• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.1-18
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• 2011

The object of this study is to show some features of English, focused on such mechanics as punctuation and transition, in Korean presidential addresses transcribed in English which are different from those of the United States. Towards that end, the presidential addresses of the United States and Korea from January, 2010 to June, 2010 are collected, made into corpora, and analyzed. Through analyzing the corpora, this paper is to address the following research questions: (1) What features can be regarded as different in terms of punctuation and transition? (2) If there are any differences between the corpora, are they significant enough to pose any problems for Korean and American English users to communicate with each other? (3) If so, what can be done to solve the problems in regard to pedagogical implications? Overall, as for punctuation, both Presidents' addresses share a lot in common, even with some idiosyncratic variations though. However, there are some noticeable differences in transitional devices. It is not clear whether those should be taken as a sign of personal preference, though. Transitional markers are meant to be part of wording in writing. (196 words).

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.115-137
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• 2011

The tourism industry has attained remarkable growth, and the need for professional Tourism English education has increased. Universities of online education can offer an environment for education to both job applicants and laymen who are interested in Tourism English. Tourism English belongs to English for Specific Purposes, which reflects the needs of specific area. The aim of this study is to propose improvements in classes design for online Tourism English instruction. The results of a needs analysis conducted on 160 Korean online university students suggest that online Tourism English class should be different from a traditional classroom-based one in regards to aims, contents, and methods. Online Tourism English class should not only focus on English for specific purposes, but also include more generalized topics. This comes as a result of the diverse backgrounds of online students. The results suggest that extralinguistic elements, such as culture and etiquette differences among English-speaking countries, become more interesting when introduced using pictures, videos, animations, etc. Additionally, SMS or emails can be utilized to raise students' motivation for online Tourism English class.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.255-272
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• 2011

As the demand of English education is increasing, the demand for Native English speaking teachers (NEST) is rising, especially in Asian countries. However, due to the low number of NEST, the Korean government is suggesting that Filipino Women be used as English teachers as an alternative. This study aims to answer three questions: (1) are Filipino women in Korea qualified to teach English based on the error analysis of their written essays? (2) what are the linguistic features found in their diagnostic essays? and (3) is their written English better than Korean college students' written English based on the comparison of the two groups? The findings from the Filipino participants show the most frequently occurring errors are related to punctuation usage (commas and hyphens), vocabulary (word choice), verb usage, redundancy, and even as basic as capitalization usage. The results from the comparison of the two groups show that the percentage of the Filipino participants' written error was 14% while the percentage of the Korean participants was 17%. The findings would give us some ideas on the qualification of Filipino women in Korea as English teachers.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.161-175
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• 2011

This paper examines Korean EFL high school students' reader responses on an expository text and a narrative text with the same topic. The purpose of the study is to investigate whether they have different reading models depending on the two genres and whether there are any differences depending on the learners' proficiency levels. The analysis focuses on textual, critical, and aesthetic reading models in the reader responses written in English by science-gifted high school students (N=30). The results show that the participants have different reading models in reading an expository text and a narrative text. They tend to read the expository text in a more critical way while reading the narrative text in a more personal and emotional way. Moreover, regardless of the proficiency levels, they wrote longer responses on the narrative text than the expository text. However, the proficiency level of English does not support any significant differences in the types of reading models. The findings provide Korean EFL high school students' characteristics in L2 reading and suggest the pedagogical implication to pursue linguistic development as well as reading for pleasure.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.153-169
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• 2012

This study reviews an English enhancement course implemented for medical and nursing college students of 2011 to improve their standardized English test scores. A total of 117 first-year students underwent the pre-test and the post-TOEIC in November 2011. After the pre-test, lectures on listening enhancement strategies and problem solving tactics on reading comprehension were supplemented with 4 times of enhancement-tests. Their pre- and post-TOEIC results were compared to see if such enhancement strategies were effective to improve their TOEIC scores. It was further to investigate, through survey questionnaires, how the subjects felt about a number of pre-test-type TOEIC exercise with what-to-listen and how-to-infer listening strategies and pattern-drill practices for reading comprehension. It was found that the scores of listening comprehension improved significantly for both major students whereas reading scores showed slight decrease among nursing majors. It is concluded that administering numerous pre-test-type-TOEIC exercise is effective for students to improve their listening scores supplemented with listening strategies Also, students' response showed positive toward the enhancement course.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.1-22
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• 2012

