This study aims to propose using English reading strategies to enhance Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) for EFL learners. The study recruited college-level participants who were enrolled in a general English reading course (N=30) and administrated the surveys with a Repeated Measures Design (RMD). In the survey, an intercultural sensitivity scale and metacognitive reading strategies inventory were conducted for comparison. During the instruction, participants were asked to use the R.I.D.E.R. (i.e. Read, Image, Describe, Evaluate, and Repeat) strategy for visualization of text, which is aimed at facilitating the use of metacognitive reading strategies. In the results, participants showed a statistically significant increase both in the intercultural sensitivity level and the use of metacognitive reading strategies after the practice of R.I.D.E.R for one semester. Further analysis was appended to the results by the correlation and regression analysis, and proposed that participants benefit their development of intercultural sensitivity from the use of metacognitive reading strategies. Therefore, the study suggests that implementing metacognitive reading strategies facilitates college EFL readers to increase their cultural sensitivity, which empowers ICC through English reading (176words).

This paper aims to discuss the effects of learning how to write English interrogative sentences. 122 students who participated in the study learned basic structural components of English questions and practiced writing questions by inversing the subject and the verb in a given declarative sentence. The participants were divided into two groups: Group 1 which was given a brief explanation of interrogative structures and practices, and Group 2 which was given the same explanation and practices in addition to an assignment for which they had to make one or two comprehension questions based on reading a passage. For the pre-tests and the post-tests, they took a TOEIC reading test with 40 questions and a structure test with 25 questions. The results of the tests show that both groups improved significantly in the two post-tests, benefiting from this learning method. However, the additional treatment for Group 2 did not seem to be highly effective. In the questionnaire survey, the participants think that the method of learning English questions has helped them better understand English grammar as well as interrogative structures. The participants were also divided into three different levels: high, intermediate, and low. The intermediate level group students benefited most from learning writing questions as the results of the post-test of the 25-questions test and the final exam of the course show.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of two different SNS-based tasks on university students' English writing performance. To address our primary research question, Me2day, microblogging and Social Networking Service, was employed. 43 university students were divided into two experimental groups depending on the task types: a comparison task group and a sharing personal experiences task group. The main findings of the study were as follows: first, two different types of SNS-based tasks, 'spot the differences' and 'writing diaries', had a positive effect on learners' writing performance. The reason for this was that the succinct messages limited to 150 characters made it easier for the students to try writing in English without burden; and they may benefit from their peers by seeing their posts and interacting with each other. Yet there were no significant differences between the two groups when it came to the degree of improvement. Second, two different types of SNS-based tasks differently fostered certain aspects of the writing performance; 'contents knowledge' was supported by the 'writing diaries' task and range was supported by the 'spot the differences' task. Third, learners in the two experimental groups mostly had positive impressions regarding usage of Me2day as a new learning tool.

The present study investigated the effect of sentence translation as a production task on short-term and long-term retention of foreign vocabulary. 87 EFL university students at a beginning level, enrolled in reading class participated in the study. The study compared the performance of three groups on vocabulary recall: (1) Control group, (2) Translation group, and (3) Copy group. During the treatment sessions, translation group translated L1 sentences into English, while copy group simply copied given English sentences with each target word. Results of the immediate test were collected each week from week 2 to week 5 and analyzed by one-way ANOVA. Results revealed that regarding short-term vocabulary retention, participants in rote-copy condition outperformed those in translation group. Four weeks later a delayed test was administered to measure long-term vocabulary retention. In contrast, the results of two-way repeated measures ANOVA showed that long-term vocabulary retention of translation group was significantly greater than copy group. The findings suggest that although sentence translation is rather challenging to low-level learners, it may facilitate long-term retention of new vocabulary given the more elaborate and deeper processing the task entails.

This paper examines the role of extensive reading in foreign language learning classrooms. The effects of extensive reading are shown both positive and negative as in Krashen (1999) and Spada (1997), particularly researches done in classroom setting. Extensive reading is hard to implement in foreign language classrooms due to the stringent school curricula despite its benefits in cognitive and affective domain of learners. This study searched 21 papers from research database on extensive reading researches in a classroom setting and synthesized 55 cognitive effects and 11 affective effects from these papers under investigation in a manner of quantifying their means and standard deviations to derive generalizations. Research synthesis in this manner has secured its own status of scientific investigation by providing secondary researchers with replicable methods that produce verifiable findings. The syntheses of researches show that extensive reading is effective in both literacy skills and other language skills such as listening and writing. It also shows positive effects across different age groups, but the effect sizes are different in that elementary and adults gained more positive effects than middle and high school students.

