• Search Research Projects
  • Search Researchers
  • How to Use
  1. Back to previous page

An Investigation of English Abilities of Junior High School Students-From the Perspective of Grammar Structure Acquisition

Research Project

Project/Area Number 15330189
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)

Allocation TypeSingle-year Grants
Section一般
Research Field Education on school subjects and activities
Research InstitutionTokyo University of Foreign Studies (2004-2006)
Hyogo University of Teacher Education (2003)

Principal Investigator

TAKASHIMA Hideyuki  Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Faculty of Foreign Studies, Professor (40128434)

Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) NEGISHI Masashi  Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Graduate School of Area and Culture Studies, Professor (50189362)
MURAKAMI Mihoko  Seijoh University, Faculty of Business Administration, Associate Professor (10331638)
Project Period (FY) 2003 – 2006
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 2006)
Budget Amount *help
¥12,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥12,300,000)
Fiscal Year 2006: ¥2,600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,600,000)
Fiscal Year 2005: ¥1,800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,800,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥1,800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,800,000)
Fiscal Year 2003: ¥6,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥6,100,000)
KeywordsEnglish grammatical structures / English word order / Longitudinal study / Cross-sectional study / EFL context / Acquisition / Learning of English / Junior high school students / 後置修飾 / 縦断的研究 / 横断的研究 / 3年間の英語習得 / 学習困難度 / 練習の成果 / 英語の学力 / 中学生の英語 / 英語の習得・学習 / テストの開発 / スピーキング・テスト / 縦断的・横断的調査
Research Abstract

The purpose of this research project was to (1) follow Japanese junior high school students' acquisition of English grammatical structures for three years, longitudinally as well as cross-sectionally, (2) to pin-point exactly which structures were obstacles to language learning, and (3) to propose remedies for future teaching and learning. In order to fulfill these goals, all 6 textbooks which were then (year 2004) in use were subjected to examination, and 12 particular structures were chosen in accordance with their common appearance in all the textbooks. Based on these structures, four kinds of written tests and one speaking test were created. These tests were conducted as a prelude, or as a pilot study, to the final study. The two written tests which were best correlated with the speaking test were selected to use in the final study. These same two tests were given twice a year (July and February) for the three years in three schools (two in Kochi City and one in Iwaki City) and for … More two years in five schools (an additional two schools in Tokyo plus the previous three). Among the 12 structures, 6 structures were common to all grades, 10 structures to the 2nd and the 3rd grades, and 12 structures to the 3rd grade, as the 3rd graders had learned all 12 structures by the time the test was given.
The results show that (1) well practiced structures with main verbs (e.g., I play soccer every day.) were acquired quite early, (2) related but not well practiced ones with negation (e.g., I don't want milk.) were not as early, (3) over-learned or overly-practiced structures with an introducer, "This is...," were confused with "This book is...", and it took time to differentiate the two similar but different structures. It was also found that in an EFL context like Japan where English input is meager, the SVOO structure (e.g., Mary gave the cat some milk.) was not learned because of the flexible Japanese corresponding structure where the direct and indirect objects were interchangeable with a postposition.
In sum, first learned and well practiced or used structures were learned earlier unless they are flexible corresponding structures. These results were reported to each school, and this research will be scheduled to be published in an international journal. Less

Report

(5 results)
  • 2006 Annual Research Report   Final Research Report Summary
  • 2005 Annual Research Report
  • 2004 Annual Research Report
  • 2003 Annual Research Report
  • Research Products

    (3 results)

All 2006

All Book (3 results)

  • [Book] Readings in Second Language Pedagogy and Second Language Acquitision in Japanese Contest2006

    • Author(s)
      高島英幸, 杉浦理恵
    • Total Pages
      271
    • Publisher
      John Benjamins Publishing Company, NL
    • Related Report
      2006 Annual Research Report
  • [Book] 第二言語習得理論に基づく言語教育と評価モデル2006

    • Author(s)
      高島英幸, 今井典子
    • Total Pages
      318
    • Publisher
      東京外国語大学大学院地域文化研究科
    • Related Report
      2006 Annual Research Report
  • [Book] Linguistic Informatics and Spoken Language Corpora - Contributions of Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Computer Sciences -2006

    • Author(s)
      高島英幸, 井上千尋, ほか4名
    • Total Pages
      446
    • Publisher
      東京外国語大学大学院地域文化研究科
    • Related Report
      2006 Annual Research Report

URL: 

Published: 2003-04-01   Modified: 2016-04-21  

Information User Guide FAQ News Terms of Use Attribution of KAKENHI

Powered by NII kakenhi