English Loan Words of Japanese Elementary School Children and Their Mental Lexicon

An English loan word project focusing on Japanese ten-year-olds developed out of the following questions: (1) How much impact have English-based loan words had on this age group? (2) To what extent are such loans actively recognized by the children? (3) To what degree can the loans be used as a resource in teaching English? A data base was developed as a first step by surveying the social, communication domains which the children of that age would likely be active in. 1,215 lexical items were collated. The surveyed areas included rural areas, small cities and metropolitan settings. The data base was delineated into five types in terms of closeness to current English usage and potential usefulness in teaching English. The data was also analyzed into 19 register groups and examined in terms of their potential use for communicative skill development. Finally a questionnaire of 71 items was designed to test the perceptual meaning range held by children in various elementary schools represented in the initial survey areas. Implications for the children's mental lexicon and teaching English in the fourth grade are discussed.