時岡 ゆかり

Controversy over the issue of feedback on errors still exists. Some research suggests that grammar correction in writing is not useful (Semke, 1984; Kepner, 1991; Truscott, 1996) and reading activities are more effective in developing literacy skills (Krashen, 1993; Mason & Krashen, 1997). Some research insists that feedback on errors helps learners improve their grammatical accuracy (Fathman & Whalley, 1990). On the other hand, Krashen (1993) suggests that grammar instruction could be efficient for older students. In this study, learners at a beginning level in English were offered grammar instruction along with feedback on errors in the spring semester, while they were offered reading activities in fall. Explicit grammar instruction and grammar correction as well as extensive reading may be helpful to beginners with limited lexical and grammatical knowledge in the EFL situation.

The purpose of this paper is to present some findings concerning errors produced by intermediate learners of English. The effects of fluency-first instruction and form-focused instruction on grammatical accuracy in writing are to be examined. The English language performance of students in a foreign language setting was analyzed by classifying errors into categories. The written product was rated on such features as article, sentence structure, mechanics, agreement and vocabulary. Though modest improvement in some components appeared, the form-focused instruction did not influence improvement in accuracy of structure.

In EFL contexts in Japan, the primary focus was once on reading, writing and grammar, while communicative competence was not emphasized. However, the focus shifted from accuracy to fluency at secondary school in accordance with the course of study guidelines announced by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 1989. As a result, writing fluency seems to have improved along with this metbod. On the other hand, vocabulary size as language elements provided by the guidelines has been reduced in recent years. In this article, the influence of communication-oriented instruction on fluency is to be examined. Moreover, the effects of the small size of vocabulary at school on the quality of written products by the students are to be studied. The date on fluency and error analysis came from essays written by the students in the past decade.