A Study on Korean Language Teacher Cognition Regarding Foreign Language Variables

For a Korean language teacher, knowledge of foreign languages has been discussed as an essential requirement to become a ''good'' teacher and has been treated as an important condition in the recruitment process. However, it has not been researched as to why knowledge of foreign language is important for Korean language teachers and which aspects of foreign languages influence success of Korean teachers.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the variables that constitute foreign language cognition of Korean language teachers and the relationship between the foreign language cognition variables and the effects of foreign language cognition on Korean language teachers'' lives and the classroom.
The most powerful and central reason for explaining a teacher''s decision making and teaching behavior can be found in teacher cognition, which combines the experiences, beliefs, assumptions, etc. and works at the center of teaching activities. The teacher cognition of foreign languages is not one of the various cognitions but a key element for Korean language teacher.
In this study, the integrated research methods were conducted to explore Korean language teachers'' cognition of foreign languages. To investigate the foreign language cognition of Korean teachers in a multi-faceted and in-depth manner, an exploratory sequential design was used which conjoin qualitative research and quantitative research. In order to examine the use of foreign language in various contexts, I have classified the Korean teachers according to the linguistic backgrounds and the teaching locations. Furthermore, I suggest a new category of teachers: heritage language-diaspora teachers who can be categorized as neither native nor non-native speaker. In the first step of qualitative research, interviews were conducted with ten Korean teachers (two of each: domestic native, overseas native, domestic non-native, overseas non-native, and heritage language-diaspora teachers). In the quantitative study, statistical analyses was conducted by survey of 117 Korean teachers.
In this study, the foreign language cognition of Korean teachers was classified into four variables. They are cognition of foreign language experience, foreign language ability, foreign language anxiety, and foreign language use. Each foreign language cognition variable has a great influence on Korean teaching and learning.
According to my research, the foreign language experience provided the basis for teachers to empathize with the students, and students were motivated by their foreign language teachers as a model (either a positive model to follow or a negative model to avoid). In addition, it affected the class atmosphere and the class process, and also was the preferred learning strategy. Demonstrating that teachers utilize learning strategies which were most effective when he or she was a foreign language learner. It was also found that foreign language experience influenced Korean language teachers'' motivation as well as the teachers'' professional orientation and teacher image.
However, it was also found that foreign language experience could not always be immediately converted into a form of knowledge which could be used for teaching and learning. Therefore, it is important to activate the experience so that the learning experience of the teacher affects the improvement of teachers'' sense of efficacy through the cognition of the Korean teacher experience and systematic reflection.
Foreign language ability is perceived as an important qualification for teachers in relation to recruitment and evaluation of teachers. In addition, teachers who have high foreign language proficiency can be an example of foreign language learning to learners as it guarantees successful foreign language learning experiences. Furthermore, it affects the learner''s emotional factors and enables linguistic understanding and contrastive explanation.
At the same time a Korean language teacher is in need of maintaining proper cognitive distance from foreign language. According to my research, if teachers do not maintain appropriate cognitive distance to foreign languages, it may have a negative effect on Korean language education.
In addition, teachers'' cognition of foreign language ability was the only factor affecting Korean language teachers'' sense of efficacy. It was found that teachers'' cognition of foreign language ability influenced teaching efficacy and student participation efficacy of three sub categories of teacher efficacy. The results of this study on the cognition of foreign language ability can be used especially in non-native teachers'' teacher education. Thus, when they re-position themselves as a multi-language users who can teach Korean by using their native language, teacher''s sense of efficacy can be improved.
The cognition of foreign language anxiety affects teachers'' other emotional factors such as self confidence and job stress, and affects foreign language use of class time. In addition, the cognition of foreign language anxiety can be a factor in choosing the teaching environment, such as domestic and overseas. It is also revealed that foreign language anxiety not only includes foreign language but also a cultural factors.
Foreign language anxiety showed a negative correlation with the perceived foreign language ability. The result of this correlation is that when the teachers perceive their foreign language ability is high, they have lower foreign language anxiety and vice versa. In order to reduce the anxiety of the Korean language teachers about foreign languages, it is desirable that native teachers and non-native teachers consult with one another about both groups’ strengths and weaknesses and about how to maximize the effectiveness of the class.
The cognition of foreign language use in the Korean classroom determines whether or not to use the foreign language as a teacher language in the actual classroom and determines the amount of foreign language usage according to the class level and the educational environment. It also decides the attitude of teachers when the students use their mother language in the classroom.
The purpose of this study was to analyze the foreign language variables which are considered to be important for Korean teachers in terms of teacher cognition. Therefore, it is meaningful to this study that various aspects using integrated research methods are discussed. In addition, the teachers have been classified according to their linguistic background (native, non-native, heritage language diaspora) and the environments where the Korean teaching and learning were conducted. However, the number of non-native teachers and heritage language-diaspora teachers participating in the questionnaires were not sufficient to analyze statistically. Therefore, there was a limit to classifying and reviewing all responses of the questionnaire based on teacher classification. The lack of this discussion is expected to be dealt with in depth in future study, and I hope that this study will serve as a basis for further follow-up studies on the cognition of Korean teachers regarding foreign language variables.