• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.137-156
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• 2009

This case study examines language learners' oral interactive practices and what they learn along with these practices. Language learners who study abroad take on the challenge of living in a foreign place and undergo difficulties in communicating and interacting with people in their new country. These difficulties, caused by cultural differences, are experienced most particularly in their daily interactions. Language learners' trials and efforts to learn English while dealing with a different culture and the difficulties are mainly observed for this paper. The process of learning a second culture is closely related to the process of learning a second language. Oral interactive practices can give the study abroad language learners opportunities to learn their target culture. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to discuss how participating in interactive practices assists the learners in understanding their target culture while they deal with their difficulties inherent in studying abroad. This study adds weight to the notion that culture is an essential and major factor in learning a language, and that only active participation in interactions can be effective in learning both a language and its culture.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.151-160
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• 2024

Through the utilization of a contrastive analysis of English consonantal phonemes and their Russian counterparts, the present study investigates the challenges faced by Russian EFL learners in pronouncing English consonantal phonemes, with a particular focus on phoneme substitution errors as a principal source of erroneous pronunciation. We comprehensively explore the characteristics of both the English and Russian consonant systems, highlighting the differences between them. Based on this examination, the study aims to present the detailed articulatory characteristics and phonetic variations of Russian speakers' common mispronunciations or improper substitutes of English consonants, rather than focusing on shared ones between the two languages. Furthermore, it seeks to provide strategies for error correction and effective pedagogical strategies to address specific phonemic challenges and enhance accuracy. Grounded in a comprehensive understanding of the objectives and advantages of comparative analysis within the context of phonemic awareness, the study emphasizes the significant importance of pronunciation instruction. It points out that this area still appears somewhat overlooked in specific EFL teaching situations within the context of English language education.

• English & American cultural studies
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.23-51
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• 2018

This paper focuses on historical instances of iconoclasm after the Reformation to reveal how iconoclasm had greatly contributed to the formation of the Protestant mindset in the early modern times. During the English civil war, when iconoclastic campaigns and movements were in full tide, the paper argues that the notions of novelty and progress were more positively accepted among radical religious groups. To put it in another way, the paper suggests a different way of looking the formation of Protestant habitus by giving accounts of how iconoclastic impulses spurred diverse religious groups during the civil war to break the mold of conservative thinking and to revolutionize the print culture hitherto based on patronage and served as a buttress for status-quo. From this analysis, then, we are ledto the different portrait of the protestant in the seventeenth century, whose mindset was not quite as solitary and guilt ridden as Max Weber would have us believe.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.1-8
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is (1) to present a model for Capstone design class in English education, and (2) to recognize students' performance and perceptions about Capstone design class in English education. The participants were senior students majoring in English education. The Capstone design class model was developed, applied, and evaluated after changing 'English-American Culture' subject to 'Capstone Design for English-American Culture Education.' In this study, the class design, performance procedures, derived topics, and examples of performance outcomes were presented. The classes were also evaluated through an understanding evaluation of English-American culture, task performance and final outcome evaluation, a descriptive satisfaction assessment of students, a lecture evaluation, and a teacher's self-reflection assessment. As the result, the average score of a class that applies Capstone design was higher than that of a class that does not apply the Capstone design. There were many positive opinions regarding the Capstone design class. In addition, the teacher's self-reflection indicated that students should be exposed to such design from the beginning.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.207-221
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• 2012

This study examines the importance of learning language and cultural integration in general English class focused on TOEIC reading comprehension. The understanding of cultural learning and learners' cultural awareness has long been a subject of debate. This study was not only to analyze the improvement of students' interest and reading comprehension ability of TOEIC through cultural learning, but also to ensure students who learn American culture overcome cross-cultural miscommunication and improve their English reading comprehension skills. Pre-post surveys and the pre-post TOEIC tests were used to measure language proficiency and American cultural knowledge to two groups: the experimental and control group. The results from the study were as follows: First, students had better TOEIC scores with improved motivation after understanding American culture relevant to the lessons. Second, reading comprehension skills with regards to TOEIC also improved, compared with the students who were not exposed to American culture due to lack of opportunity.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.200-206
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• 2020

