A TESOL Practicum in South Korea

Abstract

This chapter provides a detailed account of the practicum course in the MA TESOL programme at Sookmyung Women’s University, the first TESOL MA programme developed in South Korea, in 1999. The Sookmyung practicum course is unique for a variety of reasons. Firstly, it comprises two practicum courses placed at the same level of importance as a thesis. Secondly, teachers not only attend practicum classes twice a week, but also do their teaching practice in an undergraduate English course at Sookmyung Women’s University. Thirdly, the undergraduate class is run entirely from a task-based approach, giving students the opportunity of acquiring skills in communicative and task-based language teaching approaches which, though they form part of the government’s English education reforms, are uncommon in TESOL and pre-service teacher practicum courses in South Korea. Finally, reflection is a key component of the course, and is fostered through a multitude of ways, such as doing an action research project, making a teaching portfolio, posting weekly reflections on an online class journal, and discussing video-recordings of classroom teaching and writing a teaching philosophy statement. Together with close guidance from TESOL faculty members, these characteristics make the Sookmyung TESOL MA practicum stand out from other practicum courses in South Korea.