Korean EFL Teachers’ Beliefs Regarding English Language Reading Instruction

MURPHY ODO DENNIS 한국중등영어교육학회 2017 중등영어교육 Vol.10 No.1

While there has been substantial research into language teachers’ beliefs and their connection to practice, less attention has been to EFL teachers’ beliefs about foreign language reading instruction. This study investigated Korean EFL teachers’ beliefs about foreign language reading instruction to better illuminate what teachers’ beliefs are and how the educational experiences they felt shaped their beliefs. A qualitative design was used to describe teachers’ interpretations of their experiences. Twenty-one Korean teachers reflected on their beliefs about English reading instruction in Korea. Reflection data showed that respondents identified biographical experiences as affecting their beliefs about teaching second-language reading. Many highlighted the importance of knowing the learner and considering learners’ emotions as key aspects of effective reading instruction. Korean English teachers’ beliefs about second language reading instruction are impacted by several previously unidentified influences that arise from outside the classroom context.

A Comparison of Online and Offline Versions of an English as Medium of Instruction Course

MURPHY ODO DENNIS 한국외국어대학교 외국어교육연구소 2023 외국어교육연구 Vol.37 No.1

The Covid-19 public health crisis has abruptly forced most content-based English classes online with questions remaining regarding their effectiveness in developing content knowledge and academic skills when delivered through this medium. To address this issue, a mixed-method quasi-experimental study was designed to compare two groups of learners who attended either an offline or online version of the same English as a medium of instruction course. The aim was to establish whether the two groups displayed any differences in their content knowledge, disciplinary writing or perceptions of the course depending on which version of the course they attended. Results demonstrated that in participants the online version of the class outperformed those in the offline version on an assessment of content area knowledge. However, there were no differences in their disciplinary writing performance. Learners were satisfied with both versions of the course but some expressed misgivings about not being able to practice teaching face-to-face and the limitations of receiving feedback on their teaching online. These findings suggest that we need to be cautious about unreflectively moving content-based EMI courses online without considering the possibility that vital opportunities for skill practice and feedback might be lost when we do.

Engaging in Computer-Mediated Feedback in Academic Writing: Voices from L2 Doctoral Students in TESOL

MURPHY ODO DENNIS,이영주 한국영어교육학회 2014 ENGLISH TEACHING(영어교육) Vol.69 No.3

Nascent research into computer-mediated feedback has demonstrated its potential effectiveness for providing extensive and detailed feedback. However, a dearth of research exists on international doctoral students’ perceptions of online feedback. Thus, our exploratory qualitative study reported in this article investigated the use of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) (e.g., Skype) software to provide feedback on academic writing to international doctoral students in a TESOL Education program at a large urban university in the US. Each student participated in six feedback sessions in which they engaged in think-aloud while reacting to feedback on their academic writing presented through several online modes. The think-aloud sessions were followed by semi-structured interviews. The themes of negotiated feedback and micro-mentoring emerged when the use of online communication technologies allowed the feedback process to become more bi-directional. Based on our findings, we concluded that VoIP-enabled feedback had the potential to facilitate the scaffolding of academic writing development of international graduate students.

An Evaluation of the Linguistic and Cognitive Load Word-level Features of Elementary Reading Texts

MURPHY ODO DENNIS 한국영어어문교육학회 2018 영어어문교육 Vol.24 No.1

This research explored the suitability of various English textbooks for beginning Korean EFL readers. Word-level characteristics of reading texts from several elementary-level textbooks were compared to determine whether the vocabulary displayed features that facilitated word recognition for beginning second-language readers. The texts were also weighed against each other to identify possible differences among them with respect to these vocabulary features. Results related to linguistic content show lack of decodability across textbooks and a large proportion of infrequent words in the texts. Interest variables reveal a relative lack of word imagibility, concreteness and meaningfulness for texts designed for beginning readers. Differences were also observed among texts with respect to cognitive load variables such as number of total and unique words as well as number of repeated words per text. Conclusions are that absence of key linguistic characteristics of vocabulary that promote word recognition may cause beginning readers to miss opportunities to efficiently develop their English reading proficiency. As well, discrepancies among the textbooks for cognitive load variables demonstrate their inconsistency in key indicators of their lexical difficulty. Therefore, textbook designers should also consider using tools like Coh-Metrix to easily analyze and fine-tune these key vocabulary features during textbook design.

A rationale for use of comparative cultures studies and intercultural communication strategies in the English as a foreign language classrooms

Murphy, Barbara 덕성여자대학교 인문과학연구소 1995 인문과학연구 Vol.2 No.-

This article argues that FF1 classes should be approached through comparative culture studies and intercultural communication strategies Language is best learned through use and content and such studies provide ??. They moreover provide students with access to the contents and particular discourse methods they will need to communicate with English ?? an international setting. The article defines comparative cultures studies and gives examples of its content. Intercultural communication strategies are ?? and analyzed according to current research. The article also touches on the critical matter of teacher training and how and when to use the approaches discussed.

