This study compares AI PengTalk’s assessments of Korean children’s pronunciation with the assessments of Korean teachers. Sixty Korean sixth-graders participated as assessees, and four Korean elementary teachers participated as assessors. Both PengTalk and the teachers rated the children’s production of 10 English sentences on a five-point scale. They focused on segmentals, stress-rhythm, intonation, and speech rate. The findings were as follows: Firstly, PengTalk evaluated the children’s pronunciation in the four elements significantly lower than the teachers across all English proficiency levels. Secondly, teachers’ ratings of the students aligned more closely with their pre-evaluated English proficiency levels than the AI PengTalk’s assessments. The teachers rated students at the upper level significantly higher than those at the intermediate level, who were, in turn, assessed significantly higher than those at the lower level in all four elements. Furthermore, AI PengTalk and the teachers differed in the mean order of the four elements, particularly in segmentals. Based on the results of this study, suggestions were made for the development and implementation of AI-based English programs.

Based on the multilingual perspective that emphasizes that non-native variants of English need to be recognized as having values equivalent to the native speakers’ English, this study aimed at discovering elementary school teachers’ perceptions and beliefs of native-speakerism, multilingualism, and monolingualism in English education, and the contradictions and questions they had as they reflected on the language ideologies. Nine elementary teachers participated in the study, and two written reflections on language ideologies and two follow-up group interviews were used as the data source. The findings were as follows. First, the teachers confirmed, consolidated, or realized how native speakerism and monolingualism were deeply rooted in English teaching and learning. However, they showed that they had agency in their own teaching, and also showed changes in their perception through reflecting on their experiences. Last, the teachers had questions and contradictions about implementing a multilingual approach in teaching English, which provides the issues and challenges to be solved for the transformation of English education in the multilingual world. This study has implications for primary English education.

This study aims to investigate how multicultural aspects are dealt with in current elementary English textbooks. The cover pages, dialogues, main readings, and culture sections of a total of 10 elementary English textbooks for 5th and 6th graders were closely examined in terms of (1) the races and genders of the characters, (2) the cultural backgrounds of the contents, and (3) Bennett’s (2010) core values of multicultural education. The results revealed that each gender was equally represented and the textbooks present diverse cultural backgrounds in a balanced way. It was found, however, that there was an imbalance in terms of racial backgrounds. With respect to the core values of multicultural education, acceptance and appreciation of cultural diversity, and respect for human dignity and universal human rights were the top two values that appeared most frequently throughout the textbooks. Responsibility to a world community was the value that was comparatively hard to find in them. Detailed findings are discussed in greater depth, along with implications for elementary English education in Korea.

This paper explores the types of verbal humor that occur during interactions between teachers and learners in elementary-level English classes in Korea. Eighty-three videotaped ordinary English classes and interviews with seven teachers were analyzed. Spontaneous verbal humor was generally expressed in a mixture of English and Korean due to teachers’ and learners’ limited English proficiency. Wordplay was most prevalent, as learners often found Korean words that sounded similar to novel English terms. Teasing appeared quite frequently as well, with learners and teachers engaging in it to distract and gather attention, respectively. Senior students told the most jokes in order to save face. Narratives were found only in female teachers’ classes, as they shared personal anecdotes while their male counterparts did not. Meanwhile, hyperbole and self-deprecation were less likely to occur than other types of humor. Ultimately, humor is reaffirmed as a positive learning opportunity. Some pedagogical implications of these findings are suggested for English teachers.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the readability of reading passages used in 5th and 6th grade elementary school English textbooks under the 2015 Revised National Curriculum. For this purpose, all the reading passages of each textbook were calculated with ATOS (Advantage-TASA Open Standard) formula as a readability index. The results of this study indicate that, firstly, the average readability score of 6th grade English textbooks is higher than that of 5th grade ones. Secondly, the readability of 6th grade English textbooks is about six months ahead of that of 5th grade ones. Thirdly, the readability scores are similar in all reading passages for 5th grade, while the readability scores of 6th grade differ from textbooks to textbooks. According to the textbook writers, the readability score of 6th grade textbooks is higher than that of 5th grade ones in four out of five textbooks. Lastly, In terms of the units in each textbook, the readability scores fluctuate and do not increase sequentially as expected.

Effects of primary English education using children’s literature have been extensively examined by many researchers in Korea during the past about two decades. This study aims to delineate the research domain by employing a meta-analysis of 31 primary studies that have been published in Korean refereed journals by February 2017. From the primary studies, 41 effects sizes were calculated based on the contrast of the means of two groups and 152 pre-to-post effect sizes based on the contrast of pretest and posttest scores. The results indicate that primary English education using children’s literature had overall a medium-sized effect (g = .60), with its effect being greater in the affective domain (g = .93) than in the cognitive domain (g = .37). More specifically, it was found that introducing children’s literature in the elementary English classrooms would bring about positive learning effects in the areas of vocabulary and reading and would be effective to develop positive learner interest and attitudes toward English learning. The results and their implications are further discussed.

