In story writing, interjections are used in dialogue to enhance the emotional tone of the text. However, crafting realistic dialogues that effectively incorporate interjections can be a challenging task for young learners with developing writing skills. This study examines how young learners utilize interjections in their story writing. The study…

This study investigates the acoustic realizations of English phonemic contrasts by Korean EFL learners, comparing their productions with those of native English speakers. Focusing on the segmentally correct production, the research aims to determine if Korean learners' acoustic properties align with those of native speakers, influenced by second…

This study investigates what characteristics are considered important for a hypothetical multilingual person to be perceived as a "native" speaker of English. The data was collected from 521 participants from the United Kingdom, Singapore and South Korea, responding to a survey comprised of 30 questions with opportunities for qualitative…

The current study explores the effects of processing demands and proficiency on second language (L2) learners' acceptability judgment of wh-island sentences. A total of 65 adult Korean learners of English and ten native speakers (NSs) of English participated in an experiment that combined self-paced reading and acceptability judgment. They were…

In the English "tough" construction (TC), knowledge of "tough" movement is necessary for target performance (the object-interpretation only; e.g. "John is easy to see" e). The acquisition of the English TC raises a learnability problem for first-language (L1) Korean learners of English as a second language (L2): (1)…

This study examines the identities of Korean English teachers who have lived in various English-speaking countries but now serve as certified public school teachers in Korea. Data were collected from in-depth interviews with seven teachers and analysed via critical discourse analysis. Despite being rated as near-native, the teachers with…

Metadiscourse, a linguistic means that is used in the production and organization of ideas, is vital in achieving successful communication. In language studies, metadiscourse in writing and speaking have been disparately investigated, where the former received more attention than the latter. Thus, the present study analyzes metadiscourse in the…

This study addresses the lack of comprehension data in second language acquisition research by focusing on English existential "there"-constructions (ETCs) with a locative extension (e.g., "there is an X on the Y"). The post-copular noun X used in the present study consisted of two types: actual and nonsense. Participants…

Although Native English-Speaking Teachers (NESTs) are extensively utilized, very little is known about the impact of these teachers on speaking or writing in Asian contexts like South Korea. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of NEST instruction on EFL learners' speech in a South Korean context. First, proficiency level of 100…

Concerns have long been raised regarding the constraints of CLT. The study aims to discern the exact as opposed to the supposed problems that are taken for granted as obstacles. A total of 95 in-service Korean, North American, Chinese, Uzbek English teachers participated in the study. The results reveal that none of the non-teacher-related…

Study-abroad programs tend to assume that their destinations are culturally and linguistically homogenous. However, Western English-speaking destinations, particularly metropolitan cities, have become increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse. Considering such sociolinguistic changes in these destinations, this research examines how…

This study investigates the concept of teacher identity of native-English speakers in South Korea by examining public texts, mainly English immersion camp advertisements and teacher recruitment materials. To this end, a social semiotic multimodal analysis was employed to scrutinize how these public narratives and visual images, populated with…

This study showcases an International Learning Exchange (ILE) program between North Korean (NK) refugee students in South Korea and American university students from the US. ILE programs connect two or more linguistic/ cultural groups for intercultural awareness, which provide authentic communicative environments. However, the prevalent use of…

This article presents results of two off-line comprehension tasks investigating the acceptability of unconventional and conventional metonymy by native speakers of Korean and Spanish who speak English as a second language. We are interested in discovering whether learners differentiate between conventional and unconventional metonymy, and whether…

The non-native English-speaking teachers' (NNESTs) beliefs about the monolingual approach have not been sufficiently studied in the teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL). In examining the NNESTs' beliefs about that issue, the present study adapts Guy Cook's recent framework, according to which the monolingual approach is based upon four…