What They Want and How They Want It: Students Expectations of ESL Curriculum at the Classroom Level

The foundation of education is the curriculum which is used in the teaching/learning process. People have varying views in the field of curriculum. The question of what and how to teach has been around as long as education. This paper takes a closer look at how a sample of university students studying English in South Korea feel about the curriculum they are presented. The goal was to ascertain the expectations of the students when it came to the curriculum they were presented with in class. Another aim was to determine whether they preferred a subject-centered or a learner-centered curriculum design method. The final objective was to see the benefits of their suggestions with regards to the materials and methods of presentation used in class. After reviewing the responses, a clear theme came to light among both English major students and the students of other majors taking their required course. That theme is a more learner-centered classroom. The research led to looking at curriculum-transmitting, curriculum-developing, and curriculum-making at the classroom level. Research suggests that aligning the class to the expectations of the students with regard to curriculum benefits the learning experience. This paper shows that students prefer that curriculum be based on a learner-centered design at the classroom level. (Contains 3 tables.)