A tool to improve EFL students' English speaking abilities through progress tracking

• Project/Area Number: 21K13052
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 02100:Foreign language education-related
• Research Institution: University of Fukui
• Principal Investigator: ロンバルディ イヴァン 福井大学, 学術研究院教育・人文社会系部門(総合グローバル), 講師 (10772981)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-04-01 – 2025-03-31
• Project Status: Granted (Fiscal Year 2021)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,680,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,080,000); Fiscal Year 2024: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000); Fiscal Year 2023: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000); Fiscal Year 2022: ¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000); Fiscal Year 2021: ¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000)
• Keywords: EFL speaking / Progress tracking

Outline of Research at the Start

How and to what extent can progress tracking help language students gauge the improvement of their speaking abilities in short-term language courses? To answer, the research sets up a case study within a high-stakes English course at a Japanese national university. Participants will be asked to record their classroom interactions in English, listen, rate, evaluate their performance, and reflect on what they have achieved in each class meeting. Participants will be prompted to review recursively and compare their current speaking skills with their older ‘English-speaking selves’.