• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.123-145
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to propose an efficient vocabulary assessment model in task-based language learning and to verify the viability of this assessment model. Bachman and Palmer (1996) pointed out the fact that many language tests focus on just one of the areas of language knowledge. However, researchers suggested that it is necessary to acknowledge the needs of several analytic scales, which can provide separate ratings for different components of the language ability to be tested. Although there were many studies which tried to evaluate the various aspects of vocabulary ability, most of them measured only one or two factors. Based on previous research, this study proposed an assessment model of general construct of vocabulary ability and tried to measure vocabulary ability in four separate areas. The subjects were two classes of university level Korean EFL students. They participated in small group discussion via synchronous CMC. One class used a lexically focused task, which was proposed by Kim and Jeong (2006) and the other class used a non-lexically focused task. The results showed that the students with a lexically focused task significantly outperformed those with a non-lexically focused task in overall vocabulary ability as well as four subdivisions of vocabulary ability. In conclusion, the assessment model of separate ratings is a viable measure of vocabulary ability and this can provide elaborate interpretation of vocabulary ability.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.71-87
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• 2005

The role of interaction in second language (L2) classrooms has been examined from different angles, ranging from early studies of foreigner talk to the studies of the teacher- and task-based talk. However, most of the research on L2 classroom interaction has been based on a traditional psycholinguistic view of language and learning, failing to reconceptualize a broad and holistic understanding of L2 learning. Currently, many researchers have attempted to explore and describe classroom interaction in L2 classrooms from a sociocultural perspective. The purpose of this paper is to discuss Vygotsky's theoretical framework in terms of L2 classroom interaction and research from a sociocultural perspective, by describing three key concepts (zone of proximal development, private speech, and activity theory) in Vygotsky's theoretical framework and relating them to L2 classroom interaction. The results demonstrated the importance of social interaction for second language acquisition with the review of the related research study. It was also suggested that the dynamic and interactive processes of second language learning in the classroom should be valued by L2 researchers as well as L2 teachers. Finally, implications for the concepts for L2 classroom research and pedagogy are presented in the conclusion.

• Lingua Humanitatis
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• v.6
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• pp.241-263
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• 2004

The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the characteristics of the Korean language used as a major communication means within the Korean community in Chenguoz District of Harbin, Heirungjiang Province, China, in terms of its phonology, morphology and syntax. The study focuses on how a variety of languages and dialects including Chinese, the Standard Chinese Korean adopted as a means of teaching in Korean schools, and Kyongsang Dialect of Korean have influenced the language of the community It also deals as background information with the history of the community, the attitude of the community members toward Korean and Chinese, and their proficiencies of Korean and Chinese, to obtain the general picture of the bilingualism of this community This specific region was studied since this region and most of the Korean communities in the Heirungjiang province were formed by descendents of the immigrants from the southern provinces of the Korean Peninsula, which allows the comparison between the language used today and the language their ancestors used before moving to this area. Due to the industrialization and innovation brought about by the opening of the Chinese society, the fast outward flow of youths to urban areas, and greater assimilation threats from the embedding Chinese culture, we are not too sure if the Korean language will continue to be used in the future. Given these circumstances, we consider this research most opportune in that it provides a look into the Korean community that developed its distinctive culture and tanguage within an isolated cultural environment.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.47-61
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• 2007

The purpose of this paper is to survey the major elements that have changed English from a synthetic language to an analytic one. Therefore, this paper has looked at the differences between synthetic languages and analytic ones. In synthetic languages, the relation of words in a sentence is synthetically determined by means of inflections, while in analytic languages, the functions of words in a sentence are analytically determined by means of word order and function words. Thus, Old English with full inflectional systems shows the synthetic nature. However, in the course of time, Old English inflections came to be lost by phonetic changes and operation, which made English dependent on word order and function words to signal the relation of words in a sentence. The major phonetic changes that have shifted English are the change of final /m/ to /n/, the leveling of unstressed vowels, the loss of final /n/, and the decay of schwa in final syllables. These changes led to reduction of inflections of English as well as the loss of grammatical gender. The operation of analogy, the tendency of language to follow certain patterns and to adapt a less common form to a more familiar one, has also played an important role in changing English.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.115-134
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• 2019

