| Budget Amount *help |
¥1,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000)
Fiscal Year 1998: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000)
Fiscal Year 1997: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000)
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| Research Abstract |
This study attempts to measure Japanese junior college students' attainment of basic English grammar and vocabulary introduced in junior high school textbooks and to inquire into relationship of grammatical abilities and a working knowledge of vocabulary towards overall English proficiency (OEP).
1. 265 junior college students were tested upon 53 grammatical items sampled from junior high school textbooks. The result showed that 57.9% of the whole items was mastered, while the 3ィイD1rdィエD1 year items and interrogatives were problematic for the subjects. The erroneous outputs were collected to account for the subjects' interlanguage. The same test was conducted through 1996 to 1999 [total subjects : 1353], the result showing the decline of grammatical abilities with statistical significance.
2. The vocabulary list of junior high school textbooks was made to sample the test words. 51 subjects were tested upon vocabulary knowledge assumed as composed of six underling abilities to interrelate meaning (M), sound (S) and spelling (O : orthography), i.e. M【double arrow】S, S【double arrow】O, O【double arrow】M. The rank of six abilities was O→M, S→M, S→O, M→O/O→S, M→S in this order. The subjects with high English proficiency performed better on SM, SO and MO.
3. The results of grammar and vocabulary tests were compared with that of the close test which was used as an index of overall English proficiency (OEP)[46 subjects]. Some of the main findings are : OM, SM, SO, and MS had effects on OEP, while SM, SO, and MO, characterizing the subjects with high OEP, on a grammatical ability. Especially SM and SO had effects both on OEP and a grammatical ability, indicating that sound processing abilities are somehow related to acquiring grammar and thus to successful language learning.
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