著者

寺沢 拓敬

出版者

関東甲信越英語教育学会

雑誌

関東甲信越英語教育学会誌 (ISSN:21858993)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.27, pp.71-83, 2013-03-01 (Released:2017-07-14)

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This paper examines Japanese workers' needs to use English for occupational purposes, employing a statistical analysis of several datasets from social surveys based on a random sample of the entire workforce in the country. Although many policy makers, business leaders, and English language teachers often emphasize the occupational importance of English proficiency, there has been little research which precisely estimates how many workers are required to use English in their workplaces. Therefore, a secondary analysis was conducted using five datasets with a random sample: Japanese General Social Surveys (2002, 2003, 2006, and 2010 versions) and Working Person Survey (2000). The results show that (1) less than 10% of the respondents use English in workplace, (2) about 40% feel the needs to use English, and (3) the responses vary widely according to their demographic and occupational factors such as type of job, educational background, and firm size. Based on these findings, the paper discusses the validity of foreign language education policies of the Japanese government.

著者

Haruka SHINDO Yuko HOSHINO

出版者

Kantokoshinetsu Association of Teachers of English

雑誌

関東甲信越英語教育学会誌 (ISSN:21858993)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.36, pp.43-56, 2022 (Released:2023-09-01)

参考文献数

21

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In the process of learning L2 vocabulary intentionally, spaced retrieval is one of the most effective ways to achieve long-term retention. However, there is no scholarly consensus on the specific effects of the different spacing types, including the expanding, equally-spaced, and contracting retrieval practices. This study compared these three types of retrieval practices to investigate their effects on L2 vocabulary learning. Japanese university students were asked to learn 30 English-Japanese pairs eight times under each of three conditions at the following respective intervals: expanding condition (Days 1, 1, 8, and 22), equally-spaced condition (Days 1, 8, 15, and 22), and contracting condition (Days 1, 15, 22, and 22). These participants were subjected to immediate testing after each of the four study phases in each case. To further assess retention, another round of testing was implemented after a five-week delay period. The expanding condition resulted in higher scores than the contracting condition on the delayed test; hence, this study suggests using the expanding schedule for long-term vocabulary learning.

著者

川口 恵子 伊東 田恵 太田 理津子

出版者

関東甲信越英語教育学会

雑誌

関東甲信越英語教育学会誌 (ISSN:21858993)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.29, pp.57-70, 2015 (Released:2017-07-20)

参考文献数

23

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Academic writing has been traditionally viewed as impersonal, but recent corpus-based research has revealed that writers of research articles (RAs) in both scientific and social sciences use first-person pronouns in their RAs for constructing authorial identity. This research focuses on the use of first-person pronouns, powerful linguistic resources to convey an author’s voice. Using two corpora consisting of 21 RAs each by Japanese and native English TESOL researchers, we investigate how first-person pronouns are used to represent the authors in text. We also explore the factors that characterize the Japanese writers’ use of first-person pronouns by referring to the results of a survey conducted on 70 Japanese EFL teachers inquiring about the practice and perception of first-person pronoun use in RAs. The results indicate that the Japanese researchers use first-person pronouns less frequently in their RAs. The further analysis suggests that the low frequency of first-person pronouns may not be caused just by the researchers’ view of academic writing but that different factors such as consideration for the conventions practiced in the discourse community or research methods adopted may be related to the choice of first-person pronouns in RAs.

著者

寺沢 拓敬

出版者

関東甲信越英語教育学会

雑誌

関東甲信越英語教育学会誌 (ISSN:21858993)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.27, pp.71-83, 2013

---

This paper examines Japanese workers' needs to use English for occupational purposes, employing a statistical analysis of several datasets from social surveys based on a random sample of the entire workforce in the country. Although many policy makers, business leaders, and English language teachers often emphasize the occupational importance of English proficiency, there has been little research which precisely estimates how many workers are required to use English in their workplaces. Therefore, a secondary analysis was conducted using five datasets with a random sample: Japanese General Social Surveys (2002, 2003, 2006, and 2010 versions) and Working Person Survey (2000). The results show that (1) less than 10% of the respondents use English in workplace, (2) about 40% feel the needs to use English, and (3) the responses vary widely according to their demographic and occupational factors such as type of job, educational background, and firm size. Based on these findings, the paper discusses the validity of foreign language education policies of the Japanese government.

