| Project/Area Number |
06801066
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
言語学・音声学
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| Research Institution | Kansai University |
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Principal Investigator |
YASHIMA Tomoko Kansai University, Faculty of Information, Associate Professor, 総合情報学部, 助教授 (60210233)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
TANAKA Tomoko Hiroshima University, Institute for International Education, Instructor, 留学センター, 助手 (40227153)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1994 – 1996
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 1996)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥1,400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000)
Fiscal Year 1996: ¥300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥300,000)
Fiscal Year 1995: ¥300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥300,000)
Fiscal Year 1994: ¥800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000)
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| Keywords | Intercultural adjustment / Acquisition of English communicative competence / Social・skills / high school students'overseas study / International communication competence |
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| Research Abstract |
The main objectives of this research are 1) to analyze how objectively measured language competence, extroversion (as a holistic psychological indicator of outgoing behavioral tendency, sociability and talkativeness) and some other individual and situational variables affect the intercultural adjustment of Japanese high school students studying in America, and 2) to analyze the developmental aspects of English communicative competence through a year's overseas study experience. Participants were 139 high school students studying in the United States for one year and their host families. A series of questionnaires and tests were conducted before their departure and during their sojourn. Oral interviews were conducted with 16 students before departure and after they returned.
Through a combination of statistical analyzes of the data including factor analyzes multiple regression analyzes and path analyzes, the following results were obtained : 1) English proficiency was the significant predictor of host-rated adjustment. 2) Extroversion was the strongest predictor for almost all the self-rated measures of adjustment including satisfaction with friendship with Americans, relationship with host family and school work. 3) Social skills of "taking intiative to talk, " and "expressing one's emotions/intentions" play an important role in faciliataing adjustment and increasing satisfaction. 4) Extroversion, not English proficiency is related to the students' performance of social skills in America. 5) The past overseas experiences, if longer than a week, facilitate adjustment.
Detailed analyzes of the spoken speech samples of the 16 students showed a significant difference in "hesitation" before and after the sojourn. It was found that the students spoke in the post interview almost twice as fast as they had in the pre-departure interview. A large part of this change is accounted by the reduction in the amount of unfilled pauses.
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