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Kenji Kitao　（Doshisha University） Shosaku Tanaka　（Ritsumeikan University ）

Authorized Junior High School English Textbooks in Japan: From the Viewpoint of Vocabulary and Readability. Kenji Kitao　（Doshisha University） Shosaku Tanaka　（Ritsumeikan University ）. Background. English is first taught in junior high schools. Basics of English are taught for three years.

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Kenji Kitao　（Doshisha University） Shosaku Tanaka　（Ritsumeikan University ）

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  1. Authorized Junior High School English Textbooks in Japan:From the Viewpoint of Vocabulary and Readability Kenji Kitao　（Doshisha University） Shosaku Tanaka　（Ritsumeikan University）

  2. Background • English is first taught in junior high schools. • Basics of English are taught for three years. • Almost all Japanese students take English. • Based on the Course of Study • Authorized textbooks based on the course of study • quantity • difficulty level of English • vocabulary

  3. Goal • Analyzing English in junior high school textbooks 　　（7 series between 2002 and 2005） • Readability • Vocabulary and difficulty levels

  4. Research Questions • Tokens (quantity) and types (variety) • Common words among textbooks • Readability and grade levels • Vocabulary levels and grade levels

  5. Methods • 21 government authorized textbooks (7 series) used between 2002 and 2005 • Corpora made by ELPA • Main texts and vocabulary lists on the inside covers • Excluding lessons with only exercises • numbers：lemmatized words • no

  6. Tool • Readability Tests Document Readability And Improve Ithttp://www.online-utility.org/english/readability_test_and_improve.jsp • Tagging/lemmatization TreeTagger http://www.ims.uni-stuttgart.de/projekte/corplex/TreeTagger/ • Other Perl programs made by presenters

  7. Result：Token (all words) • 5504 words for 3 years • →3 years≒100 weeks⇒55 words per week • Very few words

  8. Result：Types • 875　words • →9 words per week　very few

  9. Result：Common words Used in 7 textbooks Used in 14 textbooks Used in 21 textbooks Only 252 words are used in 7 series. List of common words

  10. Result：Average syllables Average syllables=all syllables/all words many short words almost no difference between grades

  11. Results：Average length of sentences Average length of sentences =all words/all sentences Average length of words is 5.57 words. Longer for upper grades very short for 7th grade （many passages are dialogues）

  12. Results：Readability Average #syllables Average #sentences Flesch readability Higher for upper grade very low, particularly for 7th grade （grade 1-4 for native speakers）

  13. Vocabulary Lists (levels) Vocabulary list General vocabulary Academic vocabulary

  14. Negatively Corr. Positively Corr. Non-corr. γ -1 0 1 Data and Method • Rank correlation coefficient Goodman-Kruskal γ（γ∈[-1,1]） • Data Common words used in textbooks, except proper nouns, number characters, and compound nouns • Unit of count • token • type

  15. Result：Grade and Vocabulary Level J4 J8 SVL GSL AWL HU ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ -.2 -.1 .1 0 γ ⇒ Vocabulary on those lists are different from vocabulary taught in junior high. 【token】 • Correlation between grade and vocabulary level • Almost none Which list is the best?

  16. Conclusion • Statistical survey of Junior High School Textbooks For upper grades • More words and more new words (still very few) • Higher readability （still very easy） • Sentence length is longer. • The difference between 7th and 8th grades is large. • No vocabulary list is suitable for junior high school English lessons.

  17. Reference • THE COURSE OF STUDY FOR LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL　FOREIGN LANGUAGES　(2003).http://www.mext.go.jp/english/shotou/030301.htm • Teaching English in Japan TEFL IN JAPAN---JALT 10th Anniversary Collected Papers (1985 JAT)　　　(ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 265 741)

  18. Appendix

  19. Textbooks • Used between 2002 and 2005 • COLUMBUS 21（Mitsumura Tosho） • NEW CROWN（Sanseido） • NEW HORIZON（Tokyo Shoseki） • ONE WORLD（Kyoiku Shuppan） • SUNSHINE（Kairyudo） • TOTAL ACTIVE COMMUNICATION（Shubunkan） • TOTAL ENGLISH（Gakko Tosho）

  20. Result：Nos. of Sentences 985 sentences for 3 years 10 sentences per week Very few

  21. Result：Average Number of Letters Average number of letters =total number of letters/total number of words Average 4.04 letters Many short words Longer words for upper grade

  22. Goodman-Kruskal γ S : #concordant pairs D :#discordant pairs 【Concordant/Disconcordant】 Level in the word list Appearing Grade word w1 → <x1, y1> word w2 → <x2, y2> Blue cell… concordant Red cell… discordant

  23. Flesch-Kincaid Grade level=.39*ASL+11.80*ASW-15.59 ASL: average length of sentences （nos. of words/sentence） ASW: average number of syllables

  24. Kenji Kitao • kkitao@e-learning-server.com • http://kkitao.e-learning-server.com/index.shtml • Shosaku Tanaka • sho@lt.ritsumei.ac.jp • http://www.cl.ritsumei.ac.jp/

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