• Child Studies in Asia-Pacific Contexts
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.133-144
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• 2012

Research has shown that mothers' attitudes towards early English language and literacy learning are important for children's English language development. Some researchers have indicated that in Taiwan most parents have a positive attitude towards English instruction and are motivated to teach English at home to their preschoolers. There is, however, little current data available to explain the motivations behind such parents' decisions to teach English to their child in the home before the commencement of formal schooling. We conducted a thematic analysis of the written survey responses of 263 Taiwanese mothers who explained why they taught their preschool children English at home. The findings indicate that English is highly valued for children's school readiness, future career opportunities, and because of its status as a global language. The mothers' motivations for teaching English include the desire to cultivate the child's interest, a belief in 'the earlier the better" for second language learning, and a belief in the need to review and practice English. These findings have the potential to inform educational policies and implementation strategies, as they can reveal whether mothers' motivations align with national priorities for English language education.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.25-36
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• 2008

Language transfer means that the speaker's first language or previously acquired language influences on the production of the target language. This study aims at examining if there is native language influence on the production of English intonation by Korean speakers. The pitch accent patterns and the values of duration, F0, and intensity of the stressed vowel of the word with emphatic accent in the sentence produced by Korean speakers are compared to those of American English speakers. The results show that when the word receives emphatic accent in the sentence, American English speakers put H* accent on the stressed syllable of the word, but Korean speakers mostly assign high pitch on the last syllable of the word and have LH tonal pattern despite the fact that primary stress does not come on the last syllable within a word. In addition, comparison of the values of duration, F0, and intensity of the stressed vowel of the word with emphatic accent to those of the word with unmarked neutral accent shows that Korean speakers do not realize the intonation of the accented word appropriately because the values decrease even though the word has emphatic accent. This study finds out that there are differences in the production of English intonation of the word with emphatic accent between native speakers of English and Korean speakers, and that there is negative transfer of Korean intonation pattern to the production of English intonation by Korean speakers.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.39-58
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• 2011

This study highlights some very important future directions for the revision of language forms in the 2007 Korean English Curriculum, expected to be made public in the summer of 2011. A critical review of the 2007 National English Curriculum shows that language forms exemplified in that curriculum are not well-chosen or well-sequenced from the viewpoint of grammar selection and gradation, and that no mention of structural labels or grammatical terminologies makes it hard for teachers to recognize their formal properties. To fulfill the original purpose that languages should be listed in the curriculum so that functional-notional syllabuses can be complemented by form-focused instruction, the study presents partial inventories of grammatical items with well-chosen and well-sequenced examples. Minimal descriptions are given to these inventories that are based on general notions or well-known grammatical notions. Occasional suggestions are also made for which language forms should be taught in which schools.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.111-135
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• 2002

An annotation model of a non-native speech database has been devised, wherein English is the target language and Korean is the native language. The proposed annotation model features overt transcription of predictable linguistic information in native speech by the dictionary entry and several predefined types of error specification found in native language transfer. The proposed model is, in that sense, different from other previously explored annotation models in the literature, most of which are based on native speech. The validity of the newly proposed model is revealed in its consistent annotation of 1) salient linguistic features of English, 2) contrastive linguistic features of English and Korean, 3) actual errors reported in the literature, and 4) the newly collected data in this study. The annotation method in this model adopts the widely accepted conventions, Speech Assessment Methods Phonetic Alphabet (SAMPA) and the TOnes and Break Indices (ToBI). In the proposed annotation model, SAMPA is exclusively employed for segmental transcription and ToBI for prosodic transcription. The annotation of non-native speech is used to assess speaking ability for English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.203-224
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• 2005

The purpose of this study is to justify the effects of role play with respect to speaking and listening functions and to provide the strategic methodology for improving English communicative competence of fifth grade primary school students. We can expand role play as a strategic teaching method to develop English learning models, so that English can be more easily acquired to the students who are in the critical language acquisition period. Strategic role play reflects the events and experiences of many kinds of people in everyday life. It is suggested that one of the best methods to improve English communicative competence in the primary classroom is through role play. Students can develop meaning for language patterns by portraying situations in which these instances in language would be used. This study proposes to facilitate English communicative ability using various student-centered role play strategies. It is concluded that the student-centered activities using strategic role play help the students to improve their English communicative competence. This is done by deriving their own creative dialogues and presenting the role play with their interests in learning English and with subsequently positive learning effects.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• no.5
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• pp.49-62
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• 1999

