How to Japanese essay writing to Japanese elementary school students: Through essays an analysis of errors in students' essays

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K04654
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Education on school subjects and activities
• Research Institution: Akita University
• Principal Investigator: Masaki Narita 秋田大学, 教育文化学部, 教授 (50361217)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 小学校国語科 / 書くこと / 作文指導 / 国語誤用 / 推敲指導 / 取り立て指導

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study I recorded the errors in Japanese made by Japanese elementary school students and developed a database on them, which was published in the Bulletin of the Center for Educational Research and Practice, Faculty of Education and Human Studies, Akita University, Vol. 39. The database revealed errors appear in sounds and spellings, which are mainly caused by their low awareness to the correct use.
In addition, I wrote another two articles in the same bulletin in Vols. 40 and 41, on how to prevent such errors and improve their writing. The analysis of the Japanese classes to third-graders in Akita showed that the instruction aimed at error prevention works effectively for the following instruction of revision, and that pair or group work is more effective than individual work for checking their writing. The study on the Japanese classes to sixth-graders in Tokyo showed that some students repeated the errors even after they found and corrected them.

Free Research Field

国語科教育学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

国語誤用のデータベースは、学年別に多い誤用や出現傾向の高い言語単位の確認、誤用の推定原因の把握に役立つ。したがって、現場における作文の推敲指導の際や、作文の学習指導をする前後に予防や定着の指導をする際に、有益な資料となる。具体的には、出現傾向が高い国語誤用を入れ込んだエラーサンプルの教材を用意したり、作文の協働推敲の際に児童が参照するリストを用意したりすることに活用できる。
また、授業分析で明らかになったことをふまえた授業を行うことで、効果的に国語誤用を予防したり改善したりする学習指導が可能になる。具体的には、エラーサンプルを直す活動や、ペアやグループによる推敲を取り入れることである。