Posted on Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Dr. SoYoung Kang, Westminster College assistant professor of education, was a presenter at the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) conference April 28-May 1 in Phoenix.
Kang was one of three presenters for "Learning English through Cooking Activities at Preschools in Korea."
The presentation addressed how to expose young learners to English, a controversial issue in Korea. Although the introduction of English is very important for younger children, Korean early childhood experts discourage parents from teaching it too early, believing that young children will lose interest and motivation when the process becomes burdensome and stressful.
Among the methods currently used-story book reading, singing, dancing, and cooking-cooking is one of the most popular used in Korea. Preschoolers are more successful in improving conversational English when they take part in a multi-sensory task such as those used in the cooking process.
In addition to the presentation, Kang attended meetings of the International Outreach Committee and the Task Force for Global Guidelines for Early Childhood Education.
Kang, who joined the Westminster faculty in 2007, earned an undergraduate degree from Korea University and master's and Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee. Kang is a co-editor and author of a chapter in Poverty, Education and Development.
Contact Kang at (724) 946-6034 or e-mail kangs@westminster.edu for additional information.
