The purpose of this study was to investigate how the English speaking ability of Korean EFL college students was affected by their interactions with Talk-to-ChatGPT while taking an ‘English Interview’ class. Thirty pieces of English conversation scripts with thirty chatbot conversations created by five students were collected for analysis. Two online text analysis programs, Quillbot including word counter and grammar checker and T.E.R.A.(Text Ease and Readability Assessor), were used for data analysis. The findings of data analysis revealed that 1) The average length of the sentences and words spoken by the participants has increased through English speaking practice using Talk-to-ChatGPT, and 2) There was no significant change in text ease and readability, and coherence of students’ utterances through English speaking practice using a chatbot while there were differences depending on their English proficiency levels. 3) Students A, B, and D, who had relatively low levels of English proficiency, showed a slight increase in syntactic accuracy and semantic clarity in their English interview practice. Based on the study findings, pedagogical implications for the effective use of AI-based apps or programs in English speaking classes were presented.
This study analyzed the patterns of relative clauses (RCs) used on the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), a standardized test for college admissions in Korea. The researchers investigated the Noun Phrase Accessibility Hierarchy and the impact of the antecedent’s animacy on RCs. Also, it was explored how NPs in the subject position of object RCs affected language processing, specifically, the condition where relativizers were omitted and the reasons for producing passive subject RCs. Data were collected from the CSAT and mock tests from 2019 to 2023. The analysis of 622 RCs yielded the following results: First, the frequency of RCs appeared in the following order: subject RCs, object RCs, then OBL. Second, the object RCs showed a preference for inanimate antecedents whereas the subject RCs used did not show a preference for animate antecedents. Third, NPs in the subject position with sentences containing object RCs predominantly took the form of pronouns, with common nouns used less frequently.
To address the English proficiency of underachieving college students, universities often use in-house language tests. C University lacks specific exams for identification, and relies on students’ English performance in the Korean College Scholastic Aptitude Test (CSAT English). This research explores the potential of the TOEIC Bridge, a standardized English proficiency test developed for middle and high school students, to provide an effective, practical measure for screening underachieving students in English. The study investigates the relationship between TOEIC Bridge and CSAT English performance, evaluating the predictive value of TOEIC Bridge on CSAT outcomes. Analyzing data from 418 students, the study identified (1) a moderate correlation between TOEIC Bridge and CSAT English performance, and (2) predictability of CSAT English performance based on TOEIC Bridge, suggesting that TOEIC Bridge can provide a potential tool to identify underachieving students in English. These findings contribute pedagogical insights for tertiary education.
본 연구는 영어 수업 외 교실을 벗어나서 영어를 학습해야 하는 학습 자들의 부담감을 해소시키기 위해 영어 수업 시간에 활용할 수 있는 교 재 맞춤형 학습 앱의 활용을 제안하고자 하였고 교재 맞춤형 학습 앱의 사용에 대한 학습자의 태도와 인식을 함께 분석하고자 하였다. 이를 위 해 교재의 각 챕터별 주제에 맞게 제작된 학습 앱이 다각적인 측면에서 사용되었다. 앱을 활용하여 어휘 학습, 듣기, 말하기, 읽기, 챗봇과의 대 화나 토론과 같은 학습 활동이 이행되었다. 연구 평가를 위해 자가 평가 일지와 설문 조사를 분석하였다. 연구 결과 교재 맞춤형 학습 앱에 대한 학습자들의 만족도는 높은 것으로 나타났다(80.5%). 교재 맞춤형 앱 활 용에 대한 만족도가 높은 이유는 개인의 다양한 학습 욕구가 충족되었다 는 점, 앱 콘텐츠가 다양한 점, 이로 인해 학습에 대한 재미와 관심이 유 발된 점, 또한 교재와의 연계성이 높은 점으로 나타났다. EFL 교실에서 효율적으로 사용될 수 있도록 교재에 맞게 제작된 학습 앱은 학문 분야 별로 활발하게 개발될 필요가 있다. 교수자들은 교수요목에 맞게 학습자 의 흥미와 자기 주도적 참여를 유발시키기 위해 학습 앱과 같은 테크놀 로지를 적극적으로 활용해야 할 것이다.
본 연구는 챗GPT를 대학 교양영어 수업의 학습 도구로 활용하는 효과 적인 수업구성을 하는 것을 목표로 하고 있다. 구체적인 논의는 다음의 네 가지이다. 첫째, 교육계에서 챗GPT 사용에 관해 찬반 논쟁이 있음에 도 불구하고 생성형 AI가 교육계에 큰 변화를 가져올 것이라는 점에는 거의 이견이 없다. 둘째, 챗GPT를 사용함에 있어서 발생 가능한 문제점 을 팩트 체크의 부재, 지적 재산권의 문제, 문해력 저하로 정리하였다. 학습에서 챗GPT를 도구로 사용하기에 앞서서 이러한 문제점들을 학습자 들에게 반드시 인식시키는 교과과정을 만들어야 할 것이다. 셋째, 교육현 장에서 챗GPT를 사용하기 위해서 학습자에게 선제적으로 인식시켜야 할 점은 생성형 AI가 학습의 도구로서의 역할을 하며, 학습자가 인공지능에 의존하는 것이 아니라 인공지능과 협업을 한다는 것이다. 넷째, 학습능력 이 매우 상이한 학생집단을 대상으로 챗GPT를 학습도구로 사용하기 위 해서는 그룹별 협업을 통한 활동이 중요하다. 그룹원들의 다양한 질문을 인공지능에 주입하여 다채로운 결괏값을 얻어 지식을 창조적으로 (재)생 산할 수 있기 때문이다. 본 연구의 의의는 연구에서 제시하는 수업구성 을 실제 수업에 적용하여 또 다른 연구물을 도출할 수 있다는 점이다.
