Culturally Relevant Learning Technology

“English Fever,” for better or worse, has taken hold of the Republic of Korea (also known as South Korea and hereafter referred to simply as Korea or Korean in the case of its citizens) over the past 20 years, making it a hotbed for EFL teaching opportunities to students of all ages from kindergarten all the way up to retirees. The salaries and benefits are some of the best in the world and the country's location makes it a convenient home base for travel and adventure throughout Asia. This article provides helpful contextual information to EFL educators considering university teaching opportunities in Korea. In addition, this information is relevant for educators outside of Korea who teach English to Korean students at universities or those of university age, as it provides much useful background on Korean culture, educational practices, and language transference problems.

Anderson, M. R. (2016). Understanding Korea for effective university EFL instruction. TexELT: Texas English Language Teaching, 5(1), 43-59.

http://textesolv.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/TexELT-v5n1-2016-Final.pdf

The social success skills valued and ultimately acquired by youth during their formative years can be better
understood by examining the social spaces, processes, and interactions that are related to their personal
aspirations and related media experiences. Using a phenomenological approach, I conducted a year-long
multi-case study about two Black male high school students’ thoughts on social success, their aspirations, their
social experiences, and their experiences with media. The participants were selected using purposeful
sampling. I collected data through semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and observations. I performed
analyses by using the hermeneutic cycle which requires one to repeatedly read text, write reflections, and
interpret data (Kafle, 2011; Laverty, 2008). Findings suggest that my participants’ aspirations held influence
over the type of media content with which they chose to engage. Additionally, their thoughts about social
success were influenced by their family members’ personal life experiences and the skills their family members
valued. Moreover, their sociocultural contexts influenced their evolving thoughts on social success while their
media served as resources to help them process their thoughts about social success and help them pursue their
goals.

The social success skills valued and ultimately acquired by youth during their formative years can be better understood by examining the social spaces, processes, and interactions that are related to their personal aspirations and related media experiences. Using a phenomenological approach, I conducted a year-long multi-case study about two Black male high school students’ thoughts on social success, their aspirations, their social experiences, and their experiences with media. The participants were selected using purposeful sampling. I collected data through semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and observations. I performed analyses by using the hermeneutic cycle which requires one to repeatedly read text, write reflections, and interpret data (Kafle, 2011; Laverty, 2008). Findings suggest that my participants’ aspirations held influence over the type of media content with which they chose to engage. Additionally, their thoughts about social success were influenced by their f...

Communication skills are often cited as among the most important skills for Computer Science (CS) professionals [1, 2], so it may seem somewhat incongruous that other than writing code and associated program documents, CS students are rarely given writing tasks in their CS courses. This paper will examine some possible reasons for why that might be, and what benefits could be realized through providing students with opportunities for more and varied forms of writing. A brief review of strategies used at various institutions is outlined, and a new strategy that has been implemented twice at the author’s former institution is described, where students are asked to produce short, 250-500 word “reading responses” to various assigned readings. The details of the assignment, as well as the intended outcomes will be outlined. The concept proposed in this paper was implemented in two semesters of the same course, and some initial student reactions are outlined with suggestions for further examination and development.