• Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.245-249
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• 2004

The aim of this paper is to show the possibilities of the proficiency -based and integrated teaching of High School English reading and listening based on sense group and utterance restructuring. The proficiency -based and integrated listening and reading activities in stages are as follows. Step1, students fill in the blanks with strong or weak sounding words according to their abilities. Step2, speak along (track) based on restructuring and post-lexical phenomena while listening to the sentence. Step3, read and understand directly the passage, which have been marked the differentiated places where a native speaker of English would beat all likely to pause. Students need to listen to spoken English, so they recognize words in written and spoken form. They must be familiar with suprasegmental features, stress and rhythm, and post-lexical phenomena during reading activities.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.1193-1220
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• 2009

This study examined the impact of sonority profiles, positional differences and L2 proficiency on Korean EFL learners' perception of English biconsonantal clusters, using nonce words. The overall results showed that major predictions of the sonority-based typological markedness on consonant clusters were supported, as obstruent plus sonorant and sonorant plus obstruent sequences were better perceived than obstruent only or sonorant only sequences. Yet, some consonant clusters did not show a preference for sonority profiles. Positional effects were also confirmed, as word-initial biconsonantal clusters were better perceived than wordfinal ones across all the participant groups. Participants' English proficiency turned out to be also important in the perception of consonant clusters, since university students' mean rate of accuracy was highest, followed by that of high school students, which in turn followed by that of middle school students. Further, the effects of other factors like frequency and stimuli on speech perception were also addressed, along with some implications for future research.

• Journal of Engineering Education Research
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.87-96
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• 2004

The number of schools that implement English medium instruction (EMI) to improve students' English proficiency has been increasing. Despite the increasing popularity of EMI, little attention has been paid to evaluating the effectiveness of EMI and its impact on students and instructors. This study explores these issues, focused on the case of the College of Engineering at Y University. A survey questionnaire was administered to 19 engineering professors who offered EMI courses in the Fall of 2003. The survey results show that: 1) the professors perceive that students' low English proficiency is a large obstacle to successful implementation of EMI, and that pre-EMI language courses are needed to prepare students for EMI. 2)Though the professors expressed confidence in their English proficiency, they indicated that they felt quite a lot stressed at teaching EMI courses; hence, support of the school administration is needed to help faculty offering EMI courses. 3)To improve students' English proficiency, native-speaking language instructors are needed to provide feedback on students' written and spoken English.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.71-90
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to analyze the improvement of students' interest and general proficiency of English through cultural understanding. To achieve this purpose, two classes of the 2nd grade in the informational high school were divided into the experimental class and the control class. The Grammar-Translation Method was used for the control class and a cultural learning - compare and contrast Korean culture and American culture - was taken for the experimental. After various cultural differences were studied, surveys of students' attitude and reading and listening test were taken. The results from this study were as follows: Firstly, students' interest in English was improved through learning the American culture that was related to the content of each lesson. Secondly, English reading and communicative skills were improved by learning about cultural aspects. Therefore, it can be said that teaching culture stimulates students' interest and motivation for learning English and helps students retain such affective attitudes. And English communicative skills were improved as well.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.273-291
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• 2011

This study investigates factors that influence ESL learners' use/avoidance of English phrasal verbs. It especially focuses on two factors, topic difference and group membership. For the purpose, 60 ESL students who took the University English Proficiency Test (UEPT) were selected, and the 60 essays they wrote for the UEPT were analyzed. All the students were with non-Germanic first language backgrounds. Among the 60 essays, 30 essays were selected from the essays written for the International Students UEPT (IS UEPT), which was required of all new international students. Another 30 essays were selected from the essays written for the Regents' UEPT, which was required of all non-native English speaking undergraduate students as a graduation requirement. Results indicate that the length of residency in the U.S. and/or academic status and semantic complexities of English phrasal verbs but not topic difference nor English proficiency affected the use of English phrasal verbs. The study ends with a discussion of pedagogical implications of the findings.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.71-77
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• 2017

