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The countability of abstract nouns and its acquisition difficulties: Research with Japanese learners of English

Research Project

Project/Area Number 15K16800
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)

Allocation TypeMulti-year Fund
Research Field Foreign language education
Research InstitutionNihon University (2016-2018)
University of Shizuoka (2015)

Principal Investigator

OGAWA Mutsumi  日本大学, 商学部, 講師 (40733796)

Project Period (FY) 2015-04-01 – 2019-03-31
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 2018)
Budget Amount *help
¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000)
Fiscal Year 2017: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000)
Fiscal Year 2016: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000)
Fiscal Year 2015: ¥390,000 (Direct Cost: ¥300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥90,000)
Keywords抽象名詞 / 可算性 / 有界性 / 境界 / 冠詞 / 英語 / 日本語 / 類別詞 / 個別度
Outline of Final Research Achievements

The countability judgment by Japanese learners of English is strongly correlated to the distinction between concrete and abstract nouns. As learners improve in English, they will learn to judge abstract nouns as count. Furthermore, properties that are common among semantic categories such as boundedness and derivation types are unlikely to influence L2 countability judgment of abstract nouns. Rather, L1 interpretation of nouns may have stronger effects after all. The study also found that some learners rely on intuition to decide noun countability without drawing on contextual information; however, such learners are neither the majority nor those with low proficiency.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

多くの先行研究で習得が困難と指摘されてきた抽象名詞の可算性において、本研究で実証研究データを提示できたことは、今後の英語教育に大きく役立つと思われる。特に、L2の可算性判断は語彙意味の影響を受けるのではなく、L1の解釈に起因する可能性が強いと示唆された。これは、可算性の指導時に使用される「抽象・具象」といった用語の理解や「数える」という行為自体が、結局はL1での解釈を通して行われている可能性を示している。文法としての可算性の本質的な役割や、文脈情報による抽象名詞の可算化について、文法書や指導に活用できる説明を再検討する必要がある。

Report

(5 results)
  • 2018 Annual Research Report   Final Research Report ( PDF )
  • 2017 Research-status Report
  • 2016 Research-status Report
  • 2015 Research-status Report
  • Research Products

    (16 results)

All 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015

All Journal Article (4 results) (of which Peer Reviewed: 4 results,  Open Access: 1 results) Presentation (11 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 5 results) Book (1 results)

  • [Journal Article] The count-mass distinction and English articles2019

    • Author(s)
      Mutsumi Ogawa
    • Journal Title

      Second Language

      Volume: 18

    • NAID

      130007795250

    • Related Report
      2018 Annual Research Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
  • [Journal Article] The Effect of Animacy on L2 Choice of Referential Expressions: An Analysis of Written English Narratives2017

    • Author(s)
      Ogawa, M.
    • Journal Title

      中部地区英語教育学会紀要

      Volume: 46 Pages: 95-102

    • NAID

      130006330039

    • Related Report
      2016 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Journal Article] Pronoun or Noun: Animacy over Processing2017

    • Author(s)
      Ogawa, M.
    • Journal Title

      Proceedings of PacSLRF 2016

      Volume: - Pages: 157-161

    • Related Report
      2016 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Journal Article] The Interaction of Animacy with the Wh-extraction by Japanses Learners of English2017

    • Author(s)
      Shirahata, T., Suda, K., Kondo, T., Yokota, H., Ogawa. M.
    • Journal Title

      Proceedings of PacSLRF 2016

      Volume: - Pages: 181-186

    • Related Report
      2016 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Presentation] Intuitive countability judgment and article choice: Do L2 learners rely on intuition to determine noun countability in context?2018

    • Author(s)
      Mutsumi Ogawa
    • Organizer
      第48回中部地区英語教育学会静岡大会
    • Related Report
      2018 Annual Research Report
  • [Presentation] Boundedness based on lexical aspect and L2 countability judgment of English abstract nouns2018

    • Author(s)
      Mutsumi Ogawa
    • Organizer
      European Second Language Association (EUROSLA)
    • Related Report
      2018 Annual Research Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Searching for a determining factor in L2 countability judgement on English abstract nouns2018

    • Author(s)
      Mutsumi Ogawa
    • Organizer
      American Association for Applied Linguistics 2018
    • Related Report
      2017 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Metalinguistic awareness of concrete and abstract nouns in L1 Japanese and L2 English2017

    • Author(s)
      Mutsumi Ogawa
    • Organizer
      第47回中部地区英語教育学会長野大会
    • Related Report
      2017 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] Perceived countability of concrete and abstract nouns in L2 English2017

    • Author(s)
      Mutsumi Ogawa
    • Organizer
      第43回全国英語教育学会島根研究大会
    • Related Report
      2017 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] Pronoun or noun? Animacy over processing2016

    • Author(s)
      Ogawa, M.
    • Organizer
      The Pacific Second Language Research Forum 2016
    • Place of Presentation
      Chuo University
    • Year and Date
      2016-09-09
    • Related Report
      2016 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] The interaction of animacy with the wh-extraction by Japanese learners of English2016

    • Author(s)
      Shirahata, T., Suda, K., Kondo, T., Yokota, H., Ogawa, M., Ogawa, S.
    • Organizer
      The Pacific Second Language Research Forum 2016
    • Place of Presentation
      Chuo University
    • Year and Date
      2016-09-09
    • Related Report
      2016 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] A countability hierarchy based on boundedness: An observation of Japanese abstract nouns and count classifiers ko and tu2016

    • Author(s)
      Mutsumi Ogawa
    • Organizer
      6th UK Cognitive Linguistics Conference
    • Place of Presentation
      University of Bangor
    • Year and Date
      2016-07-18
    • Related Report
      2015 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] The effect of animacy on L2 choice of referential expressions: A preliminary analysis of written English narratives2016

    • Author(s)
      小川 睦美
    • Organizer
      第46回中部地区英語教育学会
    • Place of Presentation
      鈴鹿医療科学大学
    • Year and Date
      2016-06-25
    • Related Report
      2016 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] 日本語における抽象名詞の個別化と有界性の考察2016

    • Author(s)
      小川 睦美
    • Organizer
      中央大学人文科学研究所 「言語の理解と産出」チーム2016年度第2回公開研究会
    • Place of Presentation
      中央大学
    • Year and Date
      2016-05-30
    • Related Report
      2015 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] 「個・つ」の容認度に見られる抽象名詞の個別化と有界性の関係2015

    • Author(s)
      小川 睦美
    • Organizer
      日本中部言語学会第61回定例研究会
    • Place of Presentation
      静岡県立大学
    • Year and Date
      2015-12-12
    • Related Report
      2015 Research-status Report
  • [Book] 第二言語習得研究モノグラフ1 名詞と音の世界2017

    • Author(s)
      ニール・スネイプ, 小川睦美, 須田孝司, 鈴木孝明, 杉浦香織, 川崎貴子, ジョン・マシューズ, 田中邦佳
    • Total Pages
      200
    • Publisher
      くろしお出版
    • ISBN
      9784874247495
    • Related Report
      2017 Research-status Report

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Published: 2015-04-16   Modified: 2020-03-30  

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