英語のバラエティーに対する寛容度に関する調査 : 留学により寛容度が上がるのか

概要

論文の詳細を見る
Accepting a variety of English is easier said than done. It's simply difficult to accept someone who "speaks funny." They need to be exposed to the variety of English for some time and somehow learn to accept it at the emotional level. The best way for them to encounter varieties of English is to actually meet such English speakers and interact with them. Here the study abroad programs have much to offer. The purposes of this study are to find out 1) whether such study abroad experiences in fact raise the tolerance level to the varieties, including to their own Japanese variety of English, 2) if the place to study abroad has anything to do with the tolerance level, and 3) if there is any particular factors contributing to the results. To find the answers to the above research questions, a small scale questionnaire was given to 39 participants in the study abroad program at a university in the Nagoya area. The results show that they became more positive towards "foreign accents," which was expressed on the numbers arrayed in bi-polar rating scales. One particularly interesting finding is those who studied in Australia tend to become far more tolerant to the varieties of English and learn to accept their own Japanese variety of English far more positively than those who studied in the US. Some pedagogical suggestions are also presented.
2010-12-20