Developing Teaching Materials for English Academic Writing in Japanese Higher Education: An Applied Linguistic Approach

Research Project

Project/Area Number	22K13178
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	Hiroshima University
Principal Investigator	王汀葭広島大学, 学術・社会連携室, 助教 (70901891)
Project Period (FY)	2022-04-01 – 2024-03-31
Project Status	Granted (Fiscal Year 2022)
Budget Amount *help	¥4,680,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,080,000) Fiscal Year 2023: ¥2,600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥600,000) Fiscal Year 2022: ¥2,080,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥480,000)
Keywords	Applied linguistics / Material development / English education / Teacher Education / teacher education / material development / applied linguistics
Outline of Research at the Start	This research aims to enhance WRC Tutor Training Program by developing four Applied Linguistic resources (i.e., Reading-to-learn Approach, Theme-Rheme Structure, Teaching-Learning Cycle, TPCK Framework) for a new English tutor training course. Theoretical foundation of those four resources is Systemic Functional Linguistics. Content Analysis will be applied to evaluate tutors’ questionnaires. Key anticipated output will be an English textbook to assist Japanese universities in successfully achieving SDG4 Quality Education by largely improving the quality of English support services.
Outline of Annual Research Achievements	The achievement of this project in 2022 mainly includes the data collection, the data analysis, the initial finding dissemination, and the curriculum development. During the first phase of this research project, I have obtained the ethical review approval from the research committee in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. I have collected the first round of data from both the postgraduate and the undergraduate Academic Writing courses. The data includes student in class learning outcomes and reflective writing. I have completed the initial data analysis, and the analysis results have been presented in two peer-reviewed international conferences in 2022. One journal article manuscript is under writing. I have also developed the new curriculum about the reading-based pedagogy for the learning and self-learning of academic writing. This curriculum focuses on the detailed reading and the disciplinary writing. This curriculum has been approved in 2022 and will be implemented in Semester 1 and 2 in 2023. I aim to collect the second round of data from both this newly implemented course and the existing Academic Writing courses in 2023. As the preparation for the second phase of this research in 2023, I have discussed and finalised the consultancy plan with the invited guest advisor from Western Sydney University. The guest advisor has agreed to provide 10 hour online consultancy about the writing of the journal article manuscript and other potential academic publications based on this research project.
Current Status of Research Progress	Current Status of Research Progress 2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned. Reason The project has been progressed as planned in general. I have completed the first round of data collection and data analysis as planned. I have also disseminated the analysis findings in two peer-reviewed international conferences as planned. The new curriculum has been developed and implemented as planned so that the second round of data collection and data analysis in the fiscal year of 2023 can be conducted as scheduled.
Strategy for Future Research Activity	For the future work, the project will implement the developed curriculum in the year of 2023 at the postgraduate level. One more presentation will be conducted in a peer-reviewed international conference. A manuscript will be submitted to a book chapter or a journal. The invited guest advisor has already agreed to provide 10 hour online consultancy in the year of 2023 about the writing of the manuscript.