This paper explores how the subject prominent features in a given language are correlated with the grammaticalization of syntactic rules within the Germanic typology. Drawing relevant data from German and English this research focuses on the grammatical constructions such as morphologically case-marked constructions, passive constructions, clause-union constructions and raising constructions. In this functional typological study, it is demonstrated that the subject-centered English type constructions can be interpreted as extreme cases even within the Germanic typology. Furthermore, it is claimed that prominence typology does not have to be viewed as a discrete dichotomy and that it is rather a gradable concept.

Since the introduction of the 6th National Curriculum, English pronunciation teaching in Korea has geared toward fluency, less focusing on accuracy. Since then the two technical terms, accuracy and fluency, have been widely used in the EFL literature in Korea, but in a rather confusing way. This paper is an endeavor to clarify these two concepts in terms of the viewpoints of Phonetics and English Education. From the phonetic standpoint, I argued that accuracy is more closely related to 'clear speech,' whereas fluency is applicable to either 'clear speech' or 'casual speech'. I also suggested two methods for the evaluation of English speaking fluency: one is the evaluation of weak form pronunciation: the other, sentence stresses. From a viewpoint of English Education, I reviewed some relevant literature and found that (1) accuracy and fluency are related to language usage and language use, respectively; (2) accuracy and fluency have been used as terms applicable to all four language skills in language learning, rather than speaking skill only: (3) a definition of fluency needs to be modified for its flexible use in ESL/EFL classroom setting; (4) a number of recent textbooks on pronunciation teaching include lots of useful fluency enhancing practices. As a conclusion, I summed up afore-mentioned discussions and presented some suggestions for the National Curriculum in the future.

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.

Information Communication Technology (ICT) diffuses to a mixed reception among academics, partly because the scope for pre-adoption experimentation needed for devising new practice is being eroded by the centralized nature of infrastructural controls that accompany initial ICT implementation. Corporate managers now leading Universities are coming to regard ICT as the key to implementing the transition from the modern „mass university” to the future “virtual university“ ( see table 3.1 in Delaney 2002). Clearly, face-to-face teaching is soon to be widely regarded as only one of the options in course-unit content delivery, especially if course-unit pre-requisites are to be relaxed in the interests of widening appeal and class sizes without generalizing content so much as to dilute quality, not to mention relevance. It is argued here that, in this context, online delivery should be in hypertext including links to relevant web sites, and that if the university cannot support the necessary net-ware, the hypertext can be distributed on CD with supporting documents, with teacher-student interaction served through a university web site and/or email system. Introduction

The paper outlines a model for an English for Academic Purposes [EAP] programme designed to enhance the micro and macro study skills of students in the Arts from non-Western educational backgrounds. This EAP model draws on Jurgen Habermas‟s (1995; 1988) theory of communicative rationality to argue that the contemporary culture of inquiry in Arts‟ subjects reflects the communicative rationality that – according to Habermas -- has constituted the modern, Occidental lifeworld. The emergence of communicative rationality Habermas suggests is socio-culturally and historically specific. In other words, it has largely been absent from the socio-cultural contexts of many non-local entrants into Western universities. Yet, effective and successful participation in the Western academic discourse community, as well as everyday or non-scientific discourse communities, at least partly depends on a non-local student‟s awareness of the historical impacts generated by the developmental trajectory of communicative rationality. Successful participation in the Western academic context also depends on a non-local student‟s growing mastery over the methodologies, again generated by communicative rationality, that underpin this culture of inquiry. The EAP model proposes a practice based on a history of the ideas that form the bases of the Western academic tradition. It suggests that the macro (critical thinking, formal register) and micro-level (word choice, sentence construction) skills expected of students in Arts‟ subjects in Western universities are shaped by broader disciplinary and historical features. The pedagogical framing of this EAP model reflects the principles of situated learning theory (Lave & Wenger, 1990; McLellan, 1995) and addresses the recent research of Duff (2007), Morita (2004) and Zamel and Spack (1998).

This study points out that introducing and teaching semantic functions of Korean demonstratives 'i', 'ku', and 'ce' have not gained the attention of scholars and practitioners, although demonstratives are effective tools for expressing the speaker's psychological attitude towards object indication and for establishing coherence in delivering discourse. The study examined which semantic functions of Korean demonstratives, such as 'i', 'ku', and 'ce', should be incorporated as the content of teaching and how these could be taught in an effective way. As a principle of teaching, fostering learners' language awareness of the structure of semantic functions of 'i', 'ku', and 'ce' at these different strata was pursued. This made it possible to avoid giving out the glossary of each demonstrative or selectively delivering very simplified usage of them. Considering that the semantic functions of demonstratives are used in three different strata, metalingistic activities to foster learners' language awareness of these issues were suggested.

