Abstract
The study examined the impact of a first language’s summarizing skill and second language vocabulary size on summary performances in a second language. A total of 40 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners from a Japanese university with a mixed level of English language proficiency were asked to write a summary in English (i.e., their non-native language, L2) and in Japanese (their native language, L1) from a text written English and Japanese respectively. The effect of L1 summarizing skill on L2 summary performances was examined using multiple regression analysis. L1 summary performances (i.e., summarizing skill) slightly influenced English summary performances for summary writers with lower-level English language proficiency but not L2 summary performances for those with higher-level English language proficiency. The participants’ vocabulary size measured by Nation’s (2007) test was positively correlated with their English summary performances. Moreover, the results showed that the vocabulary size in the highest and smallest-vocabulary size groups was correlated with scores on two rating scales (i.e., Language use and Source use) in their English summary. In contrast, the vocabulary size in the middle-level vocabulary size groups was correlated with their scores on two different rating scales (i.e., Main idea coverage and Integration) in their English summary. This study concluded that L1 summary performance had not impact on L2 summary performances because several characteristics influence of summary writers’ English vocabulary size. The study made several recommendations to EFL teachers who teach summary writing and for further study.
Highlights
1.1 Review of LiteraturesSummarization is considered one of the most important academic skills in tertiary education (Hirvela & Du, 2013; Yamanishi et al, 2019)
The results showed that the score of one of the rating scales, Main idea coverage in L1 summary performance greatly influenced on the scores of Main idea coverage and Integration (i.e., Whether the statement in summary is written in logical ordering and whether the statement in summary has global interpretation) in L2 summary performance
The results show that the average score of each rating scale in group A and B’s Japanese summaries were almost the same
Summary
Summarization is considered one of the most important academic skills in tertiary education (Hirvela & Du, 2013; Yamanishi et al, 2019). In English speaking countries, such as United states and Canada, students learn to summarize texts in primary/ secondary school (e.g., Liebman, 1992; Pennycook, 1996; Rinnert & Kobayashi, 2005; Shi, 2006), they are familiar with writing summaries, so many research studies on English summarization focus on learners of English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) and first language (L1) speakers of English. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) in Japan compelled English teachers in secondary schools to teach integrated language tasks such as English summary writing (MEXT, 2018; Yamanishi et al, 2019) It was still the teachers’ prerogative to give frequent assignments or decipher guidelines for summarization as a learning strategy based on their students’ academic ability. There are still very few studies on the summary threshold
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