College of Extended Learning in the News
Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Sends 36 ESL Teachers
to Cal State San Bernardino
July 23, 2009 • CSUSB Staff Writer
(ABOVE) A group of 36 ESL teachers from Seoul, Korea, arrived on July 24 for a four-week TESOL training program at the College of Extended Learning at Cal State San Bernardino. Front row, fifth from right is Changsoo Mok, director general of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education; to his right is Dr. Tatiana Karmanova, dean of the College of Extended Learning; and to her right is Jong-Yul Lee, CEO and President, Korus (Korea-USA) Education Institute.
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. -- On Saturday, 36 elementary school teachers will arrive from the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) to begin a four-week training program with the College of Extended Learning at California State University, San Bernardino. This is the second group from Seoul to participate in the university’s TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) Training Institute. In January, 22 students successfully completed the program.
The TESOL Training Institute is designed to develop teachers’ expertise in teaching English to speakers of other languages. In Korea, school children are taught to read, write and speak English beginning in third grade.
“Our training program will provide the Korean teachers with an intensive and multifaceted experience that will help them to teach English more effectively,” said Dr. Tatiana Karmanova, interim dean of the College of Extended Learning. “They will participate in interactive seminars, observe and teach at local schools and visit many sites in Southern California.”
The TESOL program developed by the College of Extended Learning combines seminar discussions on the latest advances in theory and practice of foreign language education and methodology with practical applications through teaching demonstrations and school visits. The program also includes English language classes aimed specifically at improving the participants’ teaching ability, communicative skills and understanding of cultural practices.
The Korean educators will visit elementary schools in the San Bernardino City Unified School District where the student population is more than 60% non-English speaking at the elementary level. There, they will observe first-hand the methods and strategies of the ESL classroom teachers, after which they will present a lesson plan in English to the mostly Spanish-speaking classes.
“Their cross-cultural experience will not end when they leave our campus,” Dr. Karmanova explained, “because they will be staying with American host families and learning about American lifestyles.” The Homestay Program will give the teachers an additional opportunity to practice their English language skills and learn more about American culture, food and traditions. One past participant said of her host family, “They let me be comfortable in their house and respected our cultural differences.”
Field trips to the Getty Center in Los Angeles, the Huntington Library in Pasadena, the Lincoln Memorial Shrine in Redlands, and Big Bear Lake will provide the teachers with sources for lesson plans to be taught to their classes upon their return to Korea.
For more information about the Korean TESOL program or to become a host family, contact Andrew Yao, program administrator, at (909) 537-3977 or E-mail ayao@csusb.edu.
Field Trip to Big Bear Lake, California, August 2009 |
