Korean Writing Process (copied from Ria & Michelle)

And Key Approaches to Tutoring Korean ESL Students

1) The education reform bill which the Education Reform Committee

established, in conclusion, is only 'a tree without roots.' Leaving the

content of the reform of elementary, junior and senior high schools

unmentioned, the arrangement of 'university autonomy' lacks the core

of the problem, the plan for financial expansion.

(2) In this situation of the university, the plan for financial resources is the

most important pending problem. As if they reflect this, people raise

arguments for or against the 'donation admission' right after the

announcement of the Education Reform Committee.

(3) Since the Education Reform Committee announced that 'as there is no

legal restriction, each university should decide whether or not to

accept the 'donation admission,' this, in fact, means that the 'donation

admission' is possible if a university wants it. The Education Reform

Committee says this is part of the arrangement of university

autonomy. In fact, some universities, including Sogang University

and Dongkuk University, express the intention of allowing 'donation

admission' and they make 'contribution admission' and 'special case

admission,' which are the changed forms of 'donation admission,' a

public opinion.

(4) One of the reasons why some universities make 'donation admission' a

subject of discussion as a way of solving the problem of financial

resources results from the fact that there is no actual plan (for

financial resources) itself since the education reform bill announced

the postponement of 'security of 5% of for educational finance.' In

addition, there are conflicting opinions between the Education

1.) Address their Korean style of excessively skirting around the subject and tangential or parenthetical asides with great sensitivity. Do not disregard or discredit their style but address it neutrally as a cultural style if not equally as beautiful to the American style.

2.) Explain that the American academic writing style

dictates direct attention to the subject of the paper as well as immediate support for the subject and that skirting around the subject is perceived by American standards to be confusing, disorganized and excessive.

3.) Explain that the thesis statement is the

writer's fundamental argument and needs to be

introduced if not right away, then followed by a

brief introduction comprised of a more general statement or an attention-getting hook. But a very

long orientation prior to the thesis is not permissible.

4.) Look over an "Introductions"

hand-out with the student so they can

see the variety of intros they can use

and why it is effective to be brief with them.

5.) Oral exercise:

Say a made-up introduction and give them time

to see if they can come up with a specific, opinionated thesis based on that introduction. (If the student appears apprehensive about speaking, have them brainstorm on a piece of paper for a few minutes.)

6.) Provide them with the "Thesis Statement"

hand-out for examples as well as the

"Thesis Generator" hand-out to fill out for practice

# 1 Many Korean ESL students (as well as international students in general) can feel insecure or inadequate about both their writing and spoken English and feel pressure to conform and harness great skill over the craft right away.

# 2 Generation 1.5 students can especially feel insecure. Even Koreans who have lived here since in elementary school may not grow up to exhibit errors in speech, but there can be, after a close examination of "first language interference."

# 3 There is pressure as well as the added confusion of straddling two worlds linguistically and culturally: speaking an imperfect Korean at home and an imperfect English at school. There is thus pressure to 1.) meet the standard of Korean-ness to the parents but also 2.) present pristine English to professors but also know how to 3.) exhibit colloquial American slang to fit in with American peers

Solution: 1.)Try to alleviate their tendancy

to be highly self-critical and wanting

to excel rapidly. 2.) Show cultural

sensitivity by appreciating and not

discrediting the writing process

they grew up with. 3.) Provide specific praise

and encouragement. 4.) Constantly check

that the student is following along by asking

her/him to repeat what you have stated or

do follow-up exercises.

#3 Prepositions, not Post-posistions

# 2 Lack of Definite and Indefinite Articles

Example: Seun wears dress every sunday.

Correction: Seun wears a dress every sunday.

Indefinite article "a" should be used

as, without prior knowledge about Seun nor any details

about a particular dress,

it is implied she doesn't wear a specific dress

(the same dress) every Sunday. However, if such specificity was

present or intended to be implied, the definite article "the"

would be most fitting.

Solutions

Sensitivity is Key

#1 Subject and Verb, not Verb at the End

Three Common Grammatical Errors

How to educate the tutee about

the American writing process

(Both cultural sensitivity and empathy)

# 1 Displacement of Subject-Verb-Object (SVO)

Example of proper SVO usage: Ria eats kimchi.

Verb

Object

Sub.

*** But Korean students often use the sentence structure

of Subject-Object-Verb (SOV)

Example of Korean SOV usage: Seun box opens .

(Instead of "Seun

opens the box")

Verb

Object

Subject

Accusative

Indicative

Nominative

Four Key Features of that Example:

#1 Korean Students are not academically socialized to present their main assertion and opinion right away or even after a brief introduction.

