• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.169-184
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• 2009

The purpose of this study is to identify the most important factor(s) that contribute(s) to the overall oral proficiency and to examine whether the factor(s) play(s) a different role depending on the proficiency level of learners. Learners were divided into novice group and advanced group and were asked to produce an oral recording of a story based on a comic strip. The recordings were transcribed and graded by three raters. According to the results, the raters attained high inter-rater reliability when assessing advanced learners. However, the reliability level became considerably lower in the assessment of novice learners. The best predictor of oral proficiency among novice learners was sociolinguistic competence and fluency, while grammatical competence and fluency were the strongest predictors for advanced learners. The results suggest the need for a separate assessment tool for different proficiency levels and the need for a different focus in the classroom depending on the learners' proficiency level.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.49-56
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• 2017

Much research attention has been directed to identify how native speakers perceive non-native speakers' oral proficiency. To investigate the generalizability of previous findings, this study examined segmental, phonological, accentual, and temporal correlates of native speakers' evaluation of L2 Korean proficiency produced by learners with various levels and nationalities. Our experiment results show that proficiency ratings by native speakers significantly correlate not only with rate of speech, but also with the segmental accuracies. The influence of segmental errors has the highest correlation with the proficiency of L2 Korean speech. We further verified this finding within substitution, deletion, insertion error rates. Although phonological accuracy was expected to be highly correlated with the proficiency score, it was the least influential measure. Another new finding in this study is that the role of pitch and accent has been underemphasized so far in the non-native Korean speech perception studies. This work will serve as the groundwork for the development of automatic assessment module in Korean CAPT system.

• Asia Pacific Journal of Corpus Research
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.35-45
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• 2021

With the wide spread of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) scales, many studies attempt to apply them in routine teaching and rater training, while more evidence regarding criterial features at different CEFR levels are still urgently needed. The current study aims to explore complexity features that distinguish and predict CEFR proficiency levels in oral performance. Using a quantitative/corpus-based approach, this research analyzed lexical and syntactic complexity features over 80 transcriptions (includes A1, A2, B1 CEFR levels, and native speakers), based on an interview test, Standard Speaking Test (SST). ANOVA and correlation analysis were conducted to exclude insignificant complexity indices before the discriminant analysis. In the result, distinctive differences in complexity between CEFR speaking levels were observed, and with a combination of six major complexity features as predictors, 78.8% of the oral transcriptions were classified into the appropriate CEFR proficiency levels. It further confirms the possibility of predicting CEFR level of L2 learners based on their objective linguistic features. This study can be helpful as an empirical reference in language pedagogy, especially for L2 learners' self-assessment and teachers' prediction of students' proficiency levels. Also, it offers implications for the validation of the rating criteria, and improvement of rating system.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.195-199
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• 2011

There are many causes for the variation of the result in oral proficiency test such as the examiner, the task, the theme of the interview, and the gender of the participants. Previous literature documents that the rater is an important variable influencing test scores of second language oral proficiency. Although much research in language testing has been conducted concerning rater effect on test scores, there has been little attention paid to the effect of potential rater variables in language testing on their rating process. There are noticeably different contents of the rating scales across different speaking tests developed in different context. Therefore, it would not be appropriate to apply the same rating criteria for various tasks. In conclusion, we need more subject protocol analyses and more thoughtful studies on rating processes. In other words, the oral proficiency test needs a more realistic and valid tool for the assessment of second language proficiency.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.181-186
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• 2022

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate inter-observer reliability among observers with different levels of proficiency and the diagnostic imaging reliability of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images of the retromolar canal. Materials and Methods: CBCT images of 307 patients were assessed for the presence of retromolar canals(RMCs) by 3 observers independently. Diagnoses were made twice by each observer at intervals of more than 3 weeks. Interobserver reliability was assessed using the kappa coefficient. One observer had no experience in diagnosis using CBCT images. Therefore, a specialist in diagnostic imaging explained the CBCT images for interpretation and practiced diagnostic imaging together with this observer, while the other observer interpreted the images independently. Thereafter, the observers re-evaluated the images. Results: The interobserver kappa coefficients (including bilateral RMCs) calculated at the first reading were low, ranging from 0.21 to 0.61. Their values ranged from 0.95 (right side) to 1.00 (left side) after one-on-one practice with a diagnostic imaging specialist, while the values ranged from 0.65 (right side) to 0.66 (left side) without one-on-one practice. Conclusion: Diagnostic accuracy was improved through diagnostic imaging practice. To improve the anatomical interpretation of images, it is important to practice diagnostic imaging with a specialist in diagnostic imaging. One-on-one instruction about diagnostic imaging was an effective method of training.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.479-492
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• 2019

