• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.291-307
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• 2011

The primary purpose of this study was to report overall findings of academic English proficiency of university ESL students in an ESL program from 2003 to 2008 at a university in the U.S. Furthermore, this study proposes to explore the effectiveness of the ESL program on developing the ESL learners' academic English proficiency. In order to achieve these purposes, this study applied a quantitative research methodology which analyzed data (more than 3,000 samples) collected by the university ESL program. The data included the ESL learners' English proficiency test scores. The results indicated that the effectiveness of the ESL program was significant in improving the ESL learners' cognitive/academic language proficiency across all three groups: ESL-only, ESL + Under, and ESL + Grad. That is, after either a complete ESL program intervention only or both a partial ESL program intervention and taking academic courses, the three groups' academic English proficiency was increased to almost same degree The findings are discussed and implications for pedagogy are suggested.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.69-76
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• 2017

The current study investigated whether Korean learners' English-learning environments, especially target English accent (General American English (GAE) vs. Southern British English (SBE)) and English-language experience affected their production of English vowels. Thirty six EFL learners, 27 ESL-US learners, and 33 ESL-UK learners produced 8 English vowels with a bVt frame (beat, bit, bet, bat, bought, bot, boat, boot). The learners' productions were acoustically analyzed in terms of F1 and F2 frequencies. The overall results revealed that the learners' target accent had an effect on their production of some English vowels. The EFL and ESL-US learners' (especially, female learners') production of bought, bot, boat, and boot, which show characteristic differences between the GAE and SBE accents, was closer to that of the native American English (AE) speakers than the native British English (BE) speakers. In contrast, the ESL-UK learners' production of bought and bot demonstrated the opposite pattern. Thus, the impact of target accent was not demonstrated across the board. The effect of the learners' different English-language experience was also rather limited. This was because the EFL learners' production was not much different from the ESL-US learners' production, in spite of the ESL-US learners' residence in the US for more than 9 years. Furthermore, the Korean learners, irrespective of their different English-language experience, tended to produce bit and bat with lower F1 than the native AE and BE speakers, thus resulting in bit and bat to be produced similarly to beat and bet, respectively. This demonstrates the learners' persistent L1 effects on their English vowel production despite the learners' residence in the English speaking countries or their high English proficiency.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.43
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• pp.459-483
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• 2016

The main objective of this paper is to test the major prediction of the Aspect Hypothesis on interlanguage narratives collected from 171 Ibibio ESL learners in a classroom setting using sets of picture stories. Aspect Hypothesis predicts that lexical aspectual classes of verbs would determine the pattern of acquisition and distribution of tense-aspect morphology at the very early stages of L2 acquisition of tense-aspect verbal morphology. That is, telic verbs would be marked with the past tense-aspect verbal morphology before atelic verbs in the interlanguage of ESL learners irrespective of their L1 background. The results of our data analyses show a significant effect from the lexical aspect on the acquisition and distribution of tense-aspect morphology with chi-square statistics of ($x^2=196.92$,df = 6, n = 1664, p = <.0001). However, the effect of the lexical aspect is shown to be more prominent among Ibibio ESL learners at higher levels of proficiency. This is contrary to the prediction regarding Aspect Hypothesis. The paper concludes that the influence of the lexical aspect on the pattern of acquisition and distribution of tense-aspect morphology may be universal but the actual point along the developmental pathway when such influence is obtainable is yet to be determined. This calls for more research into the pattern of the L2 acquisition of tense-aspect verbal morphology.

• Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.305-327
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• 2002

This paper is in line with the attempts to examine two assumptions implied about the role of Universal Grammar (UC) in nonnative language acquisition: Are the EFL learners at disadvantage in acquiring UC-driven knowledge? Are there critical period effects in EFL learning? Based on the research with the seven studies of ESL and EFL adult learners performance on the Subjacency violation sentences, the paper investigates the extent to which the EFL adult learners can attain UG-driven knowledge represented by the Subjacency Principle. It also makes comparison of the EFL learners level of access to UG with that of their counterparts, the ESL learners. The research findings suggests that the EFL environment doesn't prevent the learners from acquiring target grammar in UG domain. That is, the current paper strongly suggests that the EFL adult-learners be able to acquire UG-driven knowledge to a considerable extent, at least as high as the ESL adult learners can attain. For the interpretation of the research results of the seven studies, Constructionist Hypothesis (CH) supported by a Minimalist Program (MP) assumption is employed. CH seems more plausible to account not only for incomplete acquisition observed among the beginning and intermediate level learners but also for the native-like competence acquired by advanced level L2 learners.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.85-102
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• 2002

