• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.79-107
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• 2011

This study investigates the status of English scores in the Korean labor market. We provide an empirical explanation of how English scores affect labor performances in Korea. Specifically, we focus on the effects of TOEIC scores on college graduates' job opportunity and wage premium. Our empirical tests for TOEIC scores are implemented in three dimensions: (1) Screening effects (2) Signaling effects (3) Wage effects. The results are as follows. First, we find the positive correlation between TOEIC scores and job opportunities, which implies that TOEIC scores play an important role in employee selection process. Second, our tests give the same results when it comes to job seeker's use of TOEIC scores as signaling instrument. That is, high TOEIC scores have positive signaling effects in the labor market. However, there also exists disadvantage effect of low TOEIC scores, in that job applicants with TOEIC scores below certain level are even more disadvantageous than those with no TOEIC scores. Finally, wage premium of TOEIC scores are found, even when other variables (e.g. GPA) are controlled or we use the instrumental variable estimate.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.930-938
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• 2023

Maritime English is a specialized language system designed for ship operations, maritime safety, and external and internal communication onboard. According to the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), it is imperative that navigational officers engaged in international voyages have a thorough understanding of Maritime English including the use of Standard Marine Communication Phrases (SMCP). This study measured students' proficiency in Maritime English using a learning and testing platform that includes voice recognition, translation, and word entry tasks to evaluate the resulting improvement in Maritime English exam scores. Furthermore, the study aimed to investigate the level of platform use needed for cadets to qualify as junior navigators. The experiment began by examining the correlation between students' overall English skills and their proficiency in SMCP through an initial test, followed by the evaluation of improvements in their scores and changes in exam duration during the mid-term and final exams. The initial test revealed a significant dif erence in Maritime English test scores among groups based on individual factors, such as TOEIC scores and self-assessment of English ability, and both the mid-term and final tests confirmed substantial score improvements for the group using the platform. This study confirmed the efficacy of a learning platform that could be extensively applied in maritime education and potentially expanded beyond the scope of Maritime English education in the future.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.81-91
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of group co-learning on English reading ability and motivation and the change in group co-learning perception after planning and applying a group co-study class program that can be applied in university liberal arts English class. In order to achieve this goal, the experiment team (34 students) conducted the class from September 2 to December 13, 2019 for 62 freshmen who participated in the compulsory liberal arts English class at the four-year university in North Chungcheong Province, and the control team (28 students) conducted the class as a typical lecture class based on the basis of cooperative learning. The English proficiency of the learners was approached by dividing the area of academic proficiency into English reading skills and the area of justice into English reading motivations. The pre-experimental learners' English reading skills were measured by excerpting the national level educational achievement assessment (high 2). The research results are as follows. First, it was shown that the English reading ability score of a group that applied group cooperative learning and the English reading ability score of a group that did not apply group cooperative learning were statistically significant differences. Second, there was a difference between the English reading motivation score of the group applying the convocation group cooperative learning and the English reading motivation score of the group not applied. Third, the change in the perception of groups applying the convocation group cooperative learning occurred before and after the experiment. This study found that the awareness of English reading, English reading motivation, and cooperative learning increased through cooperative learning among university students during liberal arts English classes, which has a positive effect on self-identity and so on.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.61-93
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• 2009

In this paper, we estimate the wage premium of English skills in the Korean labor market using Korean Labor and Income Panel Study(KLIPS) data. In a simple OLS model, we find that people with some English skills in terms of self evaluation or job requirement earn 30% more than those who do not have English skills. But in a small sample of relatively young people, higher English lest scores do not raise earnings. When we add SAT scores in the wage equation, there is no wage premium of English skills, and in the IV estimation, we find no "English premium". These results consistently imply that while there is a large wage premium of English skills in the Korean labor market, it reflects unobservable ability for the most part. Meanwhile some of the regression results favor human capital theory over screening theory as an explanation of the nature of the wage premium of English skills.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.565-571
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• 2019

This study aims to suggest more efficient ways of teaching English more related to but distinct from major English, based on the needs and awareness of the students of English Education Department. For this, interviews and surveys have been carried out targeting some English Education majors. The results show that the satisfaction level of students is relatively low, marking around the score '3'. While the satisfaction level about classroom environment including the multi-media equipment, and professors' teaching ability, quality and methods is higher compared with other factors, the improvement of English skills and interest-causing levels are lower on average. Besides, this study also includes the surveys on the needs of students for various teaching programs, differentiated classes and qualified instructors. Based on the results, this study makes three suggestions as follows; (1) the opening of some specific English classes for English-education majors (2) the development of English-conversation classes related to English-education majors (3) the development of communication-centered English reading based on English literature.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1-10
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• 2023