著者

小湊 彩子

出版者

関東甲信越英語教育学会

雑誌

関東甲信越英語教育学会誌 (ISSN:21858993)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.33, pp.1-12, 2019 (Released:2020-04-08)

参考文献数

24

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This study aims to explore (a) how a demotivated and struggling English learner regained motivation to study and (b) how demotivating and remotivating factors influenced the student’s learning process. A semi-structured interview was conducted with one female college Engineering student who made significant motivational as well as academic improvements after two years of failing English classes. In order to analyze the data from a qualitative point of view, the Structural Construction Qualitative Research Method (SCQRM), developed by Saijo (2007, 2008), was used. Two possibilities can be derived from this interview. First, the student’s perception that her difficulty in understanding learning content is being acknowledged by others without judgment or criticism could influence motivating factors, such as help-seeking, effective study strategy acquisition, an attitude toward learning without fear of making mistakes, and self-efficacy. Second, while these factors might not independently affect the student’s learning attitude and behavior, they seem to be closely related.

著者

川口 恵子 伊東 田恵 太田 理津子

出版者

関東甲信越英語教育学会

雑誌

関東甲信越英語教育学会誌 (ISSN:21858993)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.29, pp.57-70, 2015

---

Academic writing has been traditionally viewed as impersonal, but recent corpus-based research has revealed that writers of research articles (RAs) in both scientific and social sciences use first-person pronouns in their RAs for constructing authorial identity. This research focuses on the use of first-person pronouns, powerful linguistic resources to convey an author's voice. Using two corpora consisting of 21 RAs each by Japanese and native English TESOL researchers, we investigate how first-person pronouns are used to represent the authors in text. We also explore the factors that characterize the Japanese writers' use of first-person pronouns by referring to the results of a survey conducted on 70 Japanese EFL teachers inquiring about the practice and perception of first-person pronoun use in RAs. The results indicate that the Japanese researchers use first-person pronouns less frequently in their RAs. The further analysis suggests that the low frequency of first-person pronouns may not be caused just by the researchers' view of academic writing but that different factors such as consideration for the conventions practiced in the discourse community or research methods adopted may be related to the choice of first-person pronouns in RAs.

著者

木村 啓子

出版者

関東甲信越英語教育学会

雑誌

関東甲信越英語教育学会誌 (ISSN:21858993)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.26, pp.53-65, 2012-03-01 (Released:2017-07-14)

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The purpose of this study is to investigate the changes of the writing proficiencies that occur in participants of a three-week overseas program making use of a STEP test and an essay writing. In order to observe the differences in their essays written before and after the program, not only T-units and Error-free T-units (EFTs) but also "Global-error-free T-units (GEFTs)" (Kimura, 2011) were utilized. The scores of writing section in STEP test significantly increased. Regarding the writing proficiency, their fluency considerably improved, but no progress was shown in accuracy. Aiming to find the affective factors that influenced such changes, a Willingness to Communicate (WTC) scale questionnaire was implemented. Results showed that the participants' WTC scores did not necessarily correlate to their language performances and that those who showed lower WTC scores before the program tended to demonstrate higher improvements in their scores. Another finding was that the significantly different two groups in WTC scores before the program became homogeneous ones after the program, probably because those of the lower group went up through their experiences they had in the overseas country.

著者

藤森 千尋 小泉 利恵

出版者

関東甲信越英語教育学会

雑誌

関東甲信越英語教育学会誌 (ISSN:21858993)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.25, pp.21-31, 2011-03-01 (Released:2017-07-14)

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The purpose of this study is to examine how English teachers evaluate students' speech presentation and whether their holistic ratings have some correlations with linguistic features by objective measures of accuracy, fluency, and complexity, and with students' peer evaluation. The present data employed are (a) transcribed utterances in speech presentation by 21 senior high school students, (b) an ALT's and a JTE's holistic rating scores, and (c) peer evaluation data from the classmates. The results of the study show that the holistic rating scores are significantly in correlation with measures of accuracy (i.e., the number of error-free clauses per clause), and other linguistic features (i.e., the number of words, the number of clauses, and the number of types). The results also indicate that the average of the two teachers' holistic ratings correlate to students' evaluation in attitude and manner of speaking and in accuracy and concision, and that the JTE's ratings correlate to students' evaluation in fluency.

