2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Longitudinal study of student speaking
| Project/Area Number |
17K02995
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Foreign language education
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| Research Institution | Kansai University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
池田 真生子 関西大学, 外国語学部, 教授 (00425323)
AUBREY Scott 関西大学, 外国語学部, 准教授 (40584115)
八島 智子 関西大学, 外国語学部, 教授 (60210233)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2017-04-01 – 2022-03-31
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| Keywords | Study abroad / WTC / capacity to speak / ELF / longitudinal / mindset / complex dynamic systems / reticence |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Although we expect learners to improve their speaking proficiency during “study abroad” (SA), in reality results are mixed. Therefore, many researchers study “willingness to communicate” (WTC). Although WTC assumes that learners want to speak, research in Asia indicates that many learners may have WTC but these learners stay silent. Therefore, we investigated learners’ “capacity to speak” (CTS) to understand when Japanese learners of English feel they can speak and when they cannot speak. Using interviews and journals, we investigated the fluctuations in CTS from students’ elementary school through to 12 months after their university SA. Results indicated that students struggled initially to understand conversations. During SA, they tended to have a high CTS with other “L2 English speakers” but struggled with “local anglophones”. After SA, they preferred speaking to international students (including “L1 English users”) in social rather than classroom contexts.
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| Free Research Field |
Applied linguistics
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| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
Pre-SA, students need exposure to international students. Post-SA, they returned sensitive to incoming international students’ needs. In future, we hope that faculties and international offices will collaborate in recruiting post-SA students to help inbound international students integrate.
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