The Effect of Contextual Knowledge on EFL Learners' Participation in Cross-Cultural Communication

Sujung Min 한국영어어문교육학회 2009 영어어문교육 Vol.15 No.2

This study examined the role of contextual knowledge in cross-cultural communication between non-native speakers on an interactive web with a bulletin board system through which college students of English at Japanese and Korean universities interacted with each other discussing the topics of local and global issues. The study investigated the influence of students' relative contextual knowledge on active participation in interactions and discussed the results focusing on the use of discourse strategies for meaning negotiation. The study argues that in interactions even between non-native speakers with limited proficiency, contextual knowledge in the topic under discussion affects the degree to which they accommodate to each other during communication and suggests that the focus of teaching English as a foreign language also should be given to what kind of contextual knowledge students need to obtain and how to express it rather than what level of proficiency in English they need to acquire.

EFL Learners’ Use of the Modals of Possibility in Cross-Cultural Communication

Min, Sujung(민수정) 새한영어영문학회 2012 새한영어영문학 Vol.54 No.1

This study aims to examine the use of the modals of possibility, can, may, could, and might in a corpus of cross-cultural communication between EFL learners. The study compares the EFL learners’ corpus with a sub-corpus of ICE-GB in terms of token counts and semantic/functional distributions. The results showed that can has the highest frequency and proportion of the modals of possibility in both the NNC and the NC. However, some discrepancy exists between EFL learners’ corpus and the native speakers’ corpus in the use of the modals of possibility. EFL learners used relatively smaller number of the modals of possibility in terms of total tokens. EFL learners tend to underuse may. Both could and might were also much less used in EFL learners’ communication than in the native speakers. Suggestions were made for using computer corpora in understanding EFL learners’ language use and helping them develop communicative competence.

A Corpus-based Analysis of EFL Learners' Use of Discourse Markers in Cross-cultural Communication

Min, Sujung The English Teachers Association in Korea 2011 영어어문교육 Vol.17 No.3

This study examines the use of discourse markers in cross-cultural communication between EFL learners in an e-learning environment. The study analyzes the use of discourse markers in a corpus of an interactive web with a bulletin board system through which college students of English at Japanese and Korean universities interacted with each other discussing the topics of local and global issues. It compares the use of discourse markers in the learners' corpus to that of a native English speakers' corpus. The results indicate that discourse markers are useful interactional devices to structure and organize discourse. EFL learners are found to display more frequent use of referentially and cognitively functional discourse markers and a relatively rare use of other markers. Native speakers are found to use a wider variety of discourse markers for different functions. Suggestions are made for using computer corpora in understanding EFL learners' language difficulties and helping them become more interactionally competent speakers.

Cultural Embodiment of Fear Expressions in Korean and Its Implications for L2 Context

( Min Sujung ) 한국현대영어영문학회 2018 현대영어영문학 Vol.62 No.2

The use of language both L1 and L2 needs to be investigated from the perspective of cultural linguistics in order to gain a better understanding how language is culturally conceptualized. This study aims to give some insights into the role of cultural conceptualizations by examining the cultural embodiment of fear expressions in Korean. This study argues that the conceptualization of fear in Korean is culturally embodied in two different types. First, the fear expressions in Korean show supposedly physiological embodiment, where the fear expression portraits a body part which is thought to be physiologically influenced by the emotion. Second, the fear expressions in Korean also show culturally specific embodiment, where the fear expression provides schematic profile of a part of body assumed to be affected by fear but the level is basically rooted in culture. The practical implications of cultural embodiment of emotion will be suggested for cross-cultural communication and L2 teaching and learning. (Kongju National University)

A study on Korean EFL learners` requests with implication for interlanguage pragmatics

Sujung Min,Beau Chung 미래영어영문학회 2012 미래영어영문학회 학술대회 자료집 Vol.2012 No.12

Research in interlanguage pragmatics has shown that even advanced second language learners may fail to convey the intended illocutionary point or politeness values(e.g. Cohen & Olshtain, 1980: 113-134; Edmonson & House, 1991: 64). Among the speech acts we engage in daily, request is frequently used in conversation to fill the various needs and enhance interpersonal relationships. In light of cross-cultural communication, even including fluent Korean EFL learners, the inappropriate uses of request in some situations often results in interpersonal communication breakdown. The purpose of this study is to examine Korean learners’ use of English, focusing on both how they use and respond to the speech act of requests for permission in English. The data for the study were collected through interviews and written questionnaires administered to the Korean EFL participants comprised of 25 undergraduate students who are majoring in English Education in Korea. This study has important pedagogical implications for teachers giving instruction on speech acts in English as a foreign language.

