• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.27-46
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• 2007

Teachers can maximize students' L2 learning by knowing preferred learning styles. This paper presents the results of a survey that asked 309 English learners to identify their perceptual learning style preferences. It further compared students' favored learning styles in terms of their gender and major field of study and explored a possible link between learning styles and English achievement. Collected data using Reid's (1995) questionnaire were analyzed by descriptive statistics, MANOVA, ANOVA, correlations, multiple regressions including squared partial correlations, and Cronbach's alpha. The results indicated that Korean students favored English learning in group regardless of gender, while their preferred mode of learning was significantly different in regard to their major field of study. Certain learning styles might be profitable for English achievement. Multiple regression analyses revealed that individual mode of learning was the best predictor of students' English achievement. It furthermore showed significant relationships between visual and individual styles of learning and English performance. The findings of the study reflected students' English learning context in which English native-speaking teachers frequently used communicative pair and small group activities for speaking practices that were consonant with students' learning styles.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.127-136
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• 2016

Purpose - This study investigated the effects of lectures in the English medium (EML) on understanding and learning outcomes. Sixty percent of EML lectures in Korea also use Korean for further support. Thus, this situation needs to clearly distinguish the specific impacts of the EML classes on learning outcomes. Here, we use the same English materials, including PowerPoint slides and video content, given in the Korean and English lectures. The difference between the lectures becomes only whether the lecture is delivered in Korean or English. Thus, we can clearly identify whether the language difference makes any difference in learning outcomes. Research design, data, and methodology - Our sample consisted of 91 students taking an international business course the spring of 2015. All course materials, including textbooks, PowerPoint slides, exams, video, and support content, were presented in English. Survey data and exam results were used. Students filled out their student identification number and name, so we could match the surveys against the exam results. Results - First, results show that whether the lecture was delivered in English or Korean was an important factor when students chose the class. Second, English proficiency related to international business and general English levels were higher in the English class than in the Korean class. However, the understanding of key concepts and reading abilities of international business newspapers were the same for students in both classes. Third, teaching materials and lectures were the most important material for the understanding of key concepts in the business major. Fourth, the exam results showed no difference in performance of the students in the English versus the Korean class. This shows that EML classes were not necessarily detrimental to the understanding of major concepts of the lecture. Thus, it is important that researchers carefully design empirical settings to study the effectiveness of EML. Conclusions - The English lecture can be as helpful for enhancing knowledge in the business major as the Korean lecture. For further research, various English lecture forms can be considered to distinguish the effects of the English lecture.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.37-46
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• 2010

This study investigates acoustic characteristics of English and Korean voiceless sibilant fricatives as they appear before the three vowels, /i/, /$\alpha$/ and /u/. Three measurements - duration, center of gravity and major spectral peak - are employed to compare acoustic properties and vowel effect for each fricative sound. This study also investigates the question of whether Korean sibilant fricatives are acoustically similar to the English voiceless alveolar fricative /s/ or to the palato-alveolar /$\int$/. The results show that in the duration of frication noise, English /$\int$/ is the longest and Korean lax /s/ the shortest of the four sounds. It is also observed that English alveolar /s/ has the highest value, whereas Korean /s/ shows the lowest value in the frequency of center of gravity. In terms of major spectral peak, while English /s/ reveals the highest frequency, English /$\int$/ shows the lowest value. In addition, evidence indicates that there is a strong vowel effect in the fricative sounds of both languages, although the vowel effect patterns of the two languages are inconsistent. For instance, in the major spectral peak, both Korean lax /s/ and tense /$s^*$/ show significantly higher frequencies before the vowel /$\alpha$/ than before the other vowels, whereas both English /s/ and /$\int$/ exhibit significantly higher frequencies before the vowel /i/ than before the other vowels. These results indicate that Korean sibilant fricatives are acoustically distinct from both English /s/ and /$\int$/.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.565-571
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• 2019

This study aims to suggest more efficient ways of teaching English more related to but distinct from major English, based on the needs and awareness of the students of English Education Department. For this, interviews and surveys have been carried out targeting some English Education majors. The results show that the satisfaction level of students is relatively low, marking around the score '3'. While the satisfaction level about classroom environment including the multi-media equipment, and professors' teaching ability, quality and methods is higher compared with other factors, the improvement of English skills and interest-causing levels are lower on average. Besides, this study also includes the surveys on the needs of students for various teaching programs, differentiated classes and qualified instructors. Based on the results, this study makes three suggestions as follows; (1) the opening of some specific English classes for English-education majors (2) the development of English-conversation classes related to English-education majors (3) the development of communication-centered English reading based on English literature.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.985-994
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• 2009

