| Project/Area Number |
23K00655
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Review Section |
Basic Section 02100:Foreign language education-related
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| Research Institution | Kagawa University |
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Principal Investigator |
G・M McCrohan 香川大学, 大学教育基盤センター, 准教授 (20448351)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
Perkins GarethEdward 香川大学, 大学教育基盤センター, 特命講師 (30988465)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2023-04-01 – 2026-03-31
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| Project Status |
Granted (Fiscal Year 2023)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,120,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥720,000)
Fiscal Year 2025: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000)
Fiscal Year 2024: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000)
Fiscal Year 2023: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000)
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| Keywords | need analysis / pragmatic competence / examination preparation / International Posture / study abroad / exam preparation / anxiety / international posture |
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| Outline of Research at the Start |
The principal objectives of this study are to help our students develop a more international outlook and gain confidence in their speaking skills through the use of members of the local foreign community as simulated interviewers.
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
This academic year we conducted two intensive IELTS preparation courses using simulated interviewers in mid-August (2023) and mid-March (2024). The courses were attended by a total of 22 students, mostly from the Faculty of Medicine.
Before the start of the course we asked students to complete a number of questionnaires including "International Posture" (IP), "Willingness to Communicate" (WTC), and their preconceptions of the IELTS test. These allowed us to discover how their IP an WTC compared with participants in our previous research. Moreover, the final questionnaire helped us discover the preconceptions Japanese university students have regarding the IELTS test.
We found that students were concerned about the use of British English throughout the test, and worried about their speaking abilities.
The feedback from the simulated interviewers helped us to conduct a needs analysis of students preparing for the speaking and writing sections of the IELTSWe discovered that students need to improve their paraphrasing abilities, as well as expand their use of language softeners to improve their pragmatic competence. Their IP and WTC was similar to other university students, but some categories showed a slight increase in the post-course survey.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
1: Research has progressed more than it was originally planned.
Reason
We had initially planned to hold our first intensive course in the spring of 2024, but due to the cooperation and assistance from the Faculty of Medicine and the International office we were able to hold our first course in the summer of 2023. We held our second course in spring 2024.
We also found there was a strong demand from students for courses such as this, and some students attended the course both times it was offered.
Moreover, we found that although some of the "members of the community" we intended to ask to be "simulated interviewers" were unavailable, we we were easily able to recruit new simulated interviewer. Additionally, it was possible for us to conduct IELTS interviewer training courses for less-experienced simulated interviewers, and the feedback received from both the interviewers and students is proving invaluable in helping us despgn future courses. .
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
We are planning to continue holding 2 intensive IELTS preparation courses this year. Again, as some of our previous simulated interviewers have left Japan, we will need to recruit and train new locally sourced simulated interviewers.
Regarding the contents of future courses, we hope to focus on improving students' writing skills through the use of AI in addition to further developing their speaking skills. We would also like to investigate the use of AI in assessing speaking abilities.
Moreover, we intend to present the results of this research at the International JACET Convention and other local conferences. In addition, we hope to publish a paper reporting on our progress.
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