영어로 진행하는 초등 영어 수업의 기본 전제인 아동 이해도 중심 사고에 대한 교사들의 인식 변화

Literature on teaching English in English (TEE)1) emphasizes that it is the teacher’s role to make their English instruction comprehensible to his/her learners. It is ironic then that many studies have reported that Korean primary school teachers consider learners’ lack of understanding of English instruction as an obstacle to successful TEE. This study attempts to shed light on this ironic phenomenon by investigating 14 primary teachers’ awareness of the fundamental consideration in TEE in the elementary school, i.e. putting forward learners’ comprehensibility as the most important. The researcher’s participant observation data and the teachers’ self reports were collected and analyzed as to their awareness before and after a training program designed to foster their ability to make linguistic and non-linguistic adjustments that render their English instruction more readily comprehensible to elementary school learners. The results documented teachers’ lack of awareness of the importance of placing forefront learners’ comprehensibility of the English instruction given. Rather, they had assumed that a teacher’s ability to speak English fluently is essential for successful TEE. The study also reports on changes in the teachers’ consideration of learners’ comprehensibility as the crucial factor in successful TEE implementation. Implications of the findings for primary school English teaching, teacher training, and further research are discussed.