• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.61-85
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• 2006

The purpose of the present study is to compare Korean EFL learners' speech corpus (i.e. oral productions) with their composition corpus (i.e. written productions). Four college students participated in the study. The composition corpus was collected through a writing assignment, and the speech corpus was gathered by audio-taping their oral presentations. The results of the data analysis indicate that (i) As for error frequency, young adult low-intermediate Korean EFL learners showed high frequency in determiners (mostly, indefinite articles), vocabulary (mostly, semantic errors), and prepositions. The frequency order did not show much difference between the speech corpus and the composition corpus; and (ii) When comparing the oral productions with the written productions, there were not many differences between them in terms of the contents, a style (i.e., colloquial vs. literary), vocabulary selection, and error types and frequency. Therefore, it is assumed that the proficiency in oral presentation of EFL learners at this learning stage heavily depends on how much/how well they are able to write. In other words, EFL learners' writing and speaking skills are closely co-related. It implies that the teacher does not need to separate teaching how to speak from teaching how to write. The teacher may use the same methods or strategies to help the learners improve their English speaking and writing skills. Furthermore, it will be more effective to teach writing before speaking since they have more opportunities to write than speak in the EFL contexts.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• no.3
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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.

• 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.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.13 no.2
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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.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.56 no.6
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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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• v.10 no.4
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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.

• Educational Technology International
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.71-94
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• 2011

How can an automated essay scoring (AES) program, which provides feedback for essays, be a formative tool for improving ESL writing? In spite of the increasing demands for English writing proficiency, English writing instruction has not been effective for teaching and learning because of a lack of timely and accurate feedback. In this context, AES as a possible solution has been gaining the attention of educators and scholars in ESL/EFL writing education because it can provide consistent and prompt feedback for student writers. This experimental study examined the impact of different types of feedback for a college ESL writing program using the Criterion AES system. The results reveal the positive impact of AES in a college-level ESL course and differences between the teacher's feedback and the AES feedback. The findings suggest that AES can be effectively integrated into ESL writing instruction as a formative assessment tool.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.23-47
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• 2011

This study investigates the effect of peer tutoring and peer tutor training program on Korean university students' EFL writing. Six tutors and twelve tutees have participated in the experiment. The tutors were divided into untrained and trained groups each of which was assigned to teach six tutees. The three peer tutors in the experimental group received training on how to give peer tutoring. After the pre-test, the tutees wrote series of drafts on three topics and received written feedback from their peer tutors via email. The results of the post-test showed improvement in writing scores in both groups. The tutees in the trained peer tutor group, however, showed much greater improvement. Their improvement was also more consistent, and the score differences between the two groups increased over time. Analysis of the peer tutors' written feedback indicated that the trained tutors focused more on the higher order concerns in writing than the untrained ones did. In the questionnaire all tutees responded positively to the peer tutoring experience. The results indicate that peer tutor training programs may have beneficial effects on Korean university students' writing abilities especially in the elements of higher order concerns.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• no.3
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• pp.1-12
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• 1997

Errors in EFL writing are very often attributable to learner's inadequate understanding of the target culture. Most of these errors are very hard to identify because they are grammatically correct notwithstanding the meaning. EFL learners almost habitually equate the meaning and usage of a linguistic item when it is present both in the native and the target languages. However, seemingly identical items in both languages sometimes prove themselves to be distinct from each other because of cultural differences. Some expressions in the native language are neither socially acceptable nor meaningful in the target language. Out of sheer ignorance, moreover, one puts a target item in the way he may use it in his native language. For instance. the primary feature of the term "friend" in Korean is [+same age group]. So, a Korean young man is not supposed to call his teacher a friend. This paper aims to clarify patterns of college level writing errors caused by interference of mother culture.

• International Journal of Contents
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• v.5 no.3
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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.