The Effect of Differential Feedback on Writing Accuracy of L2 College Students

Ma, Jee Hyun 한국영어교육학회 2006 ENGLISH TEACHING(영어교육) Vol.61 No.3

Current Research Trends of English Education in Domestic and International Journals

Jee Hyun Ma,Youngsu Kim 서울대학교 외국어교육연구소 2014 외국어교육연구 Vol.17 No.-

Articles in one domestic journal, English Teaching (ET), and one international journal, TESOL Quarterly (TQ) from 2011 to 2013 were surveyed in order to analyze current research trends and to suggest better orientation toward future research focusing on participants, research methods, target language skills, and research topics. The results show that university students have participated most in both of the journal articles, indicating that they are practically available to the researchers in higher educational settings. The proportion of quantitative and qualitative research methods was well balanced in TQ, while, in ET, more than 50 percent of the articles relied on quantitative research methodology along with a relatively larger proportion of mixed method research in ET. In terms of target language skills, writing has been studied most in ET and speaking in TQ, showing growing interest in productive language skills nowadays. As for research topics, articles based on socio-cultural factors have been published most in TQ and articles based on classrooms pedagogy in ET, which reflects that English learning is performed mostly in classroom settings in Korea. Pedagogical implications and suggestions are made based on the findings

The Effects of Different Types of Reading Instruction on L2 Reading Comprehension and Metacognitive Awareness

( Jee Hyun Ma ),( Young Ah Cho ) 대한언어학회 2017 언어학 Vol.25 No.4

This study investigated the effects of different types of reading instruction on L2 reading comprehension and metacognitive awareness of strategies. Sixty-eight students with low-intermediate English proficiency levels were assigned to summarization task, textual enhancement task, and control groups. The present study employed three major instruments: a background questionnaire, a pre- and post-Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI), and pre- and post-reading comprehension tests. The findings of the study indicate that textual enhancement instruction leads to improvement in terms of metacognitive strategy use and reading comprehension performance. In addition, both the summarization and textual enhancement groups show better reading gains compared to their initial reading knowledge. Pedagogical implications and suggestions for L2 reading research have been added based on the findings.

The relationships of learning strategy instruction, autonomy, and motivation in L2 vocabulary learning

Jee Hyun Ma,Hung-Tzu Huang 한국영어어문교육학회 2013 영어어문교육 Vol.19 No.1

Research on motivation and autonomy in language learning has suggested that learning contexts emphasizing autonomy will likely foster learners' motivation (Dickinson, 1995; Noels et al., 2001). To encourage autonomy, instructions on learning strategies have been presumed to facilitate autonomous learning and thus lead to high motivation (Dornyei, 2003, 2005). This study explored the effects of learning strategy instruction on learners' autonomy, motivation, and also the relationships between autonomy and motivation in L2 vocabulary learning. 44 adult learners of English participated in this study. One-semester vocabulary learning strategy instructions with an emphasis on autonomous learning were implemented in the experimental group. A questionnaire including learners' perception on motivation, autonomy, and usefulness of vocabulary learning strategies was administrated. The results support that there is a close relationship between intrinsic motivation and self-assessed ability to use L2 learning strategies. The learners in the experimental group assessed themselves as being more capable of applying various learning strategies than those in the control group. However, the learners seem to have fixed ideas concerning their own and their teachers' responsibilities. This calls into question the widespread assumption that strategy instruction necessarily increases learner autonomy in the sense of taking responsibility for the aspects of one's own learning.

The Relationship between the Integrated Writing Task and Strategy Use in L2 Instruction

( Jee Hyun Ma ),( Young Ah Cho ) 21세기영어영문학회 2015 영어영문학21 Vol.28 No.1

The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between the integrated writing tasks and strategy use in L2 learning depending on the different proficiency levels. Sixty university students were classified into two groups-the lower proficiency group and the higher proficiency group-based on their general English performance with 30 students for each group. For the study, the integrated reading-to-write task and the strategy inventory for integrated writing questionnaire were administered to gauge the learners’ writing outcomes and writing strategy use in general. The results revealed that there was a significant difference in the self-regulatory strategy use between the two groups. The findings also demonstrated writing test scores and test-wiseness strategy showed a positive correlation in the lower proficiency group while these two variables indicated a negative correlation in the higher proficiency group. Pedagogical implications were made based on the results.

