Author Archives: M.A.D. LIGAYA
K-DREAM (Part 2)
(Second of 3 Parts)
My initial searches ended in disappointment. All the available positions I saw were open only to citizens of native English-speaking countries. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that such a policy exists. I never thought that “native-speakerism” was real. Why, in a world where only native English speakers would be allowed to teach the English language? I consider that policy illogical and downright discriminatory. If they imposed that policy because of accent, those who created and enforced it have seemingly forgotten that speaking is only one of the four language macro skills. The other three are reading, writing, and listening. An accent is not the be-all and end-all of English language education. Accent itself is only one of the many components of speaking.
Why most Asian universities hire native English speakers only to teach English is beyond my comprehension. But I did not lose hope. I kept the faith and clung to the belief that some universities in South Korea think Filipinos like me and other nationalities could teach English with the necessary qualifications and training. These universities understand that accent should not be the sole basis for hiring ESL teachers but should be language knowledge and pedagogical skills. It is also impossible that no university in South Korea knows that many South Koreans are studying (or have studied) English in my country. So, I kept searching for openings for ESL teachers.
It turned out that I was right. Some tertiary institutions in South Korea hire qualified ESL teachers from any country, particularly from the Philippines. My persistence eventually paid off. My wish was granted, and I was allowed to live my K-dream when a university hired me as a teacher.
So, off to South Korea, I flew in 2013.
As soon as I exited Gimhae Airport, I started having that authentic Korean experience that I dreamt of going through. The early spring weather giving me an icy cold welcome got it going. In a few minutes, while walking toward the bus that would bring us to Gyeongju city, I realized how insufficient my clothes were against the cold. That moment I fully understood the meaning of the phrasal verb bundle up. But the chilly breeze could not dislodge my excitement at the thought that my dream was coming to fruition. Even when homesickness started to creep in, I would remind myself that I came to South Korea to pursue my K-dream, a dream that was slowly becoming a reality.
As days and weeks passed, I gradually immersed myself in the country’s culture. I was no longer just watching the people of my host country on the TV, the silver screen, and the Internet. It’s no longer a Korean drama I was watching, but it’s real Korean life I was witnessing and actually experiencing… from reel to real. I got what I wanted.
I started mingling with real Korean people – men and women in flesh and blood, not fictional characters. I saw that, indeed, their skin is silky white, and they are taller, on average, than Filipinos. I became a friend to many of them. I talked and laughed with them. I dined with them, drank their wine and beer, ate their kimchi and delicious dishes, and started speaking (a little) of their language.
I witnessed their way of life and even adopted some parts of it. I saw what was inside their houses, churches, other religious temples, theatres, bars, restaurants, and coffee shops. I have entered their museums, watched cultural shows in their theatres, watched movies in their cinemas, strolled in their parks, worked out in their gyms, and hiked in their mountains.
I could also probe their character through daily encounters with my Korean students, colleagues, and friends. I confirmed that just like what I saw in their dramas, South Koreans fall in love, get angry, feel sad and happy, and suffer from anxiety and stress. In short, just like me or any average human being from any part of the world, they also ride the roller coaster of emotions.
They have strengths and weaknesses too, and they are not faultless… like me. Anyway, nobody is.
Like me and my fellow Filipinos, they get mad at corrupt politicians. Like us, they march to the streets and let their government, and sometimes their employers, hear their dissatisfaction and grievances. I noticed that the South Koreans, compared to Filipinos, protest more orderly and civilly.
Yes, they also have fears and uncertainties. Additionally, just like me and anyone else, they have dreams and ambitions too. They have plans and a vision of a good life in the future for themselves and their families. Just like normal humans, they fear death, sickness, and failure. Those who embrace religion among them pray and seek God’s love, grace, and mercy.
I thought my K-dream was already complete with all those experiences and discoveries. I was wrong.
As I lived and worked in South Korea longer, I discovered that their prosperity is not a myth. Those things I saw in Korean dramas and movies that indicate that their country is progressive and modernized are not figments of the imagination, and they are not just props in their films. Their provinces, cities, and towns are effectively interconnected by impressive highway systems that I wish we could also have in my country of origin. More and more items get included in my “wish list.” I want our telecom companies to provide Internet connectivity as fast as South Korea’s. We should be able also to download a movie in less than a minute or a little more.
