This study compares the phonics instruction with the whole language approach to literacy instruction in elementary English education and investigates the effects of the two approaches on literacy skills and affective factors. The experiment was conducted over eight weeks by sampling 56 fifth-graders at an elementary school in Seoul. The control group was given phonics instruction using English stories, whereas the experimental group was given the whole language approach using the same English stories. The instruments included pre- and post-reading and writing English tests and pre- and post-questionnaires. The analyses showed that the whole language approach had more positive effect than phonics instruction on improving learners’ English reading and writing ability. Furthermore, the whole language approach showed a positive change in the affective domain of interest, self-learning attitude and recognition, whereas two sectors of self-confidence and learning motivation did not show statistically significant difference compared to the control group. These results suggest that the whole language approach is more efficient than phonics instruction in developing learners’ literacy in elementary English education.

The study investigated the effect of the flipped class method implemented in a general English program in the tertiary level. The treatment variable of the experiment was a teaching method: a flipped class for the experimental group and a traditional class for the control group. A total of 13 class sessions were completed. The model of the experiment was a nested design with repeated measures. The dependent variables were positive affective experience, negative affective experience, class satisfaction, and language achievement. This study analyzed the data using factorial analysis, t-test, and repeated measures analysis of variance. The results showed that learners in the experimental group improved their positive experience during the treatment through statistically significant differences in pre-test and post-test scores; while the control group did not. The negative experience decreased at the end of the class in both groups. Although the mean differences were not statistically significant, the mean of the negative experience in the experimental group was lower than that in the control group. The class satisfaction was significantly different between the two groups. The experimental group improved language achievement on their final exam, while the control group’s mean decreased.

ESP, English for specific purposes, is an approach to language teaching that has been found to be effective for students who are strongly motivated in their social lives or towards their future goals. With this in mind, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether or not the use of QR code in cellular phones can be effective in teaching a course for ESP such as Medical Tourism English. For the study, twenty six students participated in a questionnaire survey and an interview. Moreover, four independent tests in total, two tests before using QR codes in class and two tests after using QR codes were taken interchangeably based on a time serial analysis. As a result, positive effects were observed in both test results, questionnaire survey, and interview; and the mean scores of those tests after the QR code activities were higher than in those without the activities. In addition, the questionnaire survey and interview data supported the findings; especially, the QR code activity, which helped to decipher the meaning of the technical medical terms and of the process, which students have not experienced so they were not familiar with. In summary, these findings indicate that QR code activities have positive pedagogical implications for ESP education.

Kim Han-kyung. 1998. A Study on the Readability As Learner-Originated Open Teaching Method. Studies in Modern Grammar 14, 365-387. The purpose of this study is to make researches in the readability as a way of open teaching method that is focused on learners, as the current trend of education is changing from supplier-originated education to customer-originated one. The English teaching courses, focused on students, consist of three parts; planning, implementation and evaluation. The phase of planning includes the needs analysis and the goal setting. And the implementation also includes the development of texts and teaching methods. Those are not different from existing English teaching processes. The student-originated curriculum, however, is quite different from traditional curricula in the fact that the former allows the students to participate in the decision-makings on the contents curricula and teaching methods. The student-originated curriculum suggests the teacher and students have prior conferences t negotiate on their curricula. The basic philosophies of English teaching open-method, particularly focused on learners, are to increase students` learning-motives and effectiveness by teaching them the issues and functions they need, and to most effectively use the limited session of class. In this study, corresponding to the concepts above, various teaching methods for reading such as bottom-up processing, top-down processing and interactive processing are further discussed. And some factors, related to more effective readability, and the principal models, including both substantial and formal background informations and the concept of super-recognition, are illustrated.