Paper Title :An Assessment of the Graphophonemic Difficulty Level of English Words in Elementary Schools in Japan
Author :Yoko Ichiyama
Article Citation :Yoko Ichiyama ,
(2024 ) " An Assessment of the Graphophonemic Difficulty Level of English Words in Elementary Schools in Japan " ,
International Journal of Management and Applied Science (IJMAS) ,
pp. 63-66,
Volume-10,Issue-10
Abstract : This study conducted an analysis of 640 words frequently used in English classes for Japanese elementary school
learners, focusing on both semantic and pronunciation aspects. The elementary objective was to evaluate the appropriateness
of these words for learners in the initial stages of acquiring English as a foreign language. The findings revealed that
approximately 70% of the vocabulary belonged to the most frequently used 1,000 words (K1) and the second thousand
words (K2) levels. In contrast,only minimal 2% (seven words) were identified as academiclevel vocabulary with the
remaining 30% of the words exhibited varying levels of difficulty. Overall, the study suggests that the difficulty level of the
vocabulary presented in these textbooks is relatively low. More than one third of all syllables, however, were pronounced in
ways not typically found in the Japanese language, meaning that Japanese learners may find them challenging to pronounce
due to the absence of equivalent pronunciations in Japanese. These findings suggest that careful consideration of word
selection is essential in the development of future English language materials for beginning learners in Japan. In particular, it
is important to ensure that even words that are considered easy according to difficulty assessments are selected with attention
to whether their syllable pronunciation aligns with familiar phonemes.
Keywords -Graph Phonemic Awareness, English Textbook, EFL.
Type : Research paper
Published : Volume-10,Issue-10
Copyright: © Institute of Research and Journals
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Published on 2025-02-03 |
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