Discrepancy between English Uses and Language Testing

김현주 한국영어학회 2005 영어학 Vol.5 No.4

As English speakers in second and foreign language countries increase fast, English change is unavoidable. Therefore, we cannot ignore a variety of Englishes, which are nativized or localized. We have to reexamine language testing system as well as language teaching for English-in-education contexts. Although World Englishes (WEs) has become an important issue in language teaching, the discussion is often restricted to the countries of English as a Native Language (ENL) and English as a Second Language (ESL). The voice of the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) country, which has the biggest population of English speakers in the world, should be infused into WEs issues. Based on this argument, this paper focuses on the necessity and feasibility of instilling WEs perspectives to language testing in Hong Kong and Korea.

한국 대학생들의 영어 기술 논문 작성 능력 향상을 위한 고찰

김이진(Yeejin Kim),박보영(Bo Young Pak),이창하(Chang-Ha Lee),김문겸(Moon Kyum Kim) 한국공학교육학회 2007 공학교육연구 Vol.10 No.3

영어 논문의 작성 능력은 오늘날 공학도들에게 필수적으로 요구되는 자질이다. 주요 해외 저널에 얼마나 많은 논문이 게재되었느냐가 학문적 성과를 평가하는 주된 척도라는 점과 주요 해외 저널들이 보다 많은 독자들을 대상으로 하기 위하여 영어로 쓰여진다는 점 때문에 영어 논문 작성 능력에 대한 필요성은 한국을 포함한 영어가 모국어가 아닌 모든 국가들에서 강조되고 있는 실정이다. 그러나, 불행히도 한국에 있는 이공계 대학들은 석/박사 연구원들의 영어 논문 작성 능력 향상을 위한 정규적인 교육 과정을 제공하고 있지 못하다. 이러한 상황을 더욱 악화시키는 것은 구체적인 기술 논문 작성 방법론에 대한 문헌이 부족하다는 점이다. 원어민(Native Speaker)을 위한 기술 논문 작성 방법론에 대한 문헌이나 EFL 학습자들을 위한 일반적인 영어 작문법에 대한 문헌은 많이 있지만, EFL 학습자들을 위한 기술 논문 작성법에 대한 지침서나 문헌은 찾기 힘들다. 따라서, 본 보고서의 목적은 두 가지로 나누어 볼 수 있다. 첫째, 영문 기술 논문 작성에 대한 교육 방법론이 생소한 한국에서 이공계 연구원을 대상으로 강의를 하고 있는 EFL 강사들 에게 제기될 수 있는 일반적인 논제들을 제시한다. 이 논제들은 적절한 강의 접근법(Teaching Approach), 최적의 학생 배치(Class Arrangement), 그리고 컴퓨터 학습 도구의 활용뿐 아니라 대조 수사학 (Contrastive Rhetoric)의 중요성에 대한 내용을 포함한다. 둘째, 실제적인 강의 제안서도 제시한다. 본 강의 제안서는 기술 논문 작성법 강의 수강생들의 작문 샘플에 대한 분석 결과와 기술 논문 작성법에 대한 자가 진단 설문 응답 분석 결과를 근거로 작성하였고, 한국인 EFL 학습자가 기술 논문 교육 과정을 통하여 문법(Grammar), 과정(Process), 장르 기술(Genre Skills) 등을 골고루 개발할 수 있도록 하였다. 본보고서는 EFL 기술 논문 과정의 개발에 대한 여러 일반적인 논점들을 공유함으로써 기술논문 교육방법론 연구가 부족한 한국의 공학 교육계에 하나의 사례를 제시하였다. For Korean researchers, English is essential. In fact, this is the case for any researcher who is a non-native English speaker, as recognition and success is predicated on being published, while publications that reach the broadest audiences are in English. Unfortunately, university science and engineering programs in Korea often do not provide formal coursework to help students attain greater competence in English composition. Aggravating this situation is the general lack of literature covering this specific pedagogical issue. While there is plenty of information to help native speakers with technical writing and much covering general English composition for EFL learners, there is very little information available to help EFL learners become better technical writers. Thus, the purpose of this report is twofold. First, as most Korean educators in science and engineering are not well acquainted with pedagogical issues of EFL writing, this report provides a general introduction to some relevant issues. It reviews the importance of contrastive rhetoric as well as some considerations for choosing the appropriate teaching approach, class arrangement, and use of computer assisted learning tools. Secondly, a course proposal is discussed. Based on a review of student writing samples as well as student responses to a self-assessment questionnaire, the proposed course is intended to balance the needs of Korean EFL learners to develop grammar, process, and genre skills involved in technical writing. Although, the scope of this report is very modest, by sharing the considerations made towards the development of an EFL technical writing course it seeks to provide a small example to a field that is perhaps lacking examples.

