It is generally believed that teachers are important both to student learning and achievement. Apart from teacher qualification and experience, some studies have shown that teacher gender may relate significantly to student achievement. The purpose of the study was to find out the following- (a) Does teacher gender significantly influence student academic achievement in English Language Arts at the junior secondary school level? (b). Does teacher gender significantly influence student academic achievement in Mathematics at the junior secondary school level? (c) Does teacher gender significantly influence student academic achievement in Biology at the junior secondary school level? Data was obtained from 570 students in seven junior secondary school students in South-East area of Nigeria. An analysis of data showed the following- In the English Language Arts area, and at the junior secondary school level, female students performed significantly higher than male students under a female teacher and male students performed better (but not statistically significant) under male teachers. In the area of Mathematics, female students performed significantly higher under male teachers. Based on the findings, recommendations were made on improving the teaching of English Language Arts, Mathematics and Integrated Science in Nigerian junior secondary schools.

The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of good English teachers’ characteristics and to suggest guidelines for how to be a good English teacher by conducting a survey questionnaire to middle and high school students and their English teachers in Korea. The survey was composed of 48 items regarding teaching skills, personality and creativity, and assessing skills. The results showed there are different perceptions about the characteristics of good English teachers between teachers and students. Teachers perceived checking students’ understanding during the class as the most important characteristic followed by giving appropriate feedback to students, while students perceived treating them respectfully as the most important one. According to the research findings, this study suggests that English teachers should carefully consider developing students’ affective and creative aspects as well as linguistic skills that were shown to be important in both teacher and student perceptions. It also suggests the curriculum developers and teacher trainers for English teachers should continuously monitor the teacher evaluation process and apply the findings as helpful guidelines for future research and practice.

This study explores solutions for the problems of the current secondary English teacher selection test in Korea. The study was performed in the form of survey including a total of 557 participants, among whom were professors teaching at the departments of English education, students majoring English education, English teachers who had taken the selection test, test-takers of the test, and public officials in charge of English education in the offices of education. The questionnaire consisted of 29 questions which were designed to elicit the participants' perception or belief about the test itself, the relationships between the test and the curricula of the department, the test-making process, and the first stage of the selectional process. Analyzing the results of the survey, the present study proposes possible solutions for the problems regarding the question types of the test, the proportions of each field of the major, the curricula of the department of English in the college of education, and the test-developing and grading process.

The present study aimed at analyzing item format, test content, and test trend in phonology and phonetics in the Korean public secondary school English teacher employment exams from 2014 to 2018 in comparison with those from 2009 to 2013. Findings of the study revealed that filling-out and restricted-response essay items have been evenly distributed on the test even though there was no extendedresponse essay item over the last 5 years. The items in phonology and phonetics were the second most frequent on the test (37.8%), followed by syntax and school grammar (57.3%), and its ratio tended to steadily increase since 2014. The frequency of test contents indicated that ‘consonants and vowels,’ ‘syllables,’ and ‘phonemes and allophones’ comprised high frequency while ‘phonological process,’ and ‘phonological rules’ has significantly decreased on the test. The new test trends linked to morphology and teaching methodology were qualitatively analyzed. Finally, problems of the current test and future direction were discussed.

본고에서는 2013년에 개편된 영어과 ‘교육공무원 임용후보자 선정경쟁시험’의 지필평가를 고찰해보고자 한다. 이를 위해 먼저 2013년 개편 이후 실시된 2014 및 2015학년도 지필평가의 주요 특징을 관련 문헌 조사를 바탕으로 파악하였다. 그리고 지필평가 문항을 유형별, 전공 출제범위별, 평가분야별, 그리고 영어교육의 세부영역별로 검토하였다. 이를 요약하면 다음과 같다. 첫째, 개편된 지필평가에서는 이전의 1, 2차 시험이 1차 시험으로 통합되었고 개편 이전의 5지선다형 대신 기입형, 서술형, 논술형을 포함하는 서답형으로 구성되었다. 또한 2015학년도부터는 영어듣기평가가 폐지되었다. 둘째, 전체 20개 문항 중 10개에 해당하는 서술형, 논술형 문항이 배점에서는 전체의 75%에 해당하는 높은 비중을 차지하였다. 셋째, 지필평가의 실시 이전에 공고되는 전공 출제범위와 실제 출제된 양상을 비교해 본 결과, 25-35%로 공지된 교과교육학의 출제 분량이 실제로는 이보다 더 높았던 경우도 있었다. 넷째, 평가분야별로 살펴보았을 때, 2014학년도에는 일반영어, 영어교육, 영어학, 영문학의 순서로 배점 비중이 높았던 반면, 영어듣기평가가 폐지된 2015학년도에는 영어교육, 일반영어, 영어학, 영문학 순서로 나타났다. 마지막으로, 영어교육 분야의 다섯 가지 세부 평가영역에서는 영어평가를 제외한 제2언어습득 및 학습이론, 영어교재론 및 교육과정, 영어평가, 영어교수법, 그리고 4기능·어휘·문법 지도 및 ICT활용지도에서 고른 분포 양상을 보였다.