The effects of construal awareness and frequency on the learning of the English subject by adults with first language Japanese

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25370706
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Foreign language education
• Research Institution: Hiroshima Shudo University
• Principal Investigator: TODE TOMOKO 広島修道大学, 人文学部, 教授 (00410259)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 英語主語述語構造 / 日本語主題解説型構造 / 事態の捉え方 / 事例体験 / 捉え方明示指導 / 用法基盤言語習得

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Previous studies of applied cognitive linguistics have shown that Japanese students’ difficulties in learning the English subject-predicate construction reflect a construal difference between English and Japanese. This study examined the effect of raising awareness of prototypical construal of English on the learning of the English subject-predicate construction. The participants were Japanese undergraduates studying English as a foreign language. The results revealed that the construal awareness was effective in both written and oral production immediately after the instruction. The study also found that its effect did not lead to a sudden abstraction but that the construction was learned on the basis of concrete expressions in meaningful language use in an item-based manner.

Free Research Field

第2言語習得