This study investigates the effect of strategies-based English reading programs on reading proficiency and affective domains of underachieving elementary school students. Eight fifth-grade students were selected and assigned to either the phonics/vocabulary learning group or the vocabulary/sentence learning group for two hours a week for 16 weeks. To address the research questions, data were collected from four main sources: English reading tests, questionnaire surveys, students’ learning logs and in-depth interviews with the students. The results of the study revealed that the English reading programs had positive impact on the students’ understanding of the relationship between letters and sounds, word recognition ability, and sentence reading. As students accumulated successful reading experiences, their self-confidence, interest in reading, and class participation increased while anxiety decreased. The study also revealed that there were differences in using strategies among students in each group, with higher level students tending to use higher-dimensional strategies with more variety than less able students. In conclusion, the leveled English reading programs customized for underachievers appear to be effective in assisting underachievers in their English reading skills.

The purpose of the current study was to explore the effects of background knowledge, time pressure, and involvement on reading comprehension. One hundred and twenty college students read three passages and answered comprehension questions in eight different experimental conditions: activated vs inactivated background knowledge, with vs without time pressure, and high vs low involvement. The results showed main effects of background knowledge and involvement on reading comprehension, indicating essential roles of background knowledge in facilitating the processes of reading comprehension in Korea’s EFL educational contexts. In addition, the study found an interaction effect of background knowledge and time pressure on reading comprehension. Pedagogical implications are suggested.

This case study investigates the impact of cognitive style (field in/dependence) on errors in English writing through extensive reading (ER). It explores different possibilities between two field-independent (FI) and field-dependent (FD) learners through ER, and it considers the types of errors (interlanguage or intralingual) that they are more likely to commit. The participants were two Korean female high school students with different cognitive styles. To ascertain their respective cognitive styles, the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) was conducted. The participants were asked to write a reading log once a week for six months. Data analyses were performed by two raters, and for further qualitative analysis, Nvivo 10 was used. The results showed that ER was more beneficial to the FI learner with regard to writing proficiency, and both the FI and FD learners committed considerable interlanguage errors. Furthermore, there were similarities and discrepancies between the FI and FD learners as a result of the ER treatment in interlanguage error change.

This study aims to compare the effects of different types of test-items using the same text and test-takers' text familiarity on the scores of English reading comprehension. A total of 312 third-grade Korean high school students took three different English tests, adapting types of test-items from the Korean College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT). Each test included items using the same texts, presented in exam preparation books published by EBS in Korea, but different question types. To estimate levels of their topic familiarity, two surveys were carried out. Repeated measures ANOVAs reveal that there were significant differences in scores among the items using the same text with different types of test-items. However, there was no statistically significant effect of topic familiarity. The results indicate a greater effect of different types of test-items than topic familiarity on the scores of a reading comprehension test using the same text. Based on the findings, it is suggested that English teachers in Korea need to manage their reading classes by using various types of questions in order to develop students' reading ability and to prepare their students for the CSAT.

The purpose of present study was to explore the reading fluency of elemenatary school students in Korea. To achieve the purpose of this study, 150 sixth grade students were selected from two schools of Gyeonggi province and their reading fluency was evaluated. Assessment of reading fluency was administered as follows: students were asked to read orally a reading text for one minute, which was developed for this study and the teacher checked their reading performance according to assessment criteria developed by Zutell and Rasinski (1991). Reading fluency dealt with four subcategories: decoding accuracy, reading rate per a minute (WCPM), expression, and comprehension. Mean score at each subcategory and its aspect were analyzed, expression element were compared between the lower and higher group, and finally co-relation between reading fluency and comprehension were examined. The results showed that while most students gained higher score in decoding accuracy or reading rate, their expression was lower. Among four sub-categories of expression, i.e. expression and volume, phrasing, smoothness, and reading rate, score of expression and volume was the lowest. Most students read text with little expression or enthusiasm in their voice. On the basis of the result, some ideas for teaching fluency were suggested.

최근 교육과정에 있어서 의사소통능력이 강조됨에 따라서 듣기, 말하기가 특히 강조되는 반면, 읽기와 쓰기 즉, 문자언어에 관한 학습능력 역시 같이 향상되고 있는지에 대해서는 논란의 여지가 많았고, 학교단위 수준에서 보면 오히려 부정적인 견해도 많았다. 이것은 알파벳, 단어, 문법, 구문, 독해로 이어지는 기존의 일반적인 상향식 학습의 폐해로 여겨지기 때문에, 문자언어에 미숙한 중학생이라 할지라도 텍스트 전체로부터 접근하는 하향식 읽기 방법을 접목할 필요가 있다. 글의 전체적인 구조와 전개방식에 대해 배경지식을 가진다면 읽기가 훨씬 수월해 질 것이기 때문이다. 쓰기의 경우에도 빈칸 채우기나 문장 단위의 통제되거나 유도된 수준에 그치는 경우가 많고, 실생활에 필요한 자유 작문 형태의 쓰기 학습은 소홀히 다루어지고 있는 것이 현실이다. 이 문제 역시 영어교사들이 자유 작문을 시도해 볼 신뢰성 있는 틀이나 형식이 없기 때문에 그 필요성을 인정하면서도 실제로 수업에서 적용키 어려운 점이 있었다. 이 같은 상황을 학생과 교사 입장에서 개선할 수 있는 효과적인 방법으로서, EFL(English as a Foreign Language) 상황 하에서 읽기와 쓰기를 체계적으로 연계시킨 좀 더 새로운 학습방법이 고안될 필요가 있었다. 본 논문은 비교적 최근의 이론인 과정-장르 중심 접근법에 이론적 근거를 두고, 장르별로 텍스트의 전체적인 구조와 언어적 특징을 구별하고, 이것을 쉽게 도식화한 스켈레톤 다이어그램을 그려 봄으로써, 읽기와 쓰기에 동시에 효과적인 새로운 접근법을 구안하였다.

