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EPIK Expectations: How Experiences and Cultural Aspects Impact Female English Teachers in South Korea

Ark, Amanda K
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1586622243746444

Abstract Details

2020, Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, Cross-Cultural, International Education.
In its efforts to become a globally recognized country and to increase its human capital, South Korea created the English Program in Korea, or EPIK program, in 1995 to bring Western, English-speaking people to the country to teach English as a foreign language in Korean public schools (Chang, 2018, EPIK, 2013). However well-intentioned this program may have been, these teachers often have very little understanding of Korean language, culture, or customs (Shin & Kellogg, 2007). They are hired by the EPIK program under the pretense that they do not need such knowledge and supports will be provided in country (Herbert & Wu, 2009, Jeon, 2010, EPIK 2013). With very little training, EPIK teachers are expected to not only teach and work in a new country and culture, but also live successfully in that culture. This study set out to explore what experiences and aspects of culture may impact EPIK teachers as they seek to adjust to Korean schools and life, or their acculturation and self-efficacy. A Hermeneutic phenomenological study was created using 60 to 120-minute in-depth interviews with nine, female EPIK teachers living in the same city. Results of interviews were supported and triangulated with two self-reporting scales, an acculturation scale and a teaching self-efficacy scale. Results showed that participants identified community as one of the most important aspects of their experience in Korea and related building strong community with their schools and co-teachers as what most helped them to adjust to living and teaching in South Korea. Other aspects identified as having a strong influence were placement on the hierarchy and power distance within schools, classroom discipline, and adjusting to small life differences. This study strongly recommends that the EPIK program needs to create more stable policies for what is expected of its Western teachers, formalize what supports they will have in and outside of schools, and also standardize the co-teacher selection process to ensure better training for selected schools. These changes will create more successful infrastructure for the EPIK program to be able to best serve the students, Korean teachers, and Western teachers it hires.
Hyeyoung Bang (Advisor)
Christopher Frey (Committee Member)
Beatrive Guenther (Committee Member)
Sheri Wells-Jensen (Committee Member)
158 p.
Asian Studies; Comparative; Education; Education Policy; Language; Multicultural Education; Teacher Education; Teaching
Acculturation; Teacher Self-Efficacy; English Program In Korea; EPIK; Native English Teachers; South Korea; English Education; EFL; Native Speaker English Programs; Community; Cultural Adjustment

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Ark, A. K. (2020). EPIK Expectations: How Experiences and Cultural Aspects Impact Female English Teachers in South Korea [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1586622243746444

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Ark, Amanda. EPIK Expectations: How Experiences and Cultural Aspects Impact Female English Teachers in South Korea. 2020. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1586622243746444.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Ark, Amanda. "EPIK Expectations: How Experiences and Cultural Aspects Impact Female English Teachers in South Korea." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1586622243746444

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1586622243746444
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© 2020, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License EPIK Expectations: How Experiences and Cultural Aspects Impact Female English Teachers in South Korea by Amanda K Ark is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.