Korea TESOL (KOTESOL, ) is the largest multicultural English teachers association in South Korea, organized as a nonprofit scholarly/

professional society A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) is a group that usually seeks to further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that prof ...

under the

National Research Foundation of Korea The National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF; ) is a research institute for Korean studies. It was established in 2009 through a merger between the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF; ), Korea Research Foundation (KRF; ; establ ...

and local tax laws since 1993 (initially formed in 1992).Kang, S-w. (2007-10-23)
English Teachers Gather in Seoul
''The Korea Times''. Retrieved 2019-01-22.

Overview

Korea TESOL is a South Korea based multi-tiered

membership organization A membership organization is any organization that allows people or entities to subscribe, and often requires them to pay a membership free or "subscription". Membership organizations typically have a particular purpose, which involves connecting p ...

with regional chapters and nationwide operations such as conferences, publications and Special Interest Groups (SIGs). All memberships are "national" in scope: members can participate in any local or national event with the same membership benefits (discounts), although 50% of their dues are targeted to a member-selected regional chapter. KOTESOL's slogan "Teachers Helping Teachers"Korea TESOL Official website
/ref> is based on an orientation to

collegial Collegiality is the relationship between colleagues, especially among peers, for example a fellow member of the same profession. Colleagues are those explicitly united in a common purpose and, at least in theory, respect each other's abilities t ...

teacher professional development, including novice teachers new to Korea (and perhaps without an aim for a career in teaching) under the mission statement "to promote scholarship, disseminate information, and facilitate cross-cultural understanding among persons concerned with teaching and learning of English in Korea." Korea TESOL's membership includes teachers in

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

and

public schools Public school may refer to: *Public school (government-funded), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government *Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging private schools in England and Wales *Great Public Schools, ...

at all levels (

K-12 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993 by karateka Kazuyoshi Ishii. Originally under the ownership of the Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), K-1 was considered to be the largest Kickboxing organization in the world. ...

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

faculty, and ''

hagwon (; ) is a Korean term for a for-profit private educational institution. They are commonly likened to cram schools. Some consider ''hagwons'' as private language centers or academies operated like businesses apart from the South Korean public sch ...

'' private language institute">Language_school.html" ;"title="nowiki/> private language institute

instructors), as well as Training">teachers-in-training, Academic administration">administrators Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

, researchers, Bookwriter">materials developers, publishers, and students.Thorkelson, Tory S. (2016). Language teaching organizations and professional job satisfaction
''Korea TESOL Journal 12''(1), 67-105
Retrieved 2018-12-31. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, KOTESOL has fallen in membership numbers from as much as 800 to approximately 350 members in 2021: roughly 25% of members are Korean nationals, the remainder expatriates; nearly 20% of members reside outside of Korea.Dickey, R.J. (2018). Representativeness and development of leaders in Korea TESOL. In A. Elsheikh, C. Coombe, & O. Effiong (eds.), ''The Role of Language Teacher Associations in Professional Development, Second Language Learning and Teaching''. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. KOTESOL is known for its conferences (since 1993), print and online publications, and active chapter meetings. An increasing number of members hold higher degrees in language teaching and related fields. Many join for networking opportunities, both social and professional, others come to learn and share practical techniques as well as theories in English language teaching, particularly in the Korean ELT setting.

History

KOTESOL was formed through an amalgamation of memberships from two predecessor organizations, the Association of English Teachers in Korea (AETK) and the Korea Association of Teachers of English (KATE - not the same organization as the society now known as KATE, 한국영어교육학회). These two predecessor organizations gradually wound down from a joint conference (October 24–25, 1992) into a new organization. The first KOTESOL conference was held October 16–17, 1993. KOTESOL inherited TESOL International affiliation from AETK and became an

IATEFL International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL) is an organisation in the field of English language learning and teaching. It is based in Britain and was founded in 1967 as ATEFL (it became ‘International’ in 197 ...

associate in 1996. Membership and activity in the organization climbed at a time when larger numbers of foreign teachers were invited to work in Korea, with membership climbing to over 900 in 2013 and conference participation over 1500DeMarco, P. (2010-11-24)
English teachers reflect on changing role
''The Korea Times''. Retrieved 2019-01-22. around the same time.

Chapters

There are currently (Dec 2018) nine regional chapters in KOTESOL * Busan-Gyeongnam * Daegu-Gyeongbuk *

Daejeon Daejeon (; ) is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of nearly 1.5 million. Located in a central lowland valley between the Sobaek Mountains and the Geum River, the city is known both as a ...