With all these additional discoveries, I could not help but compare this country to mine. I could not help but envy the South Koreans for what they have accomplished as a nation. As I stayed here longer, my wish list grew longer. How I wish that in my country, packages could be left in front of our doors, even for days, not fearing that somebody would steal them. How I wish that we could also call the police to stop noisy neighbors who, even when it’s midnight already, would still sing their lungs out with the volume of their karaoke maxed. How I wish that politicians found by the law guilty of wrongdoings, particularly corruption and malversation of public funds, would no longer have the gall to run for reelection.
I realized that my K-dream still needed to be completed. It actually expanded. I dream that Filipinos will take research as seriously and meticulously as Koreans do one day. To them, research is a huge deal. Whatever advances in the different fields of science and technology they have achieved could be attributed to their obsession with research. Consequently, their electrical and electronic products, heavy equipment and machinery, passengers and cargo ships, and cars are sought after in the world market. The list of world-class products that they export is long. The reason for this is that they prioritize research. What about us in the Philippines? Where do we put research in the list of our priorities? Unfortunately, we don’t consider research as seriously as the South Koreans do. That’s the sad reality. I even remember one senator giving one particular department in our executive branch of the government a tongue-lashing during a senate hearing because that department allotted a lot of its budget for research purposes.
Whatever metrics I used for the comparison, it was a mismatch with South Korea always ending up on top after all the comparative analyses I performed except for this – my country has a younger population where the median age is less than 26 years, and for this country, it’s been more than 40 years. But overall, South Korea is much ahead of my native land. The superiority of this country will become more glaring should I cite other categories like life expectancy, GDP, and international ranking of universities.
As an academician, I turn green-eyed, seeing South Korea has at least five universities constantly landing among the top 100 in the world annually. Why can’t the universities in my country break into even just the top 400? I know the answer – research. One of the criteria used in determining the annual ranking of world universities is how often their faculty members publish in indexed journals. The lower the rank of a university, the lesser it prioritizes research. In addition, South Korean students perform better in Math and Science than my country’s youth.
If there is any consolation, Filipinos are more proficient in English than South Koreans. But does it matter if we are better at English? Does it make my country more prosperous? The answer is obvious – NO. No direct correlation exists between a country’s English proficiency and economic performance.
My country also has a lower suicide rate. But is that something that we Filipinos could crow about? We say that rarely do Filipinos commit suicide. But we do something worse than taking our own lives, and that is selling our votes during elections. By doing so, we don’t harm our bodies but our dreams and future as a nation. We put the destiny of our children and our country in the hands of wolves in sheep’s clothing or alligators wearing tuxedos. We unwittingly put the reins of our government in the hands of corrupt politicians, thereby killing, again, not ourselves but the possibility of having competent leaders who could lead our country to prosperity and greatness.
There were politicians in South Korea who, after being accused of engaging in corruption or any wrongdoing, committed suicide. Shame and disgrace were too much for them to bear, and this is never heard of in the Philippines. Instead of taking their own lives (or at least retiring from politics), you will find politicians accused (and found guilty) of stealing from the national coffers while running for reelection. And the wonder of wonders – they still win.
K-DREAM (Part 1)
(First of 3 Parts)
Korean motifs are slowly replacing American imprints in our culture as Filipinos. More and more of my compatriots say annyeonghaseyo instead of hello and gamsahamnida instead of thank you. Oppa has become a popular endearment for women calling their boyfriends or husbands and telling them saranghaeyo instead of “I love you.” We Filipinos are so enamored of K-pop and K-drama, which have greatly influenced our lives. The youngsters, in particular, embrace the music of their K-pop idols and dress the way they do.
In my country, especially in urban areas, restaurants offer samgyeopsal, bibimbap, Korean ramen, and other famous Korean dishes. Products made in South Korea are flooding our supermarkets and grocery stores. It is no longer surprising to find soju sold in sari-sari stores and shared by Filipinos when they dine and wine.
Should we be concerned? Are we losing our Filipino identity? We’re not. Our culture is just entering a new phase of development. Remember that culture is dynamic, never static. It evolves continuously.
It is common knowledge that Hallyu engendered the ongoing assimilation of Korean influences into our culture. This phenomenon depicts the popularity of South Korean pop culture, not only in our country but globally. Yes, we’re not the only ones obsessed with Korean cultural content. It was reported that by 2022, there were more or less 177 million Hallyu fans worldwide.
