• 말소리와 음성과학
• /
• 제3권3호
• /
• pp.77-88
• /
• 2011

Foreign accent in second language production depends heavily on the transfer of features from the first language. This study examines acoustic variations in segments and suprasegments by native and nonnative speakers of English, searching for patterns of the transfer and plausible indexes of foreign accent in English. The acoustic variations are analyzed with recorded read speech by 20 native English speakers and 50 Korean learners of English, in terms of vowel formants, vowel duration, and syllabic variation induced by stress. The results show that the acoustic measurements of vowel formants and vowel and syllable durations display difference between native speakers and nonnative speakers. The difference is robust in the production of lax vowels, diphthongs, and stressed syllables, namely the English-specific features. L1 transfer on L2 specification is found both at the segmental levels and at the suprasegmental levels. The transfer levels measured as groups and individuals further show a continuum of divergence from the native-like target. Overall, the eldest group, students who are in the graduate schools, shows more native-like patterns, suggesting weaker foreign accent in English, whereas the high school students tend to involve larger deviation from the native speakers' patterns. Individual results show interdependence between segmental transfer and prosodic transfer, and correlation with self-reported proficiency levels. Additionally, experience factors in English such as length of English study and length of residence in English speaking countries are further discussed as factors to explain the acoustic variation.

• 한국산학기술학회논문지
• /
• 제17권3호
• /
• pp.537-543
• /
• 2016

본 연구는 중급 하 수준의 성인 영어 학습자의 말하기능력향상을 위한 토론수업모형을 제시하고 있다. 수업모형은 읽기, 쓰기, 듣기, 말하기의 네 가지 기술을 모두 사용하여 학습자의 스키마(schema)지식을 높이고 토론전략을 연습하는 단계로 구성한다. 토론주제는 학습자들의 인지능력에 적합하고 언어학습의 동기를 높이기 위해 학습자를 대상으로 설문을 통하여 10가지 주제를 선정한다. 토론식 수업모형의 교육적 효과를 살펴보기 위해 서울소재 영어과 2학년 26명을 대상으로 파일럿 실험을 한다. 공인영어말하기시험인 OPIc(Oral Proficiency Interview in computer)을 사용하여 사전, 사후시험을 실시하고 두 시험의 결과를 분석한다. 실험결과 참가자 대부분(82%)을 차지한 중급 하 수준이하의 학습자들은 실험 후 47%로 감소하였고, 실험 전 18%(5명)의 중급 중이상의 언어숙련도 분포는 실험 후 53%(14명)로 증가하였다. 전체적으로 한 단계 수준상승이 있었다. 토론식 수업모형은 학습자들의 언어숙련도 수준에 관계없이 토론수업을 할 수 있다는 가능성을 보여준다. 대학교 수준이상의 영어학습자들은 자신의 인지능력에 적합한 다양하고 창의적인 생각들을 좀 더 형식을 갖춘 지적인 언어로 표현할 필요가 있다. 토론식 수업모형은 종전의 대화식 영어회화와는 다른 새롭고 효과적인 교수법의 대안이 될 수 있다는 긍정적 평가가 기대된다.

• 영어어문교육
• /
• 제12권3호
• /
• pp.187-210
• /
• 2006

This study aims to investigate the effects of the implementation of self-directed learning through the homepage between the teacher and the students for English reading classes. The study focuses on the questions of whether the self-directed learning through the homepage, compared to the teacher-centered learning, would enable a significantly positive change in the students' achievements and of what their responses to this new learning method are. 72 students were grouped into an experimental and a control group, and then each group was subdivided into three levels (high, medium, low) of proficiency. Findings demonstrate that the experimental group showed statistically more significant increases in their scores of reading proficiency test than the control group. For the question of students' responses to the learning experience, the three groups within the experimental group responded to a questionnaire survey with regard to the positive attitude of learning, the effectiveness of self-directed learning and its learning materials, and usability of the homepage. In general, the experimental group considered the experience satisfactory, although the degree of positive responses varied according to the proficiency level of the group. This suggests the importance and effectiveness of self-directed learning using the computer and internet as a supplementary learning tool.

