Enhancing English Reading and Writing Proficiency of Korean University Students Through Copying Activity Training

초록

The present study is intended to investigate how copying training in English wouldaffect various proficiency levels of EFL learners in their reading and writing. Twogroups of 50 Korean university students (i.e. copying-training and non-training groupsof 25 each) who had enrolled in an English reading and writing course were recruitedfor this study. Based on the pre-test results, each group was divided again into higher and lower proficiency levels. Their pre- and post-tests scores were compared, and their reading and writing processes during a think-aloud task were observed. Both higher and lower level students in the copying-training group were found to show much more improvement in their overall areas of reading and writing than those in the non-training group. Additionally, even though the higher level students who received copying training were more well aware of what strategies to use and how to use them while reading and writing, it was observed that the overall students in the copying-training group were applying various strategies more effectively by consciously focusing on their weaknesses. These results suggest that copying training can help Korean EFLlearners improve their reading and writing ability and achieve insight into their ownreading and writing processes.

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