Inn-chull Choi , Seoung Ho Jang

DOI: Vol.20(No.4) 11-43, 2017

The present study attempted to explore the overall efficacy of a computerized text-to-speech dictation test in terms of the task characteristics and the diagnostic interpretability of the test results through automatized error analysis. The computerized dictation test was designed to be conducted in the following four stages: first, subjects listened to the entire passage; second, they typed what they heard; third, they revised their answers (in two different modes: with and without feedback on the previous input); fourth, the computer displayed their scores. Based on the data analysis conducted by the automated scoring program, the research findings revealed the following: 1) the test task characteristics (the absence and presence of immediate feedback on students’ answers and the test item length) of computerized dictation test exerted a significant impact on test taking strategies and subsequent performance; 2) the function word errors were revised less frequently than the content word errors, revealing a problem with students’ comprehension of unstressed phonological sandhi phenomena; 3) the qualitative error analysis implied the diagnostic potential of the computerized dictation test; and 4) the computer-based dictation test was preferable to the conventional paper-based version.

computer-based dictation, automatized error analysis, text-to-speech, test task characteristics, qualitative analysis

Myong-hee Choi

DOI: Vol.20(No.4) 44-65, 2017

This study examined the progress on language learners’ proficiency in receptive skills of the L2 Korean language within classroom-based videoconferencing (VC) modes. Although direct attention has been given to VC learning environments for less commonly taught languages like Korean, many synchronous CMC studies have focused on the development of L2 productive skills of Romance-type languages. To address this research gap, this study reported the findings of native English speakers’ proficiency attainment regarding interpretive skills of their L2 Korean using videoconferencing technology. In this study, 18 intermediate and advanced L2 learners participated in Korean listening and reading proficiency tests after they completed Korean refresher courses in which instructors taught Korean via videoconferencing in real-time. The pre-and-post scores of the standardized listening and reading proficiency tests were compared to investigate the extent to which the learners would improve interpretive skills within videoconferencing contexts. The research results indicated that both intermediate and advanced learners demonstrated significant increases in reading skills, and the intermediate learners also showed such progress in listening skills. These findings suggested the potential efficacy of VC multimodal language instruction to promote L2 interpretive skills of Korean-type languages, which may not be easily accessible to corresponding language learners locally.

videoconferencing, listening skill, reading skill, Korean second language

Sungwoo Kim

DOI: Vol.20(No.4) 66-98, 2017

Recent scholarship on linguistic landscape has inspired literacy educators to create novel classroom activities and reflect critically upon the semiotic environment in which their students are situated. Considering a teacher’s pivotal role in designing theoretically-valid, pedagogically-effective classroom activities, it is essential to explore how the concept of linguistic landscape may spark pedagogical insights in teacher training courses. With this backdrop, the present research investigates two university classes in South Korea where linguistic landscape was introduced as an educational resource to forty-one pre-service English teachers. Specifically, the teachers explored the potential uses of digital and offline linguistic landscapes for enriching their English classes in relation to grammar, vocabulary, and four skills activities. Analysis shows that the pre-service teachers successfully adopted linguistic landscape as a viable pedagogical tool, incorporating relevant linguistic, cultural, and personal knowledge to designing linguistic landscape-focused tasks. However, these pre-service teachers also tended to remain in their comfort zones in that they rarely foregrounded the translingual, multimodal aspects of public signs in their proposed activities. This suggests that English teacher training programs in South Korea will need to implement principled and systematic interventions to help pre-service teachers make the most of the potential of linguistic landscape in their classroom activities. (201 words)

linguistic landscape, virtual linguistic landscape, pre-service teachers, teacher education, multimodality, funds of knowledge

Jiyeon Ryu

DOI: Vol.20(No.4) 99-126, 2017

This study explored the effects of digital English textbooks on college EFL learners’ self-regulated learning. To this end, 27 undergraduate and graduate students were recruited to undertake an intensive English program. They were asked to complete a self-regulated learning questionnaire before and after the treatment. The experimental group was exposed to digital textbooks, while the control group used print-based textbooks in English class. The students underwent eight different treatments based on the self-regulated learning approach. The study found that compared to the pre-intervention phase, both student groups―those who used the digital textbooks and those who used the paper textbooks― demonstrated increased self-regulated learning strategy use. This result confirms that when a self-regulated learning approach is applied to learning English, it helps to improve self-regulated learning skills. Furthermore, the study found an improvement in metacognitive strategy use in both groups, unlike the other two strategy types (cognitive strategies and resource management strategies). Last, regarding the metacognitive strategies, the digital textbook group showed a change in the monitoring activities, while the paper textbook group demonstrated a change in the planning and regulating activities. This study offers valuable insight into the development and implementation of digital textbooks, especially in foreign language education.

English digital textbooks, self-regulated learning, metacognitive strategies, cognitive strategies, resource management strategies

한종임 Han Jong-im

DOI: Vol.20(No.4) 127-154, 2017

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of creativity-based English teaching and learning using technology on Korean middle school students' English learning achievement and creativity. The participants of the study were 39 students from middle schools in Seoul, Korea, who belonged to two different groups: an experimental group, which carried out the creativity-based English learning tasks in smart learning environments (n=17), and a control group, which received a traditional English instruction (n=22). The experiment was administered during one semester of the 2017 academic year. Major findings of the study were as follows: 1) With respect to English learning achievement, the creativity-based English teaching and learning using technology was found to be as equally beneficial as the traditional instruction. 2) The creativity-based English teaching and learning using technology proved to be more effective than the traditional instruction in enhancing the participants' creativity, specifically fluency, flexibility, and originality. 3) Both the creativity-based English teaching and learning using technology and the traditional instruction had equal effects on participants' perceptions of their own creativity and problem-solving skills. Based on the findings, some pedagogical suggestions were made for the successful implementation of the creativity-based English teaching and learning using technology in English classrooms.

creativity, creativity-based English learning, technology-based creativity