This study aimed to explore the impact of AI image generators on the affective factors of college-level English learners and the correlations among these factors. During a four-week instructional period, 65 participants were asked to use Midjourney as an AI tool for their user experiences. Affective factors including interest, confidence, and participation were measured through pre- and post-surveys. Using Jamovi for analysis, significant improvements were discovered across all affective factors. Noteworthy improvements occurred in confidence, indicating a favorable impact by AI-generated images on English learning. Additionally, correlation analysis demonstrated significant positive relationships between interest and confidence, as well as confidence and participation. This confirms the interconnected nature of these affective elements in the learning process. The findings suggest that the educational use of image-generating AI tools can beneficially influence English learners’ affective domains. The study calls for further investigation into the pedagogical applications of image AI to foster a more interactive, engaged, and self-assured attitude towards language learning.
This study compared research trends in universities general English program before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. After analyzing 248 articles from KCI using frequency analysis, centrality analysis, and topic modeling, this study found consistent keywords indicating a focus on learning objectives, effectiveness analysis, satisfaction surveys, and level-based learning before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Centrality analysis revealed keywords like “teaching, research, analysis” before COVID-19 and “satisfaction, study, level, activity, effect” after COVID-19, indicating a shift towards learner satisfaction, level-based learning, and effectiveness analysis due to the transition to online learning. Topic modeling revealed shifts in research trends: Pre-COVID-19 focused on effective teaching methods, evaluation techniques, and cultural content, while Post-COVID-19 prioritized online teaching methods, web-based platforms, and selfdirected learning. Future research should address self-directed learning, attitudes and goal setting, closing learning gaps in online/blended learning, and developing effective online assessment tools and evaluation strategies. This study provides valuable insights and directions for further research in general English programs.
This paper investigates Korean EFL students’ learning (de)motivation factors according to the level of students’ English learning motivation. A total of 41 undergraduate students reflected on their past ten years of English learning experiences and submitted autobiographic essays with ‘motigraph,’ marking their annual changes of English learning motivation from 0 to 10. The data were analyzed with Grounded Theory. The findings revealed that the factors that increased or decreased English learning motivation were different according to students’ level of motivation. Students with low-level motivation were influenced by their teacher or parents, while those with high-level motivation were influenced by their past L2 learning experiences perceived positively by themselves. In both groups, the factors of emotional experiences caused by negative L2 learning experiences were the main reasons for demotivation. This paper emphasizes the importance of subjective appraisal in maintaining students’ L2 learning motivation and recovering from the state of demotivation.
This study aims to examine whether CEFR-based CELA can be presented as a placement test for TOEIC. Data collected from 1,142 college freshmen who participated in both tests were analyzed to determine: 1) how hypothetical levels of a CELA score differed from existing TOEIC levels; 2) if there was any significant correlation between test scores and final grades; and 3) how native English professors viewed CELA as a placement test. The analysis revealed that CELA did not perform better a placement test than TOEIC. It did not have a higher correlation with the final grade either. However, the fact that CELA is more aligned with the content and objective of the English course and that most native English professors consider CELA more suitable as a placement test can be seen as positive factors supporting it to replace the existing placement test. Results of this study if curriculum and student levels are different.
The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of English learning through social media on the perception and affective factors of college students. To this end, researchers examined whether the educational use of YouTube and KakaoTalk, popular among college students in Korea, differs according to English improvement, affective factors, and English level. The subjects of this study were 63 freshmen majoring in Medical Convergence, who were taking college English at C University located in Gangwon-do. An online questionnaire was used for data collection. The collected data were analyzed using Jamovi, a statistical program. The results are as follows. First, the participants positively changed the perception that the use of social media had on the overall improvement of English. Second, the affective domains such as self-confidence, attitudes, values, beliefs, and interests of the participants also changed positively. Finally, it was confirmed that social media has educational value regardless of English level.
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of using films on students’ reading comprehension and attitude toward their English study in the context of a college English class. Specifically, it attempted to examine how a film-based English reading class affected students’ reading comprehension and attitudes toward their study, and how they recognized the film-based English reading class. Thirty-one college students were asked to take pre- and post-tests in English reading, and to respond pre- and post-questionnaires regarding their affective domain, and a focus group of four students was voluntarily interviewed with one of two researchers. Quantitatively, a paired t-test was employed to compare the statistical means from those two samples, and qualitatively, the framework developed by Miles and Huberman (1994) was adopted to describe the major phases of data analysis. The results of data analysis indicated that 1) Using films in the college English reading was helpful for students to comprehend the given text, and to understand other cultures; 2) Also this film-based reading class optimally contributed to the affective domain such as students’ attitudes, interests, and confidence levels. Based on these results, pedagogical implications for effective English reading classes were suggested.
