CHAPTER I; Introduction



Do the students notice the lexical ambiguity, and how do they deal with it?

Graduation Thesis

Presented to

the Faculty of the Department of

English Language and Literature

Notre Dame Seishin University

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirement for the Degree

Bachelor of Arts

by

Rie Hanazawa

2012

Contents

Abstract 1

Chapter One: Introduction

1.1 Introduction 2

1.2 What is lexical ambiguity? 2

1.2.1. Introduction 2

1.2.2 Definitions of polysemy 3

1.2.3 Definitions of homonymy 4

1.2.4 Difference between polysemy and homonymy 5

1.3 The formal and semantic criteria 6

1.4 The way the students deal with polysemous words 8

1.4.1 Suggestions from cognitive linguistics 8

1.4.2 Coercion 9

1.5 Focus of the thesis 10

1.6 Summary 10

Chapter Two: The experiment

2.1 Introduction 12

2.2 The experiment 12

2.2.1. Introduction to the experiment 12

2.2.2 Method 12

1) Subjects 12

2) Test design 12

3) Procedure 15

2.3 Results 15

2.4 Summary 20

Chapter Three: Discussion

3.1 Introduction 21

3.2 Summary of the results 21

3.3 Discussion of the results 21

3.3.1 Discuss for Table 1 22

3.3.2 Discuss for Table 1 and 2 26

3.3.3 Discuss tor Questionnaire 30

3.4 Implications of the Questionnaire 31

3.4.1 Research Question 1: Do the students notice lexical ambiguity? 31

3.4.2 Research Question 2: Do the students get the correct

meanings of ambiguous words? 31

3.4.3 Research Question 3: How do they deal with lexical ambiguity? 31

3.5 Limitation of the Experiments 32

3.6 Further Research 33

3.7 Conclusion 33

References 34

Appendices 35

Abstract

Many words have more than one meaning, and when we learn English, we must face the tasks of learning the multiple meanings. The multiple meanings often become a problem for the second language learners. We often know the main meaning but do not know the secondary or third meanings. They are used in different contexts and they sometimes lead us to misunderstand the context. This paper discusses whether the students notice the multiple meanings and investigates the way they deal with them.

In Chapter One, we looked at what it is generally said about lexical ambiguity, semantic criteria, and the way the students deal with polysemous words.

In Chapter Two, we looked at the process and the results of the tests and a questionnaire. Notre Dame Seishin University students were asked to take some tests. A word quiz acted as the pre-test and a reading and comprehension question test as post-test. Then, we compared the scores of the pre-test and the post-test. Also, we asked the students in questionnaire how to usually deal with unknown words, their characters, and so on.

In Chapter Three, we discussed the results of the tests and the questionnaire in detail. We found out the score of post-test was higher than that of pre-test which means that the subjects might notice the lexical ambiguity and sometimes they could guess the correct meanings. Also, we the research questions were discussed.

Chapter One: Introduction

1.1 Introduction

When the students learn a second language, they all must face the multiple meanings of words while they are reading or listening something. It is not surprising that many words have more than one meaning and it is used in different contexts. Actually, Ravin and Leacock (2000) said, “out of approximately 60,000 entries in Webster’s Seventh Dictionary, 21,488, or almost 40 per cent, have two or more senses, according to Byrd et al. (1987)” We often know the main meaning of the words, but do not know the second or third meanings. These words can lead them to misunderstand the contexts, whether they can grasp the correct meanings or not. They sometimes can guess the correct meaning from the context. They sometimes guess the meaning from the main meaning of the word that they already know.

This chapter will summarize the previous research on the multiple meanings of words. It has been studied from several points of view; the philosophy of linguistics, psychology, and so on. The multiple meanings of the words are also called lexical ambiguity which is classified into two concepts; homonymy and polysemy. They are similar, but they describe different aspects.

The multiple meanings of the words exist everywhere, so how do the students notice the multiple meanings of the words? How do they determine the correct meanings? It is interesting to find out the way the students deal with polysemy.

1.2 What is lexical ambiguity?

1.2.1 Introduction

Many words have more than one meaning. Having two or more meanings with in a single word is called lexical ambiguity. For example, ‘ball’ has two different meanings: ‘a round object used for throwing, hitting or kicking’ and ‘a large formal party with dancing’. According to Ravin and Leacock (2000), “the most commonly used words tend to be the most polysemous. The verb run, for example, has 29 senses in Webster’s, further divided into nearly 125 sub-senses.” Picture has also two meanings, and the sentence of John saw a picture is too ambiguous. However, we can identify the meaning when the sentence is changed in following way.

a. John saw a picture which Mary painted.

b. John saw a picture which Mary took yesterday.

Picture (a) means ‘drawing’, on the other hand, picture (b) means ‘photo.’ It is possible to decide the meaning by the context.

Lexical ambiguity can be classified into two: polysemy and homonymy. Polysemy has been studied for a long time. Polysemy and homonymy seem to be similar, but their definitions are quite different.

1.2.2 Definitions of polysemy

In this section, the definitions of polysemy are shown.

1. The words, which have the same word-form, have more than two meanings. These meanings have some relations. (Honda, 2003, pp. 114)

2. Polysemous words can differ very considerably according to the degrees of relatedness and difference which their meanings display. (Cowie, 1982, pp. 51)

Here are some examples.

a. The newspaper fired its editor.

b. John spilled coffee on the newspaper. (Krifka, 1998)

Newspaper in (a) means ‘producer’, on the other hand, newspaper in (b) means ‘product’. Two meanings are similar. It can be said that they have meaning relations.

Here is another example. Look at the meanings of ‘chip’, the word ‘chip’ has three meanings.

1. A small piece of some hard substance which has been broken off from something larger.

2. A small cut piece of potato which is fried for eating.

3. A small but vital piece of a computer.

These three meanings all show ‘a small piece’, it means they have meaning relations.

Here is another example, and this will not show the meaning relations but derivational relations.

a. Tokyo is the capital of Japan.

b. The company needs financial capital. (Krifka, 1998)

Capital (a) means ‘city’, and capital (b) means ‘money’. These meanings are different, but they are derived from the same word origin. It can be said that they have a relations.

3. Definitions of homonymy

In this section, the definitions of homonymy are shown. It is similar to polysemy, but a little different.

1. The words, which have the same word-form, have more than two meanings. However, they have no relations. (Honda, 2003, pp. 114)

2. Total distinctness of the meanings of identical forms. (Cowie, 1982, pp. 51)

Here are the examples.

a. Mary walked along the bank of the river.

b. Harbor bank is the richest bank in the city. (Krifka, 1998)

Bank (a) and (b) have the same spellings and the same pronunciations, but their meanings are completely different, and they are derived from different words. It can be said that they have no relations.

Here is another example.

a. Drop me a line when you are in Boston.

b. We built a fence along the property line. (Krifka, 1998)

Line (a) and (b) have completely different meanings. Line (a) means make contact with someone, and line (g) means a row.

