2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Does shadowing practice in the classroom improve Japanese language communication ability of children?

Research Project

Project/Area Number	23653188
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Research Field	Educational psychology
Research Institution	Hiroshima University
Principal Investigator	MATSUMI Norio 広島大学, 教育学研究科(研究院), 教授 (40263652)
Project Period (FY)	2011 – 2013
Keywords	日本語 / 母語 / 第二言語 / 児童 / シャドーイング / コミュニケーション能力 / 教室指導
Research Abstract	This research was designed to examine whether the shadowing training for a certain period can improve language communication ability of children who are in the developmental stage of native language and the working memory. Five experimental lessons and one experiment were carried out for children of the 4-6th grader in an elementary school. The results were as follows. The shadowing training increased phonological short-term memory span and improved Japanese language skills of listening, speaking, and reading. "Copying with memory" based on the shadowing practice also improved the skill of writing.