• Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics
• /
• v.3 no.2
• /
• pp.281-308
• /
• 2003

The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of CMC-based English learning. In this study, CMC components were found to provide circumstances of facilitating interactions between student-student and student-student-teacher, which enabled students to accomplish language learning tasks. Findings of this study are as follows: First, CMC based language learning experience helps students have positive attitudes toward their English language learning. Second, student-student-instructor interaction group outperformed other groups in academic achievement and class activity participation. Third, cooperative learning groups more actively participated in the class activity than the individual learning group resulting in better academic performances. These findings supported the fact that cooperative learning with CMC components are useful in bringing more class participation and positive attitude that were believed to foster language learning than other groups in traditional language learning environments. This study suggests that the instructor needs to use instructional design strategies helpful to facilitate active interactions between instructors and students in order to achieve better effectiveness of English learning in a CMC based learning environment.

• Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics
• /
• v.2 no.3
• /
• pp.373-401
• /
• 2002

It is often observed that Korean migrant students overseas experience various kinds of anxieties learning English as a second language although they are in an English-speaking country like New Zealand. The context of learning English as a second language is explored by examining language anxieties experienced by recent Korean migrant students in New Zealand. 177 students were surveyed using questionnaires asking their anxieties over various contexts of English learning processes. The three stages of language anxiety of Input, Processing, and Output showed that there were some degrees of anxiety among the students at each stage depending on their ages, age at migration, and duration of residence, in particular. Students tended to experience more language anxiety in school than outside the school. It was also clear that students were experiencing more anxieties with English than with Korean in the four language skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing. Writing was commonly found in English and Korean to be the most frequent source of anxiety among the four language skills. Some implications from the results are suggested for parents, teachers, and students.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
• /
• no.5
• /
• pp.1-25
• /
• 1999

The objective of the present study was to model the relationships between language learning strategy use and language proficiency among the Asian (Korean, Japanese, and Taiwanese) students studying English in the United States. The instruments were a language learning strategy Questionnaire and the Institutional Testing Program Test of English as a Foreign Language (ITP TOEFL). Structural equation modeling was utilized to model the relationships between language learning strategies and language proficiency. The present study found only weak relationships between language learning strategies and language proficiency. Only 13% and 15% of variance of the listening and grammar/reading factor were explained by the language learning strategies. The metacognitive strategies appeared not to have direct relationships to the language skill factors, as was found in other studies (Purpura, 1996, 1997). The effects of the social and affective strategies were very small. They in combination could account about 1% and 4% of the variance of the listening and grammar/reading factors.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.1-24
• /
• 2006

This study investigated differences in beliefs about English learning of 286 EFL college students and 52 English teachers in Korea. Data was collected using Horwitz's Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory and compared between students and teachers in beliefs. To address the research questions, the data were analyzed through descriptive statistics including frequencies, factor analysis, MANOVA, ANOVA, t-test, and reliability coefficients. The results showed four factors in student beliefs: Difficulty of learning English, nature of learning English, importance of correctness in learning English, and motivation and perceived importance of learning English. Clear differences were found in students and teachers' beliefs in English learning aptitude and importance of translation, error correction, and grammar rules. A few belief differences were also identified between Koreans and native-speaking English teachers related to the importance of vocabulary learning, pronunciation, and cultural knowledge. The findings of the study indicated that background variables such as gender and major field of study have an effect on student beliefs about L2 learning. The present study also provided pedagogical considerations to reduce mismatch between students and teachers beliefs and to improve the L2 planning and instruction.

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

• International Journal of Contents
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.89-96
• /
• 2019

This study examines the impact of online collaborative English language learning to enhance learner motivation and classroom engagement in university English instruction. The role of learner motivation and classroom engagement has gained much attention under the premises of current constructivist framework of English as a foreign language education. To promote learner motivation and classroom interaction in English instruction, participants in this study engaged in integrative English learning activities through online group collaboration and peer-tutoring. They exchanged productive peer response and shared their learning experiences throughout the integrative English learning activities. Digital technology played an integral role in motivating the learning process of the participants. Data for this study were gathered through an online questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews. The data were analyzed based on the ARCS motivational model of instructional design to identify the motivational aspects of integrative English learning activities. This study reveals that participants of this study regarded online collaborative English learning activities as the positive and motivating learning experience. The online collaborative English reading instruction had positive effect on improving EFL university students' learning performance. Participants of this study also identified affective and metacognitive benefits of online collaborative EFL learning activities for learner motivation and classroom engagement. This study reveals that the social networking platform in online group collaboration played a crucial role for the participants in understanding the integration of online group collaboration as the positive and effective language learning strategy. This study may have implications in suggesting the effective instructional design for promoting learner motivation and classroom interaction in EFL education.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.53-76
• /
• 2004

