South Korean High School Research Articles

Comparative Analysis of 4-gram Word Clusters in South vs. North Korean High School English Textbooks

Comparative Analysis of 4-gram Word Clusters in South vs. North Korean High School English Textbooks

The Fundamental Difference Hypothesis: Expanding the Conversation in Language Learning Motivation

In this study, we examine the fundamental difference hypothesis in language motivation, which suggests that language learning—at the motivational level—is qualitatively different from learning other school subjects. Despite being a long-standing assumption, few investigations have directly examined it. Using a comparative cross-sectional approach, we adapted the L2 Motivational Self System and collected data from South Korean high school students ( N = 644) related to their motivation to learn English (L2), Chinese (L3), and mathematics (a nonlanguage subject). Contrary to the fundamental difference hypothesis, the L2 Motivational Self System fit these three subjects well and did not reveal clear uniqueness pointing toward a qualitative difference in favor of language learning motivation. We use these findings to discuss the possibility of a more global and parsimonious learning motivation theory to accommodate multiple languages in addition to nonlanguage subjects. We also discuss the need for language learning researchers to reengage with other learning sciences.

Analysis of the Relationship between Sleep Duration and Body Mass Index among Korean Adolescents Using Data from the 2013-2015 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

BackgroundObesity in adolescence can continue up to adulthood and lead to various complications. There has been a continuous increase in the obesity incidence among adolescents, which is an emerging social issue. Studies have reported that decreased sleep duration in adolescents can have negative effects on health, leading to obesity. Therefore, in the present study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between sleep duration and body mass index among South Korean middle and high school students aged 12–18 years.MethodsThe participants of the Sixth National Health and Nutrition Survey conducted during 2013–2015 were screened. We selected 1,177 adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years who were enrolled in middle and high school or on leave of absence and had available data for sleep duration and body mass index (BMI) in the survey. Analyses of variance and covariance were performed after adjusting for confounding variables, including age, gender, waist circumference, and drinking experience, that showed significant correlations in univariate logistic regression.ResultsThe analysis of covariance revealed that an increase in sleep duration led to a corresponding decrease in the mean BMI among all students and middle school students.ConclusionSignificant negative correlations were confirmed between sleep duration and BMI in all students and middle school students.

The Neglected Role of Physical Education Participation on Suicidal Ideation and Stress in High School Adolescents from South Korea.

Adolescents are at high risk of suicidal ideation and stress. This study aimed to investigate how physical education participation predicts suicidal ideation and stress in South Korean high school students. Data from the Twelfth Korea Youth Risk Behaviour Web-Based Survey 2016 (KYRBS) were used for analyses. Two multiple logistic regressions were performed to determine the influence of selected factors on suicidal ideation and stress (model 1: subjective health, social support, body mass index, academic achievement, perceived economic status of family, and physical education participation; model 2: adjusting for school type and year). Model 2 revealed negative associations between subjective health, academic achievement, perceived economic status of family, social support, physical education participation (≥2 times/weekly), and suicidal ideation for male students. Female students exhibited negative associations between subjective health, social support, and academic achievement, along with a positive association between body mass index and suicidal ideation. For both genders, stress was negatively associated with subjective health, social support, academic achievement, perceived economic status of family, and physical education participation (≥2 times/weekly). These findings suggest that participating in physical education can mitigate the risk of suicidal ideation and stress among high school students.

When Modern Physics Meets Nature of Science

The social reaction to the recent detection of the Higgs boson and gravitational waves provided evidence that public interest in modern physics has reached a high point. Although these modern physics topics are being introduced into the upper secondary physics curricula in a growing number of countries, their potential for teaching various aspects of scientific practice have yet to be explored. This article responds to this call by providing an analysis of new South Korean high school physics textbooks’ representations of nature of science (NOS), particularly as reflected in their general relativity theory section. Chapters from textbooks by five publishers are analyzed through the lens of the expanded family resemblance conceptualization of NOS. The results indicate that textbooks’ references to NOS are concentrated on aspects related to scientific knowledge, scientific practice, scientific methods, and professional activities of scientists, whereas the characteristics of science as a social-institutional system are underrepresented. In addition to this generic description, we also present a closer examination of how physics textbooks portray the story of the LIGO-Virgo Collaboration’s (LVC) gravitational-wave detection in 2015, and discuss implications for how the affordances of contemporary scientific domains such as general relativity and gravitational-wave physics for NOS instruction should be substantiated and supported by textbooks.

