• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.985-994
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• 2009

This research is exploratory in considering the unique socio-cultural context of South Korea, where the present government is responding to the demand for English language training. The study asked the question: What do mothers experience when sending their young children to a private English institute, so called English kindergarten, instead of a regular preschool? A qualitative approach was used to analyze the in-depth interviews with 19 mothers who sent their young child to an English kindergarten. Mothers stated that their young child needs to be a competent English speaker. The mothers expected that an English kindergarten would prepare their child better for the elementary school English curriculum than a regular preschool. The study revealed that English kindergartens symbolized the precedence and the privileges of the elite because of their high tuition fees, native-speaker teachers, and small class sizes. The mothers showed a sense of pride and vicarious satisfaction from sending their child to an English kindergarten. However, the mothers recognized that English kindergartens put more emphasis on cognitive learning instead of the social development of children. It was almost impossible for mothers to communicate with the native-speaker teachers about their child. The mothers seemed to overlook their child's struggle to adapt to an English Kindergarten. The findings of the study raise issues concerning the boom of teaching young children English in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.299-313
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• 2001

This study examines the current state of English education in private kindergartens in Korea. Among 1700 kindergarten teachers surveyed for this research, 680 replied that their institutions provided English lessons for children. Analyses of the data collected from these 680 teachers showed : 1) They started to teach English not because of educational considerations but because of pressure from children's parents or kindergarten principals; 2) Most of the English teachers were part-time instructors specially recruited for English lessons. Generally, English lessons were given two or three times a week, with one session lasting for about 20 minutes. A variety of teaching methods and materials were used for the lessons given to children aged three to five. Focus of the lessons was given to listening and speaking words and sentences; 3) Most of the teachers considered the scarcity of qualified English instructors as the most serious problem for providing English education in kindergartens, and they did not want to teach English themselves. They evaluated positively the performance and role of Korean part-time English instructors. The evaluations were generally poor as to native speakers serving as kindergarten English teachers.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.3557-3563
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• 2014

Korean National Level Kindergarten Curriculum does not include English education in regular class time. On the other hand, more than 90% kindergarteners are taught English. This study examined the Native English Teachers' (NETs') cultural aspects of their teaching at regular kindergartens in Korea. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with four NETs who were working at regular kindergartens in Korea, their partner Local English Teachers (LETs) and kindergarten principals. All interview data was transcribed and categorized based on the grounded theory method. The results showed that NETs are not required to be culturally prepared to teach in Korean kindergartens. Consequently, most of them do not consider the students' culture in their teaching activities. Moreover, Korean kindergartens, where research participants work, are not prepared well to invite NETs into their regular curriculum. These results will have significant implications on Korean kindergarten's English education practice.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.497-506
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• 2004

This study examines the influence of early English education on children's bilingual language development to see whether the early exposure to English education affects children's competencies of both English and Korean. Based on this purpose, it attempts to examine whether it supports additive or subtractive bilingualism. The competencies of both English and Korean of the children with early English education were, therefore, compared with those of the children without it, and the relation between the two competencies was also studied. For this research, two different groups of children - one with 48 children who attend English kindergarten and the other with 60 children who attend only Korean kindergarten - took PPVT-R in Korean and in English each. The result shows that children with early English education have more English competency than those without it. No significant differences, however, are found in Korean competency between the two groups. The relation between the two competencies proves positive in children with early English education. It can thus be concluded that the effect of early English education is partially positive on children's language development, which may support the additive bilingualism that children's second language can improve without losing their native language competency. In addition, this result will be able to provide for us the direction and the guideline to the policy of foreign language education and early education.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.699-710
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• 2007

