This study compares the phonics instruction with the whole language approach to literacy instruction in elementary English education and investigates the effects of the two approaches on literacy skills and affective factors. The experiment was conducted over eight weeks by sampling 56 fifth-graders at an elementary school in Seoul. The control group was given phonics instruction using English stories, whereas the experimental group was given the whole language approach using the same English stories. The instruments included pre- and post-reading and writing English tests and pre- and post-questionnaires. The analyses showed that the whole language approach had more positive effect than phonics instruction on improving learners’ English reading and writing ability. Furthermore, the whole language approach showed a positive change in the affective domain of interest, self-learning attitude and recognition, whereas two sectors of self-confidence and learning motivation did not show statistically significant difference compared to the control group. These results suggest that the whole language approach is more efficient than phonics instruction in developing learners’ literacy in elementary English education.

In the language class combined with "creative drama", one of the approaches in educational theatre, the stories told by a teacher are organically developed into an original drama with several drama techniques. Even though there are some research studies on using creative drama in the ESL context, there are few in the EFL situation. Therefore, this study presents the result of a study investigating how creative drama affects young language learners" English learning in a Korean primary school. An English drama class, at after-school program in Seoul, combined with creative drama had been observed once a week for a semester. Seven first graders in the class were presented with 6 different stories, which contain certain phonemes each and dramatized the stories in a creative way. They were assessed through pre-and post- tests and surveys in terms of their linguistic improvements and affective changes and analyzed quantitatively. In addition, participants were individually analyzed according to their characteristics in linguistic and affective aspects by using field notes from classroom observation and interviews. The results show that participants made progress in linguistic aspects including phonics and vocabulary skills and that their affective factors including language anxiety level had shown a positive development throughout the semester. Moreover, each participant showed particular characteristics respectively in terms of linguistic and affective perspectives.

본 연구에서는 기존 교육용 시스템의 단방향성, 학습자 수준의 고려 부족 등의 단점에 대한 대안으로 휴대 인터넷 환경에 적합한 교육용 게임 시스템을 제안하였다. 기존 이러닝 콘텐츠와 플랫폼에 대해 분석해 보았으며 재사용성과 학습자 맞춤형 서비스에 부합되는 형태로 시스템을 설계하였다. 애니메이션 및 게임으로 구성되는 학습 콘텐츠는 학습자의 수준에 맞추어 가변적으로 제공되도록 할 수 있으며 학습자는 정해진 패턴이 아닌 변형된 요소들로 구성된 게임을 사용하여 교육효과가 증대될 수 있다. 본 시스템의 효용성을 보이기 위해, 영어 발음 학습법인 파닉스 교육법을 적용한 교육 게임을 예제로 제작하여 소개하였다. 그 결과 기존 이러닝의 단점을 보안할 수 있었으며 휴대 인터넷 환경의 장점인 쌍방향성을 활용하여 더욱 효과적인 교육용 게임 시스템을 구축할 수 있었다.