Digital storytelling, a 21st century educational tool that combines digital media with storytelling, is considered as a powerful tool to learn foreign languages in an authentic and meaningful way. This study explored cyber university students' perceptions and experiences with a digital storytelling project implemented to enhance their English writing and speaking skills. The results of 9 week-long research indicated that most of the students' attitudes were positive: the digital storytelling project was effective to increase their English skills, learning motivation and interest in learning English. Most students perceived that the process writing approach and videotaping tasks provided them with good opportunities to develop their English writing and speaking skills. Although many students had difficulties selecting a topic and writing a script in the initial stage, they could handle with these challenges with the help of professors' feedback and successfully completed their projects. After completing the project, most students expressed a strong sense of accomplishment. These results suggest that the digital storytelling project effectively met cyber university students' learning needs and facilitate their English learning.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.149-155
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• 2023

Since developing digital technology requires new skills in digital literacy, digital competence also has become a keystone in English classes. This study explores three aspects of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' digital confidence: information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, and digital content creation, based on the European Digital Competence Framework for Citizens (DigComp). The participants were 150 Korean college students enrolled in two general English classes, and their English proficiency levels were from basic to advanced; each level consisted of 30 participants. In order to assess their digital confidence, I designed a Google survey form and collected data during two semesters. The survey results revealed that the participants had highest digital confidence in information and data literacy and overall, the female participants showed higher digital confidence than their male counterparts. It also showed that the learners' English proficiency and computer skills are important factors.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.161-166
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• 2024

As globalization has accelerated, the use of English loanwords is increasing in South Korea. In this paper, we have analyzed news stories from four Korean quality newspapers-Chosun Ilbo, Dong-A Ilbo, KyungHyang Sinmun, and Chung-Ang Ilbo to investigate the usage of English loanwords in news texts. Thirty-eight news stories on life, politics, business and IT were collected from the four newspapers and then analyzed based on the five types of loanwords-Direct, Mixed Code Combination, Clipping and Neologism and Double Notation, partly following Lee's and Rudiger's classification. As a result, the followings were revealed: first, the use of the category Direct was overwhelming the others with 90%, indicating that English loanwords were not translated from its source language and introduced into Korean directly with little modification; second, the use of English loanwords was significantly higher in the sections of business and IT than in other sectors, implying that English loanwords function in a similar way as a lingua franca does within those fields. Furthermore, the linguistic trends can provide a basic guide for translators to make an informed decision between the use of English loanwords and its translated Korean version in English-into Korean translation.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.11 no.11
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• pp.71-83
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• 2013

In a EFL situation, most Korean students and teachers are exclusively dependent on English textbooks to acquire the cultural factors of English. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze cultural elements in the English Textbooks. The results of the study are as follows: First, although all of the textbooks contain the culture part at the end of each lesson, it is insufficient for students to build a cultural schema. Second, in the analysis of cultural types, three types of cultures are presented in a similar percentage. Third, the culture elements were analyzed based on the 7th national curriculum revised in 2011. The most dominant is the culture regarding arts and literature. Forth, in nationality analysis, universal culture takes up the largest portion. Therefore, it is required more efforts to improve students' knowledge of the American and English culture.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.1-20
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• 2004

The findings in contrastive rhetoric research of the twentieth century have shown that different cultures have different conventions in organizing written texts. These culture-related conventions were claimed to influence English texts written by L2 learners, including Asian learners of English. However, due to the massive inflow of the American culture into Asia as well as increased exposure to English in the midst of globalization of the last decade, it is quite probable that the textual gap between the native English writers and Asian EFL writers have been reduced. The present study investigates the changes that have taken place in EFL writer's knowledge of genre-specific writing over the past decade. To this aim, this study compared four sets of application essays written by four groups of applicants (1) native American applicants in 1993, (2) Korean EFL applicants in 1933, (3) native American applicants in 2003, and (4) Korean EFL applicants in 2003. The results suggested that the disparity between the Korean EFL writers' and the native English writers' texts were becoming less noticeable at the macro-level, possibly due to Korean EFL writers' enhanced textual awareness of English genre structures Pedagogical implications are discussed.