2022 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Collaborative construction of emergent grammar in Japanese university English language learning tasks: From graphic materials to spoken and written production
| Project/Area Number |
22K00692
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| Research Institution | Kanagawa University |
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Principal Investigator |
David Aline 神奈川大学, 国際日本学部, 教授 (70289958)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
細田 由利 神奈川大学, 国際日本学部, 教授 (70349124)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2022-04-01 – 2025-03-31
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| Keywords | Emergent grammar / Conversation analysis / Classroom materials / Task-based learning / 2nd language acquisition / Interactional grammar |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
The first year of this three-year research project examining the collaborative construction of emergent grammar in language learner discussion tasks was productively initiated as the two researchers on this project were able to collect a significant amount of data, process the data, present some initial findings at two international conferences, consult with our Research Collaborator, and submit one paper with revisions to an international journal. In detail, the first year of the project was successful as we were able to accomplish the following: (a) purchased new equipment for data collection and studied the latest technology for these devices; (b) collected over 70 hours of data of Japanese university students' group work discussion in English, recorded over 350 minutes of the students' presentations on the results of their discussions, and compiled 279 pages of their written summaries about the discussions; (c) we submitted a paper to an international journal, received reviews on the submission, resubmitted the paper after responding to the reviews, and we are now waiting for the editors final decision on acceptance of the paper; (d) conducted a data session with our Research Collaborator and his colleagues, receiving useful feedback and suggestions on the direction of our research; (e) presented two papers at international conferences: one focused on the construction of emergent grammar from classroom learning materials, while the other presented our findings on student deployment of direct reported speech for supporting the positions taken in the group discussions.
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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 research project is progressing as planned as we have been able to collect a substantial amount of data, both video and written reports, archived the data through employment of research assistants, transcribed a significant amount of the data collected, presented the results of our analysis at two international conferences, and conferred with our Research Collaborator, and submitted one paper to an international journal.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
With the start of the second year of this research project, we will maintain the current pace of data collection, transcription, materials collection, and analysis. Data collection will continue with recording of about ten groups of four students each for three discussion tasks in the first semester and three alternate discussion tasks in the second semester. The amount of transcription will increase as we work on transcribing the recorded data from the first year of this project. Transcripts will be analyzed in monthly data sessions in order to verify their validity and to search for interactional phenomena related to how the participants incorporate the focal language from the learning materials into their turns and sequences, how they seek assistance from each other in comprehending the language in the materials, and how this focal language is employed in their oral reports and written assignments. To date we have concentrated our analysis on the participants' deployment of reported speech, specifically direct reported speech. We have also begun to collect instances of indirect reported speech from our data as we mine this rich vein of language used by the students. We are planning to prepare presentations of our findings of this aspect of the discussion tasks for one domestic conference and one international conference to share our discoveries with our fellow researchers and second language teachers. Our plan for later in the year is to prepare and hold a seminar of about 12 participants with our Research Collaborator invited as a guest speaker and commentator.
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| Causes of Carryover |
Due to the lasting effects of the pandemic, in the first half of the year we focused on data collection but were not able to work directly with our overseas Research Collaborator or to attend domestic and international conferences. Moreover, the equipment we were planning to purchase was delayed in becoming available to the public. Also, the computer we were going to buy was sold out when we placed our order. We therefore will be purchasing one video camera at the beginning of the 2023 academic year. The computer we want to order will be available this year so we will be purchasing that in autumn, if it becomes available.
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