Cho, Eun & Oh, Sun-Young. (2023). “Representation of Native English Teachers and Korean English Teachers in Korean English Newspapers: A Corpus-based Critical Discourse Analysis”. The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea, 31(2). 95-123. Native-speakerism, a pervasive issue in the field of English Language Teaching, is observed globally and prevalent in Korea. This ideology negatively affects both Native English Teachers (NETs) and Non-native English teachers like Korean English Teachers (KETs) for some reasons. This study utilizes corpus-based critical discourse analysis to examine the linguistic patterns and referential expressions used in Korean English newspapers to represent NETs and KETs. The analysis reveals significant disparities in their positions and authority within Korean English classrooms. Specifically, NETs are labeled as “assistants,” implying a subordinate role with limited authority, while KETs are referred to as “co-teachers,” signifying a more secure status. Moreover, the study highlights the challenges faced by KETs in demonstrating their English proficiency and sheds light on the discrimination faced by NETs who possess commodified linguistic capital and are of Caucasian descent. These findings emphasize the importance of raising awareness of native-speakerism in Korean newspapers.

This study was aimed at finding pedagogical answers to the question of ‘what are the qualities of native English speakers at a Korean middle school’. In this study, research results were derived using phenomenological methods from seven native English teachers at a middle school. The results of the study are as follows; 1) native English teachers should teach English effectively, 2) native English teachers should be able to adapt to their positions in Korea, 3) native teachers are ‘new information providers’ and ‘introducers of new cultures’. Korean society has focused on the external conditions and specifications of native speakers. However, it is now necessary to clearly define the qualities that native teachers should have and use them for recruitment and education of native teachers. Also, native teachers who want to work in Korea need to be trained according to the cultural and educational situation in Korea. Through this study,it is critical to consider measures to improve the legal status of native English teachers.

Considering critical roles of teachers in education, an increasing number of studies have investigated language teacher identity. Although many studies have reported nonnative English-speaking teachers’ identity, few studies have explored native English-speaking teachers’ (NESTs’) professional identity. Taking poststructural approaches towards identity, the present study investigated how two NESTs working in Korean universities perceived themselves professionally and how their identities were realized in class. Data were collected through interviews, class observations, and material collections. Findings showed that the NESTs constructed multiple identities differently shaped by various factors, such as previous experiences and college majors. One NEST had identities of a role model for foreign language learning and a caretaker, while the other showed weak identities as a teacher with identities of a writer and a babysitter. Despite such differences, the NESTs commonly manifested an overarching identity as a guide who desired to create safe and comfortable learning environments. These findings confirm close connections between teachers’ professional identity and practices.

As emphasis has increased on English as an international language and on the globalized image of universities, the number of native English speaker teachers (NETs) has also increased in Korean universities. From the poststructuralist view, teacher identity is constructed through participation in valued activities of the community of practice, and it is not fixed but constantly negotiated through the interaction of the context (Wenger, 1998). While previous studies focused on nonnative English speaker teachers’ identity construction, little attention has been paid to NETs in the EFL context. Considering the need to explore teacher identity from recent theoretical perspectives, the present study investigates how NETs negotiate conflicting identities and construct their teacher identities in the Korean university context. The findings show the NETs constructed multiple identities of an English educator, a collaborative volunteer, a non-tenured instructor, and a cultural and linguistic outsider, and they legitimize their professor identity through their participation in the present and imagined community of competent teachers. The findings support the claim that teacher identity is embedded in the sociocultural context that interacts with the individual agency in making sense of who they are. Implications and suggestions of the study are addressed based on the findings.

This study compares native English teachers (NETs) and non-native English teachers (NNETs) in their perceptions of errors as well as their actual feedback. Studies comparing NETs and NNETs have focused on actual feedback practice (Green & Hecht, 1985; T. Kobayashi, 1992), with very few studies relating this feedback to their actual perceptions of error correction (Hyland & Anan, 2006; Kim, 2007). In order to better understand this phenomenon, 26 NETs and 24 NNETs completed a questionnaire and provided feedback on a sample academic essay. The results reveal that while both groups showed differing degrees of perceptions, they did not significantly differ from each other in actual feedback, except that NETs preferred coded feedback than NNETs by explaining errors. This study implies that NNETs are as reliable as NETs in correcting errors, but that they differ in how they give feedback.

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.

The purpose of this study was to explore the co-teaching experiences between native and non-native English teachers in the Korean elementary and secondary school context. Research data included classroom observations and teachers’ interviews collected over one school semester. A constant comparative data analysis method was employed to provide an in-depth description of the co-teachers’ teaching practice, the aspects of their interactions, and their professional development in a classroom setting. The findings of this study revealed that the co-teaching styles and role distributions in the co-teaching process were different depending on the non-native teachers’ English proficiency and their professional relationships. It also suggested that the successful implementation of collaborative team work was deeply related to the participating teachers’ willingness to cooperate and conceptions created by the dynamics of interaction between the two teachers in and outside of the classroom. Given the research result that both native and non-native teachers benefitted from their co-teaching experiences, some pedagogical implications on the improvement of co-teaching English in Korean classrooms are proposed.

