July 7, 2016 Graduate Seminar

Teddy’s outline:

Literature Review:

1. Situation of English teaching in Japan
2. JHS English in Iwate
3. Discussion of EE system in Japan
4. The Eiken Exam
5. The Iwate JHS textbook
6. Possible theories: testing, reading ability, vocabulary ability, etc.

RQ:

1.  Can JHS textbooks prepare students to take the HS entrance exam and third level Eiken?
   1. What is the lexical composition of vocabulary for text in the tests and textbooks?
   2. What is the nature of writing tasks in the textbook and tests?
   3. (There are many small questions you will need to ask and answer to provide an answer to the main research question)
2. How does the (vocabulary size, reading difficulty, question types)  of third level eiken compare with that of high school entrance examination’s ?

Methodology

(You can talk about how you will answer the big research question. This includes the smaller questions and how you will answer them)

1. Explain tools of analysis
2. Explain how the textbooks and tests will be compared

Findings

1. Comparing the textbook and Eiken
2. Comparing the textbook and HS entrance exam
3. Comparing HS Entrance exam and Eiken

Discussion

To Do: Look at the tests and the textbook and think about criteria for comparison. The criteria you want to use will need to be supported by theory in your literature review.

Wanda

Observation

He considers his observation grounded theory. He has not participated, he plays a small part. He has been only taking notes.