The Machinery of Turn-taking in L2 Instructed Talk-in-interaction

정은혁 팬코리아영어교육학회 2009 영어교육연구 Vol.21 No.3

Although various aspects of instructed discourse have been intensively investigated, relatively few studies have closely examined turn-taking systems in the L2 pedagogical context. Moreover, no study to date has analyzed in detail the turn-taking organization of L2 instructional discourse within differing participation frameworks (i.e., interactional task types). This study aims to examine how the patterns of turn-taking in classroom discourse vary according to different participation frameworks. Classroom data were videotaped and transcribed following the conversation-analytic methodology. The results show that participation frameworks play a crucial role in determining the turn-taking sequences in pedagogical interactions. The turn-taking system in teacher-fronted tasks was characterized mainly by IRF sequences. Several other unique features specific to institutional discourse were manifested in these tasks, such as the turn-initiation techniques by students, dual interactional patterns, a single party talk, longer gaps, and gazing as a turn-allocation device. In role-playing tasks, which normally involve two official interlocutors, the teacher could be considered to be another official participant due to her frequent, supportive, and evaluative intervention.

A Bilingual Immersion Approach to English Teaching at a Primary Level in Korea

정은혁 한국언어학회 2010 언어 Vol.35 No.2

Jung, Euen Hyuk (Sarah). 2010. A Bilingual Immersion Approach to English Teaching at a Primary Level in Korea, Korean Journal of Linguistics 35-2, 445-469. Recently, the practice of beginning English language instruction at an early age has received considerable attention in the ELT field. Korea is no exception. There has been a growing recognition that it is desirable for young children to start to learn English at school in Korea. In this vein, some researchers argue for adopting the immersion model to teach English, while others are rather critical of its implementation. The topic of immersion is a controversial issue in Korea, which is worthy of serious consideration. As immersion programs are increasingly being implemented in international settings, it is important to explore the theoretical and practical aspects of the immersion model. This paper, therefore, aims to explore the possibility of an immersion approach to English teaching in Korea. More specifically, this paper intends to discuss the benefits of early bilingual education and to propose an immersion approach to teaching English at the elementary level in Korea. First, the paper examines various definitions and types of bilingualism. Second, the positive effects of early bilingualism are discussed in terms of learners’ cognitive, metalinguistic, and sociocultural development. Third, different types of bilingual education programs are examined. Fourth, rationales and empirical support are offered for adopting the immersion model. Lastly, practical considerations are provided to implement the immersion model at elementary schools in Korea. (Yonsei University)

L1 Interpretation Strategies of English and Korean Speakers and L2 Interpretation Strategies of English-speaking Learners of Korean

정은혁 한국중앙영어영문학회 2010 영어영문학연구 Vol.52 No.1

The purpose of this study is to compare L1 sentence interpretation strategies in English and Korean within the paradigm of the Competition Model. It further attempts to examine the L2 sentence processing strategies by English-speaking learners of Korean as a second language (KSL) at varying L2 proficiency levels. The present study involved three groups of participants: native English speakers, native Korean speakers, and English-speaking learners of KSL at different proficiency levels (i.e., beginning, intermediate, and advanced). The participants were asked to identify the agents of sentences, each consisting of one verb and two nouns, in which animacy and word order cues either competed or were consistent with each other. The results showed that native English speakers relied heavily on word order as the major cue to L1 sentence interpretation, while native Korean speakers showed great dependence on animacy as the dominant source for L1 sentence interpretation. This study also found a general shift from the syntax-based processing strategies to semantics-based ones in Korean L2 acquisition in accordance with the English KSL learners’ L2 proficiency levels. Learners with lower L2 proficiency transferred L1-based animacy processing strategies to their Korean interlanguage. As their L2 proficiency increased, English KSL learners gradually became less dependent on L1-based animacy processing strategies and more reliant on L2-based word order processing strategies to comprehend sentences in Korean.

The Study of Second Language Text Comprehension and Measurement Issues

정은혁 한국영어교육학회 2007 ENGLISH TEACHING(영어교육) Vol.62 No.3

Much research compared various types of reading tasks and showed that task types affect how readers comprehend the text. In contrast, few studies examined the role of task types in L2 listening. Despite the wide use of recall tasks and the usefulness of summary tasks in measuring comprehension, no study, thus far, has compared recall and summary tasks to assess L2 listening comprehension. An attempt to compare the effects of these tasks on text comprehension will provide valuable insights to better understand the assessment of spoken text processing. It is also necessary to examine not only how much information is comprehended, but also what levels of information are comprehended. Consequently, this study compared the use of recall and summary tasks to assess L2 learners’ listening comprehension of high-level information and low-level information in the text. 40 Korean EFL university students participated in the study. Of 40 learners, half performed summary tasks, while the other half performed recall tasks. Results show that task types play a major role in L2 listening comprehension. Learners performing summary tasks understood significantly more high-level information, whereas learners performing recall tasks comprehended significantly more low-level information.

