Introduction
More and more people around world begin to learn English. Since it is crucial for future English teachers to understand the students’ purpose of learning English, it was decided to investigate (1) how important English is in students' opinion, and (2) why they learn English.
Method
In order to find out the students’ awareness on English language, an 8 item survey was designed. The first two questions collected the basic information such as responders’ gender and age, and the following two questions asked about when they began to learn English and how they evaluate their own English proficiency level. Rest of the questions were about their purpose of learning English and the necessity of English education. The questions were provided in various types including multiple choice, checkbox, Likert scale, and paragraph.
Students' Importance on English
It turned out that average students think English is important in their real life. Also, all the responders gave 8 points or more out of 10 on the question asking if they think English education is necessary. In contrast, they showed the different choice in self-evaluation on English proficiency. It means they think English is important regardless of their English ability.
The Purpose of Learning English
All the responders included the option "to communicate with foreign people," in their answer to the question asking about the reasons they learn English. Other options were marked 2 times each except "to travel," which was selected only once. There is possibility that to communicate with foreigners is the best reason because it has wide range of meaning; however, there is no doubt, at least, they consider English as a language rather than a mere method for a certain goal.
Conclusion
To sum up, English learners are interested in English as a language rather than a tool, and they all agree that English is important even though they are not very good at English. This can be a good reason for the need of practical English education.
