2016 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
The effect of explicit instruction on the listening comprehension of learners from a mora-timed L1 background
Project/Area Number |
15K04515
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Research Institution | Tokyo University of Science |
Principal Investigator |
グレアム・マー アラスター 東京理科大学, 工学部教養, 准教授 (20589006)
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Project Period (FY) |
2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
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Keywords | listening comprehension / mora-timed / syllable-timed / SLA |
Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
Having established some quantitative support in favor of explicit instruction, in the second year of the study I’ve attempted to elucidate what obstacles learners from mora-timed languages face when learning English. I administered tests to 1st year and 3rd year junior high school students to see if there were differences between gains in general language acquisition and listening comprehension abilities. Both the test results and the tests themselves were then analyzed, to refine the test's measuring power prior to moving on to the next step of the study. This work is on-going. In addition, questionnaires were also administered as a follow-up study to last year's results. The second-year results supported the first-year results. These results are currently being written up for publication.
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Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
I was able to administer tests to students in 3 different junior high schools in the Tokyo area and analyze the results. In addition, I administered multiple questionnaires to my own students. And these results confirmed the first year findings. So, in this sense the study is progressing smoothly. However, I have had difficulty in finding research partners in other countries, who would be willing to administer these tests, despite many attempts to reach out to people. So, there are still problems needing to be overcome.
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Strategy for Future Research Activity |
The next steps will be to establish a typical learning curve for Japanese students with respect to both grammar acquisition and gains in listening comprehension. This curve can then be compared with learners coming for a different L1 background to see if there are differences between general acquisition and listening skills acquisition. My plan is to administer this test to students in Scandinavian countries, such as Sweden, Denmark or Norway and compare the results. My hypothesis is that learners coming from a stressed-timed background will show higher gains for listening than learners coming from a mora-timed background. In addition, it will also be interesting to compare the differences in absolute values.
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Causes of Carryover |
In order to establish if phonological interference inhibits second language learning opportunities, comparisons need to be made between the learning curves of English learners from a syllable timed language background and those coming from a mora-timed language background. In the event that having a mora-timed L1 background is in fact an obstacle, plans need to be made to help students overcome such impediments.
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Expenditure Plan for Carryover Budget |
My plan is to involve researchers in other countries who work with learners who have a syllable timed L1 background. Then tests can be administered to see if there are substantial differences between learners coming from different phonological backgrounds.
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Research Products
(4 results)