earticle

영어

This study aimed to investigate the differences between English native speakers and Korean English learners in terms of the accuracy of context severity judgment, the accuracy of swearword use as well as the awareness of swearword offensiveness. Fifty-five Korean English learners and 13 English native speakers participated in the study and Korean English learners were divided into two groups based on their TOEIC scores. Results from the analyses of one-way ANOVA and independent t-test revealed that there were statistically significant differences among English proficiency groups (i.e., an English native speaker group, a high-level English group, low-level English proficiency group) in terms of the accuracy of context severity judgment, the accuracy of swearword use as well as the awareness of swearword offensiveness, and that there were not any statistically significant differences about them in relation to gender difference. The directions of further studies were discussed with the limitations of this study. (Pusan National University)