The purpose of this article is to share my experience, as a teacher of English within the South Korean context, regarding ways in which the English language can be taught and learned and how such teaching leads to intercultural communication. While there are many ways to define intercultural communication, within this paper, I use Chen and Starosta’s (1998) definition, “the ability to effectively and appropriately execute communication behaviors to elicit a desired response” (p. 241). This article targets using the Korean alphabets—Hanguel—as a means of helping students read English words and enhance their literacy skills in the English language. Although the idea of using students’ L1 can be used at all levels of readiness, I used this strategy to teach high school South Korean students, between the ages of 15 and 17, learning EFL.

Using Korean Alphabets to Teach the English Language

While teaching English in South Korea, my students’ biggest concern was the need to increase their fluency levels and read like native speakers. While I am aware that the ideology behind the term “native speaker” is problematic and, in some cases, ambiguous, surveys are still showing a preference for native-like fluency within EFL contexts (Sybing, 2011). In South Korea, the focus for native English teachers is more on speaking rather than writing, and students were concerned with sounding English "native-like" and gaining fluency (Han, 2005). Rather, it was the idea of speaking English as quickly as they spoke the Korean language and applying the English language in its appropriate context, which presented the challenge to them. Students equated fast-paced speech to English language fluency and proficiency.

In order to expediently meet the needs of the students, I used Konglish (Korean + English) as a teaching technique to develop English proficiency. I was able to create a better sense of intercultural communication, which increases students’ reading ability and engages students, by creating sentences that were written in the Korean language but read in the English language (See Figure 1).

Figure 1. Korean and English chart to increase English language proficiency.

Figure 1 can be used in the classroom to increase various facets of student literacy skills, such as listening, reading, writing, and vocabulary, and also spark conversations for both the teacher and students to fully immerse in intercultural communication. Below are two activities implemented with the use of the chart in Figure 1.

Activity #1: “Listening: Rewriting English to Korean”

Aim: To increase one’s listening skills by rewriting what the teacher said in Korean alphabets
Time: 25–30 minutes
Level: Beginner–Intermediate
Materials Needed: A list of approximately five simple sentences, paper, writing utensils, dictionary

Warm-Up: Introduce the concept to the students. Give a practice quiz by stating something as simple as “Hello,” and have students write down how they would spell “Hello” in the Korean alphabet. It should look something like “헬로.”

Strategy #1: Use 10 minutes to call out sentences and have students write the sentences down. If students do not understand some of your words, write those words on the board and allow students to use their dictionaries to find the meaning. Be sure to repeat your sentences, as some students may not understand or may need reiteration. When you are finished, check students’ papers by having them read the sentences aloud to see if they are similar to those on your list.

Strategy #2: Contingent upon class size, place students into groups of four, give each student in each group a number, then inform students that a game will be played in which they must listen for their number to be called. Once their number is called, they must come up to the board to write down the sentence they heard the teacher state. The teacher should only repeat the sentence twice, which reinforces active listening. To make the game more competitive, I would recommend giving points, stickers, treats, or some other incentive to the group member who is the first to write down the correct sentence.

Wrap-Up: Have students draw and/or write their sentiments toward the activity on paper. Have an open class discussion between teacher and students about what was most challenging or most effective about the activity.

Activity #2: “Reading to Spell the Write Way”

Aim: To increase one’s reading and writing skills in English.
Time: 40–50 minutes
Level: Intermediate–Advanced
Materials Needed: A list of approximately five Korean-spelled English sentences, hand-held chalkboards, chalk, eraser, bell, dictionary

Warm-Up: Introduce the concept of the lesson to the students. Give a practice quiz. Write one of your Korean-spelled English sentences on the board and ask students to rewrite the sentence into English.

Strategy: This activity may be a little more complex for students, so I would suggest placing students into groups of four, contingent upon class size, and having students work together to rewrite the sentences into English. Place your first sentence on the board and give the students approximately 1–2 minutes (or more) to write the correct sentence. When the time is up, ring the bell. Be sure the words within students’ sentences are correct, and give enough time or a teaching moment for students to refer to their dictionary to ensure correct spelling. Groups with the correct sentence receive a point. Continue this game until all sentences have been written on the board. The team with the most points wins.

Wrap-Up: Have students draw and/or write their sentiments toward the activity on paper. Have an open class discussion between teacher and students about what was most challenging or most effective about the activity.

Challenges With the Assignment

In the beginning, the words and sentences may make no sense to the students. Initially, students may laugh at one’s perceivably failed attempt to write in the Korean language, not realizing that the objectives were to read in English, yet write in Korean. It is important for teachers to reiterate the objectives of the game. After familiarizing themselves with the concept of this assignment, students increased their English language speech fluency through the Korean language. Using the Korean alphabet and Konglishas a strategy to build fluency reading English sentences proved to be a success, but only to some degree. For example, many students’ pronunciation of the English alphabet still adhered to the traditional Korean alphabetic sounds. This pronunciation may not be understood by some non-Koreans. Also, the definition of Konglish is ambiguous and may differ according to the individual (Byeol, 2013). To gain optimal effectiveness of intercultural communication, with regards to these lessons, it is crucial that the teacher implement preceding lessons centered on Korean culture and language and how the English language has deeply influenced South Korean culture and language, and vice-versa.

Discussion

One of the students created a poster noting that she found the Konglish lesson most interesting.

Although the student mentioned that Konglish was “most interesting,” she did not elaborate on its usefulness, such as how Konglish increased her literacy skills, what aspects of Konglish enhanced her knowledge of English language and culture, and if what she had learned was an effective intercultural communicative technique. Because many Konglish words are spelled with the Korean alphabet and may convey a different meaning from that conveyed when used in SE, this can be quite confusing, incomprehensible, or even unintelligible to some non-Koreans (Byeol, 2013).

For example, the Konglish word “eye shopping” often spelled “아이쇼핑” refers to window shopping. Thus, in order for the aforementioned lessons to be successful, it is imperative teachers learn more about the South Korean culture and its respective language. Conversing with students outside of the classroom or providing extracurricular activities to learn more about the students is an excellent start. Further research exploring how acquiring proficiency in the English language through the Korean alphabet and Konglish is required, especially to determine the effectiveness of intercultural communication between student and teacher within the EFL educational setting.

References

Byeol, K. S. (2013). Excuse my Konglish. Retrieved fromhttp://iafor.org/archives/offprints/acll2013-offprints/ACLL2013_0138.pdf

Chen, G.-M., & Starosta, W. J. (1998). Foundations of intercultural communication. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Han, S. (2005). Good teachers know where to scratch when learners feel itchy: Korean learners' views of native-speaking teachers of English. Australian Journal of Education, 49(2), 197-213.

Sybing, R. (2011). Assessing perspectives on culture in EFL education. ELT Journal: English Language Teachers Journal, 65(4), 467–469.

Quanisha Charles is a doctoral candidate in the English composition and TESOL program at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). In addition to being a doctoral candidate, she teaches English composition courses as a part-time English faculty and intercultural communication and writing across the curriculum at the American Language Institute at IUP.