2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

A psychological study of the mechanism in which second language rule learning creates a high level of understanding in the native language

Research Project

Project/Area Number	23530856
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Section	一般
Research Field	Educational psychology
Research Institution	Hyogo University of Teacher Education
Principal Investigator	YOSHIKUNI Hideto 兵庫教育大学, 学校教育研究科(研究院), 准教授 (30343734)
Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha)	YOSHIKUNI Noriko
Project Period (FY)	2011 – 2013
Keywords	教育系心理学 / 第二言語 / ルール学習 / 母語
Research Abstract	This study focuses on "naive theory":the rules of native language interfere and restrain the learners from understanding English language rules.We developed a textbook that includes "thinking by relational operation", and examined the mechanism in which English language rule learning affects understanding the system of the native language -Japanese.The results show that, after using the textbook, the learners gained confidence in their understanding of English, especially in regard to negative questions. With regard to "relativization" in Japanese, many learners stated that the ease of expressing negation depends on the social relationship between the speaker and the listener. Moreover, regarding "realization" in Japanese, some learners seemed to have initial difficulties in shifting viewpoints, but they became accustomed to the process by the end of the experiment.