2019 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Multilingual acquisition at third-level education in Japan and Spain: an analysis of the professional prospects of young graduates
| Project/Area Number |
19K13290
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| Research Institution | Ritsumeikan University |
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Principal Investigator |
ルッケル瀬本 阿矢 立命館大学, 情報理工学部, 講師 (30614523)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2019-04-01 – 2021-03-31
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| Keywords | Multilingual acquisition / third-level education / job perspectives / curriculum design / comparative research / education policy |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
In FY 2019-2020 the focus of the project has been twofold: first, to coordinate the research strategy in both countries given the differences in context. This entailed that both the PI in Japan, Dr. Luckel-Semoto and the research collaborator in Spain, Dr. Elena Prats Porcar spent the first quarter of the year instructing themselves about the problem of practice in both countries by exchanging relevant literature and engaging on discussions as to what would be the most convenient approach for the qualitative data analysis among language professionals.
Secondly, both researchers spent the first two quarters developing their analytical skills by learning about research design and analysis. This work included the learning of the statistical software Stata, the qualitative data analysis software Nvivo and the survey design tool Qualtrics.
As a result of these two areas of work, the third quarter of the year was spent in the development and distribution of a qualitative questionnaire survey among language teachers in Japan and Spain. There was a first phase as well as a follow-up phase. The total number of responses obtained was 45.
Additionally, both researchers submitted a paper for publication in the IAFOR language journal in October 2019 with the results of our research previous to being approved for the Kakenhi grant.
Finally, both researchers presented a conference abstract to present our results from the qualitative study among language teachers in the CIES conference in Miami and were accepted, although the conference finally got canceled because of COVID19.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.
Reason
The advancements made in the project up until mid - March (2020) were consistent with the timeline marked in the research proposal. However, the arrival of the global pandemic in Japan, where the PI is physically located, and Spain, where the comparative research is taking place, has truncated the initial plans. At that point, the collection of qualitative data among language professionals was completed and the analysis of the data was taking place. Given the situation of lockdown in Spain and Japan, in the period from April 1st - May 15th the project has been in stand-by because of the closure of schools and universities.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
Given the current situation, in which some sense of stability is felt within this new “normality”, we think that we may be able to reinitiate the project and continue with the next phase, the design of a survey questionnaire to be distributed among undergraduate students in Japan first. In Spain, the academic year works differently, and students are going to be on summer vacation between June and September. This means we should probably be able to distribute the survey when the academic year re-starts, probably in September. In the meantime, we will design the survey for both Japan and Spain but will pilot and distribute only in Japan, between May and July 31st.
We count on schools and universities in Spain re-opening in September. At that point, we should be able to pilot and distribute the survey between September and December. There is no certainty as to whether it will be possible to go ahead with the idea of organizing an international conference in situ, but we will assess the situation in the next coming months. We nonetheless feel confident that we will be able to gather enough relevant data that will lead to policy-relevant conclusions.
Regardless of whether the international conference is finally organized, the PI and research collaborator aim to publish two journal articles by the summer of 2021 to present the results of the research to stakeholders in language policy in Japan and Spain.
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| Causes of Carryover |
There is a total incurring amount of 345,373 yen. This is due to the fact that the CIES 2020 Conference, to take in place in United States, was cancelled due to Covid-19. I had been accepted to present the initial findings of my research and had intended to attend with my research collaborator Dr. Prats.
Below is how I intend to invest to make further advances in my investigation:
First, I will focus my efforts in the research design of the survey study to be conducted in both Japan and Spain, in coordination with Dr. Prats and her contacts in Spain. Second, in Japan, I will be establishing contact with language teachers in several universities in the country to have their support in the distribution of the survey questionnaire. Third, I will work to conduct the data analysis from both questionnaires. Fourth, I will organize a small-size conference to present the final results of the study to colleagues in the field of language teaching in higher education. I will invite Dr. Prats to support me in the organization and presentation of results in both countries. Finally, I will be preparing a journal article to be published in the summer of 2021 with the results of the study.
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