• Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.437-456
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• 2001

This paper raises a question on the theoretical background behind the English education at the elementary school level. The Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH), supporting the common belief of the earlier the better in foreign language learning, which has promoted the strong trend toward teaching English in Korean elementary schools, is analyzed to determine whether it provides a comprehensible picture to explain age-related factors and whether it is a valid hypothesis which can be applicable in an EFL situation such as Korea. This paper concludes that CPH itself is still considered as an impending hypothesis full of unresolved issues and that the present educational situation of Korean elementary schools is rather far from the environment in which the ideas of CPH could practically apply, and thus it may be desirable to find alternative theoretical backgrounds from which the educational programs can be developed and further expanded.

• Annual Conference on Human and Language Technology
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• 1999.10e
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• pp.418-425
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• 1999

한국어 화자를 위한 외국어 학습 코스웨어를 학습 목표언어 독립적으로 모델링하는 방안을 모색하기 위한 외국어 학습 이론과 웹상의 자료 제시 유형에 관해 논하고 기개발된 플랫폼 LangEdu를 살펴봄으로써 그 실현 가능성을 증명하고 있다. 체계적인 학습 자료 제시와 사용자간의 긴밀한 상호 작용 및 손쉬운 관리가 가능하도록 설계되어진 이 플랫폼을 이용하면 전산 전문 지식이 없는 교과 전문가가 큰 어려움이 없이 개별 외국어 학습 코스웨어를 제작할 수 있다. 따라서, 이 방법론은 비용효과적일 뿐만 아니라 교과전문가의 적극적인 참여를 유도하여 양질의 코스웨어 제작에 기여한다.

• KIPS Transactions on Software and Data Engineering
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.163-170
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• 2019

Korea language has postpositions such as eul, reul, yi, ga, wa, and gwa, which are attached to nouns and add meaning to the sentence. When foreign notations or abbreviations are included in sentences, the appropriate postposition for the pronunciation of the foreign words may not be used. Sometimes, for natural expression of the sentence, two postpositions are used with one in parentheses as in "eul(reul)" so that both postpositions can be acceptable. This study finds examples of using unnatural postpositions when foreign words are included in Korean sentences and proposes a method for using natural postpositions by learning the final consonant pronunciation of nouns. The proposed method uses a recurrent neural network model to naturally express postpositions connected to foreign words. Furthermore, the proposed method is proven by learning and testing with the proposed method. It will be useful for composing perfect sentences for machine translation by using natural postpositions for English abbreviations or new foreign words included in Korean sentences in the future.

• Journal of Korean language education
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.93-112
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to deal with vocabulary in KFL. As a result of this study, learners learned vocabulary on average 43 points through contextual inference and introduction of the class to activate background knowledge. In particular, the implicit method showed the highest learning rate of 52 points, and the thematic method had a 41 point-learning rate. In contrast, the semantic method was the lowest with a 25 point-learning rate. There was no significant difference in the improvement rate of upper vocabulary learners, but in the case of the lower learner, there was significant difference in the improvement rate. The difference was not significant in the post-test relative gain rate of upper learners, but there was significant in lower learners. In the delayed test relative gain rate, the difference was significant in all groups. There was correlation between vocabulary difficulty and score, but there was no correlation with the thematic method. And there was no correlation between vocabulary difficulty, improvement rate and relative gain rate in all three classes. However, content understanding, lexical grade, improvement rate, and relative gain rate showed a significant correlation.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.91-114
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to investigate teachers' perspectives on content-based instruction (CBI) in English at a higher education in Korea. Based on the assumption that content-based instruction programs could be successful if teachers were actively involved not only in transmitting the content knowledge but also in students' development in the second or foreign language competence, the study explores teachers' treatments of language in relation to the students' language development in CBI classes. Research questions were related to five areas such as (1) the goals of CBI programs, (2) difficulties in CBI classes, (3) the use of native language, (4) teaching strategies and techniques, and (5) factors that affect the success of the CBI programs. Data gathered from 24 college instructors from a large university located in the metropolitan city of Korea. Results of the study indicated that college instructors of CBI programs had keen interest in developing students' language competence, experienced difficulties in designing course syllabus for mixed leveled group of students, rarely used Korean in class and used successful teaching strategies. Also factors needed to improve the CBI programs were recommended at the end of the study. Results of the study implied that teachers needed to be more aware of the students' learning process of English and to be more communicative with students in English in class. Further studies were needed in relation to the CBI courses for students of different age levels.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.111-117
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• 2023

