Jennifer Bailey

2/23/2016
CFA of DIS for UMF

Contextual Factors Analysis

I have learned in the last year of my teacher preparation courses that I am very interested
in working with students who are learning English as a second language. Luckily for me, I got
the best chance to do exactly that by coming to student teach at Daegu International School in
Daegu, South Korea. It is also sometimes called Daegu American School. Although it is located
in South Korea, the teaching and learning standards follow those set for the state of Maine in the
United States. The school works entirely in English, which is the language of instruction.
Students speak in English at all times; they are learning everything in their second, or sometimes
third or fourth, language. This can create barriers to learning for them that require creativity and
patience to overcome so that they can receive the best education possible.

Community, District, and School Factors

The school is located in Daegu, the third largest city in Korea. There are many mountains
surrounding the city, so hiking is a common pastime in the community. This could encourage
students to get out and exercise more, as does the prevalence of walking around the city. It is a
small school of approximately 300 students, though they can support up to about 600 students.
The average amount of students in the classroom is 15, and the overall grade sizes are small as
well. This means that they probably all have an idea of who is here, even though they range in
age from K-12. Interactions between grades are common in after-school activities and other
school events.
Those who do not live in South Korea might expect fear to be common here regarding
North Korea, but in actuality, North Korea is rarely thought about. There are yearly air raid drills
in the country, and American jets from the nearby military bases will sometimes fly over Daegu,

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but otherwise it is pretty much not thought of. This may be in part because Daegu is fairly far
south and would most likely not be a prime target if North Korea did choose to initiate
aggressive acts. Overall, the crime and violence rate in South Korea is extremely low, and this is
reflected in the school community. Fights are very rare, both physical and verbal, and theft of
any kind is not a problem.
Most of the students are Korean or half-Korean, although by law only 30% of all
accepted students are allowed to be Korean nationals (Daegu International School, see here).
Many of these Korean students have moved to Korea after living elsewhere, such as the United
States or Canada. Students of expatriate families living in Korea, international students, and
children of DIS staff members receive highest priority when applying to the school. The students
will choose their own American names to use in school, which is a regular practice in most
Korean schools. All students speak in English in the school, but have different levels of ability
with the language. They will often chat in their first languages when whispering in class or when
they have free time before class (though that is discouraged because they are here to learn
English). Students also often travel to other countries with their families. Chances to travel
around the world also occur through participation in school activities (for example, some
students participated in National History Day and may go to America if they win their division in
Seoul). They are very hardworking on average. Boys and girls actually get along pretty well.
Some students live in the same residence hall as some of the teachers. The cost for this
for the 2015-16 school year was $10,137.31. Living in the dormitory is only available to students
in grades 5-12. Students who live in the dormitories are assigned one of the teachers in the dorm
to be a dorm-parent, who will check in on them and ensure that they are okay emotionally and
physically as well as keep track of where they go when they leave school grounds. These extra

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interactions will affect the dynamic between this teacher and student, which may have positive
and negative effects in the classroom. Tuition to attend the school varies based on grade level
(Daegu International School, see here).

DIS Yearly Student Expenses

$40,000.00
$35,000.00
$30,000.00
$25,000.00
$20,000.00
$15,000.00
$10,000.00
$5,000.00
$0.00
Pre-K & K
Tuition

Room & Board

Grades 1-5
Other Optional Yearly Fees

Grades 6-8
One-Time Fees

Grades 9-12
Max Possible Fee

The maximum fee for a student to attend DIS would be a new student in grade 9-12 who was
living on campus, and this would cost $34,922.46 USD, or about 42,061,923.56 KRW. This
includes one-time fees for the application interview, the registration fee, the capital development
fee, and the textbook deposit (this last fee may be refunded upon acceptable return of the
textbooks). Lunch fee is also included in this calculation; however, it is important to note that
this too varies by grade level. The optional school bus fee has been removed from the calculation
because if the student were living in the dormitories, they would not need the school bus
services. Because of the large amount of money required for a student to attend DIS, many of the
students at the school come from relatively wealthy families. Financial insecurity is not often a
worry for these students.

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The students parents and Korean culture in general is extremely supportive of education.
Students are expected to do very well and often take extra classes at night at a Hagwon after their
regular classes. Students will often not go to bed until 2 or 3 in the morning after their classes
and homework. It is not unusual to see students struggling to stay awake in class, or to hear them
talk about going to sleep at 2am on a regular basis. Pressure from their families as well as a
community focus on social status and success creates a lot of competition between students
which has positive and negative effects.