Parental Involvement and Educational Achievement of South Korean High School Students

Over the past few decades, South Korea, as a rapidly transforming society, has witnessed a massive drive for educational credentials. Some scholars suggest that South Korea has been gripped by an education fever that is leading to huge investments of economic and social capital to further young people’s educational interests. This article refers to a study of three high-achieving South Korean schools. Through the conducting of a survey among 206 school students, 71 teachers and 254 parents, the study aimed to identify the key factors deemed to be responsible for high educational achievement in the schools. Social capital and its physical, relational, structural, and cognitive dimensions presented the conceptual and analytical tools of the study. The findings suggest, after all dimensions are considered, that familial social capital and the nature of parental involvement are most definitive for students’ success. In this sense there is correspondence with James Coleman’s views on the importance of family background as significant in determining how students ultimately perform. However, there is also an indication that mothers and fathers involve themselves differently – and that boarding school students benefit from retaining some distance away from family. The article concludes by offering a set of general recommendations useful for policy-makers in any society seeking to enhance students’ educational achievements.

The Influence of Sense of School Community on Korean Students’ Life Satisfaction and Comparison of Sense of Community for Students’ Gender and High School Specialties

The purpose of this study was to compare the sense of community of South Korean high school students as measured by a Korean version of the Sense of Community Index 2 (KSCI2) and examine the effect of two factors of the KSCI2, reinforcement of needs and influence, on students’ life satisfaction as measured by the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). A total of 375 Korean high school students provided usable data from three vocational high schools specializing in agriculture, electronics and engineering, and business and marketing, and one Meister high school specializing in automotive. Descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, and path analysis with structural equation modeling (SEM), were performed to analyze data. Findings suggested that there were statistically significant differences in reinforcement of needs, influence, and life satisfaction, for the gender of students and school specialties. First, male students scored higher than female students on reinforcement of needs and influence. Next, male students were more satisfied with their lives than female students. For reinforcement of needs, students specializing in automotive scored higher than those specializing in business and marketing. For influence, students specializing in automotive scored higher than those specializing in all the other three specialties. Finally, both factors of reinforcement of needs and influence had positive effects on students’ life satisfaction. Implications and suggestions for further studies are discussed.

Briefly Noted

Researchers have found that attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be a risk factor for developing smartphone addiction, based on the neurobiological substrates underlying each separately and those that are shared. The study found a greater than six times likelihood that children with ADHD also had smartphone addiction. The study looked at the prevalence of smartphone addiction and its association with depression, anxiety, and ADHD symptoms in a total of 4,512 South Korean middle and high school students, who completed surveys. There were 338 subjects (7.5%) in the smartphone addiction group. The odds ratio of the ADHD group compared to the non‐ADHD group for smartphone addiction was 6.43, the highest among all variables. The study, “The relationship between smartphone addiction and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and attention‐deficit/hyperactivity in South Korean adolescents” is published in the March issue of the Annals of General Psychiatry.

A multilevel analysis of change in hatred of academic work during high school: focusing on the sociocultural background of Korea

AbstractDevelopment of academic hatred was examined at four time points across 7 months among 1,015 South Korean high school students. A multilevel growth model showed that the baseline of, and change in, academic hatred varied across individuals and classrooms. At the individual level, gender, parents’ academic pressure, depression, and test anxiety were related to the initial level of academic hatred; gender and test anxiety were associated with a decrease in academic hatred over time. At the class level, lower socio-economic status and higher teachers’ autonomy support were associated with a lower baseline of academic hatred, and higher teachers’ autonomy support decreased academic hatred. Influence mechanisms of protective and risk factors on students’ academic hatred can be considered for strategic and policy interventions.

남한과 북한의 고등학교 1학년 수학 교과서 비교

Recently, there has been a growing interest in the exchanges and cooperations in the field of mathematics education between South Korea and North Korea. In this study, we compared and analyzed South and North Korean high school first-year mathematics textbooks based on the 2015 Mathematics Curriculum of South Korea and the 2013 Mathematics Gyosuyogang(Curriculum) of North Korea. The comparative analysis of the textbooks in this study was done in terms of the distribution of content areas and units, and the components and contents of units. As a result of comparing the distribution of content areas, the textbooks of South and North Korea differ in the proportion of each area, but they include all five content areas such as numbers and operations, letters and expressions, geometry, functions, probability and statistics. In the aspect of compositions of the unit, the textbooks of South and North Korea commonly contain the components playing similar roles. However, in most unit components, South Korean textbook contains more tasks and materials than North Korean textbooks, with using a wider range of materials and presenting in more depth.

