This study explores the development of professionalism in using Educational Technology (EdTech) among Korean elementary English teachers amid the increasing integration of technology in English education. Employing the Grounded Theory methodology, the study involved in-depth interviews with nine Korean elementary English teachers experienced in using EdTech. It aims to identify their EdTech experiences, the elements constituting EdTech professionalism, and its developmental process. The study reveals that teachers’ EdTech professionalism encompasses a proactive approach towards technology, continuous professional growth based on practice and reflection, and adaptation of teaching methods in response to evolving technologies and learner needs. It highlights the importance of teachers’ self-directed approach, collaboration with other teachers, and the integration of pedagogical, content, and technological knowledge into their English teaching. The findings have implications for teacher education and the advancement of EdTech-utilized English education, suggesting new processes and directions for developing elementary English teachers’ professionalism in the rapidly evolving landscape of educational technology.

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.

This study is to explore and analyze three current English teachers’ thoughts and attitudes on their TEE practices in elementary English classroom settings. Adopting a qualitative approach, data were collected through interviews, teachers’ journals, and informal communications from the three elementary school English teachers. The analysis of data revealed three main themes: 1) thoughts on effective TEE classes, 2) factors affecting TEE classes, 3) the difficulties of conducting TEE classes. The participants presented their views on effective TEE classes. They also expressed their opinion on the timing and usage of TEE. The teachers said TEE classes are influenced by teachers’ English communication ability and willingness to use English as the instructional language, students’ English proficiency and the class atmosphere. Finally, the participants said that TEE classes were difficult due to the same factors influencing TEE class effectiveness. This study has implications for the direction of TEE implementation in elementary education.

Lesson reconstruction is a way of enhancing student competency, and has been receiving much attention. Research was conducted based on lesson reconstruction by applying content and language integrated learning: CLIL. However, drawbacks such as the EFL educational environment and the notional-functional syllabi in much of the English curriculum made teachers teach the 4 skills separately (i.e. listening, speaking, reading, and writing), even though integration of 4 the skills is very much required. Although many researchers have analyzed CLIL so far, little research has suggested the specific methods of reconstructing, designing and implementing lessons in a primary Korean EFL education setting. In this study, the research reviewed the theoretical frameworks of the literature and suggested three potential methods for improvement: 1) designing lessons based on lesson reconstruction, 2), implementing the 4Cs Framework while planning CLIL lessons and, 3) choosing appropriate language based on ‘The Language Triptych’. For implementation, this research suggested that CLIL lesson integrated with other subjects or topics improves students’ reading abilities. This research goes beyond previous theoretical concepts; it suggested the ways of designing and implementing lesson construction based on CLIL lessons. The research also suggests that further research needs to fully consider its pedagogical application and explores how to practice CLIL.

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.

The purpose of this study is to explore inter-grade dividing criteria of the 2015 grade group elementary English textbooks. Elementary English textbooks consist of two grade groups: the 3rd and 4th grade group and the 5th and 6th grade group. L2 Syntactic Complexity Analyzer(L2SCA) is utilized to investigate the dividing criteria of the communicative functions implemented in these textbooks. Subjects of the analysis were the listening dialogues for their structural sequencing of 3rd to 4th graders and 5th to 6th graders separately within their own grade groups. Data were processed and analyzed using SPSS 25.0 and independent sample t tests for inter-grade textbooks for 14 L2SCA statistical indices. The findings are: 6 indices out of the 14 L2SCA statistical indices turn out to be critical for dividing the 2015 grade group elementary English textbooks. The 6 indices are mean clause length, mean sentence length, mean t-unit length, mean complex noun phrasal number per phrase and per t-unit and mean number of verb phrases per t-unit. Based on the findings, it is suggested that a standardized criteria derived from these 6 indices can be provided as an inter-grade dividing criteria of the 2015 grade group elementary English textbooks.

