Development of speaking ability among Japanese learners of English: A meta-analysis

2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22720216
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Foreign language education
• Research Institution: Juntendo University (2012-2013); Tokiwa University (2010-2011)
• Principal Investigator: KOIZUMI Rie 順天堂大学, 医学部, 准教授 (70433571)
• Project Period (FY): 2010-04-01 – 2014-03-31
• Keywords: 英語 / 英語教育学 / 第二言語習得 / 言語テスティング

Research Abstract

Research into how Japanese learners of English (JLE) develop speaking ability has been conducted, but with mixed results. This study used meta-analysis to explain divergent results among previous studies and to clarify developmental patterns of speaking ability of JLE, taking into consideration moderator variables regarding differences in research contexts (e.g., junior or senior high school) and in instructional lengths (e.g., nine months). After searching for relevant documents using databases, I found 13 studies suitable for meta-analysis, using degrees of differences between pretest and posttest scores.
Results obtained using the random-effect model showed degrees of development to small or medium degrees in fluency and syntactic complexity but not in accuracy. The moderator variable analyses did not show significant effects on the degree of development, showing the need for further investigation in this area.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Vocabulary knowledge and speaking proficiency among second language learners from novice to intermediate levels (2013)
  • Author(s): Koizumi, R., & In'nami, Y
  • Journal Title: Journal of Language Teaching and Research Volume: 4 Pages: 900-913
  • DOI: 10.4304/jltr.4.5.900-913.
  • URL: http://ojs.academypublisher.com/index.php/jltr/article/view/jltr0405900913/7555
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Effects of text length on lexical diversity measures : Using short texts with less than 200 tokens (2012)
  • Author(s): Koizumi, R., & In'nami, Y
  • Journal Title: System Volume: 40 Pages: 522-532
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2012.10.017
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Comparing the Story Retelling Speaking Test with other speaking tests (2012)
  • Author(s): Koizumi, R., & Hirai, A
  • Journal Title: JALT (Japan Association for Language Teaching) Journal Volume: 34 Pages: 35-59
  • URL: http://jalt-publications.org/jj/articles/1507-comparing-story-retelling-speaking-test-other-speaking-tests
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Toward validity argument for test interpretation and use based on scores of a diagnostic grammar test for Japanese learners of English (2011)
  • Author(s): Koizumi, R., Sakai, H., Ido, T., Ota, H., Hayama, M., Sato, M., & Nemoto, A
  • Journal Title: Japanese Journal for Research on Testing Volume: 7 Pages: 99-119
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Development and validation of a diagnostic grammar test for Japanese learners of English (2011)
  • Author(s): Koizumi, R., Sakai, H., Ido, T., Ota, H., Hayama, M., Sato, M., & Nemoto, A
  • Journal Title: Language Assessment Quarterly Volume: 8 Pages: 53-72
  • DOI: 10.1080/15434303.2010.536868
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Presentation] スピーキングの分析指標と妥当性 : 流暢さ・語彙的複雑さを中心に (2014)
  • Author(s): 小泉利恵
  • Organizer: 外国語教育メディア学会関西支部第7次基礎理論研究部会主催
  • Place of Presentation: 関西学院大学大阪梅田キャンパス
  • Year and Date: 2014-02-11
  • Invited
• [Presentation] 教室におけるスピーキングの評価―生徒同士のロール・プレイを中心に (2013)
  • Author(s): 小泉利恵
  • Organizer: 東京国際大学第11回英語教育改革フォーラム―英語で表現する力の育成と評価 パネルディカッション「産出スキルの指導と評価のあり方を考える」
  • Year and Date: 2013-11-23
• [Presentation] Longitudinal and cross-sectional investigation into the development of speaking ability at Japanese schools (2013)
  • Author(s): Koizumi, R., & In'nami, Y
  • Organizer: Paper presented at the 35th Language Testing Research Colloquium
  • Place of Presentation: Seoul, Korea
  • Year and Date: 2013-07-05
• [Presentation] Factor structure of fluency, accuracy, syntactic complexity, and lexical diversity of speaking performance : A structural equation modeling approach (2012)
  • Author(s): Koizumi, R., & In'nami, Y
  • Organizer: Paper Presented at American Association of Applied Linguistics 2012 Conference
  • Place of Presentation: Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
  • Year and Date: 2012-03-27
• [Book] The encyclopedia of applied linguistics [online edition] (2013)
  • Author(s): Koizumi, R
  • Publisher: Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell: Wiley-Blackwell(doi:10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal1431)
• [Book] Structural equation modeling in educational research: A primer. In M. S. Khine (Ed.), Applications of Structural equation modelling in educational research and practice (2013)
  • Author(s): In'nami, Y., & Koizumi, R
  • Total Pages: 23-51
  • Publisher: Rotterdam, the Netherlands: Sense Publishers
  • URL: https://www.sensepublishers.com/media/1694-application-of-structural-equation-modeling-in-educational-researchand-practice.pdf
• [Book] 「テキストの難易度の尺度」. 卯城祐司 (編). 『英語リーディングテストの考え方と作り方』 (2012)
  • Author(s): 小泉利恵
  • Total Pages: 20-24
  • Publisher: 東京:研究社
• [Book] 「メタ分析―複数の研究を統合する」 平井明代編著『教育・心理系研究のためのデータ分析入門―理論と実践から学ぶSPSS活用法』 (2012)
  • Author(s): 印南洋・小泉利恵・平井明代
  • Total Pages: 224-248
  • Publisher: 東京:東京図書
• [Book] 「リスニングの測定・評価」 石川祥一・西田正・斉田智里 (編)『英語教育学体系第13巻 テスティングと評価―4技能の測定から大学入試まで―』 (2011)
  • Author(s): 小泉利恵
  • Total Pages: 173-187
  • Publisher: 東京:大修館書店