초등 영어 읽기 교육에 대한 교사와 학생들의 인식 연구

A study on the perceptions of teachers and students on English reading education in elementary schools

The purpose of this study is to investigate how elementary school teachers and students perceive English reading education with regard to its quantity, degree of difficulty, and interest level. Questionnaires were administered to 134 teachers and 384 students. In addition written interviews with 21 teachers were done through e-mail. Major findings from the analysis of this survey are three-fold. First, more than half of the teachers considered that the quantity of reading materials in English textbooks is not sufficient and their level of difficulty and interest is low. Second, many teachers thought that the reading materials of the 3rd to 6th grade textbooks are neither well-graded nor well-sequenced with respect to their quantity and difficulty level. Third, there is a gap in perception between teachers and students with respect to the level of difficulty and interest in reading: many teachers perceived elementary school students have difficulty and little interest in reading, but about half of the students thought that the difficulty level of reading is appropriate and reading activities are interesting. Based on these results, several suggestions for improving English reading education in elementary schools are made.