A Possible Step Back: Korea Considering 2-Year Degrees

It's been four months since the Korean government issued new, strict regulations for E2 teaching visas and now some schools are asking for further changes, this time to lower the academic standards.

For the full article please go to our new website at www.esldaily.org

or visit the link directly HERE.

Excessive Punishment: Tardiness Earns One Student Push-ups, One Teacher A Court Date

For full article please refer to our new website at:
www.esldaily.org
or go directly to the article at:
http://blog.esldaily.org/2008/04/06/excessive-punishment-tardiness-earns-one-student-pushups-one-teacher-a-court-date.aspx

Ready, Set, Go! English Teacher Begins Taiwan Marathon

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Korean-American Teacher Arrested for 1996 Murder: Seoul

It took 12 years, numerous arrests, an extradition treaty with South Korea and an international manhunt for the FBI to detain David Nam, a 31-year-old Korean-American accused of slaying a retired police officer and stealing his gun in Pennsylvania in 1996...

Full story can be viewed at:
http://blog.esldaily.org/2008/03/19/koreanamerican-teacher-arrested-for-1996-murder-seoul.aspx

ESL Scams Part 2: Exotic Locations

In Part 1 of this series, we examined the "The Money Up Front" scam. In this scam, a school asks the potential teacher for 'commitment' or 'processing' fees before the commencement date of employment. In part 2, we explore the use of Exotic Locations in explaining the attraction and success of teaching scams through the example of my own personal experience with a scam two years ago in Valencia, Spain. Scams that use exotic locations such as Valencia, which is not a popular city for English as Second Language, convolute the first kind of scam by offering these "money up front" fees as refundable. They also locate their scams in exotic locations, by which I mean a city or a country with small ESL markets and in a location where research into the school or their offers is difficult to ascertain.

To read full article please see:
http://blog.esldaily.org/2008/03/15/esl-scams-part-2-exotic-locations.aspx

New Foreign Teacher' Association: Korea

There has been talk for years now about forming a foreign teacher's union to fight for and protect the rights of contracted English language teachers in South Korea. Although it is not a union, and does not have the power of one either, ATEK (Association of Teachers of English in Korea) will have to do for now...

Full article can be viewed at our new website:
http://blog.esldaily.org/2008/03/13/new-foreign-teacher-association-korea.aspx

Neil On Trail: Thailand

Five months after his October 19th 2007 arrest, Christopher Paul Neil, a 32-year-old Canadian schoolteacher charged with sexually abusing a 9-year-old Thai boy, has begun his trail in Bangkok, Thailand...

View the full article at:
http://blog.esldaily.org/2008/03/11/neil-on-trail-thailand.aspx

Teacher Wins Dual Awards: America, China

Tom Merchant of Charlotte, North Carolina, is literally 1 teacher in 3000. He beat out that many of his fellow nominated colleagues to become the Teacher of the Year at the High School Affiliated to Nanjing Normal University in Nanjing, China...
Come and see the full article at our new Site
http://blog.esldaily.org/2008/03/06/teacher-wins-dual-awards-america-china.aspx

Misdirected Encouragement in Vietnam

Discipline in the classroom is always a difficult issue to tackle, and sometimes it can have catastrophic results. Such is the morale recently learned by one Vietnamese teacher...

To view full article please visit our new site here:

http://blog.esldaily.org/2008/03/02/misdirected-encouragement-in-vietnam.aspx

Fake Degrees: Taiwan

The Chinese Language media has reported that up to 40% of teachers in Taiwan possess fake university degrees and are unqualified to teach ESL. Some Taiwanese University officials site the easy availability of fake degrees in Thailand as one of the major sources for the large number of unqualified teachers. According to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS), the amount of qualified foreign teachers at cram-schools, private language institutions, was down 9% from 2006. The gap needs to be filled and fake degrees seem to be doing the job right now for most employers who are just meeting the demands of the parents who want to see someone with blond hair and blue eyes teaching their children.

