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

本研究的目的是检验过去三年来在日本小学生英语教学中应用听觉心理音韵学(APP)的效果。尽管这款应用最近声名鹊起，但大多数研究都是针对成年外语学习者进行的，对年轻学习者的研究很少。从2009到2011学年，总共有五、六年级的小学生参加了六个实验，这些实验是由名古屋外国语大学的研究人员和四名研究生组织的。每个实验包括通过基于APP方法的电子耳机进行声音感知训练和其他活动。所有受试者在实验前后对日语音素系统中不存在的英语音素组成的英语单词进行了完全相同的感知和产生测试，这些单词是专门为本研究制作的。结果表明，实验一表明受试者在英语词汇的认知和产出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，而且得到了日语教师的明确解释，实验5取得了更显著的效果。本研究表明，通过APP教学，幼儿学习者可以提高他们的感知和产出能力。希望本研究对日本小学英语教学有一定的参考价值。

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.