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Enhancing English in Ecuador: Exploring Korean English Educational Policy Innovations
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Enhancing English in Ecuador: Exploring Korean English Educational
Policy Innovations
Dinamización del Inglés en Ecuador: explorando las innovaciones en políticas educativas
en inglés de Corea
Revitalizar o inglês no Equador: explorar inovações na política de educação em língua
inglesa na Coreia
Chriselle Domenica Espinar
Fourth semester student a pedagogy of National and Foreign Languages, University of
Guayaquil, Institutional email: chriselle.espinarc@ug.edu.ec, ORCID: 0000-0003- 1273-
811X
Received October 2020 - Accepted January 2021
Revista Iberoamericana de la Educación
Vol - 4 No. 3, July - September 2021
e-ISSN: 2737-632x
Pgs 52 - 77
Abstract: Ecuador requires the incorporation of new educational policies that
meet the needs of English in today's society. One of the strategies required to
solve this problem is to develop alongside international educational trends.
This article explores the proposals in the teaching of the English language
within the educational system of South Korea such as the EPIK and FSP,
showing alternatives that may become applicable in the Ecuadorian context.
This review is qualitative, exploratory and descriptive in scope. Information
related to the needs and challenges faced by EFL contexts was recovered and
organized into three main sections: (1); Specific needs of the teaching-
learning of English, (2); What about teaching English in South Korea? (3);
Challenges of the EFL Context. It was agreed that in Ecuador and Korea,
students feel great difficulty developing productive skills (speaking / writing).
Further research can take this article as a reference of the successes and
challenges of EFL contexts to create more policies that can be implemented
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in such a way that schools, government and teachers are encouraged to take
advantage of the variety of opportunities and overcome the challenges.
Key words: technologies, teaching processes, technological resources,
learning process.
Resumen: Ecuador requiere la incorporación de nuevas políticas educativas
que se acoplen a las necesidades que demanda el inglés en la sociedad actual.
Una de las estrategias requeridas para resolver este problema es desarrollarse
a la par con tendencias educativas internacionales. Este artículo explora las
propuestas en la enseñanza del idioma inglés dentro del sistema educativo de
Corea del sur como el EPIK y FSP, mostrando alternativas que puedan llegar
a ser aplicables en el contexto ecuatoriano. Esta revisión es cualitativa, de
alcance exploratorio y descriptivo, se recuperó información relacionada a las
necesidades y desafíos que enfrenta los contextos EFL y se organizó en tres
principales apartados: (1); Necesidades específicas de la enseñanza-
aprendizaje de inglés (2); ¿Qué pasa con enseñanza de inglés en Corea del
Sur?, (3); Desafíos del Contexto EFL. Se coincidió que en Ecuador y Corea
los estudiantes sienten gran dificultad desarrollando habilidades productivas
(speaking/writing). Otras investigaciones pueden tomar este artículo como
referencia de los éxitos y desafíos de los contextos EFL para crear más
políticas que puedan implementarse de tal manera que las escuelas, el
gobierno y los docentes se animen a aprovechar la variedad de oportunidades
y superar los desafíos.
Palabras clave: Contexto EFL; Políticas educativas; Inglés como segunda
lengua; Proceso enseñanza-aprendizaje
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Resumo: O Equador exige a incorporação de novas políticas educativas que
satisfaçam as necessidades que o inglês exige na sociedade de hoje. Uma das
estratégias necessárias para resolver este problema é desenvolver-se a par das
tendências educacionais internacionais. Este artigo explora as propostas no
ensino da língua inglesa no âmbito do sistema educativo sul-coreano, tais
como EPIK e FSP, mostrando alternativas que podem tornar-se aplicáveis no
contexto equatoriano. Esta revisão é qualitativa, exploratória e descritiva no
seu âmbito, a informação relacionada com as necessidades e desafios
enfrentados pelos contextos EFL foi recuperada e organizada em três secções
principais: (1); Necessidades específicas do ensino-aprendizagem do inglês
(2); E o ensino do inglês na Coreia do Sul, (3); Desafios do Contexto EFL.