The Effect of Social Status on the Use of Pragmatic Strategies in a Second Language

정은혁,이미현 한국영어교육학회 2007 ENGLISH TEACHING(영어교육) Vol.62 No.2

Self-organized TiO2 Nanotube Arrays in the Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue under UV Light Irradiation

정은혁,백승림,유승미,김정필,홍태은,김현규,배종성,정의덕,F. Nawaz Khan,정옥상 한국물리학회 2015 THE JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Vol.66 No.7

Nanostructured titanium dioxide (NTiO2) is known to possess efficient photocatalytic activityand to have diverse applications in many fields due to its chemical stability, high surface area/volumeratio, high transmittance, and high refractive index in the visible and the near-ultraviolet regions. These facts prompted us to develop TiO2 nanotube (TiO2 NT) arrays through electrochemicalanodic oxidation involving different electrolytes comprised of phosphoric acid - hydrofluoric acidaqueous systems by varying the voltage and the time. The annealing temperature of the nanotubes,TiO2 NTs, were varied to modify the surface morphology and were characterized by using X-raydiffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffractionresults showed that the samples had uniform morphologies and good crystalline structures of theanatase phase at lower annealing temperatures and of the rutile phase at higher annealing temperatures. A secondary-ion mass-spectrometry analysis was used to investigate the surface atoms andto conduct a depth profile analysis of the TiO2 NTs. The efficiency of the photocatalytic activity ofthe TiO2 NT arrays in degrading methylene blue (MB) was investigated under UV-Vis light irradiation. The maximum photocatalytic activity was achieved for the samples with lower annealingtemperatures due to their being in the anatase phase and having a higher surface area and a smallercrystal size, which play important roles in the degradation of organic pollutants.

An Evaluation of Listening Studies concerning Discourse Signaling Cues: Focus on Research Designs

정은혁 한국영어어문교육학회 2009 영어어문교육 Vol.15 No.4

Although a considerable amount of research on discourse signaling cues has been conducted in reading, little attention has been paid to such cues in the area of listening. Moreover, despite the solid evidence showing that cues have beneficial effects for reading comprehension, L2 listening research has produced mixed findings about the role of cues. Such discrepancies among these findings might be due in part to inadequate research methodologies as well as the idiosyncratic features of their experimental designs. However, no study, to date, has thoroughly examined the research designs of listening comprehension studies on cues. Consequently, this study critically evaluates the present state of research designs and reporting practices of studies investigating the role of cues in listening comprehension. The present study aims to provide insights into areas that require empirical attention and systematic investigation. It also seeks to encourage improved and refined research practices for future studies. This paper is organized as follows: It will first critically review the empirical findings regarding cues in the area of L1 listening comprehension. Second, it will present a critical evaluation of L2 listening studies on cues. Finally, it will address the major research design issues of currently available listening studies and provide suggestions for improvement in future research.

An Examination of English Teaching Materials with Focus on the Prosodic and Discourse Features

정은혁,최사라 한국영어교육학회 2008 ENGLISH TEACHING(영어교육) Vol.63 No.1

By the advent of spoken corpora, resources and descriptions of native speakers’ English usage are widely available. The insights from these corpora have been rarely applied to the design of textbooks published for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. Consequently, the present study aims to apply these insights to the examination of middle school English textbooks used in Korea. This study investigates whether the EFL learners’ target language materials reflect authentic usages of native English speakers. The presentations of prosodic and discourse features in the conversation sections of the middle school English textbooks were carefully examined through comparison with a native speaker corpus, Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English (LGSWE). A total of fifteen middle school English textbooks from five publishers (first through third grade) were selected based on responses from 178 middle school students from survey questionnaires. The findings show a big gap between the middle school English textbooks and the authentic usage of English. The study builds its foundation upon the importance of providing EFL learners with authentic language materials to facilitate their communicative competence in the target language.

A Cross-cultural Analysis of Compliment Responses by Native English Speakers and Korean Learners of English

정은혁,이미현 한국언어학회 2007 언어 Vol.32 No.1

Jung, Euen Hyuk (Sarah) & Lee, Mi-hyun. 2007. A Cross-cultural Analysis of Compliment Responses by Native English Speakers and Korean Learners of English, Korean Journal of Linguistics, 32-1, 143-163. Although studies have examined compliment response speech acts in various languages, little research has compared such acts of native English speakers and Korean learners of English. Moreover, despite the importance of topics and social status in the act of compliment response, attention so far has not been paid to how topics and social status interact in the speech act. This study intends to examine (a) the social functions of compliment responses of Koreans and Americans, and (b) the relationship between topics and social status in their compliment response behaviors. The present study involved 30 Korean and 30 American students and the data were collected via a Discourse Completion Test. The results showed overall that Koreans tended to deflect compliments while Americans were more likely to accept them. Through an analysis of the compliment response strategies used by the two groups, the difference in the social function of compliment responses was revealed. Compliment responses may serve to strengthen solidarity in American culture, while in Korean culture they are closely related to the great value placed on modesty and debt-sensitiveness. With respect to the relationship between social status and compliment topics, Koreans and Americans showed both similarities and differences in their response strategies. (Yonsei University)

Structural and electrochemical properties of carboncoated Li4Ti5O12 anodic material obtained using chitosan for potential lithium ion rechargeable battery applications

정은혁 한양대학교 세라믹연구소 2013 Journal of Ceramic Processing Research Vol.14 No.3

The sol-gel methodology is employed for the preparation of chitosan added carbon-coated Li4Ti5O12 anode material with improved electrochemical properties for the lithium ion battery applications. The XRD shows that the coating of carbon does not influence the formation of Li4Ti5O12 and the carbon coating on the surface of lithium titanate, Li4Ti5O12 are confirmed by XPS, TEM and Nano-SIMS. A charge/discharge test performed at 0.1 o C and 0.2 o C hour rate, shows that the rate capability and cycle performance are improved due of the chitosan addition which produced carbon coating on the surface of the Li4Ti5O12 material. Similarly the chitosan added carbon-coated Li4Ti5O12 show higher specific capacity 142 mAhg-1 with superior cycling properties against uncoated Li4Ti5O12 material 132 mAhg-1. Also the carbon coating improves the overall electrochemical properties including discharge capacity, cyclability and rate capability against pure Li4Ti5O12.