개인화(Personalization)가 초등영어 학습자의 의사소통 능력 및 정의적 영역에 미치는 영향

The effect of personalization on elementary students’ English communicative competence and affective domains

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of personalized lessons on elementary school students’ communicative competence and on their attitudes towards English learning. For this purpose, the results were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The quantitative analysis was measured using a speaking test, communication skills test and the students’ questionnaires which measured their interest, confidence, anxiety and motivation in English learning. The qualitative analysis was measured by the student feedback and the teacher’s observation journal. Two 5th grade classes (49 students in total) were asked to participate in the study, and were divided into a control group and an experimental group. Students from the control group engaged in learning English according to the textbook based on the 2009 Revised National Curriculum, whereas students from the experimental group participated in personalized English lessons twice a week. The experiment was carried out for a total of twelve weeks. The results of this study found that, with respect to the learner’s communicative competence, the quantitative data and the qualitative data show a statistically significant difference in the learner’s speaking and writing skills. Furthermore, the personalized lessons were effective in raising the learner’s interest, confidence and the expectation for the subject of this study. With this basis, this study suggests that teachers plan and make lessons that reflect the learners’ personal realities in their daily lives. This will then improve their communicative skills and change their attitudes towards learning English into positive ones, so it is beneficial for teachers to make their lessons personalized and relevant for their students.