The Effects of Differences in Point of View on the Story Production of Japanese EFL Students

Abstract

Abstract:This study examines how differences in point of view influence the story production of Japanese EFL students with different levels of English proficiency. Japanese college EFL students wrote two narrative stories based on the same series of pictures, one in the first‐person perspective and the other in the third‐person perspective. The sample writings were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively in relation to the students' levels of English proficiency. The results showed that when the perspective was shifted from the first to the third person, the low‐proficiency students' writings became poorer in quantity and quality, whereas the high‐proficiency students' narratives exhibited no decrease in quantity and a slight decline in quality. On the other hand, when the perspective was switched from the third to the first person, the students' writings showed both quantitative and qualitative development, and this development was more clearly observed in the stories of those with high English proficiency.