• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• no.4
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• pp.179-206
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• 1998

Despite the fact that the phenomenal success of the classical model in phonology in terms of a small set of binary atomic primitives has encouraged the use of criterical features in the characterization of syntactic and semantic categories, cognitive linguists have recently found many evidences against it and proposed a valid alternative like prototype approach to classical model of linguistic categorization. In this paper the examples with prototype effects are shown in phonology, morphology, and syntax. In phonology there is no clear-cut borderline in initial sounds such as / r, m, n, v, ${\eth}$, z, w. j, b. d, g / and between vowels and consonants. In morphology family resemblance is shown between strong verbs and past tenses. In syntax there is no borderline among various kinds of sentences such as declarative, command, WH-question, yes-no question, etc.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• no.5
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• pp.249-258
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• 1999

This paper will discuss how the structure and theme develop and compare between the Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is generally considered as the finest of the English romances. The striking feature of this poem is its tight and organized structure, whereas most of the romances are loose in structure. This poem is composed of four fits containing traditional elements of romance: the Beheading Game; the Temptation and Hunting; the Exchange of Winnings; Returning. This process is linked together systematically, and as it goes on, certain external elements of romance come into view. There are heroic ideal, Christian humiliation and chastity, so the two themes or motifs are combined to produce a work of impressive organic unity.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.17-35
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of an explicit word instruction for EFL beginning readers and their perception on the learning experience. Data were attained from 16 fourth graders who took English class as a development activity. Data include the results of pre- and post-test of high frequency sight word recognition, oral reading ability, students' survey responses, and teacher observation. The descriptive statistics were obtained for the result of the pre- and post-test. The findings from the student survey and teacher observation were also provided and interpreted to better understand the result of project and students' perception on the learning experience. The followings are the results of this study. The word recognition ability of the students was dramatically improved after the project. The students were satisfied with the overall learning experience perceiving it as helpful and fun learning. They expressed that the explicit word instruction helped their word recognition and reading ability. The results also supported that the confidence of students on their reading ability were heightened. Several suggestions are made for teachers and researchers on the word instruction for young EFL learners who are beginning readers.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.57-69
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• 2005

There have been changes throughout the past 100 years of English education in Korea. The Ministry of Education revised the English curriculum numerous times. From the 6th national curriculum, communicative competence became an essential objective in English learning. The study is to see if E University students' TOEIC results show any significant difference between the two groups under the 5th and 6th national curriculum. Another objective of this research is to see if recruiting medical students with high scores of the standardized English tests is suitable to select the best candidates who can fulfill medical studies. For these two purposes, sophomore students' TOEIC results in 2000 & 2004 and non-resident-status students' cumulative GPA were analyzed. The study shows that there is no significant difference in the two groups. Moreover, the current recruiting policy to select the best fit medical candidates based on their high TOEIC or TOEFL scores does not seem to be an appropriate measure since such students' GPA reveals poor academic performance amid their high scores in English.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.39-56
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• 2005

This study is a small-scale replication study of Kubota (1998). Kubota discovered that L1 rhetoric was not the main cause of L2 writing problems. The conclusion of Kubota's study was in contrast to that of contrastive rhetoric research that claimed that the use of L1 rhetorical styles in L2 writing negatively affects the quality of L2 writing, in particular, at the organizational level. According to Kubota(1998), the use of Japanese rhetorical styles did not deteriorate the quality of English writing. By investigating Korean ESL learners, this replication study examined whether L1 and L2 writings have the same rhetorical styles and how L1 rhetorical styles affect the L2 writing quality. The study analyzed Korean and English persuasive writings written by 12 Korean ESL learners in terms of organization. The results show that Korean learners of English used different rhetorical styles in their L1 Korean writing and L2 English writing. However, there was a positive relationship between L1 Korean and L2 English organization scores.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.1-23
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• 2005

