Evaluation of Native English Speaking Teachers from Learners' Perspectives

Abstract

Since 1995, the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology has initiated the English Program in Korea (EPIK) that assigns native English-speaking teachers to public schools. These native teachers were expected to provide authentic input and to collaborate with Korean teachers of English. However, some native teachers turned out to be either disqualified or incompetent. It seems, therefore, imperative that we evaluate native teachers’ linguistic, cultural, and pedagogical competence. The present study is designed to assess native teachers’ teaching skills as well as their knowledge of language and culture from learners’ perspectives. Questionnaires designed to measure teacher competence were administered to 1,311 students in primary (n=397), middle (n=429) and high (n=455) school settings. The findings indicated that the students evaluated the teachers’ teaching competencies positively. However, they did not seem to believe that the presence of native teachers made visible differences in their English proficiency. Interestingly, more advanced students were more favorable about native teachers. In addition, primary school students displayed a higher level of satisfaction than secondary school students. More detailed findings will be reported, along with their pedagogical implications.