Changes in English Speech Production by Native Japanese Elementary and Junior High School Students: A Reanalysis of CNRep Using a Generalized Linear Mixed Model

抄録

The acquisition of spoken English vocabulary is the primary objective of English language education in Japan. A significant assessment tool for evaluating English vocabulary acquisition is the Children’s Test of Nonword Repetition (CNRep). This study utilized CNRep to investigate changes in the acquisition of spoken English vocabulary over 1 year period among Japanese elementary and junior high school students who had engaged in English-as-a-foreign-language activities since the third grade of elementary school. The study involved 90 fifth-grade students from an elementary school and 65 first-grade students from a junior high school who underwent the same test at 1-year intervals. Given the binary nature of CNRep scoring, a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) was used for a refined analysis. The GLMM results revealed that junior high school students outperformed elementary school students in CNRep, with both groups demonstrating improvement in the second year compared to the first year. Furthermore, words with fewer syllables were pronounced more accurately than those with more syllables in both groups. These findings suggest that English learning in both elementary and junior high schools may contribute to enhanced speech production skills among students.