This study aimed to investigate the perception, consumption, and acceptability of convenience mealsin low-income female elderly attending a lunch program at a community well fare center. Using in-depth interviews, qualitative data were collected 11 elderly females (62.5±11.2y) living in Seoul. Participants tried to eat various foods in small-portionsat home, although they ate out what they were offered. Elderly females preferred lunch box-type meals containing a bowl of rice served with toppings, gruel, or Bibimbop due to the growing unavailability of cooking or preparing a meal. Side-dish type convenience mealswere also preferred among elderly females since boiled rice can be easily prepared according to individual preferences. In addition, participants preferred healthy foods. Convenience meal planning and production, appropriate kinds of foods, cooking methods, menus, and packaging should be selected based on the elderly's functional atrophy in chewing, swallowing,digestion, and metabolic diseases. Furthermore, food preferences and comfort foods among the elderlyneed to be identified and characterized. Therefore, more information, including bite size, cutting size, and food texture, should be provided to understand and develop convenience meals for the elderly.

This paper investigates the status and change of qualitative research in TEFL and applied linguistics in an effort to project the direction of TEFL research in Korea. This paper first reviews a first and a second coming of age of the research in TESOL and applied linguistics, focusing on qualitative research methodology. For the study, the issues on a definition of qualitative research are raised, and three exemplars such as case study, conversation analysis, and ethnography are discussed in terms of assumptions, methods, data analysis and interpretation, and evaluative criteria. The importance and directions of qualitative research studies in TEFL in Korea are also suggested.