Magaz-English

Abstract

English education in Korean high schools has a strong washback effect, which refers to “the effect of tests on language instruction and the language curriculum” (Horwitz, 2008, p. 250) as a result of the current college entrance examination KSAT (Korea scholastic aptitude test). Accordingly, most high-school English commercial textbooks focus on preparing students for this test. These textbooks have typical styles which include listening and reading passages and questions similar to the test items. Since the KSAT does not directly measure speaking and writing skills, the current lessons in high school text books also ignore these areas of learning which leads to an unbalanced level of English language competence (Choi, 2008). Corresponding to the above situation, this textbook is designed to help high-school students whose English levels range from intermediate to upper-intermediate ; furthermore, the textbook has balanced lessons to improve students’ reading, listening, writing and speaking skills by using authentic materials such as magazines, newspapers and video clips. I have chosen high-school students as the target audience for two reasons. First, in the near future, the NEAT (National English Ability Test), measuring all four language skills in English, will be implemented to measure high school students’ English ability; furthermore, there is a possibility that the NEAT might replace the current KSAT all together (Kim, Y., 2010), in which case high-school students will have the need to receive a balanced English education that includes speaking and writing. Second, high-school students, who are in need of having a strong command of the English language for future success, learning English with interesting, authentic materials from magazines and newspapers can motivate them to become autonomous learners. By using carefully chosen authentic materials, this textbook will help learners to discover the pleasure of reading.