21세기를 위한 ‘융복합 영어교육’의 개념화: 현장 교사들의 목소리를 담아서

Abstract

This paper reports an analysis of the results from two consecutive focused group interviews of four primary and secondary teachers, and an individual interview of a secondary teacher. All the five participants had experienced teaching “integrative” English classes, whether content-based, theme-based, or immersion classes, or managing integrated English curricula. The audio-taped interviews were transcribed and analyzed to pinpoint the participants`` ways of conceptualizing the type of curriculum integration that will best equip students for the 21st century, dubbed here as “Yungbokhap Education”. The participants have agreed that “Yungbokhap English Education” must aim at helping students improve not only in English skills, but also in the so-called “21st century competencies”. To achieve these goals, they agreed that classes should be more student-centered: (i) teachers should “get closer to students” through adjusting class contents, stimulating their interests and participation, and respecting their personalities and diversity; (ii) classes should provide them with more authentic experiences of using English by modulating the ratios of English and the content, the degree of naturalness in English use, and the amount of integration of English skills, according to their achievement levels and readiness; (iii) classes should also provide them with maximum opportunities to practice the 21st century skills by appropriately adjusting the degrees of students’ using “tools” interactively, of their socially interacting with others, and of their planning and (en)acting autonomously. To assess their achievements in English skills and interdisciplinary competencies, finally, the participants agreed that students should be evaluated during their learning processes as well as for their final products. On the basis of these results and relevant claims, the present paper suggests that for Yungbokhap English Education, the current schooling system must shift gears to adopt a non-graded system of schooling, a decentralized system of designing and implementing national curricula for primary and secondary schools, an equity education for all, and a pedagogy gratifying teachers as well.