• Title/Summary/Keyword: English as a foreign language

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Examining Generalizability of Kang's (1999) Model of Structural Relationships between ESL Learning Strategy Use and Language Proficiency

  • Kang, Sung-Woo
    • English Language & Literature Teaching
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    • v.7 no.2
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    • pp.55-75
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    • 2002
  • The present study examined whether Kang's (1999) model of the relationships among language learning strategy use and language proficiency for the Asian students could be applied to a more heterogeneous group. In Kang's study, he collected information of language learning strategies of 957 foreign students learning English as a second language in American colleges through a questionnaire. He also measured the subjects' language proficiency with the Institutional Testing Program TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). This study analyzed the same data without the limitation of cultural identity. Structural equation modeling was used to model the relationships among strategy use and language proficiency. Then, the model of the present study was descriptively compared with Kang's (1999) model for the Asian students. The overall flow of the relationship paths appeared to vary very little across the two models, which would have indicated that the generalizability of Kang's (1999) model could be extended more than originally examined. (156)

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The critical period in Korean EFL contexts and UG (한국인 EFL 학습자의 결정적 시기와 보편문법)

  • Hahn, Hye-Ryeong
    • English Language & Literature Teaching
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    • no.6
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    • pp.219-239
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    • 2000
  • There has been a growing enthusiasm in Korea for the early education of English as a foreign language (EFL). The present study examined the validity of the Critical Period Hypothesis in terms of the Universal Grammar (UG), in three different types of learning contexts - first language (L1), second language (SL), and foreign language (FL) learning contexts. While previous research findings in L1 and SL learning contexts suggest that UG principles and parameters are accessible to language learners only for the early years of lifetime, this article argues that their results - and even the methods - cannot be applied to EFL settings and that independent studies on the EFL context are, required. It also proposes the recent UG notion of functional categories as the most appropriate subject in the discussion of Korean EFL learners' access to UG. Findings on foreign language contexts, including the author's own, strongly indicate that UG is not sensitive to learners' starting ages in FL settings. If young children in FL contexts cannot develop their interlanguage grammar based on UG, the existing teaching methods for young children should be revised.

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Acoustic Measurement of English read speech by native and nonnative speakers

  • Choi, Han-Sook
    • Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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    • v.3 no.3
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    • pp.77-88
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    • 2011
  • Foreign accent in second language production depends heavily on the transfer of features from the first language. This study examines acoustic variations in segments and suprasegments by native and nonnative speakers of English, searching for patterns of the transfer and plausible indexes of foreign accent in English. The acoustic variations are analyzed with recorded read speech by 20 native English speakers and 50 Korean learners of English, in terms of vowel formants, vowel duration, and syllabic variation induced by stress. The results show that the acoustic measurements of vowel formants and vowel and syllable durations display difference between native speakers and nonnative speakers. The difference is robust in the production of lax vowels, diphthongs, and stressed syllables, namely the English-specific features. L1 transfer on L2 specification is found both at the segmental levels and at the suprasegmental levels. The transfer levels measured as groups and individuals further show a continuum of divergence from the native-like target. Overall, the eldest group, students who are in the graduate schools, shows more native-like patterns, suggesting weaker foreign accent in English, whereas the high school students tend to involve larger deviation from the native speakers' patterns. Individual results show interdependence between segmental transfer and prosodic transfer, and correlation with self-reported proficiency levels. Additionally, experience factors in English such as length of English study and length of residence in English speaking countries are further discussed as factors to explain the acoustic variation.

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Language Apprehension among Non Native Speakers of English

  • Rafik-Galea, Shameem
    • English Language & Literature Teaching
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    • v.7 no.2
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    • pp.103-114
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    • 2002
  • Language plays a central role in everyday communication activities. Therefore, an individual need to be able to use language to communicate with confidence and without fear. One of the major fears that people have is the fear of communication. This fear is most of the time due to a lack of confidence in communicating in a particular language or due to poor proficiency in the language. In some cases it can also be due to attitudinal problems. In the context of teaching and learning English as a second or foreign language, students can have a great fear of using English with confidence. This fear can be an acute one and thus students may avoid using English to communicate. However, non native speakers of English need to be highly competent in the use of the English language for a variety of communicative purposes particularly in meeting the challenges of globalisation and that of the digital age. This article presents some insights on language apprehension found among communication undergraduates who are non native speakers of English.

