Development of a Web-based course for Teaching Listening Comprehension to Korean EFL Students at a University Level

Many people seem to believe that Internet will fundamentally change the way we teach foreign language instruction at all levels. The concept of any time and any where learning is catching on at institutions of higher education, that is to say, mainly the university. Over the last several years the number of the internet users around the world has dramatically increased thanks to the advancement of the edge of the modern digital technology. At the wake of this trend Korean government has recently approved a baker's dozen Open Cyber Universities (Virtual Universities). Almost all Korean universities are trying to not only offer web-based programs for their own on-campus/off campus students, but also reach out to students outside of the university, namely general publics. Web-based courses are so popular among Korean academes that many university professors are exerting themselves to develop web-based courses in one form or another. The purpose of this paper is to describe engagement theory as a basic premise of web-based instruction and to illustrate a set of procedures through the author developed a Strategic Listening Comprehension Course in English (abbreviated as SLCCE) which has currently been offered since the spring of 2000 as part of general division courses of Open Cyber University. This paper will also describe various elements of web-based teaching strategies which consisted of this course. The paper will suggest effective ways in which web-based university courses can be not only developed, but also effectively managed.