This study explored how teachers could provide support to enhance students’ out-ofclass mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) engagement. We interviewed five Korean English teachers who used Class Card, a focal technology of this study, for their students’ self-directed vocabulary learning. Additionally, students of the interviewed teachers completed a survey on their perceptions of teacher support and MALL engagement. This study has three major findings. First, the teachers adopted either a proactive or a passive approach to promoting students’ out-of-class MALL engagement, which was influenced by their beliefs about whether teachers or students should be responsible for learning beyond the classroom. Second, all teachers provided orientation and behavioral support to enhance out-of-class MALL engagement, although the consistency and intensity in providing this support varied between proactive and passive teachers. Finally, students who perceived higher levels of teacher support reported greater out-of-class MALL engagement. We discuss the importance of classroom-based teacher support to enhance MALL engagement beyond the classroom as pedagogical implications.
This study explored factors affecting variability in second language (L2) learning motivation among Korean university students and how they appraised their L2 learning experience. In this study, 85 undergraduate students majoring in English or English education from three universities in Seoul, South Korea, reflected on their past English learning experience. They drew a motigraph and wrote a retrospective reflection essay covering their English learning that spanned over ten years. Researchers divided participants into two groups: a high variability (HV) group and a low variability (LV) group. Data were analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding. Findings suggest thncontextual factors such as the learning method, atmosphere, and situation were main (de)motivational factors for the HV group. In contrast, the LV group was (de)motivated by intrapersonal factors, including the learning context appraisal. These results imply that visualizing long and short-term goals and positive appraisal of the L2 learning experience can help L2 learners maintain a stable pattern in L2 learning motivation.
This research, grounded in the extended technology acceptance model, aimed to explore the relationships among factors influencing Korean EFL learners’ acceptance of ChatGPT for English learning in a voluntary usage context. To this end, a questionnaire was distributed to college students who had used ChatGPT for language learning, utilizing a convenience sampling method. A total of 400 responses were analyzed to test hypotheses using structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings revealed that learners’ perceived usefulness significantly predicted their intention to continue using ChatGPT, while perceived ease of use did not. Moreover, learners’ result demonstrability was found to be a predictor of perceived usefulness, whereas subjective norm was not. Both playfulness and output quality significantly influenced learners’ perceived ease of use. This study identified key factors that could enhance EFL learners’ acceptance of ChatGPT by improving perceptions of usefulness and ease of use, offering valuable insights for integrating ChatGPT into English education.
This case study with 12 Korean high school emergent bilinguals (K-emergent bilinguals) illustrates how the pedagogical concept of translingual dialogic webbing can be conceptualized based on theories of dialogism and translanguaging. Through a concrete case of classroom activities using a picturebook, the Rough Patch, this article shows how the pedagogical concept of translingual dialogic webbing can be conceptualized and materialized in Korean high school English language teaching classrooms (Korean ELT). K-emergent bilinguals’ translingual classroom discussions as well as translingual and multimodal written responses revealed that translingual dialogic webbing could help Kemergent bilinguals draw on their available meaning making resources, including Korean, English, semiotic modes, cultural knowledge, and experiences, to navigate and construct more nuanced meanings with creativity and critical insights across time and space. By bridging translanguaging and dialogism, this study addresses the critical need for linguistic inclusivity and adaptability in Korean ELT, while embracing students’ diverse ideas, creativity, and the multilingual and multimodal realities of today.
The present study investigates the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools by pre-service teachers (PSTs) in lesson planning for a middle-school English as a foreign language (EFL) class, aiming to address gaps and inform teacher training. The case study examined PSTs in a South Korean university course who were tasked with creating lesson plans using generative AI to aid in lesson plan development for a middle school lesson that incorporated generative AI. Data were analyzed thematically, and results revealed that generative AI was used in topic selection, material creation, lesson organization, and language checking. While generative AI facilitated efficiency and creativity, challenges emerged, including the quality of outputs and limited incorporation of effective pedagogical strategies. These findings indicate a need for targeted training in prompt engineering, ethical considerations, pedagogy, and collaborative practices to enhance PSTs’ generative AI competencies. This study contributes to teacher education programs by providing insights into the practical integration of generative AI in pedagogical practices.