Education systems throughout the world encourage their students to learn languages other than their native one. In Australia, our Education Boards provide students with the opportunity to learn European and Asian languages. French, German, Chinese and Japanese are the most popular languages studied in elementary and high schools. This choice is a reflection of Australias European heritage and its geographical position near Asia. In most non-English speaking countries, English is the foreign language most readily available to students. In Korea, the English language is actively promoted by the Education Department and, in less official ways, by companies and the public. It is impossible to be anywhere in Korea without seeing the English language alongside or intermingled with Korean. When I ask students why they are learning English, I receive answers that include the word globalization and the importance of English throughout the world. When I press further and ask why they personally are learning English, the students mention passing exams, usually high school tests or TOEIC, and the necessity of passing the latter to obtain a good job. Seldom do I ever hear anything about communication: about the desire to talk with other people in English, to read novels or poetry in English, to understand movies or pop-songs in English, to chat on the Internet in English, to search for information on the Internet in English, or to email pen-pals in English. Yet isnt communication the only valid reason for learning a language? We learn our native language to communicate with those around us. Shouldnt we set the same goal for learning a foreign language? In my opinion communication, whether it is reading and writing or speaking and listening, must be central to language learning. Learning a language to pass examinations is meaningless unless those examinations are a reliable indicator of the ability of the student to communicate. In previous eras, most communication in a foreign language was through reading novels or formal letters. This required a thorough knowledge of grammar and a large vocabulary. Todays communication is much less formal. Telephone conversations, tele-conferences, faxes and emails allow people to communicate regularly and informally. Reading materials are also less formal as popular novels and newspapers are available world-wide. Movies and popular songs have added to the range of informal communication available. Finally travel has ensured that people from different cultures will meet easily and regularly. This informal communication requires less emphasis on grammar and vocabulary and more emphasis on comprehension and confidence to speak. Placing communication central to language learning has important implications for the Education system and for teachers.

• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.250-265
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• 2018

Thailand is one of the ASEAN countries and is said to be the most visited country in Southeast Asia. Despite its development, Thailand falls as one of the countries with the lowest rates of English proficiency. This article is written to describe one of the possible factors of Thailand's low English proficiency, which is the foreign language anxiety of students. This article outlines references regarding the English language anxiety of Thai students and uses them as a basis in distinguishing English language anxiety among nursing students in Boromarajonani College of Nursing Nakhon Lampang, Thailand (BCNLP). A survey was conducted using a questionnaire based on the FLCA Scale by Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope, (1986) with a focus group consisting of 80 participants randomly selected from $1^{st}$ year to $4^{th}$ year nursing students of BCNLP. As found in the survey there were two sources of English language anxiety among nursing students: 1. Fear of negative evaluation due to unpreparedness, and feeling and thinking that others are better in language learning as the main factors; and 2. Communicating apprehension, where in speaking without preparation, speaking in the foreign language in front of other students, and self-doubt about one's ability to speak in the foreign language are the highest ranked causes of anxiety. The results indicate two main problems: unpreparedness and self-concept. Therefore, it is recommended that English Language classes should be taught with the learner-centered approach and that instructors should put importance in preparing the students during class, and encouraging them to increase a positive self-concept towards English language learning.

• Journal of The Korean Association of Information Education
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.120-128
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• 2000

Even though we basically regard spoken English like listening and speaking rather than written language as an important principle in Elementary Education of English, actually students are being taught English only by imitating what they heard and watched through audio or video tapes in the scene of elementary school. Of course, it is successful to learn English focused on a spoken language not in EFL(English as a foreign language) but in ESL(English as a second language) circumstance. Therefore, we provide products of multimedia contents in order to give opportunities which can make use of English in the classroom through the Web in this paper. In addition to it, we write this paper on method to strengthen motivation for learning language even out of the classroom by putting English to practical use through video conference system or E-mail exchange.

• Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.233-254
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• 2003

This paper analyzed the effect of using a content-based English textbook in teaching English to Korean college students. The textbook reflected the recent trend in EFL/ESL development that subject matters should be taught as part of the language instruction. The analysis of the questionnaire survey conducted to college students at the end of the semester revealed an encouraging result that this new type of ELT college textbook is effective in helping Korean college students prepare for learning their subject areas through English. Based on this positive outcome, a suggestion is made that the current general purpose college English teaching curriculum be shifted toward a content-based specific purpose type to accommodate the increasing demand of learning subject areas through English in colleges in Korea.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.248-253
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• 2021

The aim of this study is to understand how English textbooks in Korea reflect English education policies for improving the English language learners' cultural ability. In order to achieve the purpose of this study, the method of analyzing English textbooks was used because English textbooks are an important tool that most specifically reflects the English policy of a country. This study analyzed a total of 15 English textbooks currently used in South Korea. We analyzed nouns/pronouns related to culture presented in the reading section included in each unit, and compared cultural diversity and cultural identity included in English textbooks in Korea. As a result, it was found that South Korea has tried to cultivate Korean learners' cultural competence through English education and introduced their cultural pride to Western culture to realize the goal of strengthening global capabilities.