• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.53
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• pp.251-277
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to investigate ways to improve the effect of English-medium instruction (EMI) in Korean universities by comparing EMI lectures in two Korean universities with those in a Japanese university. Some universities run all courses in English while others do so for only part of them. This study comparatively investigated how EMI courses were run by these two groups of universities. For the purpose of this study, in-depth interviews were conducted with EMI instructors and students to find out what merits and problems that such EMI programs had in EFL environment of Korea and Japan. Another important goal was to correct problems and improve the Korean programs. The result showed that the most important issue of EMI programs in Korean universities was students' low English proficiency. It also demonstrated that English for Academic Purposes (EAP) was necessary to overcome this problem. It is a key to the success of MI programs. Hopefully, this study will stimulate continuous discussions on limitations and ways to improve EMI in Korean universities in various aspects.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.13-20
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• 2016

This study explores the effects of an video-recording English speaking task model on learners. The learning model, a form of mobile learning, was developed to facilitate the learners' output practice applying advantages of a smartphone and Text-to Speech. The survey results shows the positive effects of the speaking task on the domain of pronunciation, speaking, listening, writing in terms of students' confidence, as well as general English ability. The study further examines the possibilities and limitations of the speaking task in assisting Korean learners improve their speaking ability, who do not have sufficient exposure to English input or output practice due to the situational limitations where English is learned as a foreign language.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.1019-1029
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• 2014

In recent years, researchers have become increasingly interested in the creation and pedagogical use of English learner corpora. Many studies have shown that learner corpora can not only make a significant contribution to second language acquisition research but also contribute to the construction and evaluation of language tests by advancing our understanding of English learners. So far, however, little attention has been paid to the Korean EFL (English as a foreign language) learners' corpus. The Yonsei English Learner Corpus (YELC 2011) is a specialized, monolingual, and synchronic Korean EFL learner corpus that was developed by Yonsei University from 2011 to 2012. Over 3,000 Korean high school graduates (or equivalents) who were accepted by Yonsei University for their further studies participated in this project. It consists of 6,572 written texts (1,085,828 words) at nine different English proficiency levels. In this paper, we describe its compilation, and more specifically, how we have corpusized from a text archive to a corpus. After introducing the process of corpusization, we report arresting insights into the specific linguistic features that different proficiency levels of Korean learners of English have. This study also discusses the potential use of the YELC 2011 which is now freely available for research purposes.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.1-7
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• 2018

The current study investigates whether artificially intelligent chatbots influence Korean EFL students' vocabulary learning. For eight weeks, 47 college students in Korea participated in this study. They were divided into two groups: one experimental group and one control group. Participants in the experimental group engaged in chat with a chatbot during the eight-week experimental period. Before and after the experiment, pre- and post-tests were administered to see if their English vocabulary improved. Pre- and post- surveys were also performed to understand how the participants perceived chatbot-assisted vocabulary learning. Results show that the experimental group improved their vocabulary skills as a result of engaging in chat with the chatbot. Also, their perceptions of vocabulary learning positively changed, increasing their motivation, interest, and confidence in English. Given that there have been few empirical studies to investigate the effects of chatbots on vocabulary development, the present study can provide insights on the effectiveness of chatbots.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.435-444
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• 2014

As vocabulary acquisition has become one of the emerging key issues in the foreign language education field, interest in vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) has also increased. However, little has been done to investigate the vocabulary learning strategies of young learners. Therefore, this study attempts to investigate VLS use in elementary school English language textbooks. A total of three fifth grade English textbooks and teachers' guidebooks were chosen and analyzed with the vocabulary learning strategies taxonomy suggested by Scbmitt (1997). The researcher identified there were only a limited number of vocabulary learning strategies in the textbooks and most of them were consolidation strategies. It was concluded that a variety of VLS should be introduced in multiple ways in consideration of learner preference, styles, culture and level of English proficiency. Some implications for the teaching and learning of vocabulary for EFL instruction amongst young learners are discussed.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.362-373
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• 2020

This study examined the ordering effects of caption use on the English learning of aviation students. This study focused on the use of captions and the students' self-confidence, interest, and motivation for English learning. Sixty participants were divided randomly into the Caption 1 group (n = 30) and Caption 2 group (n = 30). During 16 weeks, the Caption 1 group was exposed to captioned media first, and then the same media with no captions was provided. The Caption 2 group was exposed to the non-captioned media first and then provided with captions on the second exposure. A survey was given to assess the attitude of each group to English learning. The survey results showed that all participants revealed moderately positive satisfaction on the use of captions in EFL classes. Regarding the ordering effects of caption use, the findings showed that the first exposure to the captions results in the students' self-confidence and interest. The second exposure to the captions, however, was beneficial for improving the students' motivation. From these findings, several pedagogical implications can be suggested.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.11
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• pp.403-413
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• 2021

