• Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.587-608
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• 2001

When teaching English in elementary schools was introduced in Korea in 1997, the theoretical basis was the critical period hypothesis (CPH). The object of this study was to test whether the Korean situation satisfies the conditions for the CPH such as the amount of English input and needs. As a test for this, English input and needs were compared in Korea, the U.S.A. and Singapore. The items for English input were on a continuum of primary to secondary sources and the items for English needs were on a continuum of immediate to future needs. The 0-5 scale was used. The result showed that the total means of English input were 4.87, 4.62, and 1.05 for children in the U.S.A., Singapore and Korea respectively. The total means of English needs were 4.32, 3.81, and 1.52 for children in the U.S.A., Singapore and Korea respectively. These figures show that Korean children's levels of both input and needs were from “almost none” to “little,” while those of children in the U.S.A. and Singapore were from “much” to “very much.” This shows that teaching English in Korea presently is far from meeting the conditions that are expected by the CPH. As an alternative to explain what happens cognitively to Korean children, this paper suggests the automatization and proceduralization processes.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.871-905
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• 2010

This paper is motivated by Watanabe's (2001) observation that English byphrase passives are sometimes translated into Japanese object topicalization constructions. That is, the original English sentence in the passive may be translated into the active voice with the logical object topicalized. A number of scholars, including Chomsky (1981) and Baker (1992), have remarked that languages have various ways to avoid focusing on the logical subject. The aim of the present study is to examine the translation equivalents of the English by-phrase passives in an English-Korean parallel corpus compiled by the author. A small sample of articles from Newsweek magazine and its published Korean translation reveals that there are indeed many ways to translate English by-phrase passives, including object topicalization (12.5%). Among the 64 translated sentences analyzed and classified, 12 (18.8%) examples were problematic in terms of agent defocusing, which is the primary function of passives. Of these 12 instances, five cases were identified where an alternative translation would be more suitable. The results suggest that the functional characteristics of English by-phrase passives should be highlighted in translator training as well as language teaching.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.291-307
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• 2011

The primary purpose of this study was to report overall findings of academic English proficiency of university ESL students in an ESL program from 2003 to 2008 at a university in the U.S. Furthermore, this study proposes to explore the effectiveness of the ESL program on developing the ESL learners' academic English proficiency. In order to achieve these purposes, this study applied a quantitative research methodology which analyzed data (more than 3,000 samples) collected by the university ESL program. The data included the ESL learners' English proficiency test scores. The results indicated that the effectiveness of the ESL program was significant in improving the ESL learners' cognitive/academic language proficiency across all three groups: ESL-only, ESL + Under, and ESL + Grad. That is, after either a complete ESL program intervention only or both a partial ESL program intervention and taking academic courses, the three groups' academic English proficiency was increased to almost same degree The findings are discussed and implications for pedagogy are suggested.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.177-190
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• 2004

The purpose of this paper IS to investigate the aspects of errors of English stress by Korean students. In this experimental study, 17 students participated and read 120 words which are divided into three types-the beginning, the middle, and the advanced-according to the level of words. As a result of acoustical judgement, there were a greater number of errors In the advanced level of words, and the more syllables the words have, the more errors occurred, tins means Korean students who learn English as a second language have trouble realizing the right stress in words with larger numbers of syllables and the more advanced level. Furthermore it is interesting that Korean students imposed the primary stress on the second syllable when producing words with stress in the first, third and forth syllables.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.273-290
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• 2011

This paper presents a case study involving one Korean primary school student and people around him in order to explore the reading process in English of a young Korean EFL learner and to investigate the social context in which his reading takes place. Six participants were included in the study (one primary school student and five adult participants). The student participant was asked to read a text in English and translate what he read into Korean and the teacher participants were asked to listen to the student's reading. Semi-structured interview was used to collect data from the student as well as five adult participants (his private tutor, his parent, his state school teacher, and two other state school teachers). The analysis reveals four characteristics of the way a young EFL learner approaches reading: word-by-word reading, disconnected word recognition, selective use of cues, and lack of awareness of difficulties. The four characteristics of Kilsu's reading suggest that reading can become a wild guessing game for young foreign learners, if they give selective attention to unimportant cues while reading. The pedagogical implications of this study are also discussed to help teachers designing reading lessons for young learners.