The Social Identity and Investment of Learners in an Adult EFL Program -A Case Study of Three Korean Learners

Guo, Wenyan,김정인 한국교양교육학회 2021 교양교육연구 Vol.15 No.2

This study leverages “Investment Theory” (Norton, 1995) to investigate English as a foreign language (EFL) when it comes to the social identity and investment of learners in an adult EFL program in South Korea. Using triangulation, this study examines how three Korean learners negotiated their social identity and English learning with regards to language investment. The data were collected via class observations, semi-structured interviews, and the EFL program’s class attendance sheet, from October 2019 to February 2020. The findings revealed that EFL learners’ social identity and investment, which can be negotiated and constructed over time, are diversified and changeable through the process of learning English. Lacking the daily language environment of English as a second language, EFL learners start learning English at school. As a result, a learner’s first English learning-related social identity is one that involves examinations and/or tests, while other social identities (e.g., those of a traveler, teacher, worker, volunteer, etc.) follow over time. When negotiating a learner’s foreign language learning, diverse social identities help promote language investment. Finally, implications for formal foreign language learning pedagogy are discussed within this study.

An analysis of English as a foreign language learners’ perceptual confusions and phonemic awareness of English fricatives

이경아 한국음성학회 2023 말소리와 음성과학 Vol.15 No.3

This study investigates perceptual confusions of English fricatives among 121 Korean elementary school English as a foreign language (EFL) learners with shorter periods of learning English. The objective is to examine how they perceive English fricative consonants and to provide educational guidelines. Two sets of English fricative identification tasks— voiceless fricatives and voiced fricatives—were administered to participants in a High Variability Phonetic Training (HVPT) setting. Their phonemic awareness of the fricatives was visualized in perceptual confusion maps via multidimensional scaling analysis. The findings are explored in terms of the impacts of Korean EFL learners’ L1 linguistic aspects and a comparison with L1 learners. Learners’ phonemic awareness patterns are then compared with their relative importance in speech intelligibility based on a functional load hierarchy. The results indicated that Korean elementary EFL learners recognized English fricatives in a manner largely akin to L1 learners, suggesting their ongoing acquisition progress. Additionally, the findings demonstrated that the young EFL learners possess sufficient phonemic awareness for most high functional load segments but encounter some difficulties with one high and one low functional pair. The findings of this study offer suggestions for diagnosing language learners’ phonemic awareness abilities, thereby aiding in the development of practical guidelines for language instructional design and helping educators make informed decisions regarding teaching priority in L2 classes.

