A Study of Apology Strategies between Genders in EFL College Students

심재황 한국영어어문교육학회 2009 영어어문교육 Vol.15 No.2

This study investigates the use of different speech act of apology strategies between male and female EFL college students by comparing the components of intensity, stylistic competence, and semantic formulas. The data was collected from 37 participants who were studying freshmen English reading course at the Department of English Education of C University in Seoul. Most students were English majors taking pre-teacher course of teaching English for secondary school students. The participants were divided into two gender groups of male and female. The discourse completion test (DCT) which was revised from the speech act of apology by Olshtain and Cohen (1990) was provided with the participants after the researcher explained the speech act of apology in ten situations. The speech act of apology depends on situation variables: social solidarity, severity of offense, and social status. The results show that in the preference of intensity, male and female have almost the similar ratio in high (female: 24.7%, male 24%) and low intensity (female: 75.3%, male: 76%). In the use of stylistic competence, male group (21%) expresses more diversely formal features than female group (12%), while female (87%) use more informal features than male (66%). Most of participants show a limitation in the use of speaking four types of semantic formulas: expression of apology (APOL), acknowledgment of responsibility (RESP), offer of repair (REPR), and promise of forbearance (FORB). As nonnative speakers, the participants cannot conduct the semantic formula in some situations regardless of the tasks provided. The results suggest that English teachers should recognize pragmatic variations in which students feel difficulty in appropriate speaking strategies on apology. This study also contributes to teaching learners the strategies and speaking patterns in the course of various apology situations.

A Study of Foreign Language Learning Motivation in Korean University Students

심재황 한국영미어문학회 2011 영미어문학 Vol.- No.99

The purpose of this study is to examine the university students' motivation for foreign language learning. The study was conducted in the English conversation and reading classes for one semester. The students were asked to fill out the foreign language learning motivation questionnaires at the end of the course. The questionnaires were two types of learners' motivation: integrative and instrumental motivation for learning English as a foreign language. The 107 students in different majors completed the questionnaires of 14 modified items. The results showed that most of Korean university learners have high degree of motivation and positive attitudes towards learning English. They rely on more instrumental motivation than integrative one. The results suggest that teachers should provide learners with various motivation strategies in English class. The learners should also be motivated in their foreign language class integratively as well as instrumentally.

Types of Alerters on Request Items in Korean College Scholastic Ability Test

심재황 한국영미어문학회 2010 영미어문학 Vol.- No.96

The purpose of this study is to investigate the request items of alerter in Korean College Scholastic Ability Test (KCSAT). The data were selected 102 items of listening and speaking scripts from six years of KCSAT(2005-2010). Each test contains 17 items of listening and speaking activity: 12 listening items and 5 speaking items including five options of multiple choice question. The results show that in eight types of alerter strategy, a lot of strategies are heavily skewed to 'attention getter' (79.1%) as main strategy. They make use of minor alerters such as 'endearment term' (7.3%), 'title or role' (6.4%), and 'first name' (6.4%). There is no occurrence in three alerters: 'surname,' 'offensive term,' and 'pronoun.' In social variables, the strategy is highly skewed to 'speaker and listener equal situation': S=L (55.9%), S<L (24.1%), and S>L (20%). This result suggests that test item developers should consider various types of alerter strategies for the practice of reflection on request in the secondary classroom.

Feminine Aspirations with the Real World of Men in George Eliot’s Middlemarch

심재황 한국영어어문교육학회 2007 영어어문교육 Vol.13 No.4

The story treats each individual's vision as well as social reality that the author intends to describe. The purpose of this article is to search for the conflict between vision and reality, especially in feminist problem that critics have treated on the works of women writers. Though some articles have studied on the issue similar to this article, I try to analyze the narratives in the text that the author herself confesses to us. I think that we can find out clear messages from the individuals who construct the human relationship and build up their personal history through their dialogue or monologue. We can also catch their main problems in the community. I discuss the topic by mentioning the detailed discourses referred to the heroine and other characters in the text. The passages mentioned by the characters in the story may be a confession for the present and future generation that the author tries to confess. From the excerpts of some discourse, I can conclude that though Dorothea has a vision for her ideal, she is a failed feminist, for society is too strong for her as Miller (1990) argues.

IRE Pattern and Teacher Feedback in English Classroom

심재황 현대영어교육학회 2007 현대영어교육 Vol.8 No.2

A Study of Cultural Aspects in Asian EFL English Teaching Materials

심재황 중앙대학교 외국학연구소 2021 외국학연구 Vol.- No.55

This study investigates the content of cultural features in the books of high school in three EFL Asian countries based on a framework of Cortazzi and Jin (1999) and Kachru (1992). Accordingly, the visual materials of nine English textbooks at secondary schools in Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam were evaluated in terms of four cultural aspects: source, target, international, and universal. The content of textbooks was also categorized into four circles of English: inner circle, outer circle, expanding circle, and not-included feature. The results showed that contrary to the previous studies, though most of textbooks took diverse cultures into account, some textbooks clearly emphasized on more source and target culture rather than international and universal culture. In the analysis of target culture, the results are heavily skewed to USA culture. Seven boundaries of international culture demonstrate diverse distributions depending on the textbooks. In three circles of English, the most dominant feature is the inner circle in Korean textbooks and the expanding circle in Japanese and Vietnam textbooks.

