The figures listed below are not very scientific, but represent some attempt at profiling our annual international conference attendees. Many attendees resist collection of demographics*, and others are hard to classify due to the nature of their teaching positions, perhaps working in more than one workplace, with diverse learners. The distinction between Koreans and "native-speakers" is particularly challenging, considering the vagueness of that term and the fact that many of our members have Korean names and foreign passports. (Note that in 2018 we are requesting Nationality and Country of Residence.)
- Participant totals range from 800 ~ 1,200 most years, combined between Pre-registration and On-site (day of event) registration.
- Typically ~25% of our attendees are Korean, the remainder are expatriates teaching in Korea, or visitors from other lands.
- In recent years pre-registration accounts for roughly 2/3 of all attendees.
- Most KOTESOL members attend the international conference, and more than half of all KOTESOL memberships are joined/renewed through the conference pre-registration process.
- Group registrations provide less demographic information on individuals.
- 2017 Pre-registration information (598 individuals) included the following summaries --
- Female 41.8%
- Male 42.0%
- Gender Undefined 16.2% **
- K-12 28.1%
- Hagwon 9.2%
- Univ 27.8%
- No School Data 34.9% *
- Overseas Participants 27.4%
- Korean 24.4%
- For 2015 Pre-registrations (Aug-September 2015), we have more detailed employment information, status was reported as follows --
- Very Young Learners 13.2%
- Elementary School 27.6%
- Middle School 24.1%
- High School 18.26%
- University Language Center 28.5%
- University (not language center) 36.5%
- Private academy/hagwon 11.2%
- Board of education office 1.8%
- Company Training Team 3.8%
- Book Company Staff 0.3%
- Other types of employment 5.9%
Please note that some respondents report more than one workplace type, for example, when they teach elementary school students in a private language academy, while others may work in more than one workplace type (e.g., university language center and departmental courses).
KOTESOL membership was approximately 675 during the recent year. (Numbers fluctuate somewhat month to month.)
See these pages for more information on KOTESOL's International Conferences.
https://koreatesol.org/content/factoids-kotesol-conferences
https://koreatesol.org/content/history-kotesol-conferences
* roughly 40% of all conference attendees decline to report demographic data.
** gender cannot be determined for some names, e.g., Chris, Jinyoung)
rev. 2018.09.18.
