The present study examines the extent to which key competence and learning competence in particular are promoted in the high school English classes attended by Chinese students. Eight hundred and thirty five college freshmen at a comprehensive four-year university in Jilin Province were surveyed on their experiences in high school English classes. In part 1 of the survey, we found that high school English instruction in China tends to be exam-focused rather than emphasizing the development of key competences. In part 2 of the survey, we found that three aspects of learning competence – attitudes toward learning English, meta-cognitive awareness concerning one’s own English learning, and knowledge about English language instruction – are not consistently instilled in high school English classes. Virtually no differences between ethnic majority and minority students were observed in survey. We believe that because English instruction in Chinese high schools is exam-oriented so that instructors do not have enough time to enhance learning competences. Our conclusion is that reform of instructional methods needs to include greater attention to the aspects of learning competence.

The study is aimed at investigating whether learning readiness contributes to university students’ group discussion in English in a flipped classroom. The research questions are: 1) Is there a change in learning readiness before and after flipped learning?; 2) Is there a change in students’ participation in group discussion before and after flipped learning?; and 3) Does learning readiness contribute to participation in group discussion? A total of 52 students participated in the study. Student survey questionnaires and quizzes were collected for data analysis. Wilcoxon matched pairs signed rank test, a non-parametric test for repeated measures t-test, and multiple regression analysis were utilized to answer the research questions. The statistical analyses produced the following results: 1) there was a significant change in students’ participation in learning readiness and group discussion; and 2) learning readiness and quizzes greatly contributed to group discussion. These findings corroborated the previous research that learning readiness is essential for self-directed learning in a successful flipped classroom. This suggests that teachers devise ways to help students engage in online activities for greater learning readiness.

The purpose of this study was to investigate patterns of English learning motivation that changed in high school students from their elementary to junior high and senior high schools from a retrospective perspective. It further examined factors affecting motivation, demotivation, and remotivation. Participants charted progressions and regressions of their English learning motivation. They then took part in semi-structured interviews. Results of the study revealed that the students had the highest motivation in their elementary school years. They showed gradual declines as learning time progressed, showing the lowest motivation in their high school years. Motivation factors included teaching methods, curiosity and interest in English classes, and incentives and praise for learning achievements, while textbooks, curriculum, learning failure experiences, and pressure on grades were demotivating factors. Improvements in test scores and English study skills, experiences of success in English learning, and awareness of the importance of learning English remotivated these students. Identified motivation, demotivation, and remotivation factors differed depending on students’ English proficiency.

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.

The aim of this study is to apply flipped learning in teaching General English courses in university and examine its impact on English self-efficacy and students’ English achievement. The researcher implemented flipped learning by recording videos based on the students’ textbook and up-loading those videos on the SNS before each lesson to provide opportunities for active interactions in class. The students of the experimental group (n=56) were required to learn through SNS the videos to learn in the pre-class. They also practiced what they had learned under the teacher’s supervision by completing collaborative tasks in groups or pairs. Meanwhile, the control group students (n=66) received in-class only traditional English teaching. The statistical analysis of the results showed that adopting the flipped learning strategy appeared to play a role in enhancing the students’ English self-efficacy and English achievement. Also the students’ responses indicated that their satisfaction towards the flipped learning is positive.

The study aims to examine whether teaching English through multiple intelligences can suggest one of the solutions for underachievers to facilitate their English learning and restore their learning attitudes. To explore this, the study investigated two research questions: (a) What are the effects of English instruction using multiple intelligences and stories on underachievers’ reading abilities? and (b) How English instruction using multiple intelligences and stories influences on their learning attitudes? The participants of the study were seven fifth-grade underachievers in one elementary school in Seoul. They were first tested what their strong intelligences are and engaged in customized activities based on their multiple intelligences test results during the experiment English classes. The data collected include the read-aloud test, the reading comprehension test, the affective test, students’ learning log and the interview of students and teachers, and these were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The results of the study showed that English instruction using multiple intelligences and stories had statistical significance in increasing underachievers’ reading abilities and changing their learning attitudes positively. This study is valuable in that it strongly calls for the need to consider multiple intelligences and provide customized activities for underachievers to facilitate their English learning and restore their learning attitudes.

