This study examined the effects of previewing and providing background knowledge on low level EFL readers' comprehension of expository texts and their responses to these treatments. 130 college freshmen were randomly placed into one of three treatment groups and read two expository texts reflecting unfamiliar cultural information. Prior to reading, one group was given previewing instruction, which included vocabulary preteaching and summaries, and a second group was provided with culture-specific background knowledge through watching videos and slides. The third group read each text without any prereading instruction. Immediately after reading a passage, subjects answered a 10-item multiple-choice test. Results showed significant positive effects of the previewing treatment and weak positive effects of the providing background knowledge treatment. Students' responses on the questionnaires revealed that the majority felt that the experimental treatments contributed to comprehension enhancement, made reading more enjoyable, and expedited their reading process. Students in the control group, however, indicated that they needed explicit prereading instruction in order to understand the texts. Pedagogical implications of the findings for EFL reading instruction are provided.

This study investigates how EFL learners' chunking ability both in oral and silent reading affects reading comprehension, and how the chunking ability in silent reading relates to that of oral reading. The participants of this study consisted of 30 Korean university students taking a required 'English Reading' course. Chunking is a technique of grouping words into meaningful syntactic units for better understanding. Chunking was measured from pauses in oral reading. Results of this study suggest that the participants who can chunk properly both orally and silently display better comprehension of texts in general. However, chunking in silent reading was found to be a stronger indicator of improved reading comprehension. Also, the chunking skills in silent reading showed a statistically strong correlation with those observed in oral reading, suggesting that the chunking ability in silent reading may develop in parallel with that of oral reading. Oral as well as silent reading should be continuously practiced to improve reading comprehension of all levels of EFL learners, including low levels of learners. There is also a need to encourage students to read aloud with appropriate prosodic cues to help them read in meaningful units of words, therefore increasing EFL learners' comprehension not only in reading but also in listening.

This study focuses on how prosodically and morphologically based OT constraints are implemented in voicing and place assimilations in English. It is revealed that prosodically based ID-ONS(V) applies to both assimilations except for assimilations occurring with irregular inflection morphemes. Morphologically based meta-constraint ranking, however, plays a role only in progressive voicing assimilation with regular inflection morphemes and regressive place assimilation with complex words. Thus, prosodically and morphologically based constraints are differently implemented in assimilation processes in English. The study shows that general faithfulness constraints should be decomposed into more specified constraints. It is also revealed that the general direction of assimilation is regressive in English and it might be reversed if morphological facts are involved in the process (Lombardi, 2001).

The present study investigated what kind of form-focused instruction would yield better results for incidental learning of English verb patterns in two experiments. Experiment 1 compared the effectiveness of focus on form (reading + translation) and focus on forms (verb pattern list + translation) tasks in learning new English verb patterns incidentally in Korean EFL college classrooms. The results of Experiment 1 showed significantly higher results for the focus on forms group. Since it was revealed by Experiment 1 that the learners did not notice unknown target verb patterns, Experiment 2 was undertaken to examine whether the difference between the focus on form and focus on forms conditions found in Experiment 1 would be retained even after the isolated form-focused instruction or focus on forms aiming at teaching students how to recognize verb patterns was provided for the learners before the focus on form and focus on forms tasks were carried out. The results showed that the focus on form group yielded significantly higher incidental learning scores than the focus on forms group. The effectiveness rates of the focus on form in Experiment 2 were statistically higher than those of the focus on forms in Experiment 1. The results of the two experiments indicated that the combination of the isolated form-focused instruction and focus on form was significantly more effective in learning English verb patterns incidentally. In conclusion, form-focused instruction including both isolated form-focused instruction and focus on form is an effective way to incidental learning of English verb patterns.

The purpose of this paper is to report the process of curriculum renewal of an intensive English program with focus on the perceptions of the people involved. The researcher tries to describe the five years of curriculum change. The data collected through surveys, interviews, and observations were analyzed. The findings show that throughout the years, the students that participated in the program perceived that their English skills have improved. The teachers also thought that the student's overall English skills improved. The satisfaction on the chosen textbooks was higher in the student group than the teacher group. The main goal and objectives of the intensive English program in the study changed in the process of curriculum renewal. The program that launched in order to enhance students' conversational skills in 2004 started to include TOEIC instruction in late 2005 due to students' needs. The students were content with the fact that there were many teachers in the program whereas teachers had neutral opinion. The present study aims to suggest the importance of curriculum renewal through program evaluation which can be applied to similar language programs for the continuity and longevity of the programs.

This study examines whether English users at a U.S. university apply avoidance strategy in using English articles. All participants had learned English for at least 10 years and had used English for at least 15 years at the time of the data collection, so they made an ideal sample to examine the differences between native speakers of English and non-native speakers of English, in terms of avoidance strategy usage of English articles. To examine whether non-native speakers avoid using a certain feature when unsure of the correct usage, the mean differences of each article usage between NS and NNS groups were calculated and compared. On the basis of results showing that there are no statistically significant differences in terms of article usage between the groups, it is concluded that the highly advanced level participants did not use avoidance strategy in English articles, and that the type of English article and the task type did not affect learners' avoidance strategy usage. This research is expected to provide teachers and researchers with information about highly advanced level L2 language speakers' usage patterns with regards to avoidance strategy.