1.2.4 Difference between polysemy and homonymy

We could understand the difference between polysemy and homonymy from their definitions. Krifka (1998) said, “The important point is that the meanings of a polysemous expression are related to each other. It is not the case for homonymous expressions.” However, it is difficult to make a distinction between polysemy and homonymy. When the students read the text, they do not have to distinguish polysemy from homonymy. They will probably pay attention to grasping the correct meanings. Therefore, it is not so important for them to understand the difference between polysemy and homonymy.

1.3 The formal and semantic criteria

There are some criteria for diagnosing polysemy. Polysemy needs some relations between multiple meanings, and it has some kinds of relations. First, to identify polysemy and homonymy, it is important to look at lexicologists working in the 1950s and 1960s within a Saussurean structuralist framework (Godel 1948, Benveniste 1954, Frei 1961, Dubois 1962). They studied French words, so we will look the examples of French word in section 1, 2, and 3.

1. Intransitive or transitive

a. The children skipped happily down the street. (intransitive)

b. We skipped the first chapter. (transitive)

Skip (a) is a sequence of movements, because when one foot touches the ground, the other foot does not. Walk is also a sequence of moving, but when one foot touches the ground, and another foot still touches the ground. Skip misses the time that both feet touch the ground. On the contrary, skip (b) means missing one element. There are relations between skip (a) and (b). (Goddard, 1998. P.19)

2. Derivational series

a. The farm will fail unless the drought ends soon.

b. It is difficult to farm this land. (Krifka, 1998)

These words have the same word origin and both are from Latin word, according to Random House English-Japanese Dictionary. These ‘farm’ words have similar meanings, but they are different part of speech. Farm (a) is noun, and farm (b) is verb, so it is not so difficult to get the correct meanings when the part of speech was recognized.

However, polysemous items vary according to how closely or distantly their meanings are related, so the structuralist literature fails to recognize polysemy. By using some criteria, relatedness of meanings are revealed. Here is other general point related to syntactic criteria.

3. The presence or absence of an object pronoun

The following sentences will show the syntactic features well. There are differences between transitive and intransitive, the presence or absence of an object pronoun.

a. I should ask them to go.

b. I should ask when to go.

c. I should ask them when to go.

Ask (a) is transitive verb. ‘Them’ can be deleted from the sentence, but its meaning should ask permission. Ask (b) is intransitive verb, but when ‘them’ is optionally inserted, ask (b) becomes a transitive verb. On the other hand, ask (c) is a transitive verb, but when ‘them’ is optionally deleted from the sentence, ask (c) becomes intransitive verb. Consequently, the presence or absence of the object pronoun is important to decide the function of verbs, and their meanings. (Cowie, 1982)

4. Count or non-count

a. There is and apple on the table.

b. There is apple in the salad. (Krifka, 1998)

Apple (a) is countable word and it refers to just an object, on the other hand, apple (b) is non-countable word and it refers to a stuff. A syntactic relationship is frequently diagnostic of polysemy.

1.4 The way the students deal with polysemous words

1.4.1 Suggestions from cognitive linguistics

Cognitive linguistic research on polysemy has suggested the following things.

1. The multiple senses of a polysemous word are related to one another by means of such general cognitive principles as metaphor, metonymy, image-schema transformations, etc. (Anonymous, 2010)

Metaphor is a word or phrase used to describe something else. Polysemous words are sometimes produced by metaphor. For example, the word ‘crane’ had an original meaning of ‘a bird’ with long legs and a long neck. Later, the second meaning of ‘a tall machine’ with a long arm used to lift and move occurred because their shapes are similar. (Hotta, 2010) These two meanings have historical relations. Eventually, metaphorical polysemy has the relations of metaphor between two meanings.

Metonymy is the act of referring to something by the name of something else that has close relations with it. For example, ‘count heads’ or ‘count noses’ describe ‘count people.’ (Random House English-Japanese Dictionary, 1997) Metonymical polysemy shows the relations of connectedness between two meanings.

2. The senses of polysemous words can be organized into prototype structures, family resemblance structures, or lexical networks.

3. The study of polysemy shares many characteristics with the study of categorization for both linguistic and non-linguistic concepts. (Anonymous, 2010)

These three suggestions can be applied to teaching and also learning polysemous words. Polysemy is studied in a broad extent, and cognitive linguistic research, which focuses on Chinese English major’s acquisition of English polysemous words, found some views. Cognitive research on polysemy investigated the correct situation of the subject’s acquisition of polysemous words. The subjects were 105 sophomores in school of foreign language of Southwest China University of Political Science and Law, and they use English-Chinese translation, Chinese-English translation, and questionnaires as the instruments.

1. The subjects did poorly in inferring the exact senses of the polysemous words from the context, but they did it better in the case of regular polysemous words than that of irregular polysemous words.

2. The subjects could not fully grasp the whole polysemous networks of the target words, however, they grasped the prototypical sense better than the peripheral ones.

3. They did not know how the multiple senses were related, and they usually learnt by rote the first three senses listed in the dictionary.

4. The subjects who knew how cognitive mechanisms structured the senses of the target words acquired their senses more easily and effectively in the short term as well as in the long term and enhanced their ability to use them. (Anonymous, 2010)

1.4.2 Coercion

It is difficult to deal with polysemy and get the correct meanings. However, the students sometimes understand the correct meanings without paying attention to polysemy. Krifka (1998) said, “It is because world knowledge helps them to disambiguate the word in ordinary contexts,” and it is called coercion. It means the word usually uses the same context, and the student can guess the meanings easily. The disambiguation of polysemy will be caused by the phenomenon of coercion.

1.5 Focus of the thesis

We have seen what polysemy is and the difference between polysemy and homonymy. However, the students may not pay attention to the difference strictly. It is important for them to grasp the correct meanings when they encounter unknown secondary meanings in a text or sentences. We wanted to research whether they notice multiple meanings, and how do they deal with them. We will look at how the students deal with the multiple meanings in Chapters Two and Three.

These are the research questions for this thesis.

1. Do the students notice lexical ambiguity?

2. Do the students get the correct meanings of ambiguous words?

3. How do they deal with lexical ambiguity?

1.6 Summary

Almost all the students will face the problems with the multiple meanings. It is natural have difficulty with the correct meanings, and multiple meanings are a problem for the second language learners. Multiple meanings are classified into polysemy and homonymy and it is difficult to make a distinction. The study of polysemy has long history in various fields. So there are some criteria for them. This distinction is not so important for the students when they are reading or listening and encounter the unknown words or unknown meanings. However, the students had better know the multiple meanings and have some knowledge. Then, they can avoid misunderstanding by noticing the multiple meanings and pick up the correct meanings. In Chapter Two, we will look at the process and the results of the tests and questionnaire.

