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Some people insist that secondary schools in Korea should have at least native English speaker assistant in all English classes to improve student's English communication skill. They believe that native English teachers can bring out English-speaking environment inside schools. However, I do not think this plan is feasible in EFL situation where English is not used outside the classroom. There are several constraints that make this plan rather less viable.
To begin with, budget constraint is a main problem in implementing this plan. Hiring native English speakers as a teacher costs a lot. That is, schools should cover their benefits like health insurance, and also pay for their housing fee since they are not permanent residence. Moreover, they are paid much more than local teachers. Thus, it would be financially burden for schools unless there is some support from the government.
In addition, native English teachers would have difficulty creating English speaking environment, which is their core responsibility as a teacher, due to the number of students in a class. In Korea, approximately 30 to 40 accounts for one class. Under this situation, students hardly get enough opportunity to talk in a class. If the number is much smaller--under 15. it is manageable for the teacher to assign the equal opportunity to students or treat rather silent students better by giving them more chances to speak.
In conclusion, only placing native English teacher to every class does not necessarily guarantee the enhancement of student's speaking ability. To help students to become a better communicator, we should find another way. As one of the alternatives, I suggest that schools should create English using places such as English zone or English cafe where students must speak only English. Practice is the only path to improving their speaking ability.
Some people insist that secondary schools in Korea should have at least native English speaker assistant in all English classes to improve student's English communication skill. They believe that native English teachers can bring out English-speaking environment inside schools. However, I do not think this plan is feasible in EFL situation where English is not used outside the classroom. There are several constraints that make this plan rather less viable.
To begin with, budget constraint is a main problem in implementing this plan. Hiring native English speakers as a teacher costs a lot. That is, schools should cover their benefits like health insurance, and also pay for their housing fee since they are not permanent residence. Moreover, they are paid much more than local teachers. Thus, it would be financially burden for schools unless there is some support from the government.
In addition, native English teachers would have difficulty creating English speaking environment, which is their core responsibility as a teacher, due to the number of students in a class. In Korea, approximately 30 to 40 accounts for one class. Under this situation, students hardly get enough opportunity to talk in a class. If the number is much smaller--under 15. it is manageable for the teacher to assign the equal opportunity to students or treat rather silent students better by giving them more chances to speak.
In conclusion, only placing native English teacher to every class does not necessarily guarantee the enhancement of student's speaking ability. To help students to become a better communicator, we should find another way. As one of the alternatives, I suggest that schools should create English using places such as English zone or English cafe where students must speak only English. Practice is the only path to improving their speaking ability.