DEVELOPING PRACTICAL ENGLISH CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES FOR HIGH SCHOOLS IN KOREA

This study is motivated by the 2015 Revised English National Curriculum of Korea in which guidelines were provided for designing high school English classes according to students’ needs and interests. In order to implement the new curriculum successfully, the development of teaching materials for the high school level was required. In this study, the offline and online materials for six classes developed based on a curriculum analysis of each class are presented. In addition, while conforming to the materials achievements standards in the new curriculum, the materials focused on the competencies that the new curriculum emphasizes. The main characteristics of the offline and online materials are as follows. First, the materials incorporated topics that are interesting to students and cultivate creativity. Second, in the student-centered learning activities, tasks and projects are used to engage students in communicative interaction in authentic situations. Third, each unit has a main theme which can be taught over three to five class periods where each class builds upon the other and targeted language skills can be enhanced. Fourth, the units include various tests that can be used during the learning process as well as at the end of the learning and suggestions for administering performance tests and utilizing test results. The materials development is to provide support to high school English teachers in spreading innovative teaching and evaluation methods promoted through English education reform efforts in Korea.