The study purposes to explore the effects of individual characteristics and home environments of children on their bilingual language aquisition, that is, to examine whether their English language competency is different from their Korean language competency depending on those variables. Thus English or Korean language competency of children who had had early exposure in English learning were studied in terms of child's individual characteristics such as age, gender, exposure period to English, intelligence, and experiences of visiting English-speaking countries, and home environments such as parental age, educational level, income level, their perceived English competency, their perceived significance of English and Korean language, and the frequency of using English at home. 72 children who went to English kindergarten were tested with Peabody Pictures Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) in Korean version and in English version respectively. The results show that child's intelligence and experiences of visiting English-speaking countries influence their Korean language competency. Also child's age, exposure period to English and experiences of visiting English-speaking countries influence their English language competency. Moreover their mother's educational background, father's English fluency, mothers' English fluency, and the frequency of using English at home influence child's English language competency, whereas any variables did not influence child's Korean language competency. Accordingly, child's English and Korean language competencies are related to each other.

• 한국생활과학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.195-196
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• 2009

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.137-152
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• 2002

In response to a growing trend toward downward escalation of public school curriculum, the present study surveyed so-called extracurricular activities in kindergartens and analyzed teacher's perception of these activities. Questionnaires were mailed to 1300 private kindergartens and 1116 responses were received. Major findings were that over 89% of the respondents reported doing extracurricular activities in their kindergartens, mostly using 3-4 different kinds of special activities. The 3 most highly ranked lessons in order of frequency were English, art and physical activity. Whole group time was most often used for extracurricular activities. Kindergarten teachers were concerned with the qualifications of teachers for these activities. Teachers of these extra activities usually have no specialized training or supervised experience working with 3-through 5-year-old children.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.125-152
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• 2009

The objective of this study, which applies the multiple-disciplinary approach to the developmental characteristics of children, is to study and develop a class model that can be applied to actual kindergarten classes in rural area. For this purpose, this study proposes teaching and learning methodologies for children based on English children's tales to help make the English education of children more effective and efficient. Based on the findings, the following suggestions should be considered for improving the English-education class model for kindergartners for rural areas: First, various activities based on the multiple-intelligence approach are important methods of children-oriented education advanced by the Sixth Children's Curriculum, helping children grow their independence and creativity. Second, various activities developed by this study on the basis of the multiple-intelligence approach to promote children's reading, listening, speaking, and writing abilities helped children improve their linguistic capacities, improve creativity, and remain motivated, which was reinforced by the differences found between the test group and the control group.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.57-81
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to examine the balanced English approach program on five-year-old children's English reading and writing ability. For this study, two classes consisting of five-year-old children in HATBEAT kindergarten in D city were selected. One class was designated as the experimental group and the other as the control group. The balanced English approach program was performed on the experimental group but not on the control group. The balanced English approach program was carried out for 8 weeks. The experimental procedures were in the order of pre-test, the experimental treatment, and post-test. The result of the experiment was evaluated by comparing the pre-test and post-test results. Analysis of data was performed by ANCOVA. The result of the study are as follows. First, in the English reading ability, the experimental group was more enhanced than the control group. Also, for sub-factors of English reading such as alphabet and English word reading ability, the experimental group was more enhanced than the control group. However, in the English book reading ability as a sub- factor of the English reading, there was not much difference in the result between the experimental group and the control group. Second, in the English writing ability, the experimental group were more enhanced than the control group.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.8 no.12
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• pp.235-241
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• 2017

The Effects of the Story Character Phonics on Preschoolers' Early Reading Abilities and Affective Domains The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the story character phonics on preschoolers' early reading abilities (phonemic awareness and phonics abilities) and their affective domains. 24 participants in the present study were seven years old, and they were divided into two different groups at S kindergarten in Chungnam. There were 12 preschoolers in the experimental group with the story character phonics, and 12 preschoolers in the control group learned English by the story phonics focusing on phonemic awareness and vocabulary for 6 weeks. The results were as follows: First, the story character phonics was more effective in improving the preschoolers' early reading abilities than using the story phonics. Secondly, the story character phonics had some positive effects on the preschoolers' affective domains. This study proved that practicing with the story character phonics is more effective for preschoolers to develop their early reading abilities of English and their affective domains.