2022 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Examining the Effects of Task-Based Language Teaching in Japanese EFL University Classes
| Project/Area Number |
22K00685
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| Research Institution | Nagasaki University |
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Principal Investigator |
カトローニ ピノ 長崎大学, 多文化社会学部, 准教授 (30573381)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
ベー シュウキー 大阪大谷大学, 教育学部, 准教授 (00631251)
今村 圭介 東京海洋大学, 学術研究院, 准教授 (00732679)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2022-04-01 – 2026-03-31
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| Keywords | speaking skills / EFL / task-based learning / WTC / learner autonomy / student-centered / self-regulation / motivation |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
In the first year of our project, we managed to accomplish the majority of our goals and appear to be on the schedule we put forth in our proposal. To review, in the first year of our project, we managed to conduct a pilot study to help us move forward. In this project, we wanted to explore our data collection and data analysis techniques. Since the analysis to analyze speaking output that we are planning to use in our research project is quite complex, a pilot study was useful to fine-tune some of the methods we are planning to implement in the main study. In this pilot study, each of the eight participants was given an assessment at two points in time: within five days of treatment beginning (Pre-test), approximately twelve weeks later, i.e., within five days of treatment ending (Post-test). Each of these assessments involved participating in a dyadic conversation with a classmate, completing two questionnaires (designed to assess willingness to communicate in English and learner autonomy), and being interviewed. The treatment involved having students transcribe the video-recorded conversations they were in. After the pre-test, the instructor will take the students through a series of steps that teaches them how to methodically analyze the video and speech transcripts in terms of fluency (temporal and hesitation), syntactic complexity, lexical complexity, and accuracy. Upon breaking down their performances with the instructor, participants were able to clearly identify their strengths and weaknesses and, ultimately, create well-defined goals for themselves moving forward.
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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
We have managed to collect and analyze data in the pilot study phase of our study as per the original plan. This pilot study addresses two EFL pedagogical issues in Japanese universities that require attention: oral skills and motivation. Hence, the aim of this exploratory case study is to examine the extent to which involving university EFL students in their own learning can have a positive effect on learning outcomes and learner autonomy. To this end, a total of eight female EFL university students will participate in this study. Upon breaking down their performances with the instructor, participants will be able to clearly identify their strengths and weaknesses and, ultimately, create well-defined goals for themselves moving forward. Additionally, students will transcribe and analyze a video-recorded conversation involving proficient speakers of English, as well as receive classroom instruction concerning conversational management techniques. By enabling students to compare their own pre- and post-treatment performances, as well as with those of proficient speakers, the researchers seek to not only improve learners’ oral abilities but also to increase learner autonomy and motivation. The data derived from this exploratory study demonstrate that students were able to improve their oral production in most areas; however, the results concerning learner autonomy were not quite as clear. Overall, there was not much difference shown in the students’ attitudes, as well as their taking more responsibility for their own learning, from the pre-test to the post-test.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
Our first goal moving forward is to begin to collect data for the main part of our study. In Semester 1 of Year 2 of our project, the group that will receive TBLT will take part in a course called Listening and Speaking I. Thus, the goal this year is to collect data from these participants at the beginning and the end of this course. Each participant will be given an assessment at two points in time: within five days of treatment beginning (Pre-test), and approximately fourteen weeks later, i.e., within five days of treatment ending (Post-test). Each of these assessments will involve participating in a dyadic conversation with a classmate, completing a questionnaire (designed to assess willingness to communicate in English), and being interviewed. The treatment will involve fourteen weeks of TBLT instruction using a coursebook called “Welcome to Kyushu, Japan”. Once the data has been collected, the researchers will begin to transcribe the video conversations and analyze the video-recorded performances of the participants in terms of fluency (temporal and hesitation), syntactic complexity, lexical complexity, and accuracy. Additionally, students' involvement in the conversations will be analyzed in terms of how many words they spoke, how many questions they posed, and their WTC scores.
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| Causes of Carryover |
効率的に使うために、次年度の人件費に回すことにした。
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