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Volume 7 Number 2, Summer 2010, Pages 1-359   


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Comparison of Teacher Talk of Korean and Native English-speaking Teachers: On the Efficiency of Delivering Content Knowledge in EFL Contexts

    Yusun Kang, Hwang Hye Jin, Kyoungoak Nam and Yunjeong Choi


This study examined content-area classes conducted in Korean EFL students' L1 (Korean) and L2 (English), in order to examine whether such immersion/CLIL program may or may not be forfeiting students' content learning at the expense of L2 learning. By comparing the teacher talk of Korean and native English-speaking elementary teachers teaching math and science, focusing on the amount and depth of content knowledge delivered as well as the amount of scaffolding included, this study shows that the L2-medium content classes did not cover as much or as high-level content knowledge as the L1-medium classes. The teachers in the L1-medium classes provided more scaffolding and encouraged deeper thinking and active participation as well. The findings are discussed in terms of students' language proficiency and language-learning context.

Keywords: Language immersion, CLIL, Korean EFL learners, teacher talk