초록/요약

The goal of this study was to examine perspectives and teaching strategies elementary English teachers for underachieving students based on their teaching experiences. The researchers found that novice and experienced teachers had different perspectives, as follows. (1) Novice teachers attributed students’ underachievement to their deficit of prior knowledge, but experienced teachers focused specifically on students’ negative prior experiences with English; (2) novice teachers focused on literal input, whereas experienced teachers were interested in verbal output; (3) novice teachers judged students’ level based on test scores, but experienced teachers based their judgment on students’ attitudes. Also, novice and experienced teachers adopted different teaching strategies when teaching underachieving students: (1) novice teachers were subject-centered and emphasized memorization of information, but experienced teachers were student-centered and concentrated on rapport for students’ interest; (2) novice teachers tried diverse activities for students’ external motivation, whereas experienced teachers relied on a few familiar methods for students’ internal motivation; and (3) novice teachers reviewed the lesson, whereas experienced teachers previewed the lesson for the underachievers. The study ended with pedagogical implications for EFL teacher education and the field of Korean elementary English education.