The purpose of this research is to examine the relationships among English learners’ motivation, strategies and achievement, with a group of 51 Korean three-year college students. The students responded to the questionnaire of learning motivation and strategies. Also they took a mock TOEIC. Multiple regression analysis allowed for the analysis of learners’ motivation and strategies to predict a single dependent variable, their English achievement. The findings revealed that, first, ‘internal motivation’ was found the highest predictor of their English study, while ‘instrumental motivation-individual’ was the lowest motivation type for students. Second, participants used ‘social strategies’ most frequently in studying English, and they used the others in the order of ‘compensation strategies’, ‘affective strategies’, ‘cognitive strategies’, ‘memory strategies’ and ‘metacognitive strategies’. Last, the impact of learning motivation and strategies on the TOEIC scores was not statistically significant, but the relationship of learning motivation and strategies was found to be positive. Implications for the practical classroom and suggestions for further research are suggested.

본 연구는 진로프로그램과 영어교과수업을 융합한 영어진로 프로그램을 구안・적용하여 학생들의 글로벌 리더십을 향상시키고자 하였다. 영어교과 학습동기를 높여 학생들이 영어수업에 즐겁게 참여하고 영어교과 시간에 꿈과 끼의 탐색에 필요한 다양학습 활동을 할 수 있는 기회를 제공함으로써 영어 학습동기를 높이고 글로벌 리더십교육을 하고자 하였다. 중학교 1학년을 대상으로 꿈-ING 영어진로 프로그램을 적용하였으며 사전・사후 설문 조사를 통해 평가한 결과 학생들의 진로개발역량 향상에서 유의미한 차이를 보였다.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of the sentence-writing task on English vocabulary learning of Korean high school students. The effectiveness of the sentence-writing task can be explained based on the Involvement Load Hypothesis (Laufer & Hulstijn, 2001); yet, there has been no consistency in the results of the previous studies on this hypothesis. In the present study, the effects of the sentence-writing task on vocabulary learning were re-examined in comparison with the gap-filling task. In addition, considering that there have been no studies addressing the effects of autobiographical elaboration (relating the meaning of a certain word to one’s own experience) on memory, the effects of the autobiographical sentence-writing task were compared to those of the imaginary sentence-writing task. Forty high proficiency and 40 low proficiency learners were randomly assigned either of the sentence-writing or the gap-filling task. The results demonstrated that the sentence-writing task is more effective in vocabulary learning than the gap-filling task, regardless of the learners’ proficiency levels. However, no significant difference was found between the effects of the autobiographical sentence-writing task and the imaginary sentence-writing task. Based on the results, the pedagogical implications were discussed in the conclusion chapter.

This study is aimed at investigating the effects of flipped learning on self-directed learning attitude in the college setting. For the aim, this study tried to see if there are meaningful changes in learners’ self-directed learning attitude over time. With the research aim in mind, an elective university class of 47 students was observed for 15 weeks. A survey questionnaire was developed from Guglielmino(1977)’s characteristics of self-directed learning attitude, and four characteristics were finally used for this study: Openness, self-directedness, responsibility, and passion for learning. The questionnaire was administered twice in the 5th and 14th weeks, followed by in-depth interviews with 9 participants. A non-parametric test for repeated t-test, Wilcoxon matched pairs signed rank test was used for data analysis. The research findings are as follows. First, the results of the questionnaire indicated that there were statistically meaningful changes in all 4 characteristics of learners’ self-directed learning attitude before and after flipped learning. Second, the analysis of in-depth interviews revealed that students felt positive about their flipped learning since it provided them with great opportunities to develop and strengthen their self-directed learning attitude. Implications and suggestions for further research are provided.

