A Study of STEAM Model Development and Assessment Method for Deep Learning: Through the Voice of Mimesis and Brontë

This research aimed to explore a humanities-based STEAM (H-STEAM) model for EFL undergraduates (n = 72) to improve deeper thoughts and language proficiency in a multidisciplinary setting. The H-STEAM focused on the integration of a literature text, Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, and the philosophical analysis framework of mimesis as a humanities resource. For a specific teaching and learning method, various group activities based on project-based learning (PBL) were fabricated to enhance collaborative and conceptual learning both inside and outside of the classroom. Analyzing the relationship of Wuthering Heights and mimesis, learners shared and adopted peers’ opinions with openness. They could improve problem-solving ability, caring, communication skills, and self-reviewing practice when accumulating content knowledge and generating creative ideas. This study organized student-based assessment; self-assessment (SA) and peer-assessment (PA). SPSS 25 was conducted for the correlation and reliability analysis of SA and PA, and the evaluation of linguistic improvement. The results indicate that the H-STEAM facilitating PBL can be more workable through openness and community caring. The integration of collaborative and conceptual learning through PBL can empower learners’ autonomy and produce deeper thoughts, which can contribute to deep learning. Consequently, this study may suggest a path to develop H-STEAM for higher education.

The Efficacy of Basic Sentence Pattern Approach for EFL Learners in Writing

As a fundamental component of language, writing has been identified as the least proficient domain in acquiring a new language. Due to this universal idea, this research has been designed to find a more effective method to improve the writing skills of EFL learners and makes an attempt to investigate the effectiveness of a basic sentence pattern (BSP) drill through film corpus-based activities. To do this, as a pre-test, EFL learners were asked to make questionnaires with basic sentence patterns that translate Korean sentences into English to determine how much basic knowledge they had. For the questionnaires and the basic sentence pattern drill, the script of the American television series Modern Family (Lloyd & Levitan, 2014) was collected and categorized into five basic sentence patterns. Then, the learners were taught about the 5th basic sentence pattern, the most difficult pattern and were trained to practice this sentence pattern, repetitively, for a month. As a final step, they took a post-test after another month’s training. The results show the overall score was enhanced significantly from pre-test to post-test. This finding demonstrates that basic sentence patterns can enable EFL learners to develop their sentence accuracy in writing.

Student Perceptions of the Fairness of Video Presentation Grading in the Online EFL Classroom

This qualitative case study, which employed thematic analysis, explores student perceptions about the fairness of grading video presentations in an online EFL Korean classroom. The study surveyed 145 students about their attitudes towards the fairness of grading for video presentations using three open-ended questions. To better understand the students’ thoughts, they were asked what most affected the fairness of grading live versus video presentations. It found that students believed that the use of video presentations in the required classroom was fair. The students cited a clear, understandable rubric, hard work resulting in the deserved grade, the best material could be submitted, the video could demonstrate ability without nerves, and the teachers’ grading as reasons the grading was deemed fair. There were also some negative perceptions related to the fairness of grading. The two registered were using cheats and not having a fair playing field in terms of technology. The study also found that the main factors affecting video versus live presentations were the fear of live presentations, preparation time, technology use, and the teachers’ grading. The results from the survey indicated that student-produced video presentations should be considered in the future.

Polysemous Words in English Movies, Learning Obstacles or Gifted Talent?

The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to investigate how L2 learners deal with polysemous words or phrases without instruction about polysemy and (2) to observe what alternatives L2 learners have instead of instruction. In this paper, a case study was administered with three advanced college students. The material was an American movie, Café Society (Allen, 2016). All participants were tested three times with mostly polysemous words and phrases. It was found in the first test that the participants depended heavily on context to decide which senses of polysemous words were appropriate. The second test showed that the participants failed to handle the context because it was too difficult for them. In the third test, participants often misjudged the context and consequently made wrong choices among several senses. The results of the tests indicate that context is key to dealing with polysemous words or phrases. The pedagogical implication is that L2 students need context to deal with polysemous words or phrases. Teachers must instruct about the context. Image schemas and conceptual metaphors are only products of the interaction between context and polysemous words.

Student Insights Related to the Use of Simultaneous Speech Translation for Video Lectures in a University English Course

For native English-speaking teachers, the ability to overcome communication issues caused by not having the same first language as their pupils is a challenge, especially with low-level students. The increased use of video lectures due to COVD-19 has made this even more difficult. This study was conducted to investigate whether the use of Artificial Intelligence-powered interlingual Simultaneous Speech Translation subtitled video lectures could be a practical solution to overcome this challenge. To that end, 14 participants from a first-semester prerequisite General English course took part in this study. A semi-structured interview was combined with surveys and descriptive statistics, and data was analyzed through qualitative means of thematic, descriptive, and inductive procedures that relied on simultaneous analysis and category construction. Key findings were as follows: First, respondents found the subtitled videos to be highly satisfactory and fairly accurate. Second, respondents reported greater content understanding as the main advance and less emphasis on improving listening ability as the primary disadvantage. Third, the use of English instead of Korean subtitles or subtitling only certain sections of the video in Korean were the main suggestions for the future. Specific responses from the student interviews and future implications are discussed.

