본 연구의 목적은 그림 표상활동을 통해 나타난 영어능력에 대한 만 5세 유아의 인식을 살펴보는 것이다. 이를 위하여 수도권에 위치한 유치원과 어린이집에 재원하고 있는 만 5세 유아 172명을 대상으로 그림그리기와 개인면담을 실시하였다. 본 연구의 결과 유아들은 영어를 잘하는 사람과 잘하지 못하는 사람의 이미지를 정서, 성취, 성향의 내재적 특성과 표정·외모·성별, 행동, 연령의 외현적인 특성을 기준으로 구분하였다. 이러한 연구결과를 바탕으로 본 연구는 유아들이 사회문화적 환경의 영향을 받아 영어능력에 관한 이미지를 형성하는 것을 알 수 있었고 이에 대한 적절한 교육의 필요성을 시사하였다.
The goal of this study was to understand how young children`s early exposure to English education affects their images of English speakers. The subjects of this study were 5 kindergartens and, 5 day-care centers, where 172 5-year-olds were enrolled in total. The children were asked to draw both images of a person who has a good command of English as well as one who doesn`t. The findings from their drawings and narratives show that the children had varied and contrasting images of a person who does or doesn`t have a good command of English in terms of external characteristics including expression, appearance, sex, behavior, age, as well as internal characteristics including emotion, achievement, and propensity. The findings also show that their learning experiences are not developmentally appropriate since they learn how to read and write mainly using worksheets and they consider English as something to work and study. These findings suggest that policy makers and curriculum developers should work together to design teaching methods and teaching materials that better support young children`s learning English.