This paper explores initiators of humor and the differing characteristics of humor these initiators use in elementary-level English classrooms in Korea. Forty-nine videotaped ordinary classes and interviews with four teachers were investigated. Teachers tended to make learners the subjects of humor, with this type of humor attracting students to participate in learning. Furthermore, teachers encouraged learners to pay more attention to the form of English language features by humorously revealing mispronunciations or expressions that learners could easily make mistakes with. Additionally, among learners, the primary users of humor were middle- to lower-level students. Teachers needed to build a safe environment for English underachievers who unintentionally made humorous mistakes so that they would not be mocked. Also, certain boys intentionally tried humor to get attention. It is noteworthy that teachers and learners jointly constructed humor by supporting each other. This conjoint humor reaffirms the importance of teachers’ reactions and attitudes towards pupils. By listening attentively and accepting learners’ remarks, teachers could make humorous, meaningful interactions. The current paper projects some pedagogical implications concerning how to use or deal with humor for foreign language teachers.

The benefit of language play for language learning is not recognized in English education. Based on the idea that teachers’ perception of teaching and learning affects their teaching practices, this study sought to examine teachers’ perception of language play in the English classroom. The specific purposes of the study were to discover commonalities and differences in elementary teachers’ and pre-service teachers’ perception of language play and to provide suggestions for including language play in teacher education and classroom instruction. Separate group interviews were conducted with 7 in-service and 9 pre-service teachers at the elementary level, in which the participants shared their responses to 3 language play texts that highlight rhyme, rhythm, and nonsense compound words. The topical analysis of the data revealed that both the teachers and pre-service teachers focused on understanding the words in the texts and did not recognize their playful aspects. However, the in-service teachers interpreted the texts more actively than the pre-service teachers and shared ideas for using language play texts in the English classroom. Based on the findings, the paper emphasizes that pre-service English teacher education needs to include language play as one of curricular contents, which should continue into teacher education.

This study analyses the communicative functions of listening scripts extracted from the 2015 elementary school English 6 and middle school English 1 textbooks in terms of continuity. Auditory data corpora were drawn from all five elementary school English textbooks and five most widely used middle school English textbooks. Each sentence of listening scripts was manually tagged based on the classification of communication functions presented in the 2015 Revised National Curriculum. The corpora were analyzed using 14 syntactic complexity measures with the L2 Syntactic Complexity Analyzer (Lu, 2010). The findings of this study show that the continuity between the elementary school English 6 and the middle school English 1 textbooks is relatively well-organized. However, concerning the sequence, the elementary school English 6 was found to be more complex than the middle school English 1 in terms of syntactic complexity. It is suggested that future textbook development should correct the reversed complexity in listening scripts found in this study.

This study aimed to investigate how two novice teachers in elementary schools conceptualized and developed their practical knowledge about English teaching. They provided their narratives about their teaching six times over the spring semester of 2019. Their narratives were recorded and transcribed. Two researchers examined the transcription to investigate what prior knowledge they had and how they developed their practical knowledge. It was found that their practical knowledge had constantly changed and developed. When they started teaching English, they had their own knowledge on English teaching, which seemed to come from their previous English learning experience and from their study on teaching English. As they applied these knowledge to their own teaching situations, they encountered many problems. The main situations that shaped their practical knowledge were 1) students' level of achievement, 2) level differences among students, 3) teacher status (classroom teacher or English specialist teacher), and 4) colleagues. While coping with those problems, they added new practical knowledge or modified the knowledge they had. The findings provided several implications on pre-service and novice teacher training.

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.

The study aims to examine whether teaching English through multiple intelligences can suggest one of the solutions for underachievers to facilitate their English learning and restore their learning attitudes. To explore this, the study investigated two research questions: (a) What are the effects of English instruction using multiple intelligences and stories on underachievers’ reading abilities? and (b) How English instruction using multiple intelligences and stories influences on their learning attitudes? The participants of the study were seven fifth-grade underachievers in one elementary school in Seoul. They were first tested what their strong intelligences are and engaged in customized activities based on their multiple intelligences test results during the experiment English classes. The data collected include the read-aloud test, the reading comprehension test, the affective test, students’ learning log and the interview of students and teachers, and these were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The results of the study showed that English instruction using multiple intelligences and stories had statistical significance in increasing underachievers’ reading abilities and changing their learning attitudes positively. This study is valuable in that it strongly calls for the need to consider multiple intelligences and provide customized activities for underachievers to facilitate their English learning and restore their learning attitudes.