Classroom Factors
The classroom contains 17 desks for the students as well as one desk for the teacher and
one for me (the intern). The classes are usually no more than 15 students, so this is plenty. The
desks are arranged in the following pattern:

Figure 1: front of the room

Seats are assigned for most classes; the 12th grade AP students are allowed to choose their own
seats. When students are allowed to move their seats for a project, or when they are choosing
their own groups to work with, the students tend to group by sex. Girls will work with other
girls, and boys will work with other boys. Homosocial bonds are very strong here. Although they
all get along and are friends across the sexes, they still tend to group heterogeneously when they

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are allowed to choose. Two large windows along the left wall allow for a lot of natural light in
the room which creates a pleasant atmosphere. There are three large white boards available in the
room, two of which are used as bulletin boards for classwork. There is also a SmartBoard in each
room. The students are not provided with laptops, but most of them have either a laptop or a
tablet that they bring with them each day. There are a few laptops available in each classroom for
students who may need them.
Parents are extremely involved in their students school lives. Many of the students have
a lot of pressure on them to do very well in school and be successful later in life. This is seen
indirectly in the classroom through the competitive nature of the students on every little thing.
They will often return to class after a vacation or weekend break and reply that their time off was
bad or unpleasant because their parents made them study for a long time. However, their parents
are also very supportive of their accomplishments. When students are recognized at the monthly
assembly for having positive attitudes and traits, parents are invited to see their child receive
recognition, and usually every parent or family that is invited will attend.
Other than the 12th grade, each class has some form of daily language practice (DLP) that
they complete at the beginning of class. This is an established routine that the students have the
habit of doing right away when they get to class. Students are required to speak English in the
school since one of the main goals of the school is to improve the students skills in English.
With this in mind, we sometimes have to remind them and ask them not to speak in Korean
unless they are trying to figure out the equivalent English word.

Student Factors
My eighth grade students have a wide range of preferred styles of learning judging by the
multiple intelligence survey data I collected. There is at least one student who strongly prefers

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each area of intelligence, and as a whole they all learn in several various styles. This is great,
because it will allow me to design a variety of lessons that will satisfy and interest all of the
students since they are often interested in several categories of learning styles. As I suspected,
the majority of students enjoy interpersonal learning where they can work together with others to
figure something out.

Multiple Intelligence Strengths of 8th Grade

Number of students

7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

Multiple Intelligence
Primary MI

Secondary MI

Total w. interest

This preference for group work and cooperation aligns with many of the cultural values of South
Korea. Community cooperation is an unthinking aspect of society here, and people both in a
school and in the community will often go out of their way to help another person.
There were a two students who identified learning verbally as their primary preference.
When judging by the free-choice results that allowed them to choose any intelligence that they
would enjoy working with, only four students showing a strong degree of interest and ability in
learning verbally. Since Im teaching in an English class, this is very important to note. On the
other side of that, eight students identified as having very minimal interest in verbal learning,

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with two of those students having absolutely no interest in it.

Students' MI Preference Levels for Verbal Learning

None, 2, 15%
Strong, 4, 31%

Mid, 1, 8%
Slight, 6, 46%

None

Slight

Mid

Strong

Figure 2: One student did not participate in this survey because he only began attending the school after this.

Since verbal learning is one of my own preferences, I will be working out ways to continue to
expand my thinking into all intelligences to ensure that my students are able to learn in a variety
of ways that best interests and engages them, which will in turn help them achieve their best
level of understanding. It is not surprising that so many students had little interest in verbal
learning because this is a second language for most, and some speak three or more languages.
Additionally, their hours of extra learning at a Hagwon are most likely exclusively verbal
learning with lecture, worksheets, and reading analyses featuring prominently. With that in mind,
these students have reason to associate verbal learning with slightly negative experiences and
schoolwork in general. The other intelligences are likely more associated with their interests
outside of school and what they enjoy doing in their free time. While I hope to show them ways
that verbal learning can be engaging, I will also cater to what they already know works for them.

