English Learning and Peer Culture: An Ethnographic Case Study of English Underachievers in School

• Published in: English Language Teaching Vol. 31; no. 3; pp. 93 - 109
• Main Author: Jinsuk Yang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 팬코리아영어교육학회 01.09.2019
• Subjects: 영어와문학
• ISSN: 1226-6566; 2671-9460
• DOI: 10.17936/pkelt.2019.31.3.005

The present study examines English Underachievers’ experiences in the context of public English education. Focusing on two school welfare programs, that is streaming (i.e., level-based teaching) and school counselling, the study focuses on the extent to which the neoliberal tenet of self-help works to support Underachievers’ English learning. The findings show that although the government officials expected the welfare support to be a help for low performers’ academic progress, the actual implementation of the programs failed to take into account working-class peer relations and social conditions of English learning. The neoliberal approach thus has resulted in further marginalization of low performers, a consequence that I identify as the spread of neoliberalism in education. KCI Citation Count: 0