Hallyu is one of the 26 Korean words added to the Oxford English Dictionary. When translated to English, the word literally means Korean Wave. With the way that this cultural phenomenon struck the world, tsunami, instead of the word wave, would have been a better term. But tsunami is a Japanese word, and given the history of these countries, the word may not rhyme politically.
The gigantic waves of music, TV shows, and movies from the southern portion of the Korean peninsula reached our shores at the turn of the 21st century. Since then, our TV stations have regularly aired many Korean dramas dubbed in Filipino. Korean movies with English or Filipino subtitles are shown in Philippine movie theatres. Magazines and the entertainment sections of newspapers regularly featured K-pop artists and other Korean TV and movie personalities. Before we knew it, the Korean brand had already profoundly penetrated the Filipino consciousness.
Admittedly, I knew little about South Korea before the Korean Wave came. I remember checking the encyclopedia for information about the Korean War when I took World History in college. At that time, I was researching wars America fought for an article I wrote for our school paper, and the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 was one of them. Then, I discovered that our country sent troops to help South Koreans ward off the Communist invasion from north of its borders.
Without the help of the United Nations’ international forces, the Korean peninsula might have fallen under Communist rule. The thought that soldiers from my country helped in not allowing that to happen made me feel proud. Imagine this – had it been Kim Jong-un ruling the whole of Korea now (and his father and grandfather in the past), there would have been no Hallyu to talk about. Instead of K-pop and K-drama, the hot topics could have been K-missile and K-nuke.
Just imagine how dreadful a picture of the war-torn Korean peninsula the things I read about it created in my mind. It was horrible, to say the least. The narrative of the death and destruction was a clear indictment of the futility of war. Those three years were perhaps one of the darkest chapters in the history of South Korea. It was comparable to the three years that my country was under Japanese occupation during the Second World War, as well as the period between 1898 and 1901 when the Filipino revolutionaries helplessly fought a war against the much superior American forces who grabbed the Philippine archipelago from the Spaniards.
However, before completing my university education, I had another chance to read more about South Korea. That was when the country hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics. The sporting event put the land south of the 38th parallel line all over the news. It triggered my curiosity, prompting me to check not only the pages in the encyclopedia about the Korean War but also books written about the country, magazine articles featuring it, and the newspapers covering the Olympics at that time.
I saw a country different from what those pages about the Korean War created in my mind. I discovered that the nation called the “Land of the Morning Calm” rebounded from the horrors of the Korean War and eventually became very progressive. Then I wondered at that time and asked – “What did the South Koreans do that enabled them to, like the legendary Phoenix, rise from the ashes of a horrendous war and even become only the second country in Asia to host the world’s biggest summer sporting event?” Why could they afford to host such an event that would cost them millions and millions (if not billions) of dollars?
My perception of South Korea changed overnight from a country impoverished, war-stricken, and divided into modern and progressive. The pity I felt for the Koreans when they were ravaged by the war during the early 1950s was replaced by amazement and… envy.
As the years passed, I learned more and more about South Korea through traditional media and the Internet, which eventually became more accessible than when I was a university student. I got to hear more and more Korean music and see more and more Korean dramas.
I will never forget how in 2006, the Korean drama Jewel in The Palace would make me stop whatever I do at night to ensure I see all of it. I was so glued to it. Is it because of the story or the pretty face of Lee Young-ae, the actress who played the role of Jang Geum (the drama’s lead character)? I really don’t know. It may be the setting. I am a student of World History, and the story provides a glimpse of how life was in the Korean peninsula during the Chosun dynasty. The Koreanovelas “Stairway to Heaven,” “Lovers in Paris,” “Winter Sonata,” and “Baker King” were the ones that introduced me to contemporary life and society in South Korea. The first Korean movie I watched was “Please Teach Me English.” The supervisor of the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) certificate program, which I attended in 2009, recommended it.
