An exploration of English underachievers' learning experiences: Focusing on 1st grade middle school students in Jeju

This study investigates the learning experiences of five middle school students labeled as ‘English underachievers’ who participated in an afterschool English course. The study has three main objectives: identifying their learning challenges, exploring their learning strategies in both classroom and home settings, and examining their attitudes toward English learning. Additionally, the study seeks to obtain insights into how English teachers can assist these students in bridging the gap between their current levels of English proficiency and the objectives required by the national curriculum. For this study, data were collected from students' reflection journals, teacher's observation notes, and teacher's interviews with students, and were analyzed qualitatively using a Taguette program. The results showed that these students continue to struggle with learning the English alphabet, phonics, elementary-level vocabulary, and basic grammar. Furthermore, it was found that they lack motivation or interest in learning English and are unwilling to employ appropriate learning strategies such as reviewing, noticing, or completing homework assignments. On the other hand, the afterschool course proved to have a positive impact on underachievers, fostering a few positive attitudes toward learning English, including confidence in learning the language, enjoyment in collaborating with other students, and motivation for communication in English.