A Study of the Effective Use of Loan Words in Elementary School English Education (Kano A)
In Kano’s research, she researched the vocabulary in the elementary school textbook and compared the loan words and English. The English textbook in elementary school has a lot of words that children are familiar with. She suggests using loan words in English classes in elementary school will be helpful for English learning in elementary school.
A Study of Onomatopoeia in Miyazawa Kenji’s Works (Tomoki A)
He researched how Onomatopoeia words in Miyazawa Keniji’s works were translated. Almost all onomatopoeia words were translated based on their meaning. The onomatopoeia that is made by Kenji are so unique that it is difficult to translate to English completely.
Relationship between Music Teaching Materials and Motivation in English Education (Haruna K)
She researched the effect of using music in learning English. Music is effective to relax and enjoy, so using music materials is effective to motivate students’ English learning. This conclusion was based on doing a literature review as well as interviewing a JHS English teacher.
A Study of Simile in Japanese (Sora K)
He analyzed the forms of simile in Japanese. He could make 15 forms based on 3 points of view.
An Analysis of the Structure of “Man and Superman”: Combined with Our Attitude in a Community (Aoi S)
He read the book Man and Superman by G.B. Shaw. He analyzed how the themes in this work could be related to our modern times. He explored such themes as marriage and love. More specifically, he focussed on “Life Force”. Aoi considered how modern people should understand it and the type of attitude they should take. In the story, there is a lack of love between the hero(Tanner) and the heroine (Anne). On the other hand, he focussed on the life of Hector and Violet rather than their romance, although they arguably enjoyed a romance. He concludes that life force has helped organisms evolve and has produced humans. However, human thought has given birth to culture and, conversely, influenced a new interpretation of “life force.” Here, we can see an example of “strong humanity”.
A Study of Pride and Prejudice: the reason for it being a masterpiece that people continue to love(Shigeki S)
He analyzed the reason why this has been loved by many people. He focused on comparing the characters’ views of marriage.
English Education in Elementary School Without Awareness of Weakness (Hina S)
She researched awareness of weakness in English education in elementary school. She got many opinions, and some of them said the class was interesting, however others said they couldn’t understand. So she focused on English education in some foreign countries. 30% of elementary school students don’t like English. But more than 90% of students answered that learning English is important. She suggests that teachers make enjoyable English classes and homework and they evaluate the students and the meaning of learning.
A Study of Dahl’s Matilda (Asahi T)
She analyzed the characters of “Matilda” and she thought about what the attractive points of Dahl’s work are. There is black humor in his stories. Dahli satirizes society and school education through his works. In Matilda, her parents and a principal are villains. They burry her by some ways, and she solves. It expresses some satires in society and it is one of the reasons why people love his work.
A Study of Silas Marner(Ami )
She was displeased with the narrator’s intentions. So,she analyzed the narrator’s characters. Silas Maynar’s narrator is not the only storyteller, but also the same position as the reader. The narrator tells the reader the importance of living our own lives.
Research for English teachers about rubrics for assessment of speaking performance tests (Daiki C)
Daiki analzyed the difference between holistic and analytic rubrics. The former is simple and the latter is more detailed. He conducted a survey asking teachers which rubric they preferred. Before beginning the research, he surmised that holistic rubrics would be more advantageous for teachers. 19 of 22 teachers preferred the analytic rubric because it was more concrete and better for grade processing. That is, it matches the three pillars (knowledge/skills, thinking, attitude).
The Relationship between English Education in Elementary School and self-affirmation.(Shion T)
She researched the effective way of how to improve students’ self-affirmation through English education in elementary school. She focused on the 3 points of view; motivation, the necessities of activities and evaluation from others. According to the research, 84% of students feel learning English is important, however only 41% of students like learning English.
Both receiving positive comments and advice on how to improve is effective to improve students’ self-affirmation. From this research, she got some new points of view to the ways to raise self-affirmation and thought evaluation from others is particularly effective.
A Study of Sir Philip Sidney’s Astrophel and Stella ~Focusing on Rationalization of Desire~(Yuyu B)
The goal of this research was to 1) see how the era in which is was written influenced the content and literary style of the word and 2) discuss how “desire was rationalized. The main theme of the work involved the characters having an extramarital affair which, of course, was forbidden under Christian morals but whose reality was recognized within the royal court. Using the character of Stella the autho skillfully attempted to legitimize “desire”, and succeeded in writing a work that gained acceptance from the masses during that period.
