• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.173-179
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to explore college students' use of learning strategies in a flipped learning class, and to examine the students' use of learning strategies in relation to their achievement levels. The participants were 33 college students who took an introduction to English education course. The study used three data collection procedures: (1) students' performance score; (2) a pre-and post-survey of student learning strategies; (3) a survey of student perception towards the flipped learning experience. Data were analyzed by using paired samples t-test and ANOVA. Results showed that the students used different learning strategies in the beginning and the end of the course, depending on their achievement levels. In particular, significant differences were found among three groups in terms of time management, concentration, selecting main idea, self-testing, and test strategies. The result indicates that learning strategies can be effectively trained and developed in the flipped learning environment with the consideration of students' levels.

• Journal of Engineering Education Research
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.64-78
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• 2007

For Korean researchers, English is essential. In fact, this is the case for any researcher who is a non-native English speaker, as recognition and success is predicated on being published, while publications that reach the broadest audiences are in English. Unfortunately, university science and engineering programs in Korea often do not provide formal coursework to help students attain greater competence in English composition. Aggravating this situation is the general lack of literature covering this specific pedagogical issue. While there is plenty of information to help native speakers with technical writing and much covering general English composition for EFL learners, there is very little information available to help EFL learners become better technical writers. Thus, the purpose of this report is twofold. First, as most Korean educators in science and engineering are not well acquainted with pedagogical issues of EFL writing, this report provides a general introduction to some relevant issues. It reviews the importance of contrastive rhetoric as well as some considerations for choosing the appropriate teaching approach, class arrangement, and use of computer assisted learning tools. Secondly, a course proposal is discussed. Based on a review of student writing samples as well as student responses to a self-assessment questionnaire, the proposed course is intended to balance the needs of Korean EFL learners to develop grammar, process, and genre skills involved in technical writing. Although, the scope of this report is very modest, by sharing the considerations made towards the development of an EFL technical writing course it seeks to provide a small example to a field that is perhaps lacking examples.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.37-46
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of the use of artificial intelligence chatbots on improving Korean college students' English grammar skills. 70 undergraduate students participated in the present study. They were taking a General English class offered by a university in Korea. There were two groups in this study. Participants in the chatbot group consisted of 36 students while those in the human group were 34. Over 16 weeks, the chatbot group engaged in ten chat sessions with a chatbot while the human group had a chat with a human chat partner. Both pre- and post-tests were performed to examine changes in the participants' grammar skills over time. To compare the improvement between the two groups, an independent t-test was then run. Main findings are as follows: First, participants in both groups significantly improved their English grammar skills, indicating the beneficial effects of engaging in chat. Also, there was a statistically significant difference in the improvement between the chatbot and human groups, indicating the superior effects of the chatbot use. This study confirmed the improved grammar skills by the participants in the chatbot group, comparison with those in the human group. Based on these findings, suggestions for the future chatbot study are discussed.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.123-130
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• 2018

The present study aims to investigate how Korean EFL learners' views of form-focused instruction, integrated and isolated FFI (form-focused instruction), are related to their beliefs about grammar and attention and how different these relationships are between high and low proficiency levels and between males and females in Korean college contexts. The findings indicated the participants' strong preference for integrated FFI, which was significantly correlated with two factors, attention in English class and English proficiency. On the other hand, the isolated FFI was strongly correlated with their beliefs about grammar learning, that is, independent learning of grammar and importance of learning grammar rules. In conclusion, the integrated FFI was associated with students' proficiency and attention, while the isolated FFI was related to their views of grammar learning. In conclusion, it is suggested that we need to use integrated FFI in Korean EFL contexts considering students' levels of proficiency and attention.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.353-360
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• 2020

This study was executed to be used as the basic data for the improvement of Korean Chinese undergraduates' English proficiency. Descriptive statistics and t-tests were used for data analysis on the differences between Korean Chinese and Han Chinese students' preparedness and learning outcomes of 203 undergraduates at a four-year college in China. Results showed that Korean Chinese students were significantly less prepared and had weaker learning outcomes than Han Chinese students. Analysis on the factors that affected learning outcomes showed significant differences in oral English skills, attitudes toward curriculum, beliefs in their own fluency, and learning strategies. On the other hand, no group difference was shown in learning interests. Based on these findings, implications for the improvement of Korean Chinese undergraduates' preparedness and learning outcomes in EFL class were described.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.20
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• pp.67-111
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• 2010

