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.

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.

Non-native English Speakers' Perceptions of Incoherence in English-medium Instruction

정은혁 한국현대언어학회 2010 언어연구 Vol.25 No.4

Academic listening ability is of prime importance to the academic success of non-native English speakers. Much research, however, has shown that even the advanced non-native English speakers experience difficulty understanding the gist of the lectures and that these learners’ difficulties are due less to lexical and syntactic factors than to discourse factors such as discourse markers. The present study explored further the relationship between discourse markers and their effects on non-native English speakers’ lecture comprehension via a content analysis. More specifically, this study analyzed how the absence of discourse markers affects Korean speakers’ processing of English-medium instruction. The study compared the written recall protocols of learners listening to English-medium instruction with discourse markers and those of learners listening to English-medium instruction without such markers. The content analysis revealed that the lack of discourse markers can largely account for the listener’s miscomprehension of English-medium instruction.

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

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.

Refusal Semantic Formulas Used by Foreign Language Learners

정은혁,김영재 한국영어교육학회 2008 ENGLISH TEACHING(영어교육) Vol.63 No.4

The notion of communicative competence has received much attention in the field of second language (L2) learning. Sociopragmatic competence plays a significant role in realizing speech acts for nonnative speakers. To elucidate the nature of pragmatic speech use by nonnative speakers, many L2 speech act studies have been conducted, including requests, apologies, complaints, and refusals. As refusals are often seen as face-threatening acts by both requesters and refusers, this study aimed to investigate the effect of social status on the refusal semantic formulas used by Korean EFL learners and native English speakers. Thirty Korean English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, 30 native English speakers, and 30 native Korean speakers participated in the study. Data were collected via Discourse Completion Tests (DCTs). Results showed that the Korean EFL learner group tended to be more emotional and collectivistic, while the native English speaker group was more likely to be rational, individualistic, and direct. The implications of these findigs and their potential applications to help L2 learners develop sociopragmatic competence are discussed.

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)

4차 산업 혁명 시대, 불교 어떻게 알고 어떻게 깨달을 것인가

정은혁,장상목 사단법인한국교수불자연합회 2020 한국교수불자연합학회지 Vol.26 No.1

The machines replace humans, and maximize efficiency by exchanging information between machines using IoT in industrial sites and everyday life. It is said that there will be only a few days left before driverless cars travel around the world. However it was believed and consoled that artificial intelligence will not be able to surpass humans in Go game. Even that belief was broken. What should we do for self-realization by recalling the meaning of knowing and realizing at the age when machines replace humans due to the development of artificial intelligence, which are never experienced before and artificial intelligence goes beyond human. The problems, "How will the 4th Industrial Revolution affect human values?" and "How will the 4th Industrial Revolution affect the establishment of new values for human dignity in the future? ", should be pondered. The characteristics of the fourth industrial revolution era and the nature of knowing and realizing were considered. Based on these considerations, the paper tried to define how Buddhism is known and realized during the 4th Industrial Revolution. The characteristics and diverse problems of Buddhism's enlightenment faced in Korean Buddhism are defined as problems of universal perception of knowing and realizing instead of special phenomena accompanied the development and change of the fourth industrial revolution. This paper investigates the essence of Buddhism's knowing and enlightenment following the Sakyamuni Buddha's "Light your own and Dharma candles." and sermon to build the world of suffering as the Buddhist Elysium. 산업현장과 일상생활에서 기계가 인간을 대신할 뿐만 아니라 기계간에 정보를 주고받으면서 효율을 극대화하고 있다. 무인자동차가 세계를 누빌 날도 얼마 남지 않다고 한다. 그래도 바둑에서만은 인공지능이 인간을 능가할 수 없을 것이라고 위안하여왔다. 그마저도 여지없이 무너졌다. 인공지능이 인간을 넘어서는 시대에서 안다는 것의 의미와 깨닫는다는 것의 의미를 되새기면서 인공지능에 지배당하지 않고 대체되지 않는 자아실현을 위하여 우리는 어떻게 하여야할 것인가? 4차 산업혁명이 인간의 가치관에 어떤 영향을 줄 것이며, 앞으로 인간 존엄에 대한새로운 가치정립에 어떤 영향을 줄 것인지를 고민하였다. 4차 산업혁명 시대의 특성을고찰하고, 안다는 것과 깨닫는다는 것의 본질을 고찰하였다. 이런 고찰을 토대로 4차산업 혁명 시대, 불교 어떻게 알고 어떻게 깨달을 것인가에 대하여 정의하고자 하였다. 한국불교에서 대두되고 있는 불교의 깨달음의 특성과 제반문제점들을 4차 산업혁명발전과 변화에 수반되는 현상으로 보지 않고 안다는 것과 깨닫는다는 것에 대한 보편적인식의 문제점들로 정의하였다. 석가세존의 “자등명(自燈明) 법등명(法燈明)”의 유훈과사바세계를 불국정토로 만들라고 하신 대자 대비한 부촉에 부응하여 불교에서 안다는것과 깨닫는다는 것의 본질을 고찰하고자 하였다.

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.