Introduction to my blog

Purpose: The purpose of my blog is to share advice on teaching adolescents English as a Foreign Language in South Korea. The information in these posts might prove useful for those who are planning teach adolescents in Asia or for those who are currently teaching adolescents in Asia.

My Teaching Context: My teaching context consists of 7 young learners that are currently enrolled at E.C.C. (English Center for Children), which is a private English academy located in Tongyeong, South Korea. These students are around 12 and 13 years of age and are among the most advanced in the school. Their parents want them to learn English as a Foreign Language (EFL) because many Koreans see English as a tool for their child’s upward mobility within the society. This particular class takes place on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 7:30-8:10 p.m. This class is required to use a textbook called Jump Start with CNN Intermediate, where each lesson centers on a particular news item. Each lesson provides students with the opportunity to hone each of the four language skills. This institution did impose this particular textbook, however it did not impose any regulations as to how to go about teaching it which allows me a large amount of flexibility. These students do not have a lot of access to the target language outside of this classroom. They do have a local movie theater that has English movie showing and Korean television also airs a variety of shows in English (both contain Korean subtitles). A couple of other resources that are available to these students include a library which houses books in English for all levels and a computer lab where there is also a flat screen television.

Preferred Comments: I am hoping to elicit comments that will help me as well as others improve their teaching with respect to adolescents in South Korea. I welcome comments as well as links to other sites that might provide useful information.