EFL Learning and Making Meaning of Literacy in the Korean Context

정선주(Chung, Sun Joo) 학습자중심교과교육학회 2021 학습자중심교과교육연구 Vol.21 No.8

본 연구의 목적은 한국 대학의 EFL (외국어로서의 영어) 읽기와 쓰기 수업에 있어서 한국 학생들이 영어 학습과 관련하여 비판적 문해력 (critical literacy)과 전통적 문해력 (traditional literacy)의 통합을 어떻게 인식하고 있는지 하는 문제와, 강사가 학생들로 하여금 위 두 가지 문해력의 통합의 중요성을 살펴보도록 어떻게 권장할 수 있는지 하는 문제를 검토하는 것이다. 이 연구에서는 특히 a) 비판적 문해력을 통해 읽기와 쓰기 능력을 지원하는 방법, b) 비판적 문해력 의미와 문해력에 대한 학생들의 관점 이해, 그리고 c) 수업을 통해 EFL 비판적 문해력 향상 방안을 고찰한다. EFL 수업에서 있어서 비판적 문해력에 대한 학생들의 관점 연구와 EFL 수업에 있어서 비판적 문해력 적용 문제의 연구를 위해 교사 연구 방법론을 적용했다. 주된 데이터에는 강사의 교육 일지와 학생의 글쓰기 과제가 포함된다. 연구 결과의 분류를 위해 읽기의 4 가지 패러다임에 의존하여 코드 체계를 사용하였다. 연구 결과에 따르면 학생들은 비판적 문해력을 주의 깊은 독서로 이해하고 있음을 알 수 있었는바, 비판적 문해력은 학생들이 글에 숨겨진 의미를 발견하고 다양한 관점을 심사숙고해 보도록 하며, 나아가 학생들의 독해력을 개발하고, 자신의 생각을 글로 표현해 보도록 유도한다. 본 연구에서는 비판적 문해력 증진 방법에 대한 교육학적 제안도 논의한다. The current study explores how Korean students in an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) reading and writing elective course in a South Korean university perceive the integration of critical literacy with traditional literacy with regards to learning the English language. The study also considers how the instructor may encourage students to see the value of integrating the two. In doing so, the study specifically examines a) how to support reading and writing skills through critical literacy, b) understanding the meaning of critical literacy and students’ perspectives towards critical literacy, and c) ways EFL critical literacy develops through the course. A teacher research method was used to explore students’ standpoint on and the application of critical literacy in the EFL course. Primary data includes the instructor’s teaching logbook and students’ written assignments. Relying on the four paradigms of reading, a code scheme was used to categorize the findings. The findings revealed that students recognize critical literacy as mindful reading, which allowed them to discover embedded meanings in the text and reflect on various points of view. It also assisted in building students’ reading comprehension skills and encouraging them to voice their ideas in writing. Pedagogical suggestions on how to promote critical literacy are discussed.

A Lexico-Grammatical Feature of English as a Lingua Franca in an Asian Context

민수정 ( Sujung Min ) 한국현대언어학회 2015 언어연구 Vol.31 No.3

This paper presents an empirical and descriptive analysis of one particular, but symptomatic, lexico-grammatical feature of naturally occurring ELF data, dropping of the 3rd person verbal suffix -s. English has become the chosen medium to facilitate successful communication among people of different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. As a result, English acts extensively as a lingua franca among people with different mother tongues, particularly in professional domains of education, research, and international relations. Yet, despite its ubiquity, English as a lingua franca (ELF) in Asian EFL contexts has not been recognized as a serious object of linguistic inquiry and any variation from the norms of Standard English has indeed often been dismissed as a defective form of English. The findings of this study suggest that the occurrence of a lexico-grammatical feature, zero marking for the 3rd person verbal suffix -s, follows general principles of language usage that have been observed in ELF in Europe and many varieties of English around the world. Consequently, this paper proposes that ELF in Asian contexts is not just a defective form but rather in line with a natural development of the language. (Kongju National University)

Pre-service English Teachers’ Perception and Practices of Digital Literacy: The case of Hong Kong

박문영 미래영어영문학회 2023 영어영문학 Vol.28 No.1

Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) plays a crucial role in second/foreign language education. Enormous changes in technology and the growing emphasis on 21st century skills, especially digital literacy, raise a concern about English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) learners’ and teachers’ competence in CALL more than ever. In response to the mounting concern, this study investigates 92 pre-service English teachers’ digital literacy in Hong Kong. This study reports on the participants’ digital literacy level as well as factors affecting their use of digital technologies for teaching English. Results of the study uncover pre-service English teachers’ current practice and knowledge of digital literacy and attitude toward digital technology in language teaching and learning. Finally, the paper identifies limitations of the study and provides suggestions to improve digital literacy surveys as well as possible future research.