Foi acordado que no Equador e na Coreia os estudantes têm grande
dificuldade em desenvolver capacidades produtivas (falar/escrever). Outras
pesquisas podem tomar este artigo como referência dos sucessos e desafios
dos contextos EFL para criar mais políticas que possam ser implementadas
de modo a que as escolas, o governo e os professores sejam encorajados a
tirar partido da variedade de oportunidades e superar os desafios.
Palavras-chave: contexto EFL; Políticas educativas; Inglês como segunda
língua; Processo de ensino-aprendizagem
INTRODUCTION
The desire and complexity of promoting a globalized world that disseminates
better communication skills, knowledge of great usefulness and interest and
quality training, today is strongly occupying a transcendental role in
Ecuadorian education, for which teaching and learning A second language for
the development of globalization is fundamental and an inescapable fact that
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must be faced, since it has great relevance in the educational field as well as
in the labor field and in cultural, economic and political aspects.
Especially in the field of education, it is well known that both the educational
system and the advancement of societies must rise in the same direction and
at the same pace, because social action and its needs are constantly changing
and each time with better expectations, so it is inconceivable to think that
schools and universities maintain the same system that is currently known
(Aldana-Zavala et al., 2020). Due to this, the educational system must face
the permanent challenge of providing the student with a solid professional
preparation, totally avoiding the exclusivity that may exist in some specific
areas of education.
Particularly the teaching of English in Ecuador according to Merchan et al.
(2016) emphasize that “it is one of the main concerns of Ecuadorian teachers,
highlighting that the content and quality standards that govern English
programs in Ecuador are not very flexible […]” (p.116). This causes an
environment of instability for teachers who want to dynamize the teaching-
learning process, which in turn demands the adaptation of new evaluation
models and curricular modifications that meet the quality standards required
by the teaching of the English language.
It should be noted that the teaching of the English language in Ecuador is
stipulated as mandatory in public schools and universities within the
educational system, in addition Bernasconi & Celis (2017) emphasize that
Ecuador offers more profound reforms compared to other countries.
Therefore, English teachers have been evaluated and trained, however Santos
& Weathers (2015) analyze that these activities have not had the successful
performance expected in the country. Thus Gordón & Rocío (2017) suggest
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that “it is necessary for Ecuadorian education to reflect on itself, on its being,
its work and its purposes […]” (p.133).
Additionally, creating a positive environment of respect and tolerance within
the classroom in EFL settings is an essential part of the teaching-learning
process of a second language. N. E. C. Bravo & Belen (2019) indicate that a
positive climate makes the learner feel the support of the teacher, while being
concerned about their learning needs and enhancing the teacher-student
relationship, their motivation and teamwork. Likewise, Jarrín & Kim (2019)
argue that it has an effect on their autonomy, critical thinking and student
motivation. In this way, the teacher becomes a designer of their ways of
imparting knowledge to reach all the learning objectivesRea & Román,
(2019).
On the other hand, explains that the incorporation of educational policies and
other complementary policies is required to be able to overcome the
difficulties they are currently facing. Therefore, one of the strategies required
to overcome these difficulties is to develop alongside international
educational trends. Thus, it is understood that it is necessary to integrate new
methodological alternatives and adapt strategies that promote a dynamic
teaching and learning process to improve the quality of English teaching in
Ecuador. Given that when wanting to perform in the international framework,
low English proficiency is usually a problem in students in the Ecuadorian
context Villao Tomalá, (2016).
Contemplating the need to know new innovative proposals that can be
coupled to the quality standards currently required by the teaching of the
English language, the objectives of this review article are; identify the specific
needs of the teaching-learning of English, explore the different scientific
studies in the Korean educational system in English in order to publicize
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proposals that improved the quality of language teaching and also intends to
propose alternatives that streamline the process language teaching in Ecuador
However, it is important to note that the position of this article is exploratory
and reflective of the different innovative proposals that have been made in the
teaching of the English language within the educational system of a non-
English-speaking country such as South Korea and thus know alternatives
that may become applicable in the Ecuadorian context.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
In this research, a bibliographic review was carried out with a qualitative,
exploratory and descriptive approach regarding the different scientific
productions directed towards the teaching- learning process of the English
language in EFL environments, as well as, reports, case studies and articles
as primary source of information.
