2021 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Investigating Potential Relationships between Vocabulary Knowledge and Writing
| Project/Area Number |
20K00834
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| Research Institution | Hiroshima University |
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Principal Investigator |
Fraser Simon 広島大学, 外国語教育研究センター, 教授 (10403510)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
CLENTON JONATHAN 広島大学, 人間社会科学研究科(総), 准教授 (80762434)
CLINGWALL DION 県立広島大学, 公私立大学の部局等(庄原キャンパス), 准教授 (80737669)
TANABE JULIA 広島大学, 外国語教育研究センター, 助教 (90868233)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
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| Keywords | writing / productive vocabulary / IELTS / intervention study |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
Last year, the bulk of the research team's work involved analysis of the data produced in an online longitudinal experiment involving first-year university students. The aim of the experiment was to measure productive vocabulary scores and IELTS writing task scores before and after intervention. Intervention was provided in the form of 100 NGSL words presented each week using Quizlet over the course of a semester, with students learning these words based on a bilingual (English/Japanese) version of the list. In each round of task administration, students were presented with two IELTS-style essay tasks and given three productive vocabulary knowledge tests (G_Lex, Lex30, and PVLT), each with two different versions. Because not all participants were able to complete all four writing topics and six vocabulary tests, only writing scripts of over 200 words were counted during the data processing.
The results of the data analysis, which is almost complete, are complex. Lexical diversity scores indicate that the students made progress. However, of the three lexical measures, only G_lex was able to detect the change.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.
Reason
Because of the difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic, progress has been a little slower than hoped, and we have not been able to begin our investigation into the relationship between multiword sequences in learner texts and IELTS writing task scores. However, analysis of the data from the intervention experiment has gone well.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
In the next stage of the project, we hope to begin our investigation into multiword sequences in learner texts. We plan also to work on a manuscript that evaluates the relative strength of correlation between LD measures, each vocabulary measure, and second language (L2) proficiency. Our results appear to indicate that the LD measures correlate more strongly with the more context-engaging vocabulary task for those participants with higher L2 proficiency.
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| Causes of Carryover |
Budget is being carried over to next year because, as with the previous year, the coronavirus pandemic has made it difficult to enlist and train research assistants, and we have not been able to use our allocated travel allowance. This year, we are planning to enlist an additional research assistant, for whom a PC and SPSS software will be necessary, and we hope that members of the research team will be able to present at both domestic and overseas in-person conferences, requiring budget for travel costs.
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