Communicative Attitudes English - JST

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Japan Society of English Language Education NII-Electronic Library Service JapanSociety ofEnglish Language Education Pupils' Changes in Communicative Attitudes Toward English Activities d-A Case Study at a Japanese Elementary School Rie ADACHI Aichi tinivensity of7k7chnology Abstract Thisstudy focuses on attitude change in Japanese pupils' communicative attitudes atone elementary school in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The writer surveyed the 5th and 6th grade pupils' communicative attitudes and other attitudesfrom the end of the 2007 tothe end ofthe 2009 school years. The data were collected three times to examine pupils' attimde ehanges over three years, depending on their genders and grade. The study foundthat pupils' communicative attitudes tended to decrease as the number ofEnglish classes increased. As their communicative attitudes also had a tendency to decrease slightly according toage, it seemed that pupils could not foster positive attitudestoward commmication. Conceming gender,girls had more positive attitudes toward commmication, while those of boys decreased more in three years. Thisstudy alse tried to find a relationship among their communicative attitudes and other variables, and the result showed that pupils' communicative attitudeswere affected by their attitudestoward leaming. The study concluded that if pupils have confidence and beliefin leamhg and an interest in foreign languages, they can maintain positive attitudes toward communication with others who havedifferent ideas or different cultural backgrounds. 1.Introduction Japanese elementary schools formally started a new type of English class in Apri1 201 1, and not only foreign Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs), but also elementary homeroom teachers (HRTs) started to get involved in fbreign language activities. However, most HRTs are not qualified as English teachers and theyhave not been provided with adequate training courses. Many HRTs feel challenged and under pressure when teaching English to pupils and they do not have enough time to prepare fbr the English activities. Therefbre, thecurTiculum guidelines of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (rvlliXT) emphasize that "communication abilities" are important infbreign lariguage activities, rather than C`English ski11s", as MEXT states that the objective of the subject is "To form the foundation of pupilsi communication abilities through fbreigri languages while developing the understanding ef languages and cultures through various experiences" (MEXT, 2009). So, what does 221

Transcript of Communicative Attitudes English - JST

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Pupils' Changes in Communicative Attitudes Toward English

Activities d-A Case Study at a Japanese Elementary School

Rie ADACHIAichi tinivensity of7k7chnology

Abstract

This study focuses on attitude change in Japanese pupils' communicative attitudes at one

elementary school in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The writer surveyed the 5th and 6th grade pupils'

communicative attitudes and other attitudes from the end of the 2007 to the end ofthe 2009 school

years. The data were collected three times to examine pupils' attimde ehanges over three years,

depending on their genders and grade. The study found that pupils' communicative attitudes

tended to decrease as the number ofEnglish classes increased. As their communicative attitudes

also had a tendency to decrease slightly according to age, it seemed that pupils could not foster

positive attitudes toward commmication. Conceming gender, girls had more positive attitudes

toward commmication, while those of boys decreased more in three years. This study alse tried to

find a relationship among their communicative attitudes and other variables, and the result showed

that pupils' communicative attitudes were affected by their attitudes toward leaming. The study

concluded that if pupils have confidence and beliefin leamhg and an interest in foreign languages,

they can maintain positive attitudes toward communication with others who have different ideas

or different cultural backgrounds.

1. Introduction

Japanese elementary schools formally started a new type of English class in Apri1 201 1, and

not only foreign Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs), but also elementary homeroom teachers

(HRTs) started to get involved in fbreign language activities. However, most HRTs are not

qualified as English teachers and they have not been provided with adequate training courses.

