Development of speaking ability among Japanese learners of English: A meta-analysis

关于日本英语学习者(JLE)如何培养口语能力的研究一直在进行，但结果喜忧参半。这项研究使用元分析来解释先前研究的不同结果，并澄清JLE口语能力的发展模式，同时考虑到与研究背景(例如，初中或高中)和教学时间(例如，九个月)的差异有关的调节变量。在数据库中检索相关文献后，利用前后测分数差异程度对13项研究进行了Meta分析，随机效应模型的结果显示在流利性和句法复杂性上有中小程度的发展，但在准确度上没有发展。主持人变量分析没有显示对发展程度的显著影响，表明需要在这一领域进行进一步调查。

Research into how Japanese learners of English (JLE) develop speaking ability has been conducted, but with mixed results. This study used meta-analysis to explain divergent results among previous studies and to clarify developmental patterns of speaking ability of JLE, taking into consideration moderator variables regarding differences in research contexts (e.g., junior or senior high school) and in instructional lengths (e.g., nine months). After searching for relevant documents using databases, I found 13 studies suitable for meta-analysis, using degrees of differences between pretest and posttest scores.Results obtained using the random-effect model showed degrees of development to small or medium degrees in fluency and syntactic complexity but not in accuracy. The moderator variable analyses did not show significant effects on the degree of development, showing the need for further investigation in this area.