2007 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
A Comparative Study of Classroom Communication Tbwand Development of Students' Oral Fluency
| Project/Area Number |
16530520
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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 |
Educaion
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| Research Institution | The University of Shimane |
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Principal Investigator |
KAWANAKA Junko The University of Shimane, Faculty of Policy Studies, Associate Professor (50294509)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
EGUCHI Mariko The University of Shimane, Faculty of Policy Studies, Professor (00269523)
WHITE Sean Allan The University of Shimane, Faculty of Policy Studies, Associate Professor (00326406)
SEI Rumi Tokoha Gakuen University, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Professor (60308682)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2004 – 2007
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| Keywords | classroom communication / comparison between US and Japan / decline in academic ability / study suuoort / collene education |
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| Research Abstract |
Theories have explored the problem of Japanese hesitancy to speak from various perspectives : cultural, linguistic, psychological, institutional reasons. However, classroom discourse that hinders oral proficiency has not been fully explored. Comparing the classroom discourse between the United States and Japan will help understand why Japanese children are less assertive in the classroom, which will shed light on theoretical questions and provide a better approach to teach communication skills.
The researchers did a survey of students' class participation to describe the nature of class interaction and language used by teacher and students in elementary school. Narrowing the focus of the research on the linguistic interaction between teacher and students in four core courses, Language and Arts, Math, Social Studies, and Science, they documented the teacher-student interaction in American and Japanese schools.
The researchers found great differences between American and Japanese classroom discourse. Although they initially intended to compare the IRE patterns in the classroom in a qualitative manner, they found it impossible because it was hard to observe the typical IRE patterns in American schools : What the researchers observed was a variety of Teacher-Student, Student-Student interactions. The detailed analysis of the survey has not completed yet, buy during the four years the researchers were able to address issues of the effective classroom communication.
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