Effects of communicative activity types for speaking skills and strategic Korean use on interaction for learning English.

Abstract

In English learning situations, communicative activities can promote effective English learning while facilitating interaction for learning English with emphasis on meaning. In these communicative activities, strategic Korean use can solve communication problems and support interaction for learning English while lowering the cognitive load of using English. In this respect, this study investigated the effects of communicative activity types for speaking skills and strategic Korean use on interaction in elementary English learning situations. For this study, open and closed communicative activities were designed, and in each type of activities, the effects of the English-only condition and the strategic Korean use condition on interaction were analyzed. Twenty sixth graders in an elementary school participated in the communicative activities. Their utterances were recorded and analyzed in terms of the amount of interaction, the level of vocabulary, interest and confidence in English use. The main findings of this study are as follows: closed activities can promote interaction that uses limited expressions accurately and can increase confidence in English use. On the other hand, open activities can facilitate interaction that uses a variety of expressions fluently and can increase interest in English use. In open activities, strategic Korean use can increase confidence in English use too.