• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.107-125
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• 2006

This article reports some Korean EFL learners' cognitive tendencies drawn up from their responses to logical fallacies in the argument passages, and its pedagogical implications. The findings of experimental study show the meaningful disparities in three sets of judgment tests designed to identify and explicate faulty arguments: based on the three general types of fallacies using language, emotions, and distraction tactics, subjects on average gained the highest scores in the test questions with language-loaded fallacies and the lowest scores in those with emotion-based ones among the three different types; for this reason, the scores that subjects obtained in the test of distraction-loaded fallacious arguments fell in between the two poles. These discrepancies, mainly based on statistical inferences, support the possibility that the Korean EFL learners are most likely to be manipulated by emotions/distraction- loaded argument tactics than by language-based ones in the three types of fallacious arguments; and, they are least likely to be influenced by language-oriented trickeries. As a consequence, such variances in abilities to recognize the intrinsic elements of logical fallacies suggest some basic instructional approaches to critical reading of argumentative texts with due weights on the Korean EFL learners' culture-specific cognitive tendencies.

• 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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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.253-270
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• 2007

The purpose of this paper is to illuminate how Suzan-Lori Parks reveals colonized oppression and violence in a black woman's body in Venus. The body of Hottentot Venus is an 'object' of white male spectators' gazes and a dissection from a medical study. The report on her pathologic anatomy gives the audience the illusion that the body of a black woman is inferior to those of others. Not only 'subjective' aesthetics, but also 'objective' medicine makes us confuse 'fact' with 'truth' about black women. By publicly exhibiting her erotic body, Venus is represented as a singular emblem for nineteenth-century colonial discourse on race and sexuality. Her body stands for the powerful signifier of raped Africa. A distinctive feature of black Venus is her raciality. The ownership of her body is only transferred from Mother-Showman to Doctor Baron. She had no right to her ownership. Her body is an object of hatred and curiosity and at the same time a site which is represented by conflicting desires. Parks' eventual goal in Venus is to investigate 'hindsight' of Venus Hottentot, 'the past' and 'the posterior'. As the meaning of original chocolate can be regained, the insulted and damaged body of Venus should also be recovered and resurrected.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.33-58
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• 2007

The present paper aims at comparing the two modes of CMC - synchronous and asynchronous - in terms of discourse markers used in turn-initial positions. It further attempts to examine the viability and limitations of these two modes of CMC in fostering EFL learners' face-to-face conversation skills. For these purposes, the present study analyzed 33 Korean EFL learners' Web chat and E-mail exchange data. Discourse markers in the participants' Web chat transcripts and those in their E-mail transcripts were identified and then compared in terms of their frequency and functions. The analysis revealed that the participants show difference in their preference for discourse markers depending on the modes of CMC. Also, the functions of discourse markers used for Web chat showed were strikingly different from those for e-mail. Especially, e-mail discourse markers revealed greater discrepancy from the markers in face-to-face conversation. The differences were found to be attributable to the time factor involved with the turn-taking systems of the two modes of CMC, especially the degree of instantaneousness in their turn-taking. Findings suggest that the turn taking skills and discourse marker use in CMC is not applicable to face-to-face conversation contexts. Pedagogical implications are discussed.

• Hwankyungkyoyuk
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.19-39
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• 1999

Firstly, the goals and the domains of contents of environmental education was classified in order to systematize the contents of environmental education which would be taught in each subject. According to these goals and domains of contents, the contents of 10 subjects (Korean Language, Ethics, Social Studies, Mathematics, Science, Music, Arts, Physical Practicum(Technology and Heme Economics), English were analyzed. The norms in the analysis of the goals of environmental education by each subject were 4 domains: information and knowledge, skills, value & attitudes, & action and participation. The norms in the analysis of the contents of environmental education by each subject were 11 domains: natural environment, artificial environment, population, industrialization/urbanization, resources, environmental pollution, environmental preservation and measures, environmental sanitation, environmental ethics, environmentally sound and sustainable development(ESSD), and sound consumption life. As a result, it was found that all the 4 domains of goals in environmental education could come true. Furthermore, the goals of environmental education were found to be reached in the subjects of Korean Language, Music, Arts, Physical Education, Mathematics, English, etc., which had been thought to have nothing to do with environmental education. It was also found that the contents of each subject could deal with its own unique environmental contents. The result of this study can keep all subjects from overlapping in environmental contents, and can make the most of each subject's characteristics. Also, the result of this study will be referenced in developing the teaching and learning materials for environmental education according to each subject.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.37-54
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• 2009

