Examining the influence of native and non-native English-speaking teachers on Korean EFL writing

Andrew Schenck

doi:10.1186/s40862-020-00081-3

Abstract

Both Native English-Speaking Teachers (NESTs) and Non-Native English-Speaking Teachers (NNESTs) may have advantages as writing instructors, yet little is known about how they actually influence writing in EFL contexts like South Korea. To address this issue, 76 high proficiency Korean EFL university students from the International Corpus Network of Asian Learners of English (ICNALE) were separated into a group that received extensive native English speaker instruction (n = 57) and a group that did not (n = 19) using a self-survey. Analysis of essay content revealed that words used by Korean EFL writers with more NEST instruction are similar in difficulty and variety to native English writers. Concerning style, Korean EFL learners with more NEST instruction used stances to evaluate, validate, and state personal opinions, while learners with less NEST instruction used speech formulas and more unbiased logical arguments. Regarding grammar, Korean EFL learners with extensive NEST instruction used more sophisticated vocabulary, word forms, and verb tenses to create a novel argument using personal experience, whereas Korean EFL learners with low NEST instruction tended to use formulaic and logical arguments with more accuracy. Overall, results suggest that NEST instruction in Korea promotes more creativity and sophistication in composition, while NNEST instruction encourages more accurate use of language. In accordance with the findings, curricula or teacher training may be developed to ensure that each type of instruction shares the strengths of its counterpart.

Highlights

Legislators in South Korea rescinded a law banning English education in the first and second grades of elementary school
The writing of Korean EFL learners with high Native English-Speaking Teachers (NESTs) support was not significantly different from their native English-speaking counterparts (t = −.64; p = .520). This result suggests that EFL learners with high NEST support do develop more native-like writing (See Table 2)
Follow-up analysis of individual word use suggests that these differences may be related to differences in content, style, and grammar

Summary

Introduction

Legislators in South Korea rescinded a law banning English education in the first and second grades of elementary school This law, which had been designed to keep children that are “too young to learn a foreign language” from being negatively impacted Schenck Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education (2020) 5:2 language instruction in South Korea, which often promotes rote memorization and teacher-centric instruction (DeWaelsche, 2015) This type of learning, which helps students achieve in more receptive tasks like reading and listening (Kwon, Yoshida, Watanabe, Negishi, & Naganuma, 2004; Programme for International Student Assessment, 2015), may inhibit performance on communicative tasks like writing. Despite more than 6 years of English instruction in public school classes, learners still had problems with writing tasks, adaption of language to real situations, and critical thinking skills needed to make a written or spoken argument (Kim & Kim, 2005; Niederhauser, 2012)

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