초등 영어 학습동기와 불안감이 의사소통의지와 말하기 학습에 미치는 영향

This study focuses on Korean elementary school students’ willingness to communicate (WTC), English-learning motivation, language learning anxiety, and their differential effects on students’ English-speaking proficiency and the frequency of English use. A total of 359 students in an elementary school located in Anyang city, Gyeonggi Province participated in the current study, which used a questionnaire survey method. The quantitative analysis results indicated that no significant difference existed between Korean English teachers and native English-speaking assistant teachers in terms of students’ WTC in English. Both English-learning motivation and anxiety exerted influence on their WTC; motivation was the prime factor whereas anxiety was only the secondary one. The fourth-year students exhibited a higher level of anxiety than the sixth-year counterparts toward Korean English teachers. The participants’ WTC in English directly affected the frequency of English use, and the frequency of English use directly affected the English-speaking proficiency. Such results imply that English teachers in Korea need to develop a learner-centered curriculum which can enhance elementary school students’ English-learning motivation and lower unnecessarily high affective filter.