A Case Study of an Adult EFL Learner’s Reading Strategy Use and Perceptions of Reading Assistance Software

MURPHY ODO DENNIS 팬코리아영어교육학회 2017 영어교육연구 Vol.29 No.2

Adult Korean learners stand to benefit from having access to digital tools and software that theycan use to improve their English proficiency autonomously. Free voluntary surfing has beenproposed to encourage L2 learners to improve their L2 proficiency but excessive unknownvocabulary in the authentic online materials prevents learners from accessing these texts. Reading assistance software allows the learner to gloss any unknown words they find in the textand indicate their level of knowledge of newly-encountered vocabulary. However, questionspersist regarding how learners might experience and use this software. This study examined theperceptions and reading strategies of an adult Korean EFL learner as she used reading assistancesoftware to engage in free voluntary web surfing. Observations and semi-structured interviewswere conducted with the participant as she used the reading assistance software to readself-selected texts online. Findings indicated that she engaged in several potentially innovativeand productive reading strategies to comprehend the text and learn new vocabulary. Severalunique affordances of the software as well as a number of its more potentially seriouslimitations also emerged through her interactions with the software.

American Political Cultures

Murphy,Walter F.,Danielson,Michael N. 서울대학교 사회과학연구소 1983 社會科學과政策硏究 Vol.5 No.3

Leadership and Global Governance in the Early Twenty - first Century

Murphy, Craig N . Institute for International Trade and Cooperation 1997 Asian International Studies Review Vol.1 No.1

“Global governance" is not new. System of international regimes regulating and encouraging industrial development across borders have been characteristic of the las three of the four industrial eras. The outlines of a new industrial era are already clear, but many of the institutions of global governance necessary for that era have no been formed. This is especially true relative to policy questions about labor, the less industrialized regions, and the environment. History suggests that effective new international agreements can be made with the right combination of intellectual leadership with two types of political leadership: sponsorship of intergovernmental conferences and the benefactorship of experimental international institutions. Relative to environmental issues, intellectual leadership can come from scientists and scholars of public policy. Sponsorship may come from states with an interest in being considered "first movers" in environmental affairs. Potential benefactors of costly experimental international environmental agreements are harder to find. Governments of first-mover states may be able to devise means for handling the redistributive issues associated with international pollution. Simultaneously, they and other governments will have to find new means of managing other problems associated with the expansion of the industrial system: conflicts between capital and labor, between newer and older industries, between more and less industrialized regions of the world, and among leading industrial states.

Comparing the Effect of Extensive Reading with and without Discussion on Pre-service Teachers’ L2 Reading Attitudes

( Murphy Odo Dennis ) 부산대학교 과학교육연구소 2018 교사교육연구 Vol.57 No.3

A substantial amount of research has demonstrated the efficacy of extensive reading (ER) for improving aspects of L2 learners’ language proficiency and attitudes toward the L2. However, fewer inquiries have yet been made into the effectiveness of combining ER with other activities like discussion on learners’ L2 reading attitudes. To explore the potential advantages of ER with discussion over ER alone for improving learners’ L2 reading attitude, two groups of Korean pre-service EFL teachers engaged in ER or ER with discussion over a semester. At the end of the semester, they completed a questionnaire that included a standardized L2 reading attitudes instrument as well as open-ended qualitative questions about their perceptions of doing ER. Results from the standardized attitude survey revealed that the only difference in L2 reading attitudes between the ER and ER with discussion groups was that the ER only saw more practical value of ER than the ER with discussion group. There were no difference in other aspects of L2 reading attitude including comfort, anxiety and intellectual value between the two groups. Themes that arose from the open-ended survey questions included the perceived importance of teacher modelling, how ER enables some learners to experience authentic language and culture and, for some learners, engaging in ER changed their views of L2 reading. Quantitative results suggest that including discussion with ER does not improve L2 reading attitudes beyond doing ER alone. Qualitative findings indicate that doing ER can help some learners change their views on reading in English while allowing them to experience authentic language and culture.

Unreliable Third Person Narration? The Case of Katherine Mansfield

Murphy, Terence Patrick,Walsh, Kelly S. De Gruyter 2017 Journal of literary semantics Vol.46 No.1

<P><B>Abstract</B></P><P>The concept of an unreliable third-person narrator may seem a contradiction in terms. The very act of adopting a third-person stance to tell a story would appear to entail an acceptance of a basic need for truth-telling, a commitment to what Wayne Booth terms the implied author’s “norms of the work.” Nonetheless, in the essay that follows, three of Katherine Mansfield’s short stories – “A Cup of Tea” (1922), “Bliss” (1918) and “Revelations” (1920) – will be examined in order to demonstrate how the strategic suppression of the distinction between the voice of the narrator and that of the central character can lead to a strong sense of unreliability. In order to read such narratives effectively, the reader must reappraise the value of certain other stylistic elements, including the use of directives involved with directly quoted speech, seemingly minor discrepancies between adjacent sentences and, perhaps most importantly, the structure of the fiction itself. We contend that Mansfield’s use of this form of unreliable third-person fiction is her unique contribution to the short story genre.</P>