2005 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Production Model of English Rhythmic Patterns and a Teaching Method of Spoken Language
| Project/Area Number |
16520350
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Foreign language education
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| Research Institution | JUNTENDO UNIVERSITY |
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Principal Investigator |
SUDO Michiko Juntendo University, Department of Health and Sports Science, Professor, スポーツ健康科学部, 教授 (60226587)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
MATSUNO Kazuhiko Nagoya University of Foreign Studies, Department of Foreign Languages, Professor, 外国語学部, 教授 (90029679)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2004 – 2005
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| Keywords | English rhythmic patterns / Production model / Teaching method / Spoken language / Durational control / Stress / Weak forms / Second language acquisition |
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| Research Abstract |
The purposes of the present study were to observe the acquisition of English rhythmic patterns by Japanese learners, and to investigate the effects of different teaching methods on their acquisition. We were especially interested in investigating the possibility of acquisition of English rhythm for a short period without the benefit of linguistic environments such as studying abroad. We were also interested in comparing first and second language acquisition.
The subjects in the first experiment were 12 Americans and 24 Japanese learners of English. None of the Japanese learners had either lived or studied abroad, and they were all college students. We prepared two groups of Japanese subjects (12 subjects for each group) to investigate the effects of different teaching methods on the acquisition of English rhythmic patterns. One group of the Japanese subjects attended a class where they received only training in pronunciation for 13 weeks, while during the same period the other group of subjects attended an Oral English class at a university whose focus was conversation and presentation. We have observed notable differences in the degree of attainment between the two subject groups, thus suggesting the different degrees of effects of the teaching methods on the acquisition of stress-related and focus-related durational control.
We carried out the second experiment to compare the acquisition process of English rhythmic patterns by American children (3rd graders) and Japanese learners with that of adult American speakers. We prepared the sentences which differed in the number of unstressed syllables in the target interstress intervals (ISI). We investigated the acquisition of durational control from the viewpoints of ISI and the number of syllables, and observed the production patterns in first and second language acquisition.
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Research Products
(10 results)