This paper is a qualitative and quantitative study. The main purpose of the paper is to diagnose what makes English communication difficult at the Korean EFL adult level. In order to obtain data, this study employed interviews and a questionnaire. We identified thirty three factors blocking pathways to oral communication. Qualitative analysis repeatedly revealed patterns such as lack of grammar, lack of vocabulary, lack of background knowledge, and peer pressure, but quantitative analysis yielded somewhat different results: lack of colloquial expressions, lack of vocabulary, lack of various topics, problems in the educational system, difficulty in using existing knowledge, and lack of grammar. Findings which were common to both qualitative and quantitative analyses suggest that lack of linguistic knowledge and lack of background knowledge are major barriers learners encounter in communication. On the basis of the results, suggestions are made for overcoming these barriers.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.53-80
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• 2011

The study examines how Koreans' politeness is realized in a speech act, request. The main focus is to explore underlying rationale and influence involved in their performance, not just the comparison of difference in politeness realization between native and nonnative speakers of English, as previous studies did. The study employs the DCT, an attached politeness scale questionnaire, and interviews. Twenty nine university students participated in the study. Interchangeable reading of the three data yields some interesting and valuable insights. The participants heavily rely on a few formulaic expressions to express politeness, such as interrogatives with modal verbs, please and excuse me as a politeness marker. They want to use honorific address terms that is literally translated into English, and have a belief that there are honorific words in English as in Korean. The study refers to the participants' voice on indirectness, nonverbal messages, and expressions with different connotations between English and Korean.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.125-146
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• 2011

Within a framework of sociocultural approaches to writing process, this study examined six ESL graduate students' writing processes in depth based on individual interviews and their narratives of writing process. The narratives and interviews were analyzed to discover salient aspects of the students' writing processes and to understand the socially situated nature of the writing processes. First, it was observed that these six students displayed multiplicity in terms of their representations of writing process, episodes, textual practices, and concerns. Several factors including the writing task, students' familiarity with genre, literacy skills, attitude toward writing, and involvement in interaction contributed to individualized trajectories of writing process. It was also revealed that writing is unavoidably a socially situated practice. Students were situated in their cultural arenas as well as their disciplinary arenas, and these contexts helped the students serve as active agents producing and sharing knowledge. The confluence of personal, cognitive, and social factors observed in their writing processes suggests that writing process should be understood from multiple perspectives.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.101-124
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• 2011

This paper investigated the relationships among Korean EFL learners' listening anxiety, listening strategy use, and listening proficiency. One hundred and forty four Korean college students who were enrolled in the required practical English classes participated in this study. Questionnaires related to students' listening strategy use and listening anxiety were administered and a TOEIC listening comprehension test was given to measure the students' listening proficiency. The one-way ANOVA was used to analyze the data. The findings of this study are that the students' listening performance is positively correlated with their strategy use and negatively correlated with their anxiety level, and their strategy use is negatively correlated with their anxiety level. The results suggest that successful learning will occur when anxiety is reduced and when the use of strategies is encouraged more often. The pedagogical implications for EFL educators and teachers are described.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.39-69
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• 2010

This study aims to identify how participants in online-incorporated English learning perceive interaction between achievement and factors of learning and personality. Using grounded theory analysis, this study attempts to generate a theoretical model depicting how the factors work with the L2 learners situated in the learning setting. A total of 231 college freshmen participated in online and offline EFL learning programs for the duration of one semester. In addition, all respondents completed a survey questionnaire on their learning experiences. In the investigation of the differences between low- and high-proficiency groups, audio-taped interviews with 20 selected students, 10 from each group, have revealed differences not only in the types of personal and instructional factors, but also, more importantly, in the interrelationship between these factors in each group's learning model. These models effectively explained the statistically significant differences in four questionnaire items, such as online learning and contributions of offline class sections to their L2 achievement. These findings entail L2 practitioners' shared understandings of their students' perspectives of learning in the specific L2 learning context.