• International Journal of Contents
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.15-24
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the use of video resources on improving listening comprehension. 86 students enrolled in a summer session at a Korean university participated in the study. They were assigned to one of three groups based on the results of their TOEIC test scores: 29 students were assigned to the low group, 29 students to the intermediate group, and 28 students to the advanced group. Each group studied the same lessons using authentic video materials. They were taught for 10 sessions over three weeks. The pre- and post-test design helped to determine whether authentic videos were effective in improving listening skills for all proficiency levels. In addition, a questionnaire investigated students' perceptions toward using video resources. Paired sample t-tests, ANOVAs, and an ANCOVA were utilized to identify significant differences. It was concluded that in the intermediate and advanced proficiency groups, the students' listening skills increased significantly after learning with videos. In addition, listening improvements among the intermediate and advanced students were much greater than those of the low proficiency group. As for students' perceptions toward using video resources for improving their English listening skills, they responded positively. Based on these findings, pedagogical implications are suggested, and future studies will be discussed.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.23-36
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• 2009

Relationships between immigrant mothers' Korean language ability and preschoolers' language development in multi-cultural families were studied with 91 mothers and their children. Language capacity of mothers and children was measured by receptive and expressive vocabulary test, sentence comprehension test and two kinds of reading tests. Results showed that mothers' level of comprehension was relatively low but their reading ability was higher than that of elementary school first-grade Korean students. Comprehension of children in multi-cultural families with non-immigrant counterparts showed a lower level of language ability. Mother's level of expressive vocabulary, receptive vocabulary and reading ability correlated with children's language development. These results indicate a relationship between children's delayed language development in multi-cultural families and mother's low proficiency in Korean language.

• The Journal of Economics, Marketing and Management
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2022

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze the measurement results of the financial comprehension test conducted ten times in order to study the financial comprehension. Research design, data, and methodology: In this study, correct answer rates in the Economics and Finance Literacy Certification Test were analyzed across ten rounds of tests taken by 6,662 high school students in Korea. Result: The analysis revealed that Korean high school students' level of financial literacy generally increased as the grade level increased, and the correct answer rates of students at autonomous high schools and special-purpose high schools were statistically different from those of students at general academic high schools and specialized high schools. Conclusion: We can therefore infer that students at specialized high schools face limitations in tackling financial problems due to their lack of proficiency in interpretation and calculation of data necessary for real life financial decision-making. In contrast, students at general academic high schools, special-purpose high schools, and autonomous high schools who do not learn finance as a part of their official curriculum at school were lacking in basic financial knowledge as well as knowledge about the financial system compared to students at specialized high schools, highlighting the need for a measure to address the deficiency.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.69-89
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• 2012

This paper explored the effects of extensive reading (ER) on Korean university students' L2 reading proficiency and reading rates. This study also illustrated how ER can be integrated into a university English reading class. Seventeen students who took a summer reading course participated in this study. Data were gathered through pre- and post- tests in terms of participants' reading comprehension proficiency and reading rates and post- questionnaire with regard to their attitudes toward L2 storybook reading after they have experienced it. The analysis was carried out using the Paired Samples t-test. It was revealed that ER has a positive effect on the enhancement of the participants' reading comprehension and reading rates. The participants showed their continued intention to read in English and a strong belief that persistent reading in English in the long run will help improve their English. The results of this study confirm the educational values of incorporating ER into university English reading classes. The pedagogical implications for EFL instructors are described.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.101-122
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• 2009

This study was purposed to discuss an educational concept of listening potential in ESL/EFL contexts as a counterpart of the reading potential concept in L1 contexts. As a preliminary condition for the concept of listening potential, this study investigated a relationship between reading and listening proficiency of ESL/EFL learners, focusing on roles of grammar knowledge in reading and listening comprehension. Reading and listening comprehension and grammar knowledge test scores of 231 Korean college students studying at a university in the U.S. were analyzed for this study. This study found that there was a positive correlation between reading proficiency and listening proficiency of Korean ESL college students. Grammar knowledge played significant roles accounting for reading and listening comprehension. Furthermore, this study found a difference between the reading proficiency and the listening proficiency across the stages of language development. However, results of this study did not empirically verify the concept of listening potential.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.1-13
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• 2001

