• Journal of Korean language education
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.49-78
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• 2017

This study aims to analyze the effect of attitudes of Korean residents in Japan towards learning the Korean language and their motivational intensity on their Korean proficiency. Data for this study came from a survey on language use of Korean residents in Japan which was conducted in 2016, and questionnaire items referred to language attitude, language use and the degree of understanding language; language use; language learning and Korean ethnic identity. The main results are as follows. First, there were significant differences in Korean language proficiency depending on age, education levels and generation. Second, the control for socio-demographic characteristics, the influence of attitudes towards Korean language on Korean proficiency was statistically significant. However, Korean proficiency was not significantly influenced by motivational intensity. Lastly, moderated effects of immigrant generation in the relation between Korean language attitudes and Korean proficiency were significant. Therefore, the effect of Korean language attitudes on Korean proficiency was more influential on second and third generation Korean-Japanese learners than first generation Korean-Japanese learners. Based on these results, this study suggests that in order to promote Korean language education for Korean residents in Japan, it is required to build positive attitudes toward Korean language, and to consider immigrant generation as a major factor.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.309-326
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• 2011

This study examines the relationship between second language use outside of class and oral proficiency development. It first identifies out-of-class activities of international graduate students in the U.S. and the average time spent speaking English in those out-of-class activities. Interviews and student self-measurements of time spent speaking English each day were used to investigate the types and quantities of out-of-class activities. In addition, two sets of student oral proficiency test scores were collected. Correlation analysis is used to find out the relationship of the variables between the most salient out-of-class activities and oral proficiency gains. The findings indicate that second language use outside of class is important for international graduate students to improve their oral proficiency. This is especially true with regularized interaction such as talking at work and the average time spent speaking in English a day outside of class. This study suggests that learners of English in an ESL environment should be encouraged to take part in out-of-class activities in addition to English use in the classroom in order for them to improve their oral proficiency.

• Journal of Korean language education
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.221-250
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• 2017

This study aims to discuss the basic foundations to set levels and language skills for developing a Korean Proficiency Test for young and adolescent learners. Recently, there has been an increase in demand regarding young and adolescent learners from multicultural and overseas backgrounds. However, the current Korean Proficiency Test lacks the appropriate means to determine the Korean proficiency of young and adolescent learners with general purposes of language learning. Therefore, there is an urgent need for developing a specialized and new form of language assessment for young and adolescent learners who are exposed to a foreign language or a second language learning environment. The study examines and analyzes cases of foreign language examinations for young & adolescent learners; furthermore, the objectives and target were set based on the results of a needs analysis and in-depth interviews conducted among teachers and education officials in overseas Korean Hangeul Schools, international schools, elementary and secondary schools. Finally, the levels and language skills appropriate for the objectives of a proficiency test and target learners have been suggested.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.55-75
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• 2002

The present study examined whether Kang's (1999) model of the relationships among language learning strategy use and language proficiency for the Asian students could be applied to a more heterogeneous group. In Kang's study, he collected information of language learning strategies of 957 foreign students learning English as a second language in American colleges through a questionnaire. He also measured the subjects' language proficiency with the Institutional Testing Program TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). This study analyzed the same data without the limitation of cultural identity. Structural equation modeling was used to model the relationships among strategy use and language proficiency. Then, the model of the present study was descriptively compared with Kang's (1999) model for the Asian students. The overall flow of the relationship paths appeared to vary very little across the two models, which would have indicated that the generalizability of Kang's (1999) model could be extended more than originally examined. (156)

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.543-556
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• 2021

This study aimed to investigate the factors that influence multicultural adolescents' proficiency in their mother's native language, or their immigrant mother's native language. A hierarchical regression analysis was performed on data from the survey answered by 1,028 multicultural adolescents aged 15 years old and whose mothers were from foreign countries for the 6th Multicultural Adolescents Panel Study(MAPS) conducted by the National Youth Policy Institute (NYPI) in 2016. The main results are as follows. First, multicultural adolescents' minority language proficiency was generally low and significant differences were observed according to their gender, parents' educational level, household income, and mother's native country. More specifically, a higher proficiency in minority language was found for girls than boys, adolescents with a higher parental educational level, adolescents with a higher income, and adolescents whose mothers were from Japan or China, compared with those from the Philippines, Thailand, or Vietnam. Second, a significant positive correlation was observed between multicultural adolescents' minority language proficiency and 1) foreign culture acceptance, 2) parent's educational support, and 3) the use of the minority language at home. Third, foreign culture acceptance, parents' educational support, and the use of the minority language at home were predictors of multicultural adolescents' minority language proficiency. The study is meaningful in that it examined multicultural adolescents' minority language proficiency, elucidating their bilingual development, whereas previous studies have only focused on their proficiency in Korean, which is the majority language.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.363-369
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• 2013

In this paper, the modeling of phenomena that occurs in the brain related language was designed and developed the second language proficiency method. This method based on cognitive ability test in cognitive psychology that is the lexical decision task, the priming task and the verbal span task. The lexical decision task involves measuring how quickly decide stimuli as words or nonwords. This task is divided reading and listening according to stimulus type to the details. The priming task finds the output of the language. This task is divided the translation-priming and the semantic-priming according to stimulus type. The verbal span task finds the short term memory. In this paper, we propose the second language proficiency measurement method using the linguistics cognitive ability of the learner about the second language.

• Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.187-209
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• 2001

This study attempts to supplement what is known about the influence of prior knowledge on second language listening comprehension. To do so, the study examines the effect of prior knowledge and language proficiency on the ability of L2 listeners to understand texts. The purpose of an experiment was to determine the effect of topic familiarity on the L2 listening comprehension ability of subjects who varied in L2 listening proficiency level. The subjects (N=117) were selected from a population of college students enrolled in the Departments of English and Business in Korea. English listening proficiency levels were designated on the basis of TOEFL listening scores. Subjects listened twice each to texts (more familiar and less familiar). After listening to each text, a ten-item objective test was administered to test the subjects' comprehension of the information presented in the text. Objective tests were analyzed. using repeated measures analysis. A post hoc test was conducted to identify the means that were significantly different. This study yielded the following results: (1) subjects with high prior knowledge comprehended texts significantly better than did subjects with low prior knowledge; (2) the level of L2 listening proficiency had a significant effect on the L2 listening comprehension of texts, but there was no interaction between prior knowledge and the level of L2 listening proficiency.

• Journal of Korean language education
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.123-159
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• 2012

This study investigates relationships between TOPIK ratings and measures of grammaticality judgement competence in the acquisition of Korean as a second language. Data were collected on the linguistic abilities of learners' at 3 to 6 on the TOPIK scale, focusing on perception in grammar-mostly morphology and syntax, some lexis, and a few of collocation. The results show that (i) proficiency and grammaticality judgement competence show high correlation, (ii) individual accuracy scores correlate strongly with levels on the TOPIK proficiency scale on most linguistic features in the test, and (iii) Japanese speakers outperform Chinese speakers at the same levels of proficiency on most linguistic features. The findings indicate that global proficiency scales like the TOPIK can be deconstructed using grammaticality judgement test that provides detailed measures of learners' control of linguistic features.

• 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.

• 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.