Chapter Two: The Experiment

2.1 Introduction

In Chapter One, the background of lexical ambiguity was explained. For example, the kinds of lexical ambiguity, the differences between them, and the way we distinguish them. It is natural for the second language learners to face the problem with the multiple meanings, so they need to grasp the correct meanings and avoid misunderstandings.

An experiment to determine whether the students guess and grasp the correct meanings, was carried out. In this chapter, we will look at the process and the result of questionnaire.

2.2 The Experiment

2.2.1 Introduction to the experiment

To show whether the students notice lexical ambiguity or not, and the way of dealing with it, two types of test and one questionnaire were made and were taken by university students.

2.2.2 Method

1) Subjects

Twenty-two subjects from Notre Dame Seishin University participated in this research. All the subjects were in English department. They were junior or senior, so they have studied English for at least nine or ten years.

2) Test design

Two types of tests and questionnaire were used. The first part was a simple word quiz. First, about 100 words, the students would probably know the first or second meanings but do not know the other meanings, were selected. These words were from Obunsha’s Comprehensive English-Japanese Dictionary. Then, 16 words were chosen for making the questionnaire. Some words were derived from the same word origins and the other was derived from the different word origins. Multiple answers were possible. The students had six choices and one of them was ‘I don’t know.’ These can be found in Appendix A. Here is an example.

Q. Choose correct meaning. ※Multiple answers were possible

1. School

a. A member

b. A group

c. A line

d. To remember something

e. To educate

f. I don’t k now

The second part was reading a text and doing the comprehension questions. Three short texts were prepared, and each text had six comprehension questions. The texts were made using the 16 words which were taken from the dictionary. The words, which the students certainly know the first meaning but may not know the second or third meanings, were chosen. The main meaning and the secondary meaning were quite different. If these meanings are similar, the subjects may guess the meaning easily because they are in the English department. Also, these words were chosen, because they have useful meanings to make the stories. Some words are used twice in different meaning. Text 1 had 133 words, Text 2 had 134 words, and Text 3 had 144 words. These can be found in Appendix B. Here is an example.

The mothers listened as Kate gave an address. She wanted them to know her better. She loves the company of children, and she sometimes visited the kindergarten. Actually, she tends babies.

Q. What did Kate do for the mothers?

1. She made a speech.

2. She told them the place for consulting.

3. She told them her contact information.

4. She played with their children.

5. I don’t know.

The texts were written so carefully that the students would not notice the aims of questionnaire easily. In addition, the text was made so ambiguous that the students could be misled. Some words were used twice, and there were sometimes the same kinds of meaning words, so that the student will be confused. For example, ‘tip’ was used twice, and it was used in two meanings. It meant ‘to take hat when exchange greeting’ in text 1, and ‘advice’ in text 2. The students have to understand the correct meaning in the different context. The students just chose the answer, they had five choices and one of them was always ‘I don’t know.’

The third part was a questionnaire asking about the tests and the characters of the subjects. The subjects were asked how many times they read the text, and how many unknown words there were. Also, they were asked what they usually do when they encounter the unknown meanings. Some questions were about their characters. These questions were elements of ambiguity tolerant. The relation between ambiguity tolerant and the way of dealing with unknown words or unknown meaning words might be revealed. The questionnaire is in Appendix B.

These tests and questionnaire were all put together in one book, and all the answers were written on the answer sheet except questionnaire about ambiguity tolerance. Text 1 to Text 3 for reading was written in English and the other parts were written in Japanese. These can be found in Appendices C and D.

The aim of the experiment is to find out how the students deal with unknown words. The reason why the students were asked to take word quiz was to know whether they already knew the correct meanings of words. Then, they were asked to take the test of reading and solving comprehension questions. The students asked to take test in this order. If the student had a wrong answer on the word quiz, but had the correct answer on the reading and comprehension question, they might guess the answer. If the student chose ‘I don’t know,’ they might tend to ignore unknown meanings or they do not like to get mistakes. In this way, the way of dealing with unknown meanings are revealed.

3) Procedure

The tests and questionnaire had 49 questions. The students were asked to write their names on both the test book and the answer sheet. There was no time limit. The students were asked not to use the dictionaries and go back to the previous page. If they had been allowed to go back to the previous page, it would have become easier to guess the correct answer, so they could not. When they were reading Text 1 to Text 3, they were asked to underline unknown words or unknown meaning words. All the students took about 15 ~ 25 minutes to take the test. After they finished, all the test books and the answer sheets were collected.

2.3 Results

The following tables show the results of the tests.

Table 1: Data of pre-test and post-test. Word quiz is pre-test, and reading and doing comprehension questions are post-test.

| |Pre-test |Post-test |Gain |

|Bank (line) |0.0% |31.8% |Increase |

|School |22.7% |86.4% |Increase |

|Scale |4.5% |68.2% |Increase |

|Charge |18.2% |27.3% |Increase |

|Credit |4.5% |68.2% |Increase |

|File |4.5% |36.4% |Increase |

|Cure |36.4% |45.5% |Increase |

|Capital |4.5% |4.5% |Equal |

|Staff (stick) |4.5% |9.1% |Increase |

|Mine |36.4% |22.7% |Decrease |

|Address |22.7% |45.5% |Increase |

|Tip (greeting) |4.5% |63.6% |Increase |

|Tender |63.6% |9.1% |Decrease |

|Desert |18.2% |63.6% |Increase |

|Foil |0.0% |40.9% |Increase |

|sound |22.7% |59.1% |Increase |

|Average |18.6% |42.6% |Increase |

The percentage of correct answers of post-test mostly became higher than the pre-test. Consequently, the average score of the pre-test became higher than that of the post-test. However, the percentage of the two data became lower. The percentage of correct answer of ‘tender’ especially fell sharply.

Table 2: Words said to be unknown. The students underlined the unknown words, when they read the text.

|Word |Meaning |Percentage |

|Bank |River |22.7% |

|School |Group |22.7% |

|Scale |material covered body |59.1% |

|Tip |Greeting |40.9% |

|Credit |be proud of somebody |40.9% |

|Nail file |Smoother |50.0% |

|Cure |Preservation |50.0% |

|Establishment |start something |4.5% |

|Capital |Money |54.5% |

|Staff |Worker |9.1% |

|Bank |Line |45.5% |

|Staff |Stick |13.6% |

|Tip |Advice |72.7% |

|Mine |Mountain |40.9% |

|Address |Speech |18.2% |

|Company |Group |4.5% |

|Tend |take care of somebody |22.7% |

|Kindergarten |School |4.5% |

|Desert |run away |68.2% |

|Love-starved |not having love |22.7% |

|Charge |Blame |36.4% |

|Foil |Fail |59.1% |

|Sound out |Think |36.4% |

About 70% of the subjects recognized some words as unknown. On the other hand, some words were common for almost all subjects.