This study investigated the relative effectiveness of letter-based versus syllable-based measures of speech rate and articulation rate in predicting the articulation score, prosody fluency, and rating sum using "English speech data of Koreans for education" from AI Hub. We extracted and analyzed 900 utterances from the training data, including three balanced age groups (13, 19, and 26 years old). The study built three models that best predicted the pronunciation assessment scores using linear mixed-effects regression and compared the predicted scores with the actual scores from the validation data (n=180). The correlation coefficients between them were also calculated. The findings revealed that syllable-based measures of speech and articulation rates were more effective than letter-based measures in all three pronunciation assessment categories. The correlation coefficients between the predicted and actual scores ranged from .65 to .68, indicating the models' good predictive power. However, it remains inconclusive whether speech rate or articulation rate is more effective.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.129-140
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• 2019

This study investigated cyber university students' motivation and demotivation in learning English. Data was collected from a survey of 498 students in a general English course at a cyber university located in Seoul. The survey inquired into participants' English learning motivation and demotivation. To analyze the data, frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, t-test, and ANOVA were used. The findings reveal that among the motivation factors ideal L2 self was the main cause of motivation followed by promotion-based instrumentality. Among the demotivation factors the anxiety factor was found to have the highest mean followed by negative investment value for learning English. The statistical analysis of English learning motivation and demotivation according to the participants' characteristics indicates that, in terms of English learning motivation factors, the male participants' ought-to L2 self was significantly higher than that of the females' and the promotion-based instrumentality of the students who are unemployed was higher than those who are employed. Moreover, the younger the students' age, the higher their competitive motivation and promotion-based instrumentality. In terms of English learning demotivation, the female respondents achieved higher scores in the factors of anxiety, passive learning style, and negative investment value for learning English than their male counterparts. In addition, employed students showed higher demotivation in negative investment value for learning English than those without employment. The findings of this research can be used in developing online English programs for cyber university students who possess diverse learning goals.

• Annual Conference on Human and Language Technology
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• 2011.10a
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• pp.25-29
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• 2011

영어 논술 자동 평가 시스템은 수험자가 쓴 에세이에 대하여 전문 평가자가 직접 읽고 평가하는 방식에서 벗어나 웹상에서 자동으로 평가 받을 수 있는 실시간 시스템이다. 하지만 비영어권 수험자에게는 논리력 혹은 작문 능력보다 그것을 영어로 표현하는 유창성에서 더 큰 문제가 있을 수 있는데 기존 연구에서는 이런 측면에 대한 평가가 부족하였다. 본 연구에서는 보다 정확한 비영어권 수험자의 영어 논술 평가를 위해 어휘력, 문장 구조의 다양성, 문장의 혼잡도를 평가하여 언어 유창성에 집중된 기계학습 방법의 추가적인 자질을 제안한다. 실험 결과 전문 평가자의 점수와 1) 상관관계 2) 정확도 측면에서 제안하는 방법은 기존의 방법에 비해 더 나은 성능을 보였다.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.41-49
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• 2022

The average acoustic distribution of American English speakers was statistically compared with the English-speaking patterns of gifted students in a Science Academy in Korea. By analyzing speech recordings, the duration time of which is much longer than in previous studies, this research identified the degree of acoustic proximity between the two parties and the predictability of English academic achievement of gifted high school students. Long-term spectral acoustic power distribution vectors were obtained for 2,048 center frequencies in the range of 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz by applying an long-term average speech spectrum (LTASS) MATLAB code. Three more variables were statistically compared to discover additional indices that can predict future English academic achievement: the receptive vocabulary size test, the cumulative vocabulary scores of English formative assessment, and the English Speaking Proficiency Test scores. Linear regression and correlational analyses between the four variables showed that the receptive vocabulary size test and the low-frequency vocabulary formative assessments which require both lexical and domain-specific science background knowledge are relatively more significant variables than a basic suprasegmental level English fluency in the predictability of gifted students' academic achievement.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.25-33
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• 2022

This study investigates the relationships between rhythm and fluency indices and listeners' ratings of the rhythm and fluency of Korean college students' English paragraph reading. 17 university students read and recorded a passage from "The North Wind and the Sun" twice before and after three months of English pronunciation instruction. Seven in-service and pre-service English teachers in graduate school assessed the rhythm and fluency of the utterances. In addition, the values of 14 indices of rhythm and fluency were extracted from each speech and the relationships between the indices and the listeners' ratings were analyzed. The rhythm indices of the speakers in this study did not differ significantly from those of native English speakers presented in previous studies in %V, VarcoV, and nPVIV, but were higher in ΔV, ΔC, and VarcoC and lower in speech rate. The level of rhythm and fluency demonstrated by Korean college students was comparable, at least in terms of objective values for certain indices. The fluency indices, such as percentage of pauses, articulation rate, and speech rate, significantly contributed more to predicting both rhythm and fluency ratings than the rhythm indices.