Many HRTs feel challenged and under pressure when teaching English to pupils and they do not

have enough time to prepare fbr the English activities. Therefbre, the curTiculum guidelines of the

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (rvlliXT) emphasize that"communication

abilities" are important in fbreign lariguage activities, rather than C`English

ski11s",

as MEXT states that the objective of the subject is "To form the foundation of pupilsi

communication abilities through fbreigri languages while developing the understanding ef

languages and cultures through various experiences" (MEXT, 2009). So, what does

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"communication abilities" mean? In this study, the author focused on pupils' communicative

anitudes and analyzed their attitude changes over three years at one elementary school in Japan in

order to find whether there was any development in their communicative attitudes,

2. Review of related literature

Concerning the effk)ct of English education in Japanese elementary schools, there has been

controversial discussion. Some past studies have indicated that experienced pupils showed better

perfbrmance than non-experienced pupils (Ishihamq 2007, 2009, JASTEC, 1988, Higuchi et. al.,

2007, Shizuka, 2007). On the other hand, other studies showed that there was not much difference

between experienced and non-experienced pupils (Shirahata, 2002, Takada, 2004). Besides, it

could be said that the experieneed pupilsi better perfbrrnance is not just attributed to learningEnglish in elementary schoel, but that it results from harving much more time to learn. Thus, ifstudents can have more English classes at junior high school, this might have a more beneficial

effbct on them,

in addition, some researchers and educators have pointed out that students who leam

English at elemerrtary school tend to lose their interest in English activities gradually. For

example, according to NIER (2009), sixth grade pupils' attimdes toward English lessons in

general and participation in English activities declined moderately compared to fifth graders.Carreira (2006) and Nishida (2009, 2012) also showed that the students' motivation tended to

decline. Adachi (2012eg pp.l27-128 2012b, p.57) also showed that there was a tendency fbr

motivational items to decline. These results suggest that it would be very hard fbr HRTs to

improve children's motivation toward English leaming.

One of the reasons for the tendency fbr students' motivation to decline could be that they

begin to recognize foreign language activities as English leaming as the number of classes

increases (Adachi, 2el2b). If some students perceive the activities as leaming, it is very dithcultfbr Japanese HRTs to maintain pupils' motivation (p.61), because HRTs have not have much

experience in teaching English, In addition, Nishida (2012) indicated, based on the result of

cluster analysis (which is a statistical method for sorting subjects into groups), that motivation of

students in alI groups tended to decline after the second term (three months afier the beginning of

the academic year), though the motivatien of some students (Cluster 1) continued to be higher,

compared to other students (Cluster 2 and 3). She also noted, in regard to the reason for this

tendency to decline, that it cannot be denied that lessons became routine after a while.

After all, when Japanese HRTs try to conduct fbreigri language activities by themselves,

they depend on supplementary textbooks like "Eigo

Note" which was distributed by MEXT in

2009-2011, and end up teaching English.' However, since the guidelines ofMEXT do not state

that the objeetive of foreign lariguage aetivities is to develop students' communication ai)ilities

through fbreign languages, it's preferable that HRTs fbcus on developing the understanding of

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languages and cultures and fbstering a positive attitude toward communication, rather than

teaching English, ifthey are to "make

teaching programs and conduct lessons" (MEXT, 2009), ina literal sense, In addition, both HRTs and pupils cannot speak and barely use English in their

classes. It would be better that students learn English from their junior high school teachers who

can teach English. Students could develop their communication abilities better ifthey understood

why they need to leam foreign languages and they adopted fimdarnental and positive attitudes

toward communication.

HRTs are generally expected to help students to foster positive attitudes toward buildmg

relationships with other people in Japanese elementary schools, Students will have a closer

relationship with non-native speakers than with native speakers of English in future (Crystal,2003). Considcring al1 ofthis, HRTs would be better off fbcusing on

"communicative

attitudes" in

a broader context rather than "commmicatien abilities" in English. The concept of

"communicative attitudes" was explained as attitudes

`ftoward people with different ideas'7 or a

tendency to "try

te commimicate with others" in Adachi (2012b, p.55). Though it is more re1ated

to pupils' affective attitudes than "communication al]ilities", it is a kind of skill to deal with other

people or oatsiders. It will become increasingly necessary for studerrts to obtain this as well as

English corrmiunication ability in a globalized world,

So how should we evaluate "communicative

attitudes"? Adachi (201 1) claimed that even

now the general population ofJapan seldom has personal intercultural contact with foreigriers and

there are few opportunities to have intercultural contact in dai]y life, and it is considered that

having more corrtact with fbreigners has a positive impact on the motivation of leaming Eng]ish

and attitudes toward intercultural cornrriunication (p.3), Therefbre, Adachi (201 1) investigatedfour cominunicatiye attitudes which estimated how much pupils try te communicate with other

people at one elementary school. These attitudes were C`Compromise

with the opponent",

"`Non-verbal Communication", C`Avoidance

of uncertainty", and "Friendly

attitude toward a

foreigri student".

