과학과 내용중심 영어 수업을 통한 의사소통능력 향상 방안

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine whether or not the principles of content-based instruction (CBI hereafter) can be applied to teaching English at an elementary school in Korea. In doing so, the content of science was integrated into the teaching of English. For the current study, the participants were 4th grade children from a local elementary school and they were divided into the experimental group and the control group. Based on the curricular analyses of Grade 4 English and Science, the integrative elements were drawn and the teaching plan was created. Afterwards, the experimental group was given the CBI instruction for the period of one year. To be more specific, the experimental group was given two additional CBI classes per week while the control group was given only the regular English classes once a week. The results of the study are as follows: First, the scores of affective response test such as leaner interest, participation, and self-confidence showed a statistical significance. It seems that real communication and meaningful experiences have kept the learners interested. Second, it has shown that the experimental group obtained higher scores in listening and reading comprehension. It seems to indicate that the target language, when it is used as a tool for real communication, not for learning, has very positive effects on increasing the listening and reading competence as well as the affective traits. In conclusion, making children communicate meaningfully, and giving them real experience of language use seem to have positive effects on their affective and cognitive domain development. As the research in this field thus far has indicated positively, meaningful exposure to comprehensible language seems to play a significant role in the language development of children in Korea.