Chungcheong Chungcheong Province (; ) was one of the eight provinces of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. Chungcheong was located in the southwest of Korea. The provincial capital was located at Gongju, which had been the capital of the kingdom of Baekje ...

* Gangwon *

Gwangju Gwangju (; ), formerly romanized as Kwangju, is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated Special cities of South Korea, metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home ...

Jeonnam South Jeolla Province (), formerly South Chŏlla Province, also known as Jeonnam (), is a province in the Honam region, South Korea, and the southernmost province in mainland Korea. South Jeolla borders the provinces of North Jeolla to the nort ...

Jeonju Jeonju (, , ) is the capital and List of cities in South Korea, largest city of North Jeolla Province, South Korea. It is both urban and rural due to the closeness of Wanju County which almost entirely surrounds Jeonju (Wanju County has many resi ...

North Jeolla North Jeolla Province, officially Jeonbuk State (), is a Special Self-governing Province of South Korea in the Honam region in the southwest of the Korean Peninsula. Jeonbuk borders the provinces of South Chungcheong to the north, North Gyeo ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

Suwon Suwon (; ) is the largest city and capital of Gyeonggi Province, South Korea's most populous province. The city lies approximately south of the national capital, Seoul. With a population of 1.2 million, Suwon has more inhabitants than Ulsan, tho ...

Gyeonggi Gyeonggi Province (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Seoul, the nation's largest city and capital, is in the heart of the area but has been separately administered as a provincial-level ''special city'' since 1946. Incheon, ...

Yongin Yongin (; ) is a city in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, the largest in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. With a population over 1 million, the city has developed rapidly since the 21st century, recording the highest population growth of any city in th ...

There have been chapters in

Jeju Jeju may refer to: South Korea * Jeju Island (Jejudo), South Korea * Jeju Province (formerly transliterated Cheju), a province of South Korea comprising Jejudo ** Jeju City, its capital ** Jeju dog, a dog native to Jejudo ** Jeju language ** The ...

and

Kyongju Gyeongju (, ), historically known as Seorabeol (, ), is a coastal city in the far southeastern corner of North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It is the second largest city by area in the province after Andong, covering with a population of ...

which folded due to lack of members, and the Dajeon-Chungcheong chapter was divided for a short time into Daejeon-Chungnam and

Cheongju Cheongju (; ) is the capital and largest list of cities in South Korea, city of North Chungcheong Province in South Korea. The 'Cheong' in the name of Chungcheong Province is the Cheong of Cheongju. History Cheongju has been an important prov ...

chapters. International members of KOTESOL are managed separately from the regional chapters. Most chapters hold regular (monthly)

meeting A meeting is when two or more people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal or business setting, but meetings also occur in a variety of other environments. Meetings can be used as form of group decision-making. Definiti ...

s 8 or more times per year, which typically include both academic (training) and social activities. Since the entry of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

to Korea in February 2020, chapter meetings have been held online.

Special Interest Groups (SIGs)

SIGs are ever-evolving in KOTESOL, reflecting the current focus of teachers. SIGs have included * Christian Teachers * Multimedia/CALL *

Content-based Instruction Content-based instruction (CBI) is a significant approach in language education (Brinton, Snow, & Wesche, 1989), designed to provide second-language learners instruction in content and language (hence it is also called ''content-based language teac ...

Environmental Justice Environmental justice is a social movement that addresses injustice that occurs when poor or marginalized communities are harmed by hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses from which they do not benefit. The movement has gene ...

Extensive Reading Extensive reading (ER) is the process of reading longer, easier texts for an extended period of time without a breakdown of comprehension, feeling overwhelmed, or the need to take breaks. It stands in contrast to intensive or academic reading, whi ...

Holistic Education Holistic education is a movement in education that seeks to engage all aspects of the learner, including mind, body, and spirit. Its philosophy, which is also identified as holistic learning theory, is based on the premise that each person finds ...

Reflective Practice Reflective practice is the ability to reflect on one's actions so as to take a critical stance or attitude towards one's own practice and that of one's peers, engaging in a process of continuous adaptation and learning. According to one definiti ...

* Teacher Education & Professional Development *

Research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

Social Justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

* Young Learners & Teens

Conferences

KOTESOL's annual International Conferences are the largest language teaching conferences in Korea with more than 200 presentations across two days. Since the first "Joint Conference" in 1992 that led to the founding of KOTESOL, there had been annual conferences each autumn and numerous additional conferences at other times of the year. From 1993 to 2000, these autumn annual conferences were known as "National conferences," since then known as "International Conferences." Since 2006 spring "National Conferences" have been held many years, with 2-4 regional conferences hosted by various chapters most years earlier in the spring. Several conferences have been "

webcast A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand. Essentially, webca ...

