L2 Writing Practice as Consciousness-Raising for Korean College Students

Abstract

Writing instruction has not been actively implemented in secondary schools in Korea, even though the National Curriculum suggests teaching all four communication skills in a balanced way. Taking the aforementioned into account in terms of continuity between secondary and higher education, this study explores college students' perceptions of writing in English through their actual writing experiences. Over fifty local area students who were advised to keep journals provided their ideas and thoughts on why English writing is hard for them. Data revealed that writing practice made the students aware of their lack of L2 knowledge, such as grammatical, syntactic, or lexical aspects. As the students developed their basic L2 knowledge, they recognized their need for L2 writing instruction. Some students revealed their anxiety through their writing. Others looked back on their learning in the past and reflected upon its shortcomings. Several attentive learners who showed interests in English learning provided their opinions on L2 writing. With the advent of the National English Ability Test (NEAT), the English education environment in Korea will be changing. Thus, more output-oriented communicative activities and more opportunities for output need to be introduced in Korean English education arena for meaningful learning process.