Development of phonological word database based on an analysis of English phonological input for Japanese junior high school students

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25370622
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Foreign language education
• Research Institution: Nagoya University
• Principal Investigator: Murao Remi 名古屋大学, 国際言語文化研究科, 准教授 (80454122)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 頻度効果 / 音韻語 / 音声言語認識

Outline of Final Research Achievements

A phonological word database was developed based on an analysis of 18 authorized English textbooks used in Japanese junior high schools in order to find out the type of sound sequences and their frequency of students’ encounter during three years of study. A study was conducted to examine whether the frequency effect is found in syllable sequences instead of a word frequency, as the unit of processing spoken words is considered to be a phonological unit of combined syllables rather than an individual word. Sixty-three Japanese university students participated in a sentence dictation task where each sentence contained tri-syllabic sequences with high and low frequencies of occurrence based on the database. The results of ANOVA and correlation analyses revealed that the frequency of individual syllables or words does not relate to the recognition of speech, whereas the frequency is significant for syllable sequences larger than a word.

Free Research Field

第二言語習得論