Evaluation of Breakthrough 1 as an EFL Course Book by a Language Class at a South Korean University

Abstract

In South Korea, English is considered to be of major importance in education and employment. It is for these reasons that English is included in university curricula. Although English course books are widely utilized in South Korean university classes, very little research has been directed to their specific suitability and function thus far. The objective of this study was to determine if a class of South Korean university students, studying English as a foreign language (EFL) at university, considers the course book titled Breakthrough 1 , published by Macmillan Publishers Limited, to be a suitable course book for studying EFL at university. The participants of this study were 40 university students at a South Korean university. The participants completed a questionnaire covering general aspects of the course book, along with reading, writing, speaking, listening, vocabulary and Grammar. The data from the questionnaire results data were analyzed through the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS Statistics, version 21). The findings from this study indicate that the majority of the student participants agreed that the course book titled Breakthrough 1 is a suitable course book for studying EFL at a South Korean university.