Reengineering English language education at Korea's elite engineering school

Abstract

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) is a government-sponsored elite engineering school for Korea’s brightest students. The English Program at KAIST has recently carried out a major task of re-examining and restructuring its curricula and programs in the direction of EAP (English for Academic Purposes) program in order to better serve the special student body, which requires high-level competency in English both for increasing English-medium classes and for their professional careers in the future. The task includes content analyses of existing English courses; statistical analyses of such data as first-year students' English test scores; interview and questionnaire surveys of students’, English professors’ and regular professors’ opinions on existing English programs; and research into EFL/EAP curricula and facilities in other institutions within and outside Korea. On the basis of these investigations, it has been tentatively concluded that more systematic, tailor-made, e-learning English training is needed for the diverse members of the school. That is, when the new programs are implemented in 2011 and the following years, it is expected that the undergraduate and graduate programs will be equipped with more systematic assessment processes and divided into various levels of English proficiency in different linguistic skills according to assessment outcomes; the faculty program will be enhanced with a variety of workshops on English lecturing, presentation, and writing skills; and e-learning courses will be provided for members’ easier access to English training. This session will discuss the results of the English Program’s investigations, changes to be made in its new programs, and the direction that English training at KAIST will take in the future. EFL/ESL participants with an interest in developing a stronger EAP program will leave the session with assorted ideas on how to strengthen their EAP programs and English training for various members of their institutions.