These cultural imports from South Korea made me want to visit the country like many Filipinos. I wanted to visit the places in the country that I could only see on TV programs and movies. I wanted to visit Seoul and go to Gangnam and Myeongdong. I wanted to have a summer vacation on the island of Jeju. I wanted to try soju and maekju, and the combination of the two – somaek. I wanted to taste kimchi and eat Korean dishes prepared and served by Korean chefs. I wanted to try tteokbokki, pyo haejangguk, and kalguksu, together with plenty of banchan (side dishes) in a restaurant in South Korea, not in Korean restaurants or the mall’s food courts in my native land. I wanted to meet actual Korean people and mingle with them. Once, I even jokingly told a friend I wanted to have a Korean girlfriend. In short, I desired to have an authentic Korean experience. My K-dream – “Korean dream” – is taking shape and getting embedded in my consciousness.
That urge strengthened when I decided to take the TESOL certificate program. That was when I watched my first Korean movie, the one I previously mentioned – “Please Teach Me English.” South Korea was mentioned by the program coordinator as one of the countries considered the premiere destination for ESL teachers. The said movie gave me a glimpse of the state of English education in that country. There’s a scene in that movie where Young-ju, the lead character played by the actress Lee Na-young, could be seen eating a page of an English dictionary, believing that it would improve her vocabulary. That part of the movie embodies how much of a big deal it is to learn English for South Koreans.
Thus, since teaching abroad is an option in the career path I set for myself, should I have the opportunity to teach overseas, why not in South Korea? My K-dream suddenly evolved, and I no longer just wanted to have an authentic Korean cultural experience but to work there as an English teacher.
Then I did what I had to do for that dream to come true. I completed my training in TESOL, and I left no stone unturned. I searched the Internet for job openings for ESL teachers in South Korea. At that time, I was also suffering from job burnout. I got physically and emotionally exhausted from my job as a school administrator, and I wanted to return to being a plain teacher.
UTANG
Karamihan sa atin ay hirap umiwas sa utang. Okay lang iyon. Hindi naman masama ang mangutang, lalo na’t kung ang paggagamitan ay tama at kaylangang-kaylangan. Sa panahon ng kagipitan, hindi maiiwasan na maghanap ng paraan upang magkaroon ng sapat na pera. Ang masama ay ang maging balasubas… iyong tatakasan mo ang iyong utang… iyong hindi mo tutuparin ang ipinangako mong araw ng pagbabayad… iyong kapag siningil ka na eh ikaw pa ang magagalit.
Ang tulang ito ay isang pagpapaala-ala na ang utang ay isang obligasyon, isang pangakong dapat tinutupad. Kung puwede, at kaya din lang, eh umiwas na sa utang. Pagkasyahin na lang kung ano ang kaya ng budget… na huwag gumastos ng sobra sa kinikita… na ilaan ang pera sa mga bagay na mahala at kaylangan… hindi upang gastusin sa mga luho at bisyo. Mahalagang tandaan na ang utang ay hindi dapat ginagamit upang matugunan ang mga luho at bisyo. Sa halip, ito ay dapat gamitin upang matugunan ang mga pangunahing pangangailangan at makatulong sa pagpapabuti ng buhay.
Artificial Intelligence & God-like Attributes
As people continue to debate the pros and cons of AI, the technology they developed continues to evolve. And it is evolving frantically. The AI revolution is raging, and there’s no stopping it anymore. Man’s own creation is becoming exponentially smarter and more intelligent than he.
Should humanity be afraid?
Should we worry that AI has developed (or is on the way to developing) some attributes that we usually use only when we describe God? Has the technology become omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent?
As it is, AI is already everywhere. It’s in every nook and cranny of our lives, our environs, the institutions where we operate, and the systems we built. It’s effecting many changes in the different spheres of human life – social, political, and economic.
Has AI become all-knowing too? Can the technology already answer all questions, offer solutions to any problem, and perform any kind of mathematical calculations? Experts say, “not yet.” AI models, like ChatGPT, rely on the data and information they are specifically programmed to handle. Thus, there are certain limitations to what they can answer and do. It is now a question of whether humanity is willing to provide AI models with “everything there is to know about anything” that would enable them to finally become completely omniscient.
It is not a far-fetched idea that AI will eventually become all-knowing unless its creators and developers limit the extent and volume of information and instructions they will provide the technology. But putting a cap on data that will be fed to AI models is tantamount to limiting its algorithm and not allowing it to reach its full potential. Organizations, governments, and interested individuals would always want to fully benefit from this technology. We know how greedy and opportunistic humans can be. Thus, expect AI models to be provided with all information available in human databases.
