A Loanword Approach to the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language in Korea: Exploring the Effectiveness of a Multimedia Curriculum

Of all the approaches to the teaching of English to speakers of other languages (TESOL), the loanword approach is mindful of the English words found within students’ native languages, and seeks to apply these in the learning process for positive transfer. Taking into account research and implementation going back to and prior to the last millennium, here is a study of such a use in the Korean context. As focus is on implementing the loanword approach from multimedia-based learning materials, the Korean cultural influences on computer assisted language learning (CALL) of English as a foreign language (EFL) are explored. The advantages and difficulties associated with implementing the approach are outlined, as is the place of EFL and the application of computer technology in the Korean education system. Focus then turns to investigating the efficacy behind deployment of the approach coupled with a multimedia-based curriculum grounded on culturally constructed methods of learning and teaching.A loanword approach to the teaching of EFL in Korea deserves not only consideration by teachers but also further study. The book is well-resourced and comes to provide an in-depth examination of just one of many practical ways for implementing such an approach in the Korean context.