21st Century Global Citizenship: Understanding Students' Learning Preferences and Anxiety

Paper presented at: "21st Century English Language Education: Towards Global Citizenship"
The 34th Annual Thailand TESOL International Conference, Chiang Mai.
17-18 January 2014.

Preliminary paper presented at: "E-novation and Communities in ELT"
The 33rd Annual Thailand TESOL International Conference, Khon Kaen.
25-26 January 2013.

Paper to be published in 2014.

Abstract

The 21^st Century has brought with it new ideals and more complex technologies. It is important to build firm foundations before embracing new advancements, as without a sound base, new innovations are prone to failure. This paper looks at how course adaptation and alignment with student penchants can be accomplished with an investigation into the learning preferences and anxieties of students from four faculties taking an ASEAN specific English language course at Khon Kaen University International College.

Data analysis shows that students prefer a more communicative way of learning and are less anxious when using English after having completed the course. Student assessments and course grading have demonstrated that students were satisfied with the new course and that institutional course requirements had been fulfilled. Finally, implications for classroom pedagogy and future research is discussed.