Curriculum and Materials Development for Teaching English to Young Learners Revisited

It has been noted that throughout the world “English learners are increasing in number and decreasing in age”. The teaching of English to children in primary schools is a trend which did not begin until the 1990s but is now increasingly the norm in state educational systems worldwide. Korea is, then, a participant in a global trend. A major element in the rationale for introducing English as a foreign language in primary school is the assumption that it is easier for children to learn languages when they are younger rather than when they are older as the biological endowment they are held to have for learning their first language is still operative and so can be used for second language acquisition. However, as this study shows such an assumption is at best questionable and there are many other factors which need to be considered when teaching English in the primary school. These range from factors connected with children themselves such as their lack of emotional, physical and intellectual maturity at a young age, to factors connected with teachers such as teachers’ own language abilities and levels of training, and factors connected with the education system as a whole, such as teacher supply, whether there is space in the curriculum for English at lower levels and the knock-on effects of changes required at higher levels of the education system. If teachers’ commitment is to be sustained and if all children in primary schools are to benefit from the programme to teach English, then it is also clear from the study that there are a number of challenges ahead. First of all, teachers feel the need for improved training and support, not just in improving their own levels of English but also in age-specific methods for language teaching. Secondly, textbooks should support the reform process and act as agents of change. They must consequently be appraised carefully vis-à-vis their conformity to new curriculum specifications. Thirdly, the effects on other areas of the education system of any decision on teaching English in primary schools must be fully evaluated and necessary action taken.