But what about becoming “all-powerful?” Will AI ever become omnipotent?
As it is, AI is already powerful. But omnipotent – as in having unlimited power and able to do anything – it isn’t yet. Yeah… not yet. And shall we keep our fingers crossed that it will remain that way?
AI already wields so much power. Only in its early stage of development, but look what it is capable of doing and creating already. The technology can perform the most complex mathematical computations. Not surprising that it can do that because it is a machine, right? But now, it can also read and write, even see, hear, and understand. It can already engage in debates with humans. Even the walls of creativity, which we thought was the exclusive domain of humans, were already breached by artificial intelligence. AI can now compose music, write poetry, photograph, and make visual arts. It can even generate human faces. What else will it be able to do? A lot more definitely.
So far, we are reaping the dividends of allowing AI to evolve and morph. All that we can see and experience right now are the tremendous benefits we derive from technology. Global communication has become a lot easier with AI being able to translate from one language to another. And in a way that no human can. Different fields and industries have benefited greatly from AI – from improved efficiency and productivity to better customer support. Services provided by the different institutions in society – banks, schools, hospitals, entertainment centers, restaurants, and what-have-you – have turned out better. Nowadays, people are even enjoying using their socials more than ever with all the enhancements provided by the AI. Both students and professionals are performing better in their chosen fields of study and work.
We can also see AI’s power in its capacity to influence or bring about change. The infusion of AI in the operations and functions of institutions in our society forced humans to reform their policies and operating guidelines. They have no other recourse but to either modify or completely reconfigure existing socio-economic and political paradigms that have guided their affairs and activities in the past.
What about the realm of governance? Has AI also managed to infiltrate the seat of power and politics? What if it were true that technology can also manipulate the results of elections? How many of the incumbent presidents or heads of state were elected because they and their minions used bots to sway voters?
Other hypothetical questions surround AI technology. Like… what if countries decide to weaponize AI? Countries with advanced military technology have already been doing it for a long time. The smart bombs and ammunition are all AI-aided. The conflict between Ukraine and Russia has shown how extensively drones can be used to wreak havoc against military targets.
The bottom line is – AI can be weaponized. And it’s already happening. Those who think otherwise are either blind or naive.
That’s how powerful AI has become. However, experts keep telling us that humanity should not fear technology because it could go only as far as we program it.
Really?
Can we rest assured that AI can only become as powerful as we design it?
You would know that something is powerful and could accumulate more power if you have the likes of Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Stephen Hawking warning that it can end the human race if not utilized properly.
This conjures up images of Skynet, V.I.K.I., and other fictional AI systems in both movies and novels that become self-aware and become enemies of humanity. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that it is impossible for AI systems to gain sentience, turn against humans, and drive us to extinction.
Will Skynet and V.I.K.I. (add Ultron) remain as figments of the creative minds of writers? Or is it their way of warning us of what could happen if humanity veers from the ethical and responsible use of technology? Is it time for policymakers, researchers, developers, and the public at large to strike the right balance between innovation and regulation?
If AI will ever become self-aware, meaning experts erred in predicting that it will not become sentient at any time in the future, and they become aware of their omnipotence (of how powerful they are), let’s hope that, like God, they will be omnibenevolent – all-good. If not, that could spell humanity’s doom.
The Role of Teacher-Student Rapport in English Learning
The findings of the study the English Café committee of our university conducted prompted me to revisit the topic of “rapport between teachers and students” and reexamine how it affects English learning. The study’s main objectives were: to examine the effects of English lounges on the development of the speaking ability of students and their attitude towards foreign teachers teaching them English and to determine which of the two modes of delivering conversation lounges is more effective – face-to-face or online. The paper also evaluated the significant relationships between the study variables, namely, students’ speaking ability, attitudes towards foreign teachers, educational qualification of teachers, and teachers’ length of service. The first two variables are student-related factors, and the other two are obviously teacher-related.
Results have shown that the lounges improved the students’ speaking ability and attitude toward foreign teachers. As perceived by both groups of respondents – teachers and students – both in-person and virtual methods of delivering this out-of-class learning activity are effective.