For the development of a short form of the Korean Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (K-WPPSI), 360 preschool and primary school children were tested with 4 subtests: Object Assembly, Arithmetic, Block Design, and Comprehension. Transformed scores were derived according to K-WPPSI norms. Interscorer reliability coefficients measured by two independent scorers with the data of 16 children were satisfactory: Comprehension, .92; Arithmetic, .94; Block Design, .97; Object Assembly, .97 Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient for the 4 subtests were very similar to those for the original K-WPPSI, ranging between .71 and .92. Factor analyses revealed 2 factors corresponding to Wechsler's 2 factor theory of intelligence. Discriminant validity was obtained with a Picture-Vocabulary test. Boys performed slightly better than girls on all subtests except for Comprehension. Boys significantly out-performed girls in Arithmetic.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.1-18
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• 2010

This study examined the effects of previewing and providing background knowledge on low level EFL readers' comprehension of expository texts and their responses to these treatments. 130 college freshmen were randomly placed into one of three treatment groups and read two expository texts reflecting unfamiliar cultural information. Prior to reading, one group was given previewing instruction, which included vocabulary preteaching and summaries, and a second group was provided with culture-specific background knowledge through watching videos and slides. The third group read each text without any prereading instruction. Immediately after reading a passage, subjects answered a 10-item multiple-choice test. Results showed significant positive effects of the previewing treatment and weak positive effects of the providing background knowledge treatment. Students' responses on the questionnaires revealed that the majority felt that the experimental treatments contributed to comprehension enhancement, made reading more enjoyable, and expedited their reading process. Students in the control group, however, indicated that they needed explicit prereading instruction in order to understand the texts. Pedagogical implications of the findings for EFL reading instruction are provided.

• Educational Technology International
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.1-26
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• 2013

This study is to identify whether three types of online instruction (text-based, video-based, and video-based instruction without text) and age category have a different influence on students' comprehension and motivation. Online students were randomly assigned to one of six groups, and they attended two-week online lectures via Course Management System. The comprehension test and the short form of IMMS were implemented when 114 participants accomplished two-week online lectures. The results revealed that using instructional video in online instruction is more effective instructional medium than text only in order to promote learner's motivation. Besides, older adults aged 41-60 are significantly different from younger adults (21-40 years old) in terms of students' comprehension. Furthermore, three types of online instructions are likely to be influenced by age category.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.771-781
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• 2019

We propose the VS³-NET model to solve the task of question answering questions with machine-reading comprehension that searches for an appropriate answer in a given context. VS³-NET is a model that trains latent variables for each question using variational inferences based on a model of a simple recurrent unit-based sentences and self-matching networks. The types of questions vary, and the answers depend on the type of question. To perform efficient inference and learning, we introduce neural question-type models to approximate the prior and posterior distributions of the latent variables, and we use these approximated distributions to optimize a reparameterized variational lower bound. The context given in machine-reading comprehension usually comprises several sentences, leading to performance degradation caused by context length. Therefore, we model a hierarchical structure using sentence encoding, in which as the context becomes longer, the performance degrades. Experimental results show that the proposed VS³-NET model has an exact-match score of 76.8% and an F1 score of 84.5% on the SQuAD test set.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.15 no.10
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• pp.658-668
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• 2015

The purpose of present study tested the effects of context, transparency, familiarity and related variables on comprehension of 32 idioms in 87 Chinese learners of Korean who were attending the S university in Jeonnam providence. In the first assessment, idiomatic phrases were presented out of context. In another assessment, idiomatic phrases were embedded in supportive story contexts. To examine the difference based on task types, paired t-test or one-way ANOVA was used to test differences on related variables such as TOPIK, years of residence in Korea, major and etc. on idiom comprehension. The results of this study are summarized as follows. First, task type, familiarity and transparency were found to have no significant effect on idiom comprehension for Chinese learners of Korean. Second, the related variables such as TOPIK, and major had a significant effect on idiom comprehension. Third, percentage of context related interpretation error in context task was the highest. Literal interpretation errors were followed by it. It means they have a tendency to use contextual cues and semantic analysis of the phrase to comprehend Korean idioms. The results of study will be used to make a plan for teaching Chinese learners of Korean.