Myong Hee Ko , John Goranson

DOI: Vol.17(No.1) 11-33, 2014

This case study investigates the effectiveness of an online technology-assisted vocabulary learning program used by Korean university students in Seoul, Korea. Seventy-two students were given a vocabulary pre-test to measure their current knowledge of target vocabulary. Then the students used an online vocabulary learning application to complete 40 sessions of vocabulary learning exercises over 10 weeks that taught both receptive and productive knowledge of the target vocabulary. After 10 weeks, the students were given a vocabulary post-test. Results showed that the online program was effective in facilitating L2 vocabulary learning. In a post-survey, students expressed that the online program was, for all of them, a new method of learning vocabulary and, for most of them, an effective way to learn vocabulary because it induced a regular study habit and gave them multiple forms of information about the target vocabulary, including its pronunciation and collocative usage. Quantitative data indicated significant improvements in both receptive and productive knowledge of the target vocabulary, with more considerable gains in productive knowledge of the vocabulary.

CALL, technology-assisted language learning, TALL, technology-assisted vocabulary learning program

Won Hwa Seo , Inn Chull Choi

DOI: Vol.17(No.1) 34-57, 2014

The aim of the study is to investigate the effect of a mobile application (Speaking 200) on Korean middle school students` achievement and satisfaction. Two groups participated in this study: the experimental group who worked with the application and the control group who was provided with handouts. Each group was divided into two subgroups based on the subjects` score of a standardized listening test. Participants took a pretest at the beginning of the study and completed the posttest and survey after six weeks. Independent t-tests were used to analyze differences in experimental and control groups for both elementary and advanced level learners. Results revealed a significant difference between pre and post scores for elementary level learners. The results indicate that use of mobile application was more effective for the elementary level of learners than advanced learners. As for the survey results, participants responses were relatively positive in terms of functionality, ease of use and portability. Comments on improvements of the mobile application were collected from participants using an open-ended questionnaire. Educational implications of the study and further research were suggested based on the findings.

MALL, mobile assisted language learning, smart-phone application, speaking 200

이도경 , 김혜영

DOI: Vol.17(No.1) 58-83, 2014

Teaching English in English (TEE) has been attended as one solution to effectively improve English communication proficiency in Korea for a decade. For successful TEE class, English Teachers` TEE competence should be sufficiently developed first through a properly designed training program. This study reviews current online TEE training programs for secondary school English teachers in order to analyze design effectiveness both from theoretical and empirical perspectives. The program evaluation for TEE standards was investigated to check the content and methods, and also a survey was conducted with 50 English teachers to identify their perception and satisfaction. The data analysis reveals that the current programs are good in terms of presentation of classroom English and TEE skills and use of various multimedia tools, but any opportunity to develop teachers` communication skills and TEE proficiency through interaction or individual feedback is not provided. Such flaw was also perceived by the teachers, but the teachers showed satisfaction with the online program because they still prefer online to offline, and believe that those kinds of TEE standards cannot be achieved online anyway. However, according to CALL principles and new CMC technologies the online program can be more effectively designed for successful TEE training.

TEE, teaching English through English, teacher training, online program, computer-assisted language learning

임황규 , 박도영 , 시기자

DOI: Vol.17(No.1) 84-105, 2014

This study seeks to verify the performance of the KICE Essay Scorer (KES) 2.0 and to improve the scoring reliability of large-scale essay writing tests. To these end, two items of the Level 2 writing test of the National English Ability Test were used as the evaluation data. These data were analysed to investigate inter-rater reliabilities utilizing correlations, adjacent agreements and exact agreements. Rater severities by the Multi-facet Rasch Model, test score reliability by G-theory, and scoring time were investigated as well. It was revealed that, compared with human scoring, KES 2.0 showed no significant differences in inter-reliabilities and test score reliability. On the other hand, KES 2.0 tended to have rater severities whose effects were far less minimal than human scoring. Moreover, KES 2.0 was much more efficient than human scoring with regard to scoring time. In comparison with KES 1.0, inter-rater reliabilities of KES 2.0 were higher than those of KES 1.0, while test score reliability and rater severities of KES 2.0 were similar to those of KES 1.0. These findings implied that KES 2.0 performed better, in some ways, than KES 1.0 and could be comparable to human scoring.

KICE Essay Scorer, KES 2.0, the Automated scoring system, inter-reliability, test score reliability, G-theory, rater severity, Rasch model

최윤희

DOI: Vol.17(No.1) 106-131, 2014

This study investigates the effects of speaking task types and Korean EFL learners` English proficiency level on their speaking performance. The participants were college students with different levels of English proficiency (novice, intermediate, and advanced). Each student was asked to perform two different speaking tasks: one was a picture-cued storytelling task, and the other was an opinion presentation task. Participants` spoken production was evaluated according to six-scale analytic rating rubric covering the area of phonological intelligibility, grammatical accuracy, fluency, socio-pragmatic appropriateness, discourse(organization), and task completion. To investigate how differently the test-takers performed their speaking tasks, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) tests were conducted. The results are as follows: 1) participants performed better on picture-cued storytelling tasks than opinion presentation tasks regardless of speaking features, 2) the opinion presentation task produced lower scores on task completion and discourse due to the poor development of ideas, and 3) students also scored lower on socio-pragmatics on the opinion presentation tasks. Post-test interviews confirmed that participating students were challenged by the opinion presentation tasks that required explicit reasons to support their ideas. The study draws attention to the importance of developing appropriate speaking tasks for assessing Korean EFL learners` speaking performance.

online speaking test, task type, English proficiency level

한종임

DOI: Vol.17(No.1) 132-158, 2014

The purposes of this study are to develop learning models of the English digital textbook, and to examine the effects of the learning models on Korean middle school students` English learning and attitudes toward English. Toward this end, an experimental study was carried out and a total of 106 participants involved in the study. The major results of the study are as follows. First, three kinds of learning models were developed for the effective use of English digital textbooks: 1) an activity-based reading model, 2) a corpus-based discovery model, and 3) a wiki-based collaborated writing model. Second, no significant difference was found between the digital textbook group and the traditional textbook group on the English tests, indicating that the digital textbook can be used to supplement or replace the traditional textbooks. Third, the participants preferred the digital textbook to the traditional, giving positive and high evaluations. Based on these findings, some pedagogical suggestions are made on the effective use of English digital textbook in Korean English classroom settings.

English digital textbook, teaching and learning model