2016, Vol.17, No.3

Modern English Education 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 1.55

pISSN : 1598-0782 / eISSN : 2586-6141
https://journal.kci.go.kr/meeso

This article examines how NNESs and NESs in learning-to-teach contexts (L2 teacher education programs) perceive their own strengths and weaknesses as ELT professionals. By examining the issue of native versus non-native speaker in the ELT field, this study aims to shed light on the pedagogical uniqueness exhibited by these two linguistically distinctive groups. This study adopts semi-structured in-depth interviews to elicit four NES and three NNES participants’ understanding of themselves and their worlds which determines their self-identification as ELT professionals. The semi-structured interviews were analyzed through a thematic content analysis to locate themes regarding positive and negative aspects of NESTs and NNESTs. The overall findings suggest that different cultural and linguistic backgrounds between NESs and NNESs differentiate linguistic, socio-cultural and pedagogical strengths and weaknesses. In addition, the results also indicate that the presence of NESs seems to raise NNESs’ awareness of their “non-native” status in terms of what they can offer versus their perception of what ideal English teachers should possess, and vice versa. With the findings, this study directs attention to the pedagogical contribution of both NNESTs and NESTs by addressing the ideological issue of the native speaker fallacy surrounding the ELT field.

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) has been pursued as the main principle of the national English curriculum in Korea as well as in several East Asian countries. However, with the different pedagogic preferences and contextual particularities, these curricula generate pedagogic conflicts or require negotiation in practice decisions. This article investigates the ways in which the CLT-based curriculum is implemented in Korean state high schools by exploring four English teachers’ practices, through the analysis of their lesson plans, classroom observations and interviews. CLT implementation was obstructed by the teachers’ narrow conceptualisation of CLT, focus on forms, reading-centred lessons, and an overload of administrative work. In order to practise more communicative and contextually appropriate lessons, (a) developing professional development programmes where the teachers learn the broad concept of CLT and how to practise CLT in a coherent way, (b) incorporating contextually and culturally appropriate pedagogies into the national curriculum, (c) improving the state exam for the measurement of communicative competence, and (d) supporting teachers’ administrative work are suggested.

The purpose of this study is to identify how self and peer-feedback affects learner autonomy in high school writing classes. This study examined perception fluctuations regarding three components which affect learner autonomy: responsibility, selfconfidence, and meta-cognitive strategy use. This study was conducted at a public global high school in the Gyeonggi Province of Korea. The participants, all twentyfour of which are senior high school students, responded to pre and post surveys on learner autonomy and completed three writing tasks with two self or peer-feedback and revision sessions for each of the writing tasks. A paired t-test and the interviews were conducted to understand the perception changes and the effect of self and peer feedback on learner autonomy. The findings of this study showed that peer-feedback helped students feel more responsible for their own writing and increased their selfconfidence about their English writing, while self-feedback helped them to use metacognitive strategies more effectively than before. These results suggest that self and peer-feedback can help Korean EFL learners improve learner autonomy and delve into the development of their own writing.