2019 English Department Thesis Presentations


A Linguistic Study of “yabai” in Spoken Japanese(Yushi Kyono)

My. Kyono found that there are three usages of Yabai: adjective, adverbial, to express emotion. He searched for the word “Yabai” on twitter. He found 1002 usages. He found that number one was adjectival. He introduced two fixed expressions: soro sore yabai and shizugite yabai.

A study of achievement tests (Hiyori Kodama)

She critiqued achievement tests at JHSs and HSs by conducting an experiment. She found that scores on achievement tests might not be the result of proficiency because students are being encouraged to memorize reading passages rather than process them for meaning.

The stress of foreigners in Japan (Seika Otomo)

Ms. Otomo summarized the types of stress that foreigners feel in Japan based on a questionnaire. She asked people on the street in Tokyo and did a Facebook survey. Her primary results were that the biggest cause of stress was problems getting along with other people.

A Contrastive Analysis of Expressions between Original Japanese and English Translations in Snow Country (Yumi Komaki)

She discussed how in Japanese you can understand who is speaking by markers on the end of sentences. However, in English, that is not the case. She also talked about how quotations were explained differently.

An Analysis of the Task Properties of Activities in Let’s try! and We can! (Momoe Hatakenaka)

First, Ms. Hatakeda introduced the state of English education at primary school and the concept of tasks. She developed her own kind of task criteria based on the work of other researchers and the analyzed the task characteristics of elementary school textbooks. Her most interesting discovery is that the lower grade textbooks had a higher rate of tasks than they higher grade textbooks. She thought that one reason is that the number of activities in general is increasing. Another reason is that activities focusing on language is also increasing.

A Study of TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES (Minako Doi)

The story is a love story between Tess and Angel, however, she was a victim of a person with Alex before meeting Angel. This destroyed Tess and Angel’s relationship; they get back together but the story ends in a tragedy. The story has incredibly deep social ramifications.

A Study of Harry Potter (Arisa Otsuka)

She analyzed the concept of education in Harry Potter. First, she considered how Hogwarts was portrayed; she said that it was like a typical modern public school. She compared aspects of Hogwarts to Japanese schools. She said that the uniforms shared a similar function to those in Japan; they prevented people from sticking out!

A Study of Religious Thoughts in Oscar Wilde’s Two Comedies (Hikari Abe)

He talked about what was happening historically during the time of the two comedies. One, was the birth of the concept of evolution which challenged religious beliefs. He compared the values of capitalism to those of evolution (survival of the fittest). the two stories were “the Importance of being Earnest” and “An Ideal Husband”. The characters were more concerned about making money than they were about other humans.

Career Education for Giving Dreams to Students (Takuya Inaba)

He conducted interview research to see the impact career education had on others. He analyzed how university students decided on their dreams. He found that these dreams were formulated through life experiences or meeting impressionable people in their career education classes. He gave some proposals for career education: having students define their interests and giving them the opportunities to pursue them. Mr. Ianaba’s research offers interesting case studies on how Iwate University students chose their career paths.

A Study of Japanese Confectionary in Terms of Onomasiology (Ryou Takahashi)

He studied how Japanese candies were named. He discussed if the type of candy could be understood by the name. In the case of sweets like GIANT Caplico, Caplico is supposed to be the sound made when the candy is being eaten.

An Analysis of Mark Elliot Zuckerberg’s Speech in English (Ryota Suzuki)

He analyzed the gestures in Mark Zuckerberg’s speech and found seven kinds, for example, “the gesture around the waist to feel the rhythm of something.” He investigated the relationship between the gestures and the speaking speed and pitch and content.

A Study of the Production of WH Questions by Japanese EFL Learners (Naoto Kawaida)

Mr. Kawaida wanted to investigate the most frequent error types when students produce wh-questions in speaking. He found overgeneralization errors to be the most frequent. For example, the university research participants tended to add “do” auxiliary to questions with “Who” For example, for the sentence “Who is teaching you French?” some research participants said, “Who does teach French to you?”

A Study on the Development of Intercultural Communicative Competence (Yukiya Sato)

He discussed how web conferencing systems between students of different countries can be used to promote intercultural communicative competence (ICC). One component of ICC which was developed was “skills of discovery and interaction.” Mr. Sato provided video evidence of this.

As you Like It and Twelfth Night: A comparative study (Michiru Sugawara)

It is often said that these two works are similar, but Ms. Sugawara wanted to find some differences in her research. The major areas she compared were (1) The differences in the effects of the main characters’ disguises and (2) Difference in the lines of the characters when they are in disguise.

A Crosscultural Reading of Ugetsu (Hikaru Suzuki)

This work made Ms. Suzuki decide to become a Japanese teacher! She talked about the difficult of translating scenes faithfully from Japanese to English. She gave an example of a scene after the main character comes home after being away for 7 years. The translated sentence in question was, “Can I be dreaming?”

An Analysis of the Effective Speech Techniques in President Obama’s Inaugural Address

He found research that shows that there are three elements that make speeches memorable. He analyzed how these features appeared in Obama’s speech. These elements were 1. The three point rule; 2. Contrast; 3. Easiness of understanding.

A Comparative Analysis of Sound Columns in Junior High School textbooks (Saori Ouchi)

Sound columns are supplemental English pronunciation points in the textbooks. She analyzed the organization and content of the sound column from a perspective of phonetics. She found that New Crown focuses more on vowel sounds than consonants while Sunshine if the opposite. New Crown has more opportunities for students to practice.

A Contrastive Study of Japanese Expressions in Advertisements – How to Capture Consumers’ Attention – (Naoto Sato)

He waned to capture the essence of English and Japanese in advertisements. He talked about what was abbreviated or added in English to Japanese/ Japanese to English translations. HE discussed how Japanese advertisements aimed for the feelings of the consumer while non-Japanese ones tended to be logical and show the good points.

A Comparison of the Text and a Production of Twelfth Night (Kei Kawakami)

She compared the Twelfth Night as a ballet and a play. Her reason for selecting this work was 1) she herself is a twin and 2) she was interested in the relationship between the language and physical expressions. She compared the language of various scenes and the stage direction.

Hemingway’s Hard-boiled Style Double Entendres in The Sun Also Rises (Shuhei Kumagai)

By a video presentation, Mr. Kumagai enthusiastically explained the hidden context behind various scenes in Hemmingway’s The Sun Also Rises.

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