The supply and demand in Taiwan for foreign English teachers has certainly been exacerbated by the discretion of consulates taking it upon themselves to regulate the visas necessary to receive an Alien Registration Card (ARC). Anyone familiar with the process will know how much of a gamble it is to go to a consulate in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Vancouver, etc, and receive an extendable tourist-visa, the only visa that allows a teacher to receive an ARC card. And a potential teacher still needs to lie to the consulate and tell them they are just vacationing in Taiwan in order to receive the extendable tourist visa. I recently just tried this and the consulate in Bangkok granted me only a 60-day non-extendable visa, which meant I could not receive an ARC card. If Taiwan wants to clean up their act, they need to clean up their visa process so everyone can stop lying to each other.

For a full report, refer to:
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/2007/12/19/135433/40%25-of.htm

By Spencer McCall

E2 Denied: Korea's Universities, Government Not On Par

It's a tough lesson to learn, but if you're going to teach in Korea, read the fine print. Korea's E2 visa regulations have been transient as of late, but one stipulation that has not changed is the fact you must have a degree from an accredited university from Canada, America, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, or South Africa. A British student studying at the Hangkuk University of Foreign Studies, a prestiguous University in Seoul, recently discovered this hard truth when he applied for an E2 teaching visa just ahead of finishing his English Education degree. Mark Thomas, the British student, recevied the news he had been denied an E2 visa just after Christmas 2007 by the Seoul Immigration Bureau. The Bureau cited that because Thomas had not graduated from a University in a native-English speaking country, he did not meet the requirements of the E2 visa.

For further details go to the blogs that first reported this incident:
1. http://www.rjkoehler.com/2008/01/22/how-fucked-up-is-koreas-english-teaching-racket/
2. http://eflgeek.com/index.php/eflgeek/comments/english-education-major-denied-visa/

This incident speaks volumes to the dicord between official goverment departments. Korea remains a country where there is an obvious lack of commitment on the part of the government to the quality of its public education system, if a Korean univeristy will train a foreign teacher and then refuse to hire them as one. Although Thomas was eventually denied an E2 visa by the Seoul Immigration Bureau, the Seoul Board of Education had given him a green light on receiving a visa prior to the Bureau's decision. The Board of Education should have been aware of the law before misleading Thomas. Nevertheless, it is still the responsibility of the student or teacher to be aware of all laws before embarking on such an undertaking.

By Spencer McCall

E2 is Prejudiced: Foreign Envoys Criticize

The Korea Times recently reported an outcry by foreign ambassadors that Korea’s E2 teaching visa discriminated against other English speaking countries. The term “native” speaker was the word of contention that caused ambassadors from Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, and even India to request changes be made to the visa regulation which would allow teachers from non-native countries, but with a high proficiency in English language, to seek employment in Korea’s strong ESL market. For further details go to:

Korea only accepts foreign English teachers from Canada, America, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The large majority of these teachers also happen to be Caucasian, although this is a prejudice that exists only in hiring practices and not as a stipulation in the Visa itself. In an independent report published online last year, Caucasians has a higher success rate of employment that any other racial group.
(http://korean-school.blogspot.com/2007/03/study-five-skin-color-popularity.html)
In many ways, this policy is discriminatory since the E2 Visa is based upon nationality rather than a teaching qualification, unlike most other Asian countries that offer teaching visas.

The new visa regulations that came into effect on December 15th have discouraged many potential teachers from applying because of the long process involved in getting a criminal background check and paper work processed. The new regulations have also discouraged many experienced teachers from reapplying to Korean schools, choosing to find employment elsewhere. This has begun putting pressure on many private institutions, as well as public schools to continue guaranteeing the prestigious presence of a native speaker in their classrooms. In the Korea Times article of January 20th, 2008, the envoys were reported as suggesting the “ ‘narrow-minded’ visa policy prevents Koreans from developing English proficiency in a more efficient and cheaper way.”

Although no official announcement has been made in response to the ambassadors requests for a change in the policy, if one is made it could not only benefit the Asian teachers, but the Korean school system as well. The suggestion that hiring other non-native English proficient teachers would be a cheaper and more effective way to develop English language ability would definitely help many of Korea’s private language academies which are financially stretched offering foreigners generous salaries in order to entice them to suffer the long, arduous task of applying to the new E2.

By Spencer McCall

Am I qualified to teach English?

