This study investigates the effects of writing to learn on sixth graders’ English development compared with speaking to learn and examines their perceptions. The study established the following research questions: (a) what are the effects of writing to learn on English speaking and writing abilities compared with speaking to learn? and (b) what are the students’ perceptions of writing to learn compared with speaking to learn? Students in the experiment group had experienced learning English through writing to learn, whereas those in the comparison group had learned English through speaking to learn. As for the results, writing to learn had significant effects on developing speaking and writing abilities in terms of complexity, accuracy and fluency. Also the students had more positive perceptions on writing to learn in cognitive and behavioral perspectives. Writing to learn has been confirmed as effective in learning English, leading students to use English to express their own ideas with more extensive vocabulary and complicated syntactic structures.

Recognizing the importance of output and noticing in the second language acquisition, the present study investigated whether model writings and noticing-triggering activities can serve as one form of written feedback to learners’ writing. Particularly, it was interested in whether two different noticing-triggering activities would have different effects on learners’ noticing and incorporation in immediate and delayed revisions. To this end, 93 university students in three English composition classes in Busan were asked to take part in four-staged picture-cued narrative writing task (i.e., drafting, comparison, immediate revision, and delayed revision). The three classes engaged in different activities (i.e., note-taking, underlining, or reading) while they were comparing their own writing and the given models. The results indicated that models as written feedback have led learners to notice linguistic forms that they have previously found problematic or have not thought of as problematic. Furthermore, the note-taking activity in the comparison stage seemed to help learners better incorporate the linguistic forms included in the subsequent input.

This research aims to develop and apply an English class program for elementary school students from multicultural families, in order to allow children from multicultural families who lack an understanding of language and culture (both their mother tongue and Korean) to participate successfully in regular English classes. For the purpose, 6 third-year students from multicultural special classes were observed and analyzed to identify difficulties experienced during regular English classes. Their difficulties were classified into lack of background knowledge and basic English words, insufficient use of learning strategies, lack of academic language understanding, and lack of self-confidence. To solve these difficulties, an English class program for elementary school students from multicultural families was developed and applied, based on the theory of multicultural education and the sheltered instruction model. The results are as follows: The introduction of an English class program for elementary school students from multicultural families is presumed to have had a positive effect on students’ English abilities and confidence. Based on this program, more special English teaching programs for the children from multicultural families are expected to be developed for their successful English learning.

This study investigated how Korean EFL students’ self-directed English learning abilities, learning strategy use, and the relationship between the two constructs change as they advance to upper level schools. Data were collected from 447 elementary, middle, and high school students in Seocho-gu, Seoul, using Self-Directed Language Learning Readiness (SDDLR) and a revised version of Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL). The results showed that elementary school students’ SDDLR and SILL scores were significantly higher than those of middle and high school students, with no significant difference between the two groups. Among the learner factors, interest toward English study was the only factor which affected all the three groups’ SDDLR as well as SILL scores. The influence of study-abroad experience and starting age of private education was limited to the elementary school student group, indicating their short-lived effects on self-directed learning and strategy use. Lastly, there was a high or moderately high positive correlation between SDDLR and SILL in all the three groups. However, the specific relationship among subcategories of the two constructs was complicated and different among the three groups.

Nominalization is regarded as one of the most salient features of native speakers’ texts according to studies investigating academic discourse. Systemic functional linguistics (SFL) identifies grammatical metaphor, which is often identical to nominalization as a key linguistic resource for achieving matured writing. This study examines Korean high school EFL learners’ deployment of grammatical metaphor (GM) by the method of a text analysis and attempts to demonstrate what extent learners from two different proficiency levels use GM in terms of occurrence of nominalization and the nominal group. Six argumentative texts were chosen from the database of over 1200 texts after a genre-based instruction of a semester. The outcome of the study shows that more skilled students used more GM and nominal groups than less skilled students do. It reveals the effect of GM use in writing quality and the probability of GM in pedagogy and assessment of secondary school writing in Korea. Therefore, this research for GM based on SFL is meaningful in the relevant area as the functional role of language is regarded as central.

