Yoon Jung Cha , Hi Jean Kim

DOI: Vol.14(No.3) 11-35, 2011

This study explores the participants` views on online and offline learning, and effects of blended learning in business English classes. Participants were sixty three university students in Korea, and the study was conducted in two general English classes. The materials used for online and offline teaching were the online website, "Global Business English for Jobs" which provided various and interesting business content. Two different instructional methods were applied in both classes. Students in one class previewed the online materials before they came to the class. In contrast, students in another class learned the content together in the class; then reviewed the materials again online at home. To verify the effects of each type of instructional method, the quizzes students took every class were analyzed through descriptive statistical analysis. Moreover, three questionnaires and in-depth interviews were administered. The findings revealed that most participants were quite satisfied with the blended learning teaching methods, and previewing instead of reviewing was considered as a preferable learning method for improving their language skills in the blended learning situations. Pedagogical implications and limitations are discussed.

blended Learning, reviewing, previewing

Yoon Hee Choe

DOI: Vol.14(No.3) 37-61, 2011

This study investigates the effects of the cognitive complexity of tasks and pair proficiency on task production in Synchronous Computer Mediated Communication. In particular, this study explores whether task complexity and EFL learners` proficiency have an effect on the accuracy, the fluency, and the use of strategy of task production in SCMC. 90 Korean high school EFL learners collaboratively completed the cognitively simple and complex tasks, using a browser-based chat program. Based on learners` English proficiency, each dyad was composed of three different sets: High-High pair, High-Low pair, and Low-Low pair. The data were analyzed by a 2 X 4 analysis of variance (ANOVA). Error-free C-units, words per C-unit were served as dependent variables. Results show that the cognitive complexity of a direction-giving map task significantly affects task production. Pair composition also significantly affects the number of error-free C-units, words per C-unit and the use of strategy. This study confirms a previously reported increase in quantity of strategy used by students of the pairs with different English proficiency levels, compared to other pairs with similar English proficiency levels. The findings offer pedagogical implications for designing task-based synchronous interaction to facilitate Korean EFL learners` accuracy, fluency and the use of strategy.

SCMC, task complexity, pair proficiency, fluency, accuracy, negotiation of meaning

Eun Ju Kim , Jin Hwa Lee

DOI: Vol.14(No.3) 63-86, 2011

This case study examines two college freshmen`s learning experience in a newly implemented college English program whose primary goal was to enhance learners` English oral-proficiency. As an effort to meet the needs stated by the learners and instructors, in a Korean university, a task-based, blended college English program was developed and implemented (Kim & Kim, 2010). In order to explore how the program is actually implemented and perceived in classroom contexts, the researchers observed two freshmen learners` participation in the program and documented data from different sources (i.e., classroom observation, interview, etc.) over one academic year. The collected data were analyzed following the principles of qualitative content analysis (Dornyei, 2007). The findings reveal that the two learners` perceptions of the program and their classroom participations are in reciprocal relationship, constructing each other. That is, changes and no changes in each learner`s class participations and perceptions triggered transformation in their actions and perceptions. The findings also tell that these changes in learners` experience are closely related with personal, institutional and social factors. The implications for a similar language program design and its implementation are lastly discussed with the suggestions for future research.

new college English program, blended Learning, Learners` experience, affective domains

Young Mi Kim

DOI: Vol.14(No.3) 87-108, 2011

This paper explores the possibility of diagnosing ESL learners` communicative competence by introducing mimicry test as an alternative measure of assessing their overall language proficiency level, which could simplify the complicated procedures of speaking tests utilized in the ESL contexts and make it feasible. Rating results of mimicry test and free speech test were compared to explore the possibility of adopting the examination of mimicry ability as an aptitude test for oral proficiency assessment. In addition, difficulty levels of two different task types used in mimicry and free speech have been weighed through the test takers` self-assessment of their language proficiency. The spoken data analyzed in this article came from ESL classrooms at a major American university. Speech samples of participants were recorded onto computers using computer-based speaking test program, and they were rated by experienced native raters based on the holistic and analytic rating criteria. The results, by showing that ``holistic`` scores for free speech and ``analytic`` scores for mimicry were highly correlated, strongly advocated the viability of using mimicry as an alternative measure to assess the overall communicative language proficiency of L2 learners. Moreover, given the significant washback effect of introducing mimicry test into the ESL language classrooms, mimicry can be utilized as a means of obtaining the educational objective of teaching English to improve L2 learners` communicative competence.

mimicry, communicative competence, COPI, scoring rubric, speaking test. Applicable Levels: primary education, secondary education, adult education