• 한국어학
• /
• 제63권
• /
• pp.103-132
• /
• 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.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
• /
• 제11권3호
• /
• pp.156-162
• /
• 2023

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of peer scaffolding on the writing fluency of English language learners. This study was intended to confirm that peer scaffolding in English as a foreign language (EFL) writing classes can improve students' English proficiency. An analysis of 20 EFL learners studying at a university in Gyeonggi Province was conducted based on the English Proficiency Test. In this study, 20 intermediate learners with similar proficiency levels were included in the sample. Randomly, 10 students were designated as members of the control group, and 10 students were designated as members of the experimental group. In the experimental group, students practiced essay writing, while a skilled student provided scaffolding for a less skilled student. A variety of tools were used to gather data, including tests, questionnaires, and interviews Statistical analyses of quantitative data were conducted using t-tests for independent samples, whereas analyses of qualitative data were conducted based on themes. Pre-test results indicated a significant value of sig. =0.87, which was higher than α = 0.05. According to the results of this study, the writing performance of both experimental and control groups of students was equal and homogeneous prior to treatment. However, there were significant differences between the writing of students in the two groups after the completion of the program. Due to the post-test analysis of the writing test, the test resulted in a sig. =0 .043, a value lower than α = 0.05. As a result, the experimental group participants showed a marked improvement in their writing abilities after treatment.

• 한국어교육
• /
• 제28권3호
• /
• pp.1-24
• /
• 2017

This article explores the developmental history of TOPIK over the last 20 years and its recent trends. Over the last two decades, TOPIK underwent two major systematic reforms, achieving both quantitative and qualitative growth over the course of its 52 testing sessions. TOPIK has utilized a six-level evaluation system from its inception to the present. The evaluation system was amended from the earlier six-test set - whereby each level corresponded with a separate test (1997~2005: the $1^{st}{\sim}9^{th}$) - to the three-test set (2006~2014: the $10^{th}{\sim}34^{th}$), and finally to the two-test set (2014~present: the $35^{th}{\sim}42^{nd}$). In the earlier exams, abilities in Vocabulary Grammar, Writing, Listening, and Reading were assessed. However, beginning with the $35^{th}$ TOPIK, abilities in Listening, Reading, and Writing (only in TOPIK II) were assessed and the evaluation of the writing section was changed to a task-based process, improving TOPIK into a more qualified analysis of proficiency. Over the last 20 years, the number of countries TOPIK is administered in has greatly increased from 4 to 73 countries, and the annual number of test-takers has also significantly increased from 2,692 to 250,141. The distribution of proficiency levels of the test-takers has shifted over time - initially "Beginner>Intermediate>Advanced" in the earlier exams, to "Intermediate>Advanced>Beginner" after the mid 2000s - as the number of those studying the Korean language for specific purposes and continuing education increased. Test-takers have indicated a shift in their purpose for taking the exam, initially citing "to assess proficiency" and more recently selecting "to study abroad," and this could also correlate with changes in the proportion of test-takers' proficiency level. In general, 85~95% of beginner, 50~65% of intermediate, and 45~60% of advanced test applicants passed the respective proficiency level. To date, no practices have yet been implemented to standardize the difficulty level longitudinally across test sets.

• 한국과학교육학회지
• /
• 제31권2호
• /
• pp.225-238
• /
• 2011

이 연구는 과학 수업 내용에 대한 이해와 질문을 바탕으로 학생들에게 문제를 만들어보게 하는 훈련을 실시한 수업이 전통적인 수업과 비교해 학업성취도, 메타인지, 자기 효능감에 미치는 영향을 알아보고, 이들 요소들과 함께 만들어낸 문제의 수준이 학업성취수준에 따라 어떻게 변하는지에 대해서도 알아보고자 하였다. 연구 대상은 부산시에 소재한 남자 중학교 2학년 65명을 두 개의 집단으로 나누어 실시하였으며 비교 집단은 전통적인 수업을 실시하였으며, 실험집단은 수업이 끝나기 전 15분 정도 1인당 3개의 문제를 스스로 만들어보고 동료 간에 문제를 풀어보도록 하는 문제생성훈련을 통한 수업을 실시하였다. 사전에 실시된 형성평가를 바탕으로 학생들의 성취수준을 상위 중위 하위의 3개 집단으로 나누고 사전 메타인지 검사와 자기 효능감 검사를 실시하였다. 수업 처치가 끝난 후에는 학업성취도 검사, 메타인지 검사, 자기 효능감 검사를 실시하고 이를 분석하기 위해 t-검정을 실시하였으며. 문제수준의 차이를 분석하기 위해서 일원공변량분석(One-way ANCOVA)을 실시하였다. 연구 결과를 보면 문제생성훈련은 메타인지나 자기 효능감 및 학업 성취도에 긍정적인 효과가 있음을 알 수 있었다. 좀 더 상위수준의 문제를 만드는 학생들의 수가 점차 많아짐을 통해 학생들은 성취수준에 상관없이 보다 많은 사고를 필요로 하는 좋은 문제를 만들어 내는 능력을 획득하고 있음을 알 수 있었다.

