The research will compare Korean teachers’ English language teaching experiences with native teachers’ English language teaching experiences, and find out how their experiences shape their language teacher identity. The section of the thesis provides a detailed explanation of the methods that the researcher will use in collecting and analyzing data from the participants.
Research Design
The researcher will conduct a qualitative case study using a social-cultural lens to explore the identity, practice, and discourse of English teachers in Korea (Native English teachers, Korean teachers, and Foreign-educated Korean teachers). It will explore issues relating to gender, pay, race, self-entitlement, equity, and politics of English language teaching in Korea. The study will assume a critical analysis approach.
The study will be a Case study. The methodology offers the tool for studying complex phenomena. Like any other qualitative study, it studies the phenomena in their natural or social settings. The method is useful in diverse contexts, developing theory, evaluating a program, and developing interventions. The design should be carefully constructed to provide the critical results for use in the mentioned areas. It is critical that the case study is defined in a manner that will provide an in-depth and holistic examination of the phenomenon under study. Case studies play an important role in the study of languages (Sherman and Webb 73). It is the foundation for an ostensibly objective research. They are used in understanding the social context within which learning occurs, the identities of teachers and learners, consequences of training and development of teachers, and their teaching experiences (LeCompte and Millroy 98). These are the areas that the current study seeks to explore, which makes a case study the most appropriate research design.
The case study will need adequate details and contextualization to be applicable to the study. The case from the perspective of the current study is the country (Korea) as relates to English language teaching program. The method will be used in providing a concrete illustration of findings. The case study will also involve unraveling of the multiple perspectives of the researcher in investigating the topic. It will be used to explore the details and meanings of the experiences of the both Korean English teachers and native English teachers towards the goal of comparing their experiences and identities as teachers. The researcher will seek to identify necessary patterns and themes in the data collected from diverse sources. The target question will be analyzed and interpreted. The case study will be conducted to compare the findings and provide insights into the potential problem facing Korean English teachers in their country.
It is critical for the researcher to define the context within which the study will be conducted. Evidently, Korea is the proposed case for the study, meaning that the research will be performed in the country. Also, the study is based on unraveling the experiences of Korean English teachers as compared to Native English teachers. Therefore, it will be necessary for the study to be conducted in the social setting of the participants. The researcher will conduct the study in a school setting, being keen to capture details of the experience of the teachers within the context. The study will be limited to the classroom where English learners are taught by native English speakers and Korean speakers.
Population and Sampling
Sampling is critical in research because it is not possible to study the entire population. The population for the proposed study is all English language teachers in Korea, both the native English speaking teachers and the Korean English teachers. Evidently, the population is too large to study conclusively. Sampling is the process of drawing a smaller number of units (sample) from the population to conclusively study them (McMillan and Schumacher 28). In the case study, the researcher will use purposeful sampling. In facr, this is a sampling method where the researcher decisively identifies the cases to study based on shared characteristics. The process does not involve the researcher having a sampling frame or randomly assigning cases to any group. The selection is based on the particular aspects of the members of the population that are unique to the study.
Case selections and sampling procedures will use the defining elements, typical and atypical to the case. It is important to establish whether the case is a critical case, a deviant or extreme case, a politically significant case, or a convenient case, among other important questions (Merriam 82). Purposive sampling is relevant to the current study because of the minimal number of required participants. Case studies based on a few participants require a simple and straightforward sampling procedure because of the potential attritional effect. However, there are possible issues relating to the representativeness of the findings because of the small number of the cases. The case study approach is also limiting because the subjects are not drawn from a wide range of behaviors. Regardless, the small sample will achieve the purpose of the study and allow the researcher to perform as detailed and comprehensive analysis of the case as possible.