The recent theory in L2 motivation has proposed viewing motivation as possible selves such as ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self, and L2 learning experiences to complement the limitation of traditional socio-educational model. The purpose of the study was to test the traditional integrativeness and L2 motivational self system in Korean EFL college contexts and how those motivations have developed over time through a cross-sectional study. A total of five hundred fifty five college students taking English as elective in Korea completed the motivation questionnaires. The results showed that both traditional integrative motivations and L2 motivational self system have increased positively over time at college. The post-hoc test revealed that the senior students developed significantly higher motivations than the freshmen in integrative orientation, attitudes towards learning English, and criterion measures. L2 motivational self system such as ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self, and L2 learning experiences better predicted motivated behaviors than integrative motivations even though both had significant correlations. Theoretic discussions were made for L2 motivations.

This study examines what role English writing instructors need to play in peer revision activities. Students participating in the study were asked to go through multiple draft writing process in which they wrote three drafts on each writing assignment and review their peers’ essays in both a written comment sheet and an oral discussion. Overall, the results show that the peer comments played little role in improving the students’ essays from the first to second drafts. However, great improvement is observed from the second to final drafts. Specifically, little effect of the feedback on the improvement of non-linguistic features of the essays is identified. Regarding the linguistic features, improvement was made from the second to final drafts. However, it is achieved by both the peer and teacher comments. Therefore, it is concluded in the study that the teacher comments played a role in helping the students produce the linguistically improved final drafts. The study recommends the instructor’s explicit, detailed feedback to the errors caused from students’ insufficient writing and English competence.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of focus-on-form approach on learning connective ending '-느라고' of Korean language learners. Input enhancement and consciousness raising tasks were applied and compared as an effective way of this grammar instruction among various techniques of focus-on-form approach. The participants in the study are intermediate-level Korean language learners. They were divided into two groups, and teaching activities were provided undertaken based on two different methods. According to the results, significant differences were not found between the two methods, but the upper-level students had higher achievements than the lower-level students. Although no significant difference was found between the input enhancement and consciousness raising tasks, it was found that the focus-on-form approach can be recommended as a way to teach grammar effectively, especially it is effective for upper-level learners.

Meskipun reduplikasi penting dalam tatabahasa Indonesia, namun hingga kini akademi lokal masih mengabaikan penyelidikan reduplikasi bahasa Indonesia. Pada buku teks tatabahasa Indonesia untuk perguruan tinggi, fenomena reduplikasi hanya dibahas secara sederhana dan singkat. Itulah sebabnya mahasiswa-mahasiswi lokal yang sedang mempelajari bahasa Indonesia tidak pandai menggunakan bentuk- bentuk linguistik yang diulang. Untuk memecahkan masalah tersebut, reduplikasi bahasa Indonesia akan diselidiki dan dideskripsikan dalam makalah ini. Fenomena linguistik ini juga akan dianalisis berdasarkan teori representasional yang disarankan oleh Raimy(2000). Sebagai tambahan, reduplikasi berima/berentak, satu dari tiga tipe reduplikasi bahasa Indonesia, akan ditelaah secara teliti, khususnya mengenai perubahan konsonan dan vokalnya. Dari kajian ini, dosen maupun pelajar dapat memperoleh pengetahuan komprehensif mengenai fenomena reduplikasi bahasa Indonesia.

This study examined the effects of teaching contextual inference and word association strategies on 5th grade elementary school students' vocabulary knowledge development. A total of 56 students participated in the current study, as divided into either the contextual inference group or the word association group. The vocabulary proficiency levels of the participants were also considered and the students in each group were further divided into either the upper level group or the lower level group. The participants experienced six treatment sessions, and in each session they had to study five vocabulary items using each of the two vocabulary learning strategies. The posttest and delayed posttest results indicated that both strategies were effective for the vocabulary knowledge development of the upper level group as well as the lower level group. Some possible implications for elementary school English classrooms in Korea are discussed.