For this bibliographic review, a search was carried out in the Eric, Redalyc,
Scielo and REDIB databases focused on documents of scientific production
in education, particularly in foreign language with a mention in English in the
national and international context, carried out by universities and institutions
in relation to improve dynamization in the teaching of English as a foreign
language.
Due to the fact that more research and studies published in the English
language were found, it was considered convenient to carry out the search for
the information with the key words essentially in this language and then in
Spanish. Subsequently, the reports, case studies, comparative studies and
scientific articles were compiled by means of the following equations;
¨Korea¨ AND ¨English Education¨ and ¨EFL context¨ AND ¨Ecuador¨
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without a date limit. Later, the thesaurus and main descriptors were modified
by synonyms to make the search for significant results more precise.
Finally, the bibliographic references found within the most relevant scientific
articles for this section were used with the aim of rescuing remarkable and
essential information directed to the subject that has been carried out in this
review. These references were retrieved from the articles obtained in the
ERIC databases.
In the search for the information, documents that had studies and research
carried out mainly in the educational field within the teaching of a foreign
language in both South Korea and Ecuador were included, in addition, studies
carried out in Colombia and Mexico were considered, as well as they
correspond to improving the quality of teaching the English language.
On the other hand, in terms of scientific articles and case studies, the inclusion
criteria of these studies were corresponding to the level of schools or
universities, in addition to including practical proposals to stimulate the
teaching of English. Similarly, research and studies were included that in their
conclusions contributed with activities to stimulate the teaching-learning
process of English within the classroom.
The main exclusion criterion was that the articles found did not contain
information regarding; foreign language education, improvement of English
language practices, active second language learning, activities inside and
outside of class and English as a second language.
Subsequent to the initial search, approximately 262 results were obtained, of
which 211 were excluded that did not contribute significantly, nor did they
contain the information related to the research of this review article. 7 case
studies, 3 comparative studies, 1 book, 2 Reports and 38 scientific articles
were selected.
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For selection and subsequent extraction, the summaries, keywords and
corresponding titles of each document were briefly examined, in the same
way, it was considered convenient to read certain articles that revealed
information derived from the subject of this review in order to verify whether
their content was substantial to mention or not, with the purpose of adding or
discarding it. For the easy management and organization of the bibliographic
references of this review article, the Mendeley bibliographic manager was
used.
In the data collection and analysis of the 51 studies obtained and reviewed for
this article, information was recovered regarding the needs of English today,
the Korean educational system in English, the challenges faced by the EFL
contexts and organized all the information in three main sections: first;
Specific needs of the teaching-learning of English, second; What about
teaching the English language in South Korea? Which in turn of subdivided,
third; Challenges of the EFL Context.
RESULTS
Communication and international relations have increased over time in recent
decades, due to this the need to develop skills in the English language as the
most important way to globalization and in turn to modernization is felt in
non-native English speaking countries from all over the world. Consequently,
to this demand, the educational systems of all these countries where the
mother tongue is not English, including Ecuador, have placed a high priority
on both the teaching and learning of English.
Regarding this growing need to improve communication skills in English by
countries in the context, EFL Aliakbari & Gheitasi (2014) point out that the
importance of English as a foreign language has been unquestionably
beneficial, since governments and their respective educational systems for
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their part, they have reflected and reconsidered their language teaching
programs in order to meet the needs that it currently demands.
In our context, it is necessary to emphasize the importance of having a
standardized English curriculum that conforms to the standards in Ecuador to
train quality teachers. This is why public and private institutions where the
English language is taught require highly qualified English teachers, however
most of these institutions point out that the main problem occurs when hiring
educators, because they have an extremely low command of English and with
few methodologies to teach the language to students in their classes even after
they have graduated as English teachers (Serrano et al., 2015). It is thus
evident that another present need is to develop programs that evaluate
teachers in the performance of the language and train them so that they can
function better in their classes and with better teaching methodologies.
