Diversity of English composition of 6th grade primary school students in Korea

Su Yon Yim 한국초등영어교육학회 2008 초등영어교육 Vol.14 No.1

  This paper aims to explore the diversity of writing performance among thirty four Korean sixth grade primary school students, by analysing their composition of stories. The data was collected from a single class in southern Seoul; first, a questionnaire was conducted, in order to increase understanding of the research context, and then students were given forty minutes to write a story based on six pictures. The data was analysed quantitatively as well as qualitatively. In the quantitative analysis, fluency and complexity were measured; for fluency, the total number of words and sentences were counted, and, for complexity, the syntactical characteristics were discussed. In the qualitative analysis, accuracy, approaches to writing, and support from L1 were discussed; accuracy was examined in terms of the types of errors the participants made in their writing. Analysis of students" writing shows that students are varied in terms of fluency, complexity, accuracy, approaches to writing, and support from L1. This suggests that we need to find ways to address this variation of ability in the English classroom.

English Teachers’ Blues in Korea: A Study of English Teaching Anxiety

Su Yon Yim,Soyeon Kim 한국외국어교육학회 2016 Foreign languages education Vol.23 No.1

This study aims to investigate English teachers’ anxiety at three different school levels in Korea with special attention to situations where anxiety is generated. A mixed method was adopted to explore English teachers’ anxiety. Quantitative data from 912 English teachers was obtained through an online survey and qualitative data was collected from focus group interviews which were conducted with three different groups of primary (n=4), middle (n=3), and high school (n=3) teachers. Quantitative data analysis showed that there were no significant differences in the level of anxiety according to three school levels, although the anxiety of English teachers gradually increases from primary to high school. On the whole, there were significant differences in anxiety according to teaching experience; teachers with less than three years of teaching experience showed the highest anxiety. Three themes emerged from the analysis of the qualitative data: fear of negative evaluation, different sources of anxiety relating to teaching experiences in the three school levels, and classroom English vs. spontaneous English. These three themes showed that English teachers’ anxiety needs to be understood in the context of anxiety-provoking situations where they are being evaluated by their colleagues about their teaching methods and English language proficiency. Pedagogical implications are discussed based on the findings of the study.

World English : the case of Singapore

Su Yon Yim 미래영어영문학회 2012 미래영어영문학회 학술대회 자료집 Vol.2012 No.12

Applying Miscue Analysis to Young Non-native Readers

Su Yon Yim 한국초등영어교육학회 2006 초등영어교육 Vol.12 No.2

  This paper is concerned with identifying methodological issues related to miscue analysis as a research tool applied to the reading of non-native learners and with addressing those issues. To shed light on these questions, I conduct a case study, in which one primary school student was asked to read aloud books in English. The results of this study indicate that we need to modify miscue analysis for young non-native readers, in order that research can be adequately conducted. Four methodological issues are addressed throughout the study: creating a comfortable research context, choosing the appropriate level of reading materials, marking the miscues, and interpreting the miscues. These four issues need to be carefully considered when miscue analysis is used as a method of reading research for non-native readers.

Validating the English Learning Anxiety Scale for Primary School Students in Korea

Su Yon Yim,유예림 한국영어교육학회 2011 ENGLISH TEACHING(영어교육) Vol.66 No.2

This study aims to validate the English learning anxiety scale for Korean primary school students. At the initial stage, 16 items of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986) were drawn from the literature reviews for the preliminary test. Then, 177 primary school students were sampled for the preliminary test. After the exploratory factor analysis was undertaken, the English Learning Anxiety Scale (ELAS) was reduced to 14 items, which consisted of two dimensions (oral English classroom anxiety, and low self-confidence in English). The main test was given to 573 primary school students from fourth grades to sixth grades in eight different schools in order to confirm validity and reliability of the ELAS. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modeling demonstrated that the ELAS is a valid (TLI, AGFI, CFI>.94, RMSEA=.049) and reliable (Cronbach’s α = 0.891) instrument.

The Guessing Model Revisited: A Case Study of a Korean Young Learner

Yim, Su Yon The English Teachers Association in Korea 2011 영어어문교육 Vol.17 No.3

This paper presents a case study involving one Korean primary school student and people around him in order to explore the reading process in English of a young Korean EFL learner and to investigate the social context in which his reading takes place. Six participants were included in the study (one primary school student and five adult participants). The student participant was asked to read a text in English and translate what he read into Korean and the teacher participants were asked to listen to the student's reading. Semi-structured interview was used to collect data from the student as well as five adult participants (his private tutor, his parent, his state school teacher, and two other state school teachers). The analysis reveals four characteristics of the way a young EFL learner approaches reading: word-by-word reading, disconnected word recognition, selective use of cues, and lack of awareness of difficulties. The four characteristics of Kilsu's reading suggest that reading can become a wild guessing game for young foreign learners, if they give selective attention to unimportant cues while reading. The pedagogical implications of this study are also discussed to help teachers designing reading lessons for young learners.