However, the result ofAdachi (201 l) showed that "communicative attitudes" did not have a

direct relationship with "motivation",

though they were affected by "attitudes

toward leaming"

which also had a strong influence on motiyation. Furthermore, Adachi (2012b) investigated the

relationship between pupils' motivation and other attitudinal variables at three elementary schools

in Apri1 2009 and at the same two schools and another school in March 201O, and fbund that"communicative

attitudes" were absent in both motivational models, and that `trnotivation" again

did not have any direct relationship with "communicative attitudes". These results suggested that

we should consider "communicative

attitudes" as being a little different from motiyation, and it is

better fbr HRTs to wotk on or focus on not only increasing pupils' motivation toward fbreigri

lariguages but also on raising their awareness ofditferent cultures and improving attitudes toward

different people. If pupils can develop their `[communicative

attitudes", then they wi11 become

adults who try to comrnunieate with diverse groups ofpeople using differerrt foreigri languages.

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3. Method

3.1 Purpose

The puipose of this study was to examine the changing communicative attitudes of pupils

over three years, depending on their genders and grade, and to find which subscale can predict

pupils' commmicative attitudes most. It is important to establish whether pupils' communicative

attitudes improve or not, and to find what kind of elements wi11 influence their eommunicative

attitudes in English activities. The fbllowing are the research questions ofthis study.

1 . What js the difference in pupils' communicative attitudes over three years`?2. What is the diffbrence in pupils' communicative attitudes between genders and between 5th

and 6th grades for each year?

3. Which subscale can best predict pupils' communicative attitudes fbr each year?

3.2 Participants

The data were collected three times at one elementary school in Aichi, Japan. The

investigation was conducted with the 5th grade and 6th grade pupils from the end ofthe 2007 to

the end of the 2009 school years. Although an ALT implemented most of the English activity at

this school, HRTs of fifth and sixth grade had also started to instruct some classes since the

beginning of the 2008 school year. The number of classes increased gradually in the three years.All data were collected during classes with the cooperation ofthe HRTs.

Besides leaming English, since the school was designated as "a

pilot school fbr research

purposes of education for internadonal understanding'i by the Nchi Prefecturai government

between 2006 and 2007, students had also experienced several programs focused on

understanding other cultures, such as planting rice with intemational school students, and leaming

about foreign cultures from inviting foreigri griest speakers, and so on,

As it was a larger school in 2007, it was separated into two schools at the begiTming ofApri1

2008. Therefore, the surveyed population decreased slightly in 2008. Table 1 shows the number of

students in each year. Also, Table 2 indicates the number of classes at this school over three years.

Table2

the numher of classesTablel Numberofclasses

Rart,bipants lst 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Total classes by AVT N 5th 6th Total

2oe7

2008

2009

151

122

123

159

92

lt5

310

214

238396366762

2007ALT2eosALT2009ALT1212121266121212l2661212121266 12

12

12 1230-35

20

15 15 7S

12 12 72

22-35 22--35 92-lt8 12 12 72

30-35 30-35 108-123

20 20 78

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3.3 Materials

The items of the questionnaire consisted of motivational attitudes, erientation items,

comniunicative attitudes and some other variables about learning English. These items came frem

several sources and detailed descriptions of motivational variables and some other variables can

- be fbund in Adachi (2009a, 2009b). Almost the same questionnaire was also adopted in Adachi

(2009b, 201O, 201 1, 2012a and 2012b). Each item was rated on a six-point Likert scale, ranging

from strongly agree (+6) to strongly disagree (+1), displayed on a line. Though the questionnaire

originally had total of34 items, in this study, the data of29 items was analyzed, They are outlined

belew (See Appendix in Japanese fbr details and item numbers).