On the other hand, Carless (2006) emphasizes that from the perspective of L2
teachers, they know very well what the needs of their students are and the
frequent difficulties they currently face as teachers and relate it to the syllabus
and the didactic material that is used. This explains how the little flexibility
of the syllabus and textbooks with information not updated to the standards
that are required, can negatively affect the dynamization of the teaching of
the language and the methodology of the teacher. In this vein, Toro et al.
(2019) declare in this regard emphasizing that to bring the teaching-learning
process to success, different factors are required, ranging from the design of
a good teaching plan to being flexible in the implementation of strategies that
are required within the classroom.
Consequently, other studies determined that students stated that they did not
have enough opportunities to speak English within or outside of class and
when they were given the opportunity to communicate and exchange
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information in English, in written or spoken form, they showed great
difficulty. in doing so, which caused negative reactions in their motivation to
learn the language (Chamba et al., 2019; Shahini & Shahamirian, 2017). For
this reason, teacher support, student autonomy, effort to learn new vocabulary
and motivation are the main factors that are needed in learning a language. In
other words, Bravo et al. (2017) strongly argue that motivated students can
retain much more information and in the long term, so it is necessary to see
motivation as a primary factor that produces interest in learning a second
language.
Likewise, new technologies cannot be excluded since they play a fairly
important role in the quality and dynamism of the teaching of the English
language. Although this idea is clear and the implementation of technology
in teaching is nothing new, it represents a constant challenge, especially when
it comes to integrating them into the class. Solano et al. (2017) state that, in
certain developing countries such as Ecuador, even the use of technology for
the teaching-learning process should be more exploited.
As can be seen in this section, English currently requires many specific needs
to stimulate the teaching-learning process, of which the following can be
considered primarily; Institutional support for teachers, motivation and
autonomy in the student and the integration of technology in the education of
a second language.
It should be mentioned that South Korea has had a long journey in teaching
this language, which has not been easy but whose vision has always been to
improve and promote English education within the country. Chang (2009)
analyzed that the history of English education in Korea is divided into two
important periods, in conjunction with historical events in Korea: The Choson
Dynasty Period and Japanese Imperialism Period.
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During this first period, English was brought to Korea with Christianity, it
was considered as a symbol of equality and democracy to end the prevailing
feudal class in the Choson dynasty (Lee, 1999; Sung, 2002 cited in Shin,
2007). However, Chang categorized this period into two groups of institutions
in which English was taught to Koreans, these were public institutes and
missionary schools (Chang, 2009). In addition, in this same study it was
clarified that the objective of the public Institutes was to instruct Korean
translators in other foreign languages, in this case English with the Direct
Method, since they began to have diplomatic relations with other countries,
while the Missionary schools had an impact on modernization in this period,
not only in the English language, but also in the entire Korean society in this
way English was taught with the bible as a textbook Chang (2009).
In this period Japan enforced cultural acceptance tactics including teaching
English in Japanese to Koreans. Regarding this period, Yang (2017) explains
that the Japanese took refuge in the fact that their cultural domination over
Korea was a sacred duty to achieve modernization. Although English was
taught, during this period it was very scarce as languages other than Japanese
were canceled or banned (Sung, 2002 cited in Shin, 2007).
As can be seen in these studies for a long time there was a very low deficit of
the English language, however Park & Watson (2011) speak in their study
arguing that only a few decades later, Korea now faces different challenges
on this path to justice. Similarly, currently Korea has overcome different
challenges in the education of English that were imposed throughout its
history. For example, in Korea, the Ministry of Education inserted the policy
of 세계화 (segyehwa), which is the Korean term for globalization, with the
purpose of evolving from an English curriculum with instructions in
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traditional grammar to a communicative one (Shin, 2007). In other words, the
teaching of English in Korea has shifted to focus on fluency over grammatical
accuracy.
