• Journal of Korean language education
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.1-23
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• 2018

This paper investigates how adult Mandarin- and English- speaking learners of Korean perceive Korean vowels, with focus on the effect of the first language (L1) and the second language (L2) acoustic relationship, as well as the influence of Korean language experience. For this study, native Mandarin and Canadian English speakers who have learned Korean as a foreign language, as well as a control group of native Korean speakers, participated in two experiments. Experiment 1 was designed to examine acoustic similarities between Korean and English vowels, as well as Korean and Mandarin vowels to predict which Korean vowels are relatively easy, or difficult for L2 learners to perceive. The linear discriminant analysis (Klecka, 1980) based on their L1-L2 acoustic similarity predicted that L2 Mandarin learners would have perceptual difficulty rankings for Korean vowels as follows: (the easiest) /i, a, e/ >> /ɨ, ʌ, o, u/ (most difficult), whereas L2 English learners would have perceptual difficulty rankings for Korean vowels as follows: (the easiest) /i, a, e, ɨ, ʌ/ >> /o, u/ (most difficult). The goal of Experiment 2 was to test how accurately L2 Mandarin and English learners perceive Korean vowels /ɨ, ʌ, o, u/ which are considered to be difficult for L2 learners. The results of a mixed-effects logistic model revealed that English listeners showed higher identification accuracy for Korean vowels than Mandarin listeners, indicating that having a larger L1 vowel inventory than the L2 facilitates L2 vowel perception. However, both groups have the same ranking of Korean vowel perceptual difficulty: ɨ > ʌ > u > o. This finding indicates that adult learners of Korean can perceive the new vowel /ɨ/, which does not exist in their L1, more accurately than the vowel /o/, which is acoustically similar to vowels in their L1, suggesting that L2 learners are more likely to establish additional phonetic categories for new vowels. In terms of the influence of experience with L2, it was found that identification accuracy increases as Korean language experience rises. In other words, the more experienced English and Mandarin learners of Korean are, the more likely they are to have better identification accuracy in Korean vowels than less experienced learners of Korean. Moreover, there is no interaction between L1 background and L2 experience, showing that identification accuracy of Korean vowels is higher as Korean language experience increases regardless of their L1 background. Overall, these findings of the two experiments demonstrated that acoustic similarity between L1 and L2 sounds using the LDA model can partially predict perceptual difficulty in L2 acquisition, indicating that other factors such as perceptual similarity between L1 and L2, the merge of Korean /o/ and /u/ may also influence their Korean vowel perception.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.35-46
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• 2021

In this study, we examined the interactive aspects between pitch reduction phenomena considered a universal language phenomenon and native language interference in the production of L2 intonation performed by Chinese learners of Korean. To investigate their interaction, we conducted an acoustic analysis using acoustic measures such as pitch span, pitch level, pitch dynamic quotient, skewness, and kurtosis. In addition, the correlation between text comprehension and pitch was examined. The analyzed material consisted of four Korean discourses containing five and seven sentences of varying difficulty. Seven Korean native speakers and thirty Chinese learners who differed in their Korean proficiency participated in the production test. The results, for differences by language, showed that Chinese had a more expanded pitch span, and a higher pitch level than Korean. The analysis between groups showed that at the beginner and intermediate levels, pitch reduction was prominent, i.e., their Korean was characterized by a compressed pitch span, low pitch level, and less sentence internal pitch variation. Contrariwise, the pitch use of advanced speakers was most similar to Korean native speakers. There was no significant correlation between text difficulty and pitch use. Through this study, we observed that pitch reduction was more pronounced than native language interference in the phonetic layer.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.1019-1029
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• 2014

