Korean EFL Learners’ Beliefs about Grammar Instruction

Abstract

This study explored Korean EFL learners’ beliefs about grammar instruction and examined whether their English proficiency influenced the strength of their beliefs. A total of 103 undergraduate students who registered for an elective English grammar course participated, so their majors, school years and standardized test scores were varied. The data analysis indicated that the means of the participants’ beliefs were similar to those of other previous studies. Even though the participants’ mean differences for Efficacy of Grammar were statistically significant, there were no statistically significant mean differences for the other five factors regarding grammar instruction and speaking. Their proficiency levels did not predict the mean differences either. Nonetheless, the results confirmed that a majority of Korean EFL learners believed in the primacy of grammar instruction and were well aware of the necessity of grammar although they valued communicative abilities more than grammatical knowledge.