Korean, teachers, score, poorly, Korean

Maybe I should stop kicking myself for the many mistakes I make when writing e-mails.

Problem〉 Which word best fits in the blank space below?

"With creative classroom management teachers contribute to the development of their skills, and _______ their classroom management abilities by practicing various methods.""

〈Choices〉 1. Enhance 2. Excite 3. Transoceanic 4. Cultivate 5. Improve

The correct answer is number four. But just six in 10 elementary, middle, and high school teachers got the correct answer on a question asking the meaning of synonyms.

A study has found that the language abilities of our country's elementary, middle, and high school teachers are not high. And a large number of them were found to make mistakes in spelling in sentences produced at school or errors in sentence completion, and further language education for teachers is highly necessary. That conclusion was reached in a study, titled 교사의 국어능력 실태 조사 and published on the 18th, conducted by the research team of Professor Yun Yeo-tak at the request of The National Institute of the Korean langauge (국립국어원).

According to the report, which is based on a survey of 2,013 elementary, middle, and high school teachers nationwide in August of last year, the average score on a twenty-question, four-part test of grammar, vocabulary, sentences, and reading comprehension was 12.99 (with each question worth one point). Converted to a percentage that would be 65.0%.

The average score on the vocabular section was 78.2% (3.91 out of 5), the highest score, followed by reading comprehension (66.1%, 1.91 out of 3). Sentences saw an average score of 61.4% (4.91 out of 8), the lowest score, and the average score in grammar was 60.4% (2.42 out of 4).

High school teachers had the highest average score at 67.4%, followed by middle school (65.2%) and elementary school (63.4%). Korean language teachers scored an average of 73.6%, highest of any group. Math, foreign language, social studies, and science teachers all scored at least 60%.

The report went on to point out errors made in sentences produced from official documents, exams, letters to parents, and educational events at nine schools in the Seoul, Jeollabuk-do, and Gyeongsangbuk-do areas. Other than basic spelling errors, the report found numerous mistakes such as ‘독서 생활을 가정이나 사회로 확대되어 나가도록 ∼기회를 제공한다’ and ‘학생을 사랑과 이해로 밝고 명랑한 학교 분위기를 조성하고’. Those sentences should have been changed to ‘독서생활 습관이 가정이나 사회로∼’ and ‘학생을 사랑하고 이해하는 마음을 갖고, 밝고 명랑한 학교를 조성한다’.

Prof. Yun's research team said in the report that, "currently teachers of subjects other than Korean are not properly educated about the rules of Korean grammar or the correct use of vocabulary and phrases... Because teachers engage in various Korean language activities at school, they need to be given opportunities for more language education."