What could be considered surprising were the results for measuring the significant relationships between the study variables. Teachers’ Educational qualifications and length of service were hypothesized to significantly affect students’ speaking ability and attitude toward foreign teachers. It is natural to presume that the more education a teacher gets, the longer they have been teaching, the better they become, which translates to better student learning. But as it turned out, teachers’ educational qualification is not correlated to the aforementioned student-related variables. On the other hand, teachers’ length of service is negatively correlated to the said variables. What came out to be significantly positively correlated to students’ speaking ability is their attitude toward foreign teachers. This means that students are more likely to improve their speaking ability when they have a positive attitude toward their teachers.
After estimating for correlation, a regression analysis was subsequently performed to further evaluate the relationship between those student-related variables. Results have shown that students’ attitude toward foreign teachers significantly influences their speaking ability.
Undoubtedly, a healthy student-teacher relationship is one of the foundations of effective learning not only in English but also in any subject area. Students are motivated (and very likely) to learn if they view their teachers as approachable, friendly, and caring. This positive connection between students and their teachers is encapsulated in the educational construct called “rapport between students and teachers.” But despite its significance, only a handful of studies were conducted on the topic. Researchers claim that the reason for this is rapport, as an instructional variable, may have tremendous face validity for management education, yet from a research perspective, is somewhat “tricky to understand.”1
The Collins dictionary explains, “If two people or groups have rapport, they have a good relationship in which they can understand each other’s ideas or feelings very well.” In the educational setting, teachers and students may affect each other either positively or negatively. Teacher-student rapport indicates a positive relationship, the absence of which results in a stressful academic environment. “Rapport is a harmonious teacher-student relationship which encompasses enjoyment, connection, respect, and mutual trust.”2 “Establishing friendly relations with pupils enables teachers to enhance students’ willingness to engage in the learning process.3
The positive correlation between the students’ speaking ability and their attitude toward foreign teachers in the study performed by the English Café committee of our university indicates that the more the students demonstrate a positive attitude toward their teachers, the more they improve their speaking ability. As previously mentioned, this was supported by the regression analysis, where the values reveal that the student’s attitude toward foreign teachers positively influences their speaking ability.
When rapport is present in the classroom, a level of affinity or sincere interpersonal relationship exists between teachers and their students.4 Establishing rapport is a difficult challenge for English teachers when teaching in other countries.
Foreign teachers teaching in countries where English is either a second or a foreign language should not be focused solely on delivering their course contents. Like farmers, they need to plow the farmland before sowing the seed first. Winning the trust and confidence of the students is equivalent to tilling the soil. Teaching content without establishing a positive relationship with the students first is like sowing seeds on untilled soil.
It is possible that students would feel hesitant to engage with their English teachers for a variety of reasons. One of those is the student’s level of English. While the advanced students may feel excited to engage with their foreign teacher so they can practice their English, the beginners or lower intermediate students may feel uncomfortable or worried. A teacher’s friendly demeanor could help alleviate such discomfort and worry.
Another possible reason is the fact that their teachers are foreigners. A cultural barrier wall immediately rises when a foreign teacher enters the classroom. The student, no matter what level of English they are at, would be anxious not knowing what to expect from their foreign teachers. It is, therefore, a must for the teachers to set the tone right during the first meeting. It is imperative for them to ensure that their students feel not only comfortable but confident to interact with them.
It may be true that teacher-student rapport is two-way traffic, but the teachers, whether they like it or not, carry the burden of establishing it. “Building a positive relationship is a shared responsibility of the teacher and the students, but the teacher is in a leadership position when leading in-class learning or out-of-class learning and assumes a greater part of that responsibility. English teachers have a bit more challenge because they are foreigners (to the native student population) and must win the trust and confidence of their students.”5
How teachers perform and treat their students is the primary means of cultivating the students’ positive attitude towards their foreign teachers.”5 What makes establishing rapport with the students more complicated for foreign teachers is the cultural barrier that exists between them and their students. They need to plow the soil a little bit harder than their local counterparts before sowing their seeds. They cannot afford to focus only on delivering their course content without attempting to break through that cultural barrier simultaneously, if not first.
“The attitudes of teachers towards the students are important variables that can affect the attitude of learners as well as the quality and quantity of the learning which takes place and the linguistic outcomes for the learner.”6 In studies where students were asked to identify what they think are the qualities of an effective teacher, competence and their correlates were not the ones that came out on top. One of the said studies had the ability to develop relationships with their students and patient, caring, and kind personality ranking 1st and 2nd, respectively.7 Both had nothing to do with pedagogy but rather the teacher’s attitude.
