The is the commonest word in English. This word is also known as one of the most difficult grammatical items for Korean learners of English as a foreign language. This paper focuses on the non-generic use of the English definite article, and examines the grammatical descriptions of the article in Advanced English Grammar and English Grammar in Use. It reveals that some of the important usages of the definite article are not included in 'the grammar books', and observes, following Park and Song (2001), that these unlisted usages cause much difficulty for Korean learners to improve accuracy in the article use. Underscoring the organic view of language, the paper proposes that a comprehensive and systematic understanding of 'grammar' is prerequisite for optimum efficiency in teaching the English definite article to Korean EFL learners.

본 연구의 목적은 정보통신윤리의 영어 몰입수업에 대한 효과， 학습자의 반응 분석， 영어 몰입수엽의 문제점을 찾아 그 대응책을 모색하는 것이다. 연구는질적인 연구의 한 방법인 사례연구법에 의해 실시되었다. 데이터 수집은 연구자의 자기 평가와 학생들의 수엽 만족도 조사표의 응답 결과 그리고 태국 AIV 활동에서 함께 활동하였던 2 명의 교사들 평가를 반영하였다. 수업만족도 조사표로IACE 에서 개발하였으며， 선다형 10문항， 개방형 1 문항으로 작성되었다초등학교 5-6 학년 학생 20 명을 대상으로 시범수업으로 정보통신윤리의 영어몰입수엽 후 학생들의 수엽만족도 조사표에서 영어 몰입수엽은 효과가 있으며 학생들의 반응도 매우 긍정적이었다. 드러난 문제점으로 교사의 학생들 수준에 맞는 의사소통 능력의 부족， 고차원적인 사고 유도의 부족， 수업 중 학생들이 협력할 기회의 제공이 부족， 학생들의 의견 청취와 학생 중심의 수업 부족 등이었다.연구의 결론은 첫째， 정보통신윤리의 영어 몰입수업은 효과가 있었다. 둘째， 학생들의 반응은 매우 긍정적으로 나타났다. 셋째 정보통신윤리의 영어몰입수업에서교사의 철저한 수업계획과 자기 점검이 필요하다는 것이다.

The purpose of this study is to develop an integrated instruction model in primary schools by exploring the process of science theater in English. To accomplish the objective, the researchers set up a program which includes science experiments, drama games, and performance in English by primary school students. The data collected from diverse sources were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative techniques. There were four results found from this study. First, the scholastic achievement both in Korean and English was improved. In addition, the students' interest and learning style influenced the test scores. Second, children in this study achieved real accomplishment through diverse student-centered activities. For example, they experienced accomplishment by getting over their mistakes in experiments, fostered a collaborative attitude through process-based tasks, and realized responsibility in their learning by leading their own learning. Third, students experienced a new type of integrated learning in English and science. In other words, they recognized English as a means of learning a subject and regarded science experiments as activities for exploring knowledge. They also considered science theatre as an opportunity for self-realization. Fourth, a model for integrating English and science in primary schools through science theater is presented. Finally, based on the results, the researchers provided several suggestions for future studies.

This study investigates how language teaching in middle school English classrooms takes place in terms of teaching methods and TETE classes. One-hundred and seven middle school English teachers in Seoul and Kyunggi Province participated in this study. Participants were asked to answer the questions on the web. Among the participants, 8 teachers were interviewed. Regarding teaching methods, some teachers used communicative teaching methods most frequently, while others still preferred grammar-translation and audiolingual approaches to communicative approaches. Pair work was actively used in classes rather than teacher-dominant explanations. Regarding group work, some teachers chose it as one of their preferred activities but others avoided group works for reasons of difficulties with control, time management, and lack of presentation in textbooks. Most teachers considered reading as the most important but dealt with a great amount of listening, reading, and speaking in textbooks. Multimedia were used to stimulate motivation from the students in classes: CD-ROM was used most frequently, followed by powerpoint. Most teachers, who used English about 30~50% of their class time, agreed on the effectiveness of TETE and came up with the effective ways in teaching. Teachers had different experiences with native English teachers. Some teachers had doubts about usefulness of native English teachers in classes. To bring about good teaching from native English teachers, they should be acquainted with characteristics of Korean students and culture and should discuss lesson plans with Korean teachers in advance.