Table 3: How many times did you read the text?

|Times |1 |2 |Over 3 |

|Percentage |46% |42% |12% |

Most of the subjects read the text once or twice. On the other hand, some subjects read it more than three times, it may because they could not go back to text page, once they started answering the comprehension questions.

Table 4: How many unknown words were there?

|Number |0 |1-5 |6-10 |Over 11 |

|Percentage |5% |41% |50% |5% |

The results were varied. About 50% of the subjects had more than six unknown words.

Table 5: Did you have some troubles with unknown words?

|Yes |No |

|100% |0% |

Everyone had some troubles with unknown words.

Table 6: When you prepare for English class, and you encounter an unknown word, what do you do?

|Try to guess from the context |39% |

|Read the sentence again and again |15% |

|Look it up in the dictionary |30% |

|Ignore it and continue reading |15% |

The results varied by the subjects. 30% of the subjects use a dictionary, when they encounter the unknown words. About 55% of them try to find out the correct meanings by themselves, regardless of preparing of the classes. On the other hand, 15% of them ignore the unknown words, regardless of preparations.

Table 7: When you take a test, you encounter the unknown word, what do you do?

|Try to guess from the context |63% |

|Read the sentence again and again |15% |

|Ignore it and continue reading |22% |

Compared with Table 6, about 60% of the subjects try to guess the meanings, and the percentage of them ignoring the unknown words increased from 15% to 22%. It may because they could not use the dictionary while taking the tests.

Table 8: Asking the characters of the subjects.

| |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |

|I like trying new things. |55% |41% |0% |5% |0% |

|If I can, I want stay in Japan forever. |9% |14% |27% |32% |18% |

|I am unwilling to try a new dish. |9% |9% |5% |32% |45% |

|I like traveling |14% |73% |9% |5% |0% |

|In fact, I don’t like foreign language so much. |0% |5% |9% |27% |59% |

Many subjects are good at challenging new things and receiving new things. They also are good at communicating with people. They may get familiarized with something easily. Almost all the subjects said they follow rules, so they may not carry things too far when they challenge new things and try many things.

2.4 Summary

In this chapter, the experiment was conducted. The tests were made considering many elements because we have to avoid that the students noticed the aim of the tests. Also, the questionnaire showed which asked what the subjects do when they encounter the unknown words or unknown meaning words, and their characters.

It was interesting that almost all of the percentage of correct answers increased in the results of pre-test compared with post-test, but a few decreased. The reasons for these data and others will be analyzed in the next chapter

Chapter Three: Discussion

3.1 Introduction

We looked at the general background of lexical ambiguity in Chapter One. In Chapter Two, we looked at whether the students notice the ambiguous words, whether they grasp the correct meanings or not, by asking the students to take tests. Their capacity will be revealed by comparing the data of pre-test and post-test in Chapter Two.

Now we will look at the results of test and discuss the data in detail. Finally, the answers to the research questions will be presented, and the limitations of the research will be stated.

3.2 Summary of the results

In Chapter Two, we looked at the results of the tests and questionnaire. Most of the subjects read the text once or twice. The scores of both the pre-test and the post-test were different with some questions. The score of the post-tests increased for most questions, and so the average was higher than the pre-test. However, the score of the post-test decreased for two questions. In addition, the ways the subjects usually dealt with unknown words were shown.

3.3 Discussion of the results

In this section, we will look at the results of test in detail and discuss them.

3.3.1 Discussion of Table 1

The word quiz was the pre-test, and reading and doing comprehension questions were the post-test. Most of the items on the post-test became higher which means the subjects could understand the correct meanings of words from the reading context. The highest one increased 63.7%. The percentages of correct answers of 6 of 16 words were more than 50%. However, three still stayed under 10%. Now we will look at some of these.

Increased scores

Here are the text and questions for ‘school.’ The percentage of correct answer of post-test was 86.4% and it increased from 63.7% on the pre-test. This is one of the highest ones.

Mary usually likes to go for a walk, and she went out today too. She usually goes to the bank of the river. It was a sunny day, and she could see a school of fish. They looked like they were dancing.

Q. Near the river, what did she see?

1. There was a group of fish.

2. Fish was also educated at school.

3. Fish made a line.

4. Children learned about fish near the river.

5. I don’t know.

Here is the table of the subject’s answers.

Table 9: The answer list of question for ‘school’

|Number |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |

|Percentage |86% |9% |5% |0% |0% |

The correct answer is 1. This is an extremely high score so we can conclude the subjects might remember the phrase. Actually, the percentage on the pre-test was 22.7%, so they noticed the secondary meaning while they were reading the text of after they read the alternative answers.

Here is another example, the question for ‘credit.’ The percentage of correct answer on the pre-test was 4.5%, and that of the post-test was 68.2%. The score increased 63.7%, so this is also one of highest scores.

She decided to go to the city. On the way to the city, she met Tom. He tipped his hat to her, and she felt happy. He was a kind and hard worker, so he was a credit to his family.

Q. What did Tom’s family think about him?

1. His parents depended on him for money.

2. He was kind to give advice about money.

3. They were worried about him.

4. His family was proud of him.

5. I don’t know.

Here is the table of the subject’s answers.

Table 10: The answer list of question for ‘credit’

|Number |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |

|Percentage |0% |14% |14% |68% |5% |

The correct answer is 4. We can know he was a nice person as he was a kind and hard worker, so the subjects could guess the answer was a positive thing. However, some people associate money with credit. It may because word like ‘credit card’ which is relate with money, is common for Japanese. In fact, ‘credit’ has a meaning of money in the bank.

Decreased scores

On the other hand, the percentages of correct answer of two of the 16 words became lower. That of ‘mine’ decreased 13.7%. So in this section we will investigate why these decreased.　Here is the text and question for ‘mine.’

Then, he went to see a newly discovered mine because he had to decide his type of business. There was still a lot of work.

Q. Where did he go to decide his type on business?

1. He went to the place that he could think deeply.

2. He stayed home.

3. He went to his secret place in his house.

4. He went to a cave in the mountain.

5. I don’t know.

Here is the table of the subject’s answers.

Table 11: The answer list of question for ‘mine’

|Number |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |

|Percentage |23% |41% |5% |5% |27% |

The correct answer is 4. However, most subjects chose the answer 1 or 2, and 27% of subjects chose ‘I don’t know.’ If the subjects know the correct meaning of ‘mine’ they would not choose answer 1 or 2. Some subjects might have associated ‘think deeply’ with the sentence ‘he had to decide his type of business’, and chose answer 1. On the other hand, the text did not say about his home, but some subjects chose answer 2.

In addition, the percentage of correct answers of ‘tender’ decreased sharply. It decreased to 54.5%. Here is the text and question for ‘tender.’

The mothers listened as Kate gave an address. She wanted them to know her better. She loves the company of children, and she sometimes visited the kindergarten. Actually, she tends babies.

