The purpose of this study was to explore the co-teaching experiences between native and non-native English teachers in the Korean elementary and secondary school context. Research data included classroom observations and teachers’ interviews collected over one school semester. A constant comparative data analysis method was employed to provide an in-depth description of the co-teachers’ teaching practice, the aspects of their interactions, and their professional development in a classroom setting. The findings of this study revealed that the co-teaching styles and role distributions in the co-teaching process were different depending on the non-native teachers’ English proficiency and their professional relationships. It also suggested that the successful implementation of collaborative team work was deeply related to the participating teachers’ willingness to cooperate and conceptions created by the dynamics of interaction between the two teachers in and outside of the classroom. Given the research result that both native and non-native teachers benefitted from their co-teaching experiences, some pedagogical implications on the improvement of co-teaching English in Korean classrooms are proposed.
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.
본 연구의 목적은 정보통신윤리의 영어 몰입수업에 대한 효과, 학습자의 반응 분석, 영어 몰입수엽의 문제점을 찾아 그 대응책을 모색하는 것이다. 연구는질적인 연구의 한 방법인 사례연구법에 의해 실시되었다. 데이터 수집은 연구자의 자기 평가와 학생들의 수엽 만족도 조사표의 응답 결과 그리고 태국 AIV 활동에서 함께 활동하였던 2 명의 교사들 평가를 반영하였다. 수업만족도 조사표로IACE 에서 개발하였으며, 선다형 10문항, 개방형 1 문항으로 작성되었다초등학교 5-6 학년 학생 20 명을 대상으로 시범수업으로 정보통신윤리의 영어몰입수엽 후 학생들의 수엽만족도 조사표에서 영어 몰입수엽은 효과가 있으며 학생들의 반응도 매우 긍정적이었다. 드러난 문제점으로 교사의 학생들 수준에 맞는 의사소통 능력의 부족, 고차원적인 사고 유도의 부족, 수업 중 학생들이 협력할 기회의 제공이 부족, 학생들의 의견 청취와 학생 중심의 수업 부족 등이었다.연구의 결론은 첫째, 정보통신윤리의 영어 몰입수업은 효과가 있었다. 둘째, 학생들의 반응은 매우 긍정적으로 나타났다. 셋째 정보통신윤리의 영어몰입수업에서교사의 철저한 수업계획과 자기 점검이 필요하다는 것이다.
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.
In the language class combined with "creative drama", one of the approaches in educational theatre, the stories told by a teacher are organically developed into an original drama with several drama techniques. Even though there are some research studies on using creative drama in the ESL context, there are few in the EFL situation. Therefore, this study presents the result of a study investigating how creative drama affects young language learners" English learning in a Korean primary school. An English drama class, at after-school program in Seoul, combined with creative drama had been observed once a week for a semester. Seven first graders in the class were presented with 6 different stories, which contain certain phonemes each and dramatized the stories in a creative way. They were assessed through pre-and post- tests and surveys in terms of their linguistic improvements and affective changes and analyzed quantitatively. In addition, participants were individually analyzed according to their characteristics in linguistic and affective aspects by using field notes from classroom observation and interviews. The results show that participants made progress in linguistic aspects including phonics and vocabulary skills and that their affective factors including language anxiety level had shown a positive development throughout the semester. Moreover, each participant showed particular characteristics respectively in terms of linguistic and affective perspectives.
This study aims to investigate the major themes and contents of studies on teaching English as an EFL in elementary schools in Korea since TEFLES (Teaching English as a Foreign Language in the Elementary School) was first introduced in elementary schools as a regular subject under the 7th National Curriculum in 1997. For the purpose of the study, a total of 218 research was examined in terms of the research methods, topics and main contents, and implications. The results of the study show that more than a half of the research was oriented toward quantitative approach. In addition, the main foci were the effects of certain tasks, pronunciation, dramatization, the use of a variety of multimedia materials on elementary school students" speaking skills. However, a large number of studies dealt with speaking skills in an integrated manner with other factors such as language skills, motivation, interests, and confidence. On the basis of the results, pedagogical implications on the teaching of speaking skills are suggested.
In the paper, the development of college English teaching and testing in China in the past two decades will be reviewed focusing on the promulgation and implementation of the National College English Teaching Syllabuses since the 1980s and the launch of the National College English Test (CET) in the late 1980s. The second part of the paper focuses on the achievements made and problems encountered in the development of college English teaching and testing. The English proficiency of college students in China will be presented by referring to the CET Syllabus. Examples of students’ performance in the CET will be given to illustrate their communicative competence. The imbalanced development of the English proficiency of college students across the country will also be discussed and possible explanations given for the discrepancy. The paper will then move on to a discussion on the impact of language testing on teaching with special reference to the washback of the CET on college English teaching in China. Both beneficial and detrimental effects of the CET on teaching and learning will be presented and the social consequences of the large-scale standardized test will be discussed in some detail. The paper ends with a brief introduction to the recent reform of the college English teaching and testing in China.
Effective foreign language learning accompanies the learning of the target language’s culture. But English is said to be not a foreign language, but a global language. What should culture learning be like in teaching English as a global language (EGL)? This paper aims to make some suggestions for the directions of cultural learning in EGL. First, the features of EGL learning are explored in comparison with those of EFL learning. Second, it is discussed why EGL learning does not match the communicative competence on which the communicative approach has been based. Instead EGL learning needs intercultural communicative competence (ICC). Third, it is considered what culture education should take into account for ICC. The main section seeks out the ways in which cultural contents involved in teaching materials contribute to develop ICC. Four (4) series of Korean middle school English textbooks are analysed in respect of the ownership of cultures, the types of culture and the cultural activities, from the intercultural perspective. The result admits the cultural contents of the textbook are not suitable for developing ICC. Finally, some directions will be deduced on how and what teaching materials are equipped to develop ICC in teaching English as a global language.
The present study aimed to investigate some differences in journal article abstracts written in English by Korean researchers and international scholars and to provide Korean researchers with guidelines for writing accurate, self-contained, informative and coherent abstracts. To this end, intra- and inter-lingual analyses of English abstracts were carried out in terms of rhetorical structures, linguistic features, and disciplinary areas. The results reveal that (1) international and Korean researchers show some differences of rhetorical and discourse features in their English abstracts and (2) some types of errors in terms of grammatical-syntactic and lexico-semantic aspects are frequently committed by Korean researchers. The results of this investigation suggest that Korean researchers should be aware of common rhetorical structures and linguistic features of English abstracts and graduate students should be provided with EAP courses to practice writing English abstracts relevant to their major areas.