A Study of Alerter Strategy of Pragmatic Competence on Request in EFL College Learners

심재황 한국응용언어학회 2009 응용 언어학 Vol.25 No.1

The purpose of this study is to investigate pragmatic competence on request for Korean college learners. 75 college students were divided into two groups by genders: male(39) and female(36). Six DCT items on request were provided for the students and asked to write down the answers in each situation. Cross-Cultural Speech Act Realization Patterns (CCSARP) coding scheme (Blum-Kulka, House, & Kasper, 1989) was used for written responses of request sequences. This study focused on the use of alerters in three speech units on request: alerters, head act, and supportive moves. Some strategies were heavily skewed to ‘attention getter’ and ‘title/role.’ A number of learners in both genders used ‘attention getter’ as their main strategies among eight alerters, and ‘title/role’ as a higher rate. They also made use of minor alerter strategies such as ‘surname,’ ‘first name,’ and ‘endearment term,’ though they showed somewhat different use in each gender. However, there was no occurrence in three alerters: ‘nickname,’ ‘offensive term,’ and ‘pronoun.’ Other alerter strategies were different depending on situations and genders. The results imply that students have drawback in the appropriate use of pragmatic abilities. Teachers in EFL classroom should teach various types of alerter strategies on request and reflect clear sociocultural factors in speech acts.

영어와 한국어 감사 표현 강조어구 사용 전략: 한국어 모어 화자를 중심으로

심재황 중앙대학교 외국학연구소 2023 외국학연구 Vol.- No.63

This research endeavors to examine the gratitude intensifiers employed in both English and Korean languages by Korean university students in diverse scenarios. The study consisted of 56 undergraduate students studying English in the vicinity of Seoul. Three classes of participants were presented with six DCT items, where they were asked to respond to various gratitude situations. The findings reveal that the use of gratitude intensifiers varied based on the three social statuses, whereas gender did not appear to have any effect on the strategies employed. Specifically, the Korean language exhibited a greater tendency toward the use of "Bald Thank-you" in the first strategy than English. In the second strategy, both languages employed "Thanking Expressing Pleasure", albeit the ratios differed in certain scenarios. Gender ratios were nearly identical in all three situations. The results indicate that most students do not utilize a wide range of gratitude strategies irrespective of the situation. Consequently, based on the outcomes, there is a need to instruct students on the diverse usage of intensifiers and strategies in both English and Korean languages.

Compliment Strategies for College Learners of English: Situations, Preferences, and Structures

심재황 현대영어교육학회 2012 현대영어교육 Vol.13 No.4

This study investigates the understanding or degree of compliment strategies for college learners of English in different situations. 75 college students who studied Practical English course at a university in Korea responded to the compliment questionnaires of ten items. First, the self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) displayed students’ perception of compliment responses. The results of the SAQ test showed that female group produced more affirmative and intimate attitude towards the compliment situations than that of male. Second, the discourse completion test (DCT) demonstrated students’ expression on compliment in another ten different situations. In the use of parts of speech, students used verb ‘be’ for more than half ratio (57.7%), adjectives ‘good’ for almost half percent (45.7%), and adverbs ‘very’ for almost half percent (54.1%). Third, the DCT results also indicated the positions of adverb for intensifiers. In the use of stylistic structures, students chose NP be AD ADJ (67.8%) followed by S AD v NP and PRO be AD (a) ADJ NP. Fourth, acceptance (65.9%) was most frequently in the four types of response strategies. The findings will contribute to understanding of styles of compliment and realizing instructions of compliment for college learners of English.

영어 학습 자료에 나타난 요청 표현 연구: 한국, 일본, 베트남 교과서의 다문화적 관점을 중심으로

심재황 중앙대학교 외국학연구소 2018 외국학연구 Vol.- No.45

This study investigated speech acts of request in the English textbooks of three Asian countries(Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam) and compared the strategies in order to manifest how they are pragmatically different for EFL learners. First, in the strategy of head acts, 'mood derivable' was the highest, and 'hedged performative' was fewest in all textbooks, while the ratios of some strategies were skewed among three countries. Second, in the use of perspectives, all textbooks preferred 'hearer-oriented' strategy as a main strategy. The frequency in the textbook of Vietnam was much lower than those of other countries in 'speaker-oriented', while those of Japan were the lowest in 'speaker-hearer oriented'. Third, in social status, Vietnam used 'hearer dominant' as a main strategy. Meanwhile, the main strategy in Japan was 'speaker and hearer ambiguous' status, though Korea ranked highest in the use of 'hearer dominant'. Fourth, in the comparison of perspective and social status, the correlation of 'speaker-oriented' and 'speaker dominant' was meaningful in Korea. Japan used the highest between 'speaker-oriented' and 'speaker dominant'. Vietnam was distinguished in 'speaker-oriented' and 'speaker and hearer equal'. The results reflect the cultural variety on request strategy in EFL countries and may contribute to the understanding of the cultural aspects in teaching materials.