세계영어 관점에서 본 대학수학능력시험 영어 영역

Abstract

This paper attempts to determine the extent to which ELF (English as a lingua franca) features are integrated into the English section of the CSAT (College Scholastic Ability Test). It analyzes the test items presented in the English sections of the CSATs administered for the academic years between 2015 and 2022. The findings are as follows: (1) almost all the dialogues and monologues in the listening tests involve inner circle speakers only; (2) all the sound files in the listening tests are recorded in American English; (3) most of the dialogues and monologues are thought to take place in inner circle countries; (4) communication strategies, which are commonly found in ELF interactions, are rarely used in the dialogues, and the strategies, if any, seem to have been included to assist test-takers’ understanding by highlighting the key information; and (5) some of the passages in the reading tests explicitly refer to cultures of global regions and inner circle regions, but only two passages contain cultural content of Korea. These findings suggest that the English section of the CSAT does not adequately incorporate ELF-oriented features in its test items. The paper concludes by discussing ELF-related suggestions for the future development of the English section of the CSAT.