Study on the Korean language teachers’ perception of teaching presence : focus on the comparison between online and face-to-face classes

Abstract

This study explores how Korean teachers perceive the teaching presence for those who experienced teaching Korean language in face-to-face classes as well as online. Teaching presence is defined as the sense of learners feeling connected to a class even in a virtual environment and being able to find the interaction between learner and learner, and teacher and learner. The results confirm that Korean teachers recognized that teaching presence online is significantly lower than face-to-face instruction, p<0.001. Additionally, the relationship between teaching presence in online classes and face-to-face classes was significantly related, r=0.365, p<0.05. This study suggests that further development of small group activities, teachers’ capacity, teaching skills, and specific teaching and learning methods should be developed in order to effectively conduct classes online. It is expected that conducting practical research about teaching presence will be implemented based on the results of this study in the future. (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies⋅ Hong Kong Polytechnic University)