Korean High School English Learners’ Knowledge of Collocations : Focusing on Delexical Verbs: make, get, and take

Jee Hyun Ma,Youngsu Kim 서울대학교 언어교육원 2013 語學硏究 Vol.49 No.1

This study examined the high-frequency delexical verbs in seven Korean high school English II textbooks and Korean high school learners’ knowledge of collocations focusing on delexical verbs. 209 second-year Korean high school students of learning English participated in the study. In order to analyze the frequency of the verbs in the textbooks, the Natural Language Processing (NPL) Tools program was utilized. A collocation test consisting of 55 collocation items of delexical verbs was taken to measure the Korean high school students’ collocational competence, and a survey of participants’ perception towards the test was carried out. The frequency analysis results displayed that the verbs make, get, and take were most frequently used delexical verbs across the seven textbooks and the collocation test results revealed that the students’ knowledge of collocations regarding the delexical verbs was low, showing the rate of correct answers is 38 percent. The participants initially felt that they knew the verbs well but, in effect, their knowledge of the verbs was far from thorough. This study suggests a necessity of teaching delexical verb collocations to L2 learners explicitly and depth of vocabulary knowledge being a part of organizing principles in L2 instruction.

The Role of Prosody in English Sentence Processing: Evidence from L1-Korean EFL Learners

Jee Hyun Ma 서울대학교 언어교육원 (구 서울대학교 어학연구소) 2007 語學硏究 Vol.43 No.1

This study investigates Korean L1 speakers’ preference for prosodic as opposed to syntactic cues in English sentence processing. The participants were 63 middle school second graders and 70 high school second graders in Seoul, Korea, including both male and female students with different English proficiency levels. The competing cues task and the comprehension time task were conducted to explore the role of prosody in English sentence processing. In the competing cues task, it was generally the case that learners did not primarily attend to syntax when processing English sentences. Instead, all groups of learners were much more likely to attend to prosody. In the comprehension time task, the sentences with cooperating prosody needed significantly less comprehension time than sentences with conflicting prosody in all groups. This suggests that the recognition of prosodic features is an influential factor in English sentence processing.

The Role of Prosody in Recognition Memory for English Sentences

Jee Hyun Ma 아시아영어교육학회 2006 The Journal of Asia TEFL Vol.3 No.4

Effects of Teacher Question Types on Developing L2 Learners` English Ability and Creativity

( Jee Hyun Ma ) 글로벌영어교육학회(구 호남영어교육학회) 2017 Studies in English education Vol.22 No.2

This study aims to explore whether different types of teacher questions influence the growth of creativity and English ability of Korean middle school learners of English. One hundred two middle school students participated in the current study and were assigned to either the experimental group (n=51) or the control group (n=51). The participants engaged in reading tasks along with different types of teacher questions over a period of five weeks. The experimental group was given fat questions facilitating deep and creative thinking while the control group received skinny questions having a definite answer and thus restricted discussion and debate. All the participants completed pre- and post-English tests, pre- and post-creativity tests, and free writings asking their opinions and feelings regarding the experiment. The results demonstrated that there was no significant difference in English ability between the two groups after the experiment. These implied that the two different types of teacher questions had not made a significant difference in English test scores over the experimental period although many of the experimental group students provided positive remarks on the activity they engaged in. As for creativity, the experimental group displayed significantly higher levels than the control group after receiving their teacher`s fat questions, suggesting that L2 learners` creativity levels could be enhanced within rather a short period of time with the help of strategic teaching methodologies such as different types of questions.

The Role of Task Presentation in L2 College Students’ Task Motivation and English Grammar Acquisition

Jee Hyun Ma,Young Ah Cho 한국영어교과교육학회 2014 영어교과교육 Vol.13 No.1

This study examines the effects of task presentation on L2 college students’ task motivation and on their acquisition of English grammar. Fifty-two university students with low English proficiency levels were randomly assigned to one of either the purpose or the no-purpose of task presentation groups with 13 pairs of students in each. A trait questionnaire and a task motivation questionnaire were used to gauge the learners’ general motivation towards English learning as well as their task-specific motivation. The learners’ knowledge of grammar was also measured through pre-, post-, and delayed tests. The findings of this study demonstrate that L2 learners’ task motivation was significantly influenced by different types of task presentation, showing the necessity of clear and purposeful task presentation in instructional settings. The results also reveal that learners in the purpose of task presentation group exhibited higher grammar knowledge gains in long- as well as short-term retention. Pedagogical implications were made based on the results.