영어과 예비교사와 현직교사의 EIL에 대한 인식 연구

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Examining Perceptions of Pre-service and In-service English Teachers toward English as an International Language

Lee, Eun-Ha Advisor: Kim, Kyung Ja, Ph.D. Department of English Education Graduate School of Chosun University

In the last few decades, English, with its special status as an international language, has become an important tool for international communication. Accordingly, many English teachers were interested in promoting their English knowledge within the global context. The purpose of this study was to examine pre-service teachers and in-service English teachers' perceptions about English as an international language (EIL). Specifically, differences in the perceptions based on teachers' self-assessed English proficiency and their EIL training experiences (e.g., participating in EIL workshops, taking EIL classes) were investigated. To accomplish these goals, a total of 144 English teachers (89 pr-service vs. 55 in-service teachers) voluntarily participated in the study, all of whom were Korean native speakers. A questionnaire package was used to measure the participants' perceptions about EIL and background information. The questionnaire regarding perceptions about EIL consisted of 35 items in a 5-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree, 5=strongly agree). The questionnaire had five parts: overall perceptions about EIL, EIL and culture, communicative function of EIL, diversity of EIL, and EIL education. The reliability coefficients of each part ranged from .563 to .799. The collected data was subjected to descriptive statistics (frequency, mean, standard deviation) to check the general characteristics and tendencies of the present data. T-tests and ANOVA were also performed to examine the differences in perceptions about EIL among participant teachers. The results showed that both pre- and in-service English teachers' perceptions about EIL were generally high across all five parts regardless their career status (pre- or in-service), English proficiency, and training experiences. T-tests also yielded that there were no significant differences in teacher perceptions between pre- and in-service teachers except in overall perceptions about EIL where in-service teachers showed a significantly higher mean score than pre-service teachers. Although teachers with higher English proficiency showed higher mean scores on overall perceptions about EIL, EIL and culture, and diversity of EIL, there were no statistically significant differences. However, teachers with EIL training experiences showed a significantly higher mean score on overall perceptions about EIL than those with no such experiences. Implications based on the findings were discussed and limitations and suggestions of the study were also provided.