By virtue of this, Schenck (2013) mentions that, in contemporary South
Korean society, culture is strongly fixed together with the expansion and
growth of the command of English as the main human resource. Similarly,
Jahng (2011) expresses that, considering the increase and the great position
that English occupies nationally and worldwide, South Korea perceives
education in English as the surest way to achieve rapid progress in education
social class. Therefore, at first, education in English should be a basic human
right and not a privilege (Jambor, 2012). Consequently, in South Korea it is
openly considered that among the countries in which English is not spoken,
those that promote its use are richer than other nations.
Since English education has had a great impact in almost every respect in
Korean society, Choi et al. (2019) in their study highlights that for Koreans
achieving a high score in English tests is an inevitable and necessary fact.
This is how proficiency in this language has been the main focus for the
Ministry of Education in this country. For this reason, Jeong (2020) reveals
that the Korean government reformed the educational system, these reforms
included vocational programs, study plans, some teacher policies, looking
beyond and not only providing standardized instructions.
Jo (2008) points out that the government carried out a pilot plan from 2006 to
2007 with the aim of integrating English education at an early age, for this
reason the Ministry of Education proposed the introduction of English in 1st
grade. However, according to Kim et al. (2018) the national curriculum
indicates that education in English begins to be taught from the 3rd grade of
primary education with around 2 to 3 hours during the week. The desire to
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integrate early English education in Korea is because children's English skills
are often related to success in their lives. In turn, the desire to improve
children's English led to updating the textbooks. According to Yuasa (2010)
each lesson in the English books has: “Look and Listen, Listen and Repeat,
Let's Play, Let’s Chant, Look and Speak, Let’s Sing” (p.149). Thus, these
themes in the lessons are associated with the daily lives of children.
When it comes to secondary and higher education, English education is even
more demanding in South Korea and the reason why the government has
constantly struggled with this educational demand. According to the study
carried out by Megan I. Beard (2018) indicates that having a high command
of English is not only considered when students want to obtain higher
education, but also when publishing articles in English by university students.
While it is true that these measures are necessary to qualify at elite universities
in Korea, these demands have caused a great deal of stress on Korean
students. As a result of these facts, the Korean government has integrated
programs such as the EPIK (English Program in Korea) to improve the quality
of English in the country and FSP (Free Semester Program) to alleviate the
stress of students in demanded subjects as a requirement to enter the
university.
The English program in Korea was launched in 1995 with 856 teachers
teaching in secondary schools in the country. The objective of this program
is to strengthen education in foreign languages and at the same time reinforce
a globalized education (EPIK, 2011). In addition, two studies agree that the
program was developed to integrate native English teachers from the
following countries: Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United
Kingdom, the United States and South Africa, in the same way the main
eligibility requirements are: have obtained a bachelor's degree, good physical
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and mental health, high English proficiency and adaptability (Jeon, 2009; A.
Schenck, 2020). Additionally, Jeon (2009) mentions that the salary will
depend on both the location of the school and the term of the contract and this
ranges from US $ 1,900 to US $ 3,000 per month.
The EPIK is also beneficial for Korean English teachers, since it is a program
in which, according to Wang & Lin (2013), native English language teachers
have two great duties: to jointly carry out the teaching process with local
teachers and to help them to improve your skills in class. In this sense, native
English teachers also have a support system that includes a Korean assistant
teacher (Oh & Nussli, 2014). In this way, Carless (2006) indicates in their
results that Korean English teachers improve their communication methods
and skills in the language, and also highlights the importance of the presence
of the Korean teacher in the class, since it maintains the good behavior of the
students.
The FSP was targeted at all Korean high schools since 2016, after having
gone through a three-year period as a pilot program across the country (Jung
et al., 2020). This is how this program allows students to explore their future
career options, it is also responsible for providing them with the essential
academic skills so that they can be admitted to universities. The program
covers: Mathematics, English, Chinese, science, among others (Ministry of
Education). Tan (2019) mentioned that the FSP focuses on a happy education,
since the university entrance exams put great pressure on Korean students.
