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Japanese-Language Education Overseas
Japanese-Language Education around the Globe - Vol.6 Summaries
A Study on the Effect of Adjunct
Questions in Reading Comprehension of
Story-Type Text: An Experiment for Development of
Hypermedia Material
KINJO Naomi (Lecturer, Division of General Education, University of the Ryukyus,
Japan IKEDA Nobuko)
Graduate Student (Doctoral Course), Division of Education, International
Christian University, Japan)
Appropriate experiments and feedback on their results are necessary
for development and improvement of learning material. The authors are engaged
in developing hypermedia course ware for learners of Japanese as a second
language. The main material considered here is an animation video of the
Japanese folk tale "Nezumi no Yomeiri." An experiment on reading comprehension
of the story was conducted under two conditions: one group learned the
reading material with adjunct questions, and the other without such questions.
This paper describes the method and procedure of the experiment and its
result.
The results showed that the adjunct questions enhance students'
reading comprehension. This is probably because the adjunct questions are germane
to learners' self-monitoring.
The results of the experiment suggest that the hypermedia material
should include adjunct questions. It is desirable to promote this type of study
further to develop effective methods of teaching reading comprehension and various
kinds of materials using computers.
Theories and Proposals Regarding
the Preparation and Creation of Teaching
Materials Aimed at Promoting Japanese Cultural Understanding, with an
Emphasis on the Comprehension of Dialogue in Social Context
TANAKA Tomoko (Institute for International Education, Hiroshima University,
Japan
SHIN Kimie Faculty of Literature, Aichi Shukutoku University, Japan)
We have conducted a series of studies concerning Japanese
language acquisition and cultural understanding, with the objective of
using our research results to create teaching materials to further Japanese
cultural understanding among students studying Japanese, especially those
studying in foreign countries.
In this paper, our theoretical framework is applied to the preparation of teaching
material. First, culture specific vocabulary is learned. Next, social context
in the culture is understood. Third, social dimensions, including adjusting the
conflict between personal and social values, are considered.
This framework is based on our hierarchy model of cultural understanding: that
1) vocabulary level, 2) context level, and 3) social level of understanding should
be learned in this order. Students can understand the culture and make their
own decisions about cultural conflict, as is shown in our matrix model, with
culture awareness.
The Japanese cultural context dialogue test, which was developed for international
students in our previous study, was given to Japanese college students and functioned
as a control sample in this study. We then compared the test results of the Japanese
students to those of the the international students and analyzed the frequency
of each response, the effects of demographic variables, and the classification
of dialogue.
Next, a few dialogues were selected in order to construct sample teaching materials;
each consisted of l) personal responses to the dialogue, 2) the teacher's explanation
about the context of the dialogue, 3) an introduction of the Japanese and international
students' responses to the same dialogue, and 4) group discussion of their own
responses, as well as the sample responses presented.
Last, the relationship among the inter-diciplinary fields which are important
in cross-cultural understanding and the expected role for Japanese language education
are discussed.
Critical Pedagogy and Critical Literacy
in Teaching Japanese
KUBOTA Ryuko (Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill, U.S.A.)
In teaching Japanese as a foreign language, emphasis is usually placed on the acquisition of the language, form, function, and proficiency. Often a goal is to fulfill a learner's career needs or to satisfy curriculum requirements. Another perspective, however, is that of critical pedagogy and critical literacy. Critical pedagogy and critical literacy aim at empowering students by opening up their possibilities as individuals in a society through a critical understanding of socially constructed knowledge. This perspective, at the same time, seeks equality and justice in the global community. These goals are achieved through becoming aware of inequalities, discriminations, and various problems that threaten our living conditions, and through understanding critically that language, one's identity, knowledge, and social structures are implicated in cultural, social, political, and economical relations of power. In critical literacy, importance is placed not only on reading and writing words but also on understanding the world and transforming the society. This paper introduces an underlying philosophy of critical pedagogy and critical literacy, and discusses how it can be applied to teaching Japanese. Three example topics from actual classroom teaching at the college level in the U.S. will be presented: namely, the word, "gaijin (foreigner)," female language in Japanese, and the uniqueness of Japanese culture.
Strategies for Dealing with Difficulties
in Lecture Comprehension
MIZUTA Sumiko (Graduate School, Nagoya University, Japan)
I analyze the problems which Japanese native speakers
and Chinese learners of the Japanese language have in lecture listening.
I also analyze the strategies for dealing with these difficulties.
The problems which occur in listening were classified into six levels
depending on the cause. These six causes could be seen in both Japanese speakers
and learners. The differences are as follows. The problem that Japanese speakers
have is caused by interpretation of the meaning of the text, but the problems
of learners are greatly compounded by the lack of linguistic knowledge.
As a strategy for dealing with the problem, five sequences were
extracted out of a protocol, with the "problem identification" sequence as the
first. Three strategies were followed by both Japanese speakers and learners.
The first involved just identifying the problem. The second strategy sequence
went from identifying to dealing with the problem using "inference." The third
was to seek "confirmation" or "elaboration" after having solved the problem.
The third strategy point shows that it is possible to listen to lectures even
if the learner doesn't have complete linguistic knowledge. However, the fourth
and fifth sequence of strategies, which goes from "problem identification" to "self-monitoring" or "taking
no notice," could not be seen among the learners. This shows that there are some
strategies which are difficult for learners to use.
The oral summaries of lectures listened to by Japanese speakers
and learners showed in fact that the sequence of strategies which goes from "problem
identification" to "inference" or "holding" and to "confirmation" or "elaboration" is
useful to add new knowledge to existing knowledge after solving the problems.