Objectives: This study aimed to develop the CAMBRA-kids application for the systematic management of dental caries among preschoolers, activate the dental caries management system, and contribute to the dental caries management of preschoolers. Methods: The collected data were analyzed using R studio 1.2.1335 for Windows (RStudio Inc., Boston, MA, USA, 2018). Algorithm evaluation, heuristic evaluation and usability evaluation were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Both expert evaluations of the application's algorithms were calculated as 100%, for proficiency and efficiency. The application worked well with the designed algorithms, the risk group level of participants was categorized appropriately, and the risk management method was guided properly according to the risk group level. Of the five problems presented in the heuristic evaluation, 'the lack of security' and 'the lack of information on oral health care' received 'high severity' scores. The usability evaluation of the application produces an overall score of 3.27. In the subscales (participation, functionality, aesthetics, and information) of the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS), the 'participation' domain received the lowest score of 2.56 and the 'functional' domain received the highest score of 3.70. Conclusions: The CAMBRA-kids application is expected to be applied and used in the field of preschoolers' oral health care management, and to contribute to the prevention of dental caries of preschoolers by activating the dental caries management system using the application.

• Journal of Korean language education
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.169-201
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• 2014

The purpose of this research is to analyze the problems of the way of the 32th TOPIK(advanced)'s management for the disabled examinee and to prescribe the management of the TOPIK for them. Since the TOPIK started in 1997, the number of examinee who take it as a qualifying exam for the university entrance have gradually increased. The first disabled examinee who wants to use the result of the TOPIK for entrance into the post graduated university took the 32th TOPIK(advanced level). However, there was no examination regulations and detailed management method for the disabled. The biggest problem was the examinee could not have braille test and answer. The exam supervisor read all that is printed on the test sheet. It caused two big problems. 1) The essay question in writing test became an oral test. 2) The strategies of answering to multiple choice questions could not be used in vocabulary/grammar, writing, listening, and specially reading section. The first problem is occurred because writing and speaking have different cognitive process. The second one can be strongly related to the result in reading section. Above all, these disrupt accurate assessment of the examinee's writing and reading achievement. Therefore, this research insists the TOPIK needs to have the regulation and prescribe the management for the disabled. This research suggests 5 regulations for the blind examinee which covers the test time, supervisor, place and request of the examinee. These refer to the regulation for the disable in the other tests, such as the college scholarship ability test, TOEFL, TEPS, and a civil service exam.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.891-902
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• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to propose contents of a curriculum and training program for dental hygienists as medical professionals by surveying the opinions of clinical dental hygienists and dental hygiene professors. Methods: The subjects were 192 clinical dental hygienists and 193 dental hygiene professors. They answered questionnaires that consisted of grading each task based on its importance: a) for dental hygiene students to learn, b) to perform autonomously in clinical practice, and c) the expectancy of the task to change when dental hygienists become medical professionals. Data analysis was performed using an independent sample T test to capture differences between clinical dental hygienists and dental hygiene professors. The terms in the answers of open-ended questionnaires were extracted. We used R 3.5.0, R Recommender, and Wordcloud software packages. Results: Calculus removal had the highest scores for dental hygiene students to learn and expectancy to change when dental hygienists become medical professionals. Physiotherapy of temporomandibular disorders (TMD), planning, performing, and assessment of community oral health programs had the lowest scores in autonomy in clinical practice. The dental hygiene professors gave higher scores in most of the tasks for dental hygiene students to learn, autonomy in clinical practice, and expectancy to change, than did clinical dental hygienists. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), job ethics, and communication were the most frequently mentioned terms in the training as medical professionals program contents. Conclusions: In the future, it will be necessary to study the curriculum to improve the proficiency of dental hygienists as medical professionals.