Japanese Learners’ Consciousness Toward English: When Do They Begin to Like or Dislike English?

Abstract

This paper provides a review of research addressing when students begin to like or dislike English, when they obtain or lose their motivation for learning English, and the reasons associated with their preferences and motivation regarding the language. It also includes a discussion of the findings of a qualitative survey conducted by the author, which indicates that the first and the second grades of junior high school are probably serious turning points of their consciousness toward English. The second biggest turning point is probably the first half of the first grade of high school. Once they have difficulty in learning English and begin to hate English, their feelings continue, even at the university level. The reasons for students’ dislike of English are often related to their difficulty with the language. For example, studying English is to memorize sentences and words, and learning English grammar is very difficult. 本論では、生徒が英語を好きになり始めたり嫌いになり始める時期やその動機、理由について過去の研究結果を調査している。また40名の大学1年生を対象にした質的調査を行った結果を述べている。この質的調査の結果はこれまでの研究結果を裏付けるもので、まず中学1年と2年の時期、次に高校1年の前半の時期が、英語に対する意識の最も重要なターニングポイントであることがわかった。また一度嫌いになるとその気持ちは大学生になっても続く傾向にある。嫌いになる要因としては英文や英単語の暗記、文法の難しさがあげられる。