• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.1-24
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• 2012

It has long been shown that Korean EFL students have not practiced extensive reading in school curriculum. Their vocabulary knowledge is limited and a tool for measuring text readability for them has hardly been developed and used. The study aimed to check the current situations on the above issues and develop a reading framework appropriate for extensive reading within the national English curriculum, including the Readability Formula in Korean EFL contexts (KRF). The study consists of four steps. The study does a survey to check the current Korean EFL situations on the issues, suggests a new vocabulary learning size, develops a readability formula as a tool for measuring text difficulty based on the newly suggested vocabulary size, and finally validates the formula with various kinds of English books, including the primary and secondary school English textbooks. It is expected that this study will provide a model for the vocabulary size and the readability index for extensive reading in EFL contexts.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.121-134
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to investigate the optimal conditions for designing tasks appropriate to the elementary classroom based on the correspondence with the national curriculum, integration among four skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), authenticity, and interactivity. For this study, two primary English teachers volunteered to participate in the case study conducted in the spring semester of the 2012 school year. Each class observed was composed of 29 and 30 sixth graders (12-year-old learners). Data were collected through classroom observation and lesson plans. Optimality theory was used to analyze data from the lessons. From the findings, the overall ranking of constraints is Curriculum ${\gg}$ Integration ${\gg}$ Authenticity ${\gg}$ Interactivity. It is also shown that for teacher 'L', the tasks such as 'guessing game', 'photo of me', and 'role play' were appropriate to help students ask questions and give reasons for their choices. As for teacher 'C', the tasks such as 'hand spans', 'transport survey', and 'picture telling' needed to be considered in order to help students understand and write comparative sentences.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.3557-3563
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• 2014

Korean National Level Kindergarten Curriculum does not include English education in regular class time. On the other hand, more than 90% kindergarteners are taught English. This study examined the Native English Teachers' (NETs') cultural aspects of their teaching at regular kindergartens in Korea. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with four NETs who were working at regular kindergartens in Korea, their partner Local English Teachers (LETs) and kindergarten principals. All interview data was transcribed and categorized based on the grounded theory method. The results showed that NETs are not required to be culturally prepared to teach in Korean kindergartens. Consequently, most of them do not consider the students' culture in their teaching activities. Moreover, Korean kindergartens, where research participants work, are not prepared well to invite NETs into their regular curriculum. These results will have significant implications on Korean kindergarten's English education practice.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.111-134
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• 2005

This paper examines high school English textbooks to ascertain if they appropriately reflect the kinds and frequencies of routine formulas and downgraders of request act used by English native speakers. It is important to present authentic routine formulas in textbooks for students to acquire proper, efficient and safe communication strategies to communicate with other English speakers. For the analysis, currently available 7 series of 21 high school English textbooks under the $7^{th}$ National Curriculum were selected. Each series of textbooks contains 3 school grade textbooks as High School English, High School English I, and High School English II. The results show that the high school English textbooks generally demonstrate a secund reflection of the English native speakers' use of request strategies and downgraders. That is, the textbooks were found to have presented mostly casual forms of routine formulas while they have not presented sufficient coverage of elaborated polite routine formulas for requesting which English native speakers frequently use. The presence of some kinds of the frequently used downgraders was also very small in proportion in the textbooks. More effort should be given to complement the deficiency in this area by teachers and researchers.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.335-363
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• 2005

One of the most important features in the 7th National Curriculum of English is the introduction of the middle school multi-purpose English classes. Despite the importance of the classes, there doesn't seem to be enough studies of developing learning materials for them. The purpose of the current study is, therefore, to develop English learning materials for the multi-purpose English classes based on the Task-Based Learning framework. To do so, various tasks were collected and adapted for the classes, and different teaching techniques suitable for the tasks were designed. It is hoped that this research will help teachers prepare for teaching materials for the classes, and students recognize their interests in English and to improve their English abilities.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.199-218
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• 2011

This study is to explore one of efficient procedures in producing English textbooks for secondary school students. According to a series of changes in the National Curriculum, new textbooks have been selected and used in English classes. Textbooks are one of the fundamental factors in teaching and learning languages together with learners and teachers. So this study emphasizes the significance of textbooks and presents the practical model of producing English textbooks including activity books, from major aspects such as planning, writing, editing, selecting, etc. The current government has made continuing efforts to improve English education development by administrating innovative policies [strategies]. However, there still remain lots of difficulties in this gigantic task, which is not an exception in the matter of textbooks. Therefore, to provide students with better textbooks, the government should not only invest great funds but also renovate the present polluted system of selecting textbooks.

