• International Journal of Contents
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• 제5권3호
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• pp.65-70
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• 2009

This paper describes ongoing work on the correction of adverb errors committed by Korean learners studying English as a foreign language (EFL), using an automated English writing assessment system. Adverb errors are commonly found in learners 'writings, but handling those errors rarely draws an attention in natural language processing due to complicated characteristics of adverb. To correctly detect the errors, adverbs are classified according to their grammatical functions, meanings and positions within a sentence. Adverb errors are collected from learners' sentences, and classified into five categories adopting a traditional error analysis. The error classification in conjunction with the adverb categorization is implemented into a set of mal-rules which automatically identifies the errors. When an error is detected, the system corrects the error and suggests error specific feedback. The feedback includes the types of errors, a corrected string of the error and a brief description of the error. This attempt suggests how to improve adverb error correction method as well as to provide richer diagnostic feedback to the learners.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• 제16권3호
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• pp.365-395
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• 2010

This study explores the effect of extensive reading(ER) implemented in middle and high schools in Korean EFL context. Two middle school English teachers and two high school English teachers participated in implementing ER in their classes. Six middle school classes of 239 students and seven high school classes of 268 students participated in ER program guided by the above four teachers. To implement ER, participating teachers had continuously been guided by the researcher about the theoretic reasoning of ER and practical methods for efficient ER in class. The study lasted for two semesters and the teachers and students were surveyed and interviewed during and after the classes. The result showed pretty positive improvement of students' self-confidence, interest and motivation about English through ER implemented in this study. It is hoped that this study would show the possibility of implementing ER in Korean EFL secondary school context and a model for ER and cooperation between university researchers and in-service English teachers.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• 제15권4호
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• pp.23-36
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• 2009

This paper aims to investigate the use of reference and substitution as cohesion devices by advanced Korean EFL writers and English native writers. Twelve research articles (totaling 218 pages, 93,033 words) written in English were collected in academic journals. Half of the research articles were prepared by Koreans and the other half were written by native writers. Several demonstrative pronouns, personal pronouns and demonstrative adverbs were selected as referential cohesion devices for this study. Three substitutional cohesion devices were also chosen. Their frequency was investigated at first, after which their preference was analyzed. There was not much difference in the overall use of cohesion devices between the two groups. Some devices were used by Korean writers more often than native ones. Reasons for this could be high English proficiency of Korean writers, their hyper-correction or the influence of Korean culture. Other more distinctive cohesion features such as conjunctions are recommended for analysis of cohesion in future research.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• 제13권2호
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• pp.129-153
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• 2007

When English language teachers are deciding on their priorities for teaching pronunciation, it is imperative to know what kind of differences and errors are most likely to interfere with communication, and what special problems particular first-language speakers will have with English pronunciation. In other words, phoneme discrimination skill is an integral part of speech processing for the EFL learners' learning to converse in English. Training using sound visualization technique can be effective in improving second language learners' perceptions and productions of segmental and suprasegmental speech contrasts. This study assessed the efficacy of a pronunciation training that provided visual feedback for EFL learners acquiring pitch and durational contrasts to produce and perceive English phonemic distinctions. The subjects' ability to produce and to perceive novel English words was tested in two contexts before and after training; words in isolation and words in sentences. In comparison with an untrained control group, trainees showed improved perceptual and productive performance, transferred their knowledge to new contexts, and maintained their improvement three months after training. These findings support the feasibility of learner-centered programs using sound visualization technique for English language pronunciation instruction.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• 제13권2호
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• pp.155-176
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• 2007

An attempt to investigate the effect of gender differences on Korean students' EFL learning orientation was made. To explain a Korean EFL learning context, three criteria (cultural distance between the target country and the host country, communicative needs of the TL, the status of the TL in the host country) are adopted. Moreover, as a contrastive FL learning context from the Imposed FL learning context, a FL learning context where there is a substantial cultural distance from the TL community, communication needs of the TL do not exist, and the TL enjoys a special educational and socioeconomic status in the host country, a concept of an Integrative FL learning context is newly brought up in this paper. As the result of a questionnaire conducted in four different high schools, female learners can be claimed to be more internalized about academic and socioeconomic benefits the TL entails for their social advancement and overcoming inequality between men and women in society, albeit insignificant numerical data.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• 제8권2호
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• pp.71-90
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• 2003

