2007 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Effective Use of Metaphor for Developing English Communicative Competence
| Project/Area Number |
17520411
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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 | Matsue National College of Technology |
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Principal Investigator |
IIJIMA Mutsumi Matsue National College of Technology, Department of Humanities, Associate Professor (80280436)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2005 – 2007
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| Keywords | English teaching / communicative competence / metaphor / Logically thinking |
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| Research Abstract |
The aim of this study is to give suggestions for developing Japanese learned communicative ability in English. The relations among cognitive preference, communication abilities and metaphoric competence are examined, and then the findings from experimental research are discussed from the viewpoint of communicative ability. The research subjects were Korean, Chinese and Japanese university or college students, and therefore some findings are related to cultural differences, However, other findings on individual differences give rise to ideas on teaching methodologies to enrich communication abilities. Also some findings from analysis of individual data in this study imply that metaphoric competence is one of the determiners of communicative proficiency.
Materials using metaphors for class to develop communicative competence have been experimentally prepared. The underlying theories are to enhance learners' vocabularies and give English conceptual metaphors to learners of English in order to develop their communication abilities.
The next study question is which factors of metaphoric competence are central and indispensable for evaluating communicative proficiency. In this study, analogical reasoning functioned in processing metaphors was predicted as the central factor for that function, however, this prediction was not sufficiently supported by the data. Further research on communicative competence and metaphoric competence will be necessary to make these findings effective and practical for developing teaching English as a foreign language in Japan.
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Research Products
(24 results)
