Success in English along with the Fun

Abstract

Currently, many academic institutions and educational facilities are using English language textbooks. Most of these books are designed by native speakers from the US, UK, New Zealand and others. Due to cultural differences and unfamiliar topics, it is easy for students to lose their interest on the subject. Meurant (2010) pointed out that Korea has a unique culture in terms of education, thus instructors should be cautions when making selections for textbooks and materials. She argues that most EFL texts which are written by native speakers lack considerations of the Asian culture and their education styles. As a result, students may lose interest in English textbook and English language learning in general. In order to help students to develop a stronger interest in English learning, this textbook will use a Theme Based Instruction (TBI) approach along with the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach. Since TBI allows instructors to select topics and themes which students are interested in, students will develop a higher level of interest and motivation to improve their English skills . From my own teaching experience, I have come to understand that different age groups have different interests. The target learners of this textbook are 5th and 6th graders in elementary school, and in order to find their interests, I conducted a survey on 52 5th and 6th graders. The results of the survey indicated that the target learners have a strong interest in topics related to entertainment and famous celebrities. Based on these results, I decided to use the "Korean Wave" as the theme of my textbook. The textbook will cover all four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) in order to prepare for gaining admissions to international schools in Korea or to study abroad. According to the ACEFL , the target students' proficiency levels are intermediate high in speaking and reading, intermediate-high in listening, and intermediate-mid in writing.