Social Psychological Theories and Sustainable Second Language Learning: A Model Comparison Approach

The purposes of the present study are two-fold: (1) To examine whether social psychological variables, such as attitude and subjective norm, can predict South Korean English as a foreign language high school students’ intention to learn English, and (2) to identify the best social psychological model for sustainable second language learning in the context of South Korean English as a foreign language (EFL) learning. A total of 614 South Korean high school learners of English participated in the present study. Data collected from a survey questionnaire were analyzed using a structural equation modeling procedure. Results of the present study indicate that South Korean high school students’ attitudes toward learning English and subjective norms made a significant and independent contribution to the variance in their intention to study English. Among the three competing social psychological models examined in the current study, the theory of Planned Behavior and an expanded model of Gardner’s Socio-educational Model proved to be the most effective in terms of the strength of path coefficients and explanatory power. Theoretical and pedagogical implications are provided.

Coeducation, academic performance, and subject choice: evidence from quasi-random classroom assignments

ABSTRACTI study the effect of coeducation on academic performance and science course enrollment using student-level data from a South Korean high school that, at the beginning of each academic year, quasi-randomly assigned students to either single-sex or coeducation classrooms. This paper presents two main findings. First, among girls with high achievements in Korean, coeducation increases the Korean exam scores by 0.11 standard deviations. Second, coeducation increases a girl's probability of enrolling in Physics, a math-intensive and boy-dominated science subject, by 71%, and increases a boy's probability of taking Biology by 34%.

A National Online Survey of South Korean High School Students’ Understanding of Learning Disabilities

The purpose of this online survey study was to obtain basic information about South Korean high school students’ understanding of learning disabilities. A total of 343 students responded to questions about demographics, familiarity with terms related to learning disabilities, beliefs about learning disabilities, and attitudes toward students with learning disabilities. The study’s findings showed that 91.3% of respondents were aware of the term “dyslexia,” yet only 65% had previously heard the term “learning disabilities.” The results of chi-square tests indicated that, in general, familiarity with terms related to learning disabilities led to no significant differences in beliefs and attitudes toward students with learning disabilities. However, more respondents who had previously heard the term “learning disabilities” believed that learning disabilities would affect adulthood activities than did those who had never previously heard the term ( p < .05).

Career Development of Lower Social Class Adolescents in South Korea

Despite increased efforts and a broadened understanding of social class and its impact on career development, the career development of lower social class adolescents and its interaction with sociocontextual factors remain understudied. The current study explored the educational and career experiences of South Korean high school seniors using a qualitative approach and the gender and social class career development model. Our sample included 14 lower class high school seniors who were preparing for different career paths after graduation. The data were collected at three time points, through two semistructured interviews, documents, and brief phone-call surveys. An inductive thematic analysis of 28 semistructured interviews and documentations revealed three domains with seven themes. The results demonstrated an influence of lower social class on adolescents’ socialization, access to resources, affectional and academic barriers, and academic and career attainment. The implications of the results for career counseling, interventions, policies, and future research are discussed.

二言語の能力とコード・スイッチング : 韓国系民族学校の高校生を対象として

二言語の能力とコード・スイッチング : 韓国系民族学校の高校生を対象として

Developmental Process of Internet Gaming Disorder among South Korean Adolescents: Effects of Family Environment and Recreation Experience

Despite growing public concern over Internet game use disorder, the popularity of Internet gaming has rapidly increased among adolescents. Since Internet gaming disorder has largely been investigated through the lens of serious psychiatric syndromes, most previous studies employed diverse psychopathological concepts like depression and anxiety. Unlike those studies, this study provides useful opportunities to better understand how adolescents’ Internet gaming disorder is conceptually linked with their family environment and recreation experience. Using a large sample of South Korean high school students (N = 2215), this study found that adolescents’ levels of Internet gaming disorder were positively associated with their perception of constraints to recreation participation. The structural equation model additionally indicated that respondents’ problematic engagement in the online activity was negatively related to the cohesive and adaptable characteristics of family system. According to the effect decomposition results, the concept of leisure constraints served as more important factor than family functioning and leisure satisfaction in determining respondents’ degrees of problematic involvement in Internet gaming. This study also revealed that the exogenous variable of family functioning was significantly related to leisure constraints and leisure satisfaction with an opposite path coefficient sign. Based on study findings derived from the conceptual framework, several policy implications are discussed to decrease adolescents’ excessive immersion in Internet games.

Effects of South Korean High School Students’ Motivation to Learn Science and Technology on Their Concern Related to Engineering

This study investigated the gender difference among South Korean high school students in science learning motivation, technology learning motivation, and concern related engineering, as well as the correlation between these factors. It also verified effects of the sub-factors of science learning motivation and technology learning motivation on concern related to engineering. For this study, 745 students in grade 11th at six high schools in South Korea were involved as subjects in a survey conducted using instruments developed by Glynn et al. and Hall et al. In the results, a gender difference was observed in some sub-factors related to science learning motivation and technology learning motivation, and a positive correlation was found between most of the sub-factors of science learning motivation and technology learning motivation and concern related to engineering. Moreover, intrinsic motivation and personal relevance in technology were major factors that influenced students’ concern related to engineering. Based on the findings, this study demonstrates the educational implications of including engineering in high school technology curriculums.

