• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• no.1
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• pp.109-127
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• 1995

Due to frequent international exchanges, there has been much emphasis on communication proficiency in foreign language education. However, when we look back upon teaching English in Korea over past years, we find that English teaching has been dominated mainly by Grammar-Translation Method, which makes teachers and students pay little attention to listening skill that is regarded as the basis of communication proficiency. Recently many English teachers have shown their interest in listening skill, so they come to use the textbook record tapes to improve listening skill. But listening training by textbook record tapes seems to make students feel bored. So the purpose of this study is to suggest an effective way of improving listening skill by means of Pop Songs that the students are indulged in. The processes of this study consist of three stages : 1) listening to songs, 2) explanation about structures and vocabularies in songs, 3) filling in blanks while listening. The subjects in this study are freshmen 88 students in girls' High School They are grouped into two : one is experimental group and the other control group. Among the subjects, the former have been taught by the lesson plan using pop songs, while the latter by the lesson plan using textbook record tapes. The experiment lasts about 9 months (from March to November, l994) The data for analyzing the study results have been collected from two kinds of tests : one is listening test and the other comprehensive test. The hypothesises of this study areas follows : 1) Depending on hearing materials (experimental material vs traditional material), there will be a difference in scores of listening skills between EG (experimental group) and CG (control group), 2) Depending on the interest on pop songs, there will be a difference in scores of hearing skills in CG, 3) Depending on hearing material. there will be a difference in scores of overall English skills between EG and CG, 4) Improvement in listening skill will give influence on the overall English scores. The findings of this study indicate that pop songs are effective to improve students' listening skill, that students' interest in the hearing material is important, and that listening skill is closely related to other skills, especially reading skill. It can be concluded that English teachers should make efforts to find the suitable listening materials which will help students to improve their listening proficiency effectively.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.35-50
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• 2005

Thirty six EFL freshman students at the College of Languages and Translation, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia were given a dictation, a listening comprehension test and a decoding test. The purpose of the study was to find out whether EFL freshmen students' spelling ability correlates with their listening comprehension and decoding skills. Data analysis showed that the typical EFL freshman student misspelled 41.5% of the words on the dictation, gave 49.5% correct responses on the listening comprehension test, and 52% correct responses on the decoding test. The median and mean scores showed that the subjects' spelling, listening and decoding achievement is low, which implied that the subjects were having spelling, listening comprehension and decoding difficulties. The students' spelling errors and correct listening comprehension and decoding responses revealed strong correlations between spelling ability, listening comprehension and decoding skills. This means that good spelling ability in EFL is related to good listening comprehension and good decoding skills. The better the listening comprehension and decoding abilities, the fewer the spelling errors. When listening comprehension and decoding skills are poor, spelling ability is also poor. Recommendations for spelling, listening and decoding instruction are given.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.263-291
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• 2003

This paper is to help the students in elementary schools develop and improve their English listening and speaking skills by presenting effective teaching and learning techniques using puppetry. It is absolutely obvious that listening and speaking are very important skills for most EFL students. Using puppets in the classroom is a creative English teaching technique which can involve authentic, communicative language situations. Moreover, puppets appeal to children and can aid in lowering affective filters thereby creating a more comfortable learning environment. The study clearly showed that using puppets is feasible and enjoyable in elementary English classes. However, caution must be exercised in drawing and generalizing conclusions from this experience. The results of the experiment are as follows: First, using puppetry in the English class was found to have positive influence on students' affective domains (interst, attitude). Second, using puppets in the English classes was found to be efficient for improving students' English listening and speaking skills. Third, appropriate materials should be selected and well thought-out plans should be made to be successful English class using puppetry. Perhaps the most interesting line of future research is to use qualitative research to examine the effect of this technique on the teacher variable. Further research is recommended, especially on using puppetry for speaking proficiency and creating affectively comfortable learning atmospheres.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.195-214
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• 2006

This study examines the effects of Internet-based English practice on listening and reading. Out of a total of 16 students who took part in pre- and post-tests, 11 who had frequently practiced listening and reading on the Internet showed greater improvement in these skills than the 5 who had practiced less. The findings also suggest that summarization of listening and reading on the Internet was useful as it made students concentrate specifically on the content. This study suggests that English language teachers use a bulletin board to complement the use of Internet sites for listening and reading practice outside of the classroom in an EFL context.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• no.3
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• pp.43-54
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• 1997

