I have nothing against the Indian people. Seriously - they work incredibly hard for a fraction of what the rest of the world gets paid. They study harder than virtually anyone on the planet (that includes the Koreans) and have a vibrant history I would love to learn more about. I have had few difficulties conversing with the far-too-few Indians I've had the pleasure of meeting.
But this is a flat world (see Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat for reference), and that means competition. A LOT more competition. That's great if you're a business or a customer - who doesn't like having many different stores to shop at and choices to choose from?
If you're an employee, though, that flat world is probably more threatening to your current job / lifestyle than almost anything out there. Think about it - why would an employer keep someone if they can get the same thing from someone else for cheaper?
The story was first reported in the Joongang Daily, and has been blogged about by Brian in Jeollanam-do and Stafford of the Chosun Bimbo. A few quotes from the Joongang article:
The [Education] ministry will recruit around 100 Indians early next year and if the trial is successful, it could raise the number to 300. The source said there is a high chance that those teachers will be dispatched to regions outside the Seoul metropolitan area where there is a shortage of native English teachers.
So only 300 Indian teachers among 20,000 or so native English teachers already here? The NETs don't have too much to worry about... right?
Korean schools introduced the so-called English Program in Korea project in 1995 for “globalized education” and set the goal of allocating one native English teacher for conversation with students for every class. Currently, there are 7,088 assistant native English teachers employed but they are from seven English-speaking countries - the United States, Australia, Britain, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. Their monthly salary ranges between 2 million won ($1,700) and 2.5 million won.
Bear in mind that it's 7,088 teachers just in the public school system. Include native teachers in hagwon or universities and you're easily over 20,000.
On the low end, $1,700 x 12 = $20,400 / year; not precisely the stellar wage one might expect for a teacher. Even including the 'free' apartment (which is often being replaced by a housing allowance that may or may not cover the actual cost of housing), a certified / 'qualified' teacher may do better / have a better standard of living in their home country.
The ministry has spent more than 300 million won a year on hiring and training those teachers but experienced difficulty gaining sufficient “qualified” teachers, given that only 13 percent of them have official teaching certificates.
Finally - a partial definition on what being a 'qualified' teacher actually means - a freakin' piece of paper. This continues to beg the question - if you want teachers with a piece of paper, why haven't you made it part of the job requirement? Then, pay them what they're worth - if we can make the same amount in our home country, there's little reason to pay for a flight over (reimbursement doesn't count if you leave within 6 months and they take it out of your last paycheck), learn a new culture, prove our cleanliness / certifications / qualifications, and otherwise put up with live in a foreign culture.
Another thought: Korea is not hurting for applications anymore - Footprints Recruiting recently sent out an e-mail saying SMOE has already received enough applications for jobs starting in Spring 2010. It's November 2009. You do the math.
Park Jun-eon, a professor of English language and literature at Soongsil University, said competition for jobs will intensify if the Korean government brings in native speakers of English from Asian countries such as India and the Philippines who might better understand Asian cultures.
Hmm - this might be a valid point. The caste system of India would seem similar to the Confucian way in Korea. They would be more used to the food and lifestyle, being from a relatively similar country.
I seriously doubt a majority of native English teachers in Korea will be replaced anytime soon. It continues to look good if a school has a white face in the classroom, and it makes parents happy. But there is a lot more competition than there used to be. The solution? Be the best teacher you can be. Avoid just showing up on time, and just doing your job - there are far more ways of getting involved around a school. When's the last time you made a worksheet or got out of the textbook (assuming you're allowed to do that?) Make it - show it - let your other teachers use it if they like. Act like you care about being there and doing a great job - no matter what your fellow NET's are doing. Be a professional about the job. Be thankful for the job - and if it's a crappy job, get out. No one's holding a gun to your head saying you have to stay here.
© Chris Backe - 2009
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12 comments:
I've had a few Indian friends, and in my hometown there were many Indian doctors and business owners, so I've never had a problem understanding the accent.
When I first came to Korea I couldn't understand the crap they call English here, but I'm pretty good at it now. That said, Indians generally pronounce English far better than Koreans...
Maybe Indians should be allowed to teach writing, and have a native speaker teach speaking.
Each recruiting agency has a number of people they can hire for SMOE. I wonder if it is SMOE who is full or Footprints Recruiting?
Accent tells you where your origins come from. I think it might be best for you to give some thought on the concept of accents. Sure the Indian accent is unique and contrasts greatly to the American accent.
But what if this Indian person hired for the job was taught English from an American? Their accent would be partially American right?
I think we also have to consider what relevance accent has to teaching ESL. In my TEFL program they emphasized that accent is not important and that there are no real differences.
Check out this NPR show for a great thoughtful look into accents and how English travels.
http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=113308537
Quote:
CONAN: And to begin with, how do you define your accent?
Mr. CRYSTAL: I wish I could. Well, you know, an accent reflects where you've been, where you've been brought up.
And most people these days don't spend their whole lives in one place. So, whereas once upon a time it was quite easy to almost predict where somebody had come from just by listening to them, you listen to somebody like me and what you hear in this voice you're hearing now is the first 10 years of my life living in Wales -
I guess your argument is also about that our jobs are being replaced by Indians due to they are cheaper to hire.
And that the government is making this decision based upon feeling that they have hired "unqualified" expensive teachers over the past few years. So they are going to hire cheaper "unqualified" teachers instead.
