• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.293-305
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• 2016

Objective: This study aims to measure cognitive load levels by analyzing the EEG of Koreans and foreigners, when they read a Korean text with care selected by level from the grammar and vocabulary aspects, and compare the cognitive load levels through quantitative values. The study results can be utilized as basic data for more scientific approach, when Korean texts or books are developed, and an evaluation method is built, when the foreigners encounter them for learning or an assignment. Background: Based on 2014, the number of the foreign students studying in Korea was 84,801, and they increase annually. Most of them are from Asian region, and they come to Korea to enter a university or a graduate school in Korea. Because those foreign students aim to learn within Universities in Korea, they receive Korean education from their preparation for study in Korea. To enter a university in Korea, they must acquire grade 4 or higher level in the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK), or they need to complete a certain educational program at each university's affiliated language institution. In such a program, the learners of the Korean language receive Korean education based on texts, except speaking domain, and the comprehension of texts can determine their academic achievements in studying after they enter their desired schools (Jeon, 2004). However, many foreigners, who finish a language course for the short-term, and need to start university study, cannot properly catch up with university classes requiring expertise with the vocabulary and grammar levels learned during the language course. Therefore, reading education, centered on a strategy to understand university textbooks regarded as top level reading texts to the foreigners, is necessary (Kim and Shin, 2015). This study carried out an experiment from a perspective that quantitative data on the readers of the main player of reading education and teaching materials need to be secured to back up the need for reading education for university study learners, and scientifically approach educational design. Namely, this study grasped the difficulty level of reading through the measurement of cognitive loads indicated in the reading activity of each text by dividing the difficulty of a teaching material (book) into eight levels, and the main player of reading into Koreans and foreigners. Method: To identify cognitive loads indicated upon reading Korean texts with care by Koreans and foreigners, this study recruited 16 participants (eight Koreans and eight foreigners). The foreigners were limited to the language course students studying the intermediate level Korean course at university-affiliated language institutions within Seoul Metropolitan Area. To identify cognitive load, as they read a text by level selected from the Korean books (difficulty: eight levels) published by King Sejong Institute (Sejonghakdang.org), the EEG sensor was attached to the frontal love (Fz) and occipital lobe (Oz). After the experiment, this study carried out a questionnaire survey to measure subjective evaluation, and identified the comprehension and difficulty on grammar and words. To find out the effects on schema that may affect text comprehension, this study controlled the Korean texts, and measured EEG and subjective satisfaction. Results: To identify brain's cognitive load, beta band was extracted. As a result, interactions (Fz: p =0.48; Oz: p =0.00) were revealed according to Koreans and foreigners, and difficulty of the text. The cognitive loads of Koreans, the readers whose mother tongue is Korean, were lower in reading Korean texts than those of the foreigners, and the foreigners' cognitive loads became higher gradually according to the difficulty of the texts. From the text four, which is intermediate level in difficulty, remarkable differences started to appear in comparison of the Koreans and foreigners in the beginner's level text. In the subjective evaluation, interactions were revealed according to the Koreans and foreigners and text difficulty (p =0.00), and satisfaction was lower, as the difficulty of the text became higher. Conclusion: When there was background knowledge in reading, namely schema was formed, the comprehension and satisfaction of the texts were higher, although higher levels of vocabulary and grammar were included in the texts than those of the readers. In the case of a text in which the difficulty of grammar was felt high in the subjective evaluation, foreigners' cognitive loads were also high, which shows the result of the loads' going up higher in proportion to the increase of difficulty. This means that the grammar factor functions as a stress factor to the foreigners' reading comprehension. Application: This study quantitatively evaluated the cognitive loads of Koreans and foreigners through EEG, based on readers and the text difficulty, when they read Korean texts. The results of this study can be used for making Korean teaching materials or Korean education content and topic selection for foreigners. If research scope is expanded to reading process using an eye-tracker, the reading education program and evaluation method for foreigners can be developed on the basis of quantitative values.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.205-217
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• 2011

This study analyzed the reading materials presented in the existing 'Experiment Observation' targeting 31 elementary school students and conducted a preliminary investigation to examine the cause which makes the science reading materials of elementary school difficult to read. Also, on the basis of a preliminary investigation, this study developed the reading materials on science. After that, by examining the degree of understanding about existing reading materials on 'Experiment Observation' targeting 55 students of elementary schools and the newly developed reading materials targeting 44 students of elementary schools, the study proved its effect. As the result of the study, the causes for which students felt difficulty in reading were as follows: the scientific or non-scientific terms were explained by using more higher levels of Chinese characters compared to the levels of students; the scientific terms never treated in the classroom were used in the reading materials without any explanation; the overall structure of existing reading materials was distracted and listed the fragments of information, and the sentences were described complicatedly; the contents of a text and the photo materials were not connected functionally. In addition, the newly developed science reading materials were preferred by students because more various methods were devised, such as more systematic structure, arrangements of simpler sentence structure, additional explanation of scientific terms, divisions of paragraphs and postscript and their understanding was found to be improved.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.57 no.6
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• pp.1111-1130
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• 2011

