Kyung Ae Jin , Tae Joon Park

DOI: Vol.15(No.1) 11-29, 2012

The primary purpose of this study was to explore the efficacy of an automated essay scoring (AES) program, namely IntelliMetric, in scoring Korean high school students` English compositions in a large-scale standardized writing assessment setting. In addition, this study also examined the relative utility of 5-point analytic rating scales and 4-point analytic rating scales for use in scoring essays from this particular group of secondary EFL students in Korea. The results of this study showed that the computer scoring models built based on a large number of student essays with known scores (i.e., training set) could successfully predict the scores of essays set aside for the purpose of internal validation (i.e., validation set), providing evidence for the efficacy of the computer scoring models developed. This was backed up by three different measures comparing the scores derived from the automated essay scoring program and trained human raters: mean scores, agreement rates, and pearson correlation. Considering the computer program`s ability to apply scoring criteria or standards consistently over time, although far from being perfect, it seems to show the potential to score essays reliably large scale assessment contexts such as a nation-wide writing test.

automated essay scoring, writing assessment, rating scales Applicable levels: secondary education

He Young Kim , Yeon Hee Kwon

DOI: Vol.15(No.1) 31-57, 2012

The widespread use of smartphones has brought numerous mobile applications to L2 learners, but discussion about its effectiveness has not been settled yet within the field. This study attempts to broaden this discussion by reporting the findings of an in-depth review of 87 ESL mobile apps. Two research questions are addressed to explore this issue: 1) What are the common and distinctive features of smartphone applications? 2) What are the strengths and weaknesses in utilizing present smartphone applications for effective mobile-assisted language learning (MALL)? This study first suggests evaluation criteria designed for mobile-based ESL software. Next, overall features and functions of the selected applications are analyzed in the three categories: ‘content and design’, ‘L2 approaches’ and ‘technology’. The details of the findings are sorted and explained by target language skills. Finally, this study concludes that the ESL apps seem effective in that they provide a personal and learner-centered learning opportunity with ubiquitously accessible and flexible practices. However, they need to be improved by realizing mobility as a more situated, field-dependent, and collaborative form of learning. The effective design and use of ESL mobile applications should continue to be studied in order to suggest the right direction to effective MALL.

mobile-assisted language learning, smartphone applications, software evaluation, second language learning

Jin Young Lee , Chung Hyun Lee

DOI: Vol.15(No.1) 59-89, 2012

This qualitative study investigated students` perspectives and the effectiveness of blended learning in the development of L2 listening skills at university level. 20 university students participated in the study for 16 weeks. Data from students` reflective journals, interviews, online, and offline observations, a survey, and pre and post tests were collected to address the following research questions: 1) What are the students` perspectives on the listening instruction in blended learning?; 2) What is the students` preference for the listening activities?; 3) To what extent does collaborative interaction help develop students` L2 listening skills?; and 4) What are the effects of the blended learning model on the development of L2 listening skills. The results indicate that there was a similarity in preference for online and offline activities. There was a difference, however, in while-listening stage activities with filling out the outline being the most preferred activity for offline work and summary being the most preferred for work done online. Group collaboration promoted through the blended learning model seems to have contributed to the development of L2 listening skills. A major implication is that an optimal design and the successful implementation of the blended learning model in listening instruction require the teacher to play a crucial role as a designer, a selector of effective activities, materials and multimedia tools, and a monitor who provides timely scaffolding.

blended learning, L2 listening skills and activities, collaborative learning Applicable levels: adult education

김성연 Sung Yeon Kim , 이화전 Hwa Jeon Lee

DOI: Vol.15(No.1) 91-114, 2012

This study examined 5th grade primary school students` peer feedback exchange patterns in two different contexts: computer-mediated communication (CMC) and face-to-face communication (FFC). The students were given 20 minutes to exchange peer feedback after they completed 20 minutes of in-class writing on chosen topics. One group of students (n=24) used an electronic bulletin board to post their feedback whereas the other group wrote their feedback on the printed copies of their classmates` writing. From the comparison of the feedback posted by the students, the study found that the students in the CMC context exchanged more feedback than those in the FFC context. In addition, the feedback posted in the CMC context were more diverse and more specifically related to language form and content. In contrast, the feedback the students exchanged in the FFC context was mostly compliments. These students were also found to simply repeat what others had written. Other findings of the study indicated that the students in the CMC context were more appreciative of peer feedback and displayed more positive affect, such as lowered anxiety and increased confidence.