• 영어어문교육
• /
• 제11권1호
• /
• pp.77-98
• /
• 2005

The purpose of the study is to investigate whether focus-on-form instruction is effective in promoting accuracy in writing and to make some suggestions regarding education in business English writing. For this purpose, an experiment, of which the participants were 29 college sophomores taking a course in business English, was made. The learners received instruction in the English nouns followed by modificatory phrases or clauses through the focus-on-form techniques, feedback and explicit explanation. The results were as follows: First, the learners who received focus-on-form instruction improved accuracy in writing. Second, there was a correlation between the learners' English proficiency levels and the effects of focus-on-form instruction. Third, the high level learners showed more positive attitude toward focus-on-form instruction than the low level ones. To promote accuracy in written business communication, the following suggestions were made on the basis of the results: First, focus-on-form instruction should be incorporated into a content-based business English class. Second, repeated focus-on-form instruction is needed. Third, learners' English proficiency levels should be taken into account when focus-on-form instruction is given.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• 제34권6호
• /
• pp.1698-1702
• /
• 2013

Glucose is a common medical analyte measuring in human serum or blood samples. The development of a primary method is necessary for the establishment of traceability in measurements. We have developed an isotope dilution liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry as a primary method for the measurement of glucose in human serum. Glucose and glucose-$^{13}C_6$ in sample were ionized in ESI negative mode and monitored at mass transfers of m/z 179/89 and 185/92 in MRM, respectively. Glucose was separated on $NH_2P$-50 2D column, and the mobile phase was 20 mM $NH_4OAc$ in 30% acetonitrile/70% water. Verification of this method was performed by the comparison with NIST SRMs. Our results agreed well with the SRM values. We have developed two levels of glucose serum certified reference material using this method and distributed them to the clinical laboratories in Korea as samples for proficiency testings. The expended uncertainty was about 1.2% on 95% confidence level. In proficiency testings, the results obtained from the clinical laboratories showed about 3.6% and 3.9% RSD to the certified values. Primary method can provide the traceability to the field laboratories through proficiency testings or certified reference materials.

• 말소리와 음성과학
• /
• 제1권3호
• /
• pp.3-18
• /
• 2009

Do loanword properties emerge in the acquisition of a foreign language and if so, how? Classic studies in adult language learning assumed loanword properties that range from near-ceiling to near-chance level of appearance depending on speech proficiency. The present research argues that such variations reflect different phonological types, rather than speech proficiency. To investigate the difference between learner speech and loanword phonology, the current research analyzes the speech data from five different proficiency levels of 92 Korean speakers who read 19 pairs of English words and sentences that contained loanwords. The experimental method is primarily an acoustical one, by which the phonological cause in the loanwords (e.g., the insertion of [$\Box$] at the end of the word stamp) would be attested to appear in learner speech, in comparison with native speech from 11 English speakers and 11 Korean speakers. The data investigated for the research are of segment deletion, insertion, substitution, and alternation in both learner speech and the native speech. The results indicate that learner speech does not present the loanword properties in many cases, but depends on the types of phonological causes. The relatively easy acquisition of target pronunciation is evidenced in the cases of segment deletion, insertion, substitution, and alternation, except when the loanword property involves the successful command of the target phonology such as the de-aspiration of [p] in apple. Such a case of difficult learning draws a sharp distinction from the cases of easy learning in the development of learner speech, particularly beyond the intermediate level of proficiency. Overall, learner speech departs from loanword phonology and develops toward the native speech value, depending on phonological contrasts in the native and foreign languages.