• Journal of Korean language education
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.1-24
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• 2017

This article explores the developmental history of TOPIK over the last 20 years and its recent trends. Over the last two decades, TOPIK underwent two major systematic reforms, achieving both quantitative and qualitative growth over the course of its 52 testing sessions. TOPIK has utilized a six-level evaluation system from its inception to the present. The evaluation system was amended from the earlier six-test set - whereby each level corresponded with a separate test (1997~2005: the $1^{st}{\sim}9^{th}$) - to the three-test set (2006~2014: the $10^{th}{\sim}34^{th}$), and finally to the two-test set (2014~present: the $35^{th}{\sim}42^{nd}$). In the earlier exams, abilities in Vocabulary Grammar, Writing, Listening, and Reading were assessed. However, beginning with the $35^{th}$ TOPIK, abilities in Listening, Reading, and Writing (only in TOPIK II) were assessed and the evaluation of the writing section was changed to a task-based process, improving TOPIK into a more qualified analysis of proficiency. Over the last 20 years, the number of countries TOPIK is administered in has greatly increased from 4 to 73 countries, and the annual number of test-takers has also significantly increased from 2,692 to 250,141. The distribution of proficiency levels of the test-takers has shifted over time - initially "Beginner>Intermediate>Advanced" in the earlier exams, to "Intermediate>Advanced>Beginner" after the mid 2000s - as the number of those studying the Korean language for specific purposes and continuing education increased. Test-takers have indicated a shift in their purpose for taking the exam, initially citing "to assess proficiency" and more recently selecting "to study abroad," and this could also correlate with changes in the proportion of test-takers' proficiency level. In general, 85~95% of beginner, 50~65% of intermediate, and 45~60% of advanced test applicants passed the respective proficiency level. To date, no practices have yet been implemented to standardize the difficulty level longitudinally across test sets.

• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.899-925
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to examine how constructive-response questions in regular test was in aligned with the nature and goals of 2007 Curriculum Amendment. For this purpose, data were collected and analysed by using the framework for mathematical task and the cognitive demand of tasks suggested by Smith & Stein(1998) and mathematical proficiency suggested by National Research Council(2001). In particular, it aimed to reveal the overall picture of the level of cognitive demand and the proportion of mathematical proficiency of constructed-response items created by secondary mathematics teachers. The findings from the analysis showed that 70 percent of the constructed-response items were at low-level and the rest at high-level in terms of cognitive demand. Also, the constructed-response assessment focused on conputing (89%), understanding(45%), applying(30%) and least reasoning(17%). Most of the constructed-response items included computing and were algorithmic.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.5-28
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• 2003

The purpose of this study which was conducted by framing of standardized advanced emergency care instructor qualification course outline and training competent instructor Course development based on following educational principle and it would be expected more improved aspect. Advanced Emergency care Instructor Qualification Course Development (1) based on advanced emergency care instructor job analysis and paramedic job description. (2) Learning of emergency care instructor qualification course is continuous. It is important to begin at the learner's level of knowledge and to relate new learning to information the learner needs. (3) Learning of emergency care instructor qualification course is purposeful and must make sense to the learner. Progress in learning must make sense to the learner. Progress in learning must be constantly appraised through feedback. The purpose of learning BLS information and skills must be kept in sharp focus. (4) Learning involves as many senses as possible. The more stimulating a learner activity is to the senses, the longer the information will be retained. Conservative figures indicate that 75% of what is heard is for-gotten after 2 days. It has been said that learners remember (5) Learning activities must be appropriate for the emergency situation through the PBL educational method. In BLS lecture skill learning, the greatest proportion of class time should be spent in manikin practice, using performance sheets as a learning tool or guide. (6) Learning must be stimulating. Instructors can motivate learners by helping them achieve higher levels of proficiency and encouraging other levels of course completion, such as instructor and instructor trainer. (7) Learning is affected by the physical and social environment. The physical environment should be conducive to both the kind of learning taking place and the activities used for learning. Advanced emergency care instructor qualification course organized educational psychology, educational methodology I,II,III, educational material making skill, lecture & conversational skill, BLS theory & pratice lecture skill, minic lecture designed PBL module. test of minic lecture & pratice lecture skill. Advanced emergency care instructor qualification course continued to active instructor training and motivated to active EMS system.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.38
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• pp.297-329
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• 2015

Since 1989 about one million Jews from Former Soviet Union have immigrated to Israel. Now Russian speaking Jews are the second largest ethnic groups after the Israeli Jews who were born in Israel. Although FSU Jews have returned to their ethnic homeland, they continue to live as 'foreigners' due to a cultural distance between sending and receiving society, such as, lack of knowledge about Jewish tradition and religious practice and low level of Hebrew proficiency. Because of this reason FSU immigrants tend to continue remain strong ties with Russian language and culture. There are several reasons for such a relatively slow process of language shift of FSU Jewish immigrants, the language shift to Hebrew. Firstly, majority of FSU immigrants moved to Israel since the 1990s are older than 45. Secondly, their first residences in Israel are mostly located in small and mid-sized cities, where the proportion of Russian speaking immigrants is more than 30%. And finally they consider Russian culture is 'superior' to Israel's Levantine culture. For many Jewish diasporic communities, Judaism was a dominant factor for self-consciousness, but because of Soviet regime, aimed to break all the religious institution including Jewish, Soviet Jewry was uprooted from their religious traditions. Besides about 30% of FSU immigrants are not defined as Jews by the Jewish religious law(Halakhah). And many of them are reluctant to convert to Judaism. FSU Jewish immigrant agree that Israel must be a Jewish state, but for them 'Jewish' does not include religious elements. FSU immigrants consider that religious affiliation of citizens of Israel should not affect their civic rights.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.483-492
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• 2019