CMC, FFC, writing, peer feedback

김재경 Jae Kyung Kim

DOI: Vol.15(No.1) 115-134, 2012

This study compared three types of portfolios (traditional portfolio, self-directed e-portfolio, and guided self-directed e-portfolio) to examine their effects on students` writing abilities. A total of 69 university students were assigned to six different groups according to their language proficiency level and three different types of portfolios. 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` progress. The results of the study showed that the guided self-directed e-portfolio group, which was more advanced, performed significantly better than the low-intermediate group when analyzing T-unit. Moreover, significant differences were identified when analyzing type-token ratio in the guided self-directed e-portfolio group. However, no significant differences were observed in syntactic complexity among the three different groups. This study suggests that the guided self-directed e-portfolio is more effective than the self-directed e-portfolio in enhancing learners` writing ability in type-token ratio. The study also shows that the guided self-directed e-portfolio is more effective than the self-directed e-portfolio in promoting learners` writing ability in Korean EFL contexts.

self-directed e-portfolio, guided self-directed e-portfolio, T-unit, TTR, syntactic complexity

김정태 Jung Tae Kim , 김희진 Hi Jean Kim

DOI: Vol.15(No.1) 135-155, 2012

This study aims at developing a blended instructional learning model optimized for English teaching at off-line universities. In the study, theoretical considerations were extracted to develop instructional models based on Doughty and Long`s (2003) methodological principles for CALL. The three blended instructional models were developed to teach college level English and applied to two Korean off-line universities: a) on-line previewing and off-line instruction and b) off-line instruction and on-line reviewing for one university, and c) biweekly on-line and off-line instructions for another university. The findings show that the participants of the first two models preferred the model of on-line previewing and off-line instruction. They were satisfied with the effects of quizzes, roleplay, key word/sentence, and my story activities. The participants of the last model preferred the biweekly model because of time and cost saving. Finally, an optimized blended learning instructional model for off-line English teaching was proposed with the results and theoretical considerations. It was a model of weekly on-line previewing and off-line instruction with quizzes and the previous activities. To facilitate interaction and feedback among the instructor and students, multimedia technologies were adopted into a Learning Management System.

blended learning, instructional model, multimedia

문기혁 Ki Hyuk Moon , 김정렬 Jeong Ryeol Kim

DOI: Vol.15(No.1) 157-179, 2012

The purpose of this study is to develop web-based Korean Elementary English Readability Index (KEERI) software that measures students` own readability. Using this program, students are able to achieve their goals of extensive reading and choose proper texts for their reading ability. A revision of the Korean lexical text measurement formula developed by Kim and Lee (2010) was used to elicit a text measurement. For the students` proficiency index of readability, reading ability assessment tasks were assessed using the readability formula which yielded individual readability measurements. In order to yield a text measurement, both the vocabulary and syntactic difficulties were evaluated. To analyze the difficulty of the vocabulary, the RANGE program developed by Paul Nation was used. Syntactic difficulty was measured for each text by the L2 Syntactic Complexity Analyzer developed by Lu (2010). To evaluate readability depending on the texts, questions were analyzed with Brown (2001)`s types of questions. Afterwards, the text measurement and a summary of the book`s content were calculated into the final automated elementary English readability index. The core engine based on KEERI was implemented in PHP and JAVASCRIPT. After the development of the web based KEERI program, a correlation analysis was conducted with the text measurement and the evaluated readability, and it was found that there was a high correlation between them. Through an ANOVA test, a graded benchmark of the text measurement was established.

Korean elementary education readability index, KEERI, extensive reading

허근 Keun Huh

DOI: Vol.15(No.1) 181-209, 2012

This study explored the effect of reading and writing integrated English teaching through the use of multimedia in an elementary setting. It also explored how the experimental group perceived the learning experiences with multimedia integrated reading and writing activities. The participants consisted of sixty-five Korean EFL sixth graders who live in a metropolitan city divided into two groups. The experimental group was taught by the reading and writing integrated instruction through multimedia use whereas the control group received regular textbook-based instruction. The results revealed that the experimental group`s reading and writing scores in the post-test were significantly higher than that of the control group. The survey response completed by the experimental group showed that the students` interest in overall English learning, writing, and multimedia integrated reading and writing activities significantly increased. The findings of this study suggest that reading and writing could be taught in the integrated form with adequate multimedia use in order for the students to achieve better reading and writing abilities.

multimedia, reading and writing integrated instruction