Studying the aspects of university freshmen’s English learning and the directions of general English class in university

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to study the aspects of university freshmen’s English learning for entering university and the directions of General English classes in university. The participants are 334 university freshmen and was divided into two groups: the English class in school-mainly focus group(SG) and the college scholastic ability English testmainly focus group(CG). The English learning aspects include 1) ‘English learning areas that they focused to study in high school’, 2) ‘English learning methods or ways they highly or most used’. Additionally, the answers of question 3) ‘Which English learning areas are the most important in general English class in university?’ were studied, too. The results of study show that for the first aspect, statistically significant differences existed between the two groups, even though both groups focused to study ‘English reading’ the most. Also, statistically significant differences were founded between the two groups for the second aspect, and English class in SG used ‘English class in school’ most while ‘TV/Internet’ was used most by CG. For the third aspect, statistically, significant differences didn`t exist between the two groups, but both groups considered ‘English conversation’ most important in general English classes in university. With these findings, this study can suggest the direction of general English classes which universities can arrange for their freshmen.