Teaching English to Japanese University Students Using an Experimental CORE Curriculum

概要

論文の詳細を見る
This paper investigates the possibilities of effectively teaching spoken English using a core of vocab- ulary compiled to contain a maximum of regularly conjugated verbs.An experimental course (hereafter called the CORE course: an acronym for Concentrating On RegularEnglish which refers also to the use of a core of vocabulary) was designed and taught to simulate atrip abroad. Over a period of fourteen weeks, two classes at a women`s junior college were used in theexperiment. One class used the experimental CORE course and the other class (a control group) useda contemporary communicative textbook and method.At the beginning of the course, both classes took a written exam to evaluate general ability. It cov ered ﬁrst semester materials. A ﬁnal exam and three intermediate written exams. designed to encom pass materials which both classes were taught. were used to evaluate the frequency of regular verbuse and improvement in general ability. From each class, a representative student was chosen andvideotaped weekly to evaluate oral ability and general improvement.CORE course students improved more than the control group of students on both written and oralevaluations and. in particular, made fewer errors whenever regularly conjugated verbs were used.