Despite the advantages of the shadowing method in language learning, there has been little research on the use of the method in Japanese language education. Therefore, the current study investigated the effectiveness of shadowing for the pronunciation and listening skills of Korean learners of Japanese. The study was conducted with the beginner and intermediate learners of Japanese in a college in the second half of the academic year (September to November, 2007). The results indicate an　improvement of the listening skills for 80% of the students (20 students). Furthermore, the false using of the pronunciation in 7 categories disappeared. The study suggests implications for the adequate application for Japanese education in Korean universities.

Despite the advantages of the shadowing method in language learning, there has been little research on the use of the method in Japanese language education. Therefore, the current study investigated the effectiveness of shadowing for the pronunciation and listening skills of Korean learners of Japanese. The study was conducted with the beginner and intermediate learners of Japanese in a college in the second half of the academic year (September to November, 2007). The results indicate an　improvement of the listening skills for 80% of the students (20 students). Furthermore, the false using of the pronunciation in 7 categories disappeared. The study suggests implications for the adequate application for Japanese education in Korean universities.

This article reports on research into self-directed English leaning of Korean university students, focusing on their motivation and metacognition. In general, university students in Korea undertake independent learning to improve their English competence outside the classroom, rather than relying on English courses provided by their universities. Although much of their English learning is self-directed, little has been known about how they carry out their out-of-class English learning. To obtain a better understanding of their self-directed learning, this study, employing a qualitative approach, analyzed reflective journals written by 25 university students during one semester. From the analysis, students’ motivation and metacognition emerged as important themes involved in the students’ self-directed learning. The findings of this study suggest that student motivation continuously ebbs and flows as a result of its complex interrelationship with contextual factors. In addition, it was found that students’ metacognitive knowledge played a crucial role in directing their out-of-class learning as students adopted learning strategies based on their metacognitive knowledge, which was again formed and revised in the course of their learning process. Finally, this article presents suggestions for promoting students’ self-directed English learning.

In the early reading stage, readers should be supported both orally and conceptually so that they are equipped with the basic skills and knowledge about word recognition. Thus, a lack of systematic support in the early reading developmental stage impedes the natural growth of reading ability. This article investigated how children were supported in reading from their teachers in the primary English classrooms. To accomplish this purpose, eleven reading-focused classrooms were analysed. Observations, video recordings, and interviews were conducted for data collection. Field notes and checklists were also used during the observations. Qualitative analyses revealed that children were poorly supported in learning to read: teachers used few limited teaching techniques and their uses were not effective on reading. The data from the interviews revealed that teachers were rarely trained for reading instruction, and that they possessed a limited knowledge about the English language system as well as about the reading development of young learners. Hence, the teachers' poor background knowledge and lack of skills led to less effective reading instruction. Based on these findings, it is suggested that teachers require training such as in basic knowledge about the English writing system and reading development in order to deliver effective reading instruction to early readers.

As writing skill is considered important in globalised societies nowadays, the skill is taught and assessed in English classrooms in Korea. As for assessment, however, there are no authoritative rating schemes suggested for classroom testing contexts. Given this lack, this study investigates the applicability of one of the existing scales, the FCE rating scale for writing assessment, to Korean high school contexts through both theoretical considerations and an empirical study. From both the theoretical perspectives and the empirical study, in which three English teachers at Korean high schools were asked to assess 6 writing samples using the FCE scale and to do think-aloud during the assessment, it was found that the FCE scale in this context tends to cause problems for the validity of the assessment. It was, therefore, concluded that, for the sake of validity, this kind of scale cannot be applied to the context for which it was not developed, and that there is a need to develop a rating scale, taking into account the characteristics of test-takers, raters and assessment context in question.

This study explores the effect of ethics-focused teacher training through exploratory action research methodology. Issues of ethical assessment has been taught at an university-based research program. The program implementation was planned and carried through continuous reflections-in-action. The following activities were collected or recorded among the participants: participants' journal writing, e-mail exchanges, official documents, and other relevant assessment records. Problems were identified and ethical issues of English language assessment were re-valued in Korean contexts. This research reported how Korean teachers has understood the meaningfulness of ethical dimensions in the field of English language assessment. It was not easy that they could formulate ethical assessment in their professional lives. The issues for further research were discussed.

The purpose of this study is two-fold. Firstly, it is to examine the perceived effectiveness of using portfolio in the Internet environment. Secondly, it is to explore students' opinions about online English materials and learning experiences. For the purpose, a questionnaire survey complemented with qualitative interviews was conducted. The participants were 211 university students taking the general English courses as a requirement for graduation. The findings show that unlike the expectation, use of portfolio in the internet environment is not effective to teach the general English courses. It has been also found that the students are not satisfied with such courses due to the failure to provide the necessary condition for an effective use of portfolio in the language classes. Based on the findings, the study argues that for the use of portfolio in the internet environment to be effective, it must be practiced in the right condition. Some pedagogical implications are provided on how to incorporate the internet into college EFL classes.