• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• 제18권1호
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• pp.171-195
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• 2012

While noticing that there is insufficient interest in the assessment of EFL learners' vocabulary levels or sizes, the researchers developed two tests identical in form (Forms A and B) to assess the lexical knowledge of Korean university learners at the $1^{st}{\sim}10^{th}$ 1,000 word bands by adapting a pre-established vocabulary levels test (VLT). Of equal concern was to investigate if the VLT was equally a valid and reliable instrument to be used on measuring the lexical knowledge of EFL learners. The participants were 804 university freshmen enrolled in a General Education English Course from four different colleges. The learners were asked to respond to either Form A or B. While scores generally fell towards the lower frequency bands, multiple regression found the Korean College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) to be a significant variable for predicting the learners' vocabulary sizes. From a methodological perspective, however, noticeable differences between Forms A and B could be found with item response theory analysis. The findings of the study provide suggestions on how future VLT for testing EFL learners may have to be redesigned.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• 제12권4호
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• pp.31-68
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• 2006

The present research investigates the acquisition of the English locative alternation by Korean EFL learners, which poses a learnability paradox, taking Pinker's framework of learnability theory as its basis. It addresses two questions (1) how lexical knowledge is represented initially and at different levels of interlanguage development and (2) what kinds of difficulty Korean learners find in the acquisition of English locative verbs and their constructions. Three groups of learners at different proficiency levels with a control group of English native speakers are examined by two instruments: elicited production task and grammaticality judgment task. According to different levels of proficiency, the learners exhibit gradual sensitivity to a change-of-state meaning and obtain complete perception of the meanings of locative verbs (manner-of-motion and change-of-state) and their constructions. Overgeneralization errors are observed in their performance. The errors are due to misinterpretations of particular lexical items in conjunction with the universal linking rules. More fundamental cause of difficulty is accounted for by partial use of learning mechanisms, caused by insufficient L2 input.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• 제15권4호
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• pp.199-216
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• 2009

This study investigates how Korean speakers develop their interlanguage of English passive constructions with a reference to the learners' grammar proficiency levels. Sixty two college students of different levels of English participated in this study. They were asked to complete a sentence-completion task. Their production was classified into accurate passives, malformed passives, pseudo-passives, unaccusatives, and actives according to the use of transitive, ergative and unergative verbs. They then were further analyzed depending on the subjects' levels of grammar by three main factors: L1 transfer, the English voice system, and universal cognitive factors. The results showed that the subjects of the lower group produced more pseudo-passives, malformed passives, and overpassivization than those of the higher group, and even subjects of higher group still made passives for ergative verbs. It was also shown that L1 and universal factors had more influence on the lower group than on the higher group. Based on the analyses of the subjects' responses, the development of the English passive system by Korean learners is shown and some implications are suggested for effective teaching of English.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• 제5권3호
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• pp.83-93
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• 2013

Vocal hygiene education is an indirect training approach to improve vocal function by educating all facets of optimal vocal health. Satisfaction levels of participants might be an important component of this indirect therapy for voice disorders. The authors aimed to investigate the satisfaction levels of vocal hygiene education in 51 patients with voice problems. We classified voice disorders of the participants according to three etiological categories (subgroups): organic, neurogenic, and functional. The survey consisted of three parts: 1) a condition of vocal hygiene education, 2) a degree of satisfaction of the present education, and 3) a request for future education. Participants responded to each item of the survey using a five-point Likert scale of 1 to 5 (1 being not at all and 5 being extremely). They also wrote down personal comments of improvement. Participants scored the vocal hygiene education offered by the speech-language pathologists between '3' and '4'. Specifically, the participants were highly satisfied with the specific and comprehensible explanation/instruction given by their speech-language pathologists. However, they were less satisfied with the tuition fee for the therapy sessions. Vocal hygiene education is offered individually to people in a clinical setting. Our results support the notion that vocal hygiene education can be an integral aspect of the treatment of voice problems in most cases.

• Journal of Public Diplomacy
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• 제1권1호
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• pp.57-79
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• 2021

Drawing on the theories of mediated public diplomacy, intermedia agenda-building, and homophily, this study aims to compare the effectiveness of the public diplomacy efforts made by the Saudi and Qatari governments during the Gulf diplomatic crisis. The study examines the respective international agenda-building influence of the state-sponsored media from the two competing Gulf states on the regional and international media's coverage of the crisis. Results show that, compared to Saudisponsored Al Arabiya, Qatari-sponsored Al Jazeera was more effective in shaping the agendas of the regional and international media. Whereas Al Arabiya has a weak first-level agenda-building influence and a moderate-to-strong influence at the second and the third levels, Al Jazeera demonstrates a strong agenda-building influence on the foreign media outlets at all of the three levels. We also analyze the impact of political proximity and the language of the media content (English or Arabic) on the agenda-building relationships. Still, the results suggest that, compared to Al Arabiya, Al Jazeera was more successful in shaping the agendas of the regional and international news media-no matter where they are based in the allied or the opposing countries. Also, we observe a higher level of consistency between Arabic- and English-language content in Al Jazeera.