In this research synthesis, a total of 313 studies on English learning motivation published in South Korea from 2000 to 2017 were reviewed. The data were categorized into four criteria: publication year, research method, participant, and research topic. First, the annual trend clearly demonstrated that the number of motivation research showed a steady growth. The dominant research method was quantitative (207 papers) over qualitative (40 papers) and mixed methods (48 papers). University students (157 papers) were major population in English learning motivation research followed by junior high (36 papers), elementary (30 papers), high school students (30 papers), research synthesis (17 papers), and kindergarten students (3 papers). Most research focused on identifying specific subcomponents of English learning motivation in a particular research context. The study suggests that future research needs to focus more on diverse student group such as home-schoolers. Also, the use of research synthesis needs to be encouraged in order to capture the complex nature of English learning motivation.

This paper on language learner strategies utilizes a little used quantitative, datamining technique called cluster analysis to investigate characteristics of groups of South Korean learners of English. After 71 students in three first-year university liberal arts English conversation courses completed the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL), and the number of learning strategies was reduced from 50 to 26 based on standard deviation (SD) results, the non-hierarchical (K-means) 3-cluster procedure was applied to the self-reported data. Following statistical analysis, each of the three cluster groups could be profiled according to achievement scores. At this point, six items emerged as particularly meaningful with regard to the latter, including direct strategies (a memory one and a cognitive one) and indirect strategies (two affective and two metacognitive). These strategies and their significance with reference to the local context as well as results previously reported in the literature are discussed. Finally, limitations of the study and implications for future research using cluster analysis are reported.

This study examined the characteristics of male high school English learners’ motivation and the relations between their motivation and achievement in English learning. A total of 334 Grade 10 students in a boys’ high school participated in this study by completing a questionnaire survey on second language (L2) learning motivation and taking an English achievement test. As a result of explanatory factor analysis, five factors were found as underlying constructs for male high school students’ English learning motivation: The Ought-to L2 Self, The Ideal L2 Self, The Feared L2 Self, Instrumentality, and Intrinsic Motivation. In terms of the structural relationships between the learners’ motivation and achievement in English learning, the ideal L2 self and intrinsic motivation exerted a direct impact on their motivated L2 behavior, and then English achievement mediated by the motivated L2 behavior. The other factors had an indirect influence on motivated L2 learning behavior, mediated by the ideal L2 self and intrinsic motivation. Based on the findings, we suggested motivational activities to realize the creation of the ideal L2 self among male high school English learners.

The study investigates to what extent a commitment to and a self-evaluation of a specific self-directed learning activity explain Korean college students’ EFL proficiency (using TOEIC reading scores). Of the Korean college students who participated, 52 completed log writing of self-directed learning activities, and 44 completed a self-evaluating survey and submitting a TOEIC reading score. Through statistical analyses, including correlations and regressions, the study finds that the number of minutes spent on reading aloud explained 10% of the variances of participants’ TOEIC reading scores. Another finding of the study is that perceived effectiveness of note-taking for grammar learning on listening and perceived manageability of reading aloud explained 21% of the variances in TOEIC reading scores. On the basis of these results, the study proposes that commitment to reading aloud and learner-perceived effectiveness of note-taking for grammar learning on listening can function as significant predictors for EFL reading proficiency. Several practical suggestions are provided for EFL instructors and researchers for the more effective use of self-directed learning activities and self-evaluation results.

This case study investigated the changes of four Korean English major college students’ motivation and interest in TOEIC studying based on qualitative research method. Semi-structured interviews were conducted once a month for six months. Interest is a unique motivational variable with affective and cognitive domains together including interactions between persons and their objects wheres motivation is more broad, psychological and overlapping concept compared with interest. The results showed that the participants expressed the strong instrumental and extrinsic motivation for TOEIC studying while they confessed the intrinsic motivation for English learning. However, some participants had both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation on TOEIC studying as time went by. The participants’ strong perceptions on TOEIC in Korea were strongly related with situational interest in TOEIC or TOEIC studying. The participants’ interest in TOEIC studying was triggered as they improved the TOEIC score. However, one participant showed the expiration of interest in TOEIC studying right after achieving a high TOEIC score, but his interest in potential English studying was triggered.