The aim of this study is to present a practical teaching plan for liberal arts English classes that target foreign students. Foreign learners who do not have Korean language proficiency at the university level may struggle to understand the contents of liberal arts classes conducted by Korean language professors. In this study, six topics were selected (K-culture, Online game, Harry Potter, Disney, Marvel, DC) and topic-centered participatory class activities using various media were developed. A questionnaire was conducted to analyze learners' attitudes toward and perceptions regarding topic-oriented classes. It showed that learners' satisfaction with topic-based classes was high (75%), and the reasons for this high level of satisfaction were the instructors' caring attitudes, the comfortable class atmosphere, and the fun learners had in class. Learners also reported high satisfaction with various participatory class activities (81.9%), citing the learning benefits, their increased interest and motivation, and the efficiency of participatory classes. As globalization continues to increase the number of foreign students in South Korea, the need to develop realistic class plans and various class activities that are suitable for them is becoming more and more urgent.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.435-444
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• 2014

As vocabulary acquisition has become one of the emerging key issues in the foreign language education field, interest in vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) has also increased. However, little has been done to investigate the vocabulary learning strategies of young learners. Therefore, this study attempts to investigate VLS use in elementary school English language textbooks. A total of three fifth grade English textbooks and teachers' guidebooks were chosen and analyzed with the vocabulary learning strategies taxonomy suggested by Scbmitt (1997). The researcher identified there were only a limited number of vocabulary learning strategies in the textbooks and most of them were consolidation strategies. It was concluded that a variety of VLS should be introduced in multiple ways in consideration of learner preference, styles, culture and level of English proficiency. Some implications for the teaching and learning of vocabulary for EFL instruction amongst young learners are discussed.

• 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.

• Educational Technology International
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.89-115
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• 2014

This research aims to develop an elementary school English e-learning system based on the 'Self-determination theory (SDT)', which is widely applied to traditional face-to-face foreign language classes. The study also attempts to verify whether SDT-a traditional motivational theory that has been applied to face-to-face classes- is effective in an e-Learning environment with students who use this newly developed system. For the purposes of this project, the following three actions were carried out. First, a motivational strategy based on SDT was deduced. In SDT, the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness were introduced as basic psychological needs, and assumed that these three needs provided the natural motivation for learning, growth, and development. Second, an e-Learning system was created based on the deduced motivational strategy. Third, the system was implemented in 115 private tuition academies, and education was provided to 1,400 users for one year across the country. Afterwards, by surveying users, correlation between the role of the three psychological needs in learning English, and also the correlation between each need and motivation were investigated. Research results showed that traditional motivational theories used in face-to-face classes so far were effective in an e-Learning environment.

• Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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• 2000.07a
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• pp.88-95
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• 2000

This paper attempts to investigate characteristic features of Japanese EFL learners' English intonation and how their Japanese accents are affecting their English intonation, focusing on a comparison between the accent patterns of Japanese compounds and the stress patterns of English compounds. It is based on research dedicated to helping to improve the teaching and learning of English intonation (prosody) for Japanese EFL learners. It examines the Fundamental Frequency (henceforth Fx) contours of two EFL college students, one specializing in English and the other in Japanese. Both of them may be considered upper intermediate EFL students with their TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) scores ranging between 500 and 550.