in the professional communities. The analysis shows that the teacher-learners perceive their future teacher roles as communication facilitating, and at the same time knowledge transmitting. The teacher-learners seek teacher roles of much control over the classroom, be it communication pursuing or knowledge transmitting, believing in teacher authority and being self-conscious over their English proficiency. In addition, the teacher-learners reveal keen interest in roles in the professional field beyond the confines of school. The study stresses as its conclusion that while positively influenced by communicative language teaching (CLT) principles. The teacher-learners have notable reservations about the student-centered English classroom. Suggestions are made in the areas of secondary English education including teacher support systems, and English teacher education.

In the early reading stage, readers should be supported both orally and conceptually so that they are equipped with the basic skills and knowledge about word recognition. Thus, a lack of systematic support in the early reading developmental stage impedes the natural growth of reading ability. This article investigated how children were supported in reading from their teachers in the primary English classrooms. To accomplish this purpose, eleven reading-focused classrooms were analysed. Observations, video recordings, and interviews were conducted for data collection. Field notes and checklists were also used during the observations. Qualitative analyses revealed that children were poorly supported in learning to read: teachers used few limited teaching techniques and their uses were not effective on reading. The data from the interviews revealed that teachers were rarely trained for reading instruction, and that they possessed a limited knowledge about the English language system as well as about the reading development of young learners. Hence, the teachers' poor background knowledge and lack of skills led to less effective reading instruction. Based on these findings, it is suggested that teachers require training such as in basic knowledge about the English writing system and reading development in order to deliver effective reading instruction to early readers.

To date almost no research has been reported on language teachers" assessment practices in university, with the belief that those practices are up to teachers" individual decision-making as part of instruction. The present study investigated the long-ignored English teachers" assessment practices (testing and grading) through university student perception indices, found in the questionnaire and interviews, by looking at how students feel about their teacher"s current assessment practices. The research findings revealed that students were concerned about their teachers" low quality of tests, absence of communication channels for checking test results and grades with teachers, and undemocratic testing ambience. Implications for future research and assessment were suggested to look for possibilities of bringing in critical language testing (CLT) to the university classroom.

This study aims to investigate the current status regarding the utilization of native English teachers in elementary schools focusing on its benefits and problems and to explore better ways of utilizing them for elementary English education. The participants of this study were 1024 elementary school students, 80 Korean elementary English teachers, and 56 native teachers of English. The data were collected through questionnaires and interviews. Through the analysis of data the followings were revealed: 1) the native teachers of English considered that their working conditions including wages and the amount of teaching time were appropriate, but the pre-training program was not satisfactory; 2) the Korean English teachers felt that their workload related to native teachers of English was too heavy; 3) the students perceived that studying English with native teachers of English had positive effects on their English abilities in terms of cognitive and affective aspects; 4) in most schools team teaching between native teachers of English and Korean teachers were being performed and both teachers were satisfied with it; 5) however, several issues such as the role relationship between the Korean English teachers and the native teachers of English, the quality of pre-training, and reconstruction of teaching materials should be resolved in order to improve English program of utilizing native English-speaking teachers in elementary schools.

This study explores an exemplary case of an English immersion program originally initiated by some primary school teachers. It investigates how an immersion education was initiated by the members of an English teachers" study group and later supported by a provincial office of education. The contents of the program and the three examples of immersion classes are briefly illustrated and commented. The innovative endeavors for the successful execution of the immersion classes include the use of the daily morning English practice and various ways of exposing students to English. It was found from the interview conducted with 5 immersion teachers that the strong motivation of the immersion teachers was the first empowering factor for this program and the appropriate financial and administrative help from the provincial office of education was another crucial one. Several practical problems from implementing the immersion program are also reported. From these results and findings some suggestions are made for better ways for implementing immersion programs in elementary schools.