This study aims to analyze the types of cognitive process required to perform vocabulary learning activities in Middle School English textbooks. For this purpose, 26 middle school English textbooks were examined, including 13 for the first year and another 13 for the second year of middle school. The results indicated that vocabulary learning activities emerged in the phase of reading, and then were categorized into pre-reading vocabulary activities and post-reading ones. Eight types of cognitive process emerged in the pre-reading phase and three types in the post-reading phase. That is, the number of vocabulary activities in pre-reading phase was larger than that in the post-reading phase. In addition, the diversity of vocabulary activities in the pre-reading phase was higher than that in the post-reading phase. Based on these results, this study suggests a new model of vocabulary learning activity in middle school English textbooks. A few implications on how to teach new words in English classrooms are discussed.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of the sentence-writing task on English vocabulary learning of Korean high school students. The effectiveness of the sentence-writing task can be explained based on the Involvement Load Hypothesis (Laufer & Hulstijn, 2001); yet, there has been no consistency in the results of the previous studies on this hypothesis. In the present study, the effects of the sentence-writing task on vocabulary learning were re-examined in comparison with the gap-filling task. In addition, considering that there have been no studies addressing the effects of autobiographical elaboration (relating the meaning of a certain word to one’s own experience) on memory, the effects of the autobiographical sentence-writing task were compared to those of the imaginary sentence-writing task. Forty high proficiency and 40 low proficiency learners were randomly assigned either of the sentence-writing or the gap-filling task. The results demonstrated that the sentence-writing task is more effective in vocabulary learning than the gap-filling task, regardless of the learners’ proficiency levels. However, no significant difference was found between the effects of the autobiographical sentence-writing task and the imaginary sentence-writing task. Based on the results, the pedagogical implications were discussed in the conclusion chapter.

The study investigates the effect of different types of visual images, i.e., static images versus dynamic images, on English vocabulary learning. Eighty-four students in the fourth grade of an elementary school participated in this study, and they were divided into two experimental groups and a control group. One of the experimental groups utilized static images, and the other group, videos as dynamic images in vocabulary learning. The control group was provided with the definition or the explanation of each target word in L1. The results of the study manifested that the static image group showed higher scores for the post test than the dynamic image group. The comparison of the pre and post affective tests demonstrated that the static image group showed an improvement in confidence in language learning and the dynamic image group showed positive change in the attitude of all three areas: interest, confidence, and aroused motivation. The analysis of the open-ended questionnaires showed that many participants in the static image group tended to use pictures as retrieval cues to remember vocabulary.

This study investigates the effects of working memory capacity (WMC) and the types of vocabulary learning, i.e., explicit vs. implicit, on the acquisition of English multi-word verbs. For this purpose, a total of 60 middle school students, divided into two groups (control and experimental), participated in the study. The participants in the control group were taught multi-word verbs in a traditional and explicit manner, whereas the participants in the experimental group were exposed to multi-word verbs with short passages. The results manifested that both of the instructional styles had positive effects on the learners’ acquisition of multi-word verbs in the short-term. Although there was not a significant interaction between WMC and the overall scores on the immediate post-test, according to the scores on the gap-fill tasks which tested learners’ productive knowledge, there were significant differences between the low-WMC and high-WMC groups. High-WMC students learned more target multi-word verbs than low-WMC students on average. The results also showed that WMC and the two different learning types did not affect the students’ acquisition of multi-word verbs in the long-term. Further, the interaction effect between WMC and learning type in the long-term was not significant.

This study examined how smart device applications affected elementary school students who have learning difficulties in English. Five 6th grade students who needed remedial instruction were selected and given 50 hours of instruction using English vocabulary flash cards in a smartphone application. one hundred vocabulary words were chosen and developed for flash cards for the students to examine their intellectual and emotional changes in English learning. The research results showed that the students' vocabulary improved in listening, reading and speaking. It also revealed that the students gained confidence and interest in English learning, and their anxiety decreased. In addition, the application was easy and convenient for the students to use, especially in recognizing the pronunciation and the meaning of the vocabulary words. This study recommends further development and use of smart device applications for elementary school English instruction.

With an effort to verify the involvement load hypothesis, this study investigates the effects of three different vocabulary learning tasks - reading, filling in blanks, and sentence writing - on learners' short and long term memory when they are provided with the theoretically identical level of involvement tasks. It is also to examine whether there are any differences of learning effects between input and output vocabulary learning tasks. The experiments were conducted with 86 Korean middle school students grouped by three different task types. Pre-/post-tests and delayed tests were administered and analyzed. It was found that three vocabulary tasks with theoretically identical levels of involvement do not have the same learning effects: the involvement load hypothesis was not completely proved in the case of Korean students' vocabulary learning. The findings implied that (i) the difference of vocabulary learning tasks should be considered even though they have the same involvement load; (ii) given that EFL students learn new words in a limited amount of time in class, the reading task using a dictionary is found to be very helpful; and (iii) it is important to study target vocabulary repeatedly during class and to expose the vocabulary with different tasks to enhance students' retention of the newly learned vocabulary.

