Despite the popularity of the TOEIC in the Korean society for over 30 years, few studies have investigated the understanding and usage of TOEIC scores in the Korean context. This research gap needs to be filled to provide test users with useful information in the Korean context. Using an argument-based approach to validation, this study investigates the meanings and uses of the TOEIC scores in the Korean context, based on analyses of records publicly available at the YBM website (i.e., TOEIC administrator in Korea). One hundred ninety-four documents published between 2012 and 2017 were collected from the website and the data were analyzed by combining the content and the context analyses. Findings reveal that contextual factors affect the understanding and usage of scores by different TOEIC stakeholders. The document data reveal unintended meanings and uses of the scores.

The purpose of this study is to examine the types of functional features of English language use in Korea's EFL contexts, and to find out the attitude toward and possibilities for organizing English speaking communities to be designed for more communicative situations. The social contexts of English language use in Korea are rather limited in terms of their scope, the number of English speakers, situational needs in daily life, i.e., there is no immediate sense of practical needs. The social settings for the Korean L1 run the whole gamut of education, business, and general life, yet international demands are so great that they require additional English needs regardless of local values in practice. This paper selected two groups, college students and company workers whose expectations of English use may be representative of Koreans in general. The results showed a dichotomy between language functional issues and the symbolic, imaginative status of English in Korea. In addition, the subjects' responses to the need for an English speaking community were contradictory to their attitude towards getting involved in creating that community. The needs are there, but they do not have a clear idea how to comply with these needs.

This study is designed to introduce perspectives of sociological understanding for criminal punishment. The basic stance of sociology of punishment is that we should consider social contexts under which penal policy and criminal justice activities are constructed and processed. This notion is quite different from the existing penological approach to the enterprise of crime control : it focuses on finding the best way to deter criminals from committing crimes and evaluating the most effective correctional programs and punishment devices. On the contrary, the sociology of punishment seeks to understand punishment within the broader social environments such as economic and political contexts. According to the sociological account of the function of punishment, a main role of punishment is not confined in its instrumental purposes. It also serves as an indicator to represent the society itself. Based on this line of understanding, this article first clarifies the concept and functions of punishment in sociological terms and then introduces explanations for changes in forms of punishment suggested by Durkheim, Marxist penal sociologists and Foucault. Next, it reviews many empirical studies that consider social, economic, political contexts for explaining crime control practices such as imprisonment. In conclusion, this study encourages further research adopting the sociological lenses in exploring criminal justice practices.

사회과교육은 민주적인 시민성 함양이라는 목적에 합의했지만, 이론과 실천의 부정합, 영역의 다양성과 모호성, 불가지론이나 무관심 등의 어려움이 여전히 존재하고 있다. 이를 극복하기 위해 이 연구는 사회과교육에서 시민성과 민주주의 사이의 연관성을 살펴보았다. ‘자유민주주의’와 ‘전통적 시민성’은 사회과교육에서 시민성을 최소주의 입장으로 보면서 개인의 권리와 자율성, 권력으로부터의 자유, 국가와 시민사회의 분리 등 중립적인 입장이 제시되었다. 하지만 고정된 틀이나 사적인 선과 이익 중심의 개인주의 등은 극복할 과제였다. ‘참여민주주의’와 ‘참여적 시민성’은 사회과교육에서 이상주의적이고 최대주의적인 입장에서 실질적인 민주주의와 공동체적인 삶의 방식을 추구하였다. 참여의 과잉이나 동원의 문제는 한계로 지적되었다. 마지막으로 ‘심의민주주의’와 ‘성찰적 시민성’은 주체 간 상호성의 입장에서 쟁점중심교육, 다문화교육, 포스트모더니즘 교육 등에서 토론하고 성찰하는 사회과 시민성교육의 면모를 보여주었다. 하지만 지나친 절차주의나 상대주의에서 나타나는 비현실주의 등이 문제로 지적되었다.