Use of Expressions of Suggestion and Advice by Korean L2 Learners of English

( Min Sujung ) 한국현대언어학회 2019 언어연구 Vol.35 No.1

The Journal of Studies in Language 35.1, 097-108. Taking a socio-pragmatic approach, the current study explored the production of speech acts of suggestion and advice in English as L2 context. Specifically, the study investigated how Korean learners of English expressed suggestion and advice in terms of strategy use. The study compared the two speech acts realized by Korean L2 learners and native English speakers. The participants encompassed 49 Korean university students and 20 native English speakers. The data consisted of responses to eight situations of written discourse completion test per participant to elicit advice and suggestion speech acts. The responses were coded using 9 categories for advice and 10 categories for suggestion to determine the strategies adopted, and then were analyzed according to the frequency of the choice of strategies for each speech act. Findings revealed that Korean L2 learners of English were not well-balanced in the selection of strategies between making suggestions and giving advice, and linguistic formulae selected to realize certain strategies. (Konju National University)

Request Speech Act in L2 English

Min, Sujung(민수정) 새한영어영문학회 2021 새한영어영문학 Vol.63 No.2

This study examined the production of requests by L2 learners of English in Korea. 33 subjects participated in the study. Data were collected through a discourse completion task (DCT), which elicited suitable request strategies for different context. The contexts were divided into three categories, varying in levels of social distance, power relation and status. The responses from the subjects were analyzed according to the levels of directness proposed by Blum-Kulka (1987) and request perspectives (Blum-Kulka, et al. 1989). The results showed that there was no apparent connection between social variables and use of request strategies. The Korean L2 learners employed the conventional indirect strategies when they produced requests to a person of equal status and of higher status, and to a stranger as well. Findings indicated that the social variables have minimal influence on Korean L2 learners production of requests in English.

A Corpus-based Analysis of EFL Learners’ Use of Discourse Markers in Cross-cultural Communication

Sujung Min 한국영어어문교육학회 2011 영어어문교육 Vol.17 No.3

This study examines the use of discourse markers in cross-cultural communication between EFL learners in an e-learning environment. The study analyzes the use of discourse markers in a corpus of an interactive web with a bulletin board system through which college students of English at Japanese and Korean universities interacted with each other discussing the topics of local and global issues. It compares the use of discourse markers in the learners’ corpus to that of a native English speakers’ corpus. The results indicate that discourse markers are useful interactional devices to structure and organize discourse. EFL learners are found to display more frequent use of referentially and cognitively functional discourse markers and a relatively rare use of other markers. Native speakers are found to use a wider variety of discourse markers for different functions. Suggestions are made for using computer corpora in understanding EFL learners’ language difficulties and helping them become more interactionally competent speakers.

7-Diethylamino-4-methylcoumarin based liquid scintillator and performance evaluation of gamma and neutron detection

SuJung Min,YongDae Park,ChangHyun Roh,SangBum Hong,BumKyung Seo,JaeHak Cheong 대한방사선방어학회 2022 대한방사선방어학회 학술발표회 논문요약집 Vol.2022 No.11

An Intercultural Pragmatic Study of Speech Act of Correction in Korean EFL Context

Sujung Min 한국영어어문교육학회 2020 영어어문교육 Vol.26 No.2

Taking an intercultural pragmatic approach, the present study compared native English speakers and Korean L2 learners performance of the speech act of correction and how it is realized with status unequals. The difference in status here is not necessarily socio-economic, but rather a matter of the power structure within the classroom context. By focusing on correction, this study looked at situations where one person knows the other has had a factual errors. The study attempted to find out whether there is pragmatic transfer from Korean (L1) among L2 learners of English in the strategies used to realize the speech act of correction. The correction speech act classified as an expressive is one of face-threatening speech acts and therefore have received much attention because of their potential for causing cross-cultural miscommunication. The participants included 20 Korean university students and 10 native English speakers. The data consisted of responses to four items of written discourse completion test per participant to elicit the speech act of correction. All the responses were analyzed as consisting of a sequence of semantic formulas (Cohen & Olshtain, 1981). Findings indicated the cultural background and L1 effects on the use of correction strategies.