How do athletes learn second languages? (Jota M)
He researched how athletes learn second languages.For this research, he asked some questions to athletes in foreign countries and read some examples from famous athletes in foreign countries. As a result, one athlete set some obvious situations to output. Another also learns by practical ways and doesn’t focus on studying on desks such as vocabulary, grammar. He suggests that teachers offer a good language environment for students. So, teachers should pay attention to their language’s accuracy. And he also suggests that teachers evaluate the students’ questions and mistakes. This will improve the students’ motivation for learning.
A Study Of O.Henry’s Short Stories as Extensive Reading Materials (Ryota Y)
He analyzed the extensive reading version of two works: “A Retrieved Reformation” and “After Twnety Years”. He analyzed this from two perspectives: a literary perspective and an educational perspective. The literary characteristics were its humor and melancholy. He argued that students should read the original version of the O’Henry books to understand their essence.
The development of a rubric for discussing social topics for A1-level students (Eri O)
She researched rubric to discuss social topics for A1-level students. The background of this research is that only 4.2％ students could answer about the social topics in the national achievement test. Before the research, she made the rubric.First one has three criteria, and she revised it. After she revised, the rubric has four criteria. She found that the minimum criteria are Content, Accuracy, Fluency, and Presentation Skills for evaluating presentations about social topicsRubrics indicate some criteria and help students understand their goals.
A Study of Fictionality of Gender Differences in Antony and Cleopatra (Minami S)
She was suspicious about how stereotypes can influence our daily lives. She investigated gender stereotypes in literature, how they are different from reality, and how the stereotypes have evolved. The perspective of gender in the works can be divided into both biological and social gaps. This time she focuses on the social perspective. She divided the lines spoken by the characters and their actions into female and male. She analyzed how the stereotypes were perpetuated in the lines.
Time and Miracle (Kaho S)
She researched how the time is described and the effectiveness of describing miracles through “The Notebook” written by Nicholas Sparks. The characteristic of describing the time is that the same incidents are described twice and not all events are described in order. She found two types of ways of reminiscence.
A Study of Teaching Pronunciation in English Education in Japan (Momona T)
She researched the way of teaching pronunciation in English education. She focused on seven English consonants which have no equivalents in Japanese. The target students were junior high school students.
The Effective Way of Educational Support for Students with Developmental Disabilities in Regular Classes (Mizuki T)
The background of this research is that the number of students who need special support in regular classes has increased. So she thought that she should understand the effective way of educational support for them. According to the research, one of the effective ways of English education for students with LD is “phonics” because students can use five senses in phonics activities and understand the alphabet and spelling and so on. Using phonics is effective for the LD students, but non-LD students will be confused. And the effective way of education for students with ADHD and ASD is “using ICT”.
Is it possible to learn English grammar through listening to songs? (Sayaka T)
Currently the focus of English classes is on learning vocabulary and grammar. She wants to make a lesson plan by incorporating English music. She did the lesson using an English song “If I were a boy” by Beyonce and it uses the subjunctive mood.
pre-test→lesson→post-test→questionaire
According to her research, many participants got correct answers in the post-test but some participants couldn’t notice new grammar in the lesson.
A Study of the Movie, The Devil Wears Prada: A Contrastive Analysis of the English Subtitles, the Original-English, the Japanese Subtitles, and the Japanese Dubbing (Akina M)
She researched the differences between the English and Japanese language characteristics in the movie “The Devil Wears Prada”. She chose some scenes using two criteria and analyzed the scenes comparing English with English subtitles, English with no subtitles, English with Japanese subtitles, Japanese with no subtitles, and her translation. She found that the subtitles were affected strongly by the limits in the number of letters and that interjections tended to be omitted because they could be conveyed with visual information. Moreover, subjects tended to be omitted in the Japanese subtitles and it helped to decrease the number of characters.
Wordsworth’s Concepts of Nature from the Perspective of “Anthropocene” (Risa M)
From the industrial revolution, society began to change because of human activities which were impacted by cultural and economic developments. She considered what Wordsworth’s ideal relationship between nature and humans is. She argued that nature conjures a feeling in people that they forget because of the hustle and bustle of the modern age, which gives them hope. She adds that Wordsworth was worried that the “Anthropocene” could lead to the destruction of nature. She argued that Wordsworth’s work was ringing the alarm bells about environmental destruction.