2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

A Comparative Study of Elementary School Foreign Language Education in Japan and Australia

Research Project

Project/Area Number	23520750
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Section	一般
Research Field	Foreign language education
Research Institution	Kochi University
Principal Investigator	LINGLEY DARREN 高知大学, 教育研究部人文社会科学系, 教授 (50335915)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	MARCUS Otlowski 高知大学, 教育研究部人文社会科学系, 講師 (90448390)
Project Period (FY)	2011 – 2013
Keywords	EFL primary education
Research Abstract	I did a three-year comparative study of primary school foreign language education in Japan and Australia. This mirror-context study was mainly concerned with examining teacher attitudes about primary school FL education, critically comparing stated curriculum objectives, assessing human resources issues, and evaluating teaching methodologies and course materials used for foreign language education in two comparable international FL settings. The project provided valuable intercultural in-service teacher training opportunities for several participating primary school language teachers through reciprocal exchange visits. The overarching aim was to gain a holistic understanding of FL education at the primary school level through close examination of both the unique and shared contextual factors in each setting.