By Lee Woo-young



Students, parents and teachers in Seoul show high satisfaction with foreign English teachers, believing they contribute to improving students’ English proficiency and confidence, a study showed.

The study was based on a survey by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on 43,742 students, parents, English teachers and foreign assistant teachers in elementary and secondary schools in Seoul.

The survey showed that 54.2 percent of parents said English classes conducted by native speaking assistant teachers are effective, and 62.4 percent said they are necessary for English education.

Of the students, 60 percent said that they are more satisfied with classes taught by foreign assistant teachers than those taught solely by Korean teachers.

“Students really like classes conducted by foreign English teachers and participate actively as the classes are handled with fun games and in simple English,” said Lee Ji-eun, an elementary school teacher who attended the open English class at Joongdae Elementary School in Songpa district.

Most foreign English teachers join the classes led by Korean teachers as their assistants, but some of them take charge of classes, she said.

Teachers said foreign English teachers have contributed to students’ English proficiency and confidence in English communication. Of teachers, 87.2 percent said they have jointly taught with foreign teachers during regular class hours and prefer co-teaching in elementary schools to that in secondary schools.

In Seoul, the portion of native speaking assistant teachers was 95.4 percent, the third-highest in the country after Jeju and Daegu. The rate is translated into about 760 students per foreign assistant teacher, according to the Education Ministry data on foreign English teachers in Korea.

But preference for foreign or Korean English teachers differed between parents and students, with 62.2 percent of parents and 53.7 percent of students favoring Korean English teachers with high English proficiency and good teaching skills.

Foreign assistant teachers cited the lack of knowhow among Korean English teachers in managing classes as the most difficult part of their job at 27 percent, followed by Korean teachers not used to cooperative work in designing curricula at 18.8 percent and misunderstandings due to cultural differences at 14.3 percent.

(wylee@heraldcorp.com)