This study examines the effects of in-company English programs on Korean employees' English learning. During the twelve weeks, 68 employees in Korea engaged in an English learning program in the workplace. Before and after the program, pre- and post-tests were conducted to see if their English proficiency improved. Pre- and post-surveys and interviews were also administered to understand how they perceived the program. Results show that the employees improved their English oral proficiency and their attitudes toward English learning positively changed, as a result of participating in the program. Also, the program appeared to be successful, meeting their needs. Given that little research has investigated the effects of in-company English learning, this study provides insights on the effectiveness of English programs in the workplace in Korea.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.69-89
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• 2012

This paper explored the effects of extensive reading (ER) on Korean university students' L2 reading proficiency and reading rates. This study also illustrated how ER can be integrated into a university English reading class. Seventeen students who took a summer reading course participated in this study. Data were gathered through pre- and post- tests in terms of participants' reading comprehension proficiency and reading rates and post- questionnaire with regard to their attitudes toward L2 storybook reading after they have experienced it. The analysis was carried out using the Paired Samples t-test. It was revealed that ER has a positive effect on the enhancement of the participants' reading comprehension and reading rates. The participants showed their continued intention to read in English and a strong belief that persistent reading in English in the long run will help improve their English. The results of this study confirm the educational values of incorporating ER into university English reading classes. The pedagogical implications for EFL instructors are described.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.156-162
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• 2023

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of peer scaffolding on the writing fluency of English language learners. This study was intended to confirm that peer scaffolding in English as a foreign language (EFL) writing classes can improve students' English proficiency. An analysis of 20 EFL learners studying at a university in Gyeonggi Province was conducted based on the English Proficiency Test. In this study, 20 intermediate learners with similar proficiency levels were included in the sample. Randomly, 10 students were designated as members of the control group, and 10 students were designated as members of the experimental group. In the experimental group, students practiced essay writing, while a skilled student provided scaffolding for a less skilled student. A variety of tools were used to gather data, including tests, questionnaires, and interviews Statistical analyses of quantitative data were conducted using t-tests for independent samples, whereas analyses of qualitative data were conducted based on themes. Pre-test results indicated a significant value of sig. =0.87, which was higher than α = 0.05. According to the results of this study, the writing performance of both experimental and control groups of students was equal and homogeneous prior to treatment. However, there were significant differences between the writing of students in the two groups after the completion of the program. Due to the post-test analysis of the writing test, the test resulted in a sig. =0 .043, a value lower than α = 0.05. As a result, the experimental group participants showed a marked improvement in their writing abilities after treatment.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.391-411
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of culture teaching and using web sites as a method of culture teaching in college English education. To achieve these purposes, a web-based culture teaching-learning model was developed and applied in English classes. Then, the effects were compared with those of a culture teaching method which were based on the traditional verbal explanation. As the tools for this study, two test sheets were used to measure language proficiency and American cultural knowledge. Focusing on the study results, the conclusions were summed up as follows: First, for enhancing the American cultural knowledge, using the web was found to be more effective than traditional verbal explanations. Second, for English language enhancement through web-based culture teaching, it is necessary to do it for each level of English proficiency or develop web sites which fit well with students' interests or levels.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.1-7
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relations between phonetic differences among Korean learners' production of English front vowels, pronunciation intelligibility and speaking proficiency test score. To do so, thirty Korean university students were asked (1) to read English text book paragraphs and (2) describe a picture. Two English native raters and one Korean rater evaluated Korean subjects' English pronunciation intelligibility and speaking. In addition, subjects' English vowel productions were acoustically analyzed(F0, F1, F2, vowel duration, intensity). The results of the study show that the vowel quality and pitch of the unstressed vowels and lax vowel are related to the pronunciation intelligibility. In addition, the scores of pronunciation intelligibility and speaking are highly related.