2009, Vol.10, No.2

Modern English Education 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 1.55

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

This study investigates the effect of writing proficiency on patterns of sentence connectors in second language learners’ writing and the effect of instruction on those patterns. First, to examine how writing proficiency affects use of sentence connectors, 87 ESL student placement tests were analyzed. The results reveal that more advanced-level participants used sentence connectors less often than lower-level participants, illustrating that the tendency to overuse sentence connectors may decrease as an ESL student’s writing proficiency increases. Second, to examine whether instruction helps lower-level students overcome this tendency of overuse, sentence connector use was compared between a control group and an experimental group. Although the experimental group received instruction on connector use, the second experiment failed to reveal a significant difference between the two groups. These findings can be interpreted in two ways: 1) The overuse of sentence connectors decreases as a student’s overall writing ability improves during the semester. 2) The effect of the instruction in the second study was not strong enough. To explore the effects of instruction more thoroughly, further material development will be needed in future studies.

The purpose of the study is to examine whether taking tests makes differences in test score and test-taking strategies while learners are taking a reading test. In particular, the study investigates which types of questions and test-taking strategies are improved by test experience. For the study, participants were seventy-one Korean university EFL students, out of whom thirty-seven had three simulated tests and thirty-four didn’t have before the test. Results of a ANOVA indicate that differences between two groups are made in reading test score and some test-taking strategies. In details, test-takers got higher scores, showing improvement in the types of main idea and detail questions. The analysis of data, also, revealed that test-takers made use of test-taking strategies more frequently along with a remarkable difference in frequent use of managing strategy, one of three test-taking strategies: reasoning, guessing, and managing strategies. Consequently, the study showed that test experience helps the students gain higher score in main ideas and detail information questions not in inference question. Also, out of three types of test-taking strategies only managing strategy was more frequently used by test-takers. The study suggests that experience in tests could contribute to developing managing strategy effectively in answering to reading questions within limited time, but it is less likely to lead test takers to employ reasoning and guessing strategies relevant to successful reading comprehension.

The newly-inaugurated Korean government has announced the new language education policy, ‘Teaching English in English (TEE)’ system, for every student from elementary to university levels. This innovative policy was introduced after the announcement of the new state-wide English language ability test, which is being developed by Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE). It is expected that the new test will influence the teaching and learning of the English language in general. Hence, this paper explores English teacher-learners’ beliefs about the change of the English language testing system and their intended teaching and learning methods to prepare for the test. For analyses, a survey and an interview were employed. The teachers acknowledged that the current educational policy has exerted negative effects on English education and the students indicated that English language testing has significantly impacted their learning methods. Additionally, this study suggests that the preparation of policy makers should include both scholarly opinions and practical perspectives from actual language users in Korean society.