현행 교과서의 소재기술과 학생인지수준을 어휘적 측면에서 양적, 질적인 면으로 분석하고 학생들의 교과서에 대한 흥미도를 조사한 본 연구는 아래와 같은 결론을 내린다. 첫째. 학생들의 어휘수가 교과서의 어휘수보다 2배 가까이 많았다. 둘째. 비율적으로 교과서 어휘와 학생 인지어휘의 적합도를 살펴보았을 때 온톨로지의 최상위 범주에서는 교과서의 어휘와 학생인지어휘가 어느 정도 상응하였으나 하위범주로 갈수록 적합성이 현저히 떨어졌다. 즉 학생들의 인지어휘는 교과서의 어휘보다 다양하고 훨씬 더 세분화되어 있음을 말한다. 교과서의 소재기술의 어휘수준이 학생들의 인지어휘수준보다 양적으로 상응하지 않음으로 적합성에 대한 재고가 필요하다. 셋째. 어휘망을 분석한 결과 학생 어휘망이 교과서 어휘망에 비해 훨씬 더 넓고 깊으며 상위개념 자체가 교과서 어휘망의 상위개념을 포함하고 있었다. 즉 학생들의 어휘수준이 단순히 양적으로 교과서보다 많은 것이 아니라 그 어휘의 깊이나 수준 또한 교과서 어휘보다 높았다. 학생들의 인지어휘수준이 교과서의 소재기술의 어휘수준보다 질적으로도 높음으로 교과서 어휘의 다양성과 난이도에 대한 조정이 필요하다. 넷째. 흥미도 조사 결과 대다수의 학생들은 현행교과서의 내용과 소재가 지루하고 쉽다고 느꼈으며 만족도가 낮았다. 위 결과에서 알 수 있듯이 현행교과서가 학생들의 흥미와 동기를 유발시키기 위해서는 학생들의 인지수준을 고려하여 좀 더 다양하고 깊이 있는 어휘를 보완해야 하겠다. 같은 소재를 다루더라도 어휘의 수와 난이도를 조정함으로서 학생들이 교과서에서 스스로 정보 가치성을 느끼고 지식습득의 동기를 유발시켜야 할 것이다.

The objective of the present study is to see how material descriptions in current English textbooks for the first‐year middle school students in Korea corresponds with students’ cognitive level, and to examine students’ overall interest in textbooks. The results of this study are summarized as follows: First, for the same themes, the amount of the vocabulary recognized by the students is almost 2 times larger than that used in textbooks. Second, the percentage of vocabulary for material descriptions in the textbooks corresponded, to some degree, to the percentage of vocabulary recognized by students on the highest level of Mikrokosmos Ontology, but, the correspondence went down markedly on lower levels. Third, higher concepts in students’ vocabulary network are much more abstract and comprehensive than higher concepts in the vocabulary network of the textbooks, showing that students’ vocabulary network is much wider and deeper than that of the textbooks. Fourth, most of the students thought that the contents and materials of their current textbooks were plain and boring, showing low interest in their textbooks. In order to solve the problems presented above, current textbooks need to be extended in diversity and depth of vocabulary in consideration of students’ cognitive levels at present. In addition, students’ interest in, and satisfaction with, textbooks should be enhanced by adjusting the quantitative volume and difficulty of vocabulary that makes up the contents, even if the same materials are described.

The objective of the present study is to see how material descriptions in current English textbooks for the first‐year middle school students in Korea corresponds with students’ cognitive level, and to examine students’ overall interest in textbooks. The results of this study are summarized as follows: First, for the same themes, the amount of the vocabulary recognized by the students is almost 2 times larger than that used in textbooks. Second, the percentage of vocabulary for material descriptions in the textbooks corresponded, to some degree, to the percentage of vocabulary recognized by students on the highest level of Mikrokosmos Ontology, but, the correspondence went down markedly on lower levels. Third, higher concepts in students’ vocabulary network are much more abstract and comprehensive than higher concepts in the vocabulary network of the textbooks, showing that students’ vocabulary network is much wider and deeper than that of the textbooks. Fourth, most of the students thought that the contents and materials of their current textbooks were plain and boring, showing low interest in their textbooks. In order to solve the problems presented above, current textbooks need to be extended in diversity and depth of vocabulary in consideration of students’ cognitive levels at present. In addition, students’ interest in, and satisfaction with, textbooks should be enhanced by adjusting the quantitative volume and difficulty of vocabulary that makes up the contents, even if the same materials are described.

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English textbooks, theme description, ontology, cognitive levels, vocabulary network, concepts, students' Interest