[KS] EPIK

[Ross King]

English is a powerful and expensive commodity in Korea, and Korea is in the process of selling its collective soul to/for English. 

If I had a nickel for every student in the Korean language programs I have overseen who has come to me and said "I'm off to Korea to learn Korean, and plan to support myself teaching English," only to come back 1, 2 or 5 years later with little or no progress in their Korean, I could retire. ESL is a seductive mistress for Anglophones (heck, even for non-Anglophones).

As a matter of policy, I decline to write letters of reference for Korean Studies and Korean language students seeking employment in the ESL industry in Korea, and also decline to return calls or emails from the many ESL recruiters who routinely contact me asking for victims for their schools and programs. 

The ROK should introduce an ESL tithing system -- some sort of tax on profits made via the ESL trade --with proceeds going to the Korea Foundation or some such organization that funds the pathetically few and woefully underfunded programs trying to go the other way down what should be a two-street, and thereby recoup at least some of the opportunity cost represented by the billions of Korean dollars poured down the ESL drain. 

A pipe dream, I know... 

RK

> Date: Wed Sep 16 06:18:18 PDT 2009
> From: "David Scofield" <D.Scofield at sheffield.ac.uk>
> Subject: [KS] EPIK
> To: "Korean Studies Discussion List" <koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>
>
> As with any English teaching position in Korea, EPIK is not without its
> pitfalls. 
> 
> >From the US Embassy, Seoul website:
> 
> EPIK
> "These fairly new, Korea-wide, government-sponsored programs place native
> English speakers in every school district in Korea and present a unique
> opportunity for the adventurous to live away from popular tourist centers. 
> While recruiting and training appear to be performed quite professionally,
> teachers’ living and working experiences vary considerably.  Some are welcomed
> with open arms and treated extremely well.  Others, arriving in areas where the
> program has been forced upon reluctant, under-funded schools, are greeted less
> warmly and face significant challenges winning over ambivalent – or
> antagonistic – Korean counterparts.  Housing, benefits, reliability of pay, and
> access to ombudsmen are steadily improving, but still have a long way to go."
> 
> http://seoul.usembassy.gov/t_types.html
> 
> Two major issues in the EPIK program that seem to get flagged up most frequently
> relate to class sizes and contact hours.
> 
> 1) class size - teaching in the Korean public system often means teaching to a
> regular sized Korean class - potentially 30-40+ students per "English
> conversation" class, many with widely varying degrees of English competency.
> 
> The program indicates that teaching is conducted with the aid of a Korean
> teacher, but this is not always as straight forward as it sounds. In many
> schools the resident Korean English teacher may not speak English. 
> 
> 2) contact hours: instructors are required to teach 22 hours; however, it is
> important to note that this refers to in class instruction time and does not
> include class prep (which can be formidable in classes with 30+ students). 
> 
> As well, the contract should be read extremely carefully as overtime, for
> example, may be required and not necessarily voluntary. As well, you can be
> asked to work at any location and this may include being 'farmed out' to a
> private institute for evening work. The 'market value' of foreign native
> English instructor is far greater than 20,000/hour ($16.40/hour) O/T pay
> offered creating an arbitrage opportunity for school principals to broker the
> foreign instructor to local private institutes. This is not necessarily a
> regular occurence, but I did encounter EPIK instructors during my years in
> Korea who spoke of this.
> 
> As well, while the work week is set as Monday to Friday, the contract also
> states that if the total teaching hours are below 22, you may be required to
> work beyond the scope of a normal work week (incl. Saturday/Sunday) -
> remuneration for "non-instructional" overtime is set at the equivalent of
> $4.95/hour (excluding tax).
> 
> The contract also stipulates that "training and orientation" are unpaid, but it
> further indicates that training may not be limited to the initial
> orientation... 
> 
> There is similar built in ambiguity concerning the housing provided. This, the
> contract indicates, will be "as deemed sufficient" by the employer, with
> furnishing limited to "bed, table, closet, range, fridge, washer, and tv."
> Further, "the employee shall not request or demand any other appliances or
> furniture..." The employee is also responsible for all utility and maintenance
> fees and any other applicable taxes incurred during the residency.
> 
> Korea can be a wonderful place to teach, but the English teaching market is not
> for the faint of heart. Any prospective teacher/instructor should do as much
> background checking on schools/programs as possible before departing, including
> reviewing the sometimes jaundiced views of the resident ex-pat blogging
> community. 
> 
>



--
Ross King
Professor of Korean and Head,
Department of Asian Studies, 
University of British Columbia, 

and 

Dean, Korean Language Village, 
Concordia Language Villages

Mailing address: 
Ross King, Department of Asian Studies, UBC
Asian Centre, 1871 West Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2
CANADA

vox: 604-822-2835
fax: 604-822-8937