• 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.15 no.4
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• pp.265-290
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• 2009

The present data-driven study attempted to explicate nonnative English teacher trainees' foreign language teaching anxiety in microteaching settings from their perspectives. It is assumed that nonnative English teachers or teacher trainees may experience anxiety not only as foreign language learners but also as foreign language teachers. In order to inquire into their anxiety, the researcher had 172 teacher trainees perform extended microteaching tasks and reflect on their teaching and anxiety through group discussion. Based on the analysis of their discussion, three aspects related to nonnative English teacher trainees' anxiety were identified. First, teacher trainees identified three main types of anxiety-provoking situations: communicative-competence-threatening situations, unexpected situations, and instruction-hindering situations. Second, they identified three sources of anxiety: limited ability to use English, lack of English teaching skills, and fear of criticism. Third, they were aware that they used diverse strategies to lower anxiety before and while teaching for different purposes. From their identification and awareness of anxiety-provoking situations, sources of anxiety, and anxiety-lowering strategies, they could reflect on professional qualifications as a foreign language teacher.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.961-972
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• 2005

The purpose of this study is to investigate the improvement of English proficiency of children in the ESL and EFL learning style classrooms through the experiment method. The results of this research are as follows: first, the scores of listening and speaking and the perception of alphabets in the ESL program are higher than that in the EFL program. This means that learning in the ESL style classroom is the better way to improve English skills than in the EFL style classroom, which is common in Korea. Second, there is no difference in the English listening and speaking skills and the perception of the English alphabets between the two gender groups in the ESL & EFL style classrooms. These results suggest that the target language may be used in the English classrooms by the teachers and the students with the materials, books, and equipment are English. Teachers are expected to be in charge of playing decisive roles as demonstrators of speech, models and correctors of pronunciation and providers of materials including TV, VCR, CD players, and cassette recorders, etc.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• no.1
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• pp.129-157
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• 1995

I made a careful study of affective variables in foreign language learning Affective variables have not been adequately investigated in the study of second language acquisition. Egoism and inhibition are two egocentric factors which play important roles in foreign language learning. Three sociocultural variables. cultural factors, introversion / extroversion, and aggression may be keys to understanding the social nature of second language learning. And the emerging of cognition and affect in "cognitive styles", which vary within and among individuals, might account for varying degree of success in learning a second language. In the process of learning English. the students new to foreign language come to face the language barrier. though they express the deep interest and feel excited at the beginning stage. Of course, the several reasons can explain this fact. but more specially they can be explained in terms of such personal affective factors as age, aptitude, personality, and first of all, motivation. Also the socicultural factors between language and culture can be considered to the learner's aptitude toward the language. Affective factors of students are involved in personality. and personality and affective factors affect English learning. Affective variables of students affect the will to take part in English learning, and the rate of participation in English learning affect the fluency. If students feel inconvenience in English class, it is rarely that they run a risk. Students who do not run a risk in English class are short of spontaneous participation Consequently, it may have negative influence on the accuracy and the fluency of English. Therefore, teachers must be more influential in motivating students and specially attentive so that the students may not make the negative and inhibitive language learning attitude.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.189-215
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• 2008

This study proposes using children's literature as a means of teaching and learning English as a foreign language and suggests practical strategies on the basis of transactional theory of reading suggested by Rosenblatt (1994, 1995). This study suggests three novels written for children or young adults: On My Honor (1986) by Marion Dane Bauer, The Giver (1993) by Lois Lowry and Hatchet (1987) by Gary Paulsen. These texts were selected because of their diverse topics, easy and comprehensible language, engaging stories, and authentic and rich expressions, making them effective materials for foreign language learners. This paper is organized as follows: First, it reviews research on teaching literature in English education and response-oriented language teaching to provide theoretical background of literature-based language teaching and learning. Second, it provides the background of the texts selected for the study. Third, it develops diverse, practical strategies for instructors who intend to use children's literature in EFL teaching. We expect to guide EFL instructors in adopting children's literature in their English class by connecting theory and practice and by providing diverse methods and strategies, and sample responses by EFL university students.

• Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.309-339
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• 2003

This paper provides an overview of second language (L2) socialization research, some examples of recent studies addressing this topic, and finally a theoretical reconceptualization of L2 socialization. The three studies to be presented include secondary schools in an English-as-a-foreign-language context in Central Europe, mainstream classes in an English-as-a second-language school in Western Canada, and programs for English language and nursing skills for immigrant Canadians. This empirical, qualitative research does not support a linear, deterministic view of L2 socialization; such a view assumes, erroneously, that students or other novices are fully willing and able to adopt stable, monolingual, local target L2 norms and that members of the target culture are both competent and receptive to the newcomers. Some consequences and implications of these findings are discussed.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.77-88
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• 2011

Foreign accent in second language production depends heavily on the transfer of features from the first language. This study examines acoustic variations in segments and suprasegments by native and nonnative speakers of English, searching for patterns of the transfer and plausible indexes of foreign accent in English. The acoustic variations are analyzed with recorded read speech by 20 native English speakers and 50 Korean learners of English, in terms of vowel formants, vowel duration, and syllabic variation induced by stress. The results show that the acoustic measurements of vowel formants and vowel and syllable durations display difference between native speakers and nonnative speakers. The difference is robust in the production of lax vowels, diphthongs, and stressed syllables, namely the English-specific features. L1 transfer on L2 specification is found both at the segmental levels and at the suprasegmental levels. The transfer levels measured as groups and individuals further show a continuum of divergence from the native-like target. Overall, the eldest group, students who are in the graduate schools, shows more native-like patterns, suggesting weaker foreign accent in English, whereas the high school students tend to involve larger deviation from the native speakers' patterns. Individual results show interdependence between segmental transfer and prosodic transfer, and correlation with self-reported proficiency levels. Additionally, experience factors in English such as length of English study and length of residence in English speaking countries are further discussed as factors to explain the acoustic variation.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.55-75
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• 2002

The present study examined whether Kang's (1999) model of the relationships among language learning strategy use and language proficiency for the Asian students could be applied to a more heterogeneous group. In Kang's study, he collected information of language learning strategies of 957 foreign students learning English as a second language in American colleges through a questionnaire. He also measured the subjects' language proficiency with the Institutional Testing Program TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). This study analyzed the same data without the limitation of cultural identity. Structural equation modeling was used to model the relationships among strategy use and language proficiency. Then, the model of the present study was descriptively compared with Kang's (1999) model for the Asian students. The overall flow of the relationship paths appeared to vary very little across the two models, which would have indicated that the generalizability of Kang's (1999) model could be extended more than originally examined. (156)

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• no.6
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• pp.219-239
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• 2000

There has been a growing enthusiasm in Korea for the early education of English as a foreign language (EFL). The present study examined the validity of the Critical Period Hypothesis in terms of the Universal Grammar (UG), in three different types of learning contexts - first language (L1), second language (SL), and foreign language (FL) learning contexts. While previous research findings in L1 and SL learning contexts suggest that UG principles and parameters are accessible to language learners only for the early years of lifetime, this article argues that their results - and even the methods - cannot be applied to EFL settings and that independent studies on the EFL context are, required. It also proposes the recent UG notion of functional categories as the most appropriate subject in the discussion of Korean EFL learners' access to UG. Findings on foreign language contexts, including the author's own, strongly indicate that UG is not sensitive to learners' starting ages in FL settings. If young children in FL contexts cannot develop their interlanguage grammar based on UG, the existing teaching methods for young children should be revised.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.103-114
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• 2002

Language plays a central role in everyday communication activities. Therefore, an individual need to be able to use language to communicate with confidence and without fear. One of the major fears that people have is the fear of communication. This fear is most of the time due to a lack of confidence in communicating in a particular language or due to poor proficiency in the language. In some cases it can also be due to attitudinal problems. In the context of teaching and learning English as a second or foreign language, students can have a great fear of using English with confidence. This fear can be an acute one and thus students may avoid using English to communicate. However, non native speakers of English need to be highly competent in the use of the English language for a variety of communicative purposes particularly in meeting the challenges of globalisation and that of the digital age. This article presents some insights on language apprehension found among communication undergraduates who are non native speakers of English.