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On a related topic, the ability levels of my 8th grade students when working in English
covers all points on the spectrum. I have one student who has a very high comprehension level,
and would most likely be an advanced student even when compared to native speakers at schools
in the United States. I have another student who is still developing the skills to achieve full
comprehension with texts, and I suspect this student may also have a disability of some kind.
These differences alone are a typical consideration when teaching, but vocabulary is also a key
consideration when working with these students. They are often unfamiliar with fairly common
terms like gossip, grin, and aggravate (as indicated by the self-chosen vocabulary words of the
9th grade class while working with To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee).
While designing lessons for this class, I will create activities that inherently allow for
students to create and learn at their own ability level, which will ensure that the students who are
very strong in this area as well as the students who are developing their strengths in this area will
be able to complete the work in a way that is appropriately challenging to them. My own use of
vocabulary when delivering instructions or assisting students is something to be aware of as well,
as it can be used to increase their own vocabularies to a degree, but must also still be accessible
enough for my students to understand what is expected of them. I also want to avoid causing
anyone to feel ashamed for not understanding a word or meaning; these students are very prone
to feeling ashamed when they do not understand, which will often cause them to avoid asking for
help lest anyone find out that they are confused.
To help increase our students general ability with the language, we start each class with
a few short Daily Language Practice (DLP) questions. These have students do a variety of
activities with language that range from identifying a particular part of speech or literary
element, to writing a summary of a story or deciding what form of writing would best suit a

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story. We go over the answers together immediately after and there are often collective gasps of
Ahhhh! when they understand the answer to a question that had them all stumped.
All of my students are afraid of failure and afraid of looking stupid in front of their peers,
which often makes it difficult to have students volunteer to answer questions. They are almost
always correct when they do volunteer answers, however, and I have begun encouraging them
multiple times every day to trust themselves and suggest an answer proudly. I emphasize that if
they are confused by something, they are likely not the only one who is. Whenever a student
suggests an answer, I ask them to explain their thinking that led them to that point. This allows
the students to understand different ways of understanding as well as allows me to identify any
common misunderstandings that may cause students to find an incorrect answer which we can
then address for all students. When a student is incorrect, I use their explanation of their thinking
to help them understand why it does not work as an answer. They have already begun
volunteering more often and speaking louder when doing so.
As mentioned above, I have one student in my class who I suspect may have a slight
disability of some kind. This student often wears earmuffs throughout the day, which is a
common habit for people who are extra sensitive to sensory stimulation, like folks who have
autism. This student also dedicates a lot of time to thinking about what her questions or
responses to a topic may be, which can turn into a challenge when in a time-restricted class
setting. Families and communities place a lot of pressure on students to excel in everything. A
result of this is that people with disabilities are often discriminated against by individuals as well
as on a societal level which becomes evident when noticing th5e absence of things like
wheelchair-accessible buildings or transportation. According to the 2015 national social opinions
survey, 97.1% of Koreans thought that people with disabilities were discriminated against at

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least some of the time (Summary Results of the 2015 Social Survey). As an educator this means
that students may not be able to receive individualized plans of education that would benefit
them because their parents will not consent out of fear of labeling their child as something other
than perfect. There is a study hall, called learning lab at DIS, for the students at least two days a
week. This time is perfect for helping this student and others who need it with one-on-one help
that cannot always be provided at other times. With differentiated lesson planning, this can
ultimately be a minimal difficulty at most as it will allow these students to achieve their best
despite the lack of official support systems in place. Coordinating with other teachers to learn
what they have observed as being beneficial or not for this student can also help to establish
routines and expectations that will remove distractions and allow a focus on the actual learning.
There are two students in my class who have only begun attending the school in the last
week. They are not as familiar with speaking in English as the other students, and so I will be
sure to check in with them often to ensure that they understand what is expected of them. I have
also begun speaking slower in general for all of my students and paying close attention to what
words I am using. I often use synonyms to describe things in several ways to give my students
more ways to understand a concept or idea, and I often use gestures to aid in communication.
All students take an English as a Second Language (ESL) placement test before they
begin classes at DIS. The results help to determine what extra interventions they may need in
order to successfully adjust to learning entirely in English. As the chart below shows, about half
of the students in the current 8th grade class fall into a mid-range category of ability with the
English language according to the LAS links assessment (Self-Study Report for ACS WASC
Focus on Learning).

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Figure 3: Daegu International School Self-Study Report for ACS WASC Focus on Learning.

