Next, I will talk about an example of an action-based research project that improved my KNU classes. I investigated using flipped classrooms in my KNU classes. As a result, I learned that a successful flipped classroom uses its class time for task-based activities that are active and social and that students need to complete pre- and post-class activities outside the classroom. Ninety-three percent of the students said the pre-class activity, video-based lessons on TED-Ed, helped them to complete their tasks in the classroom and said the post-class activity helped them to retain vocabulary. This research was presented as The Flipped Classroom as a Learning-Centered, Task-Based Alternative for Freshmen English University Courses in Korea at the KOTESOL International Conference 2015. I was also asked to present my findings on the flipped classroom to the President of KNU with all the department heads attending. Hwa Hwan Seong translated for me during that meeting. Another example is the research I did with Professor Bae Jung Ok in the Department of English Education rating student essays for their attributes such as coherence, cohesion, grammar, overall writing ability, introduction/conclusion, etc. That experience helped me develop a more transparent writing rubric for my English classes. Finally, while teaching debate classes for the Department of English Language and Literature at KNU for Professor Ha Seung Wan, I had to research the Asian Parliamentary Debate format. I used my experiences from that class to teach Unit 12 Debate in my Freshmen English 1 classes.

Now, I am doing action-based research on gamification in the EFL conversion classroom. The use of conversation games is to provide guidance and encouragement to students for teaching grammar, vocabulary, communication skills, etc. Basically, for students in their zone of proximal development, gamification provides the appropriate assistance or “boost” so that students can have conversations with each other. The current textbooks SLE 1C and 2C by Pagoda Books for general English 1 and 2, respectively, provide many speaking games as exercises. The goal is to have a more natural and organic conversation eventually.

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