CASELE Research Bulletin

Papers Read at the 35th Annual Convention of the FELES

Academic Papers

Calculating the Rate of English-Japanese Translation From the Right to the Left of the Sentence : Analysis of a Meiji Era English Self-study Book Called "Hitoriannai"

Tomoyuki YOKOYAMA

Article type: Article
2010 Volume 40 Pages 1-10
Published: March 31, 2010
Released on J-STAGE: March 01, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.18983/casele.40.0_1

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The author developed a new way of calculating the rate of English-Japanese translation from the right to the left of the sentence. A simple program for the data analysis software called "R" was written to make the necessary calculations. The original English language text of this study is a nineteenth century English reader for American elementary school students, which was widely used as a foreign language textbook in Japan. The Japanese language version is a self-study book, which is an extremely literal translation and was published at the end of the nineteenth century in Japan. The results indicate that 45% of the English words and phrases were translated backward from the right to the left of the sentence.

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Evidence and Narrative in Studies of ELT in Japan : In Comparison with EBM and NBM

Yosuke YANASE

Article type: Article
2010 Volume 40 Pages 11-20
Published: March 31, 2010
Released on J-STAGE: March 01, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.18983/casele.40.0_11

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ELT studies in Japan are characterized by their disregard for qualitative approaches. Biased power relation between quantitative and qualitative researches is maintained by academic discourse as "regime of truth." The treatment of evidence and narrative, both as a symbol of quantitative and qualitative researches respectively, is to be examined in comparison with an advanced area of similar inquiry. This paper chose medicine for comparison because of its clinical nature and its inclusion of "Evidence Based Medicine" and "Narrative Based Medicine." The paper compared the features of ELT studies and medicine in terms of practice, quantification, and experimental design. It also introduced "evidence level" and understanding of narrative in medicine. This comparative study concludes that ELT studies in Japan overestimate their evidence and underestimate narrative in general. Reformation of the "regime of truth" is needed to grant legitimate power to narratives of teachers in classroom.

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Factors Relating to the Words Contained in a Listening Comprehension Test Item Affect its Ease of Processing : The Case of TOEIC[○!R] Type Listening Comprehension Test Items

Hiroomi TAKASHIMA

Article type: Article
2010 Volume 40 Pages 21-29
Published: March 31, 2010
Released on J-STAGE: March 01, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.18983/casele.40.0_21

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There is evidence that factors relating to the words contained in a written passage affect the reading rate, unknown word density, and text comprehension. In the same vein, factors relating to the words contained in a speech may, though not attested, affect speech processing. The present study tested if factors relating to the words contained in a listening test item affect its ease of processing and found significant correlations between the ease of listening test items and average lexical decision and naming latencies of the words contained in them. Implications of the results are discussed in terms of the relationships or parallelism between listening and reading comprehension, the possibility of computing and predicting the ease of processing of a listening test item and/or a speech, and the universality of language learning.

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L1 Interference With the Accent of the English Negative not and Intonation Instruction

Takuya HORIGUCHI, Jun YAMADA

Article type: Article
2010 Volume 40 Pages 31-39
Published: March 31, 2010
Released on J-STAGE: March 01, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.18983/casele.40.0_31

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This research is comprised of three parts concerning the acoustic features of the English negative not produced by Japanese and English speakers. In part 1, we empirically verified Wells' (2006) statement that Japanese learners are likely to place the English nucleus on haven't in I haven't thought about it. In part 2, we found that English-speaking narrators put nucleus on not about 10% of the time and non - nucleus accent on it about 97% of the time. In part 3, we demonstrated that most Japanese learners exhibited a rising intonation pattern for not in various contexts and often inserted a 200-msec or longer pause after not. Theoretical and practical implications for the teaching of English pronunciation are briefly discussed.

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An Acoustic Comparison of English Phonemes Between English Males and Male Japanese English Learners

Hiroshi YOSHIMARU, Jun YAMADA

Article type: Article
2010 Volume 40 Pages 41-50
Published: March 31, 2010
Released on J-STAGE: March 01, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.18983/casele.40.0_41

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This research explores the salient acoustic features of some English vowels and consonants produced by English and Japanese speakers. The important findings include the differentially reduced vowel space for Japanese speakers, different spectral patterns for the sibilant /s, z/ and the affricate /〓, 〓/, and the far weaker intensity for /s, z, 〓, 〓/ among Japanese speakers. Some implications for the learning and teaching of pronunciation of these segments are presented.

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Exploring Aspects of Competence in Teaching English : A Questionnaire Survey for Elementary and Junior High School Teachers

Kazuaki NEKODA

Article type: Article
2010 Volume 40 Pages 51-60
Published: March 31, 2010
Released on J-STAGE: March 01, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.18983/casele.40.0_51

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This paper presents the results of a questionnaire survey exploring various aspects of competence in teaching English in elementary school and junior high school. The results show that both teachers in elementary and junior high school recognize the importance of creating supportive classroom for learners' oral communication. Junior high school teachers tend to put more emphasis on the knowledge of teaching methodology, language proficiency (including reading and writing), and an ability to provide proper assessment. Elementary school teachers, in contrast, think a great deal of flexibility in teaching with "English Notebook" (songs, chants, and games) in order to maximize pupils' motivation. In addition, they are stressing the importance of collaboration between and among teachers and native speakers.

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The Application of Multiple Intelligences Theory to Upper Grade English Activities of Japanese Elementary Schools

Yoshihiro NIGO

Article type: Article
2010 Volume 40 Pages 61-70
Published: March 31, 2010
Released on J-STAGE: March 01, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.18983/casele.40.0_61

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This paper explores the possibility of applying multiple intelligences (MI) theory to elementary school English activities, in order to stimulate intellectual curiosity with cross-curricular instruction, to introduce authentic materials with communication activities useful for various scenes in practical life, and to activate eight intelligences with the importance of children's individuality. The present study is divided into the two parts. The first part will investigate how diverse children's interests in English activities are and what intelligences seem to be desirable for elementary school English activities, on the basis of a questionnaire survey. The other part will examine the actual reaction to cross-curricular instruction in "The Hiroshima Type of English Curriculum" from the viewpoints of MI theory. The results of these studies will show that MI theory with cross-curricular views is applicable to Japanese elementary schools.

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