# 2

"Instead of putting the thesis statement at the beginning of

the article and making the next paragraphs support it, the Korean students put it

almost at the end of the article after long 'orientation.'" (Kim 122) *** "Orientation refers to words which precede the introduction of the thesis

statement." ***

# 3

"The 'thesis statement' is defined as a "statement which

introduced the 'significant change' about which the subjects in the study had been

asked to write" (122)

# 4 "Korean students present several

'facts' first to induce the thesis statement rather than make arguments to support it." (122)

Standard American Essay Diagram

Characteristics of the Korean Writing Mentality and Typical Concerns In Korea's Educational Institutions

Continued....

Characteristic # 2: Thesis Placement NOT in Primary Paragraph

Korean Writing Style Characteristics

Example: An Editorial Written by Korean Students entitled

"No Donation Admission (to a University)"

Characteristic # 1: "Turning Paragraphs"

Based on tutoring sessions or experience in general, what can you infer about the Korean writing process, habits, or hierarchy of concerns?

"Writing has long been neglected in English language teaching in Korea…. Little attention is paid in the classroom to developing students' ability to write at a paragraph or discourse level…many English teachers still consider grammar and translation to be the two most important components of language teaching." (Ahn , 1995, p. 73 qtd. Tyson)

"The development of the paragraph may be said to be "turning and

turning in a widening gyre." The circles or gyres turn around the subject

and show it from a variety of tangential views, but the subject is never

looked at directly. Things are developed in terms of what they are not,

rather than in terms of what they are," (Kim 115)

(5) This is the very reason why we suspect that the announcement of the

education reform bill is part of 'generous' administration preparing

for the election of local bodies of local self-governments.

(6) In the situation in which the education reform bill, which was

announced about a month later than the expected time for

announcement, did not include any concrete plan for finance supply,

and in which there are continuous debate about whether to include

tuition in the educational finance, it is also only doubtful whether the

bill will be prepared by the end of the September as the government

promised.

(7) Seeing the present education reform bill, we strongly insist the

followings.

(8) The Board of Education and the people in charge of education should

make their position clear so that they can get rid of the confusion

resulting from the present debate for 'donation admission. There can

never be 'donation admission.'

First four paragraphs

do not demonstrate

whether or not the

writer is for or against

donation admission

to universities

How does this compare to American academic preferences for writing style?

The American writing style tends to dictate

1.) Getting to the point right away, and

2.) K.I.S.S. (Keep it short and simple)

Thesis/main assertion is finally presented in 8th paragraph

"There is a considerable amount of careful, painstaking translation of text among Korean college students: a tendency to memorize dialogues, a great interest in grammatical analysis, a strong desire to be corrected whenever a mistake occurred (sic). This behavior reflects typical Korean students (sic) perspective of learning in general." (Kong, 1996, pp. 114-115 qtd. Tyson)

Important Statistics

The American writing process is typically adapted to three categories

ESL Student Numbers

in California

Korea's Performance on International English Language Testing System (sponspored by British Council)

Informative/Persuasive/ Creative

What characterizes the American writing process?

"The 2008 proficiency test ranked South Korea second from the bottom, ahead of only the United Arab Emirates. South Korea achieved an average score of 5.39 out of a possible 9 points. In contrast, the United Kingdom ranked first with an average score of 8.1, followed by South Africa with 7.51."

"California Education Facts

Number of International Students: 84,800

Number of ESL Students: 15,230

Number of Private Institutions: 265

Number of Public Institutions: 147

universities and colleges

Leading Places of Origin for International Students: South Korea, India, Japan" (Universities and Colleges in California, 2012)

"Essays are typically structured on an introduction, the main body and a strong conclusion. The main body is comprised of paragraphs, which should focus on one idea each. For the conclusion, the last sentence is the most important, as it is the last line left in the reader's mind. It should echo the introduction, but provoke a new idea that wraps up the ideas as a whole. The conclusion should be supported by the preceding paragraphs it is not the place to bring in a surprising plot twist." (Min 2009)

"The test averages the scores of writing, reading, listening and speaking sections. South Korea's score in writing was the lowest of all the participating countries with a 5.08." (Min 2009)

Writing

Korean

Process

By: Ria and Michelle

Works Cited

Kim, Kyeongja. "A Comparison of Rhetorical Styles in Korean and American Student Writing." Intercultural Communication Studies. N.p., n.d. Web.

Min, Ines. "Differences of Essay Writing in English, Korean." Differences of Essay Writing in English, Korean. N.p., 12 Aug. 2009. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/special/2010/04/181_50022.html>.

Tyson, Rodney E. "Using Process Writing Effectively in Korean University EFL Classes." Using Process Writing Effectively in Korean University EFL Classes. World Congress of Applied Linguistics, 6 Aug. 1999. Web. 19 Nov. 2012.

<http://english.daejin.ac.kr/~rtyson/cv/aila99.html>.

"Universities and Colleges in California." Universities and Colleges in California. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://universitiesandcollegesincalifornia.com/>.