The study explores the identity construction of non-regular English conversation teachers (non-RECTs) in an elementary and a middle school in Korea. Drawing on positioning theory and the notion of community of practice, the study illustrates how non-RECTs resist, modify, and reconstruct their teacher identity through positioning themselves and others, and different modes of participation in the school contexts. It is a three-year longitudinal study with two female non-RECTs. The primary data gathered through interviews and informal talks, documents, and e-mails were also included for triangulation purposes. The findings suggest that the non-RECTs self-positioned themselves as qualified teachers who can effectively implement communicative language teaching into the classroom, but their positioning was challenged and rejected by regular teachers. The participants resisted their marginalized positions as temporary instructors and claimed their legitimacy by establishing themselves as positive contributors to the communicative curriculum. The findings show the non-RECTs’ identity construction is a struggle between the different views on legitimacy and a negotiation among multiple and conflicting identities.

The purpose of this study is to investigate university students’ perceptions on their English conversation classes taught by native English speakers. Its focus is on finding out how well the students understand and how actively they participate in class, what causes difficulty in their understanding or participation in class, and whether their class helps them in terms of affective aspects and English skills. A survey was conducted on a total of 465 university students in Korea, and the collected data were analyzed to compute basic descriptive and inferential statistics. Some of the important findings are 1) over 50% of the students understand their classes well; 2) a little over 30% actively participate in class; 3) about 30~50% of the students perceive their class help them affectively; and 4) about 50% of the students perceive their class help them improve their English skills in general. These results are discussed along with other findings related to the causes of the difficulties that the students experienced. Suggestions are provided on the basis of the results and their implications.

Lee Jee-won. 2015. “The interactional function of the first-person plural pronouns women and zanmen in naturally occurring conversation”. The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea 23(3). 239~266. This study examines the use of first-person plural pronouns in spoken Chinese from a conversational-analytic perspective. Focusing on the pronouns, women and zanmen, this study shows that the use of first person plural pronouns systematically functions to create a membership category between participants. In particular, we investigate the exact categories that are enacted and how the participants in a conversation recognize and use them in the course of an interaction. We argue that participants produce and recognize categories in their talk and that these categories index aspects of a speaker's relationship with the other participants, such as social difference or intimacy. This study offers a new understanding of what motivates speakers' choice of discourse forms and patterns in the evolving sequence of talk.(123 words)

This study investigates faculty and students’ perceptions of English conversation courses in the General English Program (GEP) at a university. A total of 437 students completed the survey and interviews were conducted with 8 of them. Three Native English Speaker (NS) instructors participated in the study by submitting reflective journals and being interviewed. Qualitative as well as quantitative data collection methods were employed to offer a better understanding of the current status of English conversation courses taught by NS instructors. Results about the five research questions are as follows. First, students were satisfied with the courses overall, although it varied across classes taught by each NS instructor. Second, students’ satisfaction with the courses also varied depending on their self-assessment of English proficiency. Third, the results of the stepwise regression analysis showed that NS instructors’ qualifications and attitude were the best predictor of students’ satisfaction with the courses. Fourth, NS instructors expressed dissatisfaction with the current textbooks and administrative support from the university. Fifth, the lack of understanding of both students and Korean culture caused critical classroom management issues, which, in turn, led to students’ negative perceptions of the courses. The findings provide practical implications of this GEP curriculum at the university.

This study will analyze the problems of the backward (obsolete) textbook contents and the stereotyped (imprisoned) teaching methods in classroom implemented by the Korean universities who teach advanced Mandarin conversation lesson in this digital era, and then put forward one possible solution called the model of “Flipped Learning”(“Flipped Classroom” is also included), which could teach advanced Mandarin conversation lesson by flexibly using Internet E-books. The existing education’s paradigm is discarded by teachers and students, and the textbooks’ role is changing rapidly and dramatically along with the education spread and knowledge diffusion via Internet. Through the flexible usage of the latest Internet E-books, not only the politics, economics, cultures, media and press of Chinese modern society could be known, but also our young generation (post 90s, post 00s)’s thought and vision. In a “Flipped Classroom” which gives conversation lesson, it could be expected that weak study will and motivation could be stimulated; uninterested and dull lessons could be inverted into spirit-lifting ones which contain endless lively activities; and those students who used to learn passively could maximize their ability to solve problems all by themselves in their learning process.

