Needs Analysis for Developing a Culture-focused Teacher Training Course

Needs Analysis for Developing a Culture-focused Teacher Training Course

Ever since a massive scale government-funded teacher training was started in 1996 for elementary school teachers of English. many changes and improvement have been made in terms of its curriculum. instruction. and evaluation. However. it has been reported that the level of teachers' English language competence and cultural understanding still remain to be the major problem areas to be improved. Cultural understanding serves as a foundation of developing English proficiency. Therefore. it is important to develop teacher training programs where cultural understanding can be enhanced along with culture teaching skills. The purpose of this study is to examine how Korean elementary school teachers perceive English-speaking culture and what attitude they have toward it. and identify their needs and wants for developing a teacher training course to promote cultural understanding and to improve culture teaching skills. A questionnaire survey was conducted among one hundred and eighty three elementary school teachers of English who teach at the elementary schools located in Gwangju and Jeonnam region. The results showed that informal learning experiences or resources provided them with more cultural information than formal education including college courses or teacher training programs. They also wanted culture to be integrated into communicative skill-oriented classes.