The present study explores the effects of peer intimacy on Korean primary English learners' collaborative group work in terms of writing achievement and peer interaction. Fifty six elementary school students engaged in small group work on English writing tasks. They were grouped in three different types: high intimacy level group, low intimacy level group, and random group. The study results indicated no significant group differences in the students' abilities and attitudes of English writing. However, the three groups differed in the quantity and quality of peer interaction. The high intimacy group produced the largest number of utterance and the most collaborative interactions. The low intimacy group, on the other hand, produced more utterances but less collaborative interactions than did the random group. Overall, the study results suggested that peer intimacy may have no immediate effect on students' learning through small group work but it possibly has delayed effects in prolonged group work by mediating the quantity and quality of peer interactions. Limitations of the study and pedagogical suggestions are provided.

The study analyzes English for Specific Purposes(ESP) needs of law school students and lawyers for developing English for Legal Purposes(ELP) courses in Korea. In order to investigate pedagogic needs of the learners and target needs of the domain experts, 74 law school students and 50 lawyers who were in charge of legal cases were interviewed and surveyed. The content of the questionnaire consisted of pedagogic and target needs about lawyer's tasks and open questions and comments about English education for law school students. The results of the analysis showed that learners' main need for studying English is conducting legal research and in communicating with others. The results of the language function analysis indicated that understanding legal terminology, reviewing provisions of law, writing a legal memo, legal translation, evaluating information to determine compliance with standards are considered important. The results also showed the differences in the importance ranking of function and type of language skills between the learner group and the domain expert group.

It's long been noted that a serious discrepancy exists between elementary school English classes and middle school English classes. This study explores the differences in the teacher talks of elementary and middle school classrooms. To this end, three elementary school English classes and three middle school English classes are tape-recorded, and their teacher utterances are analyzed according to forms of utterances, functions of utterances and language types. The result shows that elementary school English teachers use significantly more command forms and feedback than middle school English teachers while they use significantly more non-class related utterances more than elementary school teachers. They utter class-related managerial and disciplinary categories significantly more than middle school English teachers while they do miscellaneous categories significantly more than elementary school teachers. In terms of languages teachers use in the classroom, elementary school teachers speaks English significantly more than middle school English teachers. Elementary school teachers tend to use plain Korean to individual students while using formal Korean to the whole class. Middle school teachers tend to use formal Korean irrespective of whole group, small group and individual students.

The present study investigates affective factors which affect primary English teachers' professionalism. For the analysis of the study, quantitative data was obtained from 576 primary school English teachers who responded to a questionnaire. Qualitative data was also collected from three different focus group interviews and ten individual interviews. A quantitative data analysis shows that collective teacher-efficacy is the best predictor of primary school English teachers' professionalism among the three factors of self-efficacy, organization-based self-esteem, and collective self-efficacy. This result is consistent with interview data which shows that more positive than negative comments are observed in regards to collective teacher-efficacy. Pedagogical implications have been discussed.

The present study investigated a washback effect regarding vocabulary test format and students' learning outcomes. Ninety-three Korean university students in English reading courses were given a vocabulary pre-test and pre-treatment survey. Then they were divided into three groups. A control group was taught how to write a summary in English and a receptive vocabulary knowledge group was taught how to study vocabulary, then both of these groups were instructed that they would have a receptive vocabulary knowledge test. A productive vocabulary knowledge group was taught how to study vocabulary and told that they would have a productive vocabulary knowledge test. After 15 weeks, they all were given a post-vocabulary test consisting of both receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge items, and post-treatment survey. Results indicated that the productive vocabulary knowledge group showed the best outcomes overall. Its students earned significantly higher scores on the productive vocabulary knowledge post-test than the other groups. Regarding the receptive vocabulary knowledge post-test, it featured scores similar to the receptive vocabulary knowledge group, which had the highest scores. Moreover, the productive vocabulary knowledge group's pre- and post-treatment survey data revealed that its students had improved their ability to use the vocabulary learning strategies that were taught.