This study investigated vocabulary learning strategies used by EFL middle school learners in Korea and examined the relationship between the middle school learners' vocabulary learning strategy (VLS) use and their vocabulary proficiency level. One hundred and forty-one students in a public middle school participated in the study and the data for this study were collected from a vocabulary learning strategy questionnaire and a vocabulary proficiency test. Based on the result of the vocabulary proficiency test, the participants were divided into three proficiency groups: high-, mid- and low- level proficiency groups. The overall findings of the study revealed that the participants used cognitive strategies most frequently and social strategies least frequently. The most frequently used individual strategies were 'using a bilingual dictionary,' 'studying the sound of a word' and 'practicing words through verbal repetition.' The least frequently used ones were 'interacting with native speakers' and 'studying or practicing the meaning of a word in a group.' The research results also showed that the vocabulary proficiency level has a significant influence on the vocabulary strategy use. The more proficient learners used vocabulary learning strategies more actively. More specifically, the high proficiency level group used metacognitive strategies the most. The middle and low proficiency groups used cognitive strategies the most. It is suggested that language teachers should facilitate the vocabulary learning process by helping learners develop appropriate strategies.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.157-175
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• 2009

This paper offers a critical review of a newspaper argument regarding the problems of high school education assessment for university entrance examination system in the United Kingdom. The media account raises three sets of questioning to hold that the nation's long-standing A-levels have failed and is no longer viable as a high-stakes test. However, it is found that the writer's argumentations involving misleading conceptions can be deconstructed because of invalid reasoning and unreliable evidence. So, it is proposed that a reasonable solution to replace the discredited A-level exams should be to adopt an eclectic approach for assessing candidates' multiple capabilities; performance, potentiality and critical thinking skills. These criteria for component-oriented assessments are designed to measure their high school academic achievements and intellectual capacity for tertiary education; in the process of such measurement, critical-logical reasoning abilities for sound judgment and problem-solving tasks should be incorporated with the basic precondition that each university possesses its own discretion for the determination of adequate proportions to reflect each of the assessment outcomes. It is, therefore, expected that this critical review will inspire the readers to understand aspects of assessment as an educational field and to confirm how seriously they may be misguided by a distorted media argumentation without substantive background knowledge.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.55-74
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• 2009

Although a considerable amount of research on discourse signaling cues has been conducted in reading, little attention has been paid to such cues in the area of listening. Moreover, despite the solid evidence showing that cues have beneficial effects for reading comprehension, L2 listening research has produced mixed findings about the role of cues. Such discrepancies among these findings might be due in part to inadequate research methodologies as well as the idiosyncratic features of their experimental designs. However, no study, to date, has thoroughly examined the research designs of listening comprehension studies on cues. Consequently, this study critically evaluates the present state of research designs and reporting practices of studies investigating the role of cues in listening comprehension. The present study aims to provide insights into areas that require empirical attention and systematic investigation. It also seeks to encourage improved and refined research practices for future studies. This paper is organized as follows: It will first critically review the empirical findings regarding cues in the area of L1 listening comprehension. Second, it will present a critical evaluation of L2 listening studies on cues. Finally, it will address the major research design issues of currently available listening studies and provide suggestions for improvement in future research.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.167-185
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• 2002

The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between sin and grace represented in The Power and the Glory. This work is composed of two thriller patterns of the pursuer and the pursed. The first pursuit is that the whisky priest, the representative of religious order is pursued by the lieutenant, the representative of secular order. And the second pursuit is that the whisky priest is trying to escape from God. In the course of his flight from God the whisky priest discovers his sinful nature and this self-recognition helps him restore his proper relationship with God. When he was a young priest he had religious piety, but he didn't feel true love for others. Ironically, after he is corrupted he finds his sinful nature and regrets his wrong behavior. He then comes to understand God's will and his responsibility to have love for the miserable human beings. The whisky priest is willing to accept his destiny as a martyr, after having repented his sins to God. Though the lieutenant captures the whisky priest and executes him, he doesn't feel triumph or hope but feels empty. The Power and the Glory shows us the irony that the lieutenant's power is a symbol of his weakness, while the priest's weakness is a symbol of his power.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.117-130
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• 2003

This paper attempts, not to evaluate, but to describe William Carlos Williams' poetic techniques in accord with his poetic theory of Imagism; it does this by showing the early poetry in 1910's. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how Williams developed his poetic techniques with his theory of poetry. The progress of his poetic theory is drawn from the influence of another poet, Ezra Pound. William Carlos Williams' poetic development in Imagism threads the periods of his writing from the early 1910's to the early of 1920's. William Carlos Williams forms progressively the theory of his poetic technique of Imagism in this period. He treats the poems as images. In his theory of Imagism, his art continually demonstrates the development of poetic techniques by the help of other artists. This period represents Williams' attention to the essence of poetic elements: 'the thing itself.' All of these things in life come before us in his poetry in such a way as to be a technical process divided into the well-formed theory of poetry. The development of William Carlos Williams' poetic technique takes a particular pattern in order to achieve a theory of Imagism. At last, the steps of his poetic technique arrive at an organic unity of poetic theory in the early poetry of Williams.