坂本 光代

平成23~26年度科学研究費補助金基盤研究（C）研究報告書 課題番号：23520702

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate a four-year mentorship program for Japanese graduate students at a private university in Tokyo, Japan. The following research questions were investigated: First, does mentorship provide effective and adequate preparation needed for graduate students to perform competitively (e.g. attending conferences, publishing in journals, etc.) in academic forums? Second, what kinds of benefits are gained by the mentees? Third, what factors are conducive to the benefits accrued by the mentees? Fourth, what are the obstacles to providing an effective mentorship program? Design/methodology/approach – Adopting narrative approach as its research method, this study collected and analyzed reflective essays from 13 Japanese students in a TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) program. Findings – Particular types of mentoring which encouraged active participation in scholarly activities through appropriately scaffolded inductions into academia led to increased mentee confidence in terms of making the transition from student to scholar. Research limitations/implications – The students should not remain assistants on the periphery of academia, but rather play active roles to extend their knowledge and expertise to something that they can attain only with appropriate scaffolding (Vygotsky, 1981). In order to promote such mentorship, it is emphasized that institutional support is indispensable, and that the significance of solid mentorship programs should be re-acknowledged and discussed on an official level. Originality/value – The study of mentoring within a Japanese context, in particular from the perspectives of sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1981) and Bandura's (1994, 1995) self-efficacy theory, is an under-researched area.

Compared with other countries in Asia, Japan is far behind in terms of introducing and delivering bilingual education, let alone effective immersion programmes. In order to make its citizens more bilingual, Japan has been introducing innovative measures including the implementation of the teaching of English in elementary education and a new curriculum guideline requirement of using English exclusively in all high school English classes. However, these innovations are met with opposition and obstacles. Before Japan can introduce effective bilingual and immersion programmes comparable to those in Europe, North America and other Asian countries, it is crucial that Japan addresses these concerns. At the same time, other linguistic resources unique to Japan are being neglected. To elaborate and explore the above issues, this article focuses on public English education and ethnic bilingual schools in Japan.

平成１９年〜平成２２年度科研基盤研究のまとめ

英語教育法をバイリンガリズムの理論に基づいて考察。

The study investigated effects of interaction on L2 writing.

平成２０年２月１３日に愛知教育大学で開催されたシンポジウムでの講演内容。

２００７−２００８年度に実施した共同研究成果を発表

東京中華学校に在学する小学６年、中学３年、高校 1年の学生計５５名に対し、言語習得、言語使用、そしてアイデンティティに関するアンケート調査を実施した。

グループ活動を通じ、言語学習者がお互いの最近接発達領域（Zone of Proximal Development, ZPD）にどのように影響を及ぼすかを検証した。ホームページ作成タスクを介し、学生らがどのように英作文力を高めるか、を４１名の上級英語学習者を対象に、本研究を行った。結果、グループ内の会話で取り上げられた文法事項などは、その後の英作文に反映されていたが、取り上げられなかった個別のエラーに関しては、誤りが正されず、最後の英作文にまで残った。