• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.1-22
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• 2007

The study examined the effects of explicit derivational morphology instruction (henceforth DMI) on the incidental vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension of 132 Korean 1st-year high school students who responded to a battery of tests (two vocabulary tests and a reading comprehension test). Multiple statistical tools were used to analyze the data: Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Simple Regression Analysis, Tests of Simple Main Effects, and effect size computation using Cohen's d. The results indicated that (a) DMI enhanced students' ability to infer word meanings in context, (b) DMI promoted high proficiency students' reading comprehension, whereas it impeded intermediate proficiency students' reading comprehension, (c) vocabulary knowledge has a strong positive predictive value for reading comprehension, and (d) the gaps of vocabulary knowledge across proficiency levels were still substantial, despite the observation that DMI promoted students' vocabulary acquisition. These results have a bearing on English as Foreign Language (EFL) reading pedagogy.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.1193-1220
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• 2009

This study examined the impact of sonority profiles, positional differences and L2 proficiency on Korean EFL learners' perception of English biconsonantal clusters, using nonce words. The overall results showed that major predictions of the sonority-based typological markedness on consonant clusters were supported, as obstruent plus sonorant and sonorant plus obstruent sequences were better perceived than obstruent only or sonorant only sequences. Yet, some consonant clusters did not show a preference for sonority profiles. Positional effects were also confirmed, as word-initial biconsonantal clusters were better perceived than wordfinal ones across all the participant groups. Participants' English proficiency turned out to be also important in the perception of consonant clusters, since university students' mean rate of accuracy was highest, followed by that of high school students, which in turn followed by that of middle school students. Further, the effects of other factors like frequency and stimuli on speech perception were also addressed, along with some implications for future research.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Navigation and Port Research Conference
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• 2023.05a
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• pp.19-20
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• 2023

IALA Guideline 1132 is intended to assist authorities in implementing the procedures described in IALA Recommendation R1012: VTS Communications with the objective of harmonizing VTS communications through the use of standard message structure and phraselogly. For this reason, it is recommended that VTS Authorities put adequate procedures in place to ensure its consistent and correct implementation for the actual VTS operation as is now being considered in IALA as part of the VTS English language proficiency test. In light of the 2022 publication of IALA Guideline 1132: VTS Voice Communications and Phraseology, in this sense, the potential evaluative variables will be studied in the context of this presentation.

• Journal of Korean language education
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.163-197
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• 2018

The present study suggests ways to improve the Korean proficiency screening test through an analysis of WIDA tests. A review of WIDA Screener, WIDA MODEL, and W-APT reveals that each of these three tests consists of four or five tests, corresponding to grade-level clusters. In addition, the WIDA screening tests assess both English for social communication and academic English, according to WIDA's five English Language Development (ELD) standards. Thematic folders of the ELD standards have different ranges of item difficulty, and the WIDA screening tests are adaptive tests. Lastly, the writing tests consist of performance-based tasks, and the rubric is holistic. As suggestions for improvement for Korean screening tests of the KSL curriculum, this study proposes (a) to devise items to assess academic Korean, so as to evaluate students' overall proficiency more accurately, (b) to utilize an adaptive method to screen students' proficiency more efficiently, and (c) to revise the writing tasks and rubric of the current KSL screening tests.

• Korean Linguistics
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• v.63
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• pp.103-132
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• 2014

This study compares various speech rates of Korean learners with those of native Korean. Speech data were collected from 34 native Koreans and 33 Korean learners (19 Chinese and 14 Japanese). Each participant recorded a 9 syllabled Korean sentence at three different speech rate types. A total of 603 speech samples were analyzed by speech rate types (normal, slow, and fast), native languages (Korean, Chinese, Japanese), and learners' proficiency levels (beginner, intermediate, and advanced). We found that learners' L1 background plays a role in categorizing different speech rates in the L2 (Korean), and also that the leaners' proficiency correlates with the increase of speaking rate regardless of speech rate categories. More importantly, faster speech rate values found in the advanced level of learners do not necessarily match to the native speakers' speech rate categories. This means that learning speech rate categories can be more complex than we think of proficiency or fluency. That is, speech rate categories may not be acquired automatically during the course of second language learning, and implicit or explicit exposures to various rate types are necessary for second language learners to acquire a high level of communicative skills including speech rate variation. This paper discusses several pedagogical implications in terms of teaching pronunciation to second language learners.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.171-198
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• 2009

