TODE Tomoko
   Department   Hiroshima shudo University  The Faculty of Humanities and Human Sciences
   Position   Professor
Language Japanese
Publication Date 2020/03
Type Articles
Peer Review With peer review
Title The Subject in an Authorized Junior High School Textbook: Usage-Based Frequency Analysis
Contribution Type Single-Authored Publication
Journal The Chugoku Academic Society of English Language Education
Journal TypeJapan
Volume, Issue, Pages 79-90頁
Number of pages 12
Author and coauthor Tomoko Tode
Details This study reports on an analysis of the usage of the English subject in one of authorized
junior-high-school textbooks New Crown English Series (NC). As a point of reference,
analysis was also conducted on the Oxford Reading Tree Series (ORT), which are established
levelled stories for British children. The analysis focused on frequency of different types of
subject from the perspective of usage-based second language learning. One of the main
findings on the usage of the third-person subject was that, while ORT frequently used proper
nouns of its main characters, such proper-noun use was very limited in NC. Instead, general
use of common nouns was observed from earlier stages. The results suggest that easily
identifiable subjects should be used in stories at early stages before general use on social
topics is introduced.