An Introduction of SBLT Mediated English Material and Learner Perceptions

Abstract

This study seeks to introduce subject-based language teaching mediated English material (SBLT MEM) to primary school learners and review learner perceptions of such material. This study explores five principles of SBLT MEM, how the SBLT MEMs were used during a four-week intensive English camp, and the perceptions held toward the material by 29 upper grade primary school learners from Chungcheong province. The results show that most learners had positive perceptions toward the SBLT MEM, preferred them to the regular English textbooks they used in their English lessons at school, would choose SBLT MEM for future use, and thought that the content and language of the SBLT MEM were easy to understand. Among learners of different grade levels, there were differences between the degree of positive regard in which they held the SBLT MEM and which aspects of the SBLT MEM they perceived positively. Although the results of this study may not be generalized due to the small number of participants involved, they study provides insights by which other researchers may reinvite English and other subject integration into regular English lessons in Korean primary schools without creating the extra burden of using difficult language for this type of curriculum.