VOL. 1 NO. 8 UNITED STATES PEACE CORPS - KOREA JUNE 1967
ATP Gr oup Due Here June 28
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Newspaper reports of
Peace Corps criticisms of
English teaching in Korean
schools have touched on a
sore spot of controversy that
has raged for years in the
s chool system.
Since the May conferences
were held, no less than four
stories have appeared in the
leading English-language dai­lies
i n which the Peace Corps
recommenda tio ns were out­lined
again and again. Much
commentary has also appear­ed
from opposing points of
view.
A Peace Corps seminar in
May asked the advice of the
Ministry of Education and
other leading educators, and
the question of the value of
the oral approach drew posi­tive
responses from the offi­cials.
Most agreed that present
methods don't satisfy the
three basic aims of English
teaching in Korea, " ... to pro­vide
the ability to understand
and speak basic English used
in daily living;" " ... to read
and write basic, daily En­glish,"
and " . . . to give the
students means to understand
the daily living and customs
of English-speaking people,
and promote international
understanding and cooper­a
tion."
Some felt that spoken E.ng­lish
ought to be dealt with by
the secondary schools them­selves
while colleges continue
testing only written material
which would be emphasized
at the high school level.
Peace Corps Volunteers
have stated in the past that
continued emphasis on the
written portion of the exams
would only force English
teaching to go on as it has
in the past .
LIGHTER MOMENT
shared by present staff of
PC/Korea at a general
-.tW " l! ti n g ; clockwis e , from
far left are, Miss Kim, sec­retary
to Dr. Jerome E.
Breunig, coordinator; Dr.
Breunig; Mrs . Cho, secre­tary
; Loren Cox, deputy di­rector
of PC/Korea; Kevin
O'Donnell, director; Mrs.
Science Seminar
Held June 23
The Korean Ministry of
Education and the Peace
Corps conducted an all-day
seminar June 23 in the UN­ESCO
Building on the teach­ing
of science in Korea .
The program included a
detailed presentation of the
experiences of science vol­unteers
who are now in Ko­rea,
and comments and sug­gestions
by science educators
followed.
This seminar followed the
same general lines as the May
meeting on English teaching.
Among those who acted as
advisers were Drs. Lee Ja­Hyun
of Kyungbuk National
University; Robert Sauer of
Yonsei; Chang Jin, Lee Hee
Myung and Choi Sang Up of
Sogang College; Choi Q. Won
and Kim Choon Min of Seoul
National; C.E. Prince and
Robert Goette of Taejon Col­lege;
James L. Finnerty of
the U .S. Educational Commis­sin
in Korea; Prof. Chung
Yun Tae of Seoul National;
Kim Chi Yung of Yonsei; Mr.
Lee Bum Hoon, science
supervisor for the MOE, and
Choi Yung Bok, chief textook
editor for the MOE.
:;,,,
~ i
Thomas (Joye) Brown, sec­retary;
Mrs. Chun, former­ly
secretary-nurse to Dr.
Charles G . Mi:rte r (not p ic­tured),
Mr. Chang, the
staff's Korean Man-Friday ,
and Miss Grace Yun, sec­retary.
Below is Dr. Ter­ence
Doyle, director of the
ATP. Other story on page 3.
Science English
Mr. Walter Owens, a Ful­bright
lecturer at Seoul Na­tional
University, is organiz­ing
a spoken English course
for Korean High School sci­ence
teachers, Aug. 1-12 in
Seoul.
English teachers are need­ed
for three classes a day.
Travel and living expenses
will be paid.
The same gig is also availa­ble
for two days, approxi­mately
July 28-29.
See or write:
Walter Owens
Room 205
(Fulbright-Korea Office)
Sungbo Building
Sogang-dong, Seoul
Tel. 23-2585 or 6
Pete Lomhoff
Thirty-six Peace Corps
trainees will arrive in Korea
June 28 for a 39-day training
program prior to assignment
by the Peace Corps in Korean
schools. In addition to some
follow-up activities during
their senior year in college,
these trainees have had ten
weeks of training at the
Peabody Institute in Nash­ville,
Tenn., last summer.
As of this writing, proposed
topics for their briefing ses­sions
include the US military
situation in Korea, perhaps
combined with a trip to Pan­munjom;
UN and US agencies
in Korea ; the work of the Ko­rea
CIA; the.-Mi nistr::ll-oLEdu
cation' s view of secondary
education; how English is
taught in Korea; the Korean
economy's Five Year Plan;
Korean etiquette; agricul­tural
development, perhaps
combined with a trip to Su­won
Agricultural College;
community development pro­jects
in Korea; welfare agen­cies,
religions, industry (tour
of Seoul factories), Korean
dance (July 14), and a tour
of Korea House on July 3;
music and judo and takwon­do.
All of these sessions are
optional.
Leading Korean scholars
will also conduct discussions
on selected themes of Korean
culture and life.
The first of the guest
scholars, scheduled to speak
on July 5, is Dr. Lee Yong
Deuk, professor of curriculum
at Seoul National University
Teachers' College, who will
tell the trainees about the or­ganization
and power struc­ture
of the Korean high school
and the life of a typical high
school teacher, in school and
out. He received his Ph.D.
from Ohio State University.
Dr. Chung Bummo (Chicago
University), professor of edu­cation
psychology and mea­surement
at Seoul National,
will lead a July 7 discussion
on the comparision and con­trast
of Korean and Ameri­can
adolescent psychology.
Kim Chin Man, professor
of English at Seoul National
who did graduate work at the
University of London, is
slated for a July 18 session
on Korean thought patterns
and how Koreans think and
solve problems.
Dr. Hong Sung Chick leads
a July 20 discussion of the
Korean concept of moderniza­tion.
He ' s sociology professor
at Korea University.
Emphasis will shift to fami­ly
changes in city and coun­try
on July 25 when Lee Hyo
Jae, sociology professor at
Seoul Woman's College, will
lead the group. He holds an
M.A. from Berkeley. Dr. Kang
Byong Kun (Minnesota), pro­fessor
of political science at
Yonsei, will discuss changes
in recent Korean polit-.i-cs on
July 27, and Min Byong Gi
will examine the position of
Korea in international politics
on August 1. Mr. Min, profes­sor
of international politics
at Korea U., holds an M.A.
from Chicago University.
Dr. Moon Seung Kyu, rural
sociology professor at Chun
Buk University, Chunju, will
lead a session on problems of
Korean rural communities on
August 9, and the final topic,
set for August 16, is the
changing role of women in
Korean society. Leader for
that discussion will be Dr. Lee
Born Jun of Ewha Woman's
University.
The trainees will receive a
"position paper" before each
of the discussions.
The trainees will start
TESOLING right at the be­ginning
of their in-country
training because Korean
schools will have only about
three more weeks in session
after their arrival. Orienta­tion
lectures combined with
observation and peer teaching
in their Korean language
classes will take up the first
few days, and then they will
be sent into Korean class­roims
with supervising teach­ers
for practice teaching.
Instructors from Yonsei
will handle the language di­vision.
During practice teach­ing
the trainees will have two
hours of instruction a day be­fore
they go to their schools,
and afterward they will have
five hours of class every day.
(Related story on p . 3)