The Spring 2013 Woosong English Quiz Contest was held in front of the Student Union Building, on May 14th, 2013, at 12:30p.m. This quiz was composed of three stages and it was taken on a computer. The first stage was composed of true or false questions, the second stage contained vocabulary and grammar questions corresponding to TOEIC parts 5and 6, and the third stage involved correcting any mistakes made in sentences or looking for a word's definition and guessing what it is.
Prizes were given to students according to their progression through each stage. The prizes for participation were cookies and juice. The actual prices for the winners were: first place was a Caffe Bene tumbler; second place, a Caffe Bene gift certificate, worth ten thousand won; and the third place, two meal tickets, worth six thousand won.
The quiz drew a lot of attention from students. It started at 12:30, but many students waited in line for 30 to 40 minutes. 360 students participated in the contest, in total, and there were 230 prizes. All the prizes were given to the participants.
To get the more specific information about the English Quiz Contest, we interviewed Dr.Park (Park Hee Sook), who was in charge of it:
What was the purpose of the contest?
“Woosong University puts emphasis on English. English is one of the most essential requirements to get a job. This contest was held to inspire students’ passion for learning English, so we made an interesting and fun English quiz. The purpose of this contest was so that many students gain an interest in English.”
What were some difficulties in hosting the English contest?
“At the end of English Contest, I asked one student, walking by the event, why don’t you participate in the contest? The student answered that ‘I am bad at English’. His lack of confidence made me feel sad. Many students think that they are poor at English, so, they didn’t participate. I felt regret about this as the host. The quiz had a range from easy to challenging. Woosong University students have studied for the TOEIC and have also taken the TOEIC test, but they still have low confidence in English. This is why they give up in advance and don’t challenge themselves. Although the prizes were great, still many students did not participate. This reluctance to participate was the most difficult thing.”
Did you expect that many students would come to the contest?
“Many more students took part in the contest than I expected. I am very satisfied with it, but I expect more students will participate in the future.”
How did you promote the contest?
“I worked hard to promote it, putting up banners and posters. Also, the Department of Academic Affairs sent all students text messages that advertised this event. I hope that the more people participate in the English contest next semester.”
Will you change the kind of prizes?
“The kinds of prizes need to be changed. I think the male students didn’t seem to like the tumblers and would have preferred Caffe Bene gift certificates instead. So we will survey the students’ preferences and change the prizes.”
Will the English Quiz Contest be held next year as well?
“A second English Quiz Contest will surely take place during the second semester, because the first contest was very successful; however, I am not so sure about next year. It will depend on how successful the second contest is.”
To get a student’s perspective of the contest, we interviewed two students who participated:
Cho Ara (21): "I won a tumbler. The contest was very interesting. I think that this contest is a good way to increase students’ motivation to study English. Also, I believe that this English contest made many students interested in English. I hope that this contest continues."
Choi Jinyoung (23): “I won a meal ticket. I often have little confidence in my English abilities. Nevertheless, I participated in the contest to win a tumbler. As expected, I failed at the first stage. It is very confusing and difficult for me. However, I will study English and TOEIC to get to the third stage and win a prize like the tumbler. I think that the waiting time was too long. I waited for about an hour. I hope that more computers are available during the next English contest.”
Staff writers Jeong Min Ju and Choi Eun Hee.
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