These studies thus indicate that the FSP, for its part, has also contributed to
improving the learning of English and reducing a little the stress felt by
students due to the compulsory command of this language for admission to
the country's universities.
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During the teaching-learning process in the EFL context, not only in Korea
but also in Ecuador, students may feel pressure, demotivation and stress, due
to the current demands of learning English and it is normally expected that
they be able to cope with these feelings so that they can understand and study
the language successfully. In the case of Korea, teachers tend to integrate
different activities, not just those that are related to learning (Kim et al., 2018).
It is well known that there is no single effective way to achieve the goal of
enhancing and improve the teaching of English in EFL contexts. Therefore,
it is understood that this process should not be static. Lee (2012) argues that
the English language teaching process has to be carried out actively, so that
the development of the student's communication and comprehension skills is
continuous in participation within or outside of class. However, despite the
fact that teachers maintain their efforts to make this participation active in
EFL settings, Viáfara (2011) in her research argues that, the interaction of
students in English within the classroom continues to represent a great
challenge for teachers.
K. Jeong (2017) expresses that it is not easy to motivate students to develop
their English skills inside EFL environments. In Ecuador, for example,
according to the study by Ochoa et al. (2016) highlights that an attempt was
made to solve this problem by integrating activities such as: group work,
dynamics and role plays, which subsequently obtained positive responses in
the motivation of the students. On the other hand, in South Korea, faced with
this situation, it is considered that it can be especially useful for the teacher
to make the student perceive that he has made progress, through interesting
but at the same time challenging activities at the correct level. way the student
will increase his confidence (N. Choi et al., 2019).
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From this order of ideas, the teacher in the EFL environment must at all times
bring out her virtues, be patient, understanding and above all tolerant. This
great importance stems from the study carried out by Greenier & Whitehead
(2016) where they highlight EFL teachers as cultural ambassadors, given that
they represent a role model of how society should treat other people who are
culturally and linguistically different from them. Teachers at EFL must also
possess critical thinking to adjust and perfect their own learning in teaching a
second language, thus favoring their practice as a teacher in their future
classroom (Saiful & Triyono, 2018).
As a result, a recent study reveals that Ecuadorian educational policy knows
well what it faces in classrooms, heterogeneity and great diversity, which
makes it challenging to reach each of the students (Hernández-Chérrez &
Hidalgo-Camacho, Cynthia Soledad Carrera-Martínez, 2020). For this
reason, teachers at the EFL must consider different learning styles and adjust
their plans in the best way.
However, this same situation is not the same for South Korea, some teachers
expressed that the teaching policies for the most part are not so relevant to the
needs that their students actually demand (T. Choi, 2017). Consequently,
productive English skills for Korean students are now a great challenge.
According to Babakhouya (2019), it indicates that speaking and writing skills
in a foreign language represent great anxiety for students. Similarly, it is
recognized that it is also a challenge for Ecuadorian teachers to develop these
skills, especially speaking, since for Toro et al. (2019) is “one of the most
difficult skills to develop in students […]” (p.102). Thus, Salazar Lugo et al.
(2016) resolves that by constantly encouraging students and developing their
confidence in a dynamic way in oral practice, they will be able to function
better in communicative competence.
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The studies presented previously revealed the specific needs in the teaching
of the English language, considering mainly EFL environments, that is,
countries where English is taught as a second language, in addition to Ecuador
and South Korea, research carried out in Colombia and Mexico. In the same
way, they highlighted what were the constant challenges in these
environments. Subsequently, studies in the innovative English educational
policies in South Korea were explored as an example of an EFL environment
and showed alternatives to overcome these challenges.
As mentioned in the section on specific teaching-learning needs in the English
language, the studies agreed that these three main aspects should be
considered: Motivation and autonomy in the student, institutional support for
teachers, and the integration of the technology in second language education.
