2021 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Identifying Effective Training and Support for the Professional Development of Elementary School English Teachers
| Project/Area Number |
21K00763
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| Research Institution | Kagoshima University |
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Principal Investigator |
HAMCIUC MONICA 鹿児島大学, 総合科学域総合教育学系, 准教授 (70721124)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
楠元 洋子 東京工科大学, 教養学環, 准教授 (10749310)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
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| Keywords | elementary school / teacher training / professional development / teacher needs / interviews |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
This project's main research questions are: 1. What are the current challenges of teaching English in elementary school? 2. What kind of resources do teachers need for their development as foreign language instructors? 3. What resources are needed and how do teachers evaluate them?
To answer these questions, the researchers planned to design and implement a large-scale survey in year one, followed by interviews and small-scale interventions. We decided to start with interviews to gain some insights into what kind of survey items are relevant for the large-scale survey. Therefore, the researchers participated in meetings, training sessions and one-on-one interviews with elementary school teachers of English and collected data to be used as the starting point for the large-scale survey.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.
Reason
Changing the order in which the different steps of the project are implemented will not have a big impact on its outcomes. However, due to unforeseen factors such as the global pandemic and related national/ local travel restrictions, the interviews took longer to plan and implement than expected. As a result, data analysis will have to continue into the second year of the project, followed by the design and implementation of the large-scale survey. We expect to abe able to report on our initial findings this year.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
In 2022 we plan to analyze the interview data and report on our findings at domestic or international conferences/ conventions. Also, based on the same findings, we plan to design and implement a large-scale survey to be distributed at elementary schools all accross Japan. We will begin with small-scale pilot studies to verify the correctness, reliability, and relevance of the items. Then, the survey will be distributed to larger areas via both hard copies and digital copies and data collection will be based on both sources. The collected data will be compiled and analyzed.
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| Causes of Carryover |
The reasons we were unable to use our budget for the first year of the project are: first, the researchers decided to re-order the original steps of the project and begin with individual interviews and small group hearings. Another reason is the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic that did not the researchers to travel and meet face-to-face with more elementary school teachers, as originally expected.
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