This paper introduces a class model based on a course, Internet English, offered by an English department at a university. The course has dual purposes of developing students I English skills and Internet using skills at the same time. In support of using the Internet for language learning, the advantages of project-based language learning and constructivist learning in relation to CALL are explored. The activities in this course, which are basically project-based under the paradigm of constructivist learning perspective, are explained in detail to show the relationship between second language learning theory and teaching application. The way how the four language skills - speaking, listening, reading, and writing - are integrated in this class is described as well. Finally, judgmental evaluation of the course by the students is noted. The results show that a project-based CALL class could be a promising class model to realize an integrative, constructivist, and authentic learning.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
• /
• v.20
• /
• pp.183-201
• /
• 2010

Based on case studies from Japan and South Korea, this review paper explores the hidden costs of English language learning (ELL). In a context where English has become a commodity and ELL a form of consumption, we focus on the personal and social costs of (a) studying abroad as a much-touted path to "native-like" proficiency and (b) sexualization of language teaching materials in order to reach new niche markets. The hidden costs of ELL are embedded in language ideologies which set English up as a magical means of self-transformation and, at the same time, an unattainable goal for most Japanese and Koreans. We end with the call to expose debilitating language ideologies in order to shed light on the hidden costs of ELL.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
• /
• no.5
• /
• pp.49-62
• /
• 1999

Education systems throughout the world encourage their students to learn languages other than their native one. In Australia, our Education Boards provide students with the opportunity to learn European and Asian languages. French, German, Chinese and Japanese are the most popular languages studied in elementary and high schools. This choice is a reflection of Australias European heritage and its geographical position near Asia. In most non-English speaking countries, English is the foreign language most readily available to students. In Korea, the English language is actively promoted by the Education Department and, in less official ways, by companies and the public. It is impossible to be anywhere in Korea without seeing the English language alongside or intermingled with Korean. When I ask students why they are learning English, I receive answers that include the word globalization and the importance of English throughout the world. When I press further and ask why they personally are learning English, the students mention passing exams, usually high school tests or TOEIC, and the necessity of passing the latter to obtain a good job. Seldom do I ever hear anything about communication: about the desire to talk with other people in English, to read novels or poetry in English, to understand movies or pop-songs in English, to chat on the Internet in English, to search for information on the Internet in English, or to email pen-pals in English. Yet isnt communication the only valid reason for learning a language? We learn our native language to communicate with those around us. Shouldnt we set the same goal for learning a foreign language? In my opinion communication, whether it is reading and writing or speaking and listening, must be central to language learning. Learning a language to pass examinations is meaningless unless those examinations are a reliable indicator of the ability of the student to communicate. In previous eras, most communication in a foreign language was through reading novels or formal letters. This required a thorough knowledge of grammar and a large vocabulary. Todays communication is much less formal. Telephone conversations, tele-conferences, faxes and emails allow people to communicate regularly and informally. Reading materials are also less formal as popular novels and newspapers are available world-wide. Movies and popular songs have added to the range of informal communication available. Finally travel has ensured that people from different cultures will meet easily and regularly. This informal communication requires less emphasis on grammar and vocabulary and more emphasis on comprehension and confidence to speak. Placing communication central to language learning has important implications for the Education system and for teachers.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.131-152
• /
• 2003

The purpose of this study is to investigate the correlation between the introduction order of 9 English morphemes in the English textbook used in the middle school and the learning order of the morphemes by the 7th graders learning English as a foreign language. The subjects are 139 students in two middle schools, who learn English with different textbooks. The introduction order of each morpheme in two textbooks was examined according to its quantity and frequency. Data on the real learning order were collected through the written SLOPE test, and each morpheme was ranked by its group score. The introduction order of each morpheme in the textbook and the real learning order were analyzed by Spearman rank order correlation. It was shown that the correlation between the two was very low. This means that those textbooks do not take the learning order of English morphemes into account. Also it was shown that in the earlier stage of learning English the introduction order of each morpheme in the textbook had much influence on its learning order, but in the later stage such influence reduced gradually. This means that the learning order of English morphemes approaches the natural order as time passes by.