Participants
The sampling process will provide the participants for the study. As noted, the researcher should identify the individuals from whom to collect the data. The proposed study will include four participants. The researcher will identify two native English teachers in Korea and two Korean English teachers. The characteristics of the participants that will be used in sampling include their involvement in teaching English in the setting and being teachers in the same school. However, they will not necessarily be teaching the same class. Besides the teachers, the researcher will purposefully select four students, two from each class taught by the respective teachers. The two learners must come from the class taught by the native English speaking teacher, and the other two from the class taught by the Korean English teacher. The researcher will collect data from the students after the data from the teachers have been gathered. The researcher will identify the documentary evidence that contain data on the subject by surfing the internet. A lot of information is available, meaning that the researcher must be careful to filter the most relevant information.
Materials
The research will be conducted using various materials to account for the three methods of data collection. The researcher will use an interview schedule (see appendix) to interview with the teachers. They will be required to answer questions from the schedule following the researcher’s lead. The second material that will be used is the notebook and pen for the field notes as the researcher observes the teachers. The researcher will note down all information encountered and relevant to the study. They will include what the teacher will be doing in class and probably outside, the observable behaviors and conduct, and the expressed experience. The notes will be used for future analysis. The research will also involve collection of documentary evidence, which will be collected online and from physical sources, including the library, media houses, and the school where the study will be carried out. All the documentary sources will be reviewed for relevance in answering the research question.
Data Collection Procedure
The researcher will collect data in two phases, the first one being a pilot and the second one the actual research study. The first step will be a pilot study using a preliminary questionnaire to determine volunteer participants. The pilot study will be similar to the actual data collection process because the researcher will use similar questions to the participants in the actual study. The second phase will involve collection of data from the two categories of teachers and English students in Korea. The researcher will monitor two Korean educated English teachers, two Native English teachers, and two Korean foreign-educated teachers over a one-year period. The process is aimed at getting into the working environment of the teachers to understand their experiences.
The study will involve collecting data using an in-depth semi-structured interview. Therefore, the researcher will use an interview schedule containing a list of semi-structured questions. The interview will be conducted to understand the experiences of the teachers in their natural settings. Besides the interview, the researcher will collect data in the form of lesson observations and field notes. The researcher will be in class while each of the participants is teaching. In addition, the researcher will take field notes as they engage with the teachers as well as when involving students in the study. The researcher will conduct student interviews taking English courses taught by a Native and a non-Native language speaker.
Data will also be collected from documentary evidence to show the opportunity and experience of the teacher. One of the sources that will be used is the hiring advertisements relating to Korean teachers and native English teachers. The adverts contain important information on the opportunities provided to native English teachers compared to Korean English teachers. The second source will include magazine and journals relating to English marketing situation in Korea. It will show how the language is marketed in the country, a situation that continues to affect the experience of Korean English teachers. Other sources will include Data Analysis policy documents, public records, and socio-historical background research on English language education. In fact, those sources contain critical information on the situation of the teachers, historically and presently.
The researcher will use triangulation in collecting the data for the study. Triangulation will involve use of multiple sources of data to investigate the phenomenon and generate understanding. It is a procedure to corroborate findings from the diverse data sources. Researchers use the multiple methods to support the findings obtained from each separately and test for validity. It is assumed that the weakness of one method will be compensated by the strength of the other appraoches. Data collected using one method is validated using what is collected using the other approaches. Qualitative researchers use the method to ensure the richness of account. It is a mean of ensuring that the data is comprehensive (Seidman 25). The current study will achieve triangulation by using three main data collection methods. The researcher will perform In-depth Interviews with the teachers and interviews with students, lesson observations and field notes, and review of documentary evidence.
Ethical Considerations
The researcher will take into account a number of ethical measures. One of these procedures is getting permission from the ethical board at the school before undertaking the study. The second aspect will be the signing of an informed consent by the participants. The participants will be briefed about the significance of the study and what will be expected. They will sign an informed consent committing to take part voluntarily. Besides the informed consent, Denzin and Lincoln confirm that their confidentiality will be guaranteed (49). They will not be required to give any identifying information such as actual name and address. The information from the study will not be used for any other purpose besides the study. In addition, the data will not be exposed to any outside source or third party.
