A practicalities and experiences of being non-native english teachers in korea

Foreign English teachers and local languages

• For the purposes of this research, a ‘foreign English teacher’ is someone
• who fits the Korean government's definition (Korea Immigration
• Service); somebody who has acquired an E2 foreign language
• instructor's visa (Na, 2006) and been hired to teach English to Korean
• students at public or private institutions, which necessarily means that
• they come from a narrow group of 'inner-circle' (Kachru, 1996) English
• countries; the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland,
• Australia, New Zealand or South Africa (HiKorea.go.kr). Both within
• Korea and in other countries in East and South-East Asia, foreign
• English teachers from inner-circle countries, particularly those who are
• White, enjoy considerable privilege in hiring (Ruecker & Ives, 2015)
• over members of other groups, including native English speakers of
• Asian descent (Lan, 2011).