The current study explored a pedagogical possibility of utilizing magic as a source of communicative tasks for young learners in developing their English speaking proficiency. Fifteen primary school students participated in the study, which consisted of a 17-week period of task-based English instruction and data collection. The participants were instructed to accomplish various types of magic task through collaborative group interaction. The data collected for the study pertained to the students' linguistic outputs, interactions in group and attitudes to English learning. They were analyzed for how magic tasks affect the students' English proficiency developments and group interactions. The study results suggested the significant improvement in the students' English speaking proficiencies. They revealed that magic tasks contributed to a) enhancing the motivation to speak in English, b) stimulating the creative and problem-solving processes, and c) providing the sufficient opportunity to repeat and internalize the target expressions. The study results also indicated that the students' satisfaction with their group members and tasks seemed to have positive influences on their interactions in group and English proficiency development. Further discussion and pedagogical implications are provided as well as the study limitations.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.115-121
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• 2011

This paper examines how L2 speech production varies according to learner's L2 proficiency level. L2 speech production variations are analyzed by quantitative measures at word and phone levels using Korean learners' English corpus. Word-level variations are analyzed using correctness to explain how speech realizations are different from the canonical forms, while accuracy is used for analysis at phone level to reflect phone insertions and deletions together with substitutions. The results show that speech production of learners with different L2 proficiency levels are considerably different in terms of performance and individual realizations at word and phone levels. These results confirm that speech production of non-native speakers varies according to their L2 proficiency levels, even though they share the same L1 background. Furthermore, they will contribute to improve non-native speech recognition performance of ASR-based English language educational system for Korean learners of English.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.595-617
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• 2010

This paper proposes a novel of a personalized Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) system based on learner's cognitive abilities related to foreign language proficiency. In this CALL system, a strategy of retrieval learning, a method of learning memory cycle, and a method of repeated learning are applied for effective vocabulary memorization. The system is designed to offer personalized learning based on cognitive abilities related to the human language process. For this, the proposed CALL system has a cognitive diagnosis module which can measure five types of cognitive abilities. The results of this diagnosis are used to create dynamic learning scenarios for personalized learning and to evaluate user performance in the learning. This system is also designed in order to have users be able to create learning word lists and to share them simply with various functions based on open APIs. Additionally, through experiments, it has shown that this system helps students to learn English vocabulary effectively and enhances their foreign language skills.

• Journal of the International Relations & Interdisciplinary Education
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.57-83
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• 2024

This study aimed to investigate the impact of scores on the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) among foreign exchange students on academic adaptation. Recruited students, approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB), totaled seven, and their interview contents were analyzed using a comprehensive analysis procedure based on pragmatic eclecticism (Lee, Kim, 2014), utilizing six stages. As a result, factors influencing academic adaptation of Korean language learners for academic purposes were categorized into three dimensions: academic, daily life, and psychological-emotional aspects. On the academic front, interviewees pointed out difficulties in adapting to specialized terminology and studying in their majors, as well as experiencing significant challenges with Chinese characters and Sino-Korean words. Next, from a daily life perspective, even participants holding advanced TOPIK scores faced difficulties in adapting to university life, emphasizing the necessity of practical expressions and extensive vocabulary for proper adjustment to Korean life. Lastly, within the psychological-emotional dimension, despite being advanced TOPIK holders, they were found to experience considerable stress in conversations or presentations with Koreans. Their lack of knowledge in social-cultural and everyday life culture also led to linguistic errors and contributed to psychological-emotional difficulties, despite proficiency in Korean. Based on these narratives, the conclusion was reached that in order to promote the academic adaptation of Korean language learners, it is essential to provide opportunities for Korean language learning. With this goal in mind, efforts should be directed towards enhancing learners' academic proficiency in their majors, improving Korean language fluency, and fostering interpersonal relationships within the academic community. Furthermore, the researchers suggested as a solution to implement various extracurricular activities tailored for foreign learners.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.391-411
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of culture teaching and using web sites as a method of culture teaching in college English education. To achieve these purposes, a web-based culture teaching-learning model was developed and applied in English classes. Then, the effects were compared with those of a culture teaching method which were based on the traditional verbal explanation. As the tools for this study, two test sheets were used to measure language proficiency and American cultural knowledge. Focusing on the study results, the conclusions were summed up as follows: First, for enhancing the American cultural knowledge, using the web was found to be more effective than traditional verbal explanations. Second, for English language enhancement through web-based culture teaching, it is necessary to do it for each level of English proficiency or develop web sites which fit well with students' interests or levels.