Objective: This study was aimed to analyze the effects of activities using picture books for young children's language development and to identify factors that caused differences in these effects by applying meta-analysis. Methods: We conducted a homogeneity test of effect sizes on 21 Korean studies published in academic journals from 1990 to February 2018 and calculated the effect size by applying a random effect model. Additionally, we conducted a meta-ANOVA to investigate whether the effect sizes differed by types of language development, picture book activities, and environmental variables-such as place, time, and agent. Results: The results indicated that the effect sizes of the 21 studies were heterogeneous and the total effect size was 0.90, which was significantly large according to Cohen's standard. The effect sizes also varied by types of language development, picture book activities, and environmental variables. Conclusion/Implications: To increase the effects of activities using picture books for young children's language development, this study suggested the importance of picture book activities to be integrated with other play areas, teaching methods, and other print materials for the development of literacy abilities, and the link between home and early childhood education institutions.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.53-72
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• 2023

Objective: This study examined the effects of cooking activities related to seasonal customs on the language expression ability and pro-social behaviors of young children. Methods: Participants consisted of thirty-four 5-year-old children who were attending S preschool in Jeollanamdo. Seventeen children belonged to the experimental group and seventeen children to the comparative group. The experimental group participated in cooking activities related to seasonal customs, and the comparative group in cooking activities according to life themes of Nuri curriculum. Results: The results of this study revealed a significant improvement in the language expression ability and pro-social behaviors of young children in the experimental group. That is to say, the scores of the language expression ability and pro-social behaviors of the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the comparative group. Conclusion/Implications: This study carries significant implications for the early childhood field as it provides valuable insight into teaching-learning activities that effectively enhance the language expression ability and pro-social behaviors of young children.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.37-44
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• 2023

This study investigates perceptual confusions of English fricatives among 121 Korean elementary school English as a foreign language (EFL) learners with shorter periods of learning English. The objective is to examine how they perceive English fricative consonants and to provide educational guidelines. Two sets of English fricative identification tasks-voiceless fricatives and voiced fricatives-were administered to participants in a High Variability Phonetic Training (HVPT) setting. Their phonemic awareness of the fricatives was visualized in perceptual confusion maps via multidimensional scaling analysis. The findings are explored in terms of the impacts of Korean EFL learners' L1 linguistic aspects and a comparison with L1 learners. Learners' phonemic awareness patterns are then compared with their relative importance in speech intelligibility based on a functional load hierarchy. The results indicated that Korean elementary EFL learners recognized English fricatives in a manner largely akin to L1 learners, suggesting their ongoing acquisition progress. Additionally, the findings demonstrated that the young EFL learners possess sufficient phonemic awareness for most high functional load segments but encounter some difficulties with one high and one low functional pair. The findings of this study offer suggestions for diagnosing language learners' phonemic awareness abilities, thereby aiding in the development of practical guidelines for language instructional design and helping educators make informed decisions regarding teaching priority in L2 classes.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.15 no.10
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• pp.669-678
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• 2015

This study aims at investigating students' perceptions and peer feedback to practicum for teaching English in the English Department at a Korean university. The participants were forty-two students at an elective course, 'Method for teaching English', and the data comprised questionnaire, 12 teams of practicum, and 15 sets of PF. A 'Word Count System (WCS)' was adopted to analyze the data. The findings show that students regarded 'practicum' (52.4%) as more important than 'teacher's lectures' (42.8%), and most students (80%) applied more than 70% of lesson plans to their practicums. The practicum gave them experience of a teacher, development of confidence, recognition on their weaknesses and values of teaching. While the strengths shown in PF were mainly 'teaching methods and technique', 'use of multimedia', and 'teaching materials', the weaknesses were 'classroom interactions', 'teaching methods and techniques' and 'use of blackboard'. Overall praises were 1.8 times more than the matters which needed to be developed. The conclusion suggest that the students had their own insights toward teaching practices and how learners can be motivated.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• no.1
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• pp.129-157
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• 1995

I made a careful study of affective variables in foreign language learning Affective variables have not been adequately investigated in the study of second language acquisition. Egoism and inhibition are two egocentric factors which play important roles in foreign language learning. Three sociocultural variables. cultural factors, introversion / extroversion, and aggression may be keys to understanding the social nature of second language learning. And the emerging of cognition and affect in "cognitive styles", which vary within and among individuals, might account for varying degree of success in learning a second language. In the process of learning English. the students new to foreign language come to face the language barrier. though they express the deep interest and feel excited at the beginning stage. Of course, the several reasons can explain this fact. but more specially they can be explained in terms of such personal affective factors as age, aptitude, personality, and first of all, motivation. Also the socicultural factors between language and culture can be considered to the learner's aptitude toward the language. Affective factors of students are involved in personality. and personality and affective factors affect English learning. Affective variables of students affect the will to take part in English learning, and the rate of participation in English learning affect the fluency. If students feel inconvenience in English class, it is rarely that they run a risk. Students who do not run a risk in English class are short of spontaneous participation Consequently, it may have negative influence on the accuracy and the fluency of English. Therefore, teachers must be more influential in motivating students and specially attentive so that the students may not make the negative and inhibitive language learning attitude.

• Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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• 1997.07a
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• pp.176-178
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• 1997

To make a long story short I made up my mind to experiment with a multimedia approach to my classroom presentations two years ago because my ways of giving instructions bored the pants off me as well as my students. My favorite ways used to be sometimes referred to as classical or traditional ones, heavily dependent on the three elements: teacher's mouth, books, and chalk. Some call it the 'MBC method'. To top it off, I tried audio-visuals such as tape recorders, cassette players, VTR, pictures, and you name it, that could help improve my teaching method. And yet I have been unhappy about the results by a trial and error approach. I was determined to look for a better way that would ensure my satisfaction in the first place. What really turned me on was a multimedia CD ROM title, ELLIS (English Language Learning Instructional Systems) developed by Dr. Frank Otto. This is an integrated system of learning English based on advanced computer technology. Inspired by the utility and potential of such a multimedia system for regular classroom or lab instructions, I designed a simple but practical multimedia language learning laboratory in 1994 for the first time in Korea(perhaps for the first time in the world). It was high time that the conventional type of language laboratory(audio-passive) at Hahnnam be replaced because of wear and tear. Prior to this development, in 1991, I put a first CALL(Computer Assisted Language Learning) laboratory equipped with 35 personal computers(286), where students were encouraged to practise English typing, word processing and study English grammar, English vocabulary, and English composition. The first multimedia language learning laboratory was composed of 1) a multimedia personal computer(486DX2 then, now 586), 2) VGA multipliers that enable simultaneous viewing of the screen at control of the instructor, 3) an amplifIer, 4) loud speakers, 5)student monitors, 6) student tables to seat three students(a monitor for two students is more realistic, though), 7) student chairs, 8) an instructor table, and 9) cables. It was augmented later with an Internet hookup. The beauty of this type of multimedia language learning laboratory is the economy of furnishing and maintaining it. There is no need of darkening the facilities, which is a must when an LCD/beam projector is preferred in the laboratory. It is headset free, which proved to make students exasperated when worn more than- twenty minutes. In the previous semester I taught three different subjects: Freshman English Lab, English Phonetics, and Listening Comprehension Intermediate. I used CD ROM titles like ELLIS, Master Pronunciation, English Tripple Play Plus, English Arcade, Living Books, Q-Steps, English Discoveries, Compton's Encyclopedia. On the other hand, I managed to put all teaching materials into PowerPoint, where letters, photo, graphic, animation, audio, and video files are orderly stored in terms of slides. It takes time for me to prepare my teaching materials via PowerPoint, but it is a wonderful tool for the sake of presentations. And it is worth trying as long as I can entertain my students in such a way. Once everything is put into the computer, I feel relaxed and a bit excited watching my students enjoy my presentations. It appears to be great fun for students because they have never experienced this type of instruction. This is how I freed myself from having to manipulate a cassette tape player, VTR, and write on the board. The student monitors in front of them seem to help them concentrate on what they see, combined with what they hear. All I have to do is to simply click a mouse to give presentations and explanations, when necessary. I use a remote mouse, which prevents me from sitting at the instructor table. Instead, I can walk around in the room and enjoy freer interactions with students. Using this instrument, I can also have my students participate in the presentation. In particular, I invite my students to manipulate the computer using the remote mouse from the student's seat not from the instructor's seat. Every student appears to be fascinated with my multimedia approach to English teaching because of its unique nature as a new teaching tool as we face the 21st century. They all agree that the multimedia way is an interesting and fascinating way of learning to satisfy their needs. Above all, it helps lighten their drudgery in the classroom. They feel other subjects taught by other teachers should be treated in the same fashion. A multimedia approach to education is impossible without the advent of hi-tech computers, of which multi functions are integrated into a unified system, i.e., a personal computer. If you have computer-phobia, make quick friends with it; the sooner, the better. It can be a wonderful assistant to you. It is the Internet that I pay close attention to in conjunction with the multimedia approach to English education. Via e-mail system, I encourage my students to write to me in English. I encourage them to enjoy chatting with people all over the world. I also encourage them to visit the sites where they offer study courses in English conversation, vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, reading, and writing. I help them search any subject they want to via World Wide Web. Some day in the near future it will be the hub of learning for everybody. It will eventually free students from books, teachers, libraries, classrooms, and boredom. I will keep exploring better ways to give satisfying instructions to my students who deserve my entertainment.