In recent years, researchers have become increasingly interested in the creation and pedagogical use of English learner corpora. Many studies have shown that learner corpora can not only make a significant contribution to second language acquisition research but also contribute to the construction and evaluation of language tests by advancing our understanding of English learners. So far, however, little attention has been paid to the Korean EFL (English as a foreign language) learners' corpus. The Yonsei English Learner Corpus (YELC 2011) is a specialized, monolingual, and synchronic Korean EFL learner corpus that was developed by Yonsei University from 2011 to 2012. Over 3,000 Korean high school graduates (or equivalents) who were accepted by Yonsei University for their further studies participated in this project. It consists of 6,572 written texts (1,085,828 words) at nine different English proficiency levels. In this paper, we describe its compilation, and more specifically, how we have corpusized from a text archive to a corpus. After introducing the process of corpusization, we report arresting insights into the specific linguistic features that different proficiency levels of Korean learners of English have. This study also discusses the potential use of the YELC 2011 which is now freely available for research purposes.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.552-562
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• 2016

Although a number of studies have been conducted in Korea since 2000 on the impact of early English education, their interpretation is still not conclusive, due to their lack of control groups and failure to control for third factors and use valid measurements. The present study was designed to examine the effect of an English education program on young children's English proficiency after 8 months using the most well-known official English proficiency measure, the WIDA for kindergarteners. In addition, the children's Korean language proficiency, cognitive abilities, personality, parents' SES, and parents' attitudinal variables before the education were measured and controlled. The results indicated that the intervention group performed better than the control group in both listening and speaking skills, even when all relevant factors were considered. This effect, however, was only found in the item-level analyses.

• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.243-263
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• 2018

This research investigated whether inter-word spaces, the spaces between words, can affect the efficiency of Korean-speaking CSL(Chinese as a second language) learners in Chinese reading of Korean-speaking's ability to read Chinese. Through eye movement tracking experiments, CSL learners of different proficiency levels(beginning, intermediate, and advanced) and native Chinese readers were asked to read Chinese sentences with and without inter-word spaces. The tests analysed the participants' fixation counts and the time spent in reading each sentences and also between each words. In terms of the fixation counts and time spent between sentences, the results show that there were no significant difference in participants' fixation counts from reading sentences with and without inter-word spaces. The results also prove that reading sentences with inter-word spaces significantly shortened the reading time for both CSL learners and native Chinese readers. Even for the participants' fixation counts and time duration between each words, participants spent significantly less fixation counts and reading time while reading words with inter-word spaces. The results were more prominent and positive in tests conducted with CSL learners of lower proficiency. This research shows that inter-word spaces in Chinese texts can enhance the efficiency of chinese learners' reading ability.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.167-180
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to find out the results of synesthesia speech training using similar language for shaping audiobook text. The audiobook text for training uses Tolstoy's work, and uses similar language of tone, tone, pose, speed, intonation, accent, and expression of emotions. The participants who ten visually impaired trainee in H library were selected for qualitative research. Based on the research questions raised in this study, the results are as follows. First, synesthesia training, in which more than two senses of the five senses work simultaneously in voice training for audio book text shaping, produced the result by visualizing the original purpose, meaning, and background of the text. Second, the use of similar language was helpful in the whole process of expressing the meaning of sentence and dialogue for audiobook text shaping. In addition, although there were some differences among the study subjects, they found commonalities that considered tone, pose, and intonation important. Third, the visually impaired have advanced sensory aspects and memory, which resulted in rapid acquisition of metabolism and acceptance of transmission during training. In addition, the teacher's friendly behavior was a very important key mediator in the training process.

• Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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• 2000.07a
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• pp.235-240
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• 2000

