Employing corpus-based Word Sketch collocation summaries as an L2 writing reference tool: The impact on lexical accuracy and diversity of Japanese EFL compositions

2019 Fiscal Year Research-status Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K02927
• Research Institution: Kobe University
• Principal Investigator: QUINN Cynthia 神戸大学, 国際文化学研究科, 特任准教授 (00368474)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: L2 writing / Corpus referencing / Lexical accuracy / Word Sketch

Outline of Annual Research Achievements

The past year (H31) focused largely on data analysis of the audio and textual data collected in the previous year (H30). In total, data was collected from 28 participants, who worked in pairs to correct lexical errors in their essays with corpus-based word sketches. As participants worked together on the error correction tasks designated by the teacher/researcher, their screen activity was video recorded while their discussions about their correction decisions were audio recorded.

Current Status of Research Progress

2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.

Reason

The first stage of data analysis, transcription and translation of the audio-recorded discussions, is complete. The second stage of data analysis is now underway, which involves reviewing the video data in conjunction with the audio files and participants' texts (i.e. essays). Notes from the analysis of these data sources are being compiled in an online research journal.

Strategy for Future Research Activity

This upcoming year will also be data analysis-intensive. The data generated from each pair of participants is considerable, given that the correction tasks and discussions lasted 90 minutes. Therefore, a good deal of overviewing is necessary before the researcher can begin to focus analysis on specific patterns and features. Nonetheless, the plan for this year is to progress far enough so that the researcher can begin drafting her findings.

Causes of Carryover

The primary costs this year will be for research materials and resources as well as for travel to fund conference presentations on the study's early findings. Other incidental expenses include purchasing software and comuter applications to help manage the amount of data generated from the study.