2008, Vol.9, No.3

Modern English Education 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 1.55

pISSN : 1598-0782 / eISSN : 2586-6141
https://journal.kci.go.kr/meeso

In this paper, we will demonstrate that the social status of a language is not just closely related to the sociopolitical status of the language and its users but is a powerful factor in language choice. More specifically, we will first show the different patterns and/or characteristics of code-switching (CS) frequently witnessed in the discourse of an adult Korean language classroom in the United States. Among several views entertained in the literature, we will take the viewpoint that language dominance with respect to bilinguals' identity plays an important role in CS. When a majority language is seen as giving higher social status and more political power, a shift towards the majority language may occur. We will then investigate the micro-politics of some Korean heritage speakers who apparently are not dominated by but dominant over the instructor. We will associate this 'reversed' dominance relation with the characteristically frequent code-switching behavior, which distinguishes the target group from the rest students in the classroom. We will then explore some conscious or subconscious strategic motivation that lies extensively beneath this practice of code-switching in the classroom. Crucially, in the present case, we will show that divergence-they-code in the sense of Gumperz (1982)-is a means to create social distance from one's interlocutor through which social disapproval is communicated.

The purpose of this study is to show how the two most basic reading skills in an EFL teaching of reading - guessing meaning from context and making inferences - can be taught through literature teaching. To this end, this study has chosen two of the most popular English literature in Korea to show how in practice it can be applied in an EFL reading class. This study points out and explains 10 instances of guessing meaning from context and 33 instances of making inferences. In this way, this study shows that when examples that are relevant to the two reading skills are well-chosen they promote and strengthen the learners overall reading competency and make them more fluent readers. The limitation of this study, however, lies in the absence of specific teaching suggestions based on the “actual classroom experiment.” The administration of reading tests to ascertain how well Korean EFL learners perform the two reading skills - guessing meaning from context and making inferences - and with which features of them they have most difficulty with would have provided a better framework for developing a ‘teaching plan’ for the above two reading strategies.

This study explored teachers’ and parents’ perceptions in Korean English kindergarten regarding early English education, teaching and learning environment, English kindergarten teachers, and the teaching method. It was conducted in an English kindergarten in Daejeon, Korea. Qualitative design method was used in the study. Data was collected through the interviews with native-speaking teachers, Korean teachers, and parents. The results of the study show that early English education is effective for Korean children, and it does not have negative influence on the children’s Korean acquisition. This study also revealed that content-based instruction is appropriate for children's English improvement, and teaching Western culture does not disturb the children's identity formation, rather enriches their knowledge. In addition, both native-speaking teachers and Korean teacher need to have collaboration for successful language education. In addition, teacher training program is suggested for better curriculum and teacher development.