The purpose of this study is to present a diagnostic evaluation tool that can more accurately determine the academic performance level in Korean language proficiency of foreign undergraduate students studying at domestic universities. The diagnostic evaluation diagnoses the academic Korean language proficiency of foreign undergraduates, and provides the diagnosis results to foreign undergraduates, professors, and university institutions so that teaching activities can be conducted efficiently. In this study, it was considered that the ‘Basic Academic Ability Diagnostic Test for the Korean Language Subject' was suitable as a test tool for diagnosing to diagnose the academic achievment of foreign undergraduates. This diagnostic test is a diagnostic tool designed for Korean students in Korea, and it not only continuously verifies its reliability and validity, but also includes background knowledge that Korean university students in Korea are basically acquiring. To prove that the 'Basic Academic Ability Diagnostic Test' is suitable as a diagnostic evaluation tool for foreign undergraduates, the correlation with the Korean language achievement evaluation was analyzed. The correlation between diagnostic evaluation and other items showed a significantly positive correlation. When the diagnostic evaluation score was good, the pre-test and post-test scores of Korean language proficiency, and the TOPIC level was also high. This result proves that the basic academic ability diagnostic test tool is very suitable as a diagnostic evaluation tool for foreign undergraduate students. Also, the analysis result of the pre- and post-tests and the TOPIK test showed a very significant and strong positive correlation with the post-test, and the higher the TOPIK grade, the higher the score of the pre‐test.

The present study examines L2 reading proficiency effects on the relative contribution of vocabulary knowledge and grammar knowledge to L2 reading comprehension for Korean high school EFL learners. To this end, 200 high school students were asked to take a vocabulary knowledge test, a grammar test, and a reading comprehension test. The participants were divided into three sub-groups by L2 reading ability in order to examine L2 proficiency effects. Multiple regression analyses for the sub-groups indicated the relationships among the three variables as distinctive. The results showed that syntactic knowledge had a predictive power for reading performance in the high reading group, but vocabulary had the same quality in the intermediate reading group. For the low reading group, neither vocabulary nor grammar could significantly account for the L2 reading variance. Theoretical implications and directions for further studies are discussed.

This study investigates how EFL learner error patterns and frequencies differ in writing depending on students' language proficiency levels. A total of 152 Korean EFL students' essays were examined. The writing samples were first scored holistically on an impressionistic basis; then, based on the scores, the samples were grouped into low- and high-proficiency groups. The study identified 13 errors based on prevalence and significance. The study calculated the frequency of each error type committed by each group and compared the results using t-tests. A survey of English teachers was also conducted (N=32) to rate the gravity of each error and to compare the error gravity produced by each group. The result showed that low-proficiency group produced errors much more frequently, and the errors were more serious ones with high error gravity. The errors committed by the high-proficiency group were usually complex ones and occurred in more complicated contexts. The study also found that the errors with less gravity occurred more frequently in both groups and that they tended to be more persistent. The study indicated that although the students were aware of significance of errors, correcting the errors was beyond their current English capability.

This study aims to study factors affecting level of Korean language proficiency for Korean Missionaries' Kids (MK) dwelling in Turkey. 45 Korean MKs were asked to answer three different questionnaires designated to investigate Korean language proficiency, cultural identity and demographic background. This study adopts altered TOPIK for the evaluation of Korean language proficiency, and focuses on finding out the relationship of Korean proficiency with sexuality, age, age at immigration to Turkey, years of Korean study, self-recognition of cultural identity, cultural identity of Korea, and cultural identity of Turkey. The SPSS for windows 17was used for the statistical analysis.Ethnic Identity Scale was measured with the KAEIS that was developed by Ahn(1999) and Proficiency Test that was selected by TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korea) session 19, 20. Cronbach  for cultural identity of Korea was 0.823 and Cronbach  for cultural identity of Turkey was 0.691. Internal consistency reliability for Korean proficiency test was 0.891. The result shows that cultural identity of Korea and age at immigration to Turkey have significant relationship with level of Korean proficiency, especially age at immigration to Turkey has more significant relationship with the proficiency. The result from this study helps to recognize factors affecting level of Korean language proficiency. Especially, the Korean proficiency of MKs who live in Turkey has a close relationship with Korean cultural identity.These facts indicate that not only the Korean education are required to effectively increase the korean education itself, but also developing the pride of being Korean are needed to be followed up as well.

This research introduces an English language program of a research-oriented science and engineering university in Korea. The university had established a PBT TOEFL score of 550 as one of its graduation requirements in 1995, implementing it for fifteen years. The policy, however, created problems such as students’ learning focus on receptive skills of the language and the discrepancy between the English curriculum and the graduation requirement. In addition, students who were unable to graduate on time due to not meeting the graduation requirement had increased. Facing these issues, the institute abolished the TOEFL policy and developed a new English program, which is characterized by a level-based curriculum, the implementation of an in-house placement test, mandating a number of courses to take, focus on productive skills, and teaching both general English and ESP-oriented courses. With the aim to introduce its rationale, placement test and curriculum, this study also reports on the results of questionnaires designed to determine students’ perceptions of the new English program and main issues raised in a panel discussion designed to examine the program. Limits and suggestions for the program are lastly presented.