Q. What does she do?

1. She is a teacher of a kindergarten.

2. She is a consultant.

3. She takes care of babies.

4. She tends to like babies.

5. I don’t know.

Here is the table of subject’s answers.

Table 12: The answer list of question for ‘tender’

|Number |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |

|Percentage |18% |32% |9% |18% |23% |

The correct answer is 3, but 68% of the subjects chose the other answers and 23% of them chose ‘I don’t know.’ The subjects may be confused to choose the correct answer by context. Some subjects might think she is a teacher of a kindergarten, because they read ‘she sometimes visited the kindergarten.’ The sentence did not say that she was a teacher, but they might misunderstand. Some subjects might think she is a consultant, because she gave an address. The other subjects might misunderstand the meaning of ‘tend’, or they chose the answer because they just saw ‘tend’ in the alternatives.

3.3.2 Discuss for Table 1 and 2

Table 2 was the percentage of words said to be unknown. In order to compare Table 1 and 2, the data of Table 2 was changed from words said to be unknown to words said to be known. Then, it became easier to compare.

We read this table in the following way. The pre-test column refers to their knowledge of the word before reading the texts. The ‘Word said to be known’ column refers to their treatment after reading the text. The post-test column refers to their scores after the treatment and reading the alternatives of the answers.

The data of ‘Words said to be known’ is that the subject just read the text and decide they already know the meaning or not. On the other hand, the results of post-test were different from the data of ‘Words said to be known’ because the subjects read the alternatives of the answer and finally chose the answer.

Table 13: Comparison Tables 1 and 2 in chapter two for the same words.

| |Pre-test |Word said to be known |Post-test |

|Bank(line) |0.0% |54.5% |31.8% |

|School |22.7% |77.3% |86.4% |

|Scale |4.5% |40.9% |68.2% |

|Charge |18.2% |63.6% |27.3% |

|Credit |4.5% |59.1% |68.2% |

|File |4.5% |50.0% |36.4% |

|Cure |36.4% |50.0% |45.5% |

|Capital |4.5% |45.5% |4.5% |

|Staff(stick) |4.5% |86.4% |9.1% |

|Mine |36.4% |59.1% |22.7% |

|Address |22.7% |81.8% |45.5% |

|Tip(greeting) |4.5% |59.1% |63.6% |

|Tender |63.6% |77.3% |9.1% |

|Desert |18.2% |31.8% |63.6% |

|Foil |0.0% |40.1% |40.9% |

|Sound |22.7% |63.6% |59.1% |

Almost all of the percentage of correct answers of post-test became higher than the pre-test. However, comparing the percentage of words said to be known and the results of post-test, the percentage decreased. It means that they once understood the meanings, but after they read the alternatives they wavered in their judgments. There were two interesting data: ‘capital’ and ‘staff’. They have low scores on the pre-test and post-test. However, the subjects said they understand the meanings when they read the text. Here is the text and question for ‘capital.’

Ken was thinking about the establishment of a new company. However, he did not have a place, or enough money and the staff. He noticed that he needs some capital immediately.

Q. What did he need immediately for his new company?

1. Place.

2. Money.

3. Workers.

4. Place, money and workers.

5. I don’t know.

Here is the table of the subject’s answers.

Table 14: The answer list of question for ‘capital’

|Number |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |

|Percentage |14% |5% |0% |77% |5% |

Many subjects chose answer 4. It is not a completely wrong answer, because Ken definitely needs place, money and workers. However, he immediately needs money. The subjects might choose the correct answer, if they answered the question while reading the text. In this test, they were not allowed to read the text while they solve the comprehension questions.

Here is the word quiz for ‘staff.’

Q. Choose the correct meaning of ‘staff’. The answer is not always one.

a. A wood stick

b. A material

c. One’s house

d. Preservation

e. A line

f. I don’t know

Here is the table of the subject’s answers.

Table 15: The answer list of quiz for ‘staff’

|Number |a |b |c |d |

|9% |45% |14% |9% |18% |

45% of the subjects chose answer 2, but ‘staff’ is a collective word. ‘A staff’ does not mean a worker. In addition, ‘staff’ in the text was a singular noun, but ‘workers’ in the alternative was in the plural form. That is why answer 2 was wrong. Half of the subjects read the text only once, so they might not have paid attention to grammar. Also, the text said, ‘he introduced his friends to Ken as workers,’ the subjects might associate workers with staff.

3.3.3 Discuss for Questionnaire

The questionnaire asked about the subject’s characters. Many subjects are good at challenging new things and receiving new things, and they are also good at communicating with people. Of course, their characters were different, and also their treatment of unknown words or unknown meaning words were different. However, there is no relation with the results of the tests.

3.4 Implications from the data

In this section, we will discuss the answers of the research questions.

3.4.1 Research Question 1: Do the students notice lexical ambiguity?

It is difficult to say whether they notice lexical ambiguity or not. However, some subjects might not notice while they were reading the text, but they might have noticed when they started to answer the comprehension questions. Some answers of on the post-test were blank, and it may be the result of their wondering which the correct answer was.

3.4.2 Research Question 2: Do the students get the correct meanings of ambiguous words?

The subjects got the higher score on the post-test than the pre-test, so it can be said that they can get correct meanings by guessing from the text or the meaning they already know, or they recognized the correct meaning after they read the text. However, they sometimes misunderstand the meanings. Of course, it is difficult to guess the meanings completely.

3.4.3 Research Question 3: How do they deal with lexical ambiguity?

Most students might guess the meanings when they encounter the unknown meanings. However, they sometimes chose ‘I don’t know.’ They might want to avoid the wrong answers, or they might ignore them after they guessed and could not get the correct meaning. The average of choosing ‘I don’t know’ on the pre-test was 13%, and that of the post-test was 14%. However, about half of the subjects chose ‘I don’t know’ in some questions. In addition, there were sometimes more than one answer, so the subjects need not to choose ‘I don’t know’ they knew at least one meaning. Actually, the average of correct answers focus on the secondary meaning of the pre-test was 18.6%. So the percentage of ‘I don’t know’ may become higher, when we just focus on the second or third meaning.

The way the students deal with lexical ambiguity was different for each person. We can know this from Table 6 and 7. Of course, they treat unknown words in different ways in different times.

3.5 Limitation of the Experiments

There are some limitations to the experiment. First, the number of subjects was small. It would have been better to ask many more students to take test, and collect more data. In this experiment, the number of the subject was 22, so one subject took up a considerably high percentage.

Secondly, the subjects were in the English department, but only juniors and seniors in the university. It would have been better to research for wide range of ages, not only the university students. In that case, there will be a difference in the results of test, and could compare between different age groups.

Thirdly, the number of words used in the test was limited. If there are more words, we could get more elements to analyze. Also, to add some translation questions in test may have been a good idea. The subjects do not confused by the alternatives of the answer. We could have got more interesting data.