Reading postmodern texts certainly situates readers in roles different from the ones we have been used to. Recently, postmodern metafiction forms a significant body of children's literature that is intended to challenge and transform the conventions of books in the digital age. While many studies have been done as to how child readers have capabilities to appreciate and interpret postmodern metafiction picture books, few studies on teachers and preservice teachers' reactions are not readily available. The role of teachers and preservice teachers are crucial for child readers to have access to affluent reading resources. This study discusses how preservice teachers read and respond to postmodern metafiction picture books using a deconstructive approach by means of binary opposites. Data was collected with 14 preservice teachers as to their likes/dislikes, reading levels, and reading paths about postmodern metafiction picture books. Expected pedagogical implications for literacy and language education were requested to address in their reading diaries and response papers. With their likes/ dislikes, since binary opposites always imply the hierarchy of power and value, the likes is apparently more valued and appreciated over their dislikes. This differentiated values are discussed in more detail with three recurring themes-Education, Morals and Behavior, and Tradition. With reading levels, there seems to be a gap existing between the authors' implied reader and literary critics' and the preservice teachers' ideal readers for the postmodern metafiction picture books. Although many studies have already revealed young readers' capability of appreciating postmodern metafiction, it depends a lot more on the teachers and preservice teachers whether children's right to have access to affluent literacy resources is respected or not. Preservice teachers' awareness of the potential of postmodern metafiction will work as an initial step to bring and realize the new reading path and new literacies in classrooms. By challenging metanarratives of children's literature, preservice teachers' readings of postmodern picture books reveals potentials to raise different reading paths and develop new literacies and other educational implications.

• Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.293-309
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• 2011

This study examined elementary students' reading attitudes to identify the state of feeling related to reading. For this, 523 elementary students from the forth to the sixth of 'model schools for reading' participated and completed questionnaires. The results show that the average score of reading attitudes was 3.8 out of 5, and there were differences between schools, gender and grade levels. Girls' reading attitudes were more positive than boys and sixth-grade students' reading attitudes were the most negative of all grades. The students' attitudes of the school which emphasized reading for pleasure were better than that of reading for academic achievement.

• 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.13 no.3
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• pp.1-22
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• 2007

The study examined the effects of explicit derivational morphology instruction (henceforth DMI) on the incidental vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension of 132 Korean 1st-year high school students who responded to a battery of tests (two vocabulary tests and a reading comprehension test). Multiple statistical tools were used to analyze the data: Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Simple Regression Analysis, Tests of Simple Main Effects, and effect size computation using Cohen's d. The results indicated that (a) DMI enhanced students' ability to infer word meanings in context, (b) DMI promoted high proficiency students' reading comprehension, whereas it impeded intermediate proficiency students' reading comprehension, (c) vocabulary knowledge has a strong positive predictive value for reading comprehension, and (d) the gaps of vocabulary knowledge across proficiency levels were still substantial, despite the observation that DMI promoted students' vocabulary acquisition. These results have a bearing on English as Foreign Language (EFL) reading pedagogy.

• Journal of Korean language education
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.149-179
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to establish a Korean reading ability assessment category based on a reading comprehension theory, and to establish an evaluation framework for Korean reading ability after creating the evaluation factors corresponding to each category through expert Delphi survey. The three levels of reading comprehension that were constructed are the following: language knowledge, text comprehension, and interpretation and comprehension of new ideas and application. This study suggested that constructs of Korean reading assessment reflected reading theory. This study has meaningful consequences which suggest verified constructs through Delphi surveys.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.113-124
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• 2006

Korean children reading Hangul was studied in children between 2 and 5 years of age. Subjects were 400 young children in each age group from kindergartens or day care centers in 6 cities of Jeon-buk Province. Teachers used a checklist based on Lee, Cha-Suk(2003) to assess children's reading ability. Data were analyzed by frequency, percentage, and $x^2$ using SPSS 10.0 program. Results showed age differences in young children's reading of Hangul. Developmental levels consisted of looking at pictures because of absence of linguistic awareness about words, skipping pages of text without pictures, pronouncing phonemes, being aware of phonemes and of the difference between pictures and print, and knowing that the same phonemes can be applied to different words.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.22 no.9
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• pp.131-136
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• 2022

This study was initially conducted to explore Saudi students' use of reading strategies and their relationship to their reading comprehension level. The study employed quantitative methods to obtain information about Saudi students' perceived use of reading strategies and their comprehension levels. The results showed that EFL learners in Saudi Arabia use planning strategies more than attending strategies and evaluating strategies. Saudi students also perceived the environment as the most critical factor affecting their reading comprehension. There was no significant relationship between Saudi EFL learners' comprehension level and their use of reading strategies. Finally, gender differences favoring female learners were evident in almost all analyses conducted in the current study. Significant differences were found favoring female students in overall strategy use, comprehension level, and the use of evaluating strategies.

• Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.131-154
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• 2023

This study analyzed the effectiveness of visiting reading programs for vulnerable children, focusing on the case of libraries in A-si, Gyeonggi-do. Library A utilized a visiting teacher to deliver books that matched the children's levels and interests through non-face-to-face interactions, or to engage in face-to-face reading sessions and deliver books together. In 2022, a total of 158 individuals from 103 families participated in the program, with 103 individuals from 67 families delivering books and 55 individuals from 36 families engaging in book reading activities. Pre- and post-project surveys were conducted to assess the reading effects, and interviews were conducted with the visiting teachers. The analysis revealed that the level and interest of the children during book delivery and reading sessions were identified, and the effects of reading books with high levels of interaction were significant. Infants who were able to easily acquire reading experiences according to their age exhibited better reading effects compared to elementary school students. The program aimed at the new participant group showed slightly greater effectiveness than the group of continuing participants. Furthermore, following the implementation of the program, improvements were observed in reading interest, reading attitude, reading environment, reading interaction, self-esteem, social skills, language ability, reading proficiency, self-directed learning ability, and library utilization rate.