The Effects of Digital Virtual Reality Game-Based Language Learning on English Language Learners’ Development of Vocabulary and Cultural Knowledge and Affective Attitudes

The current study investigated the effects of using a 3D virtual reality (VR) game on university EFL students’ development of vocabulary and cultural knowledge. In addition, it explored how this new approach affected the students’ affective attitudes such as interest, confidence, and learning motivation. Furthermore, it examined the students’ perception and attitude toward VR game-based language learning. Over one semester, an experimental group of 25 students participated in the VR game-based language learning, while a control group of 24 students followed the regular curriculum of the university EFL course. To collect data, 1) pre- and post-tests for both vocabulary and cultural knowledge, 2) a pre- and post-questionnaire for affective attitudes, 3) an online survey for students’ perceptions and attitudes, and 4) a qualitative interview were administered. The results revealed that the VR game-based language learning group outperformed the traditional learning group in both vocabulary and cultural knowledge gains. In addition, VR game instruction was effective in increasing students’ interest, confidence, and learning motivation. Furthermore, the students reported overall positive perceptions and attitudes toward this new kind of instruction. This study suggested that VR game-based language learning is a new, effective way to promote students’ vocabulary and cultural knowledge.

The Effect of Teacher’s Corrective Feedback Through Online Conferencing on Elementary Students’ English-Speaking Confidence

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of teacher's corrective feedback through online conferencing on elementary students' English-speaking confidence. This study was conducted for 4 months from August to December 2020. There were 6 participants, aged 8 to 13 enrolled in a private education institute where they attended English classes using mobile devices. During this case study, the students were asked to use English, learners’ target language when interacting with their teacher. When learners struggled to understand the teacher’s English instructions, the teacher guided them in Korean. All the classes were video-recorded and transcribed by the teacher. Data were analyzed in order to examine the progress of participants’ voluntary English production stimulated by having conversational interactions with the teacher. The findings were as follows. First, participants’ anxiety level was high in the beginning. Second, they were able to speak English words, give their opinions in English, and join the conversation in English with the teacher. Lastly, feedback from the teacher through conversational interactions helped learners understand how to speak in English better and build up confidence. As a result, it is necessary to interact with the teachers and peers using learners’ target language to improve English communication skills.

The More, the Better? Effects of Multiple Modalities on EFL Listening and Reading Comprehension

This study explores the effectiveness of multimedia modalities by comparing the effects of the use of different modality modes on EFL comprehension. The experiment was conducted during the 2020 academic year. The participants were 186 college EFL students who were selected from six intact classes at a university in Korea. They were divided into six groups at random and received the treatment depending on their experimental conditions: text-only (TO), audio-only (AO), text-picture (TP), audio-picture (AP), text-audio (TA), and text-audio-picture (TAP). For five weeks, all participants read, listened to, or both read and listened to the fairy tales with or without pictures in class. To test the modality effects, the TOEIC-based listening and reading pre- and post-tests were carried out. The whole data collected were analyzed with SPSS version 20 software. The study found that using different modalities in classes plays a beneficial role in increasing comprehension skills. TP, AP, and TA groups improved their listening skills while TO, TP, and TA groups increased their reading skills at a significance level of .05. Statistically significant group differences were also found based on experimental conditions in both listening and reading comprehension skills. Pedagogical implications and suggestions are discussed at the end.

A Study on College Students’ Learning Attitude During Synchronous and Asynchronous Video-Based Group Activities for English Presentation

The purpose of the study is to explore college students’ perceptions/attitudes during synchronous and asynchronous group activities. The survey comprised of a 10-item, 5-point Likert-type questionnaire and open-ended questions. In the study, two groups, a synchronous group and an asynchronous group, participated in four activities during one semester. For the data collection, the researcher surveyed 116 students who are in the 1st year of college and collected their final tests, an oral presentation. The findings are as follows. Firstly, between the two groups, the synchronous group showed higher mean scores for online group participation. Secondly, the synchronous group also indicated higher mean scores for English learning, speaking confidence, and interest in learning English. Lastly, both groups mentioned communication with team members, improvement of English speaking and pronunciation, increased self-confidence and other elements as advantages of group work. In contrast, disadvantages included: technology problems, decreased self-confidence, inconveniences when meeting with team members online and others. The implications for the study are: first, online group activity can reduce isolation and increase interaction; second, the online video-based platform, Flipgrid, can help students improve English speaking skills by observing their own or peers’ videos; lastly, instructors can selectively use the synchronous and asynchronous group activities to suit their educational needs.

A Study on EFL Learners’ Preferred Types of Salience and Categories in Movie English

The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to observe EFL learners’ preferred types of salience in Movie English and (2) to examine which language categories are mainly salient. The types of salience are based on Schmid and Günther’s (2016) 4 types of salience, with categories of grammar, individual words, chunks, and messages. This is a case study of five college students majoring in English all with TOEIC scores higher than 800. The study was divided into a self-heuristic group of three students and a category-presented group of two students. The self-heuristic group was instructed to find out what they found salient and noticeable in a movie, without the terms salience and category being mentioned. The category-presented group was directed to find out what they found salient and noticeable in the movie, based on given categories. The results showed that the two groups preferred surprise and novelty. Both groups preferred different categories, however. The self-heuristic group mostly focused on chunks, with a preferred order of chunks, grammar, words, and messages. The category-presented group mainly focused on words, with a preferred order of words, chunks, messages, and grammar. Pedagogical implications will be discussed in more detail in this paper.