If you graduated from University with a Bachelor’s degree in Arts and Sciences then the answer to that question is yes, you are qualified, in certain countries. Korea, Japan and even Taiwan in certain cases are countries that are accepting of almost any degree and who pay their teachers a competitive salary. And if you have previous teaching experience then you are also qualified. But this is misleading. Many employers choose to ignore previous teaching experience because of the higher salary it entails. Schools in some countries are specific about the experience you have, i.e. If you have taught in Korea for several years, and wish to move to Taiwan, you are highly unlikely to receive additional pay for a new job because the experience wasn’t in Taiwan.

Just because a school is willing to hire you does not necessarily make you qualified to teach either. This is aggravating if you accept a new job thousands of miles from home and discover only after you arrive you are being paid less and working for a disreputable school because you lacked the proper qualifications. ESL teachers are hired for many reasons (James, article reference to experiments article)

There were many instances in 2007 where, in both in local and foreign online magazines, it was reported that English as a Second Language education was generally poor in quality. The list of complaints stretched anywhere from a lack of experience in the classroom, to the education of the teachers not pertaining to English teaching.

On one website it was reported that in Korea, “Only 3 percent [of current English teachers] have a teaching qualification, while 2 percent have a qualification that relate to the teaching of English in a foreign language setting” http://www.tesol-law.com/Vol_1_2006_rk.php

And there have been recent cases of foreign teachers illegally teaching with fake degrees. On another website it was reported “A Canadian English instructor who was arrested for using a forged bachelor's degree to get a visa and a job in Korea has been sentenced to jail.” http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200707/200707160021.html

But Korea is not the only country currently experiencing negative feedback about the quality and qualifications of its English teachers. The Thai government has had many of the country’s English language and other educational institutions investigated to ensure their teachers are adequately certified. Many EFL teachers in Thailand are now required to take special modules in Education to retain and maintain a legal teaching job.

As mentioned in a previous article in http://www.esldaily.org/, even Saudi Arabia is now questioning the qualifications of its ESL teachers. http://esldaily.blogspot.com/2007/12/speaking-english-doesnt-mean-you-can.html

“What is a qualified English teacher?” It’s a very difficult question to answer because the word “qualified” has many definitions. If you have a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature or Education, a TESOL certificate, or even a Masters degree you will be considered a qualified teacher depending upon the country in which you teach. Not all degrees are considered equal.

There are also teachers who have obtained a PhD in TESOL. These teachers should by all accounts be deemed the most qualified to teach English as a Second Language. And although this is true, over qualification actually decreases your chances of finding employment in many sectors of the ESL market. A private study published on the web last year showed that English job seekers who possessed post-graduate education and teaching experience had less opportunity for employment.
http://korean-school.blogspot.com/2007/04/korean-trends-education-vs-experience.html

In the report, a Bachelor of Education was the degree that showed the greatest potential and success in finding employment. Nonetheless, a degree in English literature had a higher chance of success than a Masters degree in TESOL. Experience was also shown to decrease the amount of job options.

Returning to the original question, are “we” qualified to teach English? One must first look at what are we being hired for. Many experienced and inexperienced teachers alike are now being regarded as unqualified because of their degrees. At the same time legitimately qualified teachers are being overlooked and denied employment because they are overqualified. On occasion they are even discriminated against because of their age, sex, race, etc.

Perhaps it is the responsibility of the educational institutes to properly train teachers. The demand is there for teachers and the teachers are willing to teach. Are the educational institutes ready to accept the responsibility to guide and train its teachers? An international job in high demand should set up programs to deal with its new teachers. I have been an ESL teacher for seven years and have been to many “professional conferences” designed to enhance teaching abilities. However, the majority of these conferences tend to focus less on improving the quality of a teacher’s abilities and more on “cultural adaptation” to the host country.

In a personal opinion, I believe there is no such thing as a REAL qualified ESL teacher. Nothing can prepare someone for the classroom more than experience itself, and if the educational institutes do not appreciate experience, they are always going to have problems with finding a “qualified teacher.”

