Yoon Jung Cha

DOI: Vol.15(No.2) 11-40, 2012

The purpose of this study is to examine the participants` perspectives on online and blended learning, and how two different learning methods can benefit participants` active involvement in offline classes. 81 university students enrolled in general English classes participated in the study. These particular classes were taught with a popular English reading textbook. Specially designed online practice site included additional readings with various types of activities and exercises which were provided in order to enhance students` ability in English. In the study, two different learning methods, previewing and reviewing were adopted for both classes to determine which learning method can be more beneficial in helping them participate and engage more in offline classes. For the measurement, three questionnaires were administered and records of online exercises were presented to demonstrate students` learning process throughout the semester. The results indicated that the participants were not keen on adopting online learning at the beginning of the semester, but gradually, they were quite satisfied with the blended learning. Regarding the two learning methods, there were mixed results. Pedagogical implications of implementing more effective blended learning methods and the future research are discussed.

blended learning, online learning methods, previewing, reviewing Applicable levels, tertiary education

Hye Young Choi , Yuah V Chon

DOI: Vol.15(No.2) 41-73, 2012

Increased corpus-based language studies have resulted in research on individual words in textbooks, but these teaching materials have not been extensively analyzed on the type and frequency of collocations. Previous research has been limited to studying certain parts of textbooks or specific types of collocations. By analyzing 16 Common English I High School textbooks of English (1,441,402 running words), 852 lexical collocations were extracted with the 41 most frequent content words used as nodes. For detailed analysis, 50 high-frequency lexical collocations were compared to collocations in the 2k Graded Reader native-speaker corpus for their frequencies and usages. Collocations that are closely related to learners` real life and interest (e.g., volunteer work, good grade, fast food) were found while the number of collocations combined with adverbs was relatively small comprising only 41 out of 852 collocations (less than 5%). The comparison of the fifty most frequent collocations in the textbook with the 2k Graded Reader native-speaker corpus produced considerable differences. The results suggest that a variety of high-frequency collocations from native-speaker corpus need to be given thought in the process of materials development. The study suggests contrastive instruction for teaching collocations to L2 learners.

collocations, textbook, corpus analysis

Hea Suk Kim

DOI: Vol.15(No.2) 75-96, 2012

This study investigated the efficacy of integrating SMS vocabulary learning into the Korean EFL classroom with low and high level students. The participants of the study consisted of 87 Korean university students and they were divided into four different classes (two classes for high level students and two classes for low level students). Within each level, one group was assigned to an SMS class while the other group was to a traditional class. The study compared the gained vocabulary scores between and within the groups according to instruction methods and different levels. The study also sought to determine whether there was a significant difference in perceptions and preference towards SMS vocabulary learning between low and high level students. The findings revealed that the SMS groups performed better than the groups who had received printed materials, regardless of students` proficiency levels. According to a survey, most of the students receiving SMS preferred this new method to learn English words. However, there was no distinguishable difference in the perceptions of mobile learning between the two levels. Based on the results of the study, pedagogical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

mobile-based language learning, SMS, vocabulary, proficiency

Sun Ok Kim , Chang In Lee

DOI: Vol.15(No.2) 97-120, 2012

A key issue in English education for teachers or non-native TEE (Teaching English in English) teachers in young learners` English classes is children`s short concentration span. Through a survey of the relevant literature, this paper suggests two traits of meaning-focused input for dealing with the concentration issue: the input should be interesting and understandable, and the provision of meaning-focused input should be effective. Using the keyword “kindergarten and English”were used to find appropriate videos via Google and on YouTube; these videos were used as data for this study. Using video analysis, this research investigates what types of strategies are actually available in kindergarten English classes. After videos of 20 kindergartens with 300 students were collected, teachers` input and students` output strategies were evaluated by a classification scheme based on Dornyei`s (1995) compensatory strategies. The results showed that prefabricated patterns, repetition, and non-linguistic signals were the most frequently used strategies. The results also showed that teachers` input consisted of simple patterns of classroom English and two- or three-word sentences. Furthermore, it was shown that repetition occurred through prefabricated patterns, and teachers` non-linguistic signals assisted students in understanding teachers` input.

kindergarten, meaning-focused input, strategies, teacher education, TEE teachers, young learners

Sang Min Lee

DOI: Vol.15(No.2) 121-141, 2012

As new collaborative writing tools are redefining the notions of writing and reshaping writing practices, they also have significant implications for the writing classroom. This study executed a collaborative hypertext relay writing project in a multimedia-assisted language classroom. The study posed two questions: how the project promoted the students` collaborative writing process and how the project fostered the students` media literacy. The data collection was three-fold: observations of the students` collaborative writing process, their writing outcomes, and the post-hoc questionnaire. The results indicated that the project had a positive impact on the students` writing in diverse ways. The project enabled student collaboration, made learning enjoyable, heightened the students` motivation toward learning, and facilitated language skills. As a result, the students produced interesting, lengthy texts. The students also utilized different types of multimedia to maximize the effect of their text, through which they could acquire media literacy skills required in the 21st century. During the collaborative writing process through networked computers, the students also played alternating roles of authors, editors, and readers, similar to the way in which collaborative writing platforms operate in the real world.

writing, hypertext, collaborative learning

Hye Jin Park

DOI: Vol.15(No.2) 143-166, 2012

While computers play a significant role in language learning, its trend has rarely been investigated through a citation analysis which measures the influences of authors and publications based on the number of citations toward them. This research consisted of a citation analysis aiming at analyzing the citation patterns reflected in computer-assisted language learning (CALL) articles from 2009 to 2010. For this study, three CALL journals were selected; the two overseas CALL journals, CALL and ReCALL, are listed with the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI), and MALL is listed with the Korea Citation Index (KCI). In addition, the two-year period of selected journals is based on the journal impact factor (JIF), the journal ranking system of SSCI. All the collected data was analyzed in accordance with characteristics of cited materials, most frequently cited items, and most frequently cited individuals. The results revealed that journals and books were cited the most, and relatively recent items were frequently cited. CALL researchers tended to cite English language teaching (ELT) and CALL-related publications. In addition, only a few publications and authors were repeatedly cited, and few Korean publications and authors were cited by overseas researchers.

citation analysis, CALL, citation patterns

Andrew Schenck , Young Woo Cho

DOI: Vol.15(No.2) 167-186, 2012

The utility of corpora as a writing tool has not yet been concretely established due to the emphasis of qualitative methods for data collection and the utilization of designs requiring a great deal of independent learning. The purpose of this study was to empirically evaluate corpus-based pedagogical techniques for writing that systematically guide student inquiry. This quasi-experimental study employed a switching-replications design with two classrooms of Korean high and middle school English teachers (N = 21). In the first phase of treatment, only participants of the experimental group were asked to check each noun using the corpus. In the second phase of treatment, the experimental and control groups were swapped and the procedure was repeated. Comparison of scores after each phase revealed no significant differences between the experimental and control groups. Although follow-up surveys revealed that most participants were able to recognize the potential of the corpus, the participants were unable to provide tangible examples of advantages. Overall, results suggest that a more highly scaffolded framework of training, which guides data collection and the development of a hypothesis, is needed to transition the learner into the role of an independent researcher.

corpus, second language learning, writing feedback, noun errors, autonomous learning