The present study was designed to investigate Korean EFL college learners' language development across writing proficiency levels in the ir written productions. For the evaluation of their language development, 18 subsets of the syntactic complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) were used. 86 uni vers ity students participated in the study and wrote narrat ive essays about an assigned topic by using the Criterion®. The writing samples were scored by e-rater® and divided into three different proficiency levels to compare language development among groups. Then their essays were analyzed by us ing L2 Sy ntactical Complexity Analyzel: The findings reveal significant differences in 15 out of 18 measures of CAF and language learners' linguistic developmental patterns across their writing proficiency levels. The results indicate that there are di stinctive features regarding CAF among the three groups. With respect to fluency and accuracy, levels I and 2 showed a similar language developmental pattern, and level 3 was much higher than those groups. In terms of syntactic compl exity, levels 2 and 3 presented a similar developmental pattern, and level 1 was much lower than those groups in general. This study shows the predictive potential of CAF across writing proticiency levels of language learners.

This paper aims to provide guidelines on developing English language proficiency (ELP) tests based on the experience from ELP assessments in the U.S. after the implementation of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). While there might be substantial differences between the content and purpose of ELP tests developed from country to country, there are, however, areas that experts in charge of ELP test development in other countries can benefit from. The NCLB legislation in the U.S. made the assessment of English language learners (ELL) students’ level of proficiency in English mandatory once a year and provided useful guidelines for developing ELP assessments. This mandate, along with its useful guidelines, helped improve the quality of ELP assessment significantly and led to the development of several batteries of ELP assessments either through consortia of states or by test publishers in the U.S. The newly developed assessments were based on states’ ELP standards. They incorporated the concept of academic language which is an essential requirement for ELL students’ performance in the academic content areas, and were tested in extensive pilot and field studies. Some implications were drawn from such improvements for ELL assessment and accountability not only in the U.S. but in other countries including Korea.

This study looks at the employment of negotiation about form by a pair of advanced English L2 users engaged in collaborative composition tasks, and compares their negotiation with that of a beginner English L2 pair. Contrary to the increasing interest in negotiation for meaning within the L2 literature, there is little research that investigates how learners interact in negotiation about form contexts, where learners are required to explicitly talk about the form that they encounter. In particular， few studies have been conducted with learners at different proficiency levels in such contexts. Recognising this paucity, the study presents a holistic analysis of learners' negotiation about form generated by learners at different proficiency levels. This means that first, the negotiation about form was quantified in terms of language-related episodes (LREs); second, the same data was examined via an in-depth, descriptive analysis; third, delayed post-tests were conducted on specific linguistic items produced via negotiation about form. The study does not find much difference in LREs between the two proficiency levels of learners or convincing evidence that LREs lead to L2 learning at all. The results also reveal limitations in the relationship between the interactions engaged in and eventual learning. (196 words)

The purpose of this experimental study is threefold: first, to explore the relationship between metaphoric competence (MC) and language proficiency (LP) of nonnative speakers; second, to examine any significance in correlations in connection with what metaphor is and how it is comprehended and third, to put forward a few pedagogical considerations for development of MC in a L2 context. Ninety-five individuals subdivided into three groups of native and nonnative speakers form the subject of this study. Four test measures are constructed to assess the subjects" MC and LP. The findings of this correlational study are as follows: There is no correlation between MC and LP in the representative group of nonnative speakers (NNS). However, one group of NNS living and studying in the target culture displays a convincingly strong correlation, indicating that MC must be acquired through experiencing the culture firsthand. Neverthless, the other NNS group demonstrates an unexpectedly strong positive correlation in one test of metaphoric competence, implying that the linguistic cues of the verb- phrase (VP)-focused metaphors must have helped with their interpretation of the concept structures. This study provides empirical evidence that MC in L2 should be deliberately taught in class from the cognitive hypothesis especially where L2 is spoken.

Concerning the education imbalance on foreign languages in korea, this study suggests the development of a systematic way to test the German language proficiency. For English, Japanese, and Chinese, the efficiency tests serve as a motivation to study, leaving positive impacts on the education of those foreign languages. However, for less popular foreign languages, the case is quite different. With no systematic evaluation standards, only those who studied abroad benefit from these efficiency tests performed by the universities on their own. Furthermore, invented in their home countries, tests such as the ZD, ZMP for German, and the DELF/DALF for French are only for those with intermediate command of the language, which doesn’t help Korean learners in secondary school who are mostly in the beginners’level. This all leads to the necessity of a systematic proficiency test, approved by universities, for foreign languages. This study suggests a way to develop the proficiency test for German according to the proficiencylevel ranging from beginner to advanced courses taught at universities.