Asian EFL Journal 1 Catering for the Specific Needs of Elementary Level Korean Learners in the

Vicky Rusina is the Head Teacher at an EFL college for international students in Sydney, Australia. She has a DELTA, and obtained her Masters in Applied Linguistics from the University of New England in 2006. Prior to this, she taught EFL for 7 years in Indonesia. Her current areas of interests are teacher training and integrating interactive online learning curricula into the EFL classroom. Given the large numbers of Korean students in Australian ESL classrooms, many teachers have developed a broad knowledge of Korean culture and learning styles. However, the problem remains of how to incorporate this knowledge into everyday teaching practices in the multilingual classroom. This case study examines the tendency for many Korean learners in Australia to congregate in classes at pre-intermediate level and below due to inadequate speaking skills. Two successful advanced level Korean learners currently studying in Australia are interviewed in order to explore some of the underlying factors behind this phenomenon. Finally, some practical suggestions are offered to assist ESL teachers in dealing with some affective factors inside and outside the classroom which may be preventing Korean students from taking full advantage of living in an English speaking environment