In order to humanize and contextualize ESL/EFL learning, poetry writing has been suggested and considered as an effective strategy for meaningful literacy. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence for the pedagogical significance of poetry writing on language learning. To make up for the dearth of research about poetry writing, the present study explored to what extent a primary English language learner can express herself through poetry writing in an American classroom and the significance of poetry writing as meaningful literacy in ESL/EFL learning. Adopting a qualitative research approach, this small-scale case study conducted textual analyses of a young English language learner’s poetry works and in-depth interviews with her. Findings suggest that poetry writing encouraged the participant learner to express herself with her own voice, enhanced her L2 linguistic awareness, provided meaningful learning opportunities―authorship and readership―, and motivated the learner to overcome challenges as an English language learner. The present study contributes to the understanding of young English language learners’ poetry writing in the field.

This study investigated if the difficulty of instructional classroom English in primary teacher-guidebooks of English is adequately manipulated by learner-proficiency. Corpora of classroom English were compiled from 20 guidebooks from five publishers, approved following the 2015 Revised National Curriculum of Korea. Extracted materials from grades three and four were compared with those of grades five and six to observe variations in the difficulty. Coh-Metrix, a software application that computes an extensive range of measures on cohesion and language, was used for analyses. With evidence-based assessments on (psycho)linguistic features and patterns of classroom English, we report results both congruent and incongruent with the prospect that the difficulty should increase as learners become more proficient. Overall, although partial difficulty manipulations between the two levels were noted, inconsistent results and invariances were also observed, disclosing much room for improvement of classroom English in the guidebooks. Some implications toward teacher-guidebook development, particularly in its classroom English, are suggested

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.

The use of humor has been a controversial research topic in language classrooms. Humor is pervasive; however, the functions of humor in primary English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classrooms is under-investigated. To analyze the distinct features of humor, this study explores the specific functions of humor in primary English teaching classrooms in South Korea. The data set included thirty 40-minute English lessons videotaped in 2019 and semi-structured interviews with three teachers. Data were analyzed by identifying humor sequences, transcribing these classroom sessions and interviews, coding recurrent themes, and sorting representative excerpts. As a result, psychological, social, and behavioral functions of humor were conceptualized. The findings showed that humor (i) mitigated learners’ anxiety and aroused interest in language learning, (ii) reinforced constructive teacher-learner relationships and enabled camaraderie between learners, and (iii) regulated student behavior or rationalized learners’ listening incomprehension. Pedagogical implications are also discussed regarding ways to use and respond to humor in language classrooms.

The purpose of this research study is to identify the perceptions of both primary ELL(English Language Learner)s and English teachers on MMP(Multimodal Media Production)-embedded English instruction at a primary English class. In order to answer this question, 182 primary ELLs and 2 English teachers participated in this research. A questionnaire survey was administered to the focal participants and an open-ended interview was conducted with the teachers. The results show that overall perceptions on MMP were comparably high among ELLs, and there was significant difference between genders, grades and English levels in terms of learning interest. The teachers’ interview revealed that MMP would trigger deeper understanding of the lesson and ELLs’ voluntary active class participation by heightening motivation, self-confidence and interest in learning English. In sum, the implementation of MMP-embedded English instruction has positive pedagogical effects for young ELLs since it may promote essential literacy skills in the 21st century as well as help in affective domains.

This study examined how teaching and learning activities in primary English textbooks include the components of creativity and character building. Three third and fourth grade level textbooks based on the 2015 revised curriculum were analyzed in order to find the proportions of the components of creativity and character building, and the types of learning activities that embody those components were analyzed by examining the teachers’ guides. The analysis revealed that all of the textbooks examined included diverse components that were intented to increase creativity, among which components stimulating divergent thinking and originality were a high proportion, while convergent thinking and dispositional aspects appeared less frequently. Among character building components, care-forgiveness and responsibility were two of the more popular components, while honesty and moral judgment were few and far between. From these findings, this study suggests that the components of creativity and character building should be more evenly distributed across textbook activities since they should be of equal importance in education.

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.

The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of writing workshop in a primary EFL context using children’s literature featuring social problems as the language input for learners. To accomplish the objective, two research questions were set up: 1) What aspects are shown in the development of primary EFL learners’ literacy skills through writing workshop using children’s literature? 2) What are some impacts in promoting social sensitivity through writing workshop using children’s literature featuring social problems? The data collected from diverse sources including worksheets, surveys, teacher’s logs, interviews, and self-reflection responses yielded two major findings. The first finding showed that participants learned how to utilize literary texts in their writing. In other words, the text used in the study played a motive for the participants in initiating and developing their writing. The second finding revealed the potential of cultivating social sensitivities of language learners through reading based writing workshop. For example, the participants identified the problematic situation by sympathizing with the characters from the texts, and tried to offer solutions. Also, democratic civic qualities of students were ascertained through the process of writing workshop. Based on the results, educational implications were provided.