In the age of global communication, more human exchange is extended at the grass-roots level. In the old days, language policy and language planning was based on one nation-state with one language. But high waves of globalizaiton have allowed extended human flow of exchange beyond one's national border on a daily basis. Under such circumstances, homogeneity in Japan may not allow Japanese to speak and communicate only in Japanese and only with Japanese people. In Japan, an advisory report was made to the Ministry of Education in June 1996 about what education should be like in the 21st century. In this report, an introduction of English at public elementary schools was for the first time made. A basic policy of English instruction at the elementary school level was revealed. With this concept, English instruction is not required at the elementary school level but each school has their own choice of introducing English as their curriculum starting April 2002. As Baker, Colin (1996) indicates the age of three as being the threshold diving a child becoming bilingual naturally or by formal instruction. Threre is a movement towards making second language acquisition more naturalistic in an educational setting, developing communicative competence in a more or less formal way. From the lesson of the Canadian immersion success, Genesee (1987) stresses the importance of early language instruction. It is clear that from a psycho-linguistic perspective, most children acquire basic communication skills in their first language apparently effortlessly and without systematic and formal instruction during the first six or seven years of life. This innate capacity diminishes with age, thereby making language learning increasingly difficult. The author, being a returnee, experienced considerable difficulty acquiring L2, and especially achieving native-like competence. There will be many hurdles to conquer until Japanese students are able to reach at least a communicative level in English. It has been mentioned that English is not taught to clear the college entrance examination, but to communicate. However, Japanese college entrance examination still makes students focus more on the grammar-translation method. This is expected to shift to a more communication stressed approach. Japan does not have to aim at becoming an official bilingual country, but at least communicative English should be taught at every level in school Mito College is a small two-year co-ed college in Japan. Students at Mito College are basically notgood at English. It has only one department for business and economics, and English is required for all freshmen. It is necessary for me to make my classes enjoyable and attractive so that students can at least get motivated to learn English. My major target is communicative English so that students may be prepared to use English in various business settings. As an experiment to introduce more communicative English, the author has made the following syllabus design. This program aims at training students speak and enjoy English. 90-minute class (only 190-minute session per week is most common in Japanese colleges) is divided into two: The first half is to train students orally using Graded Direct Method. The latter half uses different materials each time so that students can learn and enjoy English culture and language simultaneously. There are no quizes or examinations in my one-academic year program. However, all students are required to make an original English poem by the end of the spring semester. 2-6 students work together in a group on one poem. Students coming to Mito College, Japan have one of the lowest English levels in all of Japan. However, an attached example of one poem made by a group shows that students can improve their creativity as long as they are kept encouraged. At the end of the fall semester, all students are then required individually to make a 3-minute original English speech. An example of that speech contest will be presented at the Convention in Seoul.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.15 no.10
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• pp.183-190
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• 2010

The present study attempted to identify the metacognitive strategies used by L2 writers at the university level as well as their particular aspects which might influence the use of these strategies. Twenty-seven participants, all of whom were enrolled in an English course, were asked to write an expository essay and then complete a questionnaire which includes their beliefs and attitudes toward L2 writing experience and the metacognitive strategies during the writing process. It was found that even though inexpert writers knew and employed as many strategies as the expert counterparts did, they were unsuccessful in the quality of their texts. Simply possessing a repertoire of metacognitive strategies was not enough for successful L2 writing. The failure of the inexpert writers to apply these metacognitive strategies in an effective manner was influenced by affective factors such as anxiety, self-confidence, self-concept, etc. As a result of this study, a pedagogical implication is suggested.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.91-103
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• 2015

This research aimed to investigate the benefits of incorporating Problem-Based Learning(PBL) approach in Business English classes in a Korean university. This study focused on student experiences of learning in a PBL environment. The study examined the feasibility of cultivating students' key job competencies, that of their learning achievement and their satisfaction with the PBL approach. Data on student experiences were gathered from questionnaires. The analysis of the data showed, first, that the PBL could cultivate students' key job competencies. Second, the PBL could have a positive effect on students' acquisition of business content knowledge and their English language development. Third, the PBL approach achieved above moderate level of student satisfaction.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.126-136
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• 2020

Recently, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV, Drone) are highly regarded for their potential in the agricultural field, and research and development are actively conducted for various purposes. Therefore, in this study, to present a framework for tracking research trends in UAV use in the agricultural field, we secured a keyword search strategy and analyzed social network, a methodology used to analyze recent research trends or technological trends as an analysis model applied. This study consists of three stages. As a first step in data acquisition, search terms and search formulas were developed for experts in accordance with the Keyword Search Strategy. Data collection was conducted based on completed search terms and search expressions. As a second step, frequency analysis was conducted by country, academic field, and journal based on the number of thesis presentations. Finally, social network analysis was performed. The analysis used the open source programming language 'Python'. Thanks to the efficiency and convenience of unmanned aerial vehicles, this field is growing rapidly and China and the United States are leading global research. Korea ranked 18th, and bold investment in this field is needed to advance agriculture. The results of this study's analysis could be used as important information in government policy making.