This paper emphasizes the effect of using poetry in the University General English education and suggests the teaching method of English education with a Frost's poem, "Out, Out- ." These days, learner-centered English education and integrative study of four linguistic functions, reading, listening, speaking and writing are considered important in the University General English class. Poetry is very effective text for the education purposes. Poetry techniques like a visual image, rhythm, rhyme, or repetition are actually mnemonics and strongly connected to the enhancement of memory and oral linguistic function. This paper suggests the specific education methods in the poetry selection, pre-reading step, reading step and after- reading step with concrete examples of "Out, Out-." These education methods through the 'oral text' can be a good and sustainable model for learner-centered education.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.650-659
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• 2015

This study reports on the perspectives of Korean Chinese Japanese students (KS CS JS) on learning English at multi-cultural classrooms in Korea. The participants were 32 KS, 10 CS, and 14 JS in EFL writing classes, and the data comprised open-ended questionnaires and interviews. In analyzing the data, 'Intentional content analysis' and 'Critical discourse analysis' were adopted. The findings show that the learning of English in Korea was supported by 80% of JS, 71.9% of KS, and 50% of CS. The highest satisfaction of JS was caused by rich interactions with others. English speaking was the most difficult area for all the groups. Whereas KS (43.8%) used only Korean, CS and JS used both English and Korean for communication. Most KS (78.1%) hesitated to socialize with foreign students despite their wishes. These findings suggest that a variety of programs should be developed so that students share different cultures and use more English in the multi-cultural Korean context.

• 한국정보교육학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.08a
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• pp.128-137
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• 2004

컨텐츠에 대한 처리 기술과 사용자 인터페이스의 발전으로 인해, 교육 현장에서 광범위하게 사용되는 교육도구로 컴퓨터가 자리매김하고 있다. 제한된 교실 환경에서 컴퓨터를 활용한 영어교육은 학습자들에게 흥미를 유발하고, 의사소통능력의 신장을 유도하는 등의 장점이 있으나, 수준에 따른 개별학습과 상호작용 유도, 개인차를 고려한 평가 등을 수행하기 어려운 문제점이 있다. 본 논문에서는 이러한 장점을 극대화하고 단점을 좌완하기 위해서 휴대폰의 국내 표준 플랫폼인 WIPI(Wireless Internet Platform for Interoperability)기반 영어 학습 시스템을 제안한다. 제안하는 시스템은 휴대 전화의 제한성을 극복하고, 이에 적합한 컨텐츠를 활용하면서, 교사의 역할을 대신해 줄 수 있는 지능형 교육 시스템을 도입하여 교사의 역할을 대신하여 피드백을 제공해 줄 수 있으며, 교사와 학생간의 상호작용을 유도하여 학습의 효과를 극대화 할 수 있을 것이다.

• Proceedings of the Korea Information Processing Society Conference
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• 2013.11a
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• pp.1290-1293
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• 2013

본 논문은 문장 내에서 나타나는 어휘간의 관계를 통해 표현 수준을 자동으로 평가할 수 있는 시스템을 제안한다. 제안하는 방법은 영어에세이 코퍼스 내의 문장에서 발생하는 철자 및 문법의 오류와 함께 어휘와 문법 패턴에 따른 표현난이도를 평가할 수 있는 자질을 생성하고 다양한 기계학습기법을 사용하여 문장의 수준을 평가하고자 하였다. 또한 기존에 연구되어온 규칙기반의 문장 평가시스템을 구현하고 기계학습기법을 이용한 문장 평가시스템과 비교하였다. 이를 통해 철자 및 문법의 오류율뿐만 아니라 표현난이도를 평가할 수 있는 자질들이 유용함을 확인할 수 있었다. 영어작문 문장의 수준평가를 위해서 국내 학생들의 토플 에세이 코퍼스를 수집하여 2,000문장을 추출하였고, 4명의 전문평가자들을 통해 6단계로 평가하여 학습 및 테스트 세트를 구성하였다. 성능척도로는 정확률과 재현율을 사용하였으며, 제안하는 방법으로 67.3%의 정확률과 67.1%의 재현율을 보였다.