• 영어영문학
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• 제56권6호
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• pp.1255-1279
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• 2010

Much has already been learned about what goes on in the minds of second language writers as they compose, yet, oddly enough, until recently little in the L2 research literature has addressed writing and mental imagery together. However, images and imaging (visual thinking) play a crucial role in perception (the basis of mental imagery), in turn, affecting language, thinking, and writing. Many theorists of mental imagery also agree that more than just language accounts for how we think and that imagery is at least as crucial as language. All of these demands, to be sure, are compounded for EFL students, which is why I investigate EFL students' writing process, focusing on the use of mental imagery and its relationship to the writing. First I speculate upon some ways that imagery influences EFL students' composing processes and products. Next, I want to explore how and whether the images in a writer's mind can be shaped effectively into a linear piece of written English in one's writing. I studied two university undergraduate EFL students, L and J. They had fairly advanced levels of English proficiency and exhibited high level of writing ability, as measured by TOEFL iBT Test. Each student wrote two comparison and contrast essays: one written under specified time limitations and the other written without the pressure of time. In order to investigate whether the amount of time in itself causes differences within an individual in imagery ability, the students were placed under strict time constraints for Topic 1. But for Topic 2, they were encouraged to take as much time as necessary to complete this essay. Immediately after completing their essays, I conducted face-to-face retrospective interviews with students to prompt them for information about the role of imagery as they write. Both L and J have spent more time on their second (untimed) essays. Without time constraint, they produced longer texts on untimed essay (149 vs. 170; 186 vs 284 words). However, despite a relatively long period of time spent writing an essay, these students neither described their images nor detailed them in their essays. Although their mental imagery generated an explosion of ideas for their writings, most visual thinking must merely be a means toward an end-pictures that writers spent in purchasing the right words or ideas.

• International Journal of Contents
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• 제10권4호
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• pp.48-52
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to examine 30 logical connectors in the essay writing of Korean university students for comparison with the use in similar types of native English writing. The main questions addressed were as follows: Do Korean EFL students tend to over- or underuse logical connectors? What types of connectors differentiate Korean learners from native use? To answer these questions, EFL learner data were compared with data from native speakers using computerized corpora and linguistic software tools to speed up the initial stage of the linguistic analysis. The analysis revealed that Korean EFL learners tend to overuse logical connectors in the initial position of the sentence, and that they tend to overuse additive connectors such as 'moreover', 'besides', and 'furthermore', whereas they underuse contrastive connectors such as 'yet' and 'instead'. On the basis of the results of this study, some pedagogical implications are made concerning the need for teaching of the semantic, stylistic, and syntactic behavior of logical connectors.

• 영어어문교육
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• 제13권2호
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• pp.25-45
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• 2007

In this article, I discuss an International Collaborative Writing Course on the Internet (ICWCI) that focused on the learning effectiveness Korean EFL students (KEFLSs) perceived to be necessary to exchange with international EFL students (IEFLSs). The course development was based on an internet-based instructional module, applying widely accepted EFL theories for modern foreign language instruction: collaborative learning, process writing, project-based learning, and integrated approaches. Data from online discussion forum, mid-of-semester and end-of-semester surveys, and final oral interviews are conducted and discussed. KEFLSs and IEFLSs were questioned about (a) changes in attitude towards computers assisted language learning (CALL); (b) effect of computer background on motivation; (c) perception of their acquired writing skills; and (d) attitude towards collaborative learning. The result of this study demonstrated that the majority of ICWCI participants said they enjoyed the course, gained fruitful confidence in English communication and computer skills, and felt that they made significant progress in writing skills. In spite of positive benefits created by the ICWCI, it was found that there were some issues that are crucial to run appropriate networked collaborative courses. This study demonstrates that participants' computer skills, basic language proficiency, and local time differences are important factors to be considered when incorporating the ICWCI as these may affect the quality of online instructional courses and students' motivation toward network based collaboration interaction.

• 영어어문교육
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• 제3호
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• pp.185-201
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• 1997

This study explores perspectives on responding to EFL students' compositions at the semantic level. In the last three decades, there has been a shift from product-oriented approach to process-oriented one to teaching writing. The shift has led to the criticism of the traditional view on teacher response. The traditional view has been under attack for its overemphasis upon form and ineffectiveness on improving student writing skill. It is also noted that research into students' reactions to the traditional teacher response has been inconclusive. The process-oriented approach, on the other hand, draws its attention to meaning and the logical development of thought as well as linguistic matters. In this context, the present study discusses what EFL teachers need to take into account in providing the semantic-level feedback on students' compositions. Firstly, teacher response to student writing is on-going; teacher feedback involves teacher intervention in the drafting process, the revision process, and the presentation of product. Secondly, in the writing conferences, the teacher provides students an opportunity to talk about writing, assistance and advice on the content/meaning of the written text, helping them expand and clarify thinking about audience(reader) and purpose.

