An Investigation of English Language Writing by Japanese Students Using Online Tools and a Translation Learner Corpus

• Project/Area Number: 15K12915
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Foreign language education
• Research Institution: Toyo University
• Principal Investigator: Akutsu Sumie 東洋大学, ライフデザイン学部, 講師 (20460024)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2017)
• Budget Amount: ¥3,380,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥780,000); Fiscal Year 2017: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000); Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000)
• Keywords: 英語ライティング / 翻訳 / エラー分析 / コーパス / 英語教育 / 翻訳コーパス / ライティング

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research aims to investigate the use of translation skills to develop the English writing proficiency of Japanese learners of English. Based on the pedagogical translation corpus approach, L1 influence and common errors or characteristics in Japanese learners’ English writing were analyzed to improve the writing instructions. The outcomes during the research indicate learners have benefited from the online system where they can not only submit writing tasks but also see a sample translation in order to understand the linguistic and cultural differences between Japanese and English as well as to overcome the issues they experience during the writing process.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] バイリンガルエッセイツールを活用したライティング教育ー母語を生かした英語力の育成ー (2018)
  • Author(s): 阿久津純恵
  • Journal Title: 大規模バイリンガルエッセイコーパスの構築とデータ分析のための各種システムの開発 Volume: ー Pages: 162-181
• [Journal Article] Teaching English with a Translation Corpus in an EFL Context (2016)
  • Author(s): Sumie Akutsu
  • Journal Title: Proceedings of the 2016PAC/25th International Symposium and Book Fair on English Teaching Volume: 1 Pages: 250-262
  • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Compiling a Bilingual Essay Corpus to Enhance Japanese Students’ Writing Skills in English (2017)
  • Author(s): Sumie Akutsu
  • Organizer: Corpus and LAnguage Variation in English Research (CLAVIER) 17
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] The Use of a Bilingual Translation Corpus to Develop Intercultural Communicative Competence (2017)
  • Author(s): Sumie Akutsu
  • Organizer: The 18th World Congress of the International Association of Applied Linguistics
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Translation Learner Corpus: First Steps Using a Corpus Approach to Teach Mediation Skills (2017)
  • Author(s): Sumie Akutsu
  • Organizer: The Compiling International Computer Archive of Modern and Medieval English (ICAME) 38
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Mediating the Language Gap: Teaching with a Translation Corpus (2016)
  • Author(s): Sumie Akutsu
  • Organizer: CAES International Conference
  • Place of Presentation: The University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
  • Year and Date: 2016-06-12
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] The Use of a Translation Corpus in a Translation Course at a Japanese University (2016)
  • Author(s): Sumie Akutsu
  • Organizer: The IV International Conference on Corpus Use and Learning to Translate (CULT)
  • Place of Presentation: University of Alicante (Spain)
  • Year and Date: 2016-05-27
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Teaching English with a Translation Corpus in an EFL Context (2016)
  • Author(s): Sumie Akutsu
  • Organizer: The 2016 PAC/5th International Symposium and Book Fair on English Teaching
  • Place of Presentation: Taipei (Taiwan)
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Translation in the Teaching of English: A Case Study Using a Translation Corpus in an EFL Context (2016)
  • Author(s): Sumie Akutsu
  • Organizer: The 2016 European Society for the Study of English (ESSE) Conference
  • Place of Presentation: Galway (Ireland)
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] The Use of a Translation Corpus to Show a Language Gap (2016)
  • Author(s): Sumie Akutsu
  • Organizer: The 37th International Computer Archive of Modern and Medieval English
  • Place of Presentation: Hong Kong (China)
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Remarks] Translation Corpus
  • URL: http://www.translationcorpus.com/