During the breeding season, both adults and immature Eurasian Oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus osculans) were observed to feed on prey, such as gastropods (Umbonium thomasi) and bivalves, at the tide water line around Yubu island in Korea. To determine differences in the foraging efficiency between the adult and immature birds, we recorded the feeding behavior using digiscoping with a telescope and a smartphone. We compared the pace, the prey search rate, the proportion of prey search techniques, the feeding success rate, the handling time, and the heads-up rate between the adult and immature birds. There were significant differences in the proportion of prey search techniques when gastropods were consumed and in the prey search rate and heads-up rate when bivalves were consumed but there were no significant differences in feeding success rates. Therefore, although the immature birds on Yubu Island were inferior to adults during the breeding season and they lacked the proficiency to locate prey, their overall foraging efficiency was similar to adults. This was considered to be due to the continuous eating of bivalves during the wintering season, which requires a high level of foraging efficiency.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.293-305
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• 2016

Objective: This study aims to measure cognitive load levels by analyzing the EEG of Koreans and foreigners, when they read a Korean text with care selected by level from the grammar and vocabulary aspects, and compare the cognitive load levels through quantitative values. The study results can be utilized as basic data for more scientific approach, when Korean texts or books are developed, and an evaluation method is built, when the foreigners encounter them for learning or an assignment. Background: Based on 2014, the number of the foreign students studying in Korea was 84,801, and they increase annually. Most of them are from Asian region, and they come to Korea to enter a university or a graduate school in Korea. Because those foreign students aim to learn within Universities in Korea, they receive Korean education from their preparation for study in Korea. To enter a university in Korea, they must acquire grade 4 or higher level in the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK), or they need to complete a certain educational program at each university's affiliated language institution. In such a program, the learners of the Korean language receive Korean education based on texts, except speaking domain, and the comprehension of texts can determine their academic achievements in studying after they enter their desired schools (Jeon, 2004). However, many foreigners, who finish a language course for the short-term, and need to start university study, cannot properly catch up with university classes requiring expertise with the vocabulary and grammar levels learned during the language course. Therefore, reading education, centered on a strategy to understand university textbooks regarded as top level reading texts to the foreigners, is necessary (Kim and Shin, 2015). This study carried out an experiment from a perspective that quantitative data on the readers of the main player of reading education and teaching materials need to be secured to back up the need for reading education for university study learners, and scientifically approach educational design. Namely, this study grasped the difficulty level of reading through the measurement of cognitive loads indicated in the reading activity of each text by dividing the difficulty of a teaching material (book) into eight levels, and the main player of reading into Koreans and foreigners. Method: To identify cognitive loads indicated upon reading Korean texts with care by Koreans and foreigners, this study recruited 16 participants (eight Koreans and eight foreigners). The foreigners were limited to the language course students studying the intermediate level Korean course at university-affiliated language institutions within Seoul Metropolitan Area. To identify cognitive load, as they read a text by level selected from the Korean books (difficulty: eight levels) published by King Sejong Institute (Sejonghakdang.org), the EEG sensor was attached to the frontal love (Fz) and occipital lobe (Oz). After the experiment, this study carried out a questionnaire survey to measure subjective evaluation, and identified the comprehension and difficulty on grammar and words. To find out the effects on schema that may affect text comprehension, this study controlled the Korean texts, and measured EEG and subjective satisfaction. Results: To identify brain's cognitive load, beta band was extracted. As a result, interactions (Fz: p =0.48; Oz: p =0.00) were revealed according to Koreans and foreigners, and difficulty of the text. The cognitive loads of Koreans, the readers whose mother tongue is Korean, were lower in reading Korean texts than those of the foreigners, and the foreigners' cognitive loads became higher gradually according to the difficulty of the texts. From the text four, which is intermediate level in difficulty, remarkable differences started to appear in comparison of the Koreans and foreigners in the beginner's level text. In the subjective evaluation, interactions were revealed according to the Koreans and foreigners and text difficulty (p =0.00), and satisfaction was lower, as the difficulty of the text became higher. Conclusion: When there was background knowledge in reading, namely schema was formed, the comprehension and satisfaction of the texts were higher, although higher levels of vocabulary and grammar were included in the texts than those of the readers. In the case of a text in which the difficulty of grammar was felt high in the subjective evaluation, foreigners' cognitive loads were also high, which shows the result of the loads' going up higher in proportion to the increase of difficulty. This means that the grammar factor functions as a stress factor to the foreigners' reading comprehension. Application: This study quantitatively evaluated the cognitive loads of Koreans and foreigners through EEG, based on readers and the text difficulty, when they read Korean texts. The results of this study can be used for making Korean teaching materials or Korean education content and topic selection for foreigners. If research scope is expanded to reading process using an eye-tracker, the reading education program and evaluation method for foreigners can be developed on the basis of quantitative values.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.255-286
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• 2001

The development of language skills among immigrants is important for their economic adjustment in their host societies since language is an important dimension of the skill levels of immigrants relevant for the labor markets of the host countries. Moreover, language plays a key role in the social adjustment of immigrants and in the social and political cohesion particularly in the society like the US that has diverse racial and ethnic groups. The main purposes of the present study are to analyze the determinants of English abilities of Korean and other Asian immigrants in the US. The present study utilizes the Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS, S, 5%) in the US. We adopted the ordered probit technique to analyze qualitative differences of English ability. The study found that English fluency increases with a longer duration in the US, the presence of children in the household, living in an area in which a smaller proportion speak ones mother tongue, a younger age at immigration, a higher level of schooling. However, there are marked variations in levels of English proficiency among Asian immigrants.