The effects of structured group encounters in foreign language activities for building relationships and English language competence

Abstract

  The purpose of this study was to clarify whether the implementation of structured group encounter（SGE）in foreign language activities for elementary school children improves children's self-understanding, understanding of others, and affinity, and whether this leads to the achievement of the goals of foreign language activities（"interest," "familiarity," and "awareness"）. We developed the "Human Relations Awareness Scale" to measure children's awareness of human relations and communication, and measured the effects using questionnaires before and after the experimental intervention class using the SGE. In addition, the children were asked to self-evaluate the goals of the foreign language activities after each class. As a result, statistically significant differences were found in the scores of the four subscales（self-understanding, understanding of others, affinity, and communication skills）of the “Human Relations Awareness Scale”, and the scores of all subscales increased significantly. In addition, the children's self-evaluation of the three goals of foreign language activities showed higher scores in all items. Based on these results, the significance and effects of using SGE in foreign language activities were discussed.