The purpose of the present study is to learn about English conversation instructors, in particular, to find out (1) who they are; (2) how they cooperate with English teachers at schools; and (3) what needs they have to serve better as English teaching staff at schools. An online survey was administered to all English conversation instructors at elementary and secondary schools in Korea. Around 4,630 English conversation instructors- 2,920 at elementary schools and 1,710 at secondary schools- participated in the study. The collected data were analyzed: (1) to describe the characteristics of English conversation instructors; (2) to examine how they are sharing teaching duties with English teachers; and (3) to assess the needs for their competency development. The needs of English conversation instructors were analyzed by calculating the gap between the current competence and the expected competence. The difference of English conversation instructors competence development needs at the elementary level and at the secondary level were then further analyzed through Analysis of Variance. The results of this study can be used as basic data to establish the training system for English conversation instructors’ competence development.

The work analyses three key concepts frequently recalled and strictly correlated: contemporarity of dialogue, convergence of interests and collectivity of responsibilities. The continuous digital conversations between companies and customers are changing the value creation processes and leading to new positive convergence of customers and citizens at work. Convergence is driven by a renewed social sensitivity which is clearly influenced by collective responsibilities. After introducing the literature we bring logical arguments and empirical evidences to focus on the new convergence of market and society interests. Through a new Co-Value Model we measure the intensity of conversations contents: co-advertising contents show the highest level of consumer involvement, followed by co-planning, co-selling, co-use, co-post-sales, co-logistic and co-production. The metrics of the Co-Value Model are aimed to measure and reinforce the basic idea of convergence between the customer perspective- logic of money- and the citizen perspective -logic of gift-. Analyzing the continuous conversation between customer and companies within 21 international digital services, we demonstrate that a) the continuous digital conversations between companies and customers are changing definitively the value creation processes; b) the renewed social sensitivity gradually brings a new convergence between market and society interests which is evidenced by the high frequence of conversation focussed on social topics: c) the new convergence is driven by a renewed collective sense of co-responsibility. The findings show the robustness of the core concept of convergence: companies and customers maintain separate and complementary roles but their conversations are fundamentally remodelled both in content and in shape. Individuals are now called to play an economic role as prosumers, but at the same time, they have new opportunities as citizens for new forms of dialogue which reinforce their critical and social role. This is what we call convergence of interests. Market and society do not coincide, companies and customer act as counterparts and have different roles but their interests are converging. In many cases, prosumerism can generate a new loop between companies and consumers responsibility, and consumers can commit to this new social game of being customer and citizen at work. The model is applied to a large number of very recent case histories able to focus on the managerial implications of the new social game.

By using the methodological framework of conversation analysis, this study combines a grounded study of interactional linguistics focusing on L2 speakers' interactional competence in the use of Korean sentence-ending suffix -ketun. Based on the previous studies which examined the use of -ketun in L1 Korean speakers’ conversation, this study analyzes data taken from different levels of Korean language classroom interactions, with close attention to the learner's usage of the target suffix in formulating a dispreferred response. The findings of the study demonstrate that the L2 advanced students' use of -ketun is much closer to that for L1 speakers in constituting a dispreferred response while claiming epistemic primacy. On the other hand, extremely low frequency in the use of -ketun is a distinctive linguistic-pragmatic features that characterizes use of -ketun by L2 speakers at lower levels of competence. The advanced students' diversification may be an indicator of their more adaptive, context-sensitive conduct, suggesting an increased interactional competence. Close scrutiny of the use of -ketun in this study aids to reveal whether and to what extent its interactional use by L2 speakers of different proficiency levels approaches that of L1 speakers.