• The Mathematical Education
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• v.45 no.4 s.115
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• pp.407-438
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• 2006

This study investigated school mathematics curriculum of England, newly revised in 1998, focused on the 'shape, space, and measures' domain among three major domains of the English curriculum. On the basis of its understanding, this domain was compared and analyzed with school mathematics curriculum of Korea. In doing so, this study explored its plans and procedures and established a frame of comparison for the curriculums between the two countries. The structure of the National Curriculum in England is composed of programmes of study and attainment targets. The former sets out what should be taught in mathematics at key stages 1, 2, 3, and 4 and provides the basis for planning schemes of work, and the latter sets out the knowledge, skills, and understanding that pupils of different abilities and matures are expected to have by the end of each key stage. Attainment targets are composed of eight levels and an additional level of increasing difficulty. According to the results of the present study, Korea focuses on the formal and systematic mathematical knowledge on the basis of sound understanding of certain mathematical terms or concepts. On the other hand, England curriculum tends to deal with the content which can be understood more intuitively, flexibly, and naturally through the experience and aquisition based on the concrete manipulation. Particularly, it emphasizes that mathematics be realistic and useful in solving a diverse problems confronted in everyday life.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.1172-1183
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• 2015

The purpose of this research is to analyze the recognition of the curriculum experts on 2015 integrated liberal arts and natural sciences curriculum revision. Research method is a delphi survey and the subjects are curriculum experts. The research results are as follows. Firstly, experts suggested common education for all students and students' opportunities to choose subjects. Secondly, the direction of curriculum revision was different by school level. The elementary school needs to foster convergence thinking. The middle school needs to educate common basic literacy education and the high school needs both the common education and the free choice of subjects by students. Thirdly, the separation of the liberal arts and natural sciences was caused by the separate thinking of custom, tradition and study and the separate exam application on liberal arts and natural science of college scholastic ability test. The solution about separation problem of liberal arts and natural sciences have been proposed to improve mathematics education and teachers' convergence education competency. Lastly, for the establishment of an 2015, integrated curriculum the reduction of the CSAT test area and the introduction of qualifying examination for English were required.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.139-164
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• 2005

The purpose of this study is to analyze the writing activity materials presented in the thirteen middle school textbooks and determine if the writing activity materials are appropriate for the goals and contents of the 7th national curriculum. The writing activity materials are analyzed based on three criteria. First, the writing activity materials are analyzed based on Rivers'(1981) five writing guidances, which are specified with detailed writing activity materials. The first criterion was suggested by Young-Ran Lee(2004). Second, the writing activity materials in the textbooks are analyzed according to the criterion prescribed by the 7th national curriculum, which are specified with writing activities presented by Rivers(1981), Raimes(1983), Hedge(1988), and Beverly and Carol(1988). Third, the writing activity materials related to other skills, such as listening, speaking, and reading, in the textbooks are selected and analyzed according to the proportion of the integration of skills. The results are as follows: First, writing activity materials in the textbooks belong to the type of 'reproduction', ie. the second stage of Rivers' writing guidance, 'recombination, which is the third stage of Rivers' writing guidance, and the type of 'guided writing', noted on the fourth stage of the guidance. Second, the writing activity materials satisfy the criterion in the 7th national curriculum, as for the proportions, but they are not balanced. Third, most of the writing activity materials contain writing activities that involve non-writing skills such as listening, speaking and reading, but they are not balanced. Particularly, writing activity materials related to reading activities are common.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.1-8
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• 2018

The aim of this study was to analyze the cultural contents represented in elementary school English textbooks for grades 3 and 4 based on the 2015 revised Korean national curriculum. An analysis of cultural contents was conducted on the basis of Morgan(2001)'s five category criteria. Among the five aspects of culture, 'practices' relevant to daily life were presented most frequently in the textbooks followed by 'products'. English textbooks showed a relatively low frequency in 'perspectives' and 'communities' areas of culture. 'Persons' did not appear at all in all eight textbooks. It revealed that there was a serious imbalance in the representation of textbook about cultural contents. In conclusion, there should be balanced cultural contents for the students to have a balanced cultural awareness and to accept cultural diversity and differences. In addition, textbooks should include more various cultural materials and activities for the students to develop four key competencies suggested on the 2015 revised Korean national curriculum.