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Students read an English newspaper during an NIE class at Hwanil High School in Jung-gu, central Seoul. / Courtesy of Yoon Jong-eun

NIE useful for writing, discussion

By Bahk Eun-ji

For many high school students here, learning to read English is one of the greatest challenges of their academic careers, according to Jung Gui-bae, a teacher at Kyunggi Girls’ High School in Seoul.

“Because reading is a big part of the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) in Korea, it’s not surprising that reading takes up a huge part of the English curriculum at most high schools,” Jung said during an interview with The Korea Times.

Jung is one of several teachers who use English newspapers in class to encourage his students to read at a higher level than they would if they only relied on textbooks.

“I know there are tons of materials for studying English these days. In that sense, the newspaper is a somewhat old-school material, but I believe newspapers can keep my students updated with ongoing issues and a decent quality of writing,” Jung said.

The teacher said government textbooks are great for students, but they do not provide the level of reading needed for the CSAT, in both the average length of text and word comprehension.

Besides, he has always felt sorry for students because they were too focused on books published by EBS.

“Even though EBS books cover much of the material required for the CSAT, I can’t let my students to only cling to the books,”

A student talks about poetry with an English-speaking teacher during a writing class at Hwanil High School in Jung-gu, central Seoul.
/ Courtesy of Yoon Jong-eun

Jung said that’s because it would be too boring for them to learn without using a variety of materials.

“Most students show interest in the class and the material I bring. Most of them are interested in ongoing issues that they have heard about on TV, radio or the Internet. They can learn by writing their thoughts about the issues in English,” Jung said.

Jung noted he doesn’t make the class too complicated. He picks one or two articles or editorials, and lets the students read them thoroughly first. Then he asks them to summarize the articles, as well as write what they think about the issues raised in the articles.

While reading newspapers, students find words not included in the textbooks, as well as new ways to use them in sentences.

“Let’s take an example of an article about multicultural families in The Korea Times. My students had only known the phrase ‘multicultural family’ before they read the article. After reading the story in class, they learned different expressions such as ‘multiethnic’ and ‘multiracial,’” Jung said.

“You might think it’s insignificant, but they naturally learn how to write the same thing using different expressions while they enjoy reading,” Jung said, praising the newspapers in education (NIE) program.

If they keep practicing summarizing stories using different expressions, one day they will be able to write their own stories without difficulty, Jung said.

Yoon Jong-eun, an English teacher at Hwanil High School in Seoul, said she agrees with Jung.

“I usually pick articles from the sports or culture sections, because I teach boys who are extremely interested in those topics,” Yoon said.

Students focus more on their reading when the article is about something they are interested in, she added.

English teachers in Hwanil High School are allowed more autonomy in how they teach their classes. In other words, the students are offered higher levels of English classes, like those provided in foreign high schools, even though Hwanil is an ordinary high school.

Yoon sometimes uses newspapers as a catalyst for writing and discussion.

“When they completely understand the article, they usually summarize them using a few core words that they have read and they can even write poems about the topic,” Yoon said.

It might sound strange to use poetry for writing practice, but Yoon said she came up with the idea with a foreign teacher at her school in hopes of making learning more fun for her students.

There are six types of poetry — haiku, rhyming poems, image poems, crossword poems, acrostic, and cinquain. Students initially find poetry complicated, but eventually they realize writing poems can be fun.

“Yes, writing poems is difficult. But at the same time, it is a great tool for English writing because they have to use key words they understand from the articles,” Yoon said.

Both teachers said they use newspapers for reading classes primarily to prepare for the CSAT, but they also feel sorry that the high school curriculum is so focused on the test.

“Many teachers believe that National English Ability Test should replace the English section of the CSAT in the future, as that the test includes speaking and writing sections unlike the CSAT,” Jung said.

Several teachers believe it will be three to five years before the CSAT is replaced by the NEAT, as the textbooks and curriculum have yet to be prepared. However, the change has to be made at some point to diversify students’ studying style when it comes to English education, as well as evaluation methods.

“Again, English newspapers will be a good study material to prepare for the NEAT,” Jung added.