Park Jae-eun. 2013. On prolonging in Korean conversation. The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea 21(3). This paper explores the systematic retardation of turn progression in Korean conversation, focusing on the phenomenon of prolonging. Prolonging is defined as a practice whereby speakers suspend the progression of a turn toward a possible completion particularly by drawing on sound stretches as a primary resource. The analysis of data shows that prolonging, observed at a point where the action is more or less recognizable, is used to reinforce the speaker's epistemic or affective stance as well as to project dispreferredness in a way that delays the arrival of a transition-relevance place. I argue that prolonging can be employed at any word boundary as long as the emergent action is recognizable and that it serves as a basis for understanding how readily a turn can be manipulated in the service of practical social actions in Korean conversation. (137 words)

본 논문은 대화분석적 측면에서 한국어 대화에서 나타나는 재언급을 살펴본다. 말차례나 순서를 닫는 역할을 하는 재언급을 크게 두 가지, 즉 반복 재언급과 대용형 재언급으로 분류하여 분석한다. 자연스럽게 일어나는 대화 자료를 분석한 결과에 의하면 두 가지 타입의 재언급은 모두 말차례나 연속체를 끝맺음하는 기능이 있으며, 끝맺음은 다음 화자가 신속하게 새로운 말차례를 발화하거나 현재 화자가 새로운 말차례를 발화하여 주제의 전환을 이끌어냄으로써 표시되는 것을 볼 수 있다. 분석 결과에 의거하여 재언급이 여러 차례 반복적으로 나타나는 현상 및 대용형 재언급이 끝맺음 최후 통첩을 위한 자원으로 활용되는 현상에 대하여 논의한다.

화상영어회화시스템은 원격으로 원어민과 직접 영어회화를 가능하게 함으로써 일반적으로 사용되고 있다. 그러나 어린 학습자는 게임 기술을 활용하여 학습의 흥미와 교육의 효과를 얻을 수 있다. 본 논문은 3차원 게임 기술과 네트워크 게임 기술을 이용해서 저연령의 학습자가 교육에 몰입할 수 있도록 하는 3차원캐릭터 화상영어회화시스템의 설계와 구현에 대해서 기술한다. 3차원캐릭터 화상영어회화시스템은 게임과 교육이 결합한 좋은 예가 될 것이며, 향후 성공적인 교육용 기능성 게임의 적극적인 개발을 기대한다.

Lee, Jee-won. 2012. Gesture, Gaze, and Bodily Cues in Mandarin Conversation: Two Case Studies. The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea 20(1). pp. 213-234. This study uses discourse analysis to illustrate some ways that non-verbal actions such as gaze, facial expression, and gesture work to contextualize the speech delivered in conversation. These bodily cues also enable participants to organize interactions as collaborative creations of meaning rather than simply a turn-by-turn exchange of speech. This study uses two excerpts from Mandarin Chinese conversations to illustrate how non-verbal cues help speakers and recipients to engage in collaborative action with one another. Speakers give recipients information about their stances vis-à-vis the speech they produce, and recipients use this information to manage their reactions to the speech they hear. Non-verbal actions also allow both parties to mutually regulate the flow of conversation. In both examples, it becomes clear that gaze, facial expression, and gesture are important elements of spoken interaction and that conversation as a whole should be understood as a contextual web of meaning that includes speech, body language, and overall social interaction.

