Wake Up

Abstract

According to The Korea Times (2012), Korea’s annual spending on English education is estimated at 22 trillion won and the number of Korean students studying English has increased dramatically. However, the problem is that many students are still struggling to communicate in English and have little motivation to learn more than what is required to get a high test score. In response to this problem, Wake Up is designed to promote Korean students’ intrinsic motivation to learn English by using various movies and music. With ten movies and ten songs, this textbook helps students learn English in a fun and enjoyable way. Moreover, through diverse communicative activities, students will be able to have many opportunities to share their ideas and opinions. Wake Up is targeted at university students between the ages of 20 to 26 in Korea, who have little or no experience studying abroad. The target students’ reading skills are advanced, but listening, speaking and writing skills are intermediate based on ACTFL standards (2012 edition). Students at these levels are aware of grammar rules and able to read long and complex texts; however, they have difficulty understanding people who speak quickly and find it hard to express themselves orally and in writing. In these respects, there are three aspects that the students need to improve upon. First of all, the students need to improve their listening skills to better understand others. Furthermore, they should be given many opportunities to use English through speaking and writing tasks in a range of settings. Lastly, the students need to learn useful phrases and expressions for speaking and writing their opinions.