This paper analyses the lexical verbs in the guided word list of the 2015 Revised English Curriculum and high school English textbooks on the basis of the high frequency 200 lexical verbs extracted from the core academic words in the Corpus of Contemporary American English [COCA]. Lexical verbs are key words in determining sentence structures and meanings. In particular, this research focuses on academic verbs the knowledge of which is important for EFL learners’ academic achievement. The following questions are dealt with in this paper: 1) What changes occur in the distribution of high frequency core academic verbs in the guided word list? 2) Which verbs are classified as career development and technical words? 3) What are the properties of the academic verbs used in the high school textbooks of <English>, <English I> and <English II> in terms of frequency? and 4) With regard to EFL learners’ vocabulary learning, why should we be concerned with academic verbs classified as elementary-level words? The findings reveal that 35% of the 200 core academic verbs are used in the series of high school English textbooks, which means that a thorough learning of the general lexical verbs is important from a pedagogical perspective in the EFL situation. Furthermore, a diverse use of more core academic verbs is required in high school English textbooks.

The present study investigates secondary school student athletes’ specific needs for English learning and analyzes correlation and a cause and effect relationship among the needs-related variables. Two hundred forty six student athletes enrolled in physical education. Junior and senior high schools participated in the study. Data were collected through a survey that inquired about the students’ perceived English ability and learning areas of interest, their needs for ESP education, and aspects to be considered for ESP course design. The results show that the students put more emphasis on verbal communication (i.e., on speaking and listening) than on written communication (i.e., on reading and writing) and that they wanted more practical ESP education reflecting their needs and interests. Additionally, there was significant correlation (p<.01) among the subjects’ learning areas of interest, needs for ESP education, and aspects to be considered for ESP course design; a cause and effect relationship among the above three variables was discovered by goodness of fit test for structure equation model. Based on these findings, it is concluded that secondary school student athletes’ perceived English ability and areas of interest for English learning influence both their needs for ESP education and aspects to be considered for ESP course design.

The present study explores how high school English teachers perceive recently proposed or implemented English education policies. Among the policies are performance assessment, the depaπmentalized classroom system (DCS), 20 11 revised national curriculum for English, the two-Ievel (Types A' B) English tests in College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), and National English Ability Test (NEAT). The study examines three aspects ofteacher perception on each p이 icy: knowledge, attitudes, and implementation. A questionnaire was administered, and the responses of 395 high school English teachers were analyzed‘ The res비ts showed that the knowledge aspect scored the highest for all five p이 icies while differences were revealed as to specific aspects of knowledge, attitudes, and implementation across different policies. It was also revealed that the attitude aspect was positively correlated with the implementation aspect and that correlation between attitude and implementation was higher than the 、 correlation between attitude and knowledge. The facto rs identified to be highly correlated with all five policies were teacher’s academic attainment, age, and teaching experience, the number of students per class, and the implementation of English creative school. Implications are suggested for in-service teacher development, English education policy-making, and effective policy implementation.

The present study was designed to probe pedagogical viability of extensive reading as an effective alternative in English reading instruction. To accomplish the purpose, an English book club was formed, consisting of 40 high school students. The book club activity was held during four months of summer and winter vacations in 2009. The participants were encouraged to freely write anything in their reading logs they felt while reading. The reading logs and interviews were analyzed. They revealed effects of extensive reading and changes of the readers' cognitive and affective reading processes. According to the results, 1) extensive reading has potential to be a successful alternative in English reading instruction; 2) the readers could experience “amusement” and “absorption” by reading sufficient books with the i−1 level; and 3) extensive reading enabled them to choose their ways of reading and to be responsible for their choices.

This study investigates the problems and possibilities of introducing immersion in public elementary schools in Korea through the opinions of the elementary teachers, students, and parents. The participants of this study were 1,082 elementary school students, 484 elementary school teachers, and 731 parents. The data were collected through questionnaires. Through the analysis of data the followings were revealed. First, there were some misunderstandings and misconceptions about the definition and the meaning of immersion education, which seem to be strongly related to the negative attitudes toward the introduction of English immersion programs in Korea. Second, respondents, however, tended to be positive with the immersion program with about 10% higher agreement with its introduction than disagreement. Third, if they have opportunities to participate in an immersion program, the respondents tended to be a bit hesitative or reserved but mostly agreed to be involved with it as immersion teachers, students, and parents allowing their children, respectively with one to three years of preparation for it in terms of the English competence. Fourth, as for immersion teachers, they preferred co-teaching between Korean and English native teachers to individual teaching, and they also liked Korean immersion teachers more as immersion specialized teachers than as class teachers. Based on these findings several suggestions were made to implement English immersion programs in public elementary schools in Korea, particularly for teachers, schools, local governmental education offices interested in immersion education.

