Needs analysis and methodological considerations for designing English for Agricultural purposes

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K02844
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Foreign language education
• Research Institution: University of Miyazaki
• Principal Investigator: Yamamoto Kayo 宮崎大学, 語学教育センター, 准教授 (70438323)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 荒木 瑞夫 宮崎大学, 語学教育センター, 准教授 (20324220) ; 坂本 信介 宮崎大学, 農学部, 講師 (80611368)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: ESP / 農学分野 / semi-popularization記事 / 語彙 / 基礎教育

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In English for Specific Purposes (ESP), where learners' academic specificity is accorded a highest importance in desigining a curriculum, there has been no methodological consensus on needs analysis and profiling of a highly inter-desciplinary field such as agricultural sciences. This study revealed the inter-disciplinary nature of agricultural sciences by a statistical lexical analysis conducted on a corpus of English semi-popularization articles. Furthermore, keyword lists of agricultural science in general and each of its six sub-disciplines were created based on the corpus, providing a key material for goal settings in designing a curriculum of English education that“bridges”the fundamental and the special curricula of a university.

Free Research Field

外国語教育

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究で主題とした農学分野に対するESP方法論は、社会の流動化やグローバル化と共に増加する学際的な学部の英語教育カリキュラムを作成する上で、実用的視点を提供する。提示した語彙リストは、学部生の専門学習レベルと英語習熟度を考慮したものであり、農学系学部1・2年生を対象とする多くの大学英語教育実践の教材のモデルとなり得る。今までに獣医学を含む農学分野語彙リストは無く、同じ教育環境への基礎資料を提供する。