Category Archives: Teaching English in Korea

The cultural rebound

Posted on 29/11/2009 by alexcase

As this is my seventh year in a row in East Asia and I’ve never stayed anywhere more than two years before, this is the first time I’ve noticed this effect. I now have the knowledge and ability to sniff … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural differences/ cultural training, Teaching English in Asia, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching English in Korea | 12 Comments

Losing my best students

Posted on 06/11/2009 by alexcase

Getting back to my paranoid fears of the last post (because a blog might be time consuming and pay nothing, but unlike seeing a therapist it’s free), there definitely does seem to be one kind of student I have lost … Continue reading →

Posted in ALT, Classroom management, Cultural differences/ cultural training, Eliciting, JET, Pairwork and groupwork, Problem students, Teaching English in Asia, Teaching English in China, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching English in Korea, Teaching shy students | 3 Comments

H1N1 as a reason for cancelling classes

Posted on 04/11/2009 by alexcase

… or just an excuse? You have to wonder. That is, you have to wonder if you are always paranoid about your last performance class. Sorry- sometimes my AmDram lovey side and my TEFL teacher side seem very close indeed, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Lesson observations, Teaching English in Korea | Tagged | 3 Comments

A sense of perspective from an unexpected quarter

Posted on 30/09/2009 by alexcase

Meaning even more unexpected than a TEFL book with a sense of perspective… “You lose a few and pick up a few. That’s how it goes. If I could fulfil everyone’s desires, why would I need to touch the soil … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching English in Korea | Tagged | Leave a comment

Does better pay really lead to better teaching?

Posted on 15/09/2009 by alexcase

I’m not talking about schools offering better pay and therefore being able to recruit better teachers, because if the whole industry got the standards that we occasionally demand that wouldn’t work. What I want to discuss is a school giving its … Continue reading →

Posted in CPD, Dodgy TEFL school owners, Job security, Teaching English in Korea, Teaching English in the Middle East, TEFL, TEFL pay | 26 Comments

An apology

Posted on 19/08/2009 by alexcase

to the three TEFL related communities/ social networking sites that I’m theoretically a member of but never even read let alone contribute to (My English Club, BELT Free and EFL Classroom 2.0), plus the many people whose invitations to join LinkedIn or … Continue reading →

Posted in ELT publishing, English Teaching Professional, links, modern english teacher magazine, Teacher forums, Teaching English in Korea, TEFL blogs, Usingenglish | 7 Comments

How not to teach pronunciation

Posted on 21/07/2009 by alexcase

“Japanese college students who’d had little exposure to spoken English underwent 12 sessions listening to exaggerated “Ls” and “Rs” while watching the computerized instructor’s face pronounce English words. Brain scans — a hair dryer-looking device called MEG, for magnetoencephalography — … Continue reading →

Posted in Linguistics, applied linguistics and SLA, links, minimal pairs, Pronunciation, Teaching English in Asia, Teaching English in China, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching English in Korea, Teaching English in Thailand | Tagged , | 1 Comment

TOEIC- the Test of English for International What??

Posted on 08/07/2009 by alexcase

A guest piece by Carmela Chateau “International ’Communication’, according to the full name of the test, but most studies in communication refer to four skills. In the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, there are in fact five skills: … Continue reading →

Posted in Business English and ESP, EFL exams, EFL geek, ETS, Teaching English Abroad, Teaching English in Asia, Teaching English in Europe, Teaching English in France, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching English in Korea, Teaching English in Taiwan, TEFL blogs, TOEIC | 10 Comments

Rumours about TOEIC

Posted on 21/06/2009 by alexcase

This is just gossip, so perhaps you can tell me (by comment or email) which ones you have heard or think to be true: – The TOEIC was originally set up by specific request of the Japanese government who wanted to … Continue reading →

Posted in Business English and ESP, EFL exams, ETS, History of English teaching in Japan, Teaching English in Asia, Teaching English in China, Teaching English in Europe, Teaching English in France, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching English in Korea, Teaching English in Taiwan, Teaching in Japanese companies, TEFL, TOEIC | Tagged | 4 Comments

ETS to introduce new exam for teachers

Posted on 16/05/2009 by alexcase

Their spokesman said “With IELTS increasingly taking over from TOEFL, BULATS eating away at TOEIC, Eiken expanding in Japan and the Korean government introducing its own English language exams, we were worried that the level of English teaching in Asia … Continue reading →

Posted in BULATS, EFL exams, ETS, IELTS, Teacher training, Teaching English Abroad, Teaching English in Asia, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching English in Korea, TEFL, TOEFL, TOEIC | Tagged | Leave a comment