Interlanguage analysis of motion event descriptions in English and Japanese

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K02753
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Foreign language education
• Research Institution: Naruto University of Education
• Principal Investigator: Mano Miho 鳴門教育大学, 大学院学校教育研究科, 准教授 (10419484)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 吉成 祐子 岐阜大学, 留学生センター, 准教授 (00503898) ; 松本 曜 神戸大学, 人文学研究科, 教授 (40245303)
• Research Collaborator: EGUCHI Kiyoko 宮崎大学, 学内共同利用施設等, 講師 (90812537)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 日英語 / 移動表現 / 経路 / 第二言語習得

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This experimental study on motion event descriptions aimed to empirically show the sources of interlanguage characteristics based on production data from L1/L2 English and Japanese. Although motion event descriptions are basic expressions (e.g. John ran up the stairs./ Zyon-wa hasit-te heya-ni haitte-ki-ta.[John-TOP run-CONJ room-to enter.CONJ-come-PST] “John ran into the room.”), the learners have difficulty learning them. We analyzed production data from Japanese-speaking learners of English (E-L2(j)) and English-speaking learners of Japanese (J-L2(e)), as well as English and Japanese L1 speakers (E-L1, J-L1) bidirectionally and showed interlanguage characteristics including L1 transfer, simplification, and entrenched patterns and their causes. We also demonstrated what kinds of paths are difficult for L2 English and Japanese learners and suggested what language teachers should focus on when teaching motion expressions.

Free Research Field

言語学、英語学