Bio Data
Dr. Asako Uchibori has a PhD in Linguistics and is an Assistant Professor at the College
of Industrial Technology, Nihon University, Japan. Dr. Kiyomi Chujo is an Associate
Professor at the same college. Dr. Shuji Hasegawa is an English instructor at Chiba
Prefecture’s Mobara High School in Japan.
Abstract
The authors of this study discuss ways to make the instruction of grammar more effective,
especially for Japanese beginning level English students. In particular, they discuss what
grammatical features and structures students should be aware of in order to both enhance
their classroom learning and their ability to understand and respond to practical English
expressions such those in the TOEIC test, which measure proficiency in international
English communication. They (a) assess both grammatical features and structures of three
high school English textbook series widely used in high-schools in Japan and those of test
questions in the TOEIC reading sections; (b) uncover discrepancies that exist between
those textbooks and TOEIC; (c) make suggestions about how to approach the instruction
of grammar; and (d) report the results of their case study in which grammar instruction
was given to beginning level university students in the suggested way.