This paper examined the role of intermediate texts in the writing process in the context of an EFL composition class. From the tradition of teacher research, this study examined how the Korean college students in different proficiency groups created intermediate texts and used them while composing their own writing. The students produced various types of intermediate texts during the compositing process, which could serve as a basis of their writing. However, the patterns of using these intermediate texts differed widely across the proficiency groups. A writing cycle for the low proficiency group, or "surface reading-few intermediate texts-writing," indicates that less proficient students tended to engage in reading in separation of writing practices and thus produced few intermediate texts through their literacy practices. On the other hand, the students in the higher proficiency groups revealed the more integrated pattern (i.e., purpose reading/intermediate texts/writing), indicating that they often engaged in reading with specific writing purposes, practiced reading in connection to other writing practices, and elaborated written intermediate texts produced. This study argues that, to shift our student writers to a higher level category, we as teachers need to help them engage in reading and writing practices in the way they produce and use intermediate texts appropriate to their specific writing purposes.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.169-174
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• 2023

The purpose of this study is to analyze Korean college students' perceptions of interactions and senses of community, among students, and instructors and students as they took face-to-face classes by the time students and instructors came back to the classroom. Forty-nine college students participated in the study, and all of them had experienced non-face-to-face classes during the last two years from 2020 through 2021. They responded to the revised Rovai (2002)'s Classroom Community Scale (CCS), and the data were analyzed using a frequency analysis. The findings of data analysis showed that the students positively perceived the class contents and teaching formats of face-to-face classes, in terms of understanding and concentration on the class. On the other hand, it was found out that the students would still need more time for being familiar with face-to-face classes, and their affective variables of the educational environment should be considered.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.33-40
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• 2017

This article is to investigate the possibility that project-based classes introducing mobile phones can replace the monotony of traditional classes led by teachers as well as they can encourage students to take active part in the classes to some extent. The students in groups choose a genre for their own video projects (e.g., movie, drama, news, documentary, and commercial) and produce the video contents using a mobile phone for presentation made at the end of a semester. In the sense that the students are allowed to do video-based mobile phone projects, they can work independently outside of class, where time and space are more flexible and students are free from the anxiety of speaking or acting in front of an audience. A mobile phone project consists of around five stages done both in and outside of the classroom. All of these stages can be graded independently, including genre selection, drafting of scripts, peer review and revision, rehearsals, and presentation of the video. Feedback is given to students. After the presentation, students filled out a survey questionnaire sheet devised to analyze students' responses toward preferences and level of difficulty of the project activity. Finally, proposals are made for introduction of a better mobile phone-based project classes.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.24
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• pp.170-183
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• 2011

This study explored how a Chinese college student who previously had not reached a threshold level of Korean proficiency used L1 (Chinese) and L2 (English) as a tool to socialize into Korean (L3) culture of learning over the course of study. From a perspective of language socialization, this study examined the cross-linguistic influence of L1 and L2 on the L3 acquisition process by tracing an approach to language learning and practices taken by the Chinese student as a case study. Data were collected through three methods; interview protocols, various types of written texts, and observations. The results showed that the student used English as a means to negotiate difficulties and expertise by empowering her L2 exposure during the classroom practices. Her ways of using L2 in oral practices could be characterized as the 'Inverse U-shape' pattern, under which she increased L2 exposure at the early stage of the study and shifted the intermediate language to L3 at the later stage of the study. When it comes to the language use in written practices, the sequence of "L2-L1-L3" use gradually changed to the "L2-L3" sequence over time, signifying the importance of interaction between L2 and L3. However, the use of her native language (L1) in a Korean-speaking classroom was limited to a certain aspect of literacy practices (i.e., vocabulary learning or translation). This study argues for L2 communication channel in cross-cultural classrooms as a key factor to determine sustainable learning growth.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.83-88
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• 2019

This study examines the effects of student-centered project-based learning for the development of creative problem-solving skills, communication skills, critical thinking skills, and cooperation. A college students' creative personality test was used and pre-and post-test were performed. and TOEIC Speaking practice test by Educational Testing Service were selected to measure the English communication skills. The SPSS 18.0 was used and validated at a significance level of 5%. The result of this study shows that in the case of 'independence', the post-test average of the experimental group was statistically significant at the significant level (p<.01), which also showed statistically significant difference. There was statistically significant difference between the control group ($M=127{\pm}08.2$) and in the experimental group ($M=132{\pm}18.7$) applying project-based and problem-based convergent learning to English class were positively changed.