Korea TESOL

Korea TESOL (KOTESOL, Korean: 대한영어교육학회) is the largest multicultural English teachers association in the Republic of Korea (South Korea),[1] organized as a nonprofit scholarly/professional society under the National Research Foundation of Korea and local tax laws since 1993[2] (initially formed in 1992).[3]

KoreaTESOL (KOTESOL) color logo banner bilingual
(2018)

Overview

Korea TESOL is a South Korea based multi-tiered membership organization with regional chapters and nationwide operations such as conferences, publications and Special Interest Groups (SIGs).[4] All memberships are "national" in scope: members can participate in any local or national event with the same membership benefits (discounts), although 50% of their dues are targeted to a member-selected regional chapter. KOTESOL's slogan "Teachers Helping Teachers"[5] is based on an orientation to collegial teacher professional development,[6][7][8] including novice teachers new to Korea (and perhaps without an aim for a career in teaching?)[9] under the mission statement "to promote scholarship, disseminate information, and facilitate cross-cultural understanding among persons concerned with teaching and learning of English in Korea."[10]

Korea TESOL's membership includes teachers in private and public schools at all levels (K-12, college/university faculty, and hagwon [private language institute] instructors) as well as teachers-in-training, administrators, researchers, materials developers, publishers, and students.[11] As a result of Covid, KOTESOL has fallen in membership numbers from as much as 800 to approximately 350 members in 2021:[12] roughly 25% of members are Korean nationals, the remainder expatriates; nearly 20% of members reside outside of Korea.[13] KOTESOL is known for its conferences (since 1993), print and online publications, and active chapter meetings. An increasing number of members hold higher degrees in language teaching and related fields.[11] Many join for networking opportunities, both social and professional,[14] others come to learn and share practical techniques as well as theories in English language teaching, particularly in the Korean ELT setting.[15]

History

KOTESOL was formed through an amalgamation of memberships from two predecessor organizations, the Association of English Teachers in Korea (AETK) and the Korea Association of Teachers of English[16] (KATE - not the same organization as the society now known as KATE, 한국영어교육학회). These two predecessor organizations gradually wound down from a joint conference (October 24–25, 1992) into a new organization. The first KOTESOL conference was held October 16–17, 1993. KOTESOL inherited TESOL International affiliation from AETK and became an IATEFL associate in 1996.[13] Membership and activity in the organization climbed at a time when larger numbers of foreign teachers were invited to work in Korea, with membership climbing to over 900 in 2013[17] and conference participation over 1500[10][18] around the same time.

Chapters

There are currently (Dec 2018) nine regional chapters in KOTESOL[19]

There have been chapters in Jeju and Kyongju which folded due to lack of members, and the Dajeon-Chungcheong chapter was divided for a short time into Daejeon-Chungnam and Cheongju chapters. International members of KOTESOL are managed separately from the regional chapters.

Most chapters hold regular (monthly) meetings 8 or more times per year, which typically include both academic (training) and social activities. Since the entry of COVID-19 to Korea in February 2020, chapter meetings have been held online.

Special Interest Groups (SIGs)

SIGs are ever-evolving in KOTESOL, reflecting the current focus of teachers. SIGs have included[20]

Conferences

KOTESOL's annual International Conferences are the largest language teaching conferences in Korea[3] with more than 200 presentations across two days.[21] Since the first "Joint Conference" in 1992 that led to the founding of KOTESOL, there had been annual conferences each autumn and numerous additional conferences at other times of the year. From 1993 to 2000, these autumn annual conferences were known as "National conferences," since then known as "International Conferences." Since 2006 spring "National Conferences" have been held many years, with 2-4 regional conferences hosted by various chapters most years earlier in the spring. Several conferences have been "webcast," from as early as 1998[22] (this Pan-Asia conference was hosted/managed by KOTESOL). There have also been some smaller symposiums and conferences late in the autumn (Nov. or Dec.), particularly the Daejeon Chapter Thanksgiving Symposiums.[23]

KOTESOL (International) Conferences ran uninterrupted for 27 years prior to 2020.[24] The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-2021 has caused all conferences since February 2021 to be "virtual" (no physical attendance). The 2020 International Conference was rescheduled to 2021 due to the coronavirus; however KOTESOL became a sponsor of the AsiaTEFL2020 conference that was hosted in Korea that same year, offering a "members' discount" for conference registration commensurate with the discount AsiaTEFL members received.[25] Since this time the national and international conference event schedules have been flipped, with National Conference 2021 in autumn and International Conferences 2021 and 2022 in spring.[23]

Publications & Media

The quarterly news-magazine The English Connection is the best-known publication, along with the annual KOTESOL Proceedings (select articles from the annual international conference, published roughly 9 months after the conference) and the semiannual Korea TESOL Journal.[26] These are all available online[27] in a moving wall system (access limited to members for a defined period, then open-access) and are complemented by the monthly online/email KOTESOL News and each chapter's own occasional newsletters, plus news as presented solely on the association's official website and through the Facebook group and Facebook page.