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.

본 연구는 한국인 중등 영어교사(KETs) 2명과 원어민 영어보조교사(NETs) 2명의 의견을 바탕으로, 현재 코티칭 수업에 대한 그들의 시각에 대해 논의한다. 한국에서의 개인적 교수경험을 기초로 한 코칭에 대한 정의, 코티칭에 대한 현재의 태도를 결정하는 데 영향을 끼친 요소들, 더 나은 코티칭 수업을 위해 필요한 점에 대한 그들의 의견을 온라인 비디오 인터뷰를 통해 수집하였으며, 동료검토 과정(Peer debriefing session)을 통해 분석하였다. 자료 분석 결과, 네 명의 영어교사 모두가 코티칭의 개념, 코티칭 수업의 목표, 어떻게 코티칭 수업을 하고 피드백을 공유할 지에 대한 명확한 합의에 도달하지 못하였으며, 그 실천 가능한 방법을 배울 기회가 부족했다. 그로 인해, 한국인 중등 영어교사와 원어민 영어교사 사이 수업에 대한 주인의식(Sense of ownership)이 불균형하고, 코티칭에 대한 서로의 의견이 암묵적으로 불일치하는 상황이 야기되었다. 또한 원어민 교사와의 코티칭 관련 협의 과정에서 어려움을 경험한 바 있었다. 한국인 영어교사들은 코티칭 수업에 대한 진지한 의견을 공유 하려는 시도 자체가, 그들의 원어민 영어보조교사들에 의해 "방해 (혹은 간섭)”으로 받아들여질 것이 라고 생각하고 있었다. 또한, 네 명의 참여자들 모두 코티칭에 필요한 요소인 협력하는 방법을 제대로 연수 할 기회가 없었다는 것을 인터뷰 분석을 통해 확인할 수 있었다. 이러한 연구 결과를 바탕으로 영어 코티칭 교사들 사이에 건설적인 협의를 할 수 있는 방향을 제시한다.

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between elementary school students’ self-confidence in English as a foreign language and their assessment of English teaching taught by native speaker English teachers. A total of 126 elementary school students were asked on a 5-point Likert scale instrument to assess their native English teachers in terms of their teaching ability, provision of opportunity to use English, classroom management, and language assessment ability. In addition, the subjects were asked to rate how much they were confident with their English. All of the responses were submitted to the SPSS 22 version for statistical analyses. Firstly, the subjects were divided into 3 groups based on how much they felt confident with their English. Secondly, a MANOVA was run to investigate any group differences in how they perceive their native speaker teachers’ teaching ability, provision of opportunity, and language assessment ability. The results indicated that language confidence was indeed an important variable not only in subjects’ learning English but also how they perceived their English learning experience as a whole. Pedagogical implications for improving elementary school children were also discussed.

The purpose of this study is two-fold. The first purpose is to explore how native English-speaking teachers in Korea describe constraints of their teaching experience in a different culture. The second purpose is to attempt to analyze these teachers’ perspectives on what kind of support proves to be helpful during the initial teaching experience. By analyzing collected data from in-depth interviews and focus groups during threemonth period, this study tried to capture certain cultural patterns and operational principles underlying the native English-speaking teachers’ meaning making of their teaching in a different cultural context. The overall findings from this study shed light on the direction of future research in several ways. First, research participants in this study point out the importance of the teachers seeing themselves developmentally. It was also posited that the process of becoming a teacher in a different culture is somewhat idiosyncratic, however, strongly affected by contextual factors, especially by the role of the native cooperating teacher and the role of the mentor. The results of this study were discussed in a way to generate practical suggestions for improving the support system for the native English-speaking teachers.

A role of students' affective factors in assessing their non-native teachers of English. Studies in Modern Grammar This study investigated the relationship between non-native English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ perceptions of their non-native teachers and their own affective variables. A total of 189 subjects in this study responded to a Likert-type scale instrument that measured their self-directed learning behavior, anxiety, class participation, their perceived teachers’ teaching ability, closeness with their teachers, and anxiety aroused in the presence of their teachers. Following principal factor analyses to check the construct validity of each construct, canonical correlation analysis was performed to understand to what extent subjects’ perceptions of their non-native teachers of English can be related to their affective states are related. The results indicated that the two sets were moderately correlated in two functions with canonical coefficients 0.52 and 0.37, suggesting that perceptions of non-native teachers may be related to learners’ affective states. Further analyses showed that students who reported high on self-regulatory learning behavior and classroom participation were likely to feel that their teacher was close to them, were still likely to feel anxious, and tended to feel positive about their teacher’s teaching ability. In addition, this study found that students with low foreign language anxiety were likely to manifest low belief in their teacher’s teaching ability, were likely to feel distant from their teacher, and likely to have the fear of negative evaluation.