1.Motivation (5 items, No.1, 2, 3, 4, 5) based primarily on the concepts ofGardner (1985): This

included effbrt, desire, and favorable attitudes; "FA

Erijoyment" referred to eajoyment oflessons

in fbreign laiiguage activities, `LE

Audio-visual" referred to learning English at home using

audio-visual materials, "FA

Learning more'i referred to a falroral)le attitude toward the increase in

the number of classes, "E

Vocal)ulary" referred to making an efibrt to build up vocabulary, and

"D

lmprovement" referred to a desire to improve in English.

2.0rientations (9 items) included instrumental orientation, integrative orientatioq and

irrtercultural orientation:

Instrumental orientatien (3 items, No,9, 10, 16): "Information

from the Internet" referred to

getting inforrnation from the Internet, ;`Work

abroad" referred to traveling or working abroad, and

C`For

future career" referred to entering a good college or a good company in the future.

Integrative orientation (3 items, No.1 1, 12, 14): "Learn U.S, and U.K" referred to learning about

and understanding the culture and people from the U.S. and the U.K., `CEx

with U.S. and U,K,"

referred to exchanges with people in the U.S. and the U.K., and "Native

speaker:' referred to

speaking English Hke native speakers,

Intercultural orientation (3 items, No.8, 13, 15): "Learn L2 culture" referred to learning and

understanding the culture and peeple from lndia the Philippines and Heng Kong, "Ex

with L2

people" referred to exchanges with people from India, the Philippines and Hong Kong, and "Ex

with FL people" referred to exchanges with people from Chinq Russia and Brazi1.

3,People around the learner (3 items, No.17, 18, 19): This referred to descriptions ofhow hard

pupils try to study English due to receiving encouragement from their "peers",

"parents"

and

4`teachers"・

4. Vitality ofEnglish (3 items, No,20, 21 , 22): This referred to how much pupils recognize English

as an important and powerfu1 language in their future social life (importance of English learning).

English wi11 become increasingly important because people will have more chances to "ge

and

stay overseas", or will need to "get

informationii or need to "avoid

friction" with foreign people.

5,Auitudes towatrd leaming (5 items, No.26, 27, 28, 29, 30): This referred to descriptions of

positive attitudes, mainly conceming ]anguage learning, To better understand English, to believe

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in the value ofeffbrt, to be able to understand an alTs Engiish, to have a positive attitude toward

learming in general, and to have a positive attitude toward Ieaniing multiple 1anguages.

6.Cornmunicative attitudes (4 items, No.31, 32, 33, 34): `LMake a compromise" referred to the

idea that "I

try to make a compromise when we have a conflict in the group in class", L`Nen-verbal

communication" referred to the idea that "I

can tell the way using non-verbal communication to a

foreigner who gets lost", and "Friendly

attitudeT' referred to that "I

try to make fliends with foreigntransfer students when they join my class", In 2007 and 2008,

"Avoidance

ofuncertainty", which

referred to the attitude ofbeing unwilling to talk with a stranger, was also supposed to be included.

However, in 2009 the author had to change the item to "Acceptance

of unfarniliarity", which

referred to the attitude ofbeing willing to talk with an unknown foreigner. This change was made

on the request ofa teacher in one ofthe schools surveyed in another investigation.

4. Results

4.1 The difference of pupils' communicative attitudes over three years

Firsg a multivariate analysis ofvariance (MANOivipL) was perfbrmed to examine the differences in

fbur items of "communicative

attitudes'7 over three years, The result showed that there was mo

significant difference in any items, though pupils' communicative attimdes tended to decrease as

the number ofEnglish classes increased. Figure 1 shows mean sceres fbr fbur items in three years.

As "Avoidance

ofuncertainty'T was not investigated in 2009, it was excluded,

/-----.---.----...---.------------------------------------ ---・・・--------.-・- --...・.-・...--- , l ,

! -2007 rc20D8 m12009 1

IS・OO 'l' '' '''

'' l

i4,SO .l-...