The purpose of this study was to investigate university learners’ preferences and other related factors for two general English courses, one course focusing on reading and another on conversation, with students divided by their language proficiency level. The participants were 554 students at an engineering university. A 4-point Likert-type scale was used to record general tendency. Students were evaluated and divided into three and four proficiency levels for the reading and conversation course, respectively. 88.1% of participants had a favorable opinion of the level-divided conversation course, and 87.7% had a positive view of the level-divided reading course. Cross tabulation analysis was conducted to examine any relationships between the preferences and other factors such as sex, favorable feelings toward English, students’ majors, and English proficiency. The chi-square analysis showed no significant relationship between level-divided course preference and factors like sex or fondness for English. However, there appears to be a significant relationship between students’ majors and level-divided course preference for both the conversation and reading courses as well as a preference relationship between English proficiency and the reading course. The participants liked the effectiveness of the level-divided course content and the tailoring of educational content according to students’ proficiency.
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships among English learners’ motivation, strategies, and achievement. The participants were 61 Korean college students specializing in Aviaition Service and they took a mock TOEIC and completed a questionnaire on learning motivations and strategies. T-test and multiple regression analysis were used to determine the relationships among all variables. The findings revealed that, first, variables in integrative motivation were found to be a statistically significant predictor of achievement while variables in instrumental motivation’ was higher order motivation type. Second, participants used ‘compensation strategies’ most frequently and higher-achieving students used more strategies than their peers did. ‘Metacognitive strategies’ and ‘affective strategies’ had statistically significant impacts on their achievement. In conclusion, the relationships among learning motivation, strategies and achievement was found to be definite. Implications for more effective study habits are suggested.
This study investigates the use of cohesive devices in the corpus of Korean college students’ compositions. In particular, it attempts to provide a comprehensive analysis of the lexico-grammatical contexts in which cohesive referential devices are employed in argumentative essays. For this purpose, a Korean EFL corpus and a native speaker corpus were analyzed based on Gray’s (2010) coding scheme. The coding scheme included variables such as the place and unit of the antecedent, the grammatical role and place of demonstratives, and their preceding or following structures. The results of the analysis showed that Korean EFL learners and native writers were similar in that they tended to use demonstrative pronouns as a subject and demonstrative determiners as objects/complements. Besides this general tendency, non-prototypical uses of the determiners were observed. The learners’ corpus manifested an overuse of an extended antecedent which could reduce the clarity of meaning. The most frequent verb following demonstrative pronouns was the copula (i.e., be) in both corpora. Finally, the learners tended to use a much smaller number of abstract/shell nouns than their native speaker counterparts.
The study aims to design an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program model for college English classes (CECs) in Korea. To achieve this aim, two questions were raised: 1) how do foreign universities apply EAP into their CECs? and 2) what are differences in Y university students' satisfaction with the current CECs system and their future needs? In order to answer the first research question, several cases of English programs in foreign universities were investigated through Internet queries. For the second question, we collected surveys from a total of 673 undergraduates. The results indicated that foreign universities primarily target English for general academic purposes, prefer task-based instruction in their EAP classes, and emphasize academic writing and reading skills. In addition, the survey results displayed that the satisfaction with current CECs and future needs are different among students in different disciplines, most students hope to take EAP classes prior to their 4th semester, and students prefer a class size less than 20 students, and an after-class workload less than 4 hours a week. Those results were integrated to ultimately establish a dual model for EAP. More detailed accounts of the model are discussed in the paper.
This study aimed to investigate the effects of voice recording as a speaking assignment on Korean EFL nursing students’ speaking confidence and perceptions of speaking assignment. The participants of the study were 22 nursing students who took college English course and were divided into two groups. One was an experimental group performing voice recording assignment for speaking practice during 5 weeks and the other was a control group that did not receive treatment by the researcher. Speaking confidence questionnaire and in-depth interview were used to collect the data in this study. The result of this study showed that there was some statistically significant achievement of the participants’ speaking confidence after speaking assignment of voice recording performed by them. In addition, the participants had positive reaction to the experience of the assignment. This suggests that voice recording assignment encourages students to have their speaking confidence and helps them to overcome speaking difficulties in EFL environment.
The College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) has focused on relative ranks among students since it started from 1993. In December 2014 The Ministry of Education (MOE) announced that it would adopt an absolute grading system (AGS) for English scores in the CSAT, starting from November 2017, and discard the relative grading. The MOE hoped that the AGS of CSAT English would eventually serve to normalize English education by having teachers place more emphasis on improving students’ communication skills rather than on solving CSAT questions. This paper describes the rationale behind the implementation of AGS for CSAT English by the MOE and how the criteria and grades of AGS have been developed and set. Then current problems arising from the AGS for CSAT English are discussed by touching on its theoretical, practical and political issues based on relevant literatures, public hearings and news media reports, and informal interviews with contemporary teachers of English.
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 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.
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.