3.6 Further research

To follow up this research, there are some ideas. First, how did the subjects learn polysemous words? It is a little difficult to learn polysemous words by listing and remembering them. If they know there are the relations with multiple senses, it is easier to acquire the meanings.

Secondly, can the students notice multiple meanings while listening to something? We should research the skill of dealing with polysemous words through listening, because this research focused on reading.

3.7 Conclusion

From this experiment, it can be said that the students have the ability of guessing the unknown meanings of polysemous words. They could guess the answer from the context from the alternatives of the answer. Of course, building their vocabulary is important to get a high score on the test like the word quiz. They can improve their vocabulary by studying hard and remember many words. However, the ability of guessing correct meaning is also important, because this is more practical. All of the subjects had troubles with unknown words or unknown meaning words, and it was a problem for second language learners. About 30% of the subjects tried to guess the unknown words in spite of the preparing for the classes. It is a good way to train their ability of guessing. It is important that they do not always depend on the dictionary. Then they may avoid misunderstanding.

As we know, it is not easy to get the correct meaning only by guessing. How well the students guess the meaning may depend on how well they know the words. So they had better know many words and meanings, and develop their knowledge. Then their knowledge will help them when they encounter the unknown words.

References

Anonymous. 2010. Chinese English Major’s Acquisition of English Polysemous Words: A Cognitive Linguistic Approach. Accessed June 1, 2011

Cowie. A. P. 1982. Polysemy and the structure of lexical fields. Nottingham Linguistic Circular 11, 2. pp. 51-64

Goddard, Cliff. 1998. Semantic analysis: a practical introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Honda, Kei. 2003. 認知言語学への招待. Taishuukannsyoten.

Hotta Ryuichi. 2010. Homonymy, homophony, homography, polysemy. Hellog~英語史ブログ. Accessed September 30, 2011

Krifka. M. 1998. Polysemy. Accessed September 17, 2011

Ravin, Yeal and Claudia Leacock. 2000. Polysemy: Theoretical and Computational Approaches. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Random House English-Japanese Dictionary, 1997. New York, Random House.

Obunsha’s Comprehensive English-Japanese Dictionary, 1999. Tokyo, Obunnsha.

Appendices

Appendix A: Pre-test word quiz

Choose correct meaning.

※The answer is not always one.

1. Bank

a. To save something

b. River side

c. A line

d. A group

e. Body strength

f. I don’t know

2. School

g. A member

h. A group

i. A line

j. To remember something

k. To educate

l. I don’t k now

3. Scale

a. Thin and hard material covered body

b. A group

c. Save something

d. A fund

e. A balance

f. I don’t know

4. Charge

a. To take a hat to exchange greetings

b. Money on deposit

c. Thinking

d. Responsibility

e. A wood stick

f. I don’t know

5. Credit

a. An insurance

b. Money on deposit

c. To be proud of someone

d. To take out

e. A group

f. I don’t know

6. File

a. Be a success

b. An insurance

c. Open something

d. A smoother

e. A material

f. I don’t know

7. Tender

a. Be proud of someone

b. Be a success

c. Person take care of someone

d. To run away

e. Thought

f. I don’t know

8. Capital

a. Tokyo

b. A land

c. Thin and hard material covered body

d. A fund

e. Vast

f. I don’t know

9. Staff

g. A wood stick

h. A material

i. One’s house

j. Preservation

k. A line

l. I don’t know

10. Mine

a. One’s house

b. Thought

c. To run away

d. Place where minerals are dug

e. A wood stick

f. I don’t know

11. Address

a. Responsibility

b. To settle down

c. Movement

d. A land

e. A speech

f. I don’t know

12. Tip

a. Continue

b. Small things

c. To fail

d. To take a hat to exchange greetings

e. Thin

f. I don’t know

13. Cure

a. Be in a hospital

b. Preservation

c. Progression

d. Painful

e. To make medicine

f. I don’t know

14. Sound

a. Thinking

b. Progression

c. A smoother

d. To be moved

e. To persuade someone

f. I don’t know

15. Foil

a. Be a success

b. Slithering

c. To fail

d. A smoother

e. Place where minerals are dug

f. I don’t know

16. Desert

a. To destroy

b. To run away

c. Sandy place

d. Thin and hard material covered body

e. A group

f. I don’t know

Appendix B: Post-test reading and comprehension question

Text 1

a) Please read this text

b) Please underline unknown words or unknown meaning words

c) When you finish (a) and (b), please go to the next page and answer the question. Please don’t go back to the previous page.

Mary usually likes to go for a walk, and she went out today too. She usually goes to the bank of the river. It was a sunny day, and she could see a school of fish. They looked like they were dancing. Suddenly, a snake appeared. She hates the scale on it, so she ran away.

She decided to go to the city. On the way to the city, she met Tom. He tipped his hat to her, and she felt happy. He was a kind and hard worker, so he was a credit to his family.

Mary said good-bye to him and went away. She wanted to buy a nail file. She was tired and felt a little sick, but she bought pork for dinner. She returned home, and cured the pork.

Comprehension Question 1

17. Near the river, what did she see?

1. There was a group of fish.

2. Fish was also educated at school.

3. Fish made a line.

4. Children learned about fish near the river.

5. I don’t know.

18. She encountered a snake, why did she run away?

1. She didn’t like its skin.

2. A snake was too big.

3. A snake was too heavy.

4. She hates the shape of it.

5. I don’t know.

19. She met Tom, what did he do?

1. He exchanged greetings.

2. He gave his hat to her.

3. He introduced his new hat.

4. He boasted about his hat.

5. I don’t know.

20. What did Tom’s family think about him?

1. They were worried about him.

2. His parents depended on him for money.

3. He was kind to give advice about money.

4. His family was proud of him.

5. I don’t know.

21. What did she want to buy??

1. Something to make your nails smoother.

2. It was a packet of cute nail designs.

3. Something to keep documents in.

4. Something to keep nail clipping in.

5. I don’t know.

22. What did she do with the pork?

1. She made medicine with it.

2. She cut the pork

3. The pork was smoked.

4. She felt fine after eating it.

5. I don’t know.

Text 2

(a) Please read this text

(b) Please underline unknown words or unknown meaning words

(c) When you finish (a) and (b), please go to the next page and answer the question. Please don’t go back to the previous page.

Ken was thinking about the establishment of a new company. However, he did not have a place, or enough money and the staff. He noticed that he needs some capital immediately.

He visited Tokyo to find a place and money for the company. In Tokyo, he saw a bank of TV cameras. Something might be happening he thought, but he went by.

On his way, he met a gentleman with a staff. He was very kind and had gentle eyes. They were talking about Ken’s new company, and the man gave him some advice. Also, he introduced his friends to Ken as workers. In fact he did not want to take tips.

Then, he went to see a newly discovered mine because he had to decide his type of business. There was still a lot of work.