This study aims to investigate the current status regarding the utilization of native English teachers in elementary schools focusing on its benefits and problems and to explore better ways of utilizing them for elementary English education. The participants of this study were 1024 elementary school students, 80 Korean elementary English teachers, and 56 native teachers of English. The data were collected through questionnaires and interviews. Through the analysis of data the followings were revealed: 1) the native teachers of English considered that their working conditions including wages and the amount of teaching time were appropriate, but the pre-training program was not satisfactory; 2) the Korean English teachers felt that their workload related to native teachers of English was too heavy; 3) the students perceived that studying English with native teachers of English had positive effects on their English abilities in terms of cognitive and affective aspects; 4) in most schools team teaching between native teachers of English and Korean teachers were being performed and both teachers were satisfied with it; 5) however, several issues such as the role relationship between the Korean English teachers and the native teachers of English, the quality of pre-training, and reconstruction of teaching materials should be resolved in order to improve English program of utilizing native English-speaking teachers in elementary schools.

This study explores an exemplary case of an English immersion program originally initiated by some primary school teachers. It investigates how an immersion education was initiated by the members of an English teachers" study group and later supported by a provincial office of education. The contents of the program and the three examples of immersion classes are briefly illustrated and commented. The innovative endeavors for the successful execution of the immersion classes include the use of the daily morning English practice and various ways of exposing students to English. It was found from the interview conducted with 5 immersion teachers that the strong motivation of the immersion teachers was the first empowering factor for this program and the appropriate financial and administrative help from the provincial office of education was another crucial one. Several practical problems from implementing the immersion program are also reported. From these results and findings some suggestions are made for better ways for implementing immersion programs in elementary schools.

This study describes the development principles of the Elementary English Digital Textbook (MEDT) and provides suggestions for the future development of English digital textbooks based on the evaluation of MEDT contents. With these purposes, the study firstly presents relevant theories about the instructional design, e-learning strategies, second language acquisition, and English teaching theories to investigate on what theoretical foundation the MEDT was developed. It then examines how the MEDT integrates and incorporates new technologies such as speech recognition, automatic writing scoring system, games, flash animation, and digital storytelling into a wide variety of English learning activities such as listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Thirdly, the study reports the learners" and experts" evaluations of MEDT with respect to contents, learning activities, interest, levels, and technological functions. Lastly, based on the evaluation of the MEDT, some suggestions are made on the effective use of MEDT for the implementation of enhanced, high-technological, and motivating English learning environments in Korean elementary schools.

Recently the Korean government has promoted, as part of a national plan for facilitating English education, the introduction of English immersion programs into public secondary schools in Korea. English immersion programs have been installed in many elementary schools in Canada and the U.S. as a practice of bilingual education, especially to help students in the linguistic minority. The government has also emphasized that the program will be further utilized for teaching general subjects in addition to English, and that it will be installed in the elementary schools as soon as possible. This paper critically reviews the suitability and validity of the English immersion program for Korean public schools from the socio-cultural, politico-economical, and language educational perspectives. Before doing that, this paper discusses: i) the origin and the objects of the immersion program, ii) the English immersion program implemented in the U.S., and iii) the difference between the features of English Immersion programs in the U.S. and those that have been introduced to Korea. Based on these discussions, this paper argues that the English immersion program is not an optimal, nor a suitable program for English education in Korean public schools. This paper suggests some ideasfor planning foreign language education policy in the future.

This study aims to investigate the major themes and contents of studies on teaching English as an EFL in elementary schools in Korea since TEFLES (Teaching English as a Foreign Language in the Elementary School) was first introduced in elementary schools as a regular subject under the 7th National Curriculum in 1997. For the purpose of the study, a total of 218 research was examined in terms of the research methods, topics and main contents, and implications. The results of the study show that more than a half of the research was oriented toward quantitative approach. In addition, the main foci were the effects of certain tasks, pronunciation, dramatization, the use of a variety of multimedia materials on elementary school students" speaking skills. However, a large number of studies dealt with speaking skills in an integrated manner with other factors such as language skills, motivation, interests, and confidence. On the basis of the results, pedagogical implications on the teaching of speaking skills are suggested.

