Changing Attitudes to English and English Speakers

Changing Attitudes to English and English Speakers

This study aims at identifying if there has been a change in primary school students' attitudes towards English and English speakers over the last seven years. This study also examines how the amount of contact with English has changed among primary school students. In 1997 when English was introduced into primary schools as a compulsory subject, a language attitude questionnaire was distributed to 185 primary school students in grade 4 to 6 aged from 10 to 13 years. In 2004, the same questionnaire survey was conducted with 200 students in the same age of the same school as done before. Then the results from two surveys were compared and analyzed. This comparative study shows that the degree of exposure to English has clearly inclined. However. their original favorable attitudes to English and English speakers have dramatically declined. Considering the theory that favorable attitudes to a particular language is related with language achievement and proficiency, the results obtained from the two questionnaire surveys suggest that the participants may have a low level in English proficiency. Further this result implies that the degree of exposure to English does not affect positive attitudes towards learning English in the Korean context where in the case of most children, the decision to study English is made by parents. Another implication obtained from this study is that English language learning programs operating in Korean schools or institutions do not mediate favorable attitudes towards English.