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July 07, 2009
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| The Korean media devote a lot of space and time to native speaking English teachers. In fact, some say they spend too much time focusing on this group, as we comprise only a fraction of a percent of the population. A lot of the attention is focused on the bad apples in the community, presenting readers, viewers and listeners with a skewed view that is not representative of the majority of foreign English teachers here. In a post about one such article, written by the wire service Yonhap, Kyle raises some interesting points: “I have a question for those of you who are native English teachers in Korea. How does this media bias affect your daily life? Obviously it’s upsetting to read. But do people mention it to you or ask you about it often? Co-workers? I’m just wondering how much (if any) of this angst could be ameliorated by not reading this junk from the media.” Dancing Bear answers: “For me, it’s the general feelings of mutual mistrust and paranoia that are the most bothersome.” Indeed, I’ve turned Kyle’s questions over in my own head many times, and I wonder if the coldness or resentment I’ve sometimes felt is simply shyness, a difference in personality ... or something deeper. When Dancing Bear asked a co-worker why she had to undergo AIDS and drugs tests but her Korean colleagues did not, the reply was: “‘Many foreigners come to Korea to do drugs and [they] get diseases.’ When I asked how she knew this, she cited the media. And it makes me wonder: Is this how my co-workers, people I’m friends with, view me?” Stuart writes “I got my first taste of this trash in 2005 with the ‘I Want to Know’ documentary, which basically labeled foreign English teachers [as] sex fiends with fake degrees. Following that I noticed that a few Korean women as they passed would very visibly cover their chest.” The misconceptions and negative opinions of foreign English teachers are not simply circulated by netizens on blogs and message boards, they also appear in major national newspapers. But some don’t find anything wrong with that because, after all, English education is of national concern. “That these clowns are hired by careless officials on behalf of public schools and are then accommodated and paid with public money is quite rightly national news,” writes Cymrodor. “The message is that too many incompetent people are being hired and are subsequently doing a disgracefully bad job.” While the negativity is based in part on xenophobia and ignorance, it can be politically motivated as well. In response to a recent article that called foreign professors “vampires” who prey on Korean women, Anexpatinkorea notes: “I showed this to my wife, a very liberal and left-wing girl, who is absolutely furious about this. But she points out something important: [it] is using English teachers to criticize 2MB [President Lee Myung-bak], since he wants Koreans to lean English and has hired more English teachers. Sadly, we’re scapegoats; collateral damage in the surreal bipartisan warfare going on in this country.” The bias is not without consequence. Writes Kelsey, “This kind of crap is the reason why I generally am warning people against teaching in Korea these days. I wish I could recommend Korea, but I can’t really do so in good conscience anymore.” One response is to simply ignore the media, though Kyle suggests another alternative: “I’ve never asked my co-workers about their suspicions or preconceptions of my character. They’ve never probed. Maybe I’m just lucky. “If they do harbor negative suspicions, which may well be the case, there’s nothing I can do about that other than be the best teacher I can be and show a positive, enthusiastic attitude. They’ll know they’re wrong.” *Readers are welcome to send suggestions for topics that they wish to be covered or blogs that they would like to see featured in this column. Please e-mail us at: estyle@joongang.co.kr. Visit Brian in Jeollanam-do at: http://briandeutsch.blogspot.com/. By Brian Deutsch Contributing writer |
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