The JEFLL Corpus consists of more than 10,000 students' free compositions.  The writing tasks were carefully controlled to ensure the maximum comparability across subjects.  The following is the description of the writing task.  It aims to focus on spontaneous written production by L2 learners, without the help of dictionaries or any careful revision work.  This task may not be suitable for examining stylistic differences in L2 writing, but still useful for investigating natural language use in written mode.  The rubrics were followed by a sample English passage, which might influence the style of writing in L2, but the research shows that only the beginning-level students imitate the sample passage.

We hope that the end-users will read the following task description carefully in order to make an informed choice regarding the utility of this corpus resource.

• Tasks for data collection
  　
  • 20 minute in-class essay
    　
  • No dictionary use
    　
  • No preparation in advance
    　
  • No homework
    　
  • Students are allowed to use L1 whenever difficult to put ideas in English.
    　
• 6 topics and rubrics:
  　

  Here the topics and sample rubrics are provided in PDF format.  You are welcome to use the original tasks for your research, but you will be advised to contact the project director for permission.

  　

  • Urashima:  [PDF]
    Urashima Taro is a famous traditional fable in Japan.  Urashima was a young fisherman. One day he saved the life of a turtle which was caught by kids on shore.  The turtle thanked Urashima, took him to the deep-ocean Castle called "Ryugujo" as a token of gratitude. There he was welcomed by a beautiful princess called "Otohime" and had a wonderful time.  On his return, he received a gift box called "Tamatebako". He was told not to open it, but he could not resist and opened the box as he got to the shore.  The smoke came out, and he found himself to be an old man! ...
    The essay task is to guess what happened to Urashima afterwards.
    　
  • Rice or Bread?: [PDF]
    Which do you prefer, rice or bread for breakfast? Why?
    　
  • Festival: [PDF]
    Tell us about your school festival.
    　

  • Earthquake: [PDF]
    What are you going to take with you when a major earthquake hits your area? Why?
    　

  • Otoshidama: [PDF]
    Otoshidama is a custom of Japanese New Year.  Older people or parents give their juniors or children money to cerebrate the New Year.
    The task is "What do you want to buy if you have 100,000 yen for Otoshidama?" (The price differs, depending on the age of the subjects)
    　
  • Bad Dreams: [PDF]
    What is your worst dream that you have ever had? Tell us the story.