North Korean Adolescents’Experiences during and after High Schools in South Korea

본 연구의 목적은 한국에 거주하는 탈북 학생들의 고등학교 및 대학교에서의 학습경험을 능동적인 학습자의 관점에서 분석하고, 그들의 노력과 그 결과를 드러내는 것이다. 이를 위해 본 연구는 국내에서 고등학교를 졸업하고 대학교를 다닌 경험이 있는 11명의 탈북 학생들로부터 수집된 질적 면담 자료를 활용하고 있다. 연구 결과에 따르면, 탈북 학생들은 학업, 진로, 또래 및 교사와의 관계 형성을 위해 적극적인 노력을 기울이는 반면, 구조적·제도적 한계가 그들의 학업과 적응을 가로막고 있는 것으로 나타났다. 특히, 한국 학생들보다 제한된 교육기회와 여건, 입시에 대한 정보 부족, 탈북자들에 대한 편견 등이 연구에 참여한 탈북 학생들의 교육과 성장에 걸림돌이 되고 있었다. 이와 같은 결과를 토대로 본 연구는 탈북 학생들의 교육을 가로막고 있는 구조적 제약을 완화하기 위하여 일반 학교에서의 교육 문화와 여건의 개선, 대안고등학교의 교사 훈련과 교육과정의 체계화, 대학교에서의 탈북 학생 지원 프로그램 운영 등을 주요 방안으로 제시하고 있다.Based on qualitative interviews of eleven North Koreans, this research examined how school curriculum, post-secondary paths, and teacher and peer relationships affect their experiences in South Korean high schools and universities. Major findings revealed that North Korean students make efforts as active agents to overcome diverse obstacles they encounter in schools, yet structural limitations continued to hinder their academic success. In particular, lack of authentic learning opportunities, insufficient information about post-secondary opportunities, biases about North Koreans appeared to influence their experiences in schools. Based on these findings, this study proposes that making public schools more accessible, improving the quality of education in alternative high schools, assisting North Korean students in higher education institutes more systematically are necessary for their academic and social integration in South Korean schools.

Special Theory of Relativity in South Korean High School Textbooks and New Teaching Guidelines

South Korean high school students are being taught Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity. In this article, I examine the portrayal of this theory in South Korean high school physics textbooks and discuss an alternative method used to solve the analyzed problems. This examination of how these South Korean textbooks present this theory has revealed two main flaws: First, the textbooks’ contents present historically fallacious backgrounds regarding the origin of this theory because of a blind dependence on popular undergraduate textbooks, which ignore the revolutionary aspects of the theory in physics. And second, the current ingredients of teaching this theory are so simply enumerated and conceptually confused that students are not provided with good opportunities to develop critical capacities for evaluating scientific theories. Reviewing textbooks used in South Korea, I will, first, claim that the history of science contributes to understand not merely the origins but also two principles of this theory. Second, in addition to this claim, I argue that we should distinguish not only hypotheses from principles but also phenomena from theoretical consequences and evidence. Finally, I suggest an alternative way in which theory testing occurs in the process of evaluation among competitive theories on the basis of data, not in the simple relation between a hypothesis and evidence.

Perceptions and Preferences of Digital and Printed Text and Their Role in Predicting Digital Literacy

<p>This study explored the relationships between the reading of digital versus printed text among 1,206 South Korean high school students in grades 9 through 12. The <em>Test</em><em> of </em><em>Silent Contextual Reading Fluency</em> (2<sup>nd</sup> ed.), the <em>Digital Propensity Index</em>, and the <em>Reading Observation</em> <em>Scale</em> were among the instruments used to measure reading proficiency and digital propensity. Statistical analysis was comprised of a paired sample <em>t</em> test to compare students’ reading perceptions of digital and printed text; independent sample <em>t</em> tests were used to explore reading preferences and the relationships between digital and printed text; and a multiple linear regression was used to explore digital propensity based on reading behaviors. Among the results, students were found to have higher positive perceptions of the reading of printed text; reading preference depended on the purpose for reading (e.g., learning versus entertainment); and significant mean differences were found among students’ reading scores and digital propensity regarding preferences between the reading of digital and printed text. Although much more research is needed before any definitive conclusions can be drawn, the findings suggest several ways to achieve student literacy competency in the use of digital and printed text, while also pointing to additional factors that influence perceptions and behaviors among these two formats.</p>