The present study explores the effects of peer intimacy on Korean primary English learners' collaborative group work in terms of writing achievement and peer interaction. Fifty six elementary school students engaged in small group work on English writing tasks. They were grouped in three different types: high intimacy level group, low intimacy level group, and random group. The study results indicated no significant group differences in the students' abilities and attitudes of English writing. However, the three groups differed in the quantity and quality of peer interaction. The high intimacy group produced the largest number of utterance and the most collaborative interactions. The low intimacy group, on the other hand, produced more utterances but less collaborative interactions than did the random group. Overall, the study results suggested that peer intimacy may have no immediate effect on students' learning through small group work but it possibly has delayed effects in prolonged group work by mediating the quantity and quality of peer interactions. Limitations of the study and pedagogical suggestions are provided.

This study was designed to develop a scale to measure primary school English teachers’ professionalism based on affective factors. The Swailes' (2003) scale was used to best reflect the local context where teachers in primary schools teach English to young learners. Three surveys were sent to a total of 1,008 primary school English teachers. Three different focus groups were used to refine the survey items in the modification process from the first to the third survey. The data were analyzed using exploratory factor and confirmatory factor analysis. These results showed the validity of fifteen items for investigating primary English teachers’ professionalism: four items related to 'professional commitment', three related to 'professional autonomy', three items related to professional belief in public service, three items to profession as referent, and two items to professional regulation. It is hoped that the scale items developed in this study can be used to identify the standard of professionalism of primary English teachers and provide policy makers or school decision makers with data that can be used to enhance professionalism within the community of primary English teachers.

The present study investigates affective factors which affect primary English teachers' professionalism. For the analysis of the study, quantitative data was obtained from 576 primary school English teachers who responded to a questionnaire. Qualitative data was also collected from three different focus group interviews and ten individual interviews. A quantitative data analysis shows that collective teacher-efficacy is the best predictor of primary school English teachers' professionalism among the three factors of self-efficacy, organization-based self-esteem, and collective self-efficacy. This result is consistent with interview data which shows that more positive than negative comments are observed in regards to collective teacher-efficacy. Pedagogical implications have been discussed.

The present study aims to seek ways of activating teaching consulting by investigating how primary and secondary English teachers perceive consulting. A survey was conducted to investigate the current state of English teaching consulting at schools and to identify needs to be met for effective consulting. 157 primary and 107 secondary English teachers took part in the survey using a questionnaire. The major findings from the data analysis are summarized as follows: (1) teaching consulting is not widely accepted as significant in professional development yet, and teaching consulting is not likely to be done voluntarily; (2) there is lack of professional consultants; (3) the administration process involved in consulting needs to be truncated and made simple; (4) the evaluation of consulting needs to be fed back in improving teaching and professional learning; and (5) teachers’ voluntary involvement in consulting and cooperative professional development are considered to be important to activate and sustain consulting. Some measures are suggested to vitalize consulting in English teaching at schools and directions for future research are discussed.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of group-based consultations on pre-service primary school teachers' English teaching competence. Twenty nine pre-service teachers in groups of four or five received two rounds of consultations on their micro-teaching demonstrations from two native English instructors. The consultation procedure was three steps: preparation, micro-teaching observation and feedback. The self-evaluation checklists and micro-teaching evaluations were analyzed quantitatively to find how much improvement between the first and second micro-teaching had been made. The results indicated that consultations helped the pre-service teachers to improve their English teaching competence in general. The comments written by the consultants and the pre-service teachers about their micro-teaching observations were examined qualitatively. The results showed that consultations enabled the pre-service teachers to realize the strengths and weaknesses in their teaching behavior. Also, the observation of peer teaching and group discussion helped them to gain useful teaching skills and insights on what a good English lesson should be like.

This paper analyzes the effects of six month intensive English teachers’ training on communicative language teaching. The subject includes twenty teachers who showed greater improvement in the pre and post comparison of their English teaching demos out of 37 elementary school English teachers attended in the training. The in-house evaluation criteria have been used to select twenty teachers who enhanced their teaching skills greater than others‘ To look into details of the teaching enhancement, Foreign Language lnteraction (FLint), Communicative Orientation of Language Teaching (COL T) and Target Language Observation Scheme (T ALOS) have been used to investigate changes of interaction, teacher language, activities and methods. The findings ofthis paper include that the positive effects of six month teachers’ training show pal1icularly in the area of designing and implementing activities. Teacher's c1assroom languages have changed into more non-directive and affective after the training. Teachers allow more rooms of students' engagement by using more question, confirmation and feedback discourse routÎne after the training.

This study aims to validate the English learning anxiety scale for Korean primary school students. At the initial stage, 16 items of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986) were drawn from the literature reviews for the preliminary test. Then, 177 primary school students were sampled for the preliminary test. After the exploratory factor analysis was undertaken, the English Learning Anxiety Scale (ELAS) was reduced to 14 items, which consisted of two dimensions (oral English classroom anxiety, and low self-confidence in English). The main test was given to 573 primary school students from fourth grades to sixth grades in eight different schools in order to confirm validity and reliability of the ELAS. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modeling demonstrated that the ELAS is a valid (TLI, AGFI, CFI>.94, RMSEA=.049) and reliable (Cronbach’s α = 0.891) instrument.