The purpose of this paper was to examine various aspects of meaning negotiation process in online chatting. Korean college students were asked to engage in chatting on the Internet over the course of a semester-long period, and chatting transcripts were analyzed in terms of sources of communication breakdown, signals to indicate communication breakdown, strategies to overcome communication breakdown, and ways of closing meaning negotiation. According to the findings of the study, lack of background knowledge and incoherent string of sentences in text were two major barriers creating communication problems. Subjects were able to use signals to indicate their communication difficulties, and overcome them by using different strategies. In doing so, however, they were found to suffer a narrow range of signals and strategies, which showed their limited communicative ability in the management of interaction, and indicated a clear, strong need for an extension of discourse and strategic competences of Korean students for more effective and smoother transition of message in everyday interaction.

This study aims to analyze the effects of explicit lexical collocation instruction on grammatical collocation knowledge, by focusing on the preposition collocations. The forty participants consisting of twenty men and twenty women are currently freshmen English majors in college. They responded to the questionnaire on their basic lexical learning strategies in pre-post tests, and carried out a lexical collocation test and a preposition collocation test as pre-post tests. They took the open class on the lexical collocations(LC) 5 times, but they did not concretely study any grammatical collocations(GC). Each test is analyzed and compared with pre-post tests by SPSS 12.0. From all the analyses, it was first revealed that most students who didn't know about the concepts, types and uses of collocations became aware of them after the class. The effects of the lexical collocations on the lexical collocation knowledge were quite revealing. Second, the correlations between the lexical collocations and grammatical collocations were not significant, although relations among the lexical collocations were quite significant. Finally, some suggestions for methods of mixed lexical chunks instruction are made for students' productive skills. Also, it is suggested that more profound attention should be paid to giving direct instructions on the basis of the lexico-grammatical continuum between LC and GC.

The goals of this study were to identify differences in learners' and teachers' perspectives on EFL learners' language anxiety, to identify the differences among teachers coping with learners' language anxiety, and to find how learners cope with their language anxiety. The research was effectuated by means of a survey questionnaire and interviews. The data were collected from 92 teachers and 230 students in four different school settings. There were the $6^{th}$ grade 50 primary school learners, the $2^{nd}$ grade 60 middle school learners, the $11^{th}$ grade 60 high school learners of, and the $2^{nd}$ and $3^{rd}$ grade 60 university learners. There were also 26 primary school teachers, 22 middle school teachers, 21 high school teachers, and 23 university teachers. The findings reveal that there were differences in responses among the respondents. The findings suggest that teachers need to pay attention to their particular learners' anxiety sources: especially in the case of primary school setting, the activity of answering teachers' questions for teachers was the primary source of learner's anxiety, in the case of middle school settings, translating sentences in English into Korean, in the case of high school setting, checking unknown vocabulary, and in the case of university settings, university learners felt anxious when classmates spoke fluently. The implications of the study indicate that these aspects should be handled carefully to motivate certain group of learners.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether using English newspapers as supplementary teaching materials for the present textbook could increase students' English reading ability, interest in class and their willingness to take an active part in activities. Schools in rural areas, compared to urban schools, did not have the appropriate resources to teach students effectively. Understanding the disadvantages of the students in rural areas, one idea was to use newspapers to inspire the students to reach outside their local community and incorporate new styles of English and cultural aspects into their lives. The participants were 2nd grade high school students in the rural area. The experimental group received reading lessons with the textbook and English newspapers. They were also encouraged to make their own portfolios. The control group received reading lessons with the textbook and other supplementary materials. Before and after the experiment, reading comprehension tests as well as the questionnaires of interest and self-directed learning were administered. The results of this study were as follows: First, students' English reading ability was significantly improved in the experimental class using English newspapers. Second, students' interest and self-directed learning were positively increased in the same class above.

The present study has sought to explore the critical issues of English immersion education through the voices of the four elementary teachers who have recently taught at immersion programs under the guidance of Busan Metropolitan City Office of Education. The interview data with three teachers and the teaching journals of one teacher were analyzed and categorized into two emergent themes: (1) current difficulties in the immersion programs and (2) possible problems with the implementations of immersion programs in all public schools. Specifically, the first issue included teachers' inadequate teaching skills for immersion programs, accumulated learning losses, and lack of immersion class hours. The second issue included workload imposed on immersion program teachers, promotion of private education, learning losses of other subjects, and administration for show. Finally, pedagogical implications are suggested.