A Comparative Study of Co-teaching Practices in Korea and Japan

Yim Su Yon,Bae Pyung hwa 한국초등영어교육학회 2015 초등영어교육 Vol.21 No.1

This study compares Korean and Japanese primary school teachers' perceptions of co-teaching practices. A total of 182 primary school teachers (67 Koreans and 115 Japanese) participated in the survey, which consists of open-and closed-ended questions on background information, difficulties in conducting co-teaching, and suggestions for effective co-teaching. Data analysis shows that co-teaching has been implemented in different teaching formats in these two countries: an ST (Subject Teacher)-NEST (Native English-Speaking Teacher) format is the prevailing teaching practice in Korea whereas an HRT (Homeroom teacher)-NEST format is more common in Japan. Local English Teachers in these two countries have different views of role-sharing between NNESTs and NESTs in co-teaching. Korean NNESTs considered equal sharing of roles between the ST and the NEST as ideal whereas Japanese NNESTs expected the HRT to take the main role in co-teaching in an ideal co-teaching situation. Japanese NNESTs showed higher satisfaction with their co-teaching practices compared to Korean NNESTs. The main cause of Korean NNESTs' dissatisfaction concerned the lack of professionalism among NESTs. NNESTs in both countries point out the need for systematic support for effective co-teaching.

Development of a competency-based English curriculum : A case of Singapore

Su Yon Yim 아시아유럽미래학회 2022 유라시아연구 Vol.19 No.1

2015년 국가교육과정은 국내 최초로 역량 개념을 바탕으로 개발된 교육과정이다. 과목별로 교과역량을 제 시하는 등 역량의 요소가 포함되었지만 역량중심의 교육과정으로 아직 한계점이 많이 지적되고 있다. 본 연구 는 핵심역량 교육이 성공적으로 진행되고 있는 싱가포르 영어교육 사례를 살펴봄으로써 한국의 영어 교육과 정 개발을 위한 시사점을 모색하고자 한다. 이를 위해 2001년부터 2020년까지 싱가포르의 영어 교육과정을 분석하였다. 영어과 교육과정이 20년 동안 어떠한 변화를 거쳐서 지금의 핵심역량기반의 교육과정으로 만들 어졌는지에 분석의 초점을 두었다. 첫째, 싱가포르 영어과 교육과정은 기존의 교육과정과 연계선상에서 진화 된 형태로 개발된다는 점이다. 2001년에 제시된 ‘언어사용’이라는 모델이 2010년, 2020년으로 점차 진화된 형태로 발전되었다. 둘째, 싱가포르 영어과 교육과정은 핵심역량 교육을 펼치기 위한 근원적인 세 가지 질문 (왜 가르치고, 무엇을 가르치고, 어떻게 가르치는가)에 대한 고민이 담겨 있다. 셋째, 세계어로서 영어의 역할, 의사소통 교수법에서 문법의 역할, 4가지 영역(듣기, 말하기, 읽기, 쓰기)의 복합적 관계가 포함되어 있는 등 영어교육에 대한 최신 이론이 교육과정 문서에 잘 반영되어 있다는 점이다. 점차 진화된 형태로 영어과 교육 과정을 개정하는 싱가포르 사례를 바탕으로 한국의 역량기반 영어교육과정 개발에 대한 교육적 시사점을 도출하였다. The 2015 national curriculum is the first curriculum developed in Korea that is based on the concept of competency. Although there are elements of competencies such as subject specific competencies, a lot of criticism of the curriculum has been that it has limitations as a competency-based approach. This study examines the case of English language teaching in Singapore, and suggests a possible move towards competency-based education in Korea by improving the English national curriculum. For this, English syllabuses in Singapore from 2001 to 2020 were examined. The main focus was on how changes were made towards competency-based education from the 2001 English syllabus to the recently launched 2020 syllabus. The analysis showed three findings. First, the language use model, the framework for the EL syllabus, has been developed by building on the past. Four factors (purpose, audience, context, culture) have remained unchanged for twenty years in order to maintain continuity, but changes have also been made in the syllabus in a fairly revolutionary way. Second, the English syllabuses address the question of why we teach English, what we teach and how we teach English. Third, the syllabuses reflect the current studies on English education, the prevailing view of the role of English in a globalised society, the role of grammar, and relations among the four skill areas. Based on the findings, educational implications have been outlined about the direction of competency-based English education in Korea.

Competency

Su Yon Yim 한국영어교육학회 2019 KATE Forum Vol.43 No.1

Implementation of Team Teaching: Perspectives from Native English Speakers

Su Yon Yim 한국외국어교육학회 2012 Foreign languages education Vol.19 No.1

The existing literature on team teaching suggest that there is ambiguity of teachers' roles between teachers in team teaching and diverse realities on the implementation of team teaching. This paper explores the implementation of team teaching in Korean primary classrooms from a native English speaker's point of view, focusing on factors which cause diverse understandings and realities in implementing team teaching. Six native speaker teachers from different educational and teaching backgrounds participated in semi-structured interviews. Three themes emerged from the analysis of qualitative data: first, native speakers go through complex identity formation; second, collaboration between native speaker teachers and Korean teachers is not fully realized due to diverse understanding of teachers' roles in team teaching situations and the inherent identity conflicts between native speakers and Korean teachers; and third, dissatisfaction with the national textbook and the lack of role modeling in team teaching have been highlighted as constraints by native speakers. Theoretical and pedagogical implications have been discussed based on the three themes identified by the interviews.