Writing conferences are one-on-one feedback sessions that enable teachers and students to engage in constructive interactions to improve students’ writing. While interacting individually, a teacher can use various feedback strategies to improve the quality of a student’s writing. This study examined how a secondary English teacher elicited students’ self-correction of writing issues during EFL writing conferences conducted in Korean (L1) as part of an after-school English program at a Korean high school. One English teacher and five first-year students participated in writing classes for two weeks during the winter vacation. Their conversations were video-recorded and analyzed using Conversation Analysis. Findings revealed that the teacher elicited the student’s selfcorrection through four key strategies: (1) metalinguistic clues, (2) building on initial corrections, (3) leveraging morphological knowledge, and (4) guiding students through a stepwise construction of sentence elements. This study can enhance our understanding of corrective feedback in secondary EFL writing conferences and offer insights for improving teacher-student feedback interactions.
The present study presents an experiment in which online acronyms, formed from common fixed phrases or formulaic expressions, and in common usage in English medium computer-based communication, were presented to Korean university-level learners placed into either a control group or treatment group which was given instruction into the expansions and meanings of the acronyms. Their knowledge of the target vocabulary was measured using the Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) test in a pre-, post-, delayed post-test format. The pre-test results showed relatively little awareness or familiarity with the target online acronyms for either group. Repeated measures ANOVA analysis did not show differences between pre-test and immediate post-test scores for the control group, although the delayed post-test did show a significant improvement. The treatment group showed significant and robust gains in both immediate and delayed post-tests. Comparison between the groups wa s done by one-way ANOVA. This showed significant differences in gains between control and treatment groups, with a large effect, suggesting that brief explicit instruction sessions could result in large gains. Implications of the study findings for educators and learners are discussed.
This study examined subject-auxiliary inversion errors in wh-questions produced by 88 Korean EFL elementary learners, focusing on whether types of wh-words and auxiliaries could affect inversion acquisition and whether explicit instruction on movement rules could facilitate this process. Guided writing tasks were used as a pretest and a posttest to analyze influence of wh-words and auxiliaries on learners’ inversion in the pretest and effects of instruction on movement rules in the posttest. Results showed that both whwords and auxiliaries significantly influenced learners’ inversion acquisition. Learners struggled more with why-questions than with what-questions, which were selected as representatives of adjunct and argument wh-questions, respectively. More inversion errors occurred in wh-questions requiring do-support than in those involving auxiliary be or modal will, although no significant difference was found between be and will. Experimental lessons with brief explicit instruction on auxiliary movement during regular classes significantly improved learners’ inversion accuracy, particularly in dosupport questions, which posed the greatest challenge in the pretest.
This longitudinal study used data from the Busan Educational Longitudinal Study (BELS) to identify growth profiles of English class self-efficacy (ECS) over three years and their associations with English class comprehension, engagement, and achievement. A middle school student sample from 2016 to 2018 BELS comprised 3,038 students (1,394 females and 1,644 males) from 56 middle schools in South Korea. Using a personcentered approach with Mplus 8.4, a higher-order growth mixture modeling (GMM) yielded three distinct growth trajectories of ECS: 82.8% of initially high and slowly decreasing (HSD) group, 9.7% of intermediate high and decreasing (IHD) group, and 7.5% of low but increasing (LI) group growth profiles. Results indicated that English class comprehension, engagement, and achievement showed statistically significant mean differences across each growth profile of ECS. The identified ECS growth profiles can be used to tailor intervention measures. Empirical findings are discussed in terms of pedagogical implications in applied language learning and teaching practices and further research.
This study aims to demonstrate the integration of character education with content and language integrated learning (CLIL) and evaluate its effects on the English language learning and character development of young learners who use EFL. Eight participants received character-integrated CLIL instruction over 16 class sessions. Employing a mixed-method approach, this study collected qualitative data primarily through observations, interviews, portfolios, self-assessments, and peerassessments, complemented by quantitative data from English tests and questionnaires. Findings revealed that character-integrated CLIL significantly enhanced learners’ oral language skills, confidence, and engagement in learning English. Additionally, it facilitated simultaneous development of language proficiency and subject knowledge, while promoting acquisition of positive character traits. The learner-centered environment supported by teacher scaffolding and authentic materials allowed learners to apply their knowledge to real-life situations. These results provide educators with a model for effectively integrating character education into language learning. They also highlight the broader potential of CLIL to foster holistic learner development.