영어교육 프로그램과 교육과정에 대한 연구 동향 분석

Analysis of research trends in ELT programs and curricula in Korea

With the increased need for English in the Korean society, ELT programs need to expand as well. In order to examine whether these needs are being met through academic efforts, the trends in ELT programs and curricula in ELT academic journals published in Korea from 2000 to 2014 were analyzed. Eleven ELT-related academic journals were selected from the indexed journal list of the National Research Foundation in Korea. From the 5,486 articles that have been published, relevant articles were selected using keywords appropriate to the study of ELT programs and curricula. Four hundred and twenty articles were finally selected and then analyzed according to journal, publication year, target institutions, program type, and relevance to the curriculum. The results showed that many articles focus on English programs and curricula at the college level. English programs and curricula in primary schools are another area of focus. Only a few articles address ELT programs and curricula in the middle and high school contexts. ELT teacher training programs were another favorite area of research interest. Some articles discussed the ELT curriculum itself, while others studied topics such as ELT textbooks in the context of the ELT curriculum. Although there have been numerous ELT activities in the private sector in Korea, such as private tutoring, educational institutions (hagwons), and online ELT services, research related to these is seldom found in journal articles. Overall, research on ELT programs and curricula in Korea seems to be carried out according to ELT researchers’ own interests or professional convenience, along with changes in the Korean national curriculum. Some implications from the results of the study are discussed at the end.