Developing Japanese proficiency for young language learners in Japan

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24652129
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Foreign language education
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University of Science
• Principal Investigator: MIURA HIROKO 北海道科学大学, 保健医療学部, 准教授 (60347755)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): TSUKAGOSHI Kumiko 北海道科学大学, 高等教育支援センター, 准教授 (00405656)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 日本語力と英語力 / ライティング

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this study was to investigate similarities between the learning styles of students’ learning both Japanese and English. Data used included a self-introduction written in the two languages, an essay about the student’s school lives in English, and questionnaires about their favorite language learning styles and motivation. The data was processed using cross tabulation. Results showed that letter totals used for both self-introductions in Japanese and in English have a positive correlation. Other common tendencies between learning styles of the two languages included test taking motivation and new or unfamiliar word learning methods. On the contrary, the results also show that students have a stronger tendency to start writing in English without devising structure for their essays when compared to writing in Japanese. A possible reason could be due to their comparably low proficiency of English writing when compared to Japanese writing.

Free Research Field

ESP、小学校英語