| Project/Area Number |
14510631
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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 | Juntendo University |
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Principal Investigator |
SUDO Michiko Juntendo University, Department of Health and Sports Science, Professor, スポーツ健康科学部, 教授 (60226587)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
MATSUNO Kazuhiko Nagoya University of Foreign Studies, Department of Foreign Languages, Professor, 外国語学部, 教授 (90029679)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2002 – 2003
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2003)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥1,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000)
Fiscal Year 2003: ¥700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000)
Fiscal Year 2002: ¥800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000)
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| Keywords | Second language acquisition / English rhythmic patterns / Spoken language / Pronunciation training / Teaching methods / Function words / Content words / Production patterns / 指導法 / アクセント / 談話 |
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| Research Abstract |
The purpose of the present study was two-fold: to investigate the effects of different teaching methods on the acquisition of English rhythmic patterns by Japanese learners; and to observe the differences between weak forms and content words with respect to the order, speed and degree of the acquisition. Two groups of Japanese subjects (12 subjects for each group, a total of 24 subjects) and 12 Americans served as subjects in this study. One group of the Japanese subjects attended a class where the subjects had only a training of pronunciation for 4 months (Group 1), while during the same period the other group of subjects attended an Oral English class at a university whose focus was conversation and presentation (Group 2). The English abilities of those Japanese before taking the classes were measured by TOEIC (Group 1, average score of 472; Group 2, average score of 450). The linguistic materials used in the experiments were short passages.
In the case of Group 1, we observed conspicuous effects of the training in the production of rhythmic patterns. Concretely, they began to show a production pattern of weak forms and content words which was directed toward the production pattern of native speakers of English. Thus, those Japanese began to display the use of sentence accent in the realization of sentences. As compared to the durational control of content words, weak forms were found to be more difficult for Japanese. The other Japanese Group (Group 2) did not show conspicuous improvement in the production pattern of weak forms and content words, although their rate of speech showed improvement. This study showed a significant difference in the effects of teaching methods, displaying the possibility of acquisition of English rhythm for a short period without the benefit of linguistic environments such as studying abroad.
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