• 영어어문교육
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• 제15권2호
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• pp.169-184
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• 2009

The purpose of this study is to identify the most important factor(s) that contribute(s) to the overall oral proficiency and to examine whether the factor(s) play(s) a different role depending on the proficiency level of learners. Learners were divided into novice group and advanced group and were asked to produce an oral recording of a story based on a comic strip. The recordings were transcribed and graded by three raters. According to the results, the raters attained high inter-rater reliability when assessing advanced learners. However, the reliability level became considerably lower in the assessment of novice learners. The best predictor of oral proficiency among novice learners was sociolinguistic competence and fluency, while grammatical competence and fluency were the strongest predictors for advanced learners. The results suggest the need for a separate assessment tool for different proficiency levels and the need for a different focus in the classroom depending on the learners' proficiency level.

• 영어어문교육
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• 제13권2호
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• pp.91-108
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• 2007

This study investigates learners' perception on their engagement in rating activities in the EFL essay-writing context. The current study aims to address the answers to the following research questions: 1) What attitude do students show about their participation in the rating tasks? and 2) which of three aspects (e.g. the degree of rating experience, the exposure to English composition instruction and learning, and proficiency level) significantly influences learners' rating activities? 104 EFL learners participated in the rater training session. After participants finished rater training session, they rated three sample essays and peer essays using the given scoring guide. Based on the analysis of survey responses that students made, students showed positive attitude toward their engagement in rating tasks. For research question 2, only L2 writing proficiency seriously affected students' perception on the rating tasks. Advanced level of subjects did not feel stressed by a grade of peers as low level of subjects did. They were also critical about the benefits of self- and peer-assessment, suggesting that a peer's feedback on their own essay was not so useful and that a self-rating does not fully help learners identify their writing proficiency.

• 영어어문교육
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• 제8권2호
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• pp.177-196
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• 2003

The purpose of this study is to help teachers and program developers develop comprehensive and authentic assessment models with appropriate ways of using various kinds of assessment tools in college English instruction and assessment. Assessing by traditional discrete tests based on grammar and vocabulary cannot measure the authentic ability for language use in meaningful context in the real world. Currently, the trend in language assessment is changing to performance assessment. Increased use of performance assessments that involve language students in selecting and reflecting on their learning means that language teachers will have a wider range of evidence on which to judge whether students are becoming purposeful and are able to communicate as English users. Also, language programs focused on performance assessment are likely to instil in students authentic skills related to communication in the global world and enable them to evaluate what they learn from their English classes. In this study, the author investigated the theoretical background, the need of change, and several types of performance assessment.

• 영어어문교육
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• 제17권2호
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• pp.93-114
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• 2011

The aim of this study is twofold. First, this study aimed to explore how Korean university students' English learning motivation is related to their English listening proficiency and study time. Second, it attempted to interpret the English learning motivation linking the two different motivation theories: self-determination theory and L2 motivational self system. The constructs of the students' L2 learning motivation were investigated with the data obtained through the questionnaire from 122 sophomore students. A factor analysis was conducted to extract the major factors of motivation. As a result, 6 factors were extracted: Intrinsic Pleasure, Identified Value Regulation, Intrinsic Accomplishment, Introjected Regulation, External Regulation, and Identified Regulation. The Interrelatedness among the assessment results on the L2 listening proficiency (pre and post test), listening study time, and motivation factors was measured by correlation coefficients. The statistical results indicated that pre-test scores were significantly related to Identified Regulation and Identified Value Regulation toward English learning, and post-test results had significant correlation with Intrinsic Accomplishment and Identified Regulation. However, no motivation subtypes showed statistical association with the students' listening study time. The results were attempted to be interpreted both under L2 motivational self system and self-determination framework to better illuminate the motivation theory with more explanatory power.

• 말소리와 음성과학
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• 제15권2호
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• pp.13-20
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• 2023

This study explores the potential of automated speech recognition (ASR) in assessing English learners' pronunciation. We employed ASR technology, acknowledged for its impartiality and consistent results, to analyze speech audio files, including synthesized speech, both native-like English and Korean-accented English, and speech recordings from a native English speaker. Through this analysis, we establish baseline values for the word error rate (WER). These were then compared with those obtained for human raters in perception experiments that assessed the speech productions of 30 first-year college students before and after taking a pronunciation course. Our sub-group analyses revealed positive training effects for Whisper, an ASR tool, and human raters, and identified distinct human rater strategies in different assessment aspects, such as proficiency, intelligibility, accuracy, and comprehensibility, that were not observed in ASR. Despite such challenges as recognizing accented speech traits, our findings suggest that digital tools such as ASR can streamline the pronunciation assessment process. With ongoing advancements in ASR technology, its potential as not only an assessment aid but also a self-directed learning tool for pronunciation feedback merits further exploration.