• 영어어문교육
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• 제17권1호
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• pp.191-208
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• 2011

The quantitative study investigated perceptions of evaluative criteria in L2 writing between two groups - learners (N=212) and instructors (N=52) in Korea. Specifically, the purpose of the study is (1) to examine learners' and instructors' perceptions on evaluative criteria in L2 writing and to provide empirical evidence concerning how they respond to a list of them and (2) to ultimately devise appropriate rating criteria applicable to an EFL context like Korea. Analyses of evaluative criteria were conducted using factor analysis and yielded the following results: learner and instructor groups perceived the evaluative criteria differently and weighted them in a different way. For the learner group, the combined elements of grammar and language in use were identified as Factor 1 and mechanics as Factor 2. The results may infer that learners' response patterns are primarily linked to their instructors' writing practice in class, which may largely focus on grammatical knowledge based on lexical use and mechanical accuracy. Similarly, the instructor group acknowledged grammatical knowledge as Factor 1 and lexical use as Factor 2. The first two factors found in both learner and instructor groups indicate that in an EFL context like Korea, the form-then-content way of teaching and learning is still being considered more effective in L2 writing than any other method. Taking into consideration these perceptive similarities and differences between learners and instructors, the categories of evaluative criteria in writing include content and organization, grammar, mechanics, language in use, and flow of the essay, respectively.

• 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.

• 영어어문교육
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• 제16권4호
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• pp.267-290
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to analyze the writing tasks included in the newly developed high school English textbooks in the aspects of genre, rhetorical structure, task type, and authenticity in order to find out whether these tasks could contribute to improving Korean EFL students' writing skills. A total of nine textbooks were selected for the study and every writing task in each textbook was analyzed. The results show that various types of genres were incorporated in the tasks, but very few opportunities were provided for students to acquire characteristics of specific genres. In terms of rhetorical structure of text, narration, illustration, and transaction were required most, whereas not a single writing task asked students to use classification or cause and effect. Many of the writing tasks analyzed offered linguistic and/or content support through the use of models, which displays traces of the product-based approach to teaching writing. Lastly, most of the tasks lacked authenticity represented by explicit discussion of purpose and audience. Implications for L2 writing task development and writing instruction in the Korean EFL context are discussed.

• 영어어문교육
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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.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• 제11권4호
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• pp.42-47
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• 2023

The majority of research on Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) programs has focused primarily on Grammarly, whereas QuillBot and its use in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms remains limitedly explored. This study examined the effectiveness of using QuillBot on the writing quality of college students. A total of 26 participants took pre- and post-writing tests, and four analytical tools were applied to assess their writing quality in terms of syntactic complexity, lexical diversity, lexical richness, and readability. Results of the syntactic complexity analysis across the four indices demonstrates that the syntactic complexity of EFL writing increased significantly, and substantial differences were observed in lexical richness and readability. These results suggest that QuillBot can compensate for the drawbacks of Grammarly and assist EFL writers in improving their overall writing quality.

• 영어어문교육
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• 제13권2호
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• pp.91-108
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• 2007

This study investigates learners' perception on their engagement in rating activities in the EFL essay-writing context. The current study aims to address the answers to the following research questions: 1) What attitude do students show about their participation in the rating tasks? and 2) which of three aspects (e.g. the degree of rating experience, the exposure to English composition instruction and learning, and proficiency level) significantly influences learners' rating activities? 104 EFL learners participated in the rater training session. After participants finished rater training session, they rated three sample essays and peer essays using the given scoring guide. Based on the analysis of survey responses that students made, students showed positive attitude toward their engagement in rating tasks. For research question 2, only L2 writing proficiency seriously affected students' perception on the rating tasks. Advanced level of subjects did not feel stressed by a grade of peers as low level of subjects did. They were also critical about the benefits of self- and peer-assessment, suggesting that a peer's feedback on their own essay was not so useful and that a self-rating does not fully help learners identify their writing proficiency.