A Needs Analysis of English for Korean Naval Officers
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A NEEDS ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH FOR KOREAN NAVAL OFFICERS BY KI-CHAN PARK THESIS Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Teaching of English as a Second Language in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2015 Urbana, Illinois Master’s Committee: Professor Numa P. Markee Professor Randall Sadler ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to conduct a needs analysis for the English courses offered at the educational institutions of the Korean navy. A comprehensive survey and interviews were conducted to identify the target situations and tasks for which Korean naval officers must use English. Also investigated were their wants for the English courses and their perceptions of their own use of English. Further data about officers’ needs was drawn from a literature review of published books and newspaper articles about the navy. Fourteen Korean naval officers were then interviewed, and a survey of 64 Korean naval officers was administered. A survey of three U.S. naval officers was also administered to achieve triangulation of the data. Through these research methods, six main target situations and 44 target tasks were identified along with the participants’ perceived frequency, difficulty and criticality of these target situations. In addition, this study reveals that Korean officers’ biggest weakness in their engagement with target tasks is their insufficient speaking skill, in spite of their great desire for improving it. The findings of this study support the adoption of TBLT and the learning-centered approach to ESP by English for Military Purposes Courses, in which not only the language but also necessary knowledge can be taught together for the learners’ successful performance of the target tasks. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis would not have been completed if it were not for the help and support of many people. First of all, I would like to thank my lovely wife, Yunju Yang, who has consistently supported and encouraged my two-year study at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her deep love and considerable dedication have always been the cornerstone of my research. I also really appreciate Dr. Numa Markee and Dr. Randall Sadler who guided my study with great attention. I am deeply indebted to Dr. Markee. His ideas and philosophy that were not only delivered through his advice on this project but also through his instruction in the courses he taught have significantly influenced my philosophy. His deep insights have always guided me to find a breakthrough whenever I faced obstacles while conducting this study as well as have contributed to raising the quality of this paper greatly. Furthermore, Dr. Sadler has also provided me with invaluable comments and guidance as well as inspired me all the time to finish this research. I thank Dr. Scott Walters who also offered me valuable instruction in three courses and helped me have sound understanding of the nature of language teaching, which became the basis of this research. I am also grateful to the Korean and U.S. naval officers who participated in this study in spite of their busy schedules. In particular, I would like to thank LT. Seok Eui Kwon and LTJR. (RET) DaeWon Kim who helped me design this study, offering priceless information about the contexts of the Korean navy. I would like to thank my dear friends, Sae Hee Choi, Roberto Campillo and Jonathan Bair, for their ceaseless emotional encouragement during my study. Finally, I am deeply grateful to the Korean navy which offered me a precious chance to study at the University of Illinois and supported me financially. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................1 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................5 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ...........................................................................................20 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS .........................................................................................................35 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................64 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS ..............................................................................................73 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................78 APPENDIX A: QUESTIONS FOR SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS .........................85 APPENDIX B: QUESTIONS FOR A SURVEY OF KOREAN NAVAL OFFICERS ...........87 APPENDIX C: QUESTIONS FOR A SURVEY OF U.S. NAVAL OFFICERS …….............91 APPENDIX D: TARGET SITUATIONS & TASKS FOR PARTICULAR BILLETS OF KOREAN NAVA L OFFICERS ...............................................................................................94 iv CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Since the term English for Specific Purposes (ESP) first emerged in the 1960s (Hyland, 2002), the importance of needs analysis for ESP courses has been emphasized over time (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987; Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998; Long, 2005; Belcher, 2009). However, while a considerable amount of research has been conducted on needs analysis of English for various occupations in business, medicine, the law, engineering, aeronautics, and hospitality and tourism, not much useful information about the needs of English for military personnel in general or for naval officers in particular seems to have yet been identified. In this era of globalization, many countries have been participating in more and more cooperative military operations in order to maintain their national security and to deal with shared threats such as terrorism or sea piracy. The navy is a military branch that engages in military cooperation more often than the army or air force because its area of operations is not limited to the territory of a country. Thus, naval officers can be exposed to various situations where they are required to interact with foreigners to carry out assigned tasks, and help for the improvement of their English communication skills is needed. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to conduct a needs analysis for Korean naval officers to determine the information that could support the design of effective curricula for the educational institutions of the Korean navy and relevant syllabi for the English courses offered at these institutions. This paper is organized in the following way. First, the institutional contexts of the Republic of Korea Naval Academy and the Korean Military Language Institute will be examined in order to understand the necessity for this study. The literature on teaching 1 methodologies and the previous research on English for Military Purposes will then be reviewed to provide a theoretical framework for this study. A detailed description of the research design for the current study will follow the literature review to provide rationale for the selected sources and methods. After that, the results of research that were identified through the literature review, interviews, and questionnaire surveys will be presented. The findings of this study will include information about the target situations and tasks for which Korean naval officers need English, their desire for the English courses offered for Korean naval officers and deficiencies they feel while performing the target tasks. The implications of this study will then be discussed, followed by a brief reflection, the limitations of this project and suggestions for further research at the end of this paper. The Contexts of the English Education Institutions of the Korean Navy The primary purpose of this study is to provide useful information for the English teachers, program coordinators and administrators of the educational institutions of the Korean Navy as well as the English learners who would probably need to use English while serving in the navy. Thus, the contexts of these institutions will first be briefly presented in order to provide background information for this study. The Republic of Korea Naval Academy. The Republic of Korea Naval Academy is a four-year college founded to prepare young men and women to become professional officers of competence, character, and compassion. The curriculum of the institution has been carefully developed and revised to accomplish this goal. While being educated in this college, all students must take at least 6 English courses before their graduation including English ReadingⅠ&Ⅱ, English ConversationⅠ&Ⅱ, English writing and Naval English. Students 2 who are more motivated to learn English can choose English as their major and take more English courses. In addition, several special programs are offered such as the Intensive English Program and Special Night English Class, as well as courses to study for the standardized English proficiency tests, TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) and TEPS (Test of English Proficiency developed by Seoul National University). These exams are popular and influential in Korea, so they are offered on weekends or during breaks throughout the year. Many professional native/non-native English teachers work in the English department, but most of them have no experience serving in the navy, or working on naval vessels or on other naval bases. For that reason, even though the students are a very homogenous group who would have the same occupation, the English that is taught in