This study aims to investigate how multicultural aspects are dealt with in current elementary English textbooks. The cover pages, dialogues, main readings, and culture sections of a total of 10 elementary English textbooks for 5th and 6th graders were closely examined in terms of (1) the races and genders of the characters, (2) the cultural backgrounds of the contents, and (3) Bennett’s (2010) core values of multicultural education. The results revealed that each gender was equally represented and the textbooks present diverse cultural backgrounds in a balanced way. It was found, however, that there was an imbalance in terms of racial backgrounds. With respect to the core values of multicultural education, acceptance and appreciation of cultural diversity, and respect for human dignity and universal human rights were the top two values that appeared most frequently throughout the textbooks. Responsibility to a world community was the value that was comparatively hard to find in them. Detailed findings are discussed in greater depth, along with implications for elementary English education in Korea.

In an effort to find a way to optimize the learning condition, this study examined the effects of two types of input frequency distribution, skewed-first distribution (SFD) versus balanced distribution (BD), and two types of focus-on-form techniques, input processing (IP) versus input enhancement (IE), on the learning of English participles by Korean middle school students. A total of 91 students participated in this study, divided into five subgroups: SFD + IP, SFD + IE, BD + IP, BD + IE, and Control. The learning outcomes and the generalizability of the learned knowledge were measured through scaled judgment tasks and picture description tasks, immediately after treatment as well as one week later. The results showed that the input frequency distribution factor did not have statistically significant effects on learning and generalizability, while the degrees of explicitness of focus-on-form techniques had statistically significant effects on both. The interaction effects of the two main factors were not statistically significant. More detailed findings are presented with some pedagogical implications for Korean EFL classrooms.

This study investigated the relative effects of input-based versus output-based activities on the learning of English unaccusative constructions. A total of 73 high school students were randomly assigned into two experimental groups and one control group. Of the two experimental groups, the input-based input enhancement group (IE group) experienced a reading passage with the learning targets visually enhanced. The output-based dictogloss group (DG group) performed the dictogloss task with the identical passage given to IE group. The control group (CG group) did not experience the learning targets at all. Results showed that IE group statistically significantly outperformed CG group both at the immediate and the delayed posttests, while there was no significant difference between IE group and DG group. In terms of the generalizability of the learned knowledge, however, it was DG group that outperformed CG group at the immediate posttest. Again, there was no difference between IE group and DG group. More detailed findings are provided, along with some implications for English classrooms in Korea.

Effects of primary English education using children’s literature have been extensively examined by many researchers in Korea during the past about two decades. This study aims to delineate the research domain by employing a meta-analysis of 31 primary studies that have been published in Korean refereed journals by February 2017. From the primary studies, 41 effects sizes were calculated based on the contrast of the means of two groups and 152 pre-to-post effect sizes based on the contrast of pretest and posttest scores. The results indicate that primary English education using children’s literature had overall a medium-sized effect (g = .60), with its effect being greater in the affective domain (g = .93) than in the cognitive domain (g = .37). More specifically, it was found that introducing children’s literature in the elementary English classrooms would bring about positive learning effects in the areas of vocabulary and reading and would be effective to develop positive learner interest and attitudes toward English learning. The results and their implications are further discussed.

This study investigates the effects of syntactic priming on the learning of the ditransitive construction by 49 Korean elementary school English learners. In this study the effects of syntactic priming were scrutinized more in detail by implementing it in three different input frequency conditions: Skewed-first distribution, balanced distribution, and the control. Results indicated that syntactic priming overall had facilitative effects on the oral production performance of the participants. When it comes to the participants’ comprehension of the target construction, however, it was only in the skewed-first distribution that priming had a substantial learning effect. It is concluded that priming combined with the skewed-first type of input distribution would have generalizable and durable learning effects.

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.

