This study examines the relationship of L2 learners’ motivational and attitudinal factors with the two versions (self-rated and tested) of proficiency. 79 Korean university students were assessed on measures of L2 orientations, motivation, and attitudes toward English using a questionnaire and learning autobiographies. The study also compared participants’ self-reported proficiency with their TOEIC scores. The results show that more of negative values (self-rated proficiency is lower than tested proficiency) came from students with high test scores than low-achieving students. Students defined gaining bilingual proficiency as criterion for success in L2 learning,and their expectation of such desired proficiency is significantly correlated with motivation and perceived significance of English, but not with the self-rated and tested proficiency. Multiple regression analyses suggest that students’ self-awareness of the importance of English learning significantly predicts their motivation, and linguistic L2confidence and self-assessment of target language competence are significant predictors for tested proficiency, but motivational intention is not. Potential interpretations for findings and implications for L2 pedagogy are discussed.

This study aimed to investigate Korean high school students’ comprehension level and attitudes towards three different English accents: American-accented, Malaysian-accented, and Korean-accented English. The experiment was conducted with 340 female high school students in Gyeongsangnam-do. The data collection in this study consisted of the results of three listening comprehension tests and two survey questionnaires. The results show that speakers' various English accents affected the participants’ listening comprehension: The participants understood the American-accented and the Korean-accented English better than the Malaysian-accented English. The study also shows that there is no interaction between the English accents and the participants' L2 listening proficiency levels. In addition, the results indicate that the participants display more positive attitude toward American-accented English, followed by Malaysian-accented English, and finally Korean-accented English. This paper therefore suggests that Korean students need to be exposed to various English accents in order to become familiar with the concept of World Englishes.

This paper accommodates EIL(English as an international language) together with EFL in English pronunciation teaching and learning. In recognizing EIL, I suggest three strategic levels for phonological norms in assessing leaners’ pronunciation: the level P(phonemic) as a mandatory level to achieve, the level NLA(native language accent) as a cautious level to suppress the native accent, and the level TLA(target language accent) as a desirable level to accomplish a "native-like" accent. After probing the significance of each level, the paper addresses the issue of learning patterns depending on different proficiency levels, together with the effect of formal instruction. The sounds under investigation are English /l/, /r/, and /si/ for the level P, Korean Nasalization and Lateralization for the level NLA, and English /p, t, k/ for the level TLA. Two groups of local college sophomores served as experimental subjects, one as an intermediate group and the other as beginners group. The correctness rate for each level turned out to be the level TLA the lowest(14.21%～ 22.22%), the level NLA the next (49.37%～57.95%), and the level P the highest(66.47%～74.08%). The level TLA achieved the highest effect of formal instruction(13.30%), and the other two levels achieved less effect(5.69%～5.79%). In the level NLA, three factors that affect native interference are suggested: familiarity, syntactic distance, and the length of previous vowels. It is argued that the lowest correctness rate of the level TLA is less alarmimg than the low number indicates, while the level P is more demanding to overcome regardless of the highest correctness rate in regard to effective communication in English.