Korea Jim

ATELFC first ever teachers conference

Teachers in China are welcome to the ATELFC first ever teachers conference. Hundreds of EFL professionals are expected to be gathering in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province South East China at the Fountains International Community Center (http://www.thefountains.cn/index.html). ATELFC is the Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language in China, a group of professional teachers dedicated to improve the quality of English education in China. The workshop intends to focus on issues such as teacher preparation, classroom techniques, learning management, student assessment, culture awareness/shock and other related issues. ATEFLC is searching for Speakers to present at the 2008 regional conference. If you wish to partake in the event or require further information, contact Josie Roberts at josie.ateflc@gmail.com by April 5, 2008.

China Cracking Down on Plagiarism

In a country notorious for pirated movies, music and software and where copyright infringement and intellectual property are truly foreign words, the wind of change is coming. In the past, China has rarely, if ever, punished a teacher or professor for plagiarism. But things are changing. Huang Zongying, a former associate professor of English literature and language studies at the Foreign Languages School of Beijing University has been fired. Authorities found that a good portion of his academic work from 1999 to 2003 was laden with plagiarism. This is a rare move by a Chinese University to fire one of its professors. Hopefully it will mark the beginning of a new era for academic writing in China.

For further details see http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-08/06/content_362347.htm

Turkey: A Teacher’s Right?

In Turkey, students are not allowed to record and distribute video of their teachers, even if they are being beaten and abused by them. One Turkish student learned this the hard way. A ninth grade student was recently expelled from school after he recorded his English teacher in class. The teacher was allegedly beating and swearing at her students. In retaliation the student posted the recording on the Internet. But in the end, the English teacher was found not guilty. As reported in the Turkish Daily News, “The teacher isn't found guilty for bashing and beating the students. However, the students are found guilty when they record the teacher on video to uncover her manners”

Further information can be found at:
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=91400

By Korea Jim

Benefits and Pitfalls of Freelance English Teaching: Part 1

By Korea Jim

Many ESL teachers practice freelance English teaching, also known as “private” tutoring. But before a teacher decides to engage in freelance work, they should consider the laws of the country in which they reside. Countries such as South Korea have laws punishable by deportation and high fines for working without a proper visa. And there are countries such as Japan and Taiwan where freelance work in encouraged and legal. There are still hundreds of teachers that continue to teach illegally in countries around the world, but they have made the conscious, albeit risky, decision the remunerations of freelance work outweigh the punishments.

The first thing a teacher should consider when engaging in freelance work is their schedule. Tutoring can have dry spells, when schools are on holiday or students cancel classes. Freelance work as a supplement to full-time income is the best situation to be in when these dry spells occur. It is inadvisable for a teacher to rely on freelance work as their primary income. Rent is expensive and with damage deposits, as well as first and last month’s rent, getting an apartment can be a large burden for a first-time English teacher. You should have enough money to continue with your daily routine without having to rely on income for a few months. You should also keep emergency flight money on hand, just in case you have to leave. You should also know your host country very well and understand the laws and risks you take by engaging in freelance work.

The second thing that you must keep in mind, you must be social and have many friends. You cannot make the transition into freelance work and expect many students without having a social network, because a teacher can find many students based on referrals by other teachers and their students. You should also socialize the local people of your host country when possible. Perhaps even have a “home stay” family to help you out for a few months.

Third, depending on your legal situation, you should advertise. Yes, word of mouth works best, but it can be slow in the beginning. Posting advertisements at local schools may help a little, but it’s the parents you need to focus on; they are the ones with the money. Leave a little leaflet with your information and experience in both your language and the local language, with little tear off sheets at the bottom with your phone number. You may even consider placing your picture in the local paper to help grab the eye of parents. Do not forget to ask permission before placing the advertisement.

Fourth, how much should you charge? You must consider your student and his/her financial situation and the local going rate. Check out the different Internet forums in your host country and ask what the going rate is. You don’t want to under-charge or over-charge your clients; this can upset other teachers or students. It is also wise to keep your dealings quiet and confidential. Only discuss your freelance work with those people you feel you can trust.

2007’s Most Infamous ESL Teacher: Christopher Paul Neil (One Man Can Make a Difference)

By Jim Korea

2007 will most likely be remembered in the ESL world as the year Christopher Paul Neil was arrested. Neal will be remembered not only as being a terrible pedophile, but also as the individual responsible for governments across the Asia Pacific region changing and tightening their restrictions in regards to foreigners and working visas.

