The goal of the present study is to examine EFL English teachers' intercultural communicative competence (ICC) and its relation to their English language proficiency (LP). Data was collected from 81 in-service and pre-service Korean English teachers (N=81) who participated in an one-month overseas training program in the U.S.A. The participants were asked to diagnose their own levels of ICC and LP through the questionnaires whose reliability and validity were confirmed by the factor analysis. The major findings from analyses were as follows: 1) in general, participants appeared to consider themselves possessing a high level of ICC, showing an average score of 3.99 out of 5.0 on the ICC questions, 2) participants' willingness and readiness to engage in different cultures/speakers were found to be in a higher level than the other four factors of ICC, such as an ability to interact in intercultural situations, an ability to identify an importance of ICC, a degree of acceptance by other cultures/speakers, and a degree of contribution to mediating intercultural situations, and 3) chi-square, correlational, and regression analyses showed significant associations between ICC and LP of the participants. Pedagogical implications and suggestions are discussed.

There has been an increasing demand for effective on-line English teacher education programs due to the advantages including cost efficiency and easy access. Despite the provision of a variety of on-line English teacher education programs, only a small number of studies on on-line in-service education program for English teachers have been carried out. This study aims to provide a basic model of on-line in-service English language teacher education based on the critical awareness. To do this, previous studies on on-line in-service English language teacher education in Korea and abroad were critically reviewed and key issues were derived. They are top-down approach to on-line teacher education curriculum development, unsustainability of teacher education, disconnection of teacher education to practice, insufficient establishment of community of practice, and deficiency of reflection on teaching practice. Three on-line English teacher education programs were selected and evaluated by using these key issues. It is suggested that bottom-up approach to curriculum development, establishment of community of practice for the sustainability of teacher education, and reflective learning for connecting teacher education to real classroom practice be included as key components for effective on-line teacher education.

The present study explores the relationship between teacher-efficacy and selected teacher variables, such as teachers’ demographic variables, self-efficacy, English proficiency, and teacher training experiences, of Korean English teachers. The study employed four questionnaires including Sherer et al.’s (1982) General Self-Efficacy Scale, Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk-Hoy’s (2001) Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale, Chacon’s (2002) Self-Reported English Proficiency Scale, and background information. The participants of the study were 120 Korean English teachers. The main findings of the study indicate that the participants’ standardized English proficiency scores exerted no significant influence on their teacher-efficacy. Yet, the teachers’ self-assessed English proficiency levels accounted for a significant amount of additional variance of their teacher-efficacy after controlling the variance explained by their self-efficacy, suggesting the significant impact of teachers’ positive assessment of their own English proficiency on their teacher-efficacy, regardless of their actual English proficiency. The study results also suggest that teachers’ professional training experiences generally contribute to their teacher-efficacy. Discussions and suggestions for future research are provided.

The purpose of this study is to investigate elementary school teachers’ and students’ experience of teaching and learning English grammar and how they perceive English grammar education with regard to its role in learning English and the need and ways of including grammar instruction into the curriculum. Questionnaires were administered to 123 teachers and 1513 6th grade students. In addition, written interviews with 20 teachers were done through e-mail. Major findings from the analysis of this survey are three-fold. First, most of the teachers and the students had experiences of teaching and learning English grammar and they perceived that English grammar knowledge plays a positive role in learning English. Second, majority of both the teachers and the students believed that grammar instruction should start in 5th grade, but there is a gap between the teachers and the students with respect to grammar teaching approaches; the teachers prefer the inductive method, while the students prefer the deductive one. Third, many teachers considered that grammar instruction would not have a negative effect on English classes based on the communicative language teaching approach, but they believed that activities for grammar instruction should be well designed in order to keep students interested in learning English. Based on these results, several suggestions for improving English education in elementary schools are made.

This study delves into the temporary English teachers’ identities through at their reflective journals and interviews, grounded on Norton’s (2000, 2013) and Wenger’s (1998) conceptions of identity. In taking second/foreign language teacher education course at a TESOL MA program, 16 teachers’ reflective journals and interviews were analyzed qualitatively for emergent themes, in terms of the three modes of belonging in identity formation (Wenger, 1998). The analysis revealed that the participants represented the identities of the controller, the diverse teaching program participant. the teaching activity sharer, the negative future dreamer, and the language expert. Moreover, most of the participants, as non-regular teachers, concerned themselves about their future career as part-timer. To empower non-regular teachers’ voices, this study discussed and suggested how to strengthen temporary teachers’ identity for their professional development.

This study aims at exploring the theoretical perspectives and research related to second language teacher identities. In particular, this paper focuses on the studies on the identities of English teachers in the Korean educational system. Major findings are as follows: First, based on the previous literature on teacher identities, teacher identities are defined as dynamic, multidimensional, and changing, as they continuously interact with individual, social, and cultural contexts. Second, it was found that studies have focused on (1) the meta-analyses of English teacher identities, (2) native-speaking English teacher identities, (3) the identities of non-native-speaking English teachers co-teaching with native-English-speaking teachers, (4) the identities of non-native-speaking English teachers including pre- and in-service teachers, and (5) teacher identity development through teacher education activities. Lastly, this paper brings up issues and suggestions on the formation and development of English teacher identities. It also offers directions for the future research on professional identities of second language teachers.

