English Education Policy Before the Millennium

Written by Dr. David Shaffer Why do so many Koreans go to college? Why are there so many private academies (hagwon) all over the country? Does Korea do policy planning … Read More

“English Education in Korea Has Changed”

Written by Dr. David Shaffer The Peace Corps and Fulbright – two U.S. agencies that we don’t often think about in the same neuron transmission – have pursued similar goals … Read More

English Education in Korea: From Whence It Came

Written by Dr. David Shaffer What do Imperial Japan, foreign missionaries, Peace Corps volunteers, and the USAID program have in common? Teaching English as a foreign language… in Korea. Many … Read More

Leadership for the EFL Teacher?

Leadership: What Is It? Teachers’ association officers, school principals, educational institution administrators, and government agency officials…. These are the types of people we most readily associate with leadership roles in … Read More

Major Roadblocks to Language Learning

Words and photo provided by Dr. David Shaffer There are very few of us – as language teachers or as language learners – who would suggest that learning a foreign … Read More

How to Bore Your Class to Death

Students reading comic books in class. Texting on their phones. Chatting. Doodling. Dozing off. Students being bored. Actually, I do not think I really need to write too much on … Read More

Activating Your Language Learning Activities

Do your students seem disinterested in the language learning activities that you provide them? Do the language learning activities in your coursebook seem to have little effect in improving your … Read More