This study examines the effects of text length and question type on Korean EFL readers’ reading comprehension of the fill-in-the-blank items in Korean CSAT. A total of 100 Korean EFL college students participated in the study. After divided into three different proficiency groups, the participants took a reading comprehension test which consisted of 4 reading passages (2 short and 2 long) from the Korean CSAT, followed by multiple-choice fill-in-the-blank questions and open-ended inference questions. The longer version of the passages was made from its originally restored version in which one or two paragraphs were added. The results showed that the college students performed better on the long passages than the short ones. In addition, the college students’ reading comprehension test performance was affected differently depending on the type of questions. The findings of the study provided implications on how to select and construct reading passages for high-stake nationwide examinations, such as the Korean CSAT.

Melody with text has been known to play a positive role as a memory aid and a learning facilitator. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effects of song on young EFL learners’ text recall, especially focusing on the factors of memory retention, L2 proficiency, and text length. 41 Korean young learners of English between the aged of 11 and 12 years participated. As a result, significant effects of song text have been observed in the young EFL learners’text recall in L2. They appear to undergo the process of text and melody integration and take an advantage of the song mode in recalling the words and even a longer phrase for a larger amount of time, especially in their second language. The findings shed lights on pedagogical application of songs to second language teaching for young learners.

Boon-Joo Park and Jihye Shin. 2016. Song Effects on Young EFL Learners’ Text Recall in Korean (L1) and English (L2): Focusing on Proficiency and Text Length Factors. Studies in Modern Grammar 90, 117-136. Melody with text has been known to play a positive role as a memory aid and a learning facilitator. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effects of song on young EFL learners’ text recall, especially focusing on the factors of memory retention, L2 proficiency, and text length. 41 Korean young learners of English between the aged of 11 and 12 years participated. As a result, significant effects of song text have been observed in the young EFL learners’text recall in L2. They appear to undergo the process of text and melody integration and take an advantage of the song mode in recalling the words and even a longer phrase for a larger amount of time, especially in their second language. The findings shed lights on pedagogical application of songs to second language teaching for young learners.