I4.oo S・--I3.so l'-t:i3,eo

l'lli2.SO i'

il 2.00 ----lIIt

ai・gla.・・・・ewtza.Ml.""ffdien

s' tt

k,g#l,・lggeeetnettt..tht4tmmumnmmeemu

ee thmazzit. ...ewt-----lipa.ps.Illll$....eewwth

Compromise Nen-verbal Avoidanceef Friendryattilude

unceftalnty

Eigurf.I .E. b. g.n. fi.e,. In.,,.E..f,,.[. n...[, I]...t.n..1,E.e..1.ll.f ..e,.F.!, l,1 ,y.g. e. i. tp,r, .t.tr[ e£ rmY.emmanv tE ... .

1

i'

/

I

ltt ttt. I

42 The difference in pupils' communicative attitudes between genders and between 5th and

6th grades

Next, MANOVA was also perfbrrned to examine the effects ofgender and grade on the four

items of"Communicative attitudes" in each year separately. 'Iletbles

3, 4 and 5 showed the results

over three years and it was found that there was no significant effect of genders X grade

interaction in the three results.

Howeveg a significant main effl]ct of gender was fbund on "Friendly

attitude" (F =

9.53, p

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< .05, n2 = O,03) and there was a sigriificant main effect of grade on "Avoidance

of uncertainty"

(F == 16,41, p < .OOI, n2 = 0.05) in 2007. Also, in 2008, a significant main effect of genders

appeared on "Non-verbal"

(F =t 7,07, p < .05, n2

= O.03). Likewise, there was a significant main

effect ofgenders on "Compromise"

and "Friendly

attitude" (F = 8.01, p < .05, n2

==

0.03 and F =

9.88, p < .O1 , n2 == O.04, respectively), and a sigriificant main efiect of grade on "Friendly

attitude"

(F = 7.17, p < .05, n2 =

O.03) in 2009.

Table 3Aleans and Standard Dewlations fer items of communicaO've attitualos

andMUltv'vadete Anel sis of L,:bhance h enderand Teoig in 2007

Gender Grade MaineffectBoGirl 5th6th GenderGradeInteraction

CommunicativeCompromiseSDNon-verbal

SDAvo[dance of uncertainty

SDFriendly attitude

SD

attitudes4.181.204.331.353.091.524.081.31

4.371.114.511.142.851.384.511.174.301.244.571.273.311.484.341.334.261.074.271.222.631.364.251.182.06

1.96

1.39

9.53 "

O.14

4.75

16.41 "'

O.66

O.62

O.07

O.19

4.04

Table 4Mbans and Standerd Devlahans fer hems ofcommunicative attitudes

andn4Z/ltivarlate Anat sis of L,2mlance b enderendgTziale in 20e8

Gender Grade Maineffect

BoyGirl 5th6th GenderGradelnteraatiDn

Cemmunicative attitudes

Compromise 4.14SD 1.27

Nen-verbal 4.27

SD 1.49

Aveidance of uncertainty 2.68

SD 1.55

Friendly attitude 4.03

SD 1.44

4.321.294.80IA32.721.594.431.314.111.324.391.512.761.674.421.394.36l.224.661.132.611.433.931.36O.64

7.07 '

O.09

5.26

1.47

1.45

O.35

6.15

1.42

O.93

O.50

O.84

Table 5Atloans and Standerd Dev7latlons fer items ofcommunicative attit"des

and neZ,1tivariate Analysis of Ubrvlance by gender andgeole ih 2009

Gender Grade Maineffect

BoyGirl 5th6th GenderGradeInteraction

Communicative attitudes

Compromise 3.89

SD 1,31Nonwerbal 4.03

SD 1.51Acceptanceefunfamiliarity 3,36

SD 1,49

Friendly attitu de 3.83

SD 1,46

4.331.054.431.243.471.384.391.364.161.154.331.323.471.444.33t.354.031.274AO1.473.351.443.851.508.01 '

