Eun Gyong Kim
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
About
Eun Gyong (E.G.) Kim is a professor for the School of Digital Humanities and Computational Social Sciences at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). She received her Ph.D. in foreign language education, specializing in applied linguistics, from the University of Texas at Austin. She has taught subjects in EFL, sociolinguistics, and language policy. Her research interests include language policy, EMI (English-medium instruction) and ICLHE (integrated content and language in higher education). She can be reached at egkim@kaist.ac.kr.Sessions
College and University Extensive and Blended Reading: A Comparison for Korean Engineering Students more
This study examined the effectiveness of different English reading instruction approaches at two Korean engineering universities. At University A (U-A), students engaged in extensive reading (ER) using English novels exclusively, while University B (U-B) employed a blended approach combining intensive reading (IR) of EFL textbook passages with ER assignments. The study involved 167 participants using pre- and post-tests. At U-A, intermediate-level students showed significant improvement in reading comprehension, whereas advanced-level students made modest gains. At U-B, advanced-level students experienced substantial improvement. Survey results indicated that students at both universities viewed English novel reading positively. However, U-B students preferred TOEFL-style reading, while U-A students favored peer discussions about novels. The findings suggest that the blended approach offers measurable advantages in test performance due to its alignment with TOEFL’s emphasis on detailed comprehension, while ER provides motivational and developmental benefits, indicating that a balanced mix of ER and IR may optimize curricula.