From a conversation-analytic perspective, this paper reports on the analysis of incey used as a discourse marker in spontaneous Korean conversations. Systematic attention is given to how it is used as an interactional resource for recalibrating a prior description and engaging the hearer to take the conjoined perspective grounded on the point of "here and now." It is shown that the sequences in which incey is embedded are characterized by a vivid description of an event/state of affairs or reported speech produced in the manner of having the target event/state of affairs reenacted. Such a formulation, often signaling a shift toward an expressive mode of telling, provides a context where the hearer is invited to be involved in the detailed description of the event/state of affairs (i.e., from the shared perspective) and to appreciate its upshot by co-taking the speaker’s vintage point. Such a shift is often observed in terms of managing the boundary-marking as well, e.g., usually practiced in the form of marking contrast or mediating self-repair through which a prior turn component is progressively replaced by another. Some of the crucial implications of these practices are noted in terms of (i) the preliminary nature of incey-prefaced talk, i.e., the tendency of incey to preface materials which are still prefatory to what is to be told further later, and (ii) the ordinary nature of incey-prefaced talk which the co-participants tend to orient to as being empirically grounded and/or commonsensically accessible.

The purpose of this paper is to provide the efficient methodes of the basic English conversation learning. Various theories have been proposed to explain how children manage to acquire the adult language. The acquisition of a second language parallels the acquisition of a first native language. If a second language is learned early in life, it is usually acquired with no difficulty. The difficulties encountered in attempting to learn languages after puberty have given rise to a critical age hypothesis that refers to a biological period in which language can be acquired without overt teaching. A number of second-language teaching methods have been proposed, reflecting different theories of the nature of language and language acquisition. These methods, however, do not explain the apparent differences between first and second language acquisition.In order to obtain a complete picture of a second language acquisition process, it is necessary to combine the findings from both naturalistic and experimental studies, keeping in mind that differences in the tasks may affect the results. Studies conducted on a wide range of different languages are also needed in the quest for universal of second language acquisition.

This study aims to explore the forms of negative yes/no interrogatives and the social actions they perform in task-oriented conversations in Korean and English. The data consist of 20 Korean and 22 English pairs interacting with each other whiJe arranging a series of 15 pictures. It seems that negative yes/no interrogatives are used more extensively in Korean conversation than in English, and that they have different interactionaJ functions in the two languages. AnaJyses of the data suggest that negative yes/no interrogatives in English are used to perform a very specific function in interaction, making an assertion in a disaligning situation while seeking agreement from the addressee. On the other hand, it is shown that negative yes/no interrogatives in Korean are used as an important interactionaJ device between conversationalists. It seems that the ch미ce of the two types of negative yes/no interrogatives in Korean is largely dependent on the speaker’s estimation of the following two factors: (a) the degree of certainty about the information conveyed, and (b) the degree of common ground with the addressee. (Hanyang University, 마1san)

This study examines the use of kulay(yo) as a response token in spontaneous Korean conversation. The data for the study include approximately five hours of Korean casual conversation and the analytic framework is conversation analysis. Based on its cooccurring prosody patterns, the use of kulay(yo) is divided into two types: the one with falling or continuing intonation and the other with upward intonation. The former type mainly occurs in acknowledgements, the identification and recognition sequence of phone openings, and phone preclosings and closings. The latter type is found in contexts such as informings, counterinformings, and interactionally delicate action sequences mainly as news receipts. The results show that kulay(yo) is used in various interactional contexts, reflecting how the recipient of the prior turn's talk deals with delicate actions and carefully marks his/her stance with it.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a university English conversation program which had employed on-line homework and outside-class interviews with native English instructors. After over 1,200 sophomores took the conversation course for a semester, questionnaires were administered to measure the students' satisfaction for the program and their perceived usefulness and effectiveness of the in- and outside-class activities. The results showed: first, students perceived the in-class lessons and outside-class interviews with the native English instructors as useful, but not the on-line conversation practice; secondly, the students' perceived usefulness, affective effects, and content evaluation of each activity were shown to have significant effects on their perceived effectiveness of the outside-class activities. Lastly, significant differences were not found by the different groups of proficiency level in their perceptions of the usefulness, affective effects, and content evaluation of the outside-class activities. However, different proficient groups showed different amount of study efforts and preference for activities.