조기 영어 교육 관련 논쟁: 이론, 현황 및 방향성

이하원 ( Ha Won Lee ),채희락 ( Hee Rahk Chae ) 대한언어학회 2011 언어학 Vol.19 No.3

This study examines whether the age variable is as important as is generally assumed in learning English. In addition, it explores the reasons why previous studies regarding early English education (EEE) are sharply divided into two opposite groups: those for EEE and those against EEE. After examining a variety of studies on Critical Period Hypothesis, we came to the conclusion that the hypothesis does not hold in learning the second language. That is, we can say that early exposure to English itself does not have a special advantage in learning the language, especially in a place of an EFL context. We would have to focus more on such variables as the degree of cognitive development and the amount and intensity of exposure to the input language. The sharp divisions of research results are caused by research focus differences, uncontrolled samples, mixing of ESL and EFL situations, and errors in research methods.

Korean English Teacher's Disempowerment in English-only Classes

Sung-Sam Hwang,Hyo-Sun Seo,Tae-Young Kim 한국사회언어학회 2010 사회언어학 Vol.18 No.1

Hwang, Sung-Sam, SeD, Hyo-Sun, Kim, Tae-Young. 2010. Korean English Teacher's Disempowerment in English-only Classes: A Case Study Focusing on Korea-specific Cultural Aspects. The Sociolinguistic journal of Korea 18(1). In this case study, we have focused on the disempowerment of a Korean English teacher (KET) in English-only classrooms. Six English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms in a Korean high school were observed and analyzed by using interpretive discourse analysis. Out of the six classes, three representative classrooms were both video- and audio-taped. The results show that the English-only classes could weaken the KETs' power via three mechanisms: (a) calling the KETs' last name for choral greetings at the beginning of the class, (b) students' group solidarity and peer pressure between classmates, and (c) the students' excessively collaborative approach to peer assistance. It is argued that the exclusive English-only instruction disempowers the KETs' status and dismantles their vocational identity. In order to remedy the current situation, within a scaffolding supported by the eclectic use of first language where necessary for effective class management, KETs are empowered and overcome constraints imposed by the limited L2 oral competence of some non-native English teachers.

Contrasting Views of English-Medium Instruction by Korean Professors and Students : Towards a Negotiated Language Policy

Eun Gyong Kim,Soo-Ok Kweon,Jeongyeon Kim 아시아영어교육학회 2021 The Journal of Asia TEFL Vol.18 No.4

This study examines the comparative attitudes of students and professors toward English-medium instruction (EMI) policies at Korean universities. Specifically, it investigates these stakeholders’ experiences with EMI implemented in science and engineering universities, the main facilitators of EMI and the internationalization of Korean higher education. Within a mixed method framework, questionnaire surveys were administered to 523 students and 37 professors from three leading science and engineering universities, and supplementary interviews were conducted with nine professors. The results of the analysis show that both professors and students believe that EMI should be continued. With respect to their motivations to engage in teaching and learning subjects in English as a foreign language (EFL), the majority of both groups were involved in EMI due to their university’s policy, with lower satisfaction in EMI classes than in Korean-medium classes. More students than professors were unconvinced of the effects of EMI on their English ability. Notably, despite the inadequacy of their English ability, many students were not enthusiastic about enhancing their levels of English language proficiency. These contradictory views are discussed to propose ways to explicitly promote English language instruction as well as EMI-related professional development for subject professors at EFL higher education institutions.