This study investigated whether the simple view of reading framework is supported among Upper elementary Korean EFL learners. Specifically, the relative contributive power of two emergent literacy factors, word decoding and linguistic comprehension abilities, which have been identified as the main determinants of successful reading comprehension, was examined. Ninety nine fifth grade students in Korean elementary school participated in this research, and their decoding skills, listening comprehension abilities, and reading comprehension in English were measured. The findings revealed that both English decoding skills and linguistic comprehension ability were significant predictors of their English reading comprehension, which supports the simple view of reading within the Korean EFL context. Specifically, decoding skill explained more of the variance, compared to linguistic comprehension, in reading comprehension when controlling for each other. The result is discussed in terms of the overall development of L2 proficiency and the role of L2 exposure in L2 reading comprehension development.

This study investigates the interpretation of scopally ambiguous sentences involving a universally quantified direct object NP and negation (e.g., The boy didn’t eat every cookie) from a processing perspective. Using an online truth-value judgment task implemented with a self-paced reading technique, data were collected from native Korean speakers, native English speakers, and Korean L2 learners of English. The results indicate that native Korean speakers strongly preferred the full set interpretation (every > not). In contrast, native English speakers strongly preferred the partitioned set interpretation (not > every). L2 learners showed a developmental divergence according to the learners’ L2 proficiency; the low proficiency group showed a strong preference for the full set interpretation, whereas the advanced L2 learners showed no preference for either of the patterns. The main findings were examined within the framework outlined by O’Grady (2005), who proposes that the nature and acquisition of scopal contrasts are best understood with reference to the operation of an efficiency-based processor.

The present study was designed to probe pedagogical viability of extensive reading as an effective alternative in English reading instruction. To accomplish the purpose, an English book club was formed, consisting of 40 high school students. The book club activity was held during four months of summer and winter vacations in 2009. The participants were encouraged to freely write anything in their reading logs they felt while reading. The reading logs and interviews were analyzed. They revealed effects of extensive reading and changes of the readers' cognitive and affective reading processes. According to the results, 1) extensive reading has potential to be a successful alternative in English reading instruction; 2) the readers could experience “amusement” and “absorption” by reading sufficient books with the i−1 level; and 3) extensive reading enabled them to choose their ways of reading and to be responsible for their choices.

The purpose of this study is to present underlying principles and criteria for designing and developing National English Ability Test (NEAT). To this end, this study presents 5 principles (i.e., Connection, Authenticity, Interactiveness, IBT Compatibility, Washback Effectiveness) which play guiding and controlling roles in developing and selecting item types appropriate for the listening and the reading test of NEAT derived from test usefulness (Bachman & Palmer, 1996). Also, it proposes 4 criteria (i.e., Complementarity, Integration, Pivotality, and Hierarchicality) which function levering roles in designing and developing the two tests of NEAT on the basis of the empirical data of the item analyses of Foreign (English) domain of College Scholastic Ability Tests (2005~2010 school year). Finally, it discusses some implications and applications of the principles and the criteria to a theoretical blueprint for establishing an item developing system and a test implementation system, setting up the criteria of validating item types, designing a modular type of test specifications, and specifying a complementary type of test specifications for the two ability-level listening and reading tests (the 2nd and the 3rd rank) of NEAT.

In the early reading stage, readers should be supported both orally and conceptually so that they are equipped with the basic skills and knowledge about word recognition. Thus, a lack of systematic support in the early reading developmental stage impedes the natural growth of reading ability. This article investigated how children were supported in reading from their teachers in the primary English classrooms. To accomplish this purpose, eleven reading-focused classrooms were analysed. Observations, video recordings, and interviews were conducted for data collection. Field notes and checklists were also used during the observations. Qualitative analyses revealed that children were poorly supported in learning to read: teachers used few limited teaching techniques and their uses were not effective on reading. The data from the interviews revealed that teachers were rarely trained for reading instruction, and that they possessed a limited knowledge about the English language system as well as about the reading development of young learners. Hence, the teachers' poor background knowledge and lack of skills led to less effective reading instruction. Based on these findings, it is suggested that teachers require training such as in basic knowledge about the English writing system and reading development in order to deliver effective reading instruction to early readers.