著者

Kazuki HATA

出版者

Kantokoshinetsu Association of Teachers of English

雑誌

関東甲信越英語教育学会誌 (ISSN:21858993)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.28, pp.41-54, 2014 (Released:2017-07-20)

参考文献数

24

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The aim of this paper is to examine the use of a learner corpus and a corpus of native speakers in foreign or second language (L2) teaching and learning in Japan. It is revealed that learner corpora can function as a reference to identify and clarify difficult materials for a particular learner group, which is significant step for better language learning (Meunier, 2002, p. 125; Nesselhauf, 2004, p. 125-126). In this paper, two corpora are employed in language learning; the Japanese English as a Foreign Language Learner Corpus (JEFLL corpus) and the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). These corpora represent the language produced by native speakers and non-native speakers with a particular language background, respectively American first language (L1) speakers of English and Japanese learners of English. It is arguable that L2 teaching and learning with these corpora will allow learners to compare language patterns between native and non-native speakers of English. This paper proposes and discusses possible activities using the corpora. These concrete examples are provided to facilitate an understanding of the difficulties faced by Japanese learners of English in classroom practice; and additionally, demonstrate the efficacy of applying corpora to scaffold learning and pedagogic practice.

著者

柳川 浩三

出版者

関東甲信越英語教育学会

雑誌

関東甲信越英語教育学会誌 (ISSN:21858993)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.32, pp.1-14, 2018 (Released:2019-03-31)

参考文献数

23

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This study aimed to reveal a) whether the Five Sentence Types (FST) contributes to improving the proficiency level of Japanese learners of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) and b) how their parsing of English sentences varies depending on their understanding of FST. The FST has long been a cornerstone of English Language Teaching (ELT) in Japanese secondary schools, and it is believed to represent five major sentence types in English, based on the form of the main verb and the predicate that follows. Little research, however, has been conducted into whether or to what extent the FST contributes to L2 development, and how differently EFL learners parse English sentences according to the FST. A total of 570 university or college students, mainly the first- or second-year students, participated in this study in response to an originally constructed “Basic Grammar Test” (BGT) of 36 items. Cluster analysis identified five different groups among the 570 students who share the parsing, and two-way ANOVA showed that interactional effect was found between skills (i.e., listening and reading) and groups. The simple main effect was statistically significant on reading proficiency but on listening proficiency, suggesting that the FST may contribute to enhancing reading proficiency but listening proficiency. The results of multiple comparison, however, showed that the effect is limited since statistically significant difference was not necessarily found across the groups. Correspondence analysis revealed that Japanese learners of EFL have difficulties in recognizing transitive verbs followed by an object, particularly when the object is to-infinitive and that-clause. Resulting discussions explore how FST instruction should be incorporated into ELT at the secondary and tertiary levels.

著者

山田 雄司 青田 庄真

出版者

関東甲信越英語教育学会

雑誌

関東甲信越英語教育学会誌 (ISSN:21858993)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.29, pp.71-84, 2015 (Released:2017-07-20)

参考文献数

17

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Studies have been accumulated on individual policies related to English language education in Japan or on Japanese society as a determinant of these individual policies. Few studies, however, have ever been done on the discussion in the Japanese Diet, which connects the policies and the society. This is because the society, or the view of the Japanese people, affects what and how to discuss in the Japanese Diet, based on which new policies must be developed. The aim of this study is to investigate thoroughly what and how the actors, who are the participants of the Diet, have discussed English education in the Japanese Diet. For this purpose, we gathered all the statements made in the Japanese Diet about English education from 1947 to 2013, and analyzed the data using the method of quantitative content analysis. We divided the post-war era into four periods based on the number of the conferences mentioning English education and defined five actors. The main findings are: (1) each period has its own prominent topics; (2) there are some words or types of statement more frequently used by each actor. We believe this research will open a new field of study, which would enhance the historical studies of English education.