A Youtube Channel offers a variety of shorter and longer presentations and publicity-related clips, such as pre-conference promotional talks by invited speakers, videos of activities within the organization, interviews, and full-length conference or chapter presentations. More than 900 subscribers have accessed nearly 120 video clips (as of Oct 30, 2020).

Partner organizations

KOTESOL is an affiliate[28] of TESOL International Association and an associate[29] of IATEFL, as well as a founding partner of the Pan-Asian Consortium of Language Teaching Societies (PAC).[30] KOTESOL's partner associations include:[31]

International Partnerships

Domestic (Korea) Partnerships

  • ALAK (Applied Linguistics Association of Korea 한국응용언어학회
  • KAFLA (Korea Association of Foreign Language Academies 외국어교육협의회
  • KAFLE (Korea Association of Foreign Language Education 한국외국어교육학회
  • KAMALL (Korea Association of Multimedia-Assisted Language Learning 한국멀티미디어언어교육학회
  • KATE (Korea Association of Teachers of English 한국영어교육학회
  • KEERA (Korea English Extensive Reading Association 한국영어다독학회
  • PKETA (Pan-Korea English Teachers Association 팬코리어영어교육학회

References
  1. Moon, Gwang-lip (Sep 9, 2008). "How teaching is like making a salad". Korea JoongAng Daily.
  2. Thorkelson, Tory (Oct 16, 2015). "KoreaTESOL (KOTESOL) International Conference". EFL Magazine. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  3. Kang, S-w. (2007-10-23). English Teachers Gather in Seoul. The Korea Times. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  4. Taylor, L. (2012). The teaching progression of first-time ESL teachers in a South Korean private preschool (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of York. Retrieved 2019-01-22. [note: loads slowly]
  5. Korea TESOL Official website
  6. Shin, J.K. (2004). The use of Freirian pedagogy in teaching English as an International Language: Raising the critical consciousness of EFL teachers in Korea. LLC Review 4(1), 64-82.
  7. Nelson, P., & Gongwer, J. (2000). Proposals to increase teaching effectiveness and job satisfaction. KOTESOL Proceedings (PAC2) (The Second Pan Asian Conference, 1999, Seoul), 225-230.
  8. Collin, S. (2005). The guide to English language teaching 2005, p. 286. London: Modern English Publishing.
  9. Taylor, L. (2017). The personal and professional experience of novice English teachers working in South Korea. In L.L.C. Won & K. Hyeland, Faces of English education: Students, teachers, and pedagogy (pp. 245-260). Oxon, UK: Routledge.
  10. DeMarco, P. (2010-11-24). English teachers reflect on changing role. The Korea Times. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  11. Thorkelson, Tory S. (2016). Language teaching organizations and professional job satisfaction. Korea TESOL Journal 12(1), 67-105. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  12. Wright, J (2021). "Diversity and Representativeness in KOTESOL Membership" (PDF). KOTESOL Proceedings 2021: 187–195.
  13. Dickey, R.J. (2018). Representativeness and development of leaders in Korea TESOL. In A. Elsheikh, C. Coombe, & O. Effiong (eds.), The Role of Language Teacher Associations in Professional Development, Second Language Learning and Teaching. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-00967-0_20
  14. Bolen, Jackie (2015). How to Get a University Job in South Korea. CreateSpace. pp. 21, others. ISBN 978-1503199828.
  15. Bolen, Jackie (2015). How to Thrive in South Korea: 97 tips from Expats. CreateSpace. pp. 17, others. ISBN 978-1514374948.
  16. Dusthimer, C., & Gillett, R. (1999). The history of ELT in Korea. In G. Crocetti (Ed), The KOTESOL handbook: Teaching English in Korea (pp. 1-12). KOTESOL: Republic of Korea. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  17. Kerry, Paul (September 17, 2013). "KOTESOL to hold international conference". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  18. Korea Herald. (2012-10-22). Min Byoung-chul promotes Sunfull movement at Korea TESOL conference. The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  19. Korea TESOL. "Chapters".
  20. Korea TESOL. "KTT SIGs".
  21. Redmond, J. (2016-10-11). English educators to attend KOTESOL conference. The Korea Times. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  22. Lebow, J. (2006). "Worldbridges: The Potential of Live, Interactive Webcasting" (PDF). Tesl-Ej. 10 (1): 1–11.
  23. Korea TESOL. "Conferences".
  24. Wright, Jocelyn (2020). "Examining Tendencies in ELT Conference Themes Across a Decade in Asia". English21. 33 (4): 227–260. doi:10.35771/ENGDOI.2020.33.4.011 – via Korean Open Access Journals.
  25. "AsiaTEFL Registration". Asia TEFL. Retrieved Oct 30, 2020.
  26. Egbert, J. (2007). Quality analysis of journals in TESOL and applied linguistics [FORUM]. TESOL Quarterly 41(1), 156-171.
  27. TESOL International Association (Oct 12, 2018). "Korea TESOL On the Go". TESOL Affiliate News (Oct 12, 2018). Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  28. TESOL International (Dec 31, 2018). "Affiliate Network Directory". Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  29. IATEFL (Dec 31, 2018). "List of Associate Members". Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  30. "Pan-Asian Consortium of Language Teaching Societies". Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  31. Korea TESOL. "Partners".
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