The special law for making Jeju a free international city was implemented in 2001 to develop Jeju an important hub for international tourism. Jeju has been changed into a free international city attracting many foreign tourists, so English has been an important communication tool in Jeju. Also, Jeju has provided top quality English education by attracting world-prestigious international schools to enhance English education competitiveness. However, little attention has been paid on non-linguistic outcomes including English learners' identities changes occurred in the English learning experiences. This study proves that it is important to consider the influence of language learning on learners’ identities changes in the English learning process. The contradictory individual learner’s identity shows that teachers and educational institutions should not only train students’ language skills, but also be aware that L2 learning is closely connected to learners’ identity construction.

The study investigates the effect of different types of visual images, i.e., static images versus dynamic images, on English vocabulary learning. Eighty-four students in the fourth grade of an elementary school participated in this study, and they were divided into two experimental groups and a control group. One of the experimental groups utilized static images, and the other group, videos as dynamic images in vocabulary learning. The control group was provided with the definition or the explanation of each target word in L1. The results of the study manifested that the static image group showed higher scores for the post test than the dynamic image group. The comparison of the pre and post affective tests demonstrated that the static image group showed an improvement in confidence in language learning and the dynamic image group showed positive change in the attitude of all three areas: interest, confidence, and aroused motivation. The analysis of the open-ended questionnaires showed that many participants in the static image group tended to use pictures as retrieval cues to remember vocabulary.

The purpose of this study is to summarize and report on both academic and pedagogical implications of CALL studies published in English Teaching from Vol. 1 (1965) to Vol. 70, n. 2 (2015) by critically reviewing 118 CALL articles in a qualitative meta-analytic approach, and also to suggest future directions for CALL research and practice. The data analysis indicates that English Teaching has m빠 significant achievements in developing technology and language learning research from both quantity and quality standpoints. First, that CALL has been consistently discussed as a major topic. Second, the research has been ground-breaking in topics, technologies, and instructional approaches. Third, the studies have produced meaningful findings, practical suggestions, and positive conclusions for English education in Korea. On the other hand, there are also some neglected aspects: first, the primary concern has been mostly for the effectiveness of new technology by means of quantitative approaches; second, the study scope is limited; third, the research projects are not sustainable or are unsupported by follow-up studies. In the future of CALL, it is hoped that 1) the role and usage of technology will be studied more from the L2 perspective; 2) the target interest will be focused on normal curricula; 3) large-scale research will be better promoted; and 4) more international efforts will be undertaken for theory building.

This study investigates the effects of working memory capacity (WMC) and the types of vocabulary learning, i.e., explicit vs. implicit, on the acquisition of English multi-word verbs. For this purpose, a total of 60 middle school students, divided into two groups (control and experimental), participated in the study. The participants in the control group were taught multi-word verbs in a traditional and explicit manner, whereas the participants in the experimental group were exposed to multi-word verbs with short passages. The results manifested that both of the instructional styles had positive effects on the learners’ acquisition of multi-word verbs in the short-term. Although there was not a significant interaction between WMC and the overall scores on the immediate post-test, according to the scores on the gap-fill tasks which tested learners’ productive knowledge, there were significant differences between the low-WMC and high-WMC groups. High-WMC students learned more target multi-word verbs than low-WMC students on average. The results also showed that WMC and the two different learning types did not affect the students’ acquisition of multi-word verbs in the long-term. Further, the interaction effect between WMC and learning type in the long-term was not significant.

This study examined how smart device applications affected elementary school students who have learning difficulties in English. Five 6th grade students who needed remedial instruction were selected and given 50 hours of instruction using English vocabulary flash cards in a smartphone application. one hundred vocabulary words were chosen and developed for flash cards for the students to examine their intellectual and emotional changes in English learning. The research results showed that the students' vocabulary improved in listening, reading and speaking. It also revealed that the students gained confidence and interest in English learning, and their anxiety decreased. In addition, the application was easy and convenient for the students to use, especially in recognizing the pronunciation and the meaning of the vocabulary words. This study recommends further development and use of smart device applications for elementary school English instruction.