• International Journal of Contents
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.63-69
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• 2017

The objective of this study was to investigate factors that could bring about successful implementation of extensive reading using online/offline blended English library system called 'Reading Gate' in primary and secondary schools. Although there are a great number of studies on effects of various extensive reading on linguistic, cognitive, and affective development, few studies have investigated how extensive reading programs can be implemented at large scale, e.g., whole school level. After analyzing students' reading levels in 200 schools using the same online extensive reading program called Reading Gate, results showed that while some schools were successful, others were not. Five primary and 13 middle schools were selected as successful schools. Data on implementation of the program of schools was gathered. Eighteen teachers and seven headteachers took part in the interview. After analyzing these data on the implementation of the extensive reading program, results revealed that the following five factors for successful implementation of blended extensive reading programs: online level-up system, teacher intervention, integration with the curriculum, school-level support, and parents' awareness of literacy. This suggests that each factor might have contributed to the successful implementation of the extensive reading program at large scale. Implications and applications of this finding are discussed in this study.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.107-131
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• 2010

The goals of the present study are two-fold: 1) to examine NNS teachers' needs for training period in improving their general communicative competence and classroom communicative competence, and 2) to explore the relationships of teachers' needs for the training period, and their current levels of general/classroom communicative competence and other background variables. Data was collected from seventy primary and secondary school English teachers (N=70) who participated in the six-month intensive teacher training program in South Korea. The teacher trainees responded to four questionnaires of 1) the self-diagnosis of their current levels of four language skills (L/S/R/W) in both general/classroom communicative competence, 2) the training period required to improve their general/classroom communicative competence for teaching both English and other subjects through English, 3) the period of their English teaching, and 4) the proportion of their English use in class. The data analysis has shown that there were the strong relationships between trainee needs for the training period and their teaching period, and the proportion of their English use in class. In terms of trainees' communicative competence, the significant relations of both their general/classroom communicative competence and their needs for the training period were found. Implications of the findings are discussed.

• Journal of The Korean Association of Information Education
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.120-128
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• 2000

Even though we basically regard spoken English like listening and speaking rather than written language as an important principle in Elementary Education of English, actually students are being taught English only by imitating what they heard and watched through audio or video tapes in the scene of elementary school. Of course, it is successful to learn English focused on a spoken language not in EFL(English as a foreign language) but in ESL(English as a second language) circumstance. Therefore, we provide products of multimedia contents in order to give opportunities which can make use of English in the classroom through the Web in this paper. In addition to it, we write this paper on method to strengthen motivation for learning language even out of the classroom by putting English to practical use through video conference system or E-mail exchange.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.741-756
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• 2016

This study is to identify the effectiveness of English literature in reading instruction using meta-analysis of advanced researches. 80 studies published in Korea were selected for this research wherein the studies are in experimental nature on reading instruction using English literature. The result of the meta-analysis are as follows: Reading instruction with English literature for early children in kindergartens and primary schools showed statistically significant positive effects in both reading abilities and affective domains, in particular for younger children from kindergartners to 2nd graders of primary school. It was more effective when the instructor used top-down approach than bottom-up or balanced approach. No significant coorelation was found between the number of English stories and the students' linguistic ability. Diverse activities tailored to students' need are turned out to be more effective than using same old activities with more stories.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.139-166
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• 2005

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of remedial instruction on self-efficacy improvement in elementary school students with low self-efficacy, which may have been formed through negative experience with learning such as poor performance and poor grades. Nine 6th grade students with low self-efficacy were selected for the present study. A remedial class was set up and instruction was given once a week for 14 weeks. The purpose of the remedial class was to give the students a positive experience with English learning and have students reflect on their achievement. The contents and class activities were adjusted to the subjects' English abilities and also closely related to those of the regular classes so that students could have more confidence during regular English classes. The data were collected from a test of self-efficacy in English learning, achievement tests given before and after the experiment, achievement tests after each lesson, a general self-efficacy test, a basic questionnaire, interviews, journals, and students' self-evaluation. The results showed that the remedial instruction was very successful in providing students with a sense of achievement and improving students' self-efficacy in English learning. However, this study failed to find significant improvement in general self-efficacy tests and achievement tests given before and after the experiments. A longer period of remedial instruction may have been necessary to obtain more concrete results from the variety of data collected.