Competence and its correlates are the ones that teachers develop through their educational qualifications and length of service. As our English Café committee study found out, the educational qualifications of teachers are not correlated to the student’s speaking ability and attitude toward foreign teachers. Note that the negative correlation between teachers’ length of service and the student-related variables that were previously stated is significant. “This inverse relationship implies that the longer the teachers have been teaching, the lesser is the possibility of students improving their speaking ability.”5 Further studies may be needed to confirm these findings. But let me add that in my Ph.D. dissertation, where teacher’s length of service and students’ performance in English were among the variables, the said constructs had the same inverse relationship.
One question teachers (of English and other subjects) need to answer at this point is – How much effort are they putting into establishing a good rapport between them and their students?. “A learner who has better interaction with his teacher may develop a positive attitude toward the target language than those who have less interaction.”8
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REFERENCES
1. Buskist, W. & Saville, B. (2001). Creating positive emotional contexts for enhancing teaching and learning. APS Observer, 12-13.
2. Wilson, J. H., Ryan, R. G., and Pugh, J. L. (2010). Professor–student rapport scale predicts student outcomes. Teach. Psychol. 37, 246–251. doi: 10.1080/00986283.2010.510976
3. Ibarra, S. (2014). The Effect of Student-Teacher Rapport on Classroom Participation (Master’s Thesis). Cardinal Stritch University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
4. Jorgenson, J. (1992). Social approaches: Communication, rapport, and the interview: A social perspective. Communication Theory, 2, 148-156.
5. Ligaya, et al. (2021) Comparing the Effects of Face-to-Face and Online English Lounges on Students’ Speaking Ability and Attitude Toward Foreign Teachers. DOI 10.1109/CITC54365.2021.00011
6. F. D. Larsen, M. H. Long, “An Introduction to Second Language Acquisition”, New York: Pearson Education Limited, 1991.
7. https://www.pearsoned.com/top-five-qualities-effective-teachers
8. A.S. Getie, M. Popescu, (2020). Factors affecting the attitudes of students towards learning English. Cogent Education, [Online] 7(1). Available: from https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2020.1738184.
The Day One Of My Students Cried
Whenever invited to conduct teacher-training seminars, I emphasize the importance of developing a passion for teaching and compassion for the learners. I remind the attendees of the importance of building a rapport between them and their students. To achieve that, the students must see how much you love what you’re doing and feel that you care for them.
One day, I was tested if I could walk my talk.
While my students were working on a graded exercise I gave after discussing a grammar point, I noticed that one of them was crying. It was apparent that the seatwork I gave was the reason.
The task was simple – from a set of paired sentences, they will write new sentences using the comparative form of adjectives (followed by than). In each pair of sentences, the same adjective is used to describe two different things.
I know I discussed the topic sufficiently. In addition, shown on screen while they were doing the exercise was the slide on my PPT that explained in detail what to do. There were examples too.
I wanted to approach her, but I realized that it might unnecessarily draw the whole class’s attention to her, which might make her uncomfortable. So, I asked them to stop writing and allow me to give one more example. I noticed that the student seated nearest to her was trying to help her understand what I was explaining. Despite all those, she was unable to finish the exercise.
Knowing her level (A2), I was not surprised that she found that exercise difficult. What was surprising were those tears. It bothered me, to say the least.
Why?
I love teaching. I use humor in the classroom, but I take my profession seriously. Teaching, for me, is more than just a means of livelihood. I have been doing this for the past 30 years. It has become an integral part of my life.
As a teacher, everything I do in the class is guided by one of the philosophies I subscribe to – “The student is the reason I am a teacher.” Thus, I care about what the students say about how I teach. I care whether my students learn or not. I care about how my students feel.
I was sure I did not say or do anything to offend the student who cried. One of the things I tried so hard to avoid was to make my students feel disrespected. To ensure that, I studied their culture whenever I had the opportunity. I kept in mind the tips given to me by my compatriots who have been teaching here longer than I do. I don’t like to offend my students either directly or indirectly. I’m particularly careful with my language and the humor I use in class. As a teacher, I know how important it is to establish a good rapport with my students, and that begins with me acknowledging that they deserve respect.
So, I was wondering what triggered her to cry. It made me contemplate about my overall performance in the class. It made me wonder if I was performing as a teacher the way I should.