• 해양환경안전학회지
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• 제29권7호
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• pp.930-938
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• 2023

해사영어는 선박 운항, 해양 안전, 선내 의사소통 및 선외 교신을 위해 설계된 특수한 영어 언어체계이다. 국제해사기구 STCW(선원의 훈련, 자격증명 및 당직근무의 기준에 관한 국제협약)에 따르면 국제항해에 종사하는 항해사가 되기 위해서는 SMCP를 포함한 해사영어 대한 충분한 이해가 수반되어야 한다. 본 연구는 음성인식, 번역, 단어 기입 등 유형의 해사영어시험을 통하여 학생들의 해사영어 활용 능력을 측정하고 플랫폼 사용에 따른 시험 점수 향상 정도, 나아가 초임항해사로 나가기 위하여 요구되는 해사영어 시험 플랫폼 활용 시간 등을 조사하고자 하였다. 실험은 먼저 초기 시험을 통해 학생들의 일반영어능력과 SMCP 활용 능력에 대한 연관성을 조사한 후, 중간 시험 및 최종 시험을 통해 플랫폼 활용에 대한 점수 향상 정도, 응시시간 변화 등 요인을 측정하였다. 초기 시험을 통해 개인 요인(예: 토익 점수, 본인 스스로에 대한 영어능력 평가)에 따른 그룹 간 해사영어시험 점수에 유의한 차이가 있음을 확인하였으며, 중간시험 및 최종시험을 통해 플랫폼 활용이 유의한 시험점수 향상으로 이어졌음을 확인하였다. 해당 연구는 해사 교육분야에 다양하게 적용할 수 있는 학습 플랫폼 활용 효능을 조사하였으며 향후 해사영어 교육 외 그 범위를 넓혀 활용될 수 있을 것으로 사료된다.

• Child Studies in Asia-Pacific Contexts
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• 제6권1호
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• pp.17-29
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• 2016

To help define future research direction and enhance educational service for children from Asian and Latino immigrant backgrounds, this review examines research investigating social competence with reference to host and heritage language skills. A targeted search obtained 14 peer-reviewed studies published from 1994 to 2014 focusing on children aged from birth to 12 years. Social competence is mainly measured by four dimensions: externalizing behaviours, internalizing behaviours, social skills and relationships with others. The evidence suggests that English proficiency levels are positively associated with social skills and parent-child relationships are of higher quality when parent-child heritage language difference is minimal. However the findings are mixed regarding how English levels are associated with externalizing, internalizing behaviours and relationships with others and how heritage language levels are associated with social competence. This review makes a set of recommendations for future research including assessment of participants' language proficiency with language tests and examination of emotional factors in the relationship between English and social competence. The implications of the findings are also discussed for educators.

• 한국항공운항학회지
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• 제28권4호
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• pp.12-20
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to analyze the face validity of the revised EPTA (English Proficiency Test for Aviation) to see if the tests actually contribute to the enhancement of aviation safety and achieve the purpose of the assessment. In order to reach the above objectives, 103 pilot test takers were surveyed, and nine in-depth interviewees were selected and interviewed. In addition, detailed research results were derived by dividing the participants into the pilot's flight experience (31 captain pilots, 42 first officer pilots, and 30 general commercial pilots). As a result, pilot participants were generally aware that EPTA was more reasonable because the revised EPTA properly implemented the aviation situation and gave participants motivation to learn aviation English. It was also seen that first officer pilots had a higher face validity of EPTA than captain and general commercial pilots. The reason was that first officer pilots considered air traffic control job was more important than other pilots did.

• 대한음성학회지:말소리
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• 제66호
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• pp.41-59
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• 2008

Knowledge in linguistic rhythm of the target language plays a major role in foreign language proficiency. This study attempts to discover valid rhythm features that can be utilized in automatic assessment of non-native English pronunciation. Eight previously proposed and two novel rhythm metrics are investigated with 360 English read speech tokens obtained from 27 Korean learners and 9 native speakers. It is found that some of the speech-rate normalized interval measures and above-word level metrics are effective enough to be further applied for automatic scoring as they are significantly correlated with speakers' proficiency levels. It is also shown that metrics need to be dynamically selected depending upon the structure of target sentences. Results from a preliminary auto-scoring experiment through a Multi Regression analysis suggest that appropriate control of unexpected input utterances is also desirable for better performance.

• 영어어문교육
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• 제15권2호
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• pp.71-92
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• 2009

Europass was established in 2005 by the European Parliament and the Council of Europe as a single framework for language qualifications and competences, helping citizens to gain accreditation throughout the European Community. In addition, the 1996 Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR) provides a common basis for language syllabi, curriculum guidelines, examination, and textbooks in Europe. This framework describes the required knowledge and skills, the cultural context, and the levels of proficiency that learners should achieve. In combination, Europass and the CEFR provide employers and educational institutes with internationally recognized standards. This paper proposes that current trends such as globalization and international mobility require a similar approach to accreditation in Asia. As jobs and workers become independent of national boundaries and restrictions, it becomes necessary to educate students as multilingual world citizens, using standards that are accepted around the world. It is suggested, therefore, that assessment models such as Europass and the CEFR, along with successful language teaching models in Europe and Canada, present opportunities of adaptation for the Korean education system. Finally, rigorous teacher training to internationally recognized levels is recommended, if Korea is to produce a workforce of highly-skilled, plurilingual world citizens.