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

摘要本研究旨在探讨三年来日本小学生运用语音心理音韵学（APP）方法进行英语教学的效果。尽管APP最近得到了重视，但大多数研究都是针对成年外语学习者进行的，针对年轻学习者的研究很少。2009 - 2011学年，共有小学五、六年级学生参与了由研究者和名古屋外国语大学四名研究生共同组织的六项实验。每个实验包括基于APP方法的电子耳设备声感知训练和其他活动。培训计划是通过修改已经提供的成人学习者的APP方法的适当计划而开发的。所有被试在实验前后都进行了完全相同的由英语音素组成的英语单词的感知和产生测试，这些英语音素是日语语音系统中不存在的，是专门为本研究制作的。结果，第一个实验表明，被试在英语单词的感知和产生方面取得了显著的进步。此外，在第五个实验中，英语音素不仅由声音感知训练提供，而且由日语老师进行了明确的解释，结果更加显著。本研究表明，通过APP教学可以提高幼儿的感知能力和生产能力。本研究可望为日本小学英语教学提供有价值的启示。

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.