Korean Children’s English Learning Experiences in the United States

Korean Children’s English Learning Experiences in the United States

  The present study examined five Korean elementary students’ learning experiences in the United States. By examining Korean students’ experiences while they were living in the United States, the study aimed to explore what the students themselves thought about regarding what they had learned while living in an English-speaking community and the students’ perceptions of how these experiences influenced their English learning. Interviews with the children provided insights into the students’ experiences from their points-of-view. The students were interviewed three times. Further, a simple Likert scale survey was designed and used to elicit the children’s perceptions about their English learning and attitudes towards learning English. To learn English, the children in this study needed opportunities to engage with people, cultural tools and artifacts within the learning environment, so that processes of developing interest and motivation were modeled, negotiated and supported. Through real explorations and meaningful experiences, learners construct meaning, and speaking, listening, reading, and writing that emerge from experiences were all interrelated. The children in this study identified specific tasks and activities that helped them improve speaking, listening, reading, and writing in English.