Though most of the Korean students have been studying English for years they still can neither speak nor understand English as much as we would expect. To solve this critical problem, I have tried to reason out only to fail, and at last I have come to...
Though most of the Korean students have been studying English for years they still can neither speak nor understand English as much as we would expect. To solve this critical problem, I have tried to reason out only to fail, and at last I have come to the conclusion that by analyzing the entrance test papers given by Taejon Technical Junior College the difficulties are sure to be found.
As a result of the research, some findings are made available as follows;
1. As for pronunciation the students are poorer than we expected, and stress seems to be hardly taught at their schools.
2. The conversation tests have given us the best result, but it is their result of only easy and practical materials given in the test papers.
3. The best grade is obtained among all the areas in consequence of analysis of comprehension, but it owes to the short sentences given in the papers.
4. The result of vocabulary analysis is average and the items of abbreviation, antonym and idion are far behind the average.
5. Composition is the lowest level among the areas.
6. Despite the fact that they have been taught through the methods of traditional grammar translation, the result of grammatical usage is not as good as we have expected.
7. English has absolute influence on the entrance examination along with mathematics and Korean language.
8. Both subjective and objective items, of which some imagination is required, are among the worst.
9. The differences among the students, from the city, the town and the town-ship are clarified.
10. The slightest margin of regional level such as the city, the town and the township is found in the items where many mistaken-answers are chosen.
According to the result of tile analysis of the exam, it is suggested that
1. The new combination method which the grammar-translation method and the best features of several of the other methods are combined should be adopted. The hour limit, facilities and entrance exam prevent us from adopting so-called aural-oral approach.
2. Hearing, speaking, reading and writing should be taught concurrently
3. Words, grammatical items and the others should be used over and over until they are familiar with them, so that they can produce good English automatically through everyday life.
4. Thinking in English and English through English. The barriers of our way of thinking and speaking should be broken down.
5. Practical materials and cultural information should be stressed.
6. Appropriate teaching should be available for the slow learning students.
7. Success in teaching depends chiefly on the teacher's attitude. His sincerity plays much greater part in success in teaching English than his proficiency in English.
8. The teacher's extra burden besides teaching should be decreased to the minimum, and the teacher's retraining be urgently required.
9. The beginners should be taught by the most qualified teachers, and audio-visual aids be used to teach them.
10. Objective test is apt to cultivate fortunate mood, and subjective test drill should be given along with the former.