• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.24
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• pp.62-83
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• 2011

The totality of language learning comprises three integrated components: linguistic, cultural, and attitudinal (Wilkes, 1983).Positively sensitizing students to cultural phenomena is urgent and crucial. A positive attitude toward L2 culture is a factor in language learning that leads to cross cultural understanding. This research examined, through a survey analysis, how three groups of students (one high school group and two university student groups) viewed the role of their foreign culture (i.e., American and British cultures) in achieving cultural understanding. The focus was upon how EFL learners approach the target language culture as well as their own culture.

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

• 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.

• 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.17 no.3
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• pp.161-175
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• 2011

This paper examines Korean EFL high school students' reader responses on an expository text and a narrative text with the same topic. The purpose of the study is to investigate whether they have different reading models depending on the two genres and whether there are any differences depending on the learners' proficiency levels. The analysis focuses on textual, critical, and aesthetic reading models in the reader responses written in English by science-gifted high school students (N=30). The results show that the participants have different reading models in reading an expository text and a narrative text. They tend to read the expository text in a more critical way while reading the narrative text in a more personal and emotional way. Moreover, regardless of the proficiency levels, they wrote longer responses on the narrative text than the expository text. However, the proficiency level of English does not support any significant differences in the types of reading models. The findings provide Korean EFL high school students' characteristics in L2 reading and suggest the pedagogical implication to pursue linguistic development as well as reading for pleasure.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.249-282
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• 2009

This study reports on the use of the trait and state cognitive/metacognitive strategy use and the difference of the trait/state strategy use according to students' proficiency level. First of all, for checking up the trait strategy use, 119 first-grade male students in a high school completed the questionnaire on strategies which they thought they used during a reading test. Secondly, to find out their state strategy use, students took a fifteen-item reading comprehension test, followed by filling out questionnaires on cognitive and metacognitive strategies used in the test. This study employed quantitative data analysis. The results suggested that (1) the cognitive and metacognitive strategy use in the trait and state conditions are used the most by the high proficiency group and they are correlated respectively; (2) these strategies are used with statistically significant difference according to students' proficiency level, especially to the lower level students. The highly successful group uses the cognitive and metacognitive strategy in the actual test situation more than the lower proficient group; there is no difference in trait and state strategy use.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.75-94
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• 2009

This study was designed to assess demotivation factors and compare the factor between two secondary school student groups. It furthermore examined how the factors related to students' L2 proficiency. A 31-item questionnaire was completed by 407 junior (JH) and senior high school (SH) students. Five factors were extracted through the principal axis factoring: Teachers' competence and teaching styles, Dissatisfaction with English classes and grading system, Difficulty of learning English, Lack of motivation and interest in learning English, and Inadequate learning contents. Although both JH and SH students did not perceive their English teacher as a strong attribution of demotivation, Difficulty of learning English and Dissatisfaction with English classes and grading system were the two strongest demotivating factors. When compared the overall mean scores of each factor between JH and SH groups, significant differences were found in all factors except Factor 4, with SH students reporting stronger demotivation. JH students attributed their demotivation to Difficulty of learning English, while SH students attributed that to Dissatisfaction with English classes and grading system. Both groups tended to attribute their demotivation to external forces. The study also showed that several demotivation factors related negatively to L2 proficiency.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.13 no.2
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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.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aviation and Aeronautics
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.114-118
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• 2019

EPTA(English Proficiency Test for Aviation) was not very aviation realistic test before 2019. Testee needed pass listening test first. Then testee could take speaking test. There were 20sets of speaking test. If the testee memorize well, he or she could pass the test easily even though he or she was not very good at English. So the pilot and the authority agreed to change the format of EPTA since 2016. Through development of new EPTA format, the Korea Transportation Safety Authority started new EPTA test since January, 2019. It has been one year since the new format of EPTA started. Now I try to survey satisfaction of new EPTA through questionnaire.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.11-17
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• 2024

The goal of the current study is to investigate whether L2 learners' perceptual ability regarding epenthetic vowels is interconnected with other aspects of speech recognition, such as lexical stress, sentence focus, and vowel recognition. Twenty-five Korean L2 learners of English participated in perception experiments assessing vowel epenthesis oddity, lexical stress oddity, sentence focus oddity, and vowel identification. Results indicate that accuracy on the vowel epenthesis oddity test is influenced by both lexical stress and sentence focus, suggesting that perceptual ability regarding epenthetic vowels is influenced by the acquisition of L2 rhythmic structure at both word and sentence levels. Additionally, this study identifies a proficiency effect on vowel epenthesis recognition, implying that the influence of L1 phonotactics diminishes as L2 proficiency increases. Taken together, this study illustrates the interaction between perceptual abilities in vowel epenthesis and prosodic stress in the field of L2 speech perception.