The purpose of this study is to establish English as elective subjects for 11~12 grades in Korean high schools. This study was conducted in the form of survey including a total of 1,923 participants, consists of 728 high school English teachers, 984 high school students, and 939 parents. The questionnaire consisted of nine questions, and which were designed to elicitate the participants perception and needs on English as the elective subjects in high schools. The results of the study indicate that 1) we need the subjects that include 4 skills(listening, speaking, reading, and writing), 2) binding listening and speaking skills together will meet the need of students and parents who want to choose conversation-only subjects, 3) on the other hand, binding reading and writing skills together will meet the needs of the students who want to prepare for establishing the academic basis in the future. 4) Various proficiency in English between students requires various level of the elective subjects in high school English. On the basis of these results, this study suggests we need 1) the subjects which deals with 4 skills on the basis of traditional concept, and 2) ‘listening and speaking’ subjects and ‘reading and writing’ subjects. And the subjects should have various levels between the highest level to the lowest level.

This study investigates elementary school parents’ perception concerning the starting age for early English education. Four hundred and eighty-four parents located in Seoul and Kyonggi province areas participated in this study. The questionnaire for exploring parents’ perception was used and the major findings revealed that: (1) the children who started to learn English before the official school year tend to learn English from native speakers of English; (2) about 90.9 percent of children learned English before the third grade of elementary school; (3) most parents reported that the proper starting age for learning English is 5 or 6 years although they perceived that it was not an important factor in enhancing their children’s English proficiency. These results indicate that the current status of early English education should be restructured to meet the parents’ perception and needs. Major implications will then be discussed.

Since the introduction of teaching English as a regular subject into primary schools in 1997, it has been said that the discrepancy between students who are receiving private instruction at learning institutions and private tutoring and those who are not receiving private English instruction is steadily increasing. The purpose of this study was to investigate what impact private English instruction had on English achievement and attitudes of fifth- and sixth-grade students in primary schools. For this purpose, an English achievement test was developed based on the 7th National Curriculum and administered, along with two attitude questionnaires: One questionnaire was administered to 696 fifth- and sixth-grade primary school students, and the other questionnaire given to 12 primary school teachers of the students. The results showed that students started learning English at the average age 7.9-years-old and about 80% of the students were receiving a variety of private English instruction. In line with expectations, tutored students outperformed non-tutored students on the English achievement test. In addition most of the teachers, as well as students, thought it helpful to learn English through private English instruction. One implication from the results suggests that to ensure quality English language teaching at public schools, the government should put forth efforts to nurture qualified English teachers through intensive teacher training.

English is now commonly called an international or a global language. Korea starts to face some changes in terms of the situational and functional status of English from EFL to ESL. A bilingual education approach called 'immersion education' to teach English is urgently needed to be taken in Korea, especially in the primary school level. The present paper aims to investigate perceptions of primary school teachers about the introduction of English immersion education program. A total of 171 primary school teachers were surveyed employing a questionnaire asking about their knowledge, opinions and attitudes with regard to the introduction of English immersion education in primary schools in Korea. It was found that there are lots of things to take into consideration introducing the English immersion education system in the areas of preor in-service teacher training system, governmental assistance, and other practical issues of deciding starting grade and the subjects for immersion, for example. Some suggestions are provided for a practical guide for the introduction of English immersion education.

Since the teaching of English was introduced into the primary school as a required subject in 1997, no achievement test has been administered for the purpose of comparing English achievement of primary school students who are receiving private instruction with that of those who are not. The purpose of this study was to investigate what impact private instruction had on English achievement of third- and fourth-year students in the primary school. For this purpose, an English achievement test was developed based on the 7th national curriculum and two questionnaires were administered: one questionnaire among 743 third- and fourth-year primary school students and the other among 22 primary school teachers. The results showed that students who were receiving private instruction outperformed those who were not on the English achievement test and that teachers had difficulty in handling English class due to the discrepancy of overall English proficiency between tutored students and non-tutored students. The findings suggest that teacher training needs to be intensified to ensure quality English language teaching in the primary school.