Case Study Analysis

Introduction: the case

 

Mari is a 30 year old Japanese woman living in Sydney with her Australian husband, Bill, and their five year old Australian-born son, Ken. She originally learned English in high school in Japan, and has not undertaken any formal courses in English since. The following report relates to Mari’s current linguistic goals and examines the impact of various factors on her continued acquisition of English.

Similarities and differences between L1 and L2

Although she has already acquired some competence in English, Mari faces challenges in grammar, pronunciation, and pragmatics. Syntactically, where English follows a Subject-Verb-Object sentence structure, Japanese is…… While this difference may lead to the conclusion that …, according to ____, ‘………’. Other grammatical differences such as …. can have a negative impact on learning as ‘……’ (….). Avoidance, when a learner ….. One of the few similarities between the languages is ………

Pronunciation, an area of concern for Mari, may pose challenges due to ….. In relation to phonemics, …… Problems with …, but Japanese learners may also….  …. ________ is alsoimpacted… . Japanese does not share …. . Japanese is a …. . Where …….

Pragmatics, which refers to …,is an important aspect of language in Japan where … .This can lead to …. as described by ___________ (2001).

Behaviourists, advocates of the “contrastive analysis hypothesis”, believed …. This has proved to be …. .

Psychological factors

Aged 30, Mari is.Nativists would suggest that Mari …, yet despite this apparent disadvantage, Mari is …. . While she is unlikely to achieve ….

According to ……. older learners may require …. . Mari’s motivation to improve her English …. Being able to communicate effectively with Ken’s teachers and his cohort’s parents, as well as assist him with his schoolwork,are…..

The inference from Mari’s completion of a floristry qualification is that …. This may reflect her …. . Mari’s lack of …. . Her only formal English language education was in Japan where ….. While conclusions about her personality cannot be drawn from the given data, ….Given the appropriate learning environment, ….

Social factors

Mari identifies strongly with …. .Maintaining friendships with other Japanese people is ….. Yet through her ability to negotiate everyday transactions and greetings in English, she has demonstrated…. .

Mari’s language goals are motivated by …. . Unless Maribroadens…, she risks …. However, it appears that Mari …. . She avoids …. . Living in Sydney, Mari is immersed …. . According to sociocultural theory which views learning as …, using her L2 ….. However, the case study implies that ….

Conclusion: implications for language teaching and learning

There is not one definitive method nor theory for language pedagogy. A competent teacher may draw upon many theories, incorporating a variety of teaching techniques to meet the needs of learners. As stated previously, one of Mari’s goals is to …, and while the audiolingual methods…, this style of teaching and learning can still …. Mari may benefit from …to improve her …. Japanese learners are known to …, and any competent language teacher should …, by….

While teachers should not slavishly teach to …).  This awareness can help …. This may prove conducive to ….

The sociocultural model of learning is suited to …. Mari would benefit from …. Ideally, the classes would feature …. These activities should provide …. As a bonus, ….

Aside from developing …. Mari will need to supplement…. Mari could also have difficulty …. In Japan the classroom environment is …. In the typical Australian classroom, ….

Mari’s first language, Japanese, will undoubtedly …. This linguistic influence, …. Mari’s linguistic goals are motivated by …. To …, Mari could perhaps ….

 

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