This study investigated spelling errors in English stories written by 206 students in an elementary school implementing Korean/English immersion education. Errors were analyzed using crosstab and MANCOVA. Findings are as follows. Spelling errors occurred in 4 categories in order from the most frequent to the least: substitution, omission, addition, and transposition. The error occurrences differed depending on grade level changes: lower grades (Grades 1-3) vs. higher grades (Grades 4-6). The students in both grade levels made more errors in substitution and omission: these error types were significantly decreased as they progressed to the higher grade levels. Errors in addition and transposition showed much fewer occurrences for both grade levels, and these errors did not show a significant decrease because of their rarer occurrences. Overall, the students’ spelling ability increased remarkably as they progressed in grade levels in the immersion environment.

This study recommends using children's literature in teacher training programs with the purpose of developing integrated language skills for primary school teachers and teaching methods for their students. First, to accomplish bifold objectives, the study develops three modules: 1) intensive listening through story books, 2) using in class dialogues through role-playing and 3) developing classroom activities. For presenting the examples of the three modules, Junie B., First Grader (at last!), Freckle Juice, and Jake Drake: Teacher's Pet are used. Next, the study presents teachers' perceptions on both using literature for improving their English skills and using literature in their teaching elementary school children. To investigate the possibility of implementing the program, the researcher surveyed 53 teachers participating in the program. The survey results showed teachers' perceptions on children's literature changed in positive ways, and they recognized that children's literature could develop their own English language skills and then would be a good teaching resource for their students. Based on the results, some suggestions were provided for the teachers, educators, and program developers.

This study investigates the problems and possibilities of introducing immersion in public elementary schools in Korea through the opinions of the elementary teachers, students, and parents. The participants of this study were 1,082 elementary school students, 484 elementary school teachers, and 731 parents. The data were collected through questionnaires. Through the analysis of data the followings were revealed. First, there were some misunderstandings and misconceptions about the definition and the meaning of immersion education, which seem to be strongly related to the negative attitudes toward the introduction of English immersion programs in Korea. Second, respondents, however, tended to be positive with the immersion program with about 10% higher agreement with its introduction than disagreement. Third, if they have opportunities to participate in an immersion program, the respondents tended to be a bit hesitative or reserved but mostly agreed to be involved with it as immersion teachers, students, and parents allowing their children, respectively with one to three years of preparation for it in terms of the English competence. Fourth, as for immersion teachers, they preferred co-teaching between Korean and English native teachers to individual teaching, and they also liked Korean immersion teachers more as immersion specialized teachers than as class teachers. Based on these findings several suggestions were made to implement English immersion programs in public elementary schools in Korea, particularly for teachers, schools, local governmental education offices interested in immersion education.

The purpose of this study is to develop an integrated instruction model in primary schools by exploring the process of science theater in English. To accomplish the objective, the researchers set up a program which includes science experiments, drama games, and performance in English by primary school students. The data collected from diverse sources were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative techniques. There were four results found from this study. First, the scholastic achievement both in Korean and English was improved. In addition, the students' interest and learning style influenced the test scores. Second, children in this study achieved real accomplishment through diverse student-centered activities. For example, they experienced accomplishment by getting over their mistakes in experiments, fostered a collaborative attitude through process-based tasks, and realized responsibility in their learning by leading their own learning. Third, students experienced a new type of integrated learning in English and science. In other words, they recognized English as a means of learning a subject and regarded science experiments as activities for exploring knowledge. They also considered science theatre as an opportunity for self-realization. Fourth, a model for integrating English and science in primary schools through science theater is presented. Finally, based on the results, the researchers provided several suggestions for future studies.

This study aims to investigate the current status regarding the utilization of native English teachers in elementary schools focusing on its benefits and problems and to explore better ways of utilizing them for elementary English education. The participants of this study were 1024 elementary school students, 80 Korean elementary English teachers, and 56 native teachers of English. The data were collected through questionnaires and interviews. Through the analysis of data the followings were revealed: 1) the native teachers of English considered that their working conditions including wages and the amount of teaching time were appropriate, but the pre-training program was not satisfactory; 2) the Korean English teachers felt that their workload related to native teachers of English was too heavy; 3) the students perceived that studying English with native teachers of English had positive effects on their English abilities in terms of cognitive and affective aspects; 4) in most schools team teaching between native teachers of English and Korean teachers were being performed and both teachers were satisfied with it; 5) however, several issues such as the role relationship between the Korean English teachers and the native teachers of English, the quality of pre-training, and reconstruction of teaching materials should be resolved in order to improve English program of utilizing native English-speaking teachers in elementary schools.

This study explores an exemplary case of an English immersion program originally initiated by some primary school teachers. It investigates how an immersion education was initiated by the members of an English teachers" study group and later supported by a provincial office of education. The contents of the program and the three examples of immersion classes are briefly illustrated and commented. The innovative endeavors for the successful execution of the immersion classes include the use of the daily morning English practice and various ways of exposing students to English. It was found from the interview conducted with 5 immersion teachers that the strong motivation of the immersion teachers was the first empowering factor for this program and the appropriate financial and administrative help from the provincial office of education was another crucial one. Several practical problems from implementing the immersion program are also reported. From these results and findings some suggestions are made for better ways for implementing immersion programs in elementary schools.