The current research dealt with two areas which have been at the center of attention in the field of second language acquisition (SLA): recasts and intake. Although these two are continuously discussed in many studies, not enough research has addressed how they are related. Hence, the current research sought to identify the relationship between learner intake of language forms delivered in the form of recasts in adult EFL classrooms and learner immediate responses to recasts (i.e., uptake). The data were collected from 11 classrooms. A total of 221 recast episodes were observed and learners' responses to recasts were analyzed. On the basis of the recast episodes, multiple-choice recognition tests were developed and administrated to measure learner intake of the linguistic forms targeted by recasts. The study found that a half of recasts brought about learner intake. In addition, the learners responded to recasts in many different ways and their ways of responding were closely related to their intake of linguistic forms targeted by recasts.

The primary goal of the study was to provide some preliminary validity evidence for the Vocabulary Grade Levels Test (Busan Metropolitan City Office of Education, 2009), which is designed to measure the receptive vocabulary knowledge of learners in L2. For the purpose of the current study, 327 participants at the elementary school participated in the study and were asked to take two different vocabulary tests. Namely, a Vocabulary Size Test (Nation, 2001) and a Vocabulary Grade Levels Test. The data were analyzed using correlation in order to discover the relationship between these two types of tests. Following this, the Rasch analysis was conducted to examine the reliability and validity of the measurement in question. The data analysis showed that both grade separation reliability and item separation reliability were high, indicating that the Vocabulary Grade Levels Test well discriminates learners with a wide range of proficiency levels. The findings of the study are discussed, along with further improvements in order to ascertain the validity of this particular vocabulary test.

The purpose of the present study is to examine the degree to which the writing instruction using animations has effects on the writing performance of $4^{th}$ year elementary school students. This study also examined the effects of the animation-based writing instruction on the interest and confidence of those students. To this aim, the present study utilized a set of writing tests and questionnaires before and after the instruction. The data were collected from 63 elementary school students. The data were then analyzed using a series of statistical analyses. The results suggested that the students who received the writing instruction using animations performed significantly better on the writing test than those who received the textbook-based instruction. The results also suggested that those who received the animation-based instruction showed more positive interest and confidence on English and English learning. Finally, limitations of the present study and suggestions for further studies are discussed at the end of the paper.

This study aims to investigate the effects of learning strategy-based early reading instruction for English underachieving students. For this purpose of the study, sixteen learning strategies were driven from the review of previous related literature and the result of the survey conducted to the students and the teachers. Strategy integrated early reading instruction was implemented to nine students for thirteen weeks. The word recognition test was conducted before and after the instruction to examine whether the instruction had effects on the increase of their early reading skill. In addition, in order to investigate certain change in students' affective aspects after the instruction. The research conducted survey to the students. A teacher's field note and students' class journal were also analyzed to verify the results from the quantitative test. The results indicated that the instruction led to the increase of students' early reading skills. It was also found that the instruction motivated the underachieving students to devise a strategy for their learning process.

The purpose of the study was to explore ways to improve the test items on the Korean scholastic ability test. More specifically, the researchers investigated whether use of the target language in test items would make a difference in total scores, discriminatory power, and item difficulty. A total of 288 high school seniors participated in the study. The subjects were divided into the experimental group (N=145) and the control group (N=143). A 25-item test resembling the Korean scholastic ability test was administered to both groups. The experimental group was given items whose questions and alternatives were all presented in English, whereas the control group was given items whose questions and alternatives were presented in Korean only. Statistical analyses revealed that use of English vs. Korean in the questions and alternatives made a significant difference in total scores, item discrimination, and item difficulty level. The findings strongly suggest that use of English is one way to improve the quality of the Korean scholastic ability test by enhancing item discrimination and face validity. Considering that the test in question is a high-stakes exam in Korea, further research on how to improve the Korean scholastic ability test is urgently called for.

This study aims to investigate how the EBS English (EBSe) After-School program has been implemented in after-school classrooms. It also aims to examine the needs of the teachers and the students involved in the program, as well as their evaluation of the program itself to date. The EBSe After-School program has recently been launched and used in public school contexts less than a year. Thus, it is necessary to examine ways how the EBSe After-School program has been applied in real after-schools; and how the program has been perceived by the people engaged. The study was conducted in 19 elementary schools and 12 middle schools, which ran their after-school classes utilizing the EBSe program. Questionnaires were given to the 52 teachers and 1,258 students using the program. In addition to the questionnaires, syllabi and lesson plans of the after-school classes have also been inspected. The study finds that, despite overall satisfaction with the program, only a small portion of students participated in the after-school classes. Another finding of the study is that there was much difference in the way of implementing the program between the elementary and middle schools. Finally, the study makes some suggestions for improving the program.