2021 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Developing a diagnostic language assessment of Japanese EFL learners' English language email writing
| Project/Area Number |
19K00826
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| Research Institution | The University of Aizu |
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Principal Investigator |
Nicholas Allan 会津大学, コンピュータ理工学部, 上級准教授 (50811048)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
BLAKE John 会津大学, コンピュータ理工学部, 上級准教授 (80635954)
Mozgovoy Maxim 会津大学, コンピュータ理工学部, 准教授 (60571776)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
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| Keywords | pragmatics / pragmatic failure / politeness / formality |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
This year, we made a number of achievements relating to the project. After completing corpus creation and manual annotation of the corpus data, we developed the computerised assessment of learners' EFL English email writing (C-DLA). We used the corpus annotation data to identify patterns of pragmatic failure, which informed the rules programmed into the C-DLA. These rules allow the program to automatically detect instances of pragmatic failure among Japanese EFL learners.
We continued to refine the rules and improve the accuracy rate of the program's automatic detection functionality, and began piloting with learners. We carried out a number of pilots with small groups, and used their feedback to improve the program. We also worked on developing the summary report functionality to allow learners to see their overall progress from using the program.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
The project is progressing rather smoothly, as we have completed the corpus creation, annotation and have made good progress developing the computerised assessment. One issue that has not been smooth has been the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, which has made disseminating findings to the community more challenging than would normally have been the case.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
Continuing the project, we will continue to refine the program, as we finish piloting. We will carry out administration of the program to larger groups of students, which will allow us to evaluate the effectiveness of the program in helping Japanese EFL learners develop their English email writing proficiency. We will compare three groups of learners- one group will receive the full program; one group will receive only limited feedback from the program, and one control group will not receive any feedback. This will allow us to fully assess the program.
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| Causes of Carryover |
This upcoming fiscal year, expenditure will be required in order to continue developing the program. Further, equipment will be purchased to aid program development. This will include computer equipment. Equipment will also be required for program administration to learners. Expenditure will be required for research assistants, who will test and pilot updated versions of the program as needed. This is an important part of the development process, and will be needed throughout the fiscal year. Expenditure will also be required for travel to presentations in order to disseminate findings to the community.
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Research Products
(5 results)
