慣用的英語表現の通時的意味変化の研究論文に見る教育的意義 : Akiyuki Jimura “Some Notes on Idiomatic Expressions in the History of English: With Special Reference to ‘meat and drink’”

本稿は文学研究の手法・過程に教育的意義を見出すためメタ分析を行うものである。分析対象は Jimura (2014) の研究論文 “Some Notes on Idiomatic Expressions in the History of English: With Special Reference to ‘meat and drink’” と論文執筆者本人とのインタビューである。本稿では，研究論文を章ごとに区分したうえで，論文の構成（章順）と構造（各章の命題間のつながり）を分析した。分析の結果として，論文内では ‘meat and drink’ という表現が字義的意味から隠喩的意味へと変化する過程が記述されており，具体的には，様々な文学作品における言語使用を通時的に提示・分類されていることが明らかとなった。Jimura (2014) の研究論文は，語意の変遷を例とともに実証するという目的で書かれたものであり，元来教育的意義を示唆するためのものではないという前提はある。しかしながら，本稿は，その研究の手法・過程に潜む研究ロジックと教育的意義との関係性を見出すことを志向している。そのため，構成と構造の分析の後，論文執筆者本人とのインタビューをもち，研究ロジック及びその意図を探った。その後，研究ロジックや最終的なプロダクトである研究論文に行き着くまでの思考・作成過程を，研究者の一学習として読み替え，その学習が一般的な英語学習者に還元できるかを考察した。結果として，本分析における研究者の学習は，一般的な英語学習のうちとりわけ語彙（語意）学習に関連し得ることが明らかになった。この語彙学習は，学校教育における英語語彙学習の動機付けと多義語学習への意識付けに寄与できると考えられる。This present study conducted a meta-analysis on a highly-evaluated literary research journal article in order to discover educational significance in the methods and processes of literary research. As an example of a literary research article, Jimura (2014) was selected. In addition to the analysis and the interpretation of the article, conducted was an interview with Jimura, the author himself. The first section divided Jimura’s work into chapters, and analyzed its structure (i.e., the order of the chapters and the associations among propositions of the chapters). The analysis shows that the article describes the process of the diachronic change of the meaning of the expression ‘meat and drink’ from literal to figurative in various literary works. Understanding that the purpose of Jimura (2014) was to examine the changes of the word meaning using examples and not to give any educational implications, the current study aims to find educational significance from the research logic in the research method and process. For the purpose, both analysis of the composition and structure and an interview with the author were conducted to explore the research logic and its intentions. Based on the analyses, it is discussed whether the research logic and thinking and writing processes that led the author to the final product (i.e., the research paper) can be applied to an English learning process. As a conclusion, this present study demonstrates that the learning style of this researcher could be associated with that of an average English learner, especially in vocabulary learning. In addition, it may also contribute to motivating English vocabulary learning and raising awareness of polysemous words

An Integrated Approach to Developing Japanese Students' English Presentation and Discussion Skills

We examined the types of difficulties that Japanese high school students have in English presentation and discussion activities. We conducted factor analysis (principal factor method with promax rotation) on the survey data, which was divided into four stages: (1) the presentation preparation stage; (2) the presentation stage; (3) the listening stage; and (4) the discussion stage. The results showed that students had difficulty with the following skills during each of the four stages: (1) "effective ways of providing information," "revision," and "collaborative work" during the presentation preparation stage; (2) "basic presentation skills," "handling questions," and "audience management" during the presentation stage ; (3) "active interaction" and "active understanding" during the listening stage; and (4) "overcoming communication anxiety," "adaptation to classroom activities," "problem solving approach," and "self-relativization" during the discussion stage

Speaking Practices Designed to Improve Presentation Skills and Their Effect on High School Students’ Oral Performance

この研究は，口頭発表活動に必要な技術を身につける実践を通じて，発話力の伸びを検証することを目的とした実証的研究である。高校１年生の実験クラスを対象に，物語の紹介を目的とする，パターン化された構成で行うプレゼンテーション形式の活動を一定期間行い，ポストテストにおける発話を統制クラスと比較した結果，流暢さの面で向上が見られた。実験クラスの経験した発表活動では，パターン化された情報構造で発話内容を考えるため，活動時の発話過程において，概念化の段階で受ける認知的負荷が軽減され，言語化に向ける認知資源を増やすことができ，流暢さが高まったと考えられる。The present study takes an empirical approach to assessing the effect of speaking practice designed to improve presentation skills. First-year high-school students repeatedly engaged in book-talk activities for a certain period of time. During the activities, they were given a speaking format to facilitate their performance. At the end of the instruction period, students’ speaking fluency was measured, analyzed, and compared with that of a control group. The comparative analysis demonstrates that the students’ fluency improves substantially when they are provided with a speaking format. The result supports the hypothesis that this format helps to lessen the students’ cognitive load at the initial conceptualization stage and instead helps to save cognitive resources for successive stages of speech production, which consequently enhances the students’ speaking performance