著者

小湊 彩子

出版者

関東甲信越英語教育学会

雑誌

関東甲信越英語教育学会誌 (ISSN:21858993)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.33, pp.1-12, 2019

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This study aims to explore (a) how a demotivated and struggling English learner regained motivation to study and (b) how demotivating and remotivating factors influenced the student's learning process. A semi-structured interview was conducted with one female college Engineering student who made significant motivational as well as academic improvements after two years of failing English classes. In order to analyze the data from a qualitative point of view, the Structural Construction Qualitative Research Method (SCQRM), developed by Saijo (2007, 2008), was used. Two possibilities can be derived from this interview. First, the student's perception that her difficulty in understanding learning content is being acknowledged by others without judgment or criticism could influence motivating factors, such as help-seeking, effective study strategy acquisition, an attitude toward learning without fear of making mistakes, and self-efficacy. Second, while these factors might not independently affect the student's learning attitude and behavior, they seem to be closely related.

著者

中田 賀之

出版者

関東甲信越英語教育学会

雑誌

関東甲信越英語教育学会誌 (ISSN:21858993)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.30, pp.1-14, 2016 (Released:2017-07-20)

参考文献数

43

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It is now widely accepted that the concept of L2 motivation is multifaceted, complex, and dynamic (Boekaerts, 1995; Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011). Yet, the existing L2 motivation literature available to date does not necessarily fully take account of its complex nature. Given this situation, the present paper argues for the potential of complexity theories in its application to foreign language motivation research. This paper begins by briefly reviewing the existing literature of foreign language motivation research. It then argues the rationale for applying complexity theories to educational research. Further, it examines the salient characteristics of complexity theories in light of complexity thinking, based on which it attempts to explore the possible application of complexity theories to motivation research. Finally, the article ends by outlining some possible avenues for motivation research within the framework of complexity theories but also reflecting on some of the challenges facing future research.

著者

寺沢 拓敬

出版者

関東甲信越英語教育学会

雑誌

関東甲信越英語教育学会誌 (ISSN:21858993)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.32, pp.57-70, 2018

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The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of elementary school English education programs (ESEEP) first implemented in the 2000s. I examined this issue from an evidence-based policy approach, rather than a second language acquisition perspective. In other words, I employed a research design that ensured internal validity and external validity, both of which are a prerequisite for obtaining reliable evidence although they have generally been disregarded by the previous work on ESEEP. Based on this design, I examined whether the implementation of ESEEP has achieved its stated goals, by analyzing questionnaire data from nationally representative 2,967 junior high school students (provided by an open data archive). Based on structural equation modeling, I estimated causal effects of respondents' ESEEP experience on their English language skills, intercultural awareness, and positive attitudes toward English learning. The result suggests that the ESEEP experience did not have any substantial impact. This result, I argue, can be considered as counter-evidence against the current policy reform on ESEEP, and thus suggest that the government, and pro-ESEEP researchers as well, should provide further evidence that indicates the effectiveness of ESEEP if they attempt to maintain the policy.

著者

安宅 いずみ 松沢 伸二

出版者

関東甲信越英語教育学会

雑誌

関東甲信越英語教育学会誌 (ISSN:21858993)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.30, pp.167-180, 2016 (Released:2017-07-20)

参考文献数

23

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The improvement of teaching and assessing the skills of writing cohesive texts has been one of the pressing matters for English teachers in Japan. Surveys conducted in 2015 show that most of the Japanese junior high school students do not have enough confidence in their ability to write cohesive English texts and that their teachers find difficulty in teaching the writing skills of such texts (AEON, 2015; MEXT, 2015a). In order to find solutions to the issue, a small-scale research project was carried out in a municipal junior high school for about six months in 2014. A Japanese female English teacher taught 34 second-year students how to write cohesive texts using genre-based writing instruction (GBWI) and genre-based writing assessment (GBWA). The teacher explained the features of the genre and text type of a model text, and her students wrote parallel cohesive texts, first being guided, and then on their own. She used learning, practice and assessment tasks in her teaching-learning and practice-assessment cycles. Other scaffoldings she provided include assessment criteria, self- and teacher-assessment opportunities and conferencing. The results of a questionnaire completed by the students show that they appreciate GBWI and GBWA and that they have more confidence in writing cohesive texts than before.