The purpose of this paper is to discuss recent notions of communicative competence, especially as it is presented in Korean EFL education. Communicative competence has been modified and reinterpreted several times since the term was introduced by Hymes (1970). Paulston (1974) and Savignon (1983) focus on social interaction while Canale and Swain (1980) offer four categories of communicative competence: grammatical competence, discourse competence, sociolinguistic competence, and strategic competence. In addition, Tarone and Yule (1989) can be viewed as a systematic and comprehensive concept as well as a multi-dimensional mode (Bachman, 1990). Brown (2000) presents linguistic and functional aspects and Savignon's (1983) sociolinguistic competence has been transformed into sociocultural competence (Savignon, 2001). This study shows which aspects of Korean EFL education have been changed' and what needs to be accomplished for enhancing student's communicative competence.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.23-52
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• 2004

This paper investigated students' and teachers' attitudes toward L2 grammar in EFL learning context. In a study in which attitude was viewed as consisting of three different components such as cognitive, affective, and behavioral, questionnaire developed on the basis of such a view of attitude was used as a data collection method. The results of the study indicated that in general, both students and teachers were similar to each other in their attitude toward L2 grammar. Among the findings, most important, two groups were shown to fully understand the important role of grammar in L2 learning. Another finding was that despite the 6th national curriculum for English education, our English class was still dominated by grammar-centered instruction. Also it was shown that the way teachers had been taught L2 grammar had a considerable effect on the way they would instruct it in their future classes. Based on these findings, some suggestions were offered for effective grammar pedagogy in EFL context.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• 제11권2호
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• pp.135-148
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• 2005

This paper investigated the effect of audio and visual cues on Korean and Japanese EFL learners' perception of the lateral/retroflex contrast in English. In a perception experiment, the two English consonants /l/ and /r/ were embedded in initial and medial position in nonsense words in the context of the vowels /i, a, u/. Singletons and clusters were included in the speech material. Audio and video recordings were made using a total of 108 items. The items were presented to Korean and Japanese learners of English in three conditions: audio-alone (A), visual-alone (V) and audio-visual presentation (AV). The results showed that there was no evidence of AV benefit for the perception of the /l/-/r/ contrast for either Korean or Japanese learners of English. Korean listeners showed much better identification rates of the /l/-/r/ contrast than Japanese listeners when presented in audio or audio-visual conditions.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• 제11권2호
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• pp.51-66
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• 2005

This study investigates the feasibility of incorporating student evaluations of peer review interactions into the course grade for an EFL writing course. The use of such evaluations offers a way to grade the process of writing more directly than using writing portfolios alone. Moreover, evaluating peer review interactions highlights the social aspect of writing, which is valuable in the current post-process climate in writing instruction. The 18 members of a semester-long EFL writing course at a Korean university were trained in peer response for one half of a semester; then performed evaluations of peer review interactions during the second half of the semester as part of their writing course. Student evaluations were examined to reveal whether any bias occurred due to relative age, gender, major, or question type. The results revealed no such biases. Therefore, it is suggested that students are capable of providing fair evaluations of peers, which means the evaluations can be factored into the course grade in order to evaluate the social aspect of the writing process.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• 제15권2호
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• pp.151-168
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• 2009

The present study investigates the impact of trained peer feedback on the quantity and quality of revisions made by EFL students at a low-intermediate level. Peer review training was carried out in experimental group through four in-class training sessions and four peer dyad-instructor conferences after class. Students' $1^{st}$ drafts with written peer feedback and revised drafts prior to and post training were collected and analyzed. Results reveal that after training the students produced more revisions in response to their peer comments (96% of total revisions) and those revisions were counted as enhanced in quality (93% of peer-triggered revisions). In contrast, the results of paired t-test within control group indicate that there was no significant difference between two data collected from week 3 and week 16 (t = -.57, df =19, p = .577 at p < .05). The findings suggest that training as an ongoing process of teacher intervention contributes to effectiveness of the peer feedback activity. The study provides pedagogical implications for how to structure and implement peer review training for the sake of its direct strength in an EFL writing class.