Mixed • Room 204 • 14:00
EFL in Korea's Remote Elementary Schools: Challenges and Opportunities
Young Learners
The Ministry of Education mandates that every Korean public school offer English classes starting at elementary grade three, yet students in Korea’s most remote village and island elementary schools are at a disadvantage in accessing quality English education in comparison to their urban peers. In this workshop we will first explore the reasons why students at these rural elementary schools often face a number of challenges in getting a solid foundation in primary-level English skills in ways that students in metropolitan areas do not. Then, we will look at what an English teacher working at one of these rural elementary schools can do to help compensate for the constraints encountered, and also explore the affordances this particular teaching environment offers. The workshop will then cover practical tips such as useful classroom activities and games, before concluding with a chance for workshop participants to share ideas from their own teacher tool-kits.
About Vanessa
Vanessa Virgiel is a linguist and EFL/ESL educator who has taught in Korea and the United States. She holds a Master of Education in TESL (Framingham State University, Massachusetts, USA) and a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Linguistics (Portland State University, Oregon, USA). Her areas of interest within ELT include materials design, CALL, intercultural competency development, and how to extend the ethos of inclusive education to the field of TESOL.