Comprehension Question 2

23. What did he need immediately for his new company?

1. Place.

2. Money.

3. Workers.

4. Place, money and workers.

5. I don’t know.

24. Where did he have to start the company?

1. In Japan’s capital - Tokyo.

2. Anywhere was okay.

3. He didn’t know.

4. He hadn’t decided.

5. I don’t know.

25. What did he see in Tokyo?

1. There were many journalists.

2. There was a line of TV cameras.

3. There was a group of TV cameras.

4. There was a bank with a camera outside.

5. I don’t know.

26. He met the man, what did he have?

1. He was holding a stick (a piece of wood).

2. He was with his workers.

3. He had many business contacts.

4. He had a smart brain.

5. I don’t know.

27. When he talked with the man, he did not need tips. What was ‘tips’?

1. It means workers for the new company.

2. It was money for advice.

3. It was the advice from the man.

4. It was his kindness.

5. I don’t know.

28. Where did he go to decide his type on business?

1. He went to a cave in the mountain.

2. He went to the place that he could think deeply.

3. He stayed home.

4. He went to his secret place in his house.

5. I don’t know.

Text 3

a) Please read this text

b) Please underline unknown words or unknown meaning words

c) When you finish (a) and (b), please go to the next page and answer the question. Please don’t go back to the previous page.

The mothers listened as Kate gave an address. She wanted them to know her better. She loves the company of children, and she sometimes visited the kindergarten. Actually, she tends babies.

When she was a child, her mother deserted her. Although she was sad, she loved sweets so much that she felt happy while eating sweets. It was her precious memory.

During her life without mother, she became a love-starved child. She made a charge against people in her mind. She planned to shut out from a society. Her project was foiled.

One of her friends, Ashley, sometimes asked Kate to go out. They always talked a lot, and Ashley tried to sound out Kate’s thoughts. Ashley gave a lot of love to her and she changed.

Kate told the mothers to give a big love to children. It was her message to them.

Comprehension Question 3

29. What did Kate do for the mothers?

1. She made a speech.

2. She told them the place for consulting.

3. She told them her contact information.

4. She played with their children.

5. I don’t know.

30. What does she do?

1. She is a consultant.

2. She is a teacher of a kindergarten.

3. She takes care of babies.

4. She tends to like babies.

5. I don’t know.

31. What did her mother do, when she was a child?

1. Her mother made her sweets every day.

2. Her mother asked her to stay at home while she worked.

3. Her mother ran away from her.

4. She took her to a sandy place.

5. I don’t know.

32. What did she do to people?

1. She asked them for money.

2. She criticized them.

3. She gave them money.

4. She ran towards them

5. I don’t know.

34. What was the result of her plan?

1. It was a total failure.

2. She kept it secret.

3. It was a little successful.

4. Her friend noticed her plan.

5. I don’t know.

35. What did Ashley do?

1. She tried to find out Kate’s opinion.

2. She didn’t try to listen to Kate.

3. She could not her Kate’s voice.

4. She tried to persuade Kate.

5. I don’t know.

Questionnaire

All the answer should be written in answer sheet.

35. How many times did you read the text？　＿＿times

36. How many unknown words were there？

1. No 　　　　　　 2．1~5

3. 6~10 　　　　　4．Over 11

37. Did you have some trouble with unknown word?

1．Yes　　　　　　　　 2．No

38. When you prepare for English class, you encounter the unknown word, what do you do?

1. Try to guess from the context

2. Read the sentence again and again

3. Look it up in the dictionary

4. Ignore it and continue reading

39. When you take a test, you encounter the unknown word, what do you do?

1. Try to guess from the context

2. Read the sentence again and again

3. Ignore it and continue reading

40. I like trying new things.

41. I tend to eat whether it is surely delicious.

42. If I can, I want stay in Japan forever.

43. I can accept new culture and customs easily.

44. I am unwilling to try a new dish.

45. I don’t like to go where everyone is stranger.

46. I like traveling.

47. We can classify people by blood types.

48. In fact, I don’t like foreign language so much.

49. I follow rules.

Appendix C: Pre-test word quiz (Japanese version)

単語の意味を選択肢の中から選んでください。

解答はすべて解答用紙に記入してください。

解答は一つとは限りません。

1. Bank

a. 貯蓄

b. 土手

c. 1列

d. 群れ

e. 体力

f. わからない

2. School

a. 学校

b. 社員

c. 群れ

d. 一列

e. 覚える

f. わからない

3. Scale

a. うろこ

b. 群れ

c. 貯蓄

d. 資本

e. 天秤

f. わからない

4. Charge

a. 挨拶のため帽子をとる

b. 預金

c. 検討する

d. 責任

e. 杖

f. わからない

5. Credit

a. 保険

b. 預金

c. 賞賛

d. 引き出す

e. 集まり

f. わからない

6. File

a. 成功する

b. 保険

c. 溜める

d. やすり

e. 材料

f. わからない

7. Cure

a. 入院する

b. 保存

c. 痛い

d. 経過

e. 薬を作る

f. わからない

8. Capital

a. 東京

b. 土地

c. うろこ

d. 資本

e. 広大な

f. わからない

9. Staff

a. 杖

b. 材料

c. 幹部

d. 保存する

e. 一列

f. わからない

10. Mine

a. 自宅

b. 思考

c. 体力

d. 鉱山

e. 杖

f. わからない

11. Address

a. 責任

b. 定着する

c. 移動

d. 土地

e. 演説

f. わからない

12. Tip

a. 続ける

b. 小さいもの

c. 挨拶のため帽子をとる

d. 細い

e. 失敗する

f. わからない

13. Tender

a. 賞賛

b. 成功する

c. 世話人

d. 相談に乗る

e. 思考

f. わからない

14. Desert

a. 壊す

b. 見捨てる

c. 砂漠

d. うろこ

e. 群れ

f. わからない

15. Foil

a. 成功する

b. きらきらした

c. 失敗する

d. やすり

e. 鉱山

f. わからない

16. Sound

a. 説得する

b. 打診する

c. 経過

d. やすり

e. 感動する

f. わからない

Appendix D: Post-test reading and comprehension question

Text1

a) 以下の文章を読んでください。

b) 知らない単語や意味のわからない単語に下線を引いてください。

c) (a)と(b)が終わったら、次のページへ進み問題に答えてください。

※前のページには戻らないようにしてください。

Mary usually likes to go for a walk, and she went out today too. She usually goes to the bank of the river. It was a sunny day, and she could see a school of fish. They looked like they were dancing. Suddenly, a snake appeared. She hates the scale on it, so she ran away.

She decided to go to the city. On the way to the city, she met Tom. He tipped his hat to her, and she felt happy. He was a kind and hard worker, so he was a credit to his family.

Mary said good-bye to him and went away. She wanted to buy a nail file. She was tired and felt a little sick, but she bought pork for dinner. She returned home, and cured the pork.