This study was designed to identify students' perceptions and attitudes towards dictation practice in English listening classes and investigate the relationships among 5 factors with regard to dictation practice: participation, usefulness, interest, motivation, and confidence. For the study, the research was implemented for 15 weeks with 41 Korean university students. The subjects had dictation practice in their English listening classes on a regular basis for one semester. At the end of the semester, a questionnaire was used to find out students' perceptions and attitudes towards dictation practice. For the analysis of the subject's responses, first, a descriptive analysis was administered. After that, a correlation analysis was done to explore what the relations among 5 factors were. Results indicated that most students actively participated in the class, and they regarded dictation as a very useful practice in their listening classes. Also, the dictation practice motivated students not only for English listening but also for overall English studying. However, more than two third students showed low interest and confidence in the class. As for the correlations among 5 factors, there were very strong correlations between usefulness and motivation, usefulness and confidence, interest and motivation, interest and confidence, and confidence and motivation. Based on the results, some implications were presented and some guidelines for effective dictation practice were suggested.

Robert Lowell is one of the major poets in the modern American poetic world. His major work, Life Studies, is a representative of confessional poetry. It presented American spiritual civilization and universality for life from the late 1950s to 1960s. It dealt with the subject of the poet's private life under the psychological pressure. Lowell described his distinctive vision of the relationship of painful world and suffering self in his poetry. An important feature of his confessional poems was the criticism on modern civilization by means of characterization. Life Studies was written as a kind of therapy to overcome his early trauma, as well as the social problems of contemporary Americans which Lowell was confronted with. Through his personal experiences, Lowell exposed and judged the collapse of traditional value and moral confusion in the society. Therefore, he is a poet who opened his own world of poetry with his poetic achievements.

The present study reports on a study of the development of customized intensive in-service English teachers training programs (IIETTP) reflecting on the demands of elementary/secondary school English teachers. For the purpose of study, a survey was conducted with 1,033 English teachers at elementary/secondary schools across the country. The results showed by and large no significant differences by school level, albeit some slight differences were revealed such as in training times, training methods, the percentages of teaching English in English (TEE), and other things. Since the two IIETTP models are presented as basic formats, they can be modified and applied according to the contexts of schools and the demands of trainees.

The present study examined the role of dialogue journaling in Korean students' English writing development. Thirteen Korean middle school students participated in a five-week dialogue journal writing program. The participants' English writing skills before and after their dialogue journaling were compared in terms of holistic and analytical scores of their English essays. The study also examined the changes in the participants' language use, as manifested in their dialogue journals. The results indicated the positive influence of dialogue journal writing on the participants' English writing skills in the areas of content and lexical fluency. As for the linguistic evidence that related dialogue journaling to English writing development, the three patterns of change in language use emerged from the participants' dialogue journals: a) raised awareness on grammar conventions, b) raised awareness on discourse conventions, and c) increased depth and richness in idea development. There were also three unhelpful factors associated with little improvement of English writing: a) lack in basic writing skills, b) repetitive use of identical sentence patterns, and c) lack in grammatical and lexical awareness. Overall, the results suggested that dialogue journaling could facilitate Korean students' English writing development when it creates authentic communicative interactions between the teacher and students.

The present study has a dual purpose to investigate the current state of school English library and needs required for its effective use, and to propose a reading program at the school library. The literature on school library was reviewed. A questionnaire survey was done to find out the current situation of English library at the secondary school. The analysis of 26 secondary English teachers' responses reveals that there was the absence of librarians or reading specialists at the school English library. It was also found that the uses of the English library were limited due to the absence of the specialists, no guidelines, and no link between the curriculum and the library use. A case study on a 2-week special reading program at the school English library was conducted and 15 middle school students took part in the project. The participants took pre- and post-tests to identify their reading level using a software and did a variety of reading activities using the books selected according to their level. The comparison of the tests shows that most of the students' reading level improved after the reading program. The analysis of their views on the program and its effects reveals that they gained confidence in reading and their vocabulary understanding was improved. Some suggestions are made for the effective management of the school English library.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the English classes in secondary schools in Korea are in terms of communicative nature. After literature study, COLT parts A and B were used to analyze three kinds of English classes: a common class type taught by a school teacher who had won 1st prize at TEE contest, a team teaching class taught by NNS and NS, and a model class taught by a pre-service English teacher. Their communicative English classes were videotaped and transcribed for analysis by COLT. The results of the study revealed that students participated in the classes mostly as a unit and, therefore, did not get many meaningful chances to speak English. Second, creative language-use opportunities were barely found during classes. Third, the group work seemed to be prepared before the class, not to be done during the class. Therefore it is likely to be learned from memorization rather than meaningful communication. These results suggest English classes in schools be more communicatively oriented for successful English learning. Further study should be conducted in order to make English classes more communicative to help students communicate their genuine messages in English and to help teachers teach English efficiently.

This study explores the effect of extensive reading(ER) implemented in middle and high schools in Korean EFL context. Two middle school English teachers and two high school English teachers participated in implementing ER in their classes. Six middle school classes of 239 students and seven high school classes of 268 students participated in ER program guided by the above four teachers. To implement ER, participating teachers had continuously been guided by the researcher about the theoretic reasoning of ER and practical methods for efficient ER in class. The study lasted for two semesters and the teachers and students were surveyed and interviewed during and after the classes. The result showed pretty positive improvement of students' self-confidence, interest and motivation about English through ER implemented in this study. It is hoped that this study would show the possibility of implementing ER in Korean EFL secondary school context and a model for ER and cooperation between university researchers and in-service English teachers.