초등영어 시수 확대에 대한 교사와 학습자 반응

Abstract

Since 1997, the Korean Ministry of Education (MOE) has been implementing a primary school English program for the 3rd to the 6th grader as part of its globalization effort. After ten years of implementation, this program has been criticized for a lack of continuity between the primary and secondary school English curriculum. This problem is largely ascribed to the insufficient instructional hours for English classes offered in primary schools. Under the current system, 3rd and 4th graders take English classes once a week while 5th and 6th graders receive two classes per week. Accordingly, the MOE has piloted a new program to increase the number of instructional hours of primary school English classes. The present study surveyed 306 classroom teachers and 685 students who have participated in this pilot program to examine the positive and negative aspects of the new initiative. The findings show that while the participants felt that there was a clear need for increased instructional hours, they pointed out several barriers to quickly adopting the program. The main barriers to implementing the program were increased teaching load and a lack of highly qualified teachers.