• Korean Linguistics
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• 제63권
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• pp.103-132
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• 2014

This study compares various speech rates of Korean learners with those of native Korean. Speech data were collected from 34 native Koreans and 33 Korean learners (19 Chinese and 14 Japanese). Each participant recorded a 9 syllabled Korean sentence at three different speech rate types. A total of 603 speech samples were analyzed by speech rate types (normal, slow, and fast), native languages (Korean, Chinese, Japanese), and learners' proficiency levels (beginner, intermediate, and advanced). We found that learners' L1 background plays a role in categorizing different speech rates in the L2 (Korean), and also that the leaners' proficiency correlates with the increase of speaking rate regardless of speech rate categories. More importantly, faster speech rate values found in the advanced level of learners do not necessarily match to the native speakers' speech rate categories. This means that learning speech rate categories can be more complex than we think of proficiency or fluency. That is, speech rate categories may not be acquired automatically during the course of second language learning, and implicit or explicit exposures to various rate types are necessary for second language learners to acquire a high level of communicative skills including speech rate variation. This paper discusses several pedagogical implications in terms of teaching pronunciation to second language learners.

• Human Ecology Research
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• 제57권3호
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• pp.407-417
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• 2019

This study examined the longitudinal effects of appearance satisfaction and Korean language skills on the self-esteem and school adjustment of multicultural adolescents. The study used data from 1,151 multicultural adolescents from the $3^{rd}$, $4^{th}$, and $5^{th}$ waves of the Multicultural Adolescents Panel Study (MAPS). Data were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics, Cronbach's alpha, correlation, and structural equation modeling. The results are as follows. First, appearance satisfaction and Korean language skills at grade 6 significantly predicted higher self-esteem at grade 7. Second, there was a significant influence of high levels of self-esteem at grade 7 on positive school adjustment of grade 8. Last, the self-esteem at grade 7 had a significant mediating effect in the relationship between appearance satisfaction and Korean language skills at grade 6 and school adjustment at grade 8. The results of this study highlighted the importance of self-esteem as a mediating factor in the connection between appearance satisfaction and Korean language skills as well as the level of school adjustment. This provides supporting evidence to many educators and parents for the implementation of effective support practices for multicultural adolescents to enhance their school adjustment. Other related implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are also discussed.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• 제1권3호
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• pp.3-18
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• 2009

Do loanword properties emerge in the acquisition of a foreign language and if so, how? Classic studies in adult language learning assumed loanword properties that range from near-ceiling to near-chance level of appearance depending on speech proficiency. The present research argues that such variations reflect different phonological types, rather than speech proficiency. To investigate the difference between learner speech and loanword phonology, the current research analyzes the speech data from five different proficiency levels of 92 Korean speakers who read 19 pairs of English words and sentences that contained loanwords. The experimental method is primarily an acoustical one, by which the phonological cause in the loanwords (e.g., the insertion of [$\Box$] at the end of the word stamp) would be attested to appear in learner speech, in comparison with native speech from 11 English speakers and 11 Korean speakers. The data investigated for the research are of segment deletion, insertion, substitution, and alternation in both learner speech and the native speech. The results indicate that learner speech does not present the loanword properties in many cases, but depends on the types of phonological causes. The relatively easy acquisition of target pronunciation is evidenced in the cases of segment deletion, insertion, substitution, and alternation, except when the loanword property involves the successful command of the target phonology such as the de-aspiration of [p] in apple. Such a case of difficult learning draws a sharp distinction from the cases of easy learning in the development of learner speech, particularly beyond the intermediate level of proficiency. Overall, learner speech departs from loanword phonology and develops toward the native speech value, depending on phonological contrasts in the native and foreign languages.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Navigation and Port Research Conference
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• 한국항해항만학회 2002년도 춘계학술대회논문집
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• pp.13-19
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• 2002

In inner harbour of Inchon Port, there are two lock gates (50KT, 10KT) which have two gates per lock gate in inner/outer sides except a gate in inner harbour side 7f 10KT. Due to the lack of the fore-mentioned gate, the use of 10KT lock gate Is suspended in every 3 years for regular maintenance. Now an additional gate is under construction in order to improve the efficiency of the 10KT lock gate. This paper will be aimed to evaluate the operational utilization levels of lock gates in present and future. The present operational utilization levels of lock gates are 0.2119 in 10KT lock gate, 0.2051 in 50KT lock gate which were considered the 46.5 closed days every 3 years for 10KT regular maintenance. The levels are estimated to 0.2246(10KT), 0.2539(50KT) in 2006 and 0.2241(10KT), 0.2560(50KT) in 2011. The levels of 50KT lock gate are evaluated to be more rapidly increased up to 24.5% in 2011.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• 제19권6호
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• pp.919-932
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• 2010

This investigation examined the association between demographic variables, acculturation and acculturative stress. Participants in the study were 360 Pilipino, Vietnamese, Chinese, Chinese-Korean and Japanese woman who had married internationally and were living in Jeonbuk-Do. Hierarchical regression analyses determined that among the independent variables examined, age, Korean language ability, marital satisfaction, and ethnic identity had significant predictive effects on the levels of acculturative stress experienced. Young women who had lower Korean language proficiency, lower marital satisfaction, and higher ethnic identity showed more higher level of acculturative stress. Implications of this research were discussed with particular attention given to possible support programs for women in international marriages.