Since this data is from the previous semester, several students who have joined the class since
then are not included in this data. However, this is a good representative of the average skill level
of the class. A speaker is considered fluent when they achieve level 4 or higher, and they are
familiar with a range of topics that is aligned with what they would be expected to know at their
age level (What is an ELL?). This means that at least 25% of students in my class are considered
to be fluent speakers of English. Although these students are fairly strong users of the English
language even compared to a native speaker in the same grade level, they have each expressed to
me interest in improving and a desire to continue learning. My goal is to help them achieve that,
as well as to improve their confidence and comfort levels when using the language.
One of the biggest areas that my students need work in is with vocabulary. In a selfreport survey, only about one-third of the class reported that they enjoyed reading and did so
outside of class. Since reading is one of the best ways to build vocabulary, the fact that so many
of my students do not do it results in there being a common gap in that area. This gap shows

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itself in different ways, one of which is their scores on the MAP tests (Self-Study Report for ACS
WASC Focus on Learning).

Since this data was taken in Spring of 2015, its important to note that the data for my current 8th
graders is seen by looking at their scores from 7th grade, seen here as the red bars on the graph.
When looking at their MAP test scores from last year, it shows that while they are almost all in
the upper 50% of scoring, there is still a range, including a few students who were in the lowestscoring tier who need more assistance in improving their language skills. While I cannot make
the claim that these discrepancies are entirely due to vocabulary deficits, it is fair to say that that
is one aspect of reading that these students can improve in. As such, I have made sure to check
for understanding when we address words that they may be unfamiliar with in our daily language
practices as well as when we are reading.
Since I have been in Korea, I have learned some things about my students specifically as
well as students in Korea in general that have disturbed me to varying degrees. While there is a
strong focus on education here that can be extremely valuable, it can also be taken to the extreme
and changed from a positive to a negative effect. One of these negative effects is that students

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often attend extra classes after their regular school day at Hagwons. These will often go late into
the night and also reduce the amount of time they have to work on assignments from school. The
pressure to do everything and do it perfectly is so strong that students will usually stay up late in
order to finish their work. It is not uncommon for me to see an assignment that is marked as
completed on Edmodo at 1:45 am. I took an informal survey to get an idea of when my students
were going to bed on the average school night, and at least half of them were up until midnight
or later on a regular basis.

Usual Bedtime
6

Number of Students

5
4
3
2
1
0
10pm

11pm

12am

1am

No info

Axis Title
Usual Bedtime

Two students are currently away on an extended travel field trip and were unable to participate,
but from my conversations with them I know that they too go to bed quite late each night. This
means that these students are coming to school every day sleep-deprived and tired, which
undoubtedly affects their ability to focus for extended amounts of time throughout their classes. I
have already had a student fall asleep in class, and I had a difficult time deciding whether I
should let them rest or wake them up. An extended and far more disturbing and concerning effect
of the pressure placed on these students is the astonishingly high rate of suicide throughout all of

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South Korea. The national governmental agency responsible for surveying the citizens on
various topics to develop understanding of what aspects of life can be improved in South Korea
found that death by suicide was the second most common cause of death for teenagers, second
only to transport accidents (which makes sense due to teenagers just learning to drive and the
road rules in South Korea being fairly flexible). For people in their twenties and thirties, it
becomes the overwhelming majority reason for cause of death. Only after forties does it lower to
the second most common for all older age groups, and it is second to cancer (2015 Statistics on
the Aged).
The prevalence of suicide in South Korea is the highest in the entire world, and by a large
margin. While I sincerely hope that I will not be faced with a situation involving the death of one
of my students while I am here, I feel that is something I must still be aware of. As I have
established, these students are brilliant, but under extreme pressure to be so. My overall goal
while I am here is to work with these students to improve their abilities with the English
language and to do so in a comfortable environment where they can take a break away from the
pressure. I am here for these students---that is literally my job description---and I am going to
make sure that they know that, and hope that I will be able to make them feel comfortable
enough to come to me if they are feeling stressed out or frustrated, or if they just need someone
to listen.

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Works Cited

Daegu International School. Daegu International School, 2015. Web. 12 February 2016. Here.
Daegu International School. Self-Study Report for ACS WASC Focus on Learning. Daegu
International School, 2016. Web. 22 February 2016.
Nisbett, Richard E. Chapter 3: Living it Together vs. Going It Alone. The Geography of
Thought. New York: The Free Press, 2003. 47-77. Print.
South Korea. Statistics Korea. 2015 Statistics on the Aged. Statistics Korea, 24
September 2015. Web. 19 February 2016. Accessible here.
South Korea. Statistics Korea. Summary Result of the 2015 Social Survey. Statistics Korea, 26
November 2015. Web. 19 February 2016. Accessible here.
What is an ELL? CT ESL Center. CT ESL Center, 2014. Web. 12 February 2016.
Accessible here.