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.

This paper discusses what the basic principle of Korean consonantal assimilation and tensification is and how to teach the two processes to learners. Since some of the Korean phonological changes including these two processes are complicated and cannot easily be seen in other languages, students may face difficulty in learning such processes. It has been claimed that these processes are due to the "principle of economy" in pronunciation. That is, certain consonant clusters or consonantal sequences that are difficult to produce undergo changes in a way to make them easy to pronounce. In this paper I argue against such a claim by adopting the principle of English, which has two different types of consonant clusters, namely "word-initial and word-final clusters". The phonotactic constraints of the word-final clusters in this language, which are opposite to the case of word-initial clusters, have the ascending structure in the consonantal strength between the two consonants. We see that the two consonants in sequence in Korean have almost the same structure. Unlike English, these constraints must be obeyed whether words are simple or complex in Korean. The two consonants that are not kept up to these constraints by the morphological process undergo phonological process. This is the principle of consonantal assimilation and tensification in Korean, and thus, teachers (and also possibly learners) of Korean should recognize the principle to understand the processes correctly.

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.

The present study aims to develop a web-based model for English teacher evaluation, which purports to encourage a teacher to get actively involved in his or her own professional development through critical reflection upon teaching. The evaluation model using portfolio is based on the assumption that the teacher should play a key role in the evaluation process in order to bring about change in teaching. Another theoretical premise of the model is that data on teaching should be gathered from multiple sources such as observation, student performance and self-appraisal. The web-based model encourages stakeholders, e.g., administrators, headteachers, parents, to take part in the evaluation process. The model reflects the findings of a questionnaire survey on teachers’ perceptions on teacher evaluation and their needs. It is suggested that a number of factors related to administration, technology and content should be considered for the effective application of the model. Some suggestions are also made concerning evaluator training, time constraints, institutional support, and further research.

This study attempted to explore the possibility, potential and difficulties of reflective teaching through keeping teaching journals. The focus of reflection was also examined. Six primary English teachers wrote teaching journals throughout one semester. And they were interviewed regarding keeping teaching journals at the end of the semester. Then the contents of teachers’ journals and interviews were analyzed. The analysis of teachers’ journals shows that their reflection included teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning, their decision making process on the use of learning activities, the problems of learner differences in English ability, the effects of learning activities, the structure of lessons, their role as a fully charged English teacher, the use of classroom English, and the concern about the improvement of students’ talk. The data analysis also reveals that the teachers considered journal writing as an opportunity to reflect and improve their teaching, thus being a means for professional development as an English teacher. However, the lack of time and not being familiar with keeping teaching journals were perceived difficulties in keeping teaching journals. Further, it was pointed out that the follow-up activities such as collaboration and discussion with other teachers or teacher educators were needed for journal writing to be a more beneficial tool for teachers’ professional development.

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.

With the changing status of vocabulary, the notion of vocabulary has been broadened from single words to multi-word expressions or units. Many lexicologists focus on vocabulary rather than grammar, and maintain that these lexical units or collocations are the most powerful force in comprehension and production of language. Little action research, however, has been performed to identify the best practices and to aid students in learning English in a real classroom. Collocational approaches to vocabulary acquisition view the basic premise of language learning as noticing and acquiring multi-word units like individual words. Focusing on this concept, this research presents practical collocation teaching methods, beginning with a brief definition, the pedagogical implications, and the most commonly occurring collocations. It suggests eight collocation- teaching methods, to be directly used in classroom activities. Finally, implementation of the suggestions presented here will produce more meaningful and effective vocabulary learning activities so that the EFL learners acquire knowledge of the English language more communicatively.

The present study investigates the effects of teaching activity-based integrative reading and writing on the amelioration of written language in the elementary school classroom. This study was conducted during the first semester in 2003. The subjects were 160, 6th year elementary school students. They were divided into two groups, control and experimental. Both the control group and the experimental group were composed of 80 students each. Each group was divided into three levels: high, intermediate, and low, on the basis of a diagnostic evaluation. All the subjects of the experimental group were integratively taught reading and writing of the English alphabet, words, phrases, sentences, and context, according to their level. All the subjects of the control group were discretely taught reading and writing according to their curriculum and level. They were also given a questionnaire of affective and psychomotor domains. Statistical analyses were performed to determine: (a) the difference of the control and experimental groups, (b) the difference between the control and experimental groups, (c) the difference of their level (high, intermediate, and low) of the control and experimental groups on reading and writing in the pre- and post- achievement tests, and (d) the difference of the level of the control and experimental groups on the affective and psychomotor domains such as interest, self-confidence, understanding, participation, and motivation of reading and writing in the pre- and post- achievement tests. The results of this study reveal that significantly higher scores on the written language were obtained in the experimental group. The difference between the control group and the experimental group was not significant at the beginning of the term. However, the difference was significant at the end of the term. It was also found that in the experimental group, interest was improved at the intermediate level. Self-confidence and understanding were improved at the intermediate and low levels, and participation was improved at the low level. It is recommended that researchers and teachers develop integrative materials of reading and writing more widely according to the level.