This study was designed to develop a scale to measure primary school English teachers’ professionalism based on affective factors. The Swailes' (2003) scale was used to best reflect the local context where teachers in primary schools teach English to young learners. Three surveys were sent to a total of 1,008 primary school English teachers. Three different focus groups were used to refine the survey items in the modification process from the first to the third survey. The data were analyzed using exploratory factor and confirmatory factor analysis. These results showed the validity of fifteen items for investigating primary English teachers’ professionalism: four items related to 'professional commitment', three related to 'professional autonomy', three items related to professional belief in public service, three items to profession as referent, and two items to professional regulation. It is hoped that the scale items developed in this study can be used to identify the standard of professionalism of primary English teachers and provide policy makers or school decision makers with data that can be used to enhance professionalism within the community of primary English teachers.

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 aims of this study were to explore the value of integrated use of the related literary texts and movies through teachers' awareness toward them, and to develop English teaching-learning method using them. Thirty-four primary school teachers who enrolled a graduate course participated in the study. The teachers read a literary text, Because of Winn-Dixie written by Kate DiCamillo, and watched the movie based on the text. Data collected were analyzed through a mixed method which used both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The result of the study emerged in two steps. First, experiences of participating teachers were investigated in terms of understanding literary texts and movies, participants' experience as both English learners and teachers, and the understanding of complementary aspects of a literary text and the movie based on the text. Then, teaching-learning method for English learners were developed. For example, the study suggested how to develop four language skills through integrated use of the literary texts and movies, and provided a list of related literary texts and movies applicable in diverse EFL contexts. Based on the results, the study suggested teachers to apply methods and techniques to other literary texts and movies in the teaching of English in EFL settings.

The role of the teacher in the EFL context is a key to success for the improvement of learners' English abilities. Research has been conducted on how to improve English teacher education system in Korea to cultivate competent English teachers. However, few attempts were made to examine how the English teacher education system in general has changed in the last few decades. This study aims to revisit the English teacher education system in Korea on the basis of the teacher education models. For this, the pre- and in-service English teacher education research and programs are reviewed and analyzed. At least two new changes are recognized. The current pre-service program has become more English education oriented compared to past programs. In the in-service program, a new perspective of "teacher development" has been adopted to emphasize teachers' self-reflection. Several practical ideas were suggested for both pre- and in-service English teacher education programs so as to meet teachers' needs and the changes in the Korean EFL environment.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of group-based consultations on pre-service primary school teachers' English teaching competence. Twenty nine pre-service teachers in groups of four or five received two rounds of consultations on their micro-teaching demonstrations from two native English instructors. The consultation procedure was three steps: preparation, micro-teaching observation and feedback. The self-evaluation checklists and micro-teaching evaluations were analyzed quantitatively to find how much improvement between the first and second micro-teaching had been made. The results indicated that consultations helped the pre-service teachers to improve their English teaching competence in general. The comments written by the consultants and the pre-service teachers about their micro-teaching observations were examined qualitatively. The results showed that consultations enabled the pre-service teachers to realize the strengths and weaknesses in their teaching behavior. Also, the observation of peer teaching and group discussion helped them to gain useful teaching skills and insights on what a good English lesson should be like.

The present study explores how high school English teachers perceive recently proposed or implemented English education policies. Among the policies are performance assessment, the depaπmentalized classroom system (DCS), 20 11 revised national curriculum for English, the two-Ievel (Types A' B) English tests in College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), and National English Ability Test (NEAT). The study examines three aspects ofteacher perception on each p이 icy: knowledge, attitudes, and implementation. A questionnaire was administered, and the responses of 395 high school English teachers were analyzed‘ The res비ts showed that the knowledge aspect scored the highest for all five p이 icies while differences were revealed as to specific aspects of knowledge, attitudes, and implementation across different policies. It was also revealed that the attitude aspect was positively correlated with the implementation aspect and that correlation between attitude and implementation was higher than the 、 correlation between attitude and knowledge. The facto rs identified to be highly correlated with all five policies were teacher’s academic attainment, age, and teaching experience, the number of students per class, and the implementation of English creative school. Implications are suggested for in-service teacher development, English education policy-making, and effective policy implementation.

This paper analyzes the effects of six month intensive English teachers’ training on communicative language teaching. The subject includes twenty teachers who showed greater improvement in the pre and post comparison of their English teaching demos out of 37 elementary school English teachers attended in the training. The in-house evaluation criteria have been used to select twenty teachers who enhanced their teaching skills greater than others‘ To look into details of the teaching enhancement, Foreign Language lnteraction (FLint), Communicative Orientation of Language Teaching (COL T) and Target Language Observation Scheme (T ALOS) have been used to investigate changes of interaction, teacher language, activities and methods. The findings ofthis paper include that the positive effects of six month teachers’ training show pal1icularly in the area of designing and implementing activities. Teacher's c1assroom languages have changed into more non-directive and affective after the training. Teachers allow more rooms of students' engagement by using more question, confirmation and feedback discourse routÎne after the training.

This study examined native-speaking English teachers’ pedagogical knowledge through the analysis of transcriptions of videotaped lessons and interviews with six novice English teachers teaching at middle schools. The goal was to discover what pedagogical knowledge these teachers have and how the knowledge was represented in the form of instructional actions. The dominant categories of the teachers’ instructional actions were repetition of input and instructions. Hence, there were a lot of repetitions of input which seem to come from behavioristic perspectives of language learning and teaching. Also, there were lots of teacher-initiated questions and directives to elicit responses from the students. The primary way of clearing the meaning of the text was translation. The findings indicated that the native-speaking teachers’ pedagogical thought are mostly pertinent to general educational knowledge not about language learning and teaching. In addition, the novice teachers’ pedagogical knowledge deduced from pedagogical thoughts leaned towards heavily to ‘Handling language items’ while experienced teachers in Gatbonton’s (2000) study displayed no dominant category. Implications for teacher training were discussed.