The emphasis on English proficiency for communication has been increased over the years which led the Korean Ministry of Education to invite native English speakers to live and teach in Korea. Since 1995, the program of inviting native English speakers has been successfully achieving its goals for English education in Korea. However, with such a large amount of the government budget spent on this program, it is important and essential to evaluate the effectiveness and the benefits of the program. This study is focused on evaluating the effectiveness of GEPIK (Gyeonggi English Program in Korea) program and the level of satisfaction for native English assistant teachers in the program. This study will evaluate the satisfaction levels from the native English assistant teachers’ perspective, as well as determine how the program can be improved.
The majority of native English assistant teachers feel that the program is effective toward English education in Korea and students’ learning. Also they were generally satisfied with their role as an assistant teacher, their school and overall the program. They expressed a strong desire for improvements to the training to increase the effectiveness of program. Many teachers suggested the inclusion of Korean English teachers in the co-teaching workshop is vital to create a strong and effective co-teaching team that will only benefit students.
