South Korean EFL Teachers’ Perceptions of Corporal Punishment in School: Cultural vs. Educational System Factors

This paper aims to explore the perceptions of South Korean English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers on the use of corporal punishment in the classroom, including cultural factors and factors stemming from the educational system that lead Korean EFL teachers to use corporal punishment, whether Korean EFL teachers believe that benefits of corporal punishment outweigh the negatives, and whether Korean EFL teachers use corporal punishment because they truly believe it helps their students, or because of factors stemming from the educational system. An interview-based, qualitative study method was used in a Korean public middle school; six Korean EFL teachers were interviewed. It was determined that educational system factors led Korean EFL teachers to use and/or support the use of corporal punishment—rather than the belief that corporal punishment helped their students. The teachers acknowledged some of the negative effects, but most of them believed the benefits outweighed the negatives, which in turn led them to perceive corporal punishment as beneficial in managing Korean EFL classrooms—particularly classrooms with 40 or more students.