자가면역성 췌장염이나 IgG4 연관 경화성 담관염은 간을 침범할 수 있으며 종괴의 형태를 보일 수 있는데 이런 경우 악성 병변과의 감별 진단이 매우 중요하다. 저자들은 영상 진단 검사에서 췌장염의 소견 없이 간 문맥 혈전증과 문맥 주변으로 침윤하는 소견을 보이는 종괴에서 생검을 통한 조직 검사를 통해 IgG4 연관 경화성 담관염과 연관된 염증성 병변으로 확진할 수 있었던 증례를 경험하여 문헌고찰과 함 께 보고한다.

본 연구는 한우 성체 유래 귀세포(Korean bovine ear skin fibroblasts, KbESF)와 태아 섬유아세포(Korean bovine fetal fibroblasts, KbFF)를 이용한 체세포 복제(SCNT) 시 세포종류, 배양기간 그리고 융합방법이 핵이식 수정란의 발달에 미치는 영향을 알아보기 위하여 실시하였다. 태아 섬유아세포는 임신 51일령의 한우태아에서 분리하였고, 귀세포는 28개월령의 성우의 귀에서 채취하였다. 세포는 15주 동안 체외에서 배양하며 체세포 핵이식(SCNT)에 공시하였다. 융합방법을 비교하기 위해 챔버방법과 전극 바늘을 이용한 방법으로 핵과 세포질을 융합하였다. 세포의 doubling time은 KbFF에서 17.3시간, KbESF에서 24.3시간으로 나타났다. 핵이식 후 융합과 분할율은 needle 방법에서 보다 유의적으로 높았으나(각 각 76.1과 81.2%, P<0.05), 배반포 발달율은 차이가 없었다. KbESF의 경우, 배반포 발달율은 passage 5~9(39.4%)와 13~15(40.4%)에서 passage 1~4에 비하여 유의적으로 높았다(P<0.05). KbFF의 경우, 융합율은 passage 5~8과 13~15에서 각각 75.0 및 76.8%로 passage 1~4(61.5%)보다 높았으나, 난분할율과 배반포 발달율은 차이가 없었다. 결론적으로, SCNT 수정란의 발달은 융합 방법에 의해 영향을 받을 수 있으나, 계대배양 15회까지 장기배양을 한 경우는 복제수정란의 발육에 영향을 주지 않는 것으로 판단된다.

이 연구의 목적은 제7차 교육과정의 선택 중심 교육과정에 관한 학생들에 인식과 그 운영실태의 문제점을 알아보는데 있다. 대상은 고등학교 3개교의 10, 11학년(485명)이며 결과는 다음과 갔다. 첫째, 학생이 장래 직업에 대한 확고한 결정이 없이(29%), 선택 중심 교육과정에 대하여 충분히 교육을 받지 못하거나(45%) 선택 중심 교육과정에 대한 정확한 내용을 인지하지 못한(25%) 상태에서 교과 선택이 이루어지고 있다. 둘째, 학생들은 선택 중심 교육과정에 대한 필요성에 긍정적(65%)이거나, 수업에 대한 참여도가 높아졌다(96%)고 생각하고 있어 선택 중심 교육과정에 대한 긍정적인 생각을 가진 것으로 나타났으나, 선택 중심교육과정에 대한 실현 가능성에는 39%의 학생들만이 긍정적인 생각을 가지고 있었다. 셋째, 학생들은 대학 진학의 필요성에 따라 교과를 선택하고(48%), 대학에 진학하기 위하여 자신이 원하는 교과를 모두 선택할 것이라고 응답하였다(41%). 넷째, 과학 과목의 선택은 화학 40%, 생물 25%, 물리 22%, 지구과학 13%순으로 나타났으며, 자신이 선택한 교과목을 바꿀 수도 있다고 생각한 학생이 74%이다. 위의 결과는 학생들이 7차 교육과정의 취지는 인식하고 있으나 과학과목의 선택에서는 자신의 장래나 적성이 고려되지 않고 대학 진학에 따른 해당 대학의 요구와 학교 헌장의 과학교사 분포에 좌우되고 있음을 보여주고 있다.