著者

寺沢 拓敬

出版者

関東甲信越英語教育学会

雑誌

関東甲信越英語教育学会誌 (ISSN:21858993)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.30, pp.99-112, 2016 (Released:2017-07-20)

参考文献数

22

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The purpose of this study is to examine the structure of positive and negative attitudes toward compulsory English lessons in elementary schools (CELES). Although general public acceptance on an early start of English education is often deemed as a driving force which encouraged the government to implement CELES, there is little evidence for what this public acceptance was like. This study, therefore, examines what factors promoted or inhibited positive attitudes toward CELES by analyzing a large-scale attitude survey of parents, which was conducted in autumn 2006, just before the official announcement of the implementation of CELES. A structural equation modeling analysis revealed that positive attitudes toward CELES were promoted by expectations of positive effects of an early start of English teaching, anxiety about a less favorable condition for the introduction of English teaching, and experience of a struggle for learning English, whereas they were inhibited by anxiety about side effects of early English teaching. Based on these findings, this paper discusses the structure and mechanism of public opinion on early English teaching and its implication for English education policies.

著者

杉本 ゆか 齋藤 理一郎

出版者

関東甲信越英語教育学会

雑誌

関東甲信越英語教育学会誌 (ISSN:21858993)

巻号頁・発行日

no.27, pp.141-153, 2013-03-01

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This is a practical report on "remedial English" in a flexible-time (part-time) high school. Nowadays, flexible-time high schools have a diversity of students: those who haven't gone to junior high school adequately, those who have learning disabilities or other developmental disabilities, and those who are non-Japanese. In general, these students are not ready to study in terms of both motivation and basic knowledge. In order to have them motivated and encourage them to learn, instruction with small steps is essential. This report suggests three activities in a remedial class: (1) training of spelling with phonics, (2) visualizing POS, (3) describing grammatical awareness. Moreover, the number of non-Japanese students has been increasing in flexible-time high school recently. Support class for their Japanese language becomes necessary even in high school. This report also introduces supporting activities of Japanese language class in a flexible-time high school.

著者

杉本 ゆか 齋藤 理一郎

出版者

関東甲信越英語教育学会

雑誌

関東甲信越英語教育学会誌 (ISSN:21858993)

巻号頁・発行日

no.27, pp.141-153, 2013-03-01

---

This is a practical report on "remedial English" in a flexible-time (part-time) high school. Nowadays, flexible-time high schools have a diversity of students: those who haven't gone to junior high school adequately, those who have learning disabilities or other developmental disabilities, and those who are non-Japanese. In general, these students are not ready to study in terms of both motivation and basic knowledge. In order to have them motivated and encourage them to learn, instruction with small steps is essential. This report suggests three activities in a remedial class: (1) training of spelling with phonics, (2) visualizing POS, (3) describing grammatical awareness. Moreover, the number of non-Japanese students has been increasing in flexible-time high school recently. Support class for their Japanese language becomes necessary even in high school. This report also introduces supporting activities of Japanese language class in a flexible-time high school.

著者

靜 哲人

出版者

関東甲信越英語教育学会

雑誌

関東甲信越英語教育学会誌 (ISSN:21858993)

巻号頁・発行日

no.25, pp.1-10, 2011-03-01

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This study explored the relationships between prospective EFL teachers' beliefs about pronunciation teaching and their self-perceived pronunciation ability. Fifty-four Japanese students at the faculty of education at a national university in eastern Japan completed a 15-week EFL teaching methodology course, in which one of the main focuses was to get them to appreciate the importance of good-enough pronunciation and to improve their pronunciation skills. At the end of the course, the students answered 7-point Likert scale questions on the pre- and post-course beliefs about pronunciation teaching as well as those on their pre- and post-course self-perceived pronunciation abilities. The results indicated that prior to the course the strength of negative beliefs about pronunciation teaching was negatively correlated with one's self-perceived pronunciation ability but that through the course the students generally became more positive toward pronunciation teaching and more confident in their own pronunciation skills. There was a weak correlation between the degree of change in pronunciation-related negative beliefs and that in self-rated pronunciation ability both induced by the course.