• Learning how to learn is life's most important skill"- Tony Buzan
  • Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow" - Anthony D'Angelo
  • Learning is finding out what we already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you. You are all learners, doers and teachers. - Richard Bach

Hello, and thank you for visiting this page.

My name is Andrew Edward Finch. I was born in Wales near Cardiff (you can see cardiff city on the map below), but my family moved to England when I was young, and I grew up near London, in a town called Basingstoke (South West of London). I studied for a BA (hons) in Music and then an MA in 20th century Music (history and composition) at Bristol University (Bristol is on the map, opposite Cardiff).

  • 2000) Ph.D. in Language Programme Evaluation, Manchester University, UK.
  • (1996).M.Ed. TEFL, Manchester University,
  • (1976) Post-Graduate Teaching Certificate,
    Birmingham Polytechnic, UK.
  • (1973) M.A. 20th Century Music (History and Composition) Bristol University, UK.
  • (1972) B.A. Music (hons), Bristol University.

After a number of years as a Middle School teacher in England, I decided to teach English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and at the same time to follow my love for "Go" ( ¹ÙµÏ ). Therefore I came to Korea, since Korean "Baduk" players (e.g. ÀÌâȣ, ÃÊÈÆÇö, ¼­ºÀ¼ö, À¯Ã¢Çõ) are the best in the world.

It was very interesting, living in Seoul, teaching English and learning ¹ÙµÏ for two years, after which I went to Andong National University (ANU), as Visiting Assistant Professor of English, and from there to Hong Kong Polytechnic University

In 1997, I was invited to design and set up a "Conversation-English" programme for all students at ANU. I have always been interested in holistic and humanistic learning, so I saw this as a chance to make a programme based on principles of student-centred learning: Confidence, Motivation and Independence. The programme is described and evaluated in my Ph.D. Thesis, and the student-centred books we co-authored are also on the web ("Tell Me More!", "Now You're Talking!". "The Way Ahead") .

After Andong, I took the conversation programme to Seoul National University of Technology Language Centre (SNUTLC) (2000), received my Ph.D. from Manchester University, and married a wonderful person , all in the same year. In January 2001 I returned to the HK PolyU , this time as Language Testing Consultant on the Graduating Students' Language Proficiency Assessment programme (GSLPA). This position was for six months, after which I became Associate professor of English Education at Kyungpook National University (September 2001).
 
I believe that positive attitudes are essential to learning, and that the job of the teacher is to foster these in students - to help them become confident, motivated and self-sufficient learners. As technology changes the world in previously unimaginable ways, and at an ever-increasing pace, the role of the teacher must be expanded to include that of language resource, facilitator of learning, and mentor of future generations of responsible citizens. Please check out the various links on my homepage for more on this topic.
 

A number of well-known people have come from the south of Wales. As you can see (below), Dylan, Thomas is from Swansea. Richard Burton and Anthony Hopkins are both from Part Talbot, and are also both great actors. You might know Tom Jones as the singer of "Green Grass of Home", Henry V is immortalised in Shakespeare's drama of the same name.

Tel (O):053 950-5832
 Main page: learning for life.
 Email: aef@knu.ac.kr