Everyday English

Abstract

There is no doubt that English is considered a global language and is increasingly more important in Korea. Since English became a core school subject in 1997, Korean students and their parents have become more aware of the importance of English. There are still many Korean students, however, who seem to consider English only as the one of the mandatory subjects which is required to pass the college entrance exam. Thus, Korean education tends to focus on teaching English to children and adolescents until they graduate from high school, but not to adults. Adult learners have to continue studying English on their own, after graduating from high school. Hence, this textbook is designed for adult learners who wish to continue or resume studying English. According to Harmer (2007), adult language learners have several noticeable characteristics. First, they can engage in abstract thought, suggesting that we do not have to rely exclusively on activities such as games and songs. They also have a whole range of life experiences to draw upon, which allow teachers to use a wide range of activities with them. Moreover, they may have experienced failure or criticism at school which could make them feel anxious and insecure about learning a language (pp. 84-85). Considering these features of adult learners, Korean adults may have more background knowledge and experience in both linguistic and cultural aspects of English than young learners. Many general English as Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks for adults, however, tend to have uninteresting topics and are not related to adults’ needs. Therefore, the topics in this book have been selected to engage adult learners, such as college major, club activities, renting an apartment, finding roommates, making friends and travel. There are also Internet-based activities that can help adult learners learn how to use English in their own lives: for example, students find a website for a college club in English or look for a roommate online. The main aim of this textbook, therefore, is to encourage learners to develop their English language fluency, integrating the four macro skills: speaking, writing, listening and reading through interesting topics and tasks for adults. Each unit is designed for an 8-hour lesson and all listening scripts and reading materials are newly created and graded for the target learners’ levels. The target audience is a group of 12 to16 male and female university students in their twenties. Their English proficiency level is in Novice Mid to Intermediate Low according to American Council on The Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) proficiency guidelines. Since they are university students, some of them have been abroad for short trips but not for intensive study. They are eager to study English since they are well-aware of the necessity of English by being exposed to lots of media: movies, video clips on YouTube, and other social networking services (SNS) such as Facebook and Twitter. They know lots of English vocabulary which is commonly used in Korea and have learned it from everyday life. They are planning to go overseas, especially to English speaking countries, for long-term study so they need to learn some survival English before beginning their studies.