A Study of Korean EFL College Students' Perceptions on Teaching English through English

This paper presents Korean college students' perceptions on teaching English through English (TETE) and the relationship of the perceptions with their language proficiency. The participants were 138 Korean EFL college students. The results revealed that the majority of the participants had positive attitudes toward TETE, and they did not perceive the use of Korean along with English in the class being more effective than English-only classes. As for correlation, the participants' attitudes toward TETE were significantly correlated with their English proficiency, which also showed significant correlation with their motivation to improve English. The language subskills that were perceived to be most effective in TETE classes were the listening and speaking skills, which showed no significant correlation with the participant's language proficiency. The language subskill, in which the participants perceived the strongest need for L1 use in TETE classes, if any, was grammar skills, followed by reading skills. However, significant correlation of the participants' language proficiency with their perceived need for L1 use in language subskills was found in writing and speaking skills. The participants also showed positive attitudes toward English-mediated classes for non-English subject classes, and the attitudes were significantly correlated with their listening proficiency. Implications and limitations are discussed.