Data Analysis
Given that the data is qualitative, the data analysis method that will be used is Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). However, the method will be used specifically for the analysis of documentary evidence. The method explores the connections between the use of language and the social and political contexts in which it occurs. It explores issues such as gender, ethnicity, cultural difference, ideology, and identity and how these factors are both constructed and reflected in texts, pictures, films or video images and sounds. The method will be useful in understanding the experiences and disparities that exist in the country in relation to English language teaching. The data will be analyzed from available documentary evidence of potential disparities. As a textual analysis tool, the social and political contexts within which the experience of the teachers emerges will be evaluated. Diverse social realities could emerge explaining why the experiences of the two categories of the English teachers in Korea are different (Janks 329). The researcher will follow the experience aspect when seeking employment and when working as English teachers in the country. It is necessary to develop a cultural understanding when teaching English as a second language (Kamhi-Stein 180). Political discourse emerges from the perspective of the policies that guard hiring and compensation of teachers in the country.
The researcher will use Gee’s Discourse Analysis for the examination and interpretation of the data collected through the other two methods, interview schedules, and field notes. The analysis is based on the idea that language is the basis for making diverse socially-significant identities. The proponent of the theory established an important relationship between saying and doing. It is from this perspective that the model is useful in analyzing the data collected through interviews and observations. It will be used to establish the common themes in the data for presentation. “Different Discourses” denote the different identities that are presented by the participants (Gee 27). The researcher will use the model to identify the use of language in the responses given by the participants to find some intersections. Common themes and patterns will be established through running discourse analysis of all the responses from the subjects and observations that the researcher will make in the social context. The results will form the bulk of the presentation of the findings.
Works Cited
Denzin, Norman K., and Yvonna S. Lincoln, eds. The Sage handbook of qualitative research. Sage, 2011.
Gee, James Paul. An introduction to discourse analysis: Theory and method. Routledge, 2004.
Hatch, J. Amos. Doing qualitative research in education settings. Suny Press, 2002.
Janks, Hilary. “Critical discourse analysis as a research tool.” Discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education 18.3 (1997): 329-342.
Kamhi-Stein, Lía D. “The Non-Native English Speaker Teachers in TESOL Movement.” ELT Journal: English Language Teaching Journal, vol. 70, no. 2, Apr. 2016, pp. 180-189.
LeCompte, Margaret Diane, and Wendy L. Millroy, eds. The handbook of qualitative research in education. Academic Press, 1992.
McMillan, James H., and Sally Schumacher. “Research in Education: Evidence-Based Inquiry, MyEducationLab Series.” Pearson (2010).
Merriam, Sharan B. Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education. Revised and Expanded from” Case Study Research in Education.”. Jossey-Bass Publishers, 350 Sansome St, San Francisco, CA 94104, 1998.
Seidman, Irving. Interviewing as qualitative research: A guide for researchers in education and the social sciences. Teachers college press, 2013.
Sherman, Robert R., and Rodman B. Webb. Qualitative research in education. Routledge, 2004.
Appendix
Semi Structured Interviews
1) Could you please tell me briefly about yourself and why you chose to be an English teacher?
2) There are many places you could have taught English, how did you choose this University?
3) Could you please share the highlights of your job?
4) What are some day-to-day challenges you face in your job and how do you deal with those challenges?
5) How do you manage your classes? Do you choose your own books?
6) How would you describe your relationship with fellow teachers? How often do you interact with them within the university and outside the university?
7) How would you describe your relationship with students? Do you feel like you have a good rapport with them? Please give me some examples.
8) Do you feel there are ways the University can help you, perform your job better? What changes would you like to see happening from the administration that could help you be a better teacher?
9) What are your strengths and weaknesses as a teacher?
10) Do you feel proud and happy to be a teacher?
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