Sang Min Lee

DOI: Vol.14(No.3) 109-132, 2011

As communicative ability has become important in school as well as in society, access to English education and real communication opportunities in English can have an immense influence on students` higher education paths and career opportunities. This may further aggravate the inequality between the haves and have-nots that exists in our society and endanger the future for students. This study investigated a videoconferencing English program as an alternative English program to foster student English abilities in community study centers. In the four community study centers, 41 students and 11 teachers participated in the present study. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods. The study explored the current situations of the students in the centers in regards to English education, the degree of the students` satisfaction in the videoconferencing English class, and the ways in which the videoconferencing English programs promoted the students` English proficiencies. The results of the study indicated that the students in the centers needed further support in English education, particularly authentic communication opportunities. The study also showed that the program enhanced student motivation and satisfaction, lowered their anxieties, and increased the amount of communication opportunities. As a result, the post-test and post-survey confirmed that the students` overall English proficiencies were promoted.

videoconferencing, study center, inequality, authentic communication

Dong Gil Song , Eun Young Oh

DOI: Vol.14(No.3) 133-154, 2011

It is imperative to analyze learning styles based on learners` cultural backgrounds when designing successful online learning courses. The present study investigated the learning styles preferences of learners who have diverse cultural backgrounds in an online language learning environment. For this purpose, the study employed the Felder and Silverman`s Learning Styles Model and examined sixty five international students who enrolled in a Korean language course at a university`s language education institute in Seoul, Korea. The participants were culturally diverse and represented numerous countries, which were categorized according to six cultural clusters: China, Japan, Middle East, other Asia, America, and Europe. The online language learning course was analyzed using the active/reflective, sensing/intuitive, sequential/global and visual/verbal dimensions of the model. The participants` learning style preferences were investigated using a questionnaire. A one-way ANOVA was conducted to compare the effect of cultural backgrounds on learning style preferences of each section. In addition, MANOVA and post hoc multiple comparison of means tests (Scheffe test) were conducted. The results demonstrate significant cultural group differences in learning style preferences of learners of Korean language with diverse cultural backgrounds.

Learning styles, cultural background, online Language Learning, Korean as a foreign Language

김주균 Ju Gyun Kim

DOI: Vol.14(No.3) 155-173, 2011

Throughout the decades, various computer assisted learning methods have been developed for computer aided educations (CAE). Computer assisted language learning (CALL) is one of those methods which aim to learn foreign languages. This paper presents the effectiveness of CALL as an educational tool to increase vocabulary power for elementary school students in their English classes. For experimental purpose, students are divided into two groups, CALL based group and traditional learning based group. For the CALL based group, students are divided into two subgroups, Web-based learning tool and CD-ROM titles are provided to student in each subgroup respectively, while only traditional lectures are given to students in comparative group. Performance results shows that CALL based learning is more efficient than traditional learning in achieving vocabulary power and especially, CD-ROM title based learning shows better performance than Web-based learning. This comes from the functional simplicity of CD-ROM title and will be discussed in detail at the analysis part of this paper. Some statistically confirmed hypotheses from this experiment could be useful reference for applying CALL based learning in language learning classes for elementary school students.

computer aided education, CALL, hypothesis test

김현숙 Hyun Sook Kim , 박은영 Eun Young Park

DOI: Vol.14(No.3) 175-194, 2011

These days, more and more students in offline universities take courses in cyber universities. While there are needs to differentiate the classes according to the students` background, there are not many studies on the difference of cyber university students and offline university students who are enrolled in cyber classes. This study aims to investigate the students` participation, academic achievement, and responses to class contents and management in two different groups. Offline university students show higher participation and academic achievement than cyber university students, but they tend to focus on their final grades only while the latter use the online bulletin board as a place of interpersonal communication. Cyber university students show higher satisfaction than offline university students. Offline university students are not accustomed to the administration of cyber classes. Though the results may not be generalized to all classes and universities, this study shows that there are clear differences between on and offline university students. It is suggested that cyber classes for offline university students should be managed taking the results of the study into consideration.

cyber university, online course

류정아 Jung Ah Ryu , 이충현 Chung Hyun Lee

DOI: Vol.14(No.3) 195-224, 2011

The purposes of this study are to: 1) investigate elementary school students` perspectives in speed reading; 2) examine their English reading speed and comprehension by using web-based speed reading program; and 3) suggest a model of speed reading class applicable to teaching and learning speed reading. The subjects of this study consist of 131 students in three elementary schools in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do. Mixed research was conducted using a questionnaire and a case study including classroom observations, student produced reflective journals and interviews. The major findings of the study are as follows. First, students` perspectives in speed reading and speed reading program were positive. Second, based on the case study, speed reading classes were found to be effective in the improvement of their reading speed. As for students` reading speed on average, there was an increase of 109 wpm from 74 to 183 wpm. The classes were found to be useful, helpful and motivating. The students were also interested in and satisfied with speed reading classes. Finally, a model of teaching and learning speed reading for the improvement of English reading speed is presented based on the findings and discussion.

