• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.19-26
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• 2018

In an effort to investigate the effects of chatbots on English listening and reading skills, 46 college students participated in the current study. Participants consisted of first-year students who enrolled in an English class at a university in South Korea. They were randomly divided into two groups: one experimental group (n=24) and one control group (n=22). During 16 weeks, the experimental group engaged in chats with a chatbot, named Elbot, while the control group did not. There were pre- and post-tests to confirm the effects of the chatbot usage. Major findings are as follows: First, participants in both groups significantly improved listening and reading skills. On the post-listening test, however, the experimental group showed more improvements. Their listening proficiency level improved from intermediate to advanced level after engaging in chat with the chatbot. Limitations and implications for theory and practice are discussed at the end.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.19 no.9
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• pp.1-8
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to identify the influence of users' satisfaction with the Automatic Writing Evaluation(AWE) on learners' sense of learning achievement through self efficacy in English writing class. AWE is a tool that automatically provides feedback on writing outputs by AI technology. College students were asked to write essays for each topic and use AWE to get feedback on their drafts, and finally revise them referring to the feedback. A questionnaire survey was conducted for the data collection. The data was analyzed using SPSS, and smart PLS-SEM along with bootstrapping techniques, The results of the study reveal the followings: 1) the convenience and usefulness of AWE had a positive effect on the willingness to reuse it; 2) the satisfaction with AWE had a positive effect on self-efficacy; 3) self-efficacy had a positive effect on learning achievement in terms of emotional and linguistic aspects. With the development of the 4th industry and A.I. technology, it is recommended to introduce new materials or programs such as AWE in English education.

• 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.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.213-221
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to apply Keller's ARCS motivational model to the business major English class and to investigate the effects of ARCS model on learning motivation and academic achievement. The subject for this study was 27 junior students majoring in business administration who took the business major English class. As a means of measurement, questionnaires and the results of written tests were used. The analysis on the results of the two groups, the experimental group applying ARCS model and the comparison group using the traditional lecture method, showed that the teaching-learning method applying ARCS model for the business major English class was effective in improving all elements of learning motivation such as attention, relevance, confidence and satisfaction, and in improving academic achievement in business English and business-related content.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.63-77
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• 2021

This study aims to explore the differential effects of teacher support on Chinese EFL students' listening ability in a blended learning environment. 87 third-year English-major students in a Chinese university participated in this study and they were randomly divided into an autonomy group (n=22), an emotional group (n=22), a cognitive group (n=22) and a control group (n=21). Each experimental group received relevant teacher support during their 17-week course learning while the control group did not. To confirm the effects of teacher support, pre- and post- listening tests were conducted. The results of the paired t-tests demonstrated that all groups showed statistically significant improvement in their English listening ability. The results of the one-way ANOVA for the post-test revealed that autonomy support and cognitive support were more effective than emotional support in improving students' listening ability. Based on the findings, this study hopes to provide insights for EFL teachers in designing and arranging the activities in a blended course.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.285-290
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• 2020

This study focus on improving the text language proficiency regarding users' written text. In order to tone up accuracy improvement in writing, Computer Assisted Language Learning(CALL) can be primarily used as one of the most efficient tools. This study proposes a English Grammar Checking Application that can improve the accuracy over the current applications. The proposed system is capable of defining the difference between a Noun and a Noun Phrase which is critical in improving grammar accuracy for those who use Englilsh as a foreign language in English writing.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.451-458
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• 2014

The purpose of this paper is to examine website information as well as promotional texts comparing source texts of Korean with translated versions of English, and drew characteristics of tourism texts from a discourse and communicative perspective. This study shows that the website or promotional texts is the first source of information in tourism, which is most referred to by the in-bound tourists, and the information given by the official homepage is most trustful content of Korean tourism. With comparison of source text of Korean with the translated English version, this paper shows that Korean source texts have a tendency to prefer the longer explication and more detailed information on the scenic spots and attractions than the English translations. When it is translated into English, the translated version does not follow the literal way of translation, and is segmented for reader's understanding and adapted following the target language's communicative conventions and the target culture. Consequently, this study supports the adaption in tourism promotional English translation, and ensures that the communicative constraints of tourism, that is, politeness and Grician maxims are preserved even in the written form of communication, translation.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.51-60
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• 2014

Modern society is rapidly changing by the Internet, and it is getting influential on the field of education. Learners can learn what they want to learn actively and freely at their desired level at anywhere in their free time by using the internet. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to find out the methods for improving writing ability through e-learning. The results of the study are as follows: First, learners can attend a lecture to improve their writing ability and can get learning materials from on-line course sites, internet websites, communities and blogs. Second, e-learning is learner-centered education, so it stimulates learners learning motivation and interest. Third, learners have an opportunity to express their ideas freely, and they can gain cultural comprehension while they communicate with people in the world by e-mail and chatting.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.53-61
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• 2016

This study aims to examine English learning beliefs of Korean college students enrolled in e-learning courses and to investigate the relationship between their beliefs and L2 achievement. Horwitz's Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory was used to elicit students' beliefs about English learning and their grades in a final exam were employed for the English achievement measure. The data from one hundred sixteen respondents were analyzed through a factor analysis and the analysis revealed 5 factors: Motivation, learning strategies, English aptitude, foreign language aptitude, and communication strategies. The results showed that the most of the e-learning students had a high level of motivation and expectation in learning English but they believed that they had a low language aptitude. Statistically significant correlation was found between students' beliefs in motivation and their L2 attainment.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.11 no.11
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• pp.71-83
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• 2013

In a EFL situation, most Korean students and teachers are exclusively dependent on English textbooks to acquire the cultural factors of English. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze cultural elements in the English Textbooks. The results of the study are as follows: First, although all of the textbooks contain the culture part at the end of each lesson, it is insufficient for students to build a cultural schema. Second, in the analysis of cultural types, three types of cultures are presented in a similar percentage. Third, the culture elements were analyzed based on the 7th national curriculum revised in 2011. The most dominant is the culture regarding arts and literature. Forth, in nationality analysis, universal culture takes up the largest portion. Therefore, it is required more efforts to improve students' knowledge of the American and English culture.