5,18

O.35

9.88 **

O,97

1.70

O,43

7.17 *

OJ9

1.41

O.09

o,oo

*p<.05 **p<,Ol ***p<.OOI

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These results indicated that girls tend to have more communicative attitudes than boys,

because most of the results for girls indicated higher values than for boys, even without significarrt

values. Besides, while girls keep their positive attitudes toward communication, boys' values

decreased gradually over the three years. For example, while the values iri three items in girlsmaintained over 4.0, the values of"Compromise" in boys changed from 4,l8 to 3,g9, from 2007

to 2009. Though further irrvestigation would be necessary to find why girls were al)le to maintain

their cornmunicative attitudes, one might sumiise that they understand the importance of

communication with others better due to their experience in foreign activities.

The result also showed that 6th graders tend to have rather lower values than 5th graders in

2007 and 2009. It seemed that pupils could not build positive attitudes toward comrnunication.

However, the value of "Avoidance

ofuncertainty" of5th graders was 3.3 in 2007, while the values

of6th graders in 2007 and bQth graders in 2008 were less than 2.8. This means 5th graders in 2007

seemed to feel a Iittle threatened by str,angers. Again, although it also needs more investigation,

pupils might have been less cautious about having contact with AIJTs and may have felt less bored

when there were an optimal number ofclasses.

4.3 The subscale which can best predict pupils' communicative attitudes

Lastly, regression analysis was applied in order to predict which attitudinal and motivationai

scales acted as the best predictors of"commmicative attitudes" for each yeaL Before that, in orderto obtain a subscale of

"Communicative attitudes" and to check fbr iRternal consistency of the

items which had been considered to belong to the subscale, the four items in 2007 were subjected

to the Cronbach Alpha coeMcient calculation. However, the Cronbach Alpha value was .414,

which was not accepted, and when the item of "Arvoidance

of uncertainty" was excluded, it

became .726. SimilarlM it was .523 in 2008, and after the item was excluded, the Cronbach Alpha

value became .730. This item seemed not to be included in the category as "Communicative

attitudes" in 2007 and 2008. 0ne of the reasons why it was not included could be that this item

surveyed attitudes toward unlcnown fbreigners in a negative way. Therefbre, pupils might have

developed a negative fbeling andTable 4

answered differently from otherCi'onhach alpha for hach Attitudnbl Lthnension in three

yeEv・s 'three

items, ConsequentlM it

200720082009

Number Cronbach Cronbach Cronbachof items Alpha Alpha Alpha

Motivation

Orientatien

People around a learner

Vitality of English

Attitudes toward learning

Communicativeattitudes

4

9 3

3

53-4

O.83O.92O.90O.86O.75O.73O.82O.92O.88O.86O.75O.73O.83O.93O.83O,83O.69O.74

was dropped from the subscale

in 2007 and 2008. 0n the other

hand, "Acceptance of

unfarniliarity" was subsumed

into the subscale of"Communicative

attitudes" in

2009, since the reliability

coeficient of the scale was

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acceptable (a =.74). Based on the presupposed factors, the Cronbach Alpha internal consistency

reliability coeeacients of al1 other subscales were calculated for three years respectiveiy

C`Audio-visual" was also dropped from "Motivation",

because it showed a light floor eflect and

the reliability coeficient appeared higher when it was omitted). They are shown in Tal)le 4, and all

of these values, including "Motivation", were considered to have reliability and were thus

accepted. [IIhey were very similar in each year.

Next, using the subscales, regression analysis was conducted fbr each year separately, and

Table 5 presents the results. These results showed that the subscale of "Attitudes

toward learning"

was the best predictor in all three years and that there was not much difierence between any of the

subscales, though pupils' communicative attitudes tended to decrease a little as the number of

English classes increased (See Figure 1). In addition, `COrientation"

also seemed to contribute to

"Cornmunicative

attitudes", though its power decreased gradually over the thiee years. On the

centrary, the subscale of "People

around the learner" emerged as a positive predictor in the 2009

model. This may indicate that pupils' communicative attitudes become easy to change and that

their attitudes depend on the atmosphere in the classroom as they get used to foreign activities.

