2021 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
A New Frequency-Based Account of Common English Prepositions and Their Acquisition by Japanese Learners
| Project/Area Number |
21K00653
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| Research Institution | Fuji Women's University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
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| Keywords | prepositions / cognitive linguistics / SLA / frequency / semantics |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
(1) Procedures were developed for extracting concordance lines for target prepositions in the corpus (COCA). It was decided to narrow the focus in the COCA to written English, a more specifically, to the genres of fiction and magazine articles. (2) For each preposition, 250 lines were analyzed to determine the distinct sense of each preposition. Then right- and left-hand collocates were recorded and analyzed.
(3) The relationship of prepositions senses with each preposition's polysemy network was established and refined to account for all the target meanings occurring in the corpus sample. (4) A literature review of current research on the L2 acquisition of prepositions was conducted and was published.
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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 groundwork for the research project has been completed, and the research is progressing on schedule as originally planned. I had originally planned on attending a conference and a workshop on corpus analysis techniques, but this has been put on hold due to international COVID restrictions. I hope to attend a corpus workshop during the current year if one becomes available.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
Based on semantic networks of prepositions as determined during the first year of research, the relative frequency of each prepositional sense will be determined through analyses of a random sample of corpus lines containing the preposition. A measure (in the form of a multiple choice test) will then be developed to determine Japanese students' knowledge of the various senses of core English prepositions. In the fall, the measure will piloted and then used to assess Japanese college students' knowledge of the target forms. This will then be used to create a model lesson that focuses on the most problematic preposition senses. The results will compiled into a book proposal that will be presented to Routledge.
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| Causes of Carryover |
A small amount was left unused since I could not travel due to COVID restrictions. I plan to use this amount during the next fiscal year to purchase books.
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