Neil, an English teacher who taught for the past few years in South Korea, instigated a huge Interpol manhunt this year under charges of pedophilia. Numerous disturbing photos of Neal with young children from Vietnam and Cambodia surfaced on the Internet more than 4 years ago, but Neal’s face had been purposefully distorted in all the photographs. It wasn’t until this year when German police reconstructed one of the images using modern software that Neal’s face was finally identified and arrested in Thailand on October 19, 2007.

Since the arrest of Neil, officials from around the world have been tightening their laws. Korea, the country in which Neil last taught, has decided to stiffen laws for all teachers. Visas now require (A slight delay to March 15th 2008) a police check, a criminal check and verification of degrees by the teacher’s university. In the near future, teachers may also have to undergo interviews with the nearest Korean Embassy. Thailand Police have posted 50 other photos of Western pedophilia suspects and they have cracked down on over 1000 teachers, verifying their documents and making sure they are abiding by the rules of their visas. In November, Japan began fingerprinting all foreigners entering the country. Japanese immigration officials claim that it is not a direct result of the Christopher Neil incident, but the timing of the law change makes many visitors question the motive behind it. China has always had strict laws regarding foreign English teachers, but they have certainly raised their awareness this year of the international community of teachers and earlier this year charged an ESL teacher under similar charges as those of Neil. Taiwan, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and even Mexico have been hard hit by the news of Neal’s actions and subsequent arrest.

Many ESL teachers feel angry about the shame Neil has brought on the international ESL teaching community and in some situations teachers find the finger pointing to them. Discrimination for some is at an all time high.

Currently Neil is facing numerous charges that can land him over 20 years in Thai prison. Thai police are conducting further forensic testing and Neal’s court date has been extended: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g8qdIstGdTbpAUxvxeDJETLe7-Xw Little else is known about the infamous Canadian who proved in 2007 that “One man can make a difference.”

Volunteer At Own Risk

By Spencer McCall

If you’re an English teacher thinking of heading down to Mallipo beach to help clean up Korea’s worst ever oil spill, don’t let your goodwill get the better of you or you might just be deported. Unless you fill out the proper form and pay a certain fee, the Korean government would much rather you stay home. There are rules for foreigners volunteering, and the rules mean paying for offering a free service.

As surprising as it sounds, under the Immigration Control Act of Korea, “it is punishable that you [a foreigner] engage in the activities beyond your current visa status without permission” from the Ministry of Justice. This includes volunteering, not just at the oil spill disaster, but also for any work or event outside of the school that is sponsoring your E2 visa. The documents you require to volunteer include:

A travel document (passport)
Alien Registration Card
Application forms (downloadable from http://www.immigration.go.kr/)
Fees (60,000 won)

The government crackdown on volunteering extends far beyond the recent natural disaster relief effort, a particular event that has drawn dozens of English teachers to the beach in a genuine gesture of goodwill. For more on the extent the government has gone to pursue E2 violations check out an article by Carli Brosseau on Empas News <Click Here>

Teachers Making a Positive Influence

By Jim Korea

Teachers from around Korea are gathering to help relief efforts from the oil spill just off South Korea¢s Western coast (Taean, South Chungcheong Province). On Friday morning, December 7th 2007, a Samsung barge rammed into an anchored oil tanker 8km off the Western coast, spilling over 10,000 tons of oil. This is Korea's worst ever oil spill in history.

Without much thought or hesitation, members of the foreign teacher community immediately began organizing efforts to help. As most teachers must travel to the coast by bus, Saturdays and Sundays are the only available times for teachers to assist in the cleanup. However, their efforts will definitely help in the cleanup and at the same time vastly improve the reputation of the foreign teacher community, a reputation that has been tarnished in recent months by the arrest of the pedophile Christopher Neil.


In the proceeding months, teachers will work alongside officials to assist in the coastal relief efforts. The cleanup will likely take decades until the coast returns to pre-spill conditions, but the teacher's efforts will be dually noted.

Foreign groups such a Socius and FLEA have organized previous fundraisers for Korea. For further information please visit http://expathh.wordpress.com/ One can find ways to either donate time or funds through the expat community in Korea.