Korean Teachers’ Preferences and Perceptions on Text Types
Lee, Soonyoung
Korea University
Korean Language Education Research Vol. 42 pp.499-532 (2011)
Abstract
Recently, there has been a call for interest in information text in the field of reading and literacy. This paper investigated Korean teachers' preferences and perceptions on text types, focusing on the issues of information text. This quantitative study examined 1) teachers' perceptions on the purpose of reading, 2) their evaluations of textbook materials, and 3) their preferences and perceptions on the levels of difficulties and motivation by text types. Data were collected from teacher survey and interview. This study found out that Korean teachers lack interest in information text, regardless of their subjects and school levels. Korean teachers perceived teaching reading or the purpose of reading as character training or discipline using literature works. They also showed strong literature-centered perceptions regarding text types in textbooks. One of interesting findings was that teachers' perception on text difficulty was strongly affected by the names/terms of text types such as information text and nonfiction. Findings and discussions point out problems that teachers, main agents and practitioners of reading education, have constructed biased genre perceptions. Implications and ideas were suggested for further research in the relation of recent emphasis on information text in teaching reading at school.
Keywords
information textnonfiction readingtext typesgenre preferencetextbook materialsteacher's perception