According to Asher(1972) listening skill must be taught before any other skills. Despite such an importance of listening skill, listening tests taken at the secondary schools depend on simple multiple choice method. So more various method such as Task-Based Listening Test need suggesting. This study aims at (1) three step listening material development (2) and advancement of listening ability through the materials.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.19-26
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• 2018

In an effort to investigate the effects of chatbots on English listening and reading skills, 46 college students participated in the current study. Participants consisted of first-year students who enrolled in an English class at a university in South Korea. They were randomly divided into two groups: one experimental group (n=24) and one control group (n=22). During 16 weeks, the experimental group engaged in chats with a chatbot, named Elbot, while the control group did not. There were pre- and post-tests to confirm the effects of the chatbot usage. Major findings are as follows: First, participants in both groups significantly improved listening and reading skills. On the post-listening test, however, the experimental group showed more improvements. Their listening proficiency level improved from intermediate to advanced level after engaging in chat with the chatbot. Limitations and implications for theory and practice are discussed at the end.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.451-459
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• 2017

This study investigates the usage of smartphones in English listening activities. 71 students answered the 10-item questionnaire after doing listening activity using their own smartphone for one semester in the course of Practical English listening and reading. The findings show that listening activity done with smartphone enhanced students' interest in English listening and improved their English listening skills because smart phones made customized learning possible. However, the major limitation of using smart phone is that students are distracted during activity by smart phones' other functions such as SMS and messenger. To reduce such distraction, I suggest that individual listening activity with smart phones be mixed with instructor-led activity using a classroom computer in about 50 to 50 ratio. The ratio might vary depending on the level of students' English listening skills. These findings will make a contribution to the boost of digital convergence English learning.

• International Journal of Contents
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.15-24
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the use of video resources on improving listening comprehension. 86 students enrolled in a summer session at a Korean university participated in the study. They were assigned to one of three groups based on the results of their TOEIC test scores: 29 students were assigned to the low group, 29 students to the intermediate group, and 28 students to the advanced group. Each group studied the same lessons using authentic video materials. They were taught for 10 sessions over three weeks. The pre- and post-test design helped to determine whether authentic videos were effective in improving listening skills for all proficiency levels. In addition, a questionnaire investigated students' perceptions toward using video resources. Paired sample t-tests, ANOVAs, and an ANCOVA were utilized to identify significant differences. It was concluded that in the intermediate and advanced proficiency groups, the students' listening skills increased significantly after learning with videos. In addition, listening improvements among the intermediate and advanced students were much greater than those of the low proficiency group. As for students' perceptions toward using video resources for improving their English listening skills, they responded positively. Based on these findings, pedagogical implications are suggested, and future studies will be discussed.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• no.4
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• pp.85-116
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• 1998

Since the 1980's language teachers have been urged to take more communicatively oriented practice instead of traditional audio-lingual and grammar-translation instruction. However, there are many reasons why communication-centered teaching approaches haven't been easily adopted in Korea. First of all many English teachers haven't been prepared for communicative language teaching. And class size is very large. Another reason is that students' reading and writing skills are more important than their speaking and listening skills to enter colleges. But the world has been changing rapidly. We have many chances to meet foreigners and to talk to them. So many students want to improve their communicative proficiency. The purpose of this study is how to improve their communicative proficiency by performing games in English classes. There are many advantages of using games and songs in the classroom. First, games are motivating and challenging. Second, students can improve their four skills(speaking, writing, listening and reading skills) by using games and songs. Thirdly, games and songs help students to study English without their conscious efforts and to practice English repeatedly because they are interested in them. Fourthly, games and songs create a meaningful context for language use. Lastly, students can learn English with less tension and anxiety. Therefore, English games and songs are worthy of using in classes. To use English games and song more effectively, more various and useful materials have to be developed for English teachers and have to be introduced pertinently into classes.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.1-23
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• 2007

The purpose of this research is to explore the effects of systematic teaching English pronunciation and listening in English. Focusing on phonemes and words in pairs and sentences, the sound systems of the English and Korean languages are dealt with in conjunction with the test data. This paper first discusses the systemic, or primary interference and the habitual, or secondary interference that hinder comprehension of certain English sounds. Second, the analysis of input and output test data on the contrasting vowels and consonants shows statistic significance in terms of the probability (p value) of t-test. Third, the comparative data by means of percentile of right answers on contrasting vowel and consonant sounds expound the different sound systems of the English and Korean languages. With this data, problems in pronunciation of and listening to English, and the factors that may cause these problems are analyzed so that they can be used as a guideline for a systematic approach in teaching English learners, thus leading to more satisfactory performance.