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Finding Effective Ways to Teach Foreign Languages

  • Fabian, Myroslava;Shtefanyuk, Nataliya;Budz, Iryna;Smutchenko, Olha;Drapak, Halyna;Leshchenko, Hanna
    • International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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    • v.21 no.7
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    • pp.77-81
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    • 2021
  • The article is devoted to the consideration of the methodological and general theoretical foundations of a rational methodology for teaching foreign language communicative competence of students of a non-linguistic university. The analysis of the vectors of research of problems of increasing the efficiency of the process of mastering foreign language communicative competence of non-linguistic students is presented. As a methodological basis for a rational methodology for teaching a foreign language communicative competence, the key aspects of the philosophy of rationality are considered, the basic principles of a rational methodology are formulated, linguo-didactic means of its implementation are determined, indicators of rationality are identified.

A research survey on the actual condition, and teachers and parents recognition of preschool early English education in Cheonan city (천안지역 유아교육기관에서의 조기영어교육에 대한 현황분석 및 교사, 학부모 인식도 조사)

  • Chang, Bok-Myung;Lim, Won-Shin
    • English Language & Literature Teaching
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    • no.5
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    • pp.191-218
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    • 1999
  • The purpose of this study is to investigate the actual conditions of preschool English education, and teachers' and parents' recognition of preschool early English education in Cheonan-city. Recently the importance of English education as an essential means for communication in the whole world is emphasized in our society. That atmosphere makes the elementary schools offer English as a subject in their curriculums, and also many preschool education institutes begin to teach English in their education courses. However before we begin to teach English as a subject in the preschool education, we need to survey the actual conditions of preschools and recognition of teachers and parents. The first part of this study is to survey the theoretical foundations of early English education; 1) the definition of early English education. 2) the situation of early foreign language education in foreign countries. 3) the relationship between the language acquisition and the cognitive development. The second part is to analyze the results of the Questionnaire which was distributed among 86 teachers and 103 parents in Cheonan-city preschools. As a conclusion, some suggestions will be given for the development of early English education in the near future.

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Research on Four Variables toward the Effective Integration of Culture in the EFL Class of Korea

  • Roh, Seung-Bin
    • English Language & Literature Teaching
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    • v.11 no.2
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    • pp.91-110
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    • 2005
  • Many Korean EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students do not have sufficient opportunity to develop cultural knowledge and information in their classrooms. EFL teachers also tend to ignore the teaching of culture. Even though culture is taught, it simply tends to deliver "fact-only" information from the viewpoint of a "tourist level rather than cultural awareness by comparing native with target cultural references. Teaching target cultural knowledge and information should be delivered within the native cultural frame, and teaching of culture must be an integral part of teaching and learning English. The research methodology was quantitative. Quantitative data was gathered from 83 Korean EFL teachers and 286 EFL students by questionnaire. Findings indicated that three of these independent variables (cultural inequality, English-only instruction, and Unoism) were significantly and inversely related to integration of culture.

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Time-moving Metaphors and Ego-moving Metaphors: Which Is Better Comprehended by Taiwanese?

  • Huang, Hsin-Mei;Hsieh, Ching-Yu
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society for Language and Information Conference
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    • 2007.11a
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    • pp.173-181
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    • 2007
  • This is a semantic pilot study which concentrates on how people in Taiwan process the temporal metaphors, ego-moving metaphor and time-moving metaphor. Motivated by the research of Gentner, Imai, and Boroditsky (2002) in which the English native speakers comprehend ego-moving metaphors faster than time-moving metaphors, the present study attempts to reexamine whether the faster reaction to ego-moving metaphors is shared by both the Chinese native speakers and EFL learners. To achieve the goals, 25 Chinese/English bilinguals are invited to be examined via the16 Chinese and 16 English test sentences. The recordings of their accuracy on each item are served as the databases used to compare with the study of Gentner, Imai, and Boroditsky (2002). The two finding presented here are: (1) when the subjects tested in their native language, Chinese, they process ego-moving metaphors better. (2) when tested in the foreign language, English, they conceptualize time-moving metaphors much better.