Learners and users of a second language have to resort to a variety of conversational strategies or structures to enable them to communicate effectively and competently. Factors affecting effective communication among English as a second or English as foreign language (ESL/EFL) learners are diverse in nature because of different socio-cultural backgrounds. Gambits as a conversational strategy are used to a large extent and teachers must be made aware of such conversational strategies used by English as second or foreign language learners. Thus, studies focusing on conversational strategies among ESL/EFL learners in the English language classroom are important in order to identify the types of conversational strategies used and to help teachers to understand the appropriate conversational strategies and structures. Such understanding can be used to guide learners to use correct conversational strategies when communicating in English. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the use of gambits as a communication strategy in conversation among non-native speakers of English in an English as a second language(ESL) context based on Kellers conversational strategy signals. (175 words)

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.177-200
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• 2007

The language socialization approach states that novices are socialized into cultural norms through participating in routine, repeated interactional acts and sequences (e.g., Ochs & Schieffelin, 1984; Ochs, 1988; Schieffelin & Ochs, 1986a; 1986b; Watson-Gegeo & Gegeo, 1986). One of the cultural norms or dominant epistemological orientations in American culture is the tendency to avoid the overt display of power asymmetry in novice-expert relationship (Ochs & Schieffelin, 1984). This study examines how this cultural preference is reflected and encoded in ESL teachers' use of routine discourse patterns in corrective sequences. Eight hours of ESL classes taught by three Caucasian teachers born and educated in the U.S. were analyzed for the study. The analysis showed that the cultural tendency in question is keyed and indexed in the teacher's routine corrective discourse patterns in the form of various questioning, elicitation, and mitigation practices. Findings support that teachers' routine classroom discourse practices represent their cultural ideologies and transfer these cultural predispositions to second language learners and that they possibly socialize the learners into the target language-oriented beliefs.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.121-137
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• 2005

The present study aims to examine how the roles of teacher and learners affect the repair patterns of both teacher's and learner's utterances in English as a second language (ESL) classroom discourse. The study analyzed beginning ESL classroom discourse and found that the structure of repair seems to be greatly influenced by the roles of participants in a second language classroom. The teacher's repair work was mainly characterized by self-repair. In contrast, learners' repair sequences were predominantly characterized by other-repair. More specifically, self-initiation by the learner of the trouble source was cooperatively completed by the teacher and the other learners. Other-initiated and other-completed repair was the most prevalent form in the current classroom data, which was carried out by the teacher in both modulated and unmodulated manners. When the trouble sources were mostly concerned with the learners' problems with linguistic competence and information presented in the textbook, other-repair took place in a modulated manner (i.e., recasting and prompting). On the other hand, when dealing with learners' errors with factual knowledge, other-repair was conducted in an unmodulated way (i.e., 'no' plus correction).

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.243-261
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• 2003

The purpose of this study is to introduce Korean teachers and researchers ESL standards for TESOL students developed by TESOL association in 1997. The standards were designed to be useful for teachers and other educators who want to incorporate them in their educational programs for ESOL students in mainly the USA. These standards are important because they articulate the English language development needs of ESL learners and provide directions to educators on how to fulfill the needs of ESL students. Also. they emphasize the major role of language in the attainment of other content area standards. In this paper the author introduced not only the theoretical backgrounds. construct. meaning of the standards, and the ways of implementation but also their lessons to our Korean situation.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.41-59
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• 2009

The present study investigated Korean learners' knowledge on the range of possible interpretations of English locative PPs with manner of motion verbs, and considers whether learners can arrive at a superset L2 grammar on the basis of positive L2 input. Unlike Korean, some English locative PPs occurring with manner of motion verbs (such as in John jumped on the bed) are ambiguous as they can be interpreted as either directional or locational. Thirty Korean learners of English in three distinct groups (Advanced EFL-only group; Intermediate-EFL-only group; and ESL-experienced group) participated in an experimental study, along with a control group of nine native speakers of English. The results of the study showed that I) Korean learners, overall, tended to interpret English locative PPs as only locational, failing to recognize the ambiguity between the directional and locational readings in the target structure; 2) For the learners who experienced only the EFL context, even highly proficient learners, as well as intermediate level learners, failed to acknowledge the ambiguity; 3) The learners who experienced the ESL context for an extended period of time could identify the target reading to some extent, although they still could not reach the native-like competence. From these results, it is argued that robustness of positive evidence, not simply its availability, is critical in the acquisition of the superset L2 targets like the present one.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.221-230
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• 2017

This study explores the impact of a flipped classroom, in terms of self-efficacy, for elementary pre-service teachers in US teacher education programs. This research project explores how ESL microteaching activity in the flipped classroom shapes teacher-candidates' self-efficacy regarding teaching culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students. By analyzing ESL microteaching videos, pre-service teachers' reflection papers, and individual interviews with the course instructors, the study results show how pre-service teachers enhance their self-efficacy in teaching CLD English language learners in mainstream content subject classrooms. Moreover, the researchers provide suggestions on how teacher educators can utilize the flipped classroom to create an authentic and meaningful learning experience, such as using ESL microteaching for pre-service teachers to shape their self-efficacy in order to be well-prepared for CLD English language learners. The implication is that Korean pre-service teachers should be prepared to teach CLD students in their mainstream classrooms.