Research Findings on English Grammar Acquisition Among Japanese High School Learners and the Implications on Teaching Methodologies

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K00747
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 02100:Foreign language education-related
• Research Institution: Shizuoka University of Art and Culture
• Principal Investigator: Yokota Hideki 静岡文化芸術大学, 文化政策学部, 教授 (50440590)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 英語教育 / 第二言語習得 / 文法指導

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Two experiments were carried out to assess the level of English grammar proficiency among Japanese high school graduates (JLEs). The results indicated that the order of difficulty of English grammar for these JLEs was strongly correlated with the findings of earlier studies on second language acquisition order. Additionally, it was found that the level of difficulty varied even within the same grammatical categories, depending on the specific words, phrases, and contexts that were used.

Free Research Field

第二言語習得

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究が明らかにした「同じ文法項目に属する要素であっても文脈や語句によって困難度が異なる」という現象は、第二言語習得研究における英語文法項目別習得困難度順序の先行研究（Johnson & Newport 1989; Dulay & Burt 1973など）ではとらえられていないことである。このように日本語母語話者の英文法能力の実証データを分析し、詳細な英文法学習の困難度を明らかにすることで、英文法に関する到達度目標の設定や、困難を伴う項目の指導の際に何を重点的に指導すべきかなど、データに裏づけされた英語の指導が行えるようになるはずである。