This study investigated the effects of reducing the number of options in multiple-choice items on the psychometric characteristics of the English section of the NAEA (National Assessment of Educational Achievement). The purpose of the NAEA is to measure educational progress and achievement and it is administered to all sixth, ninth, and eleventh grade Korean students annually. The English section for the ninth graders is the focus of this study; it is made up of thirty-four five-option multiple-choice items and six constructed-response items. A five-option, multiple-choice English test was converted to a four- and a three-option version by eliminating the least and the second least frequently chosen options. Item difficulty, item discrimination, guessing, reliability, and information function were computed as a function of the number of options. This study employed the 3-parameter IRT model. Results showed that there were no significant differences among the three means of item difficulty as well as item discrimination indices; however, the inspection of the test information function indicated that the five-option version generally yielded the highest amount of test information function over the ability scale. Results indicate that streamlined three- or four-option versions are not likely to function as well as the five-option version at the test level.

This paper investigates the differences in college learners' perceptions and correlations of factors related to willingness to communicate (WTC) in an English mediated instruction (EMI) class. Based on a survey of 50 collegiates (33 males, 17 females) and two rounds of interviews with 15 students, the t-tests showed that there were not many statistical differences depending on learner characteristics except the learners' grade difference affecting their perception of improvement in English. However, depending on the course types, the Kruskal-Wallis test showed statistically significant differences in the categories of present level of participation, expected level of participation with L1 option, question & answer, group collaboration, active listening, and preference to EMI with L1 option. Furthermore, the factors of WTC appeared strongly correlated with their perceptions on the improvement in English, increased confidence, and the extent of learning in the EMI class. According to qualitative analyses of open-ended questions in the survey and interviews, the learners thought group presentations in English were most difficult. They also responded that their low English proficiency, peer pressure, and the student-orientedness in class made them passive and less confident. The learners, however, adopted diverse coping strategies to overcome such difficulties. They were also positive about the limited use of L1 in the EMI class. Implications for EMI are suggested.

The purpose of this study was to explore pre-service teachers' reflectivity occurring in their first-person reflection on their experience, by examining how they defined a problem and suggested its solution. For the research purpose, this study adopted Dewey's (1933) idea of reflection from which the definition of reflection in much research on teachers' reflections originated. This study analyzed the problem sections occurring in their reflection after first teaching practice, in terms of focus and depth of problem solving. The total number of the sections was seventy-nine and on average each participant's teaching journal involved three sections of a problem. Examination of focus of reflection was done as to 'agent of problem' and 'target of reflection', whereas an analysis of the depth of their reflection was done in terms of the number of dimensions and combination of dimensions of problem solving. The findings showed that much more focus of the pre-service teachers' reflection was put on the performance inside the classroom than outside. That is, the interaction between the teacher and the student was their primary concern. Also, the findings indicated that over half of the problem sections were beyond the superficial level of reflective thinking, but one third of the problem sections stayed still within the superficial depth of reflection. This suggested the necessity of providing guidelines on the focus and depth of reflection when reflection was employed as a tool of pre-service teacher's professional development.

This study attempted to investigate the relative contribution of vocabulary and grammatical knowledge to second language reading comprehension ability. With 44 EFL adult learners whose language proficiency fell within the low-intermediate level, three different measures were conducted: vocabulary and grammatical knowledge were measured by researcher-developed tests and L2 reading comprehension was measured using the reading section of the TOEIC test. In order to examine the two predicting variables (i.e., vocabulary and grammatical knowledge) a multiple regression analysis was performed. The study found that both grammatical and vocabulary knowledge related significantly to L2 reading comprehension. Additionally, vocabulary knowledge showed a slightly stronger contribution to reading comprehension than syntactic knowledge. These findings suggest that it is equally important for lower level readers to understand vocabulary as well as basic syntactic rules and structures when it comes to EFL reading comprehension.

A study was conducted to investigate the levels of representation in memory constructed as an outcome of L2 reading comprehension, and the effects of L2 proficiency, prior knowledge, and L1 reading skills on the construction of the representation. A total number of 128 Korean EFL learners participated in the study. Their L2 reading comprehension was tested through verification measure and comprehension questions designed to assess different levels of understanding including the sentence-level, textbase understanding and the situation model, or the deeper level of understanding of what the text is about. Results showed that the representation the L2 readers constructed was characterized as consisting of rather loose textbase understanding and relatively weak, but varying degrees of, situational understanding. Only L2 proficiency, among the three factors, appeared to have a significant effect on the levels of understanding in the representation the L2 readers constructed.