In Ecuador, studies indicated that the integration of new educational policies
is required, programs that meet the needs of English learning today and have
a standardized English curriculum. For this reason, South Korea exemplified
programs that turned out to be successful for improving English, such as the
EPIK to improve English skills within the country and FSP to reduce the
stress of students in the subjects necessary for admission to the universities.
It was demonstrated in both Ecuador and South Korea that they have
implemented strategies and activities such as: role play, teamwork and
challenging activities to stimulate the teaching of English within the
classrooms, however, it remains a challenge for these two countries that
students develop in English outside of them, since in EFL environments the
classroom is still usually the only place where students can practice English
(K. Jeong, 2017).
Along the same lines, it was discovered that students feel great anxiety
developing productive skills such as speaking and writing, in the case of
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South Korea a study showed that even these two skills still need to be
improved, while in Ecuador one of the most difficult skills to develop is
speaking.
The studies also agreed that it is essential that educational policies in EFL
settings are coupled to the true needs of students depending on each of their
context, keeping in mind that in Ecuador teachers face students with different
cultural backgrounds and in different ways. South Korea with some very rigid
and inflexible educational policies.
An observation is made in the role of the teacher, where he is placed as a
cultural ambassador (Greenier & Whitehead, 2016). He is not only expected
to be a guide, but also a creative person, critical thinking and above all tolerant
when it comes to teaching a second language because it involves getting to
know a new culture.
The main limitation of this study is that although the success of programs
such as EPIK and FSP in South Korea was proven, they were carried out in a
different context with different needs, however, it was exemplified because
South Korea is part of the EFL environments that have constantly struggled
to improve English as a human resource just like Ecuador.
Therefore, it is suggested for future research to resolve whether the adaptation
and adjustments of the educational policies and instruments used in the
international context indicated above in this study for the educational context
of English in Ecuador is sustainable.
Secondly, in Ecuador it is still limited to recognizing English as a second
language, but this must confront the new concept of English as an
international language, it is also suggested to carry out a systematic follow-
up study on the changes in the EFL environment in Ecuador and the use of
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new technologies as they are necessary to develop English education
appropriately for the globalized world.
CONCLUSIONS
Thanks to international educational trends, we can learn from new
experiences and aspects of life in today's society, which can be used
essentially when they are the result of reflection on other realities and contexts
whose main objective is to break with traditional standards, recognizing the
importance of English. for development and modernization.
Although the policies used in the international context may be adjusted in the
Ecuadorian context in the teaching of the English language, it will be difficult
for them to be applied and bear fruit without the collaboration of teachers in
this subject, especially when their training in the teaching of English. a second
language is not consistent or deficient. (Hernández Hernández & Izquierdo
Sandoval, 2020). Because the quality of education cannot possibly surpass
the quality of teachers
It is concluded that in Ecuador and South Korea they have placed a high
priority on teaching English trying to modify their educational policies,
however, there is still a long way to go to perfect these policies and adapt
them to the corresponding needs in each context. Studies in Ecuador and
South Korea revealed interest in fostering an active and dynamic education,
willing to implement new methodologies to help overcome these challenges
within EFL environments.
With regard to dynamization within classes in EFL contexts, it was shown
that different activities can be used, not only related to learning, such as:
watching video, group discussions, simulations or role-playing, this helps the
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71
student's motivation to learn a second language as well as including
technology in the English teaching-learning process.
The role of the teacher is another important aspect in the teaching-learning
process of a second language in the EFL context, although it is mentioned that
there is not only one way to get teachers to dynamize their classes, this process
should not be static for any reason. Teachers should promote creative ideas
and challenging tasks considering the level of their students. In the same way,
it must encourage respect and tolerance since they not only represent their
own culture, but also teach a linguistically different one.
Finally, although Ecuador favorably has not gone through the same
unfortunate events in the history of English teaching as South Korea, Korea
continues to be an example of providing rapid responses to the globalization
process through which this country not only It quickly adapts to the demands
of international standards, but also strategically pursues national interests by
offering its citizens different ways of acquiring with a high command of
English.
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