Knowledge and acquisition of grammatical constructions in English as a Foreign Language

2023 Fiscal Year Research-status Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K00661
• Research Institution: Nippon Medical School
• Principal Investigator: KIRK STEVEN 日本医科大学, 医学部, 教授 (10794753)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 西川 純恵 日本医科大学, 医学部, 講師 (60373015)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-04-01 – 2025-03-31
• Keywords: construction grammar / second language / repetition

Outline of Annual Research Achievements

This study examines the acquisition of grammatical constructions in English as a Second Language through pedagogical activities which give participants focused and repeated exposure to the ditransitive and caused motion constructions, in order to ingrain those constructions in the learner. The level of implicit knowledge of the constructions is measured with a pretest and post-test that measures the syntactic priming effect of these constructions. In 2023, we worked on creating the pretest, post-test, and pedagogical treatment using the software Inquisit, and tested these procedures. This software allows the tests to be done verbally, while similar procedures in previous research used paper-based methods.

Current Status of Research Progress

3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.

Reason

At this stage in the study, we have prepared the pretest and post-test, and the pedagogical treatment activities, and tested their practicality. We are currently recruiting participants for the main phase of data collection.

Strategy for Future Research Activity

In the spring and summer of 2024, we will conduct the main phase of data collection. This will take approximately 6 weeks. The study should be completed by the end of this year.

Causes of Carryover

Funds for honorariums for participants will be carried forward.