This study aims at investigating the effects of phonological short-term memory (PSTM), learning styles, and oral repetition on middle school students" learning of English vocabulary. Two groups had different treatments (semantic learning and oral repetition) and vocabulary learning was assessed in spelling, meaning, and production twice, immediately after the learning sessions and two weeks thereafter. The results reveal that oral repetition and the PSTM capacity affected the vocabulary learning significantly, but not learning styles. The students with a higher PSTM capacity learned significantly more words but didn"t remember them better for a longer period than those with a lower PSTM capacity. No clear effects of learning styles were noted, while the PSTM capacity of auditory learners was higher than that of visual learners. The oral repetition group learned significantly more words than those who did only semantic learning, which suggests the usefulness of oral repetition in learning new vocabulary.

This study investigated the relations among Korean phonological processing skills, English vocabulary knowledge, and the learning of new English words in 6th grade children. The children were tested in phonological awareness, phonological short-term memory, and naming speed tasks, as well as English vocabulary and paired-associate learning of Korean-English word pairs. Most tasks were significantly correlated with English vocabulary and paired-associate learning. In regression analyses, phonological awareness, short-term memory, and naming speed significantly predicted English vocabulary; and English vocabulary and naming speed predicted paired-associate learning. These results suggest that Korean phonological awareness, naming speed, and short-term memory are associated with English vocabulary knowledge and learning. These findings support the transfer of phonological processing skills across second languages.

Youn-Kyoung Lee. 2017. The Effect of Problem-Based Learning on Korean College Learners’ English Vocabulary Learning. Studies in Modern Grammar 96, 253-270. The present study aimed at examining the effects of problem-based learning (PBL) on English vocabulary learning in a Korean college context. In total, 52 students participated in the study. The PBL class (n=26) was assigned to the experimental group, and the non-PBL class (n=26) was the control group. Both group had the same curriculum. All participants had pre-and postvocabulary test, and 12 students participated in the follow-up interview. The results showed that there were significant differences between the two groups on the post-vocabulary test (p<.05). The PBL participants’ interview data revealed that PBL provided sufficient English conversation practice and opportunities of scaffolding. The findings suggest that PBL should be applied to foster Korean college learners’ ability of English vocabulary learning.

본 논문에서는 망각곡선을 응용한 반복학습시기 설정 및 학습자 수준과 단어 난이도 자동계산 방법이 적용된 영어단어 암기시스템을 소개한다. 우리 시스템은 망각곡선을 사용해서 학습자의 단어암기 횟수에 따라 적절한 반복 주기를 정하고 그 시기에 복습을 요구한다. 학습자가 알고 있는 단어들에 대한 복습시간을 없애고 잊어버릴 확률이 가장 높은 단어들을 우선 적으로 복습하는 것으로 시간을 절약 할 수 있는 것이다. 또 수준에 맞는 난이도의 단어들을 제공함으로써 학습 흥미와 성취도 유지에 기여할 수 있다. 학습자의 수준을 고려하지 않은 난이도의 단어를 무작위로 제공하거나 이미 다른 사람들의 평가에 맞춰진 난이도의 단어들을 제공하는 기존의 시스템과 차별되도록 학습자와 단어 난이도 설정에 온라인 체스게임 랭킹시스템에서 사용하고 있는 "Glicko" 시스템을 적용시켰다. 플레이어간의 대결을 통해서 서로의 실력이 결정되고 매칭되는 이 시스템을 우리는 단어와 사람간의 대결로 시스템에 적용하였다. 그것으로 인해 학습하는 사람의 수준과 단어들의 난이도가 실시간으로 측정되고 학습과정에 반영이 된다. 이 외에 부가적으로 분산학습, 시험형식의 문제풀이의 즉각적인 피드백을 활용하여 영어 단어 암기의 효율성을 극대화 한다.

행맨, 크로스퍼즐, 매칭등과 같은 많은 영어 단어 학습용 게임들이 보드 형태 또는 컴퓨터 게 임 형태로 개발되었다. 이들 컴퓨터 게임 대부분은 전략형 게임 플레이를 채택하기에 이런 스 타일의 게임을 좋아하지 않는 학습자들에게는 게임의 고유 특성인 즐거움을 주는데 한계가 있 다. 본 논문에서는 청소년 및 성인 대상의 1인용 자동차 주행 게임을 중심으로 새로운 영어 단 어 암기를 위한 시스템을 제안한다. 본 시스템의 핵심인 자동차 주행 게임에서 학습자는 차를 운전하면서, 트랙 상에 아이템처럼 나타나는 영어 단어 텍스트와 충돌하여서 점수를 획득하게 된다. 학습자는 화면상에 노출된 영어 단어를 주행 중에 지속적으로 보면서, 영어 단어를 뇌리 에 새기게 된다. 우리의 실험 결과, 우리의 게임을 통한 영어 단어의 기억 효과는 만족할 수준 이고, 학습 도구로서의 본 시스템에 대한 만족도도 높았다. 또한 기본 영어 단어 학습용 게임들 이 이미 알고 있는 단어 대한 기억 강화에 적합하지만 우리의 게임은 새로운 단어 암기에도 사 용할 수 있다.