This paper discusses what the basic principle of Korean consonantal assimilation and tensification is and how to teach the two processes to learners. Since some of the Korean phonological changes including these two processes are complicated and cannot easily be seen in other languages, students may face difficulty in learning such processes. It has been claimed that these processes are due to the "principle of economy" in pronunciation. That is, certain consonant clusters or consonantal sequences that are difficult to produce undergo changes in a way to make them easy to pronounce. In this paper I argue against such a claim by adopting the principle of English, which has two different types of consonant clusters, namely "word-initial and word-final clusters". The phonotactic constraints of the word-final clusters in this language, which are opposite to the case of word-initial clusters, have the ascending structure in the consonantal strength between the two consonants. We see that the two consonants in sequence in Korean have almost the same structure. Unlike English, these constraints must be obeyed whether words are simple or complex in Korean. The two consonants that are not kept up to these constraints by the morphological process undergo phonological process. This is the principle of consonantal assimilation and tensification in Korean, and thus, teachers (and also possibly learners) of Korean should recognize the principle to understand the processes correctly.

This study investigates English education in Korean kindergarten from inside through kindergarten English instructors" description of their classrooms. 18 kindergarten English instructors who were affiliated with commercial kindergarten English program providers were interviewed on their 1) attitudes toward English, 2) English studying experiences, 3) kindergarten English teaching methods, 4) understanding of kindergarten learners, 5) opinions on their English programs, and 6) understanding of their teaching position. From the analysis of their description, the following patterns of kindergarten English education are identified: kindergarten English education is under a heavy influence of business orientation; and it is operated under the traditional teaching-centered educational principles. Being financially uptight, kindergartens seek English programs which would not burden their budgets, and this tendency seems to direct the English program developer/provider and the instructor toward business-oriented management of kindergarten English teaching. As a result, English programs offered in kindergarten adhere to teaching-centered methodologies, which are traditionally accepted in Korean society and are not costly to implement. At the same time, the programs are operated to create English classrooms of a set frame which can be characterized as "presentation"-centered class with the main aim of "keeping the young learners entertained and occupied." This study concludes that the kindergarten English classroom described by the 18 instructors falls short of expectations. Finally this study suggests government-level official involvement in kindergarten English education for provision of a proper curriculum and teachers who are trained and certified for teaching kindergarten English.

The purpose of this study is to establish English as elective subjects for 11~12 grades in Korean high schools. This study was conducted in the form of survey including a total of 1,923 participants, consists of 728 high school English teachers, 984 high school students, and 939 parents. The questionnaire consisted of nine questions, and which were designed to elicitate the participants perception and needs on English as the elective subjects in high schools. The results of the study indicate that 1) we need the subjects that include 4 skills(listening, speaking, reading, and writing), 2) binding listening and speaking skills together will meet the need of students and parents who want to choose conversation-only subjects, 3) on the other hand, binding reading and writing skills together will meet the needs of the students who want to prepare for establishing the academic basis in the future. 4) Various proficiency in English between students requires various level of the elective subjects in high school English. On the basis of these results, this study suggests we need 1) the subjects which deals with 4 skills on the basis of traditional concept, and 2) ‘listening and speaking’ subjects and ‘reading and writing’ subjects. And the subjects should have various levels between the highest level to the lowest level.

There is little research on the users of dictionaries in Korea. The user research, however, is essential to developing better dictionaries. Hence, this study aims to explore the actual conditions regarding Korean English teachers’ general use of English dictionaries. English teachers were chosen as the subjects because they instruct the use of dictionaries to other users, especially students, as well as use dictionary themselves. Thirty teachers from elementary, middle and high schools respectively (total 90) participated in this research. The research was conducted using questionnaires that consisted of two main parts: The first part was designed to analyze the teachers’ use of dictionaries and the second part aimed to investigate the teachers’ instruction on the use of dictionaries. The data were coded and factors were examined by means of quantitative analysis. It was found that English teachers in Korea used Korean-English and English-English dictionaries which are well structured and easy to use with full contents in order to prepare teaching materials and develop handouts other than text books. In addition, most of teachers said that students must be taught how to use dictionaries in the first grade of junior high school.