multimedia, web-based speed reading program, reading comprehension

문은주 Eun Joo Moon , 김재경 Jae Kyung Kim

DOI: Vol.14(No.3) 225-243, 2011

This study aims to examine the effects of web-based and mobile bloggings on Korean learners` English writing. A total of 28 university students were assigned to two different groups according to different types of writing settings. They wrote five essays, and they were given one week to write each essay. A pretest was given in Week 7, and the treatments lasted for 7 weeks from Week 8 through Week 14. A posttest was administered in Week 15 to assess the learners` writing progress. The results of the posttest showed that the mobile blogging group performed significantly better than the web-based blogging group regarding holistic assessment. However, the mobile blogging group did not perform significantly better than the web-based blogging group when T-unit was analyzed. Moreover, no significant effect was identified in the posttest when dependent clause ratio was analyzed. Thus, no significant differences were observed in syntactic complexity between the two different groups. In conclusion, it may be inferred that the mobile blogging is more effective than the web-based blogging in promoting learners` writing ability in holistic assessment.

web-based blogging, mobile blogging, syntactic complexity, T-unit, dependent clause ratio

박혜정 Hye Jung Park , 김지영 Jie Young Kim

DOI: Vol.14(No.3) 245-264, 2011

While the popularity of Social Network Services (SNS) has been growing, little research has been conducted on the application of SNS in EFL learning. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of English writing activities using SNS, especially Twitter, on students` writing abilities and its effects on their affective domains. A total of 74 university students were assigned to two groups and given nine different writing tasks to complete either on paper or through Twitter over a period of nine weeks. Each student`s writing sample was assessed at the first week and the last week of the experiment as a pre-test and a post-test. The participants` impressions of using Twitter in their writing tasks were also investigated through questionnaires. The results of the study show that the group that used Twitter for their writing activities showed significantly greater improvements than the group that used paper. The results of the questionnaires show that students in general hold negative attitudes towards engaging in writing activities using Twitter. The reasons for this may be the lack of familiarity with the learning activity presentations. Based on the results, this study suggests that the development of appropriate writing activities using SNS is needed.

Twitter, online writing, feedback

백승주 Seung Joo Baek

DOI: Vol.14(No.3) 265-289, 2011

This study examines the differential effect of four types of annotation on Korean incidental vocabulary learning in a multimedia reading setting and the interaction between learner`s cognitive style and annotation type by adult intermediate Chinese learners of Korean as a second language(N=43). As for the type of annotation, four groups were formed: A text annotation group, a picture annotation group, a text-picture mixed annotation group and a control group. And as for learners` cognitive style, it was divided into the visualizer and verbalizer. After dividing the entire into 4 groups, homogeneity pretest, reading comprehension test, unannounced immediate vocabulary posttest were conducted. The study found that the text-picture mixed group and the picture annotation group outperformed the text annotation group and the control group on the vocabulary test. However, there was no significant interaction between annotation type and cognitive style. The results showed that text-picture mixed annotation and picture annotation facilitate incidental vocabulary learning and that they can be used as an complementary method to incidental learning of enormous amounts of low frequency vocabulary which cannot be sufficiently covered in current KSL curriculum.

cognitive style, incidental vocabulary Learning, multimedia vocabulary annotation

정향기 Hyang Ki Jung

DOI: Vol.14(No.3) 291-314, 2011

The purpose of this study was to examine if English pronunciation errors of Korean students could be corrected by using a speech recognition reading program. Twenty-four university students participated in this reading program that can count and show the students` WCPM (words correct per minute). The results show that Korean students have difficulty pronouncing and differentiating the letters or sounds: l/r, f/th, w, and the vowel such as ou, ea, ai and o when pronounced in the word ``one``. They started in reading material level of K3 and continued reading of K4.-5 level. Even though the contents, vocabulary and sentence length in level K4-5 were more difficult than the stories in level K3, their fluency showed gradual improvement. Through their fluency improvement it can indirectly be concluded that the student`s incorrect pronunciation had been corrected through the use of the program. And according to students`s reports, the program enabled them to correct themselves through repetition and guidance of the computer (cueing mispronounced sounds, model and repeat.) This speech recognition reading program can be a useful aid for correcting English pronunciation errors when native speaking instructors are not available to teach pronunciation in formal school settings in our country.

speech recognition, pronunciation error, fluency, wcpm, reading

조세경 Sei Kyung Cho

DOI: Vol.14(No.3) 315-334, 2011

Since their emergence around 2005, social networking sites have been growing, potentially transforming our daily lives and even the area of mainstream education. Despite such tremendous influence the SNS services have on our society and education in general, little research has been conducted concerning the application of social networking sites for foreign language learning and teaching purposes. The aim of this study, therefore, is threefold: 1) to provide the introduction of social networking sites and to examine how they have been used for general education; 2) to examine theoretical bases upon which the incorporation of social networking sites into foreign language learning and teaching is based with special reference to the Noticing Hypothesis and the Output Hypothesis; 3) to review some examples of using existing social networking sites for foreign language learning programs. Cases from Facebook, Orkut, Twitter, and Livemocha will be discussed in terms of course design, the nature of tasks employed, and outcomes. Implications from the case reviews will be followed to help teachers integrate some of the features of SNS-based language learning and teaching into their curriculum. Finally, benefits, challenges, and future outlook of this newly-rising area will be discussed.

social networking site, Language Learning, facebook, twitter, orkut