This study investigated predictors of reading comprehension in elementary school English learners. The study specifically examined the role of word recognition and oral language skills in their reading comprehension levels. Participants were 206 students in grades four, five, and six, and they completed measures of letter naming, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, decoding, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, correlation, and multiple regression. Findings showed that there were significant differences between performances of the 4th graders and the other two grade groups on all measures, indicating a possible ceiling effect in the acquisition of basic reading skills by upper-grade students. Oral language, indexed by oral vocabulary and listening comprehension, emerged as the more powerful predictor of reading comprehension as compared to word recognition skills. In addition, the contribution of word decoding tended to decrease across grade levels; whereas oral vocabulary explained more variance in upper grades.

This study aims to investigate the interaction patterns between the teacher and students or among students themselves in a Korean elementary English classroom by analysing classroom talk and by focusing on the types of the teacher’s questions and feedback as well as the use of L1 and L2. This analysis is used to determine the influence of such interaction on the students’ communicative skills in English. A female teacher in Gyeonggi province and a 6th-grade class participated in the data collection. This study included data from video or audio recordings, interviews, field notes, self-assessments, and portfolios. The transcribed data were analysed using Tsui’s (1994) framework and Verplaetse’s (1995, 2000) coding system. The results of this analysis indicated that the interaction patterns varied between participants into three groups: teacher-initiated talk (e.g., T-S talk) vs students-initiated talk (e.g., S-T talk & S-S talk). At the beginning stage of lesson, the teacher-initiated talk made up the majority of talk in English, and facilitated the students’ involvement in classroom learning including their language use. In the S-S talk, the students were involved in interaction which occurred naturally without the teacher’s control.

Morphological competence plays an important role in extending one’s vocabulary in grammatical context. This study is to explore the developmental distribution of English grammatical morphemes appearing in elementary English textbooks. To this end, the study developed grammatical morpheme recognition and elicitation tests based on the bilingual syntax measurement (BSM). The tests are given to 114 fifth graders and 126 sixth graders across small, medium and metropolitan cities. The students were stratified into high, mid and low English ability groups by their English achievement scores. The result shows that English grammatical morpheme awareness was positively correlated with students’ English ability. The grammatical morphological development of Korean students was more in alignment with that of English learners as a foreign language than that of native speakers. Pedagogical implications are provided at the end of the paper.

The study investigates the effect of different types of visual images, i.e., static images versus dynamic images, on English vocabulary learning. Eighty-four students in the fourth grade of an elementary school participated in this study, and they were divided into two experimental groups and a control group. One of the experimental groups utilized static images, and the other group, videos as dynamic images in vocabulary learning. The control group was provided with the definition or the explanation of each target word in L1. The results of the study manifested that the static image group showed higher scores for the post test than the dynamic image group. The comparison of the pre and post affective tests demonstrated that the static image group showed an improvement in confidence in language learning and the dynamic image group showed positive change in the attitude of all three areas: interest, confidence, and aroused motivation. The analysis of the open-ended questionnaires showed that many participants in the static image group tended to use pictures as retrieval cues to remember vocabulary.

This study aimed to examine educational connoisseurships of the 3rd and 4th year pre-service elementary school teachers (PSTs). Twenty eight 3rd year and 28 4th year PSTs were asked to write a critique on a video-taped elementary English lesson. Their comments were categorized and examined to see if there were any outstanding characteristics. It was also investigated whether the different amounts of coursework the two groups of PSTs had completed were reflected in their critiques. Many PSTs were found not to have developed their educational connoisseurships to examine whether a lesson was designed to maximize learning, and the functions of the target expressions were practiced and learned in a meaningful way. Two most common perspectives in their critiques were to examine whether the students were interested in the learning activities, and whether the learning activities helped students learn the target expressions. Some differences in the views on classroom English and differential learning activities were found across the two groups.