Bridging Classrooms: English Teaching in South Korea

Insights from a qualitative research project exploring the lived experiences of expat English teachers in South Korea, with a focus on co-teaching, cultural dynamics, and policy recommendations.

Purpose

The purpose of this site is to share findings from a broader Fulbright research project that explored co-teaching dynamics and the occupational well-being of expatriate English teachers in South Korea. Drawing from six in-depth interviews—each lasting between one and one and a half hours—this present project offers insight into how teachers navigate their roles, relationships, and identities within Korean educational settings.

Why it Matters

This project addresses a crucial yet often overlooked issue: the challenges of co-teaching in Korea, particularly regarding communication and mutual understanding.

These challenges have direct implications for student learning—as effective co-teaching is linked to higher engagement and language acquisition—and for teacher well-being, especially among foreign English teachers who frequently report feelings of isolation and underutilization.

By amplifying the voices of expatriate English teachers as they describe their experiences collaborating with local Korean teachers, this study’s findings provide supplemental information for program coordinators and school administrators to support co-teaching partnerships more effectively.

Partners

The project was made possible through the U.S. Fulbright Program as well as the collaboration with Professor Ian Moodie of Mokpo National University. These partnerships provided the necessary funding, research guidance, and teaching networks to make this project possible.

Valencia Epps gratefully acknowledges financial support for this project by the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and Korean-American Educational Commission. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Fulbright Program, the Government of the United States, or the Korean-American Educational Commission.

Questions?

This project was conducted under a 2024–2025 Fulbright U.S. Student Research Grant awarded to Valencia Epps.

Drawing from her firsthand experience teaching English in the rural city of Imsil, South Korea (2018–2020), Valencia brings an emic perspective to English language education in Korea. She holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Elementary Education, with a focused interest in TESOL. As of August 2025, she is pursuing her Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition at Carnegie Mellon University.

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