This study explores the effects of phonological awareness instruction with phonetics on listening comprehension and speaking. For the test of measuring the improvement of listening comprehension, two nationwide listening comprehension tests were used for pre-test and post-test. To find out the improvement of speaking ability, students were required to take the Level-3 NEAT speaking tests. There was a notable correlation between phonological awareness instruction with phonetics and listening ability. Also a significant correlation between phonological awareness instruction with phonetics and speaking ability was found. The group with phonological awareness class with phonetics received higher scores in listening and speaking test than the group without phonological awareness class with phonetics in the post-test. This study implies that phonological awareness class with phonetics is helpful for the improvement of listening and speaking ability. With this research, we can also say that students' communicative competence increased.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.171-195
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• 2012

While noticing that there is insufficient interest in the assessment of EFL learners' vocabulary levels or sizes, the researchers developed two tests identical in form (Forms A and B) to assess the lexical knowledge of Korean university learners at the $1^{st}{\sim}10^{th}$ 1,000 word bands by adapting a pre-established vocabulary levels test (VLT). Of equal concern was to investigate if the VLT was equally a valid and reliable instrument to be used on measuring the lexical knowledge of EFL learners. The participants were 804 university freshmen enrolled in a General Education English Course from four different colleges. The learners were asked to respond to either Form A or B. While scores generally fell towards the lower frequency bands, multiple regression found the Korean College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) to be a significant variable for predicting the learners' vocabulary sizes. From a methodological perspective, however, noticeable differences between Forms A and B could be found with item response theory analysis. The findings of the study provide suggestions on how future VLT for testing EFL learners may have to be redesigned.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.69-89
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• 2012

This paper explored the effects of extensive reading (ER) on Korean university students' L2 reading proficiency and reading rates. This study also illustrated how ER can be integrated into a university English reading class. Seventeen students who took a summer reading course participated in this study. Data were gathered through pre- and post- tests in terms of participants' reading comprehension proficiency and reading rates and post- questionnaire with regard to their attitudes toward L2 storybook reading after they have experienced it. The analysis was carried out using the Paired Samples t-test. It was revealed that ER has a positive effect on the enhancement of the participants' reading comprehension and reading rates. The participants showed their continued intention to read in English and a strong belief that persistent reading in English in the long run will help improve their English. The results of this study confirm the educational values of incorporating ER into university English reading classes. The pedagogical implications for EFL instructors are described.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.103-129
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• 2006

This paper presents a case study of the effectiveness of debate class in promoting speaking skills of advanced learners. The researcher adopted English debate techniques in an English speaking class during four-week teacher training program and investigated how teachers responded to the new technique. Forty-five middle and high school teachers participated in the study and classroom observation, pre-survey, post-survey, and focus group interviews were used as the major research methods. The teacher pre-survey results presented that teachers prefer a conversation class where they can directly acquire proper sentence patterns and speaking strategies rather than spend time in performing communicative events. The results of the focus group interview and post-survey confirmed that a debate class can meet this specific teachers' needs. Most teachers responded positively to the debate classes since: 1) debate techniques are relatively new ideas to Korean teachers; 2) debate techniques require speed and accuracy in speech; thus teachers could learn to present their ideas logically and efficiently in a limited time through repeated argument exercises. The study result implies that debate technique can be an effective vehicle in an EFL context to promote advanced learners' logical thinking skills and logical English sentence structures.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.257-286
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• 2006

This paper investigates the effects of small group collaborative transcription activities on the improvement of university students' English listening ability. Based on the results of pre-tests, a class of 42 students was subdivided into 11 small homogeneous groups of three to four students. Each group was provided with 7 different news items to be transcribed. Means were compared between pre-test and post-test scores, followed by comparison of transcription errors in content and function words. Finally, students' perception and attitudes about the use of small group transcription for improving listening skills were qualitatively analysed and compared with pre- and post test results. It was found that post test scores highly correlated with improvement of listening ability. It was also found that groups of high degree of collaboration showed improvement in listening ability while lack of collaboration contributed to loss of interests in listening. Students who see process more important were found to make more contribution to the group success than those who place more emphasis on the results.