　Comprehension Question 1

17. 川の近くで彼女は何を見ましたか？

1. 魚の群れがいた

2. めだかの学校があった

3. 魚が列をなしていた

4. 子供たちが魚について学習していた

5. わからない

18. 彼女が蛇に出くわしたとき、なぜ逃げたのか？

1. 蛇のうろこが嫌いだったから

2. 蛇がとても大きかったから

3. 蛇がとても重かったから

4. 彼女は蛇の形が大嫌いだったから

5. わからない

19. トムにあったとき、彼は何をしたか？

1. 彼は挨拶を交わした

2. 彼は彼女に帽子をあげた

3. 彼は新しい帽子を紹介した

4. 彼は帽子を自慢した

5. わからない

20. トムの家族は彼についてどう思っているか？

1. 家族は彼のことを心配している

2. 家族はお金のことで彼に依存している

3. 彼はお金のことでアドバイスをくれる親切な人だ

4. 家族は彼のことを誇りに思っている

5. わからない

21. 彼女は何を買いたかったのか？

1. 爪やすりを買いたかった

2. かわいいデザインのネイルチップ

3. 文書を保存するファイル

4. ネイルチップを入れるもの

5. わからない

22. 彼女は豚肉をどうしたのか？

1. 薬を作った

2. 豚肉を切った

3. 燻製にした

4. それを食べたら調子が良くなった

5. わからない

Text 2

a) 以下の文章を読んでください。

b) 知らない単語や意味のわからない単語に下線を引いてください。

c) (a)と(b)が終わったら、次のページへ進み問題に答えてください。

※前のページには戻らないようにしてください。

Ken was thinking about the establishment of a new company. However, he did not have a place, or enough money and the staff. He noticed that he needs some capital immediately.

He visited Tokyo to find a place and money for the company. In Tokyo, he saw a bank of TV cameras. Something might be happening he thought, but he went by.

On his way, he met a gentleman with a staff. He was very kind and had gentle eyes. They were talking about Ken’s new company, and the man gave him some advice. Also, he introduced his friends to Ken as workers. In fact he did not want to take tips.

Then, he went to see a newly discovered mine because he had to decide his type of business. There was still a lot of work.

Comprehension Question 2

　　23. 彼が緊急に必要としているものは何か？

1. 場所

2. お金

3. 労働者

4. 場所、お金、労働者

5. わからない

24. 彼はどこで会社を始めるのか？

1. 日本の首都である東京

2. どこでもいい

3. まだわからない

4. まだ決めていない

5. わからない

25. 彼は東京で何を見たのか？

1. たくさんのジャーナリストがいた

2. テレビカメラが列をなしていた

3. テレビカメラのグループを見た

4. 銀行の外にテレビカメラが来ていた

5. わからない

26. 彼はある男性に会ったが、男性は何を持っていた？

1. 彼は杖を持っていた

2. 彼は労働者を連れていた

3. 彼はたくさんのビジネスとのコネクションを持っていた

4. 彼は賢い頭を持っていた

5. わからない

27. 彼らが話していたとき、彼に’tips’は必要なかった。’tips’とは何か？

1. 新しい会社の労働者

2. 助言に対するお礼金

3. 男性からのアドバイス

4. 男性の親切

5. わからない

28. ビジネスの業種を決めるために彼はどこへ行ったか？

1. 彼は山を掘りに行った

2. 彼はいろいろと考えられる場所へと行った

3. 彼は家にいた

4. 彼は秘密の場所へ行った

5. わからない

Text 3

a) 以下の文章を読んでください。

b) 知らない単語や意味のわからない単語に下線を引いてください。

c) (a)と(b)が終わったら、次のページへ進み問題に答えてください。

※前のページには戻らないようにしてください。

The mothers listened as Kate gave an address. She wanted them to know her better. She loves the company of children, and she sometimes visited the kindergarten. Actually, she tends babies.

When she was a child, her mother deserted her. Although she was sad, she loved sweets so much that she felt happy while eating sweets. It was her precious memory.

During her life without mother, she became a love-starved child. She made a charge against people in her mind. She planned to shut out from a society. Her project was foiled.

One of her friends, Ashley, sometimes asked Kate to go out. They always talked a lot, and Ashley tried to sound out Kate’s thoughts. Ashley gave a lot of love to her and she changed.

Kate told the mothers to give a big love to children. It was her message to them.

Comprehension Question 3

29. Kateは母親たちにために何をしたのか？

1. 彼女は演説をした。

2. 彼女はカウンセリングを受けられる場所を紹介した

3. 彼女は連絡先を教えた

4. 彼女は子供たちと遊んだ

5. わからない

30. 彼女の職業は？

1. 彼女はコンサルタントである

2. 彼女は幼稚園の先生である

3. 彼女はベビーシッターである

4. 彼女は赤ちゃんに対して優しい人である

5. わからない

31. 彼女が幼かった頃、母親は彼女に何をしたか？

1. 母親は毎日おやつを作ってくれた

2. 母親は仕事中お留守番するように言った

3. 母親は彼女を見捨てた

4. 母親は彼女を砂丘に連れて行った

5. わからない

32. 彼女は人々に対して何をした？

1．彼女はお金を要求した

2．彼女は彼らを責めた

3．彼女は彼らにお金あげた

4．彼女は彼らに向かって走った

5．わからない

33. 彼女の計画の結果はどうであったか？

1．計画は失敗した

2．彼女は計画を秘密にしたままだった

3．計画は少し成功した

4．彼女の友達は計画に気付いた

5．わからない

34. Ashleyは何をした？

1．彼女はKateの考えを聞かないようにした

2．彼女はKateの考えを読み取ろうとした

3．彼女はKateの声が聞こえなかった

4．彼女はKateに考えを理解してもらおうとした

5．わからない

Questionnaire

解答はすべて解答用紙に記入してください。

35. テキストを何回読みましたか？　＿＿回

36. 知らない意味の単語がありましたか？（大体で構いません。）

1. なかった　　　　　　2．１～５個

3．６～１０個　　　　　　4．１１個以上

37. 今まで単語の意味が分からなくて困ったことはありますか？

1．ある　　　　　　　　　2．ない

38. 普段、英語の予習をしているとき、意味の分からない単語が出てきたらどうしますか？

5. 前後の文章から推測する

6. 何回も読み直してみる

7. 辞書を引く

8. 無視して読み進める

39. テスト中、意味の分からない単語がでてきたらどうしますか？

4. 前後の文章から推測する

5. 何回も読み直してみる

6. 無視して読み進める

40. 新しいことに挑戦するのが好きだ。

41. 確実においしいとわかっているものを食べる

42. できればずっと日本にいたい

43. 新しい文化や習慣を簡単に受け入れられる

44. 食わず嫌いが多い

45. 知らない人ばかりのところには行きたくない

46. 旅行が好きだ

47. 血液型で人は分類できると思う

48. 実は外国語はあまり好きでない

49.規則はきちんと守る

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