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Learning a Foreign Language Using Information Technologies for Comfortable Implementation of the Professional Position of a Future Specialist in a Foreign Language Environment

  • Postolenko, Iryna;Biletska, Iryna;Kmit', Olena;Paltseva, Valentyna;Mykhailenko, Olena;Yatsyna, Svitlana;Kuchai, Tetiana
    • International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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    • v.22 no.11
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    • pp.63-70
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    • 2022
  • At the present stage, the main directions of the professional position of a specialist in the implementation of English-language Education are to improve and spread the practice of learning languages throughout a person's life by involving information, communication and digital technologies in the educational process. Computerization of the educational process in Higher Education Institutions is considered as one of the first and most promising areas for improving the quality of education in Higher Education Institutions. The necessity of ensuring timely training and retraining of specialists of various profiles (in particular teachers) on the effective use of domestic and foreign electronic resources with the help of modern information technologies for the implementation of the professional position of a future specialist in a foreign-language environment is noted. The main goal of teaching a foreign language (the formation of students' communicative competence, which means mastering the language as a means of intercultural communication) is defined. The types of speech activity that cover the content of teaching a foreign language are highlighted. The main types of assessment in a foreign language are shown - current (non-classroom), thematic, semester, annual assessment and final state certification. The task of the teacher is drawn, which is to create conditions for practical language acquisition for each student, to choose such teaching methods by means of information technologies that would allow each student to show their activity, their creativity; to activate the cognitive activity of the student in the process of learning a foreign language.

The Interaction Effect of Foreign Model Attractiveness and Foreign Language Usage (외국인 모델의 매력도와 외국어 사용의 상호작용 효과)

  • Lee, Ji-Hyun;Lee, Dong-Il
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.17 no.3
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    • pp.61-81
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    • 2007
  • Recently, use of foreign models and foreign language in advertising is a general trend in Korea even though the effect has not been well-known..Most of the previous research shows rather an opposite effect claiming marketing communication is more effective when higher congruity between marketing communication and consumer's cultural values are achieved. However, the introduction of global culture due to the expansion of new media such as Internet or cable television makes the congruity not the best choice of marketing strategy. In addition, use of highly attractive models in advertising to increase the effect of advertising is general. However, recent studies show that targeted women audience tend to compare themselves to the highly attractive models and do experience negative sentiment. Bower (2001) proved the difference between 'comparer' and 'noncomparer' when women face highly attractive models. The results show that a comparer who has an intention to compare highly attractive model (HAM) with herself has a significantly negative effect on model expertise, product argument, product evaluation and buying intention. Therefore, HAM is not always a good choice and model attractiveness plays a role in the processing other cues or changing the advertising effect from result of processing other cues. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the use of foreign language on the advertising response of the audience with regard of the model attractiveness. For the empirical study, the virtual advertising using foreign models (HAM, NAM), brand names and slogans(Korean, English) were used as stimuli. The respondents of each stimulus were 75('HAM-Korean'), 75('NAM-Korean'), 66('HAM-English') and 66 ('NAM-English') respectively. To establish the effect of marketing communication, the attitude for media(AM), the attitude for product(AP), targetedness(TD), overall quality(OQ), and purchase intention(PI) with 7 point likert scale were measured. The manipulation was verified to check the difference between HAM attractiveness assessment (m=3.27) and NAM attractiveness assessment (m=5.12). The mean difference was statiscally significant (p<.05). As a result, all consequences were significantly changed with model attractiveness, and overall quality evaluation(OQ) were significantly changed with language. The interaction effect from model attractiveness and language was significant on attitude toward the product(AP) and purchase intention(PI). To analyze the difference, the mean values and standard deviation of consequences were compared. The result was more positive when model attractiveness was high for all consequences. For language effect, the assessment was more positive when English was used for OQ. Considering model attractiveness and language simultaneously, HAM-Korean was more positive for AP and PI, and NAM-English was more positive for AP and PI. In other words, the interaction effect was confirmed by model attractiveness and language. As mentioned above, use of foreign models and foreign language in advertising was explained by cultural match up hypothesis (Leclerc et al. 1994) which claimed that culture of origin effect. In other words, in advertising, use of same cultural language with the foreign model could make positive assessment for OQ. But this effect was moderated by model attractiveness. When the model attractiveness was low, the use of English makes PI high because of the effect of foreign language which supported the cultural match up hypothesis. When the model attractiveness was low, the use of Korean made AP and PI high because the effect of foreign language was diluted. It was a general notion that the visual cues got processed before (Holbrook and Moore, 1981; Sholl et al, 1995) compared to linguistic cues. Therefore, when consumers were faced HAM, so much perception was already consumed at processing visual cues making their native language of Korean to strongly and positively connected with the advertising concept. On the contrary, when consumers were faced with NAM, less perception was consumed compared to HAM, making English to accompany cultural halo effect which affected more positively. Therefore, when foreign models were employed in advertising, the language must be carefully selected according to the level of model attractiveness.

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