Use of New Equipment in Elementary English Education : A Three-Year Study and Follow-up Survey

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The purpose of this study was to examine the results by applying the Audio-Psycho-Phonology(APP) approach to English language teaching with Japanese elementary school students over the past three years. Although the APP has gained prominence recently, most research has been done with adult foreign language learners and little has been done with younger learners.In total, fifth and sixth elementary school students participated in six experiments during 2009 through 2011 school year, which were organized by researchers and four graduate-school students of Nagoya University of Foreign Studies. Each experiment consisted of sound perception trainings through an Electronic Ear apparatus based on the APP approach and other activities. The training programs were developed by revising the appropriate program of the APP approach for adult learners already provided.All the subjects participated before and after the experiments in exactly the same perception and production tests of English words consisting of English phonemes, which do not exist in Japanese phonological system, and produced specially for this study. As a result, the first experiment indicates that the subjects have made significant progress in perception and production of English words. In addition, more remarkable results were obtained in the fifth experiment, where English phonemes were not only provided by thesound perception trainings but also explicitly explained by Japanese teachers.This study indicates that the young learners can improve their perception and production ability thorough the APP approach. The study is expected to give a valuable implication to English language teaching in Japanese elementary schools.