코로나19 전후 대학생 영어학습자의 학력격차 연구

A study on the achievement gap of college English learners before and after COVID-19: Focusing on the English achievement of students in TOEIC classes

This study aims to empirically identify the achievement gap among college English learners before and after COVID-19. For the study, the TOEIC scores were analyzed of 615 students, beginning and advanced levels, who participated in special TOEIC classes from 2018 to 2021 at a 4-year private university. ANOVA, ANCOVA, and a t-test were used to analyze and compare the TOEIC scores of students in face-to-face classes (2018, 2019) and in non-face-to-face classes (2020, 2021), representing time frames before and after COVID-19 outbreak. The results show that the mean scores of the students in the non-face-to-face classes were lower overall, compared to those in the face-to-face classes. In the beginning level class, the mean scores were lowered by a statistically significant difference after COVID-19, while in the advanced class there was no statistically significant difference in the mean scores before and after COVID-19, confirming the English achievement gap among college students. This study suggests the need for follow-up research to bridge the English achievement gap among college students and to improve their self-directed learning competency from a long-term perspective in the post-COVID-19 era.