This research is exploratory in considering the unique socio-cultural context of South Korea, where the present government is responding to the demand for English language training. The study asked the question: What do mothers experience when sending their young children to a private English institute, so called English kindergarten, instead of a regular preschool? A qualitative approach was used to analyze the in-depth interviews with 19 mothers who sent their young child to an English kindergarten. Mothers stated that their young child needs to be a competent English speaker. The mothers expected that an English kindergarten would prepare their child better for the elementary school English curriculum than a regular preschool. The study revealed that English kindergartens symbolized the precedence and the privileges of the elite because of their high tuition fees, native-speaker teachers, and small class sizes. The mothers showed a sense of pride and vicarious satisfaction from sending their child to an English kindergarten. However, the mothers recognized that English kindergartens put more emphasis on cognitive learning instead of the social development of children. It was almost impossible for mothers to communicate with the native-speaker teachers about their child. The mothers seemed to overlook their child's struggle to adapt to an English Kindergarten. The findings of the study raise issues concerning the boom of teaching young children English in Korea.

• International Journal of Contents
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.62-78
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• 2021

This ethnographic multiple case study, based on Zappa-Hollman and Duff's construct of individual networks of practice (INoPs), explored English as a second language (L2) competence development and socialization process of a group of English-major undergraduates through their social connections and interactions at a public university located in an underdeveloped city in Northwest China. The study lasted for one academic semester and three students were selected as primary participants. Semi-structured interviews, student observations in English-related micro-settings, and associated texts were used to collect data. These data were coded to identify the thematic categories, and then data triangulation and member checking were conducted to select the most representative evidence to provide an in-depth description of students' perspective about mediating their English L2 socialization by their INoPs. Findings showed that factors in the formation of students' INoPs, including intensity, density, and nature, played significant roles in their academic or affective returns from their English learning, both of which had a substantial influence on the students' English L2 socialization. Considering that the macro-setting was a non-English, underdeveloped monolingual society, both educational institutions and individual students need to seek and create more English-mediated interactional opportunities to develop their English proficiency and adapt to local English learning communities.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.459-468
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• 2021

The purposes of this study were to present the learning framework and curriculum direction of the English education major and to suggest ways to enhance the English education-related curriculum and core competency more effectively. For these purposes, the needs of students in the English education department were identified and analyzed. After that, based on these results, Education 2030 Project and the 2015 revised English curriculum, the core competency-oriented education method of the English education department was proposed. The survey results are as follows: Many students in the Department of English Education were interested in their competencies, but did not know what they needed and how to actually strengthen them. They wanted to strengthen their competency with a core competency-oriented major curriculum. The results of this study, reflecting the national needs and core competencies of universities, suggested the direction for the development of the curriculum of the Department of English Education. In addition, the curriculum, teaching methods, and evaluation methods were organically linked to suggest ways to cultivate the required competencies more effectively.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.549-553
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• 2014

This study is a report of an intensive ESP(English for Specific Purposes) program conducted for the College of Economic students in Korean University. This is planned for the students to enhance their English achievement in comprehending the subject contents which they would learn in the near future. In order to determine whether the course helped the students enhance their English achievement or not, a pre and post test were taken, one at the beginning of the semester and the other at the end of semester. The result of the test shows that this program benefits relevant students, especially lower level students. In accordance with a general accepted view, the English for Specific Purposes(ESP) program is generally targeted for students who expect to learn the basic knowledge of English through mediated courses. Since students already have specific purpose of studying for their major courses, their motivation and interest in the course are higher than the students who don't have any specific purpose. Therefore, this study shows that the students who took English for Specific Purposes(ESP) had higher motivation and interest to study English related to their major courses as the test results were higher than before they had taken the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) program.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• no.3
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• pp.203-229
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• 1997

This paper is to examine a desirable and promising approach to an effective English teaching in elementary schools. Teachers' understanding English curriculum, teaching methodology, language skills-listening and speaking, and their testing of spoken communication is necessary for students' better learning in their English classes. Thus detailed explanations of English curriculum are presented, and background knowledge of major traditional teaching methods as well as recent trends is discussed. Especially, for the purpose of developing students' English communicative proficiency. classroom teaching and testing techniques of listening and speaking are also discussed with examples.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.213-221
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to apply Keller's ARCS motivational model to the business major English class and to investigate the effects of ARCS model on learning motivation and academic achievement. The subject for this study was 27 junior students majoring in business administration who took the business major English class. As a means of measurement, questionnaires and the results of written tests were used. The analysis on the results of the two groups, the experimental group applying ARCS model and the comparison group using the traditional lecture method, showed that the teaching-learning method applying ARCS model for the business major English class was effective in improving all elements of learning motivation such as attention, relevance, confidence and satisfaction, and in improving academic achievement in business English and business-related content.