• English Language & Literature Teaching
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.199-218
• /
• 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 Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.14 no.9
• /
• pp.622-633
• /
• 2014

This study delineates the process of analyzing the illustrations in high school English I textbook. The goal of this study is to shed light on the issues related to producing better English textbooks. The methods include analysis of the illustrations in the textbook developed under the 2009 Revised National Curriculum and surveys of teachers and students' awareness about them. This study classified common features in the illustrations to devise four analysis criteria: cultural aspects, expression styles, expression techniques, and linguistic functions of the illustrations. The questionnaire was made for both teachers and students. The questions in the survey of teachers were about the relevance to the contents, the layout and formation, learners' interest, cognitive aspects, easiness of teaching and learning, and connectivity with language functions. In the survey of students, familiarity, interest level, learnability, favored expression technique and expression material were considered. The result of the surveys showed that the teachability and learnability are key factors in developing illustrations for English textbooks, and they should look familiar to the students.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.39-45
• /
• 2014

This study investigates twenty four Korean females' production of English front vowels focusing on the distinction in /i/ vs /ɪ/ and /ɛ/ vs /${\ae}$/ and formant values of stressed and unstressed vowels compared with those of native English speakers. The Korean learners were asked to read a textbook passage which includes ten sentences including target vowels. The major results indicate that: (1) Korean learners have trouble producing a distinct version (tense and lax) of front vowels in the paragraph reading; (2) The vowel space of the stressed vowels in a paragraph is smaller than that of embedded sentences; and (3) The vowel quality of the unstressed vowels produced by the Korean learners is similar to that of the native English speakers. The findings from this study can be applied to the pronunciation teaching for the Korean learners of English vowels and realization of English stress.