I personally don't see anything wrong about hiring an Indian to teach English out here.
I see something wrong about believing that their accent is poorer than ours and that is what makes them as "unqualified".
I don't feel my job is threatened. The government may want one thing but the schools may ask for someone else. If anything this might help people of non-white skin to have more of a presence and professional appearance in this country.
I think before jumping on the bandwagon of fear I am going to give this new development more consideration in more ways than one.
Although I can understand your view points and reaction to this news.
The caste system of India would seem similar to the Confucian way in Korea.
Chris, would you mind explaining this in a little more detail? I wouldn't make that comparison myself so would like to know what factors are influencing your statement.
Heck, recruiters stopped accepting apps for SMOE in September. I got rejected without an interview and I have 2 years of experience, not to mention decent Korean skills.
Just to clarify, as there seems to be some confusion--many Indians are native speakers of English, and thus would not necessarily have learned English from a non-Indian. It's just that Indian English has more of a British influence, for obvious reasons. (Of course, if they've studied abroad, there may have been an influence on how they speak.)
There are grammatical and pronunciation differences in Indian English varieties, but that's true regarding dialects from (and within) North America, the UK, South Africa, Australia, etc. "Native speaker" and "Indian" are hardly exclusive categories. The lack of knowledge about world Englishes in the comments here is somewhat distressing.
Wintersweet that is what I was trying to say...
@Foreigner Joy: Since Footprints is one of the largest in the business, I'd bet any jobs remaining with smaller recruiters are getting snapped up quickly - and by people that have already replied.
@Wintersweet: There's a lot to be said about accents and about world English. In many cases, Indians are better 'qualified' to teach English, essentially because they have the documentation AND the speaking / writing ability to back it up. The question may become which English do parents want their kids to learn - American, British, Indian, South African, etc. Ideally it should not be based on any one country's interpretation, but of the elements of the language that are shared...
@Acorn in the Dog's Food: the analogy may not be perfect, but the concept that people are both above you and below you mean you treat (and are treated) differently as a result. That contrasts to an American view of something closer to equality. I take the subway with the CEO; I don't let him take my seat simply because he's an older man.
India and Korea are relatively similar countries?!? Only apart from language, food, social customs, social organization, religion, ethnic diversity, etc. I attended language courses and am friends with many Indians here on various kinds of business, and they would all be very quick to tell you that other than being on the same continent there's not some kind of overarching culture that connects them strongly. One guy I know cooks meals for a week to bring to his office because after five years he still can't eat Korean food for both reasons of taste and religion (all his food is strictly vegetarian.) I would have to second Paul's comment that India's caste system (officially abolished, if not the social milleiu) is not terribly analagous to the Confucian system, particularly in contemporary Korean society. Confucian social heiarchy of age and gender often actually overshadow social class, something not at all characteristic of the caste system. I would also challenge the idea that a) CEO's ride the subway in the US and b) people in the US aren't at least encouraged to yeild seats to people based on age, gender, and condition. Remember the expression, "Age before beauty"? These things are part of western culture as well, even if less prominent or less observed (I would also argue that young Koreans are getting to be very adept at ignoring these rules as well)
Finally, I know you put in a lot of disclaimers, but it's hard to get around the fact that your argument is essentially, "We have to be good teachers or they're bringing in Indians to replace us!" How about, they're possibly bringing in Indians to *join* the ranks of English teachers and take over positions that are viewed less favorably anyway by most of the NETs? How about a little happiness that the Korean government is abandoning an unecessary and somewhat racist (India includes English as an alternate to Hindi in official use, and English is one of the two official languages of the Philipines) stance?
Sorry if I sounded overly cranky or misinterpreted anyone--I woke up sick this morning (dizziness, etc.) and I'm afraid I'm a bit loopy! Joy and Gomushin Girl have good points about the possibility of raising the profile of English-speaking South Asian professionals; strictly from a "decrease worldsuck" (google it) point of view, that's a good thing. :)
Although I think Chris is oversimplifying things a lot/drawing a very inexact analogy, it's true that my husband's international female students at a major Californian university who were from Korea and India found a lot in common when they were complaining about certain social rigidities in their home countries. Particularly dealing with older men, the difficulty of choosing your own career/school path if it goes against your parents' wishes, marriage considerations, etc...but there are lots of cultures with similarly conservative viewpoints, maybe even including some eastern European countries (I don't know many people from there; couldn't say). I suspect any similarities on those levels are probably not going to help a lot with day-to-day culture shock, honestly.
Oversimplifying is something my college professors commonly docked points off my papers in college for. Of course Korea and India have many differences.
CEO's riding or not riding the subway is a different story in a country where public transportation is spotty, unavailable, or only used by a group of people that can't afford or get a car.
I believe Indian teachers can fairly be considered competition - they do the same job, thereby increasing the supply for said jobs without affecting the demand. As a result, the bar gets raised for credentials, and employers don't necessarily feel the need to keep things the same. It's far too early to say the sky is falling - but if 'qualified' teachers are willing to work at, say, 1.5 million won a month, how many employers will continue to pay 2 - 2.5 million won a month?
I'm positive that working alongside an Indian teacher would have its benefits, just as if they were from any another country.
No, all the NET's are not flying out on the next red-eye flight. But it is a development in the English teaching market - and it's one worth paying attention to.
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