An integrative analysis of English education for young learners: Historical review of English Teaching over the past 50 years
The purpose of this research is to review studies of English education for young learners in the journal of English Teaching in order to commemorate its 50 years of history. Atotal of 126 young learners ofEnglish-related studies between 1965 and 2015 were collected. The studies were analyzed by historical trend, research methods, topics, subjects, contexts, and authors. The results are as follows: the studies on young learners of English have increased since 1982 when English was allowed to teach as an extracurricular activity in elementary schools; 103(81.7%) studies were identified as empirical research, and 23(18.3%) studies were identified as theoretical research; the most preferred research topic was 'teaching/learning' and 'investigation, effect, and direction' of English education in Korea; the most studied subjects were elementary students; the most preferred research context was Korea; and 98.4% ofresearchers was Korean. Based on the findings, several suggestions are made for future research in the area ofyoung learners ofEnglish.