ARCLE No.2

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "ARCLE No.2"

廉江
5 years ago
Views:

1 A report on Japanese preschoolers' study of English as a foreign language, and the influence of multimedia learning materials on their achievement Hiroko TOYODA Tokyo University of Technology Abstract This is a report of a pilot study which investigates levels of achievement in English attained by six-year old Japanese children (thirty-three in total) who studied English as a foreign language before entering elementary school. Two groups of children were given three English tests: an English vocabulary test, an English intonation recognition test, and a short version of an English language ability assessment test which is commonly taken by children in Japan. One group of children (Group A) studied English at home, occasionally supported by their parents who were not necessarily confident in using English. They used English language learning kits, produced by a Japanese publishing company and delivered to children's houses bimonthly for two years. The kits consisted of DVDs, CDs, activity books, games, and electronic learning tools (e.g. interactive digital textbook, voice recorder, quiz machine). The other group of children (Group B) had some English language learning experience but did not use these kits. The major findings were: (1) Group A outperformed Group B on the English vocabulary test and the sample version of English language ability assessment test, and (2) Both groups had difficulty distinguishing English intonation from that of other languages such as French, Chinese, Spanish, Russian and Arabic, particularly when they heard only the pitch without words. It seems that if children can learn English with multimedia learning tools, which provide opportunities to play games and use quiz formats, they can learn English vocabulary to a certain extent without having to learn it from English teachers through actual verbal interactions. However, Japanese children seem to rely on meanings of words to recognize English, perhaps due to the insufficient exposure to English in their environment. Children's independent study experience also seems to enhance their ability to concentrate on test questions. Moreover, testing children's English ability by having them match pictures with what they hear can pose difficulties because the pictures themselves sometimes distract the children. Finally, questions remain whether children's English productive skills

2 can be learned by independent study and how the attainment of such skills can be assessed. Key words English as a Foreign Language, Young Learners, Multimedia Language Learning, Language Testing DVDCDDVD DVDCD DVDCD DVD DVD 2

3 . DVD 4 (S.D. =) (S.D.=)=, <.

4 (S.D.=)S.D.= S.D.= S.D.=, <. PC apple fruit hamburgerpizzabus skirtstrawberry bus, skirt, strawberry bus, skirt, strawberry hamburgerpizza rabbit giraffe eraser eraser

5 rabbit r giraffe eraser (police car, ambulance, power shovel, bus, train, airplane ) carrot ()train( )ruler () ruler eraser ruler r l DVD DVDCD

6 1 CD DVDCD

7 :Really? DVD () () ( ) () Good morning. How are you? Fine, thanks. Where is your mother? She s in the kitchen. Would you like some fruit? Yes, please. Oranges or bananas? What are you reading, Jane? A letter from my uncle in Hawaii. Are you a high school student? Yes,I am. good, kitchen, fruit S.D.=(S.D.=)t=, p<. t=,p<

8 Bronze CD S.D.= S.D.=

9 (S.D.=) S.D.= S.D.=S.D.= a) 1. I have a book. 2. I have a bag. 3. I have an umbrella. 2 book bag b I have a b DVDCD Woman: What is that, Naomi? Girl: It s a koala and a chipmunk. 3 2 chipmunk squirrel chipmunk squirrel chipmunk

10 It s rabbit ) chipmunk b 1. Here is a dish. 2. Here is a cup. 3. Here is a chair. 2 cup Is it eleven o clock? 1. No, it s one o clock. 2. No, it s ten o clock. 3. Yes, it is. 2 No No hot I am a fruit. I m long. I m yellow. What am I? 3 long long

11 Kate waited for her friend. 3 friend wait Woman: What did you buy, Meg? Girl: I bought a milk and bread. 12 bread bread bread and bread d+br br [e] egg [e] Mom: Could you open your book, Hideki? Boy: OK. 4

12 (t=, p<.) S.D.=S.D.= (t=, p<.) DVD (b) (a) () S.D. =S.D.= (t=p<.) (S.D.=) S.D.=S.D.= S.D.= =p< =, <. DVDCD

13 DVDCD DVDCD

14 1 () English English 2 () 3 ()

15 4 English 5 Cummins(1984) 6 CD Ver Boersma and Weenink2006 CD 4 CD 7 (: pp.) 8 () BRONZE 9 Singleto(1989)Harley(1986)Snow(1987)Gardner(1985) Boersma P. and Weenink D. (2006). PRAAT: Doing phonetics by computer.website: Cummins, J. (1983). Bilingualism and Special Education: Issues in Assessment and Pedagogy. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Gardner, R.C. (1985). Social Psychology and Second Language Learning: the Role of Attitudes and Motivation. London: Edward Arnold. Harley, B. (1986). Age in Second Language Acquisition. Avon: Multilingual Matters. Singleton, D. (1989). Language Acquistion: The Age Factor. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

16 Snow, C.E. (1987). Relevance of the Notion of a Critical Period to Language Acquisition. Sensitive Periods in Development: An Interdisciplinary Perspective, pp Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates CD BRONZESILVERGOLD.

ARCLE No.2

ARCLE No.2 The Relationship between Alphabetical Knowledge and Phonological Awareness among Elementary School Children Mitsue ALLEN-TAMAI Chiba University Abstract This study investigates the effect of teaching the