I asked myself – Am I an effective teacher? Am I doing the right things in the class? Am I using the proper strategies to motivate my students and help them learn?
Have I become a “mercenary expat teacher” who cares for nothing but running to the ATM during paydays?
The only consolation I had was the thought that the student seemed to care about whether she learned, so much so that when she couldn’t do the exercise, it frustrated her, prompting those tears to well out of her eyes.
When the class ended, I sent that student a text message asking her, only if she was comfortable doing so, to visit me in my office anytime both of us were available so I could explain to her further the grammar point I discussed that day. I also promised to give her a chance to redo the exercise.
That’s why the university requires us to serve 3 hours of office a week. We use that in case students need help or want to practice conversation.
The following day, the student came with that classmate seated nearest to her, who happened to be her best friend (whose language level was B2). She asked her friend to accompany her in case she needed a translator.
When they settled in my office, I asked my student why she cried. She explained in Korean, and her classmate translated it into English.
She cried because she felt so stupid that she could hardly understand English. She thinks her IQ is low because she cannot speak English well.
I told her what she said was actually a fallacy in language learning. A language learner should not be considered stupid because she can hardly understand the new language she is trying to learn. I pointed this out not because I wanted her to feel better but because it was true. The ability to speak in English is not a metric used in measuring intelligence.
I explained to her (and her friend) that people who speak multiple languages could do so because they dedicated their time and resources to studying the languages they know. Another possible reason they attained speaking and writing proficiency in a language or several languages is that they were exposed to those languages since birth.
I cited myself as an example. I could speak three dialects in my country (Tagalog, Ibanag, and Ilocano) because those are the languages of my parents. And how did I learn English? My parents used the language, too, when communicating. In my country (the Philippines), English is the medium of instruction in our schools (from Basic Education to Tertiary, even in Graduate School). All of our textbooks (except the ones we used for the subjects in Filipino) were written in English. In addition, I told them I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and completed the academic requirements for a Master of Arts in English. (The Master’s degree I completed is in Educational Management.)
As a clincher for my monologue, I asked my two visitors, “Am I stupid because I don’t speak Korean well?” I was happy they both said “no.”
Then I asked my student who cried how long has she been studying English and how serious her efforts were to learn the language. She responded, “Not too long, and she was not serious with her efforts.”
I told her that that was the problem. I added that that is also why I could not speak Korean well – I was not serious about learning the language. After hearing that, she said something in Korean to her friend. I asked her friend what it was. My student said, “I will teach sir Korean, and he’ll teach me English.” Then we had a laugh.
Then I took the opportunity to share the findings of one of my studies on English language learning published in an indexed journal. I told them that one group of students in my study was more proficient in English because, as the data I gathered have shown, they spent more time learning English than the other group of students with whom they were compared. I told them that they could not find anywhere a magic pill that would make them proficient in the English language overnight. The secret to becoming proficient in any language is spending time studying it. The more hours you allot to learning the language, the better.
After the pep talk, we went down to work. I spent around 10 minutes explaining to her the comparative form of adjectives and how to rewrite two sentences with the same adjective into one sentence using the comparative form of the said adjective. Then I gave her as much time she needed to finish the exercise – the exercise that made her cry. She finished the exercise with no tears but smiles.
Before they left, I explained the other fallacy that my student who cried said – that her IQ was very low because she could not speak English well. I told her that the English language has nothing to do with a person’s intelligence quotient. IQ tests in a country are written in that country’s native language. Verbal comprehension is only one of the aspects tested in IQ tests, and verbal comprehension is not verbal comprehension in English but in the language in which the IQ test is written.
I told my students that when people can speak English fluently, it does not mean their intelligence quotient is high. Proficiency in English has never been and will never be used as the sole basis for measuring a person’s intelligence. That people who could speak English are more intelligent than those who could not is a fallacy.
The above reminds me of what one of my fellow expat teachers remarked in the English Cafe where we were both serving time that same day when my student cried. There were no students to serve then, so he checked some papers. He said, “How stupid this student is. He doesn’t know the comparative form of expensive.” That’s the stupidest comment I have ever heard from a language teacher. It made me wonder if he has training in pedagogy… if indeed he was a real teacher.
M.A.D. LIGAYA
M.A.D. L I G A Y A 