• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.189-215
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• 2008

This study proposes using children's literature as a means of teaching and learning English as a foreign language and suggests practical strategies on the basis of transactional theory of reading suggested by Rosenblatt (1994, 1995). This study suggests three novels written for children or young adults: On My Honor (1986) by Marion Dane Bauer, The Giver (1993) by Lois Lowry and Hatchet (1987) by Gary Paulsen. These texts were selected because of their diverse topics, easy and comprehensible language, engaging stories, and authentic and rich expressions, making them effective materials for foreign language learners. This paper is organized as follows: First, it reviews research on teaching literature in English education and response-oriented language teaching to provide theoretical background of literature-based language teaching and learning. Second, it provides the background of the texts selected for the study. Third, it develops diverse, practical strategies for instructors who intend to use children's literature in EFL teaching. We expect to guide EFL instructors in adopting children's literature in their English class by connecting theory and practice and by providing diverse methods and strategies, and sample responses by EFL university students.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.71-90
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• 2010

This study suggests that English literature educators need to be eclectic and flexible in applying theories and methods, not simply adhering to one or two for all situations and occasions. They need to be available to go with the flow and particularly employ whatever is needed at any given moment of class time. There is a current trend emphasizing English literature as merely a language resource rather than the study of English literature as an end in itself. Without much attention given to literary analysis and criticism, students tend to lack creative and critical thinking abilities. Given the current imbalance, it would seem important to address the issue, and create English class programs that maintain a balance between teaching the study of English literature to improve students' critical thinking abilities, and its use as a language resource. To fulfill this goal, thorough preparation is required. Indeed, we can direct our intelligence more effectively when we are well prepared and we are familiar with the basic methods and mechanics of teaching our subject. The greatest achievement of the English literature class I taught was that the students showed unexpectedly remarkable creative and critical appreciation of the novel we studied, in addition to improving their English language skills.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• no.3
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• pp.203-229
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• 1997

This paper is to examine a desirable and promising approach to an effective English teaching in elementary schools. Teachers' understanding English curriculum, teaching methodology, language skills-listening and speaking, and their testing of spoken communication is necessary for students' better learning in their English classes. Thus detailed explanations of English curriculum are presented, and background knowledge of major traditional teaching methods as well as recent trends is discussed. Especially, for the purpose of developing students' English communicative proficiency. classroom teaching and testing techniques of listening and speaking are also discussed with examples.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• no.6
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• pp.49-73
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• 2000

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.159-183
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to investigate Korean primary school English teachers' beliefs on self-directed teaching and learning for facilitating student's self-directed learning. A survey was conducted, using 315 primary school teachers as participants. According to different school areas, sex, English teaching careers, and types of English teaching like classroom teachers or English specialist teachers, beliefs on teachers' self-directed teaching were studied based on class planning, class process, utilization of human resources, development and utilization of teaching materials and class evaluation. The results of this study are as follows: first, differences were not shown except class planning according to teachers from different school areas. Second, sex and beliefs of teachers' self-directed teaching had nothing in common. Third, differences were shown in class planning and class process, according to English teaching careers. Finally, according to types of English teaching, differences were shown in class process and development and utilization of teaching materials. The study suggests that it is necessary to conduct other studies for observing primary English classrooms focusing on teacher's self-directed decision-making.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2002

One of the benefits of the internet-assisted instruction is that it can improve L2 Learners' motivation to express themselves in English. The purpose of this paper is to investigate an effective approach to British-American fiction learning in Korean universities, which can emphasize communicative strategies drawing on video-conferencing system, a chat system(CUSeeMe), and an e-mail system. Students are passive participants who cannot assert their creativity in the traditional teaching method of British-American fiction, which mainly relies upon reading and translation far from literature lessons. In CCDL(Cross-cultural distance learning) class, students can play active roles in asserting their own ideas and assuming considerable responsibility for making a presentation in English. A professor can play a role as a coordinator in supporting the students' activities and in winding up the class. The main significance of this article lies in providing a paradigm for CCDL class beyond the limitation of the traditional teaching method of British-American fiction in Korea and futhermore in exploring the eclectic integration of the traditional one and CCDL.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.55-68
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• 2002

Since the introduction of literature in reading and writing during the 1970s, considerable research has attempted to determine whether literature has significantly positive effects upon enhancement of reading proficiency. It is said that literature extends our knowledge of the world. Through books, we can experience other people's thoughts, experiences, and ideas (Frye, 1964). This paper explored the role of children's literature for the teaching of reading through the literature-based instruction. It focused on why and how children's literature serves as an important context for enhancing learner's reading proficiency of English. It also discussed the authentic use of literature-based strategies for practical classroom use, and suggested the future directions for research toward the literature-based instruction in the domain of reading comprehension.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.107-128
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• 2009

Literature had been at center-stage in the traditional grammar-translation-focused English classrooms up to the mid-twentieth century. As the Audiolingual Method and the Communicative Language Teaching have gained popularity in the English classrooms, however, literature has receded into the background of English education. The main reasons for using literary texts in the English classrooms for communication-focused English instruction need to be examined. First of all, students can come in touch with the subtle and varied uses of language through literature-based teaching. They also feel close to certain characters in the literary work and share the emotional reponses with them. They get personally involved in the plot of the story. Universal human experience and cultural enrichment are two other merits which can be conferred on students by literary texts. Such linguistic and literary experiences can be significantly integrated into the literature-based instruction. More significantly, the four language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) can be combined with one another and integrated into a literature-focused curriculum for English education. The value of literary texts in the English classrooms can be clearly demonstrated by effective ways of using such texts as Charlotte's Web for integrated instruction. The full array of benefits that literature can bring to English instruction, however, has yet to be fully realized. These potentials need to be materialized into classroom practice.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.821-841
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• 2009

This paper explores the ways to reshape humanistic values of the curriculum of the English department of Korean universities. The English curricula are usually composed of three fields of literary studies, general education, and English proficiency, whose conventional humanistic values have been currently dwindling. As for literary studies, teaching literature still hovers over the canonical works of past decades, not allowing students to access the canon with their own ideas and ending up with authoritative monologues. The general education field leans toward edited texts rather than authentic ones, which ignores a genuine path of communication between the author and its readers. Subjects for English proficiency such as "TOEIC" tend to be taught online with no teacher's presence for the nominal purpose of optimizing economic efficiency in teaching. All these testify to the attenuation of humanistic values in the curriculum, which motivates us to suggest some ways to reshape the values. Authoritative monologue in teaching literature can be shifted to the open-ended conversation by using role-play methods as well as accepting extra-canonical works into the curriculum. Authentic texts for general education prove to be preferred by students with the successful result of our experiment. Lastly, it is teacher's presence in the class that helps get higher achievement of "TOEIC" than some online classes. As suggested above, open-ended conversation, wider communication between author and readers, and human presence of the class will help reshape humanistic values in the English curriculum.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.321-346
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• 2010

This study was performed to develop a task-based English lesson plan. The study reviewed the background theories needed to accomplish the study purpose; types of learning, current trends in English teaching, and the task-based teaching. A frame for the task-based English lesson was developed as the result of this study. An actual task-based lesson plan was made after the frame for the task-based English lesson. The author presented task-based English lesson plans at English education conferences, and applied them to pre-teacher training and in-service trainings for English teachers. It is concluded that the task-based English lesson plan was very effective in enhancing English communicative competence and that the pre-teachers and teachers were satisfied with the lesson plans. It is hoped that more teaching material will be developed based on this task-based English lesson plan.