"People

around the learner" also had a strong impact on "Attitudes

toward learning" in the results

fbr motivation models in Adachi (2012b, p.58). Since the subscale of"Attitudes toward learning"

inc]udes ieaming attitudes not only toward Eng]ish but also toward learning multiple larigtiages or

toward general subjects, it wi11 be important to develop pupils' learning attitudes in the classroom.

Considering al1 the results on communicative attitudes, and past research al)out motivation

(Adachi, 2011, 2e12a, 2012b), having a good educational environment and recognizing the

importance of learning foreign languages would be really important for pupils not only to improve

their motivation btu also to enhance the communicative relationship with other people.

Table 5Rlesults of the regTession analysis of the attitudna/ andmotA,atfona/ scales

vaiththecommunicativeattitudessubscaleasthecritenbnvanlh/e

2007 2008 2009

Attitudestowardleaming .323

Orientation ・315

Motlvation ,209

ili*"**s Atttudestowardlearning .384"'*

Motivation .249"'

Orientation .193*'

Attitudestowardleaming

Peop]earoundtheleamer

Orientation

.292.262.217s"*****

R2 .579**i R2 .541"' R2 .440***

**p<Ol ***p<OOX

5. Conclusien and implications

The study fbund ihat pupils' communicative attitudes tended to decrease a little as the

number of English classes increased. As their commLmicative attitudes also had a slight tendency

to decrease accordmg to age, it seemed that pupils could not foster positive attitudes toward

communication or motivation at this schoo] (Adachi, 2012a). Conceming genders, girls had more

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positive actitudes toward communication in al1 situations than boys and they couid keep their

positive attitudes more consistently compared to boys. In addition, the relationship among their

communicative attitudes and other variables indicated that pupils' communicative attitudes were

affected by their leaming attitudes. Though the data in this study came from only one school,

another study in other schools also showed that pupils' communicative attitudes did not increase inAdachi (2012b, p.56). Therefbre, these studies implied that it would be difficult to develop pupils'

positive attitudes toward comrnunication only through the current English activities.

In the present education system, both HR[fs and AIITs are expected to use a supplemeniary

textbook published by MEXT in fbreign lariguage activities, or they have to spend much time

devising vaxious learning activities and preparing for them. Howeve4 it is also possible that if

pupils could have confidence and interest in foreign languages and have a good educational

environment they would keep trying to improve communication with various people with

differeni ideas or different cultural backgrounds. In order to help the students maintain their

interest in fbreign langwages and different cultures and to keep a good atmosphere in the

classroom, it might be better fbr HRTs to use more Japanese and focus on activities for promoting

communication ski11s, rather than to fbrce themselves to teach English.

Pupils carmot foster positive attitudes toward communication just through experiencingEnglish activities. It should be required fbr MEXT to design leaming materials which focus on

comrnunication in a much broader sense, and fbr HIrrs to build pupils' positive attitudes toward

comrriunication. That is because, firstlM HR[fs are not English teachers; secondlM the effect of

English education in Japanese elementary schools has not been ascertained; thirdlM students tend

to lose their motivation and cornmunicative auitudes gradually; fourthly, students are more like]y

to have closer relationships with non-native speakers than with native speakers of English in

future; and lastly, the curTiculum guidelines of MEXT do not mention "English

abiiities".

Acknowledgement

This study was supported by Grant-in-Aid fbr Scientific Research (KA.KENHI) (C),(No.23520768). She would like to thank the principal, HIUIs and pupils for their kmd

cooperation to take time for this research.

