Examining racialised English language teaching in South Korea : insights into language teacher identity formation in one tertiary institution

Abstract

Globalisation has made English a pivotal part of South Korean people’s lives, and this has created a transnational linguistic market in which English is a highly valued commodity. Private organisations, universities and national government English programs invest heavily in recruiting native English–speaking teachers (NESTs) to teach in South Korea. Although studies have shown that through the globalisation and the internationalisation of English the authority to teach English as a foreign language has been extended from native to non-native English speakers (NNESTs), NESTs are still viewed as the “ideal” teachers. In Asia, research shows that hiring decisions for TESOL teachers are predominantly based on a candidate’s “nativeness” rather than their professional attainments such as teaching experience and academic qualifications. Studies also suggest that East Asian countries that were colonised by America or Britain may prefer to hire English language teachers speaking varieties of English influenced by the United States or the United Kingdom. Previous research shows that the NEST–NNEST dichotomy in the TESOL field is highly problematic because it reinforces discriminatory practices, but little is known about how these tensions play out in the South Korean sociocultural context. This qualitative inquiry offers insights into the challenges faced by both NNESTs and NESTs working together at one university in South Korea. Drawing on multiple theoretical perspectives including teacher identity theory, I examined six TESOL teachers’ experiences (three NESTs and three NNESTs) to find out how they negotiate their personal and professional identities while navigating the tensions and paradoxes arising from teaching English in their institution. The design of the qualitative study involved two parts. The first part involved critical textual analysis of documentary data (i.e., hiring advertisements, language institution websites, English book covers) to explore how English is positioned in South Korea, and the second part was an interview study. The findings show that the inequitable and discriminatory practices operating in the TESOL field in South Korea (e.g., bias in teacher recruitment process, different scales of pay, status and career opportunities for NESTs and NNESTs, native speaker fallacy, etc.) have led to experiences of marginalisation for both NNESTs and NESTs. For example, while NNESTs contest the ‘native speaker’ fallacy and believe that bilingual teachers are the optimal teachers for their students, they also experience low professional self-esteem while struggling to see themselves as ‘equals’ with their NEST colleagues. NESTs, once hired, also feel frustrated that they are excluded from career advancement opportunities and lack a sense of ‘belonging’ in their workplace. As South Korea develops, the demand for English will continue to rise. This research argues that a deeper understanding of the complexities of English language teachers’ experiences is needed to redress inequities created by the NEST-NNEST dichotomy in the TESOL field in South Korea. Implications for professional practice and further research will be discussed.