," from as early as 1998 (this Pan-Asia conference was hosted/managed by KOTESOL). There have also been some smaller symposiums and conferences late in the autumn (Nov. or Dec.), particularly the Daejeon Chapter Thanksgiving Symposiums. KOTESOL (International) Conferences ran uninterrupted for 27 years prior to 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-2021 has caused all conferences since February 2021 to be "virtual" (no physical attendance). The 2020 International Conference was rescheduled to 2021 due to the coronavirus; however KOTESOL became a sponsor of th
AsiaTEFL2020 conference
that was hosted in Korea that same year, offering a "members' discount" for conference registration commensurate with the discount AsiaTEFL members received. Since this time the national and international conference event schedules have been flipped, with National Conference 2021 in autumn and International Conferences 2021 and 2022 in spring.

Publications & Media

The quarterly news-magazine
The English Connection
' is the best-known publication, along with the annual
KOTESOL Proceedings
' (select articles from the annual international conference, published roughly 9 months after the conference) and the semiannual
Korea TESOL Journal
'. These are all available

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity, and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed as "on lin ...

in a

moving wall In academic publishing, an embargo is a period during which access to academic journals is not allowed to users who have not paid for access (or have access through their institution). The purpose of this is to ensure publishers have revenue to s ...

system ( access limited to members for a defined period, then

open-access Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which nominally copyrightable publications are delivered to readers free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 de ...

) and are complemented by the monthly online/

email Electronic mail (usually shortened to email; alternatively hyphenated e-mail) is a method of transmitting and receiving Digital media, digital messages using electronics, electronic devices over a computer network. It was conceived in the ...

KOTESOL News
' and each chapter's own occasional

newsletter A newsletter is a printed or electronic report containing news concerning the activities of a business or an organization that is sent to its members, customers, employees or other subscribers. Newsletters generally contain one main topic of ...

s, plus news as presented solely on the association'
official website
and through th
Facebook group
an
Facebook page

Youtube Channel
offers a variety of shorter and longer presentations and publicity-related clips, such as pre-conference promotional talks by invited speakers, videos of activities within the organization, interviews, and full-length conference or chapter presentations. More than 900 subscribers have accessed nearly 120 video clips (as of Oct 30, 2020).

Partner organizations

KOTESOL is an

affiliate Affiliation or affiliate may refer to: * Affiliate (commerce), a legal form of entity relationship used in Business Law * Affiliation (family law), a legal form of family relationship * Affiliate marketing * Affiliate network or affiliation platfo ...

TESOL International Association TESOL International Association, formerly Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, is the largest professional organization for teachers of English as a second or foreign language. It was founded in 1966 and is based in Alexandria, Virg ...

and an associate of

, as well as a founding partner of the Pan-Asian Consortium of Language Teaching Societies (PAC). KOTESOL's partner associations include:{{Cite web, url=http://koreatesol.org/Partners-Links, title=Partners, last=Korea TESOL International Partnerships * TESOL International Association (TESOL) * International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL)
The Pan-Asian Consortium of Language Teaching Societies (PAC)

CamTESOL (series of conferences in Cambodia)

English Language Teachers' Association of India (ELTAI)
*English Language Teachers' Association of Mongolia (ELTAM)
English Teachers' Association of the Republic of China (ETA) (Taiwan)

Far Eastern English Language Teachers' Association (FEELTA) (Russia)
* Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT)
Hong Kong Association for Applied Linguistics (HAAL)
*Macau Association for Applied Linguistics (MAAL)
Malaysian English Language Teaching Association (MELTA)

The Philippine Association for Language Teaching, Inc. (PALT)
* Th
Association for the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language in Indonesia (TEFLIN)

Thailand TESOL (ThaiTESOL)
Domestic (Korea) Partnerships * ALAK (Applied Linguistics Association of Korea 한국응용언어학회 * KAFLA (Korea Association of Foreign Language Academies 외국어교육협의회 * KAFLE (Korea Association of Foreign Language Education 한국외국어교육학회 * KAMALL (Korea Association of Multimedia-Assisted Language Learning 한국멀티미디어언어교육학회 * KATE (Korea Association of Teachers of English 한국영어교육학회 * KEERA (Korea English Extensive Reading Association 한국영어다독학회 * PKETA (Pan-Korea English Teachers Association 팬코리어영어교육학회

References

External links

Korea TESOL Official Website

KOTESOL's Facebook Group

KOTESOL's Facebook Page
Korean studies Korean-language education Non-profit organizations based in South Korea