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Append 雌

1学校 の 英語 の 時間は楽しい。

2 テ レ ビ で英語の番組 (英ごりア ン 、セ サ ミス トリー トなど)を見た り、ラジオで英会話の番組

  を聞い て い る 。

3 今 まで より英語の 授業の 時間が増える こ とは い い こ とだと思 う。

4 学校で習 っ た新しい 英語の 単語は で きるだ け覚えよ うと思っ て い る。

5 英語 をもっ と うま く話 した り、よ くわか る よ うに な りた い。

8英語を勉強する こ とは 、英語が通 じるイ ン ドやフ ィ リ ピ ン 、シ ン ガポール 、ホ ン コ ン な どの 国

  の 人 々 と話した り、仲良くなるために重要だ と思 う。

9英語を勉強する こ とは、イ ン ター

ネ ッ トなどか ら世界の い ろい ろな情報 を知 るた め に重要だ と

  思 う。

10英語を勉強す るこ とは、し ょ うらい 国際的 に活躍(か っ や く)で きる仕事をす るために重要だ と

  思 う。

Il英語 を勉強する こ とは、ア メ リカやイ ギ リス 、カ ナ ダの 人 々 と話 した り、仲良くなるために重

  要だ と思 う。

12英語 を勉強する こ とは、ア メ リカやイ ギ リス、 カ ナ ダの 人 々 やそ の 文化 に つ い て 、 学び 理解す

  るた めに重要だ と思 う。

13英語 を勉強するこ とは、イ ン ドや フ ィ リピ ン 、シ ン ガポール

、ホ ン コ ン な どの 国の 人 々 やそ の

  文化 につ い て 、学び 理解す るため に重要だ と思 う。

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14英語 を勉強する こ とは 、 ア メ リカ人やイギ リス、 カナダの 入 々 が話す よ うな英語 をべ らべ らに

  話すために重要だ と思 う。

15英語を勉強する こ とは 、 ブラ ジル、 中国、

ロ シア な どの 世界の い ろい ろな国の 人 々 と話 した り、

  仲良くなるた めに重要だ と思 う。

16英語を勉強す るこ とは、し ょ うらい 、よ い 大学や よ い 会社 に入 る の に役に立 っ か ら重要だ と思

   う。

17クラス の 人や友だ ちは英語 をが ん ばっ て学んで い る の で、私 も英語 をが んばろ うと思 う。

18お母 さんやお父 さんがはげま した り、ほ め て くれ るの で、私は英語 をが んばろ うと思 う。

19英語の 先生 (外 国人の先生)や担任の 先生がはげま した り、ほ めて くれ るので 、私 は英語をが

  ん ばろ うと思 う。

20こ れか らは、だれで も外国に行 っ た り 、 外国に住む チ ャ ン ス が多くなるの で 、英語 を学ぶ こ と

  は大切だ と思 う。

21これか らは、世界の い ろい ろな国の 生活やニ ュース

、 出来事な どを知 る必 要が ある の で 、英語

  を学ぶ こ とは 大切だ と思 う。

22外国の 人 との 話合い で、けんかや誤解(ごか い )を生まない よ うにするために 、 英語を学ぶ こ と

  は大切だ と思 う。

26学校の 英語の 授業で英語を勉強す る こ とで、英語がだん だん わか るよ うになっ て きた 。

27英語 は、一

生 懸命(い っ し ょ うけん め い )単語 や言 い 方 を覚えた り、練習 した りすれ ば、だれで

  も話 した り、書い た りで きるよ うにな ると思 う。

28英語 にか ぎらず、その他の 勉強もだい たい 、 がんば っ て きちんとや っ てい る方だ 。

29英語以外 の 、世界の い ろ い ろな国の こ とばも、学んで みた い 。

30外 国人の 先生が、英語だ けで話 して い る時 、 言 っ て い る内容は、  (100%〜0%)理解で きる 。

31も し ク ラ ス の グル ープで 話 し合 う時に他 の 人 と意見が対立 したら、自分の 方か らわか り合える

  ように努力する。

32もし外国人が道 に迷 っ て こま っ て い た ら、言葉があま りよくわか らな くて も身振 り(みぶ り)手

  振 り(てぶ り)な ど使 っ て 教え て あげる。

33初めて あっ た知 らない 外国人で も、警戒(けい か い )せ ずに (こ わが らずに)話す こ とが で き る。

34外国人の 転校生がクラス に来 た ら、自分の 方か ら友達に なるよ う努力する。

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