The Accuracy Order of Japanese Particles
in Elementary Level Compositions:
An Analysis of Particles, Particle Functions and Functional Groups
YAGI Kimiko (Lecturer, Department of Policy Science, Saitama University,
Japan)
This research is based on compositions written by two groups
of foreign graduate students who were studying elementary Japanese in Japan.
All the particles used by the subjects were collected and the accuracy
rates and accuracy orders of the particles, particle functions, and functional
groups were calculated and examined. Results from the two groups were compared.
A statistically significant correlation was found between the two
groups on all three levels. Furthermore, both of the groups had similar accuracy
hierarchies on all three levels.
The accuracy order of the functions of two particles. WA and GA,
corresponds to the findings of Sakamoto (1986, 1993). In addition, the accuracy
hierarchy among particles such as TO, NO, O, WA, NI, GA, and DE was similar to
the findings of Komori and Banno (1988).
Previous research on the accuracy order of three of the particles,
WA, GA, and O has shown conflicting results (e.g., Doi and Yoshioka, 1990; Ishida,
1991; Yagi, 1992). Similar differences also emerged between the two groups in
this research. One possible explanation for this difference is that the accuracy
order WA-->O-->GA, which emerges at the beginning of the elementary level,
shifts to O-->WA-->GA sometime after the middle of the elementary level.
The Impact of a Study / Work Programme
in Japan on Interactive
Competence in Contact Situations
Yuko Miyazoe Wong (Assistant Professor, Department of English, Hong
Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong)
The fifteen subjects investigated in this study were students
at a Hong Kong university. The subjects had received 460 hours of formal
instruction in Japanese and passed the Level Three test of the Japanese
Language Proficiency Test before participating in a nine-week study / work
programme in Japan. The paper reports on an investigation on what types
of interactive competence in Japanese most of the subjects succeed or fail
to acquire after the programme. The main data consisting of two sets of
written tests, two sets of role-playing tests and two sets of composition
exercises before and after the programme were collected and analyzed. Supplementary
data from interviews with the subjects after the programme and written
feedback from supervisors and host families on the subjects during the
programme were also collected.
Although the period of the study / work programme in Japan was relatively
short, its impact upon the development of students' interactive competence
in Japanese was considerable. As far as linguistic competence is concerned,
the most conspicuous gains were in aural comprehension, pronunciation, and
intonation. Fluency improved dramatically, but vocabulary, grammar, and reading
tests did not furnish comparable results. The subjects acquired confidence
to produce longer written texts, but this confidence was not matched by improvements
in accuracy. Sociolinguistic competence also improved, since pragmatic competence
increased to include finer expressions of refusal, non-verbal features, and
the use of back-channelling. In order to solve communication problems, the
subjects actively used various communication strategies. They also acquired
competence to correct the deficiencies in their lexicon through the use of
written characters (hitsudan). The subjects also advanced to a considerable
extent in their acquisition of sociocultural competence: knowledge of Japan,
Japanese way of life, human relations in the work place as well as in home
settings, and business customs.
Peer Interaction in an Adult Second-Language
Class:
An Analysis of Collaboration on a Form-Focused Task
HANEDA Mari (Department of East Asian Studies, University of Toronto and
The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Canada)
The present study was intended further to explore how second
language (L2) students interact and collaborate; the framework and methods
(e.g., the dictogloss) of Kowal and Swain's (1994) study of French-immersion
students were adopted. The focus was on the process and content of peer
dialogues, especially on how the students scaffolded one another's learning.
There is a quantitative and qualitative examination of recorded data from
the peer interactions of eight Japanese-as-a-Foreign-Language (JFL) learners
as they worked together in pairs during a single class session to complete
a text reconstruction task.
The research design and interpretation of the data were carried
out within the framework of the earlier study. The comprehensive, qualitative
analysis of pair-specific interactional patterns extends the previously cited
study. The modes of interaction ranged from those of knowledge transmission to
those of varying degrees and ways of collaboration. In the protocol data of one
pair, a plausible instance of "collaborative dialogue" (Swain, in press) emerged.
The functions outlined in the out put hypothesis (Swain, 1985 and 1995) were
also observed. The possible reasons why the pairs carried out the dictogloss
in distinctly different manners are examined. Although this study is exploratory
and further research is needed to confirm the findings, the description and analysis
of pair interactional patterns provides classroom practitioners and curriculum
planners with insights into one aspect of L2 classroom interaction, the learning
process in a collaborative setting.
A Theme-Based Approach: Curriculum
Design for Teaching an
Advanced Course of Japanese as a Foreign Language
Douglas Ogawa Masako (Lecturer of Japanese, University of California,
Los Angeles, U.S.A.)
This paper describes a process and procedure of designing a curriculum to teach an advanced course of Japanese as a foreign language, utilizing a theme-based approach. Curriculum for the advanced levels traditionally have focused on reading skills. While the beginning level of Japanese instruction has experienced many changes to meet the communicative needs of the Japanese learners, the advanced level instruction remains unchanged. This paper demonstrates an example of a curriculum that aims at developing four skills in an integrated way. Major components of the paper are: needs analysis of the students, utilization and critiques of ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines, discussion of a theoretical model of communicative competence and its application to the curriculum for the advanced level, rationale for employing the theme-based approach, description of the curriculum for Advanced Japanese at UCLA, and the results of the year-end program evaluation.
Hiragana Hurdle: Are We Perpetuating
the Problem?
Ruth Davies, Jenny Ward and Pauline Smith (Japanese Language Teachers,
Department of Edication, Queensland, Australia)
KATO Kumi (Senior Research Officer / Lecturer, Key Centre for Asian Language
and Studies, The University of Queensland, Australia)
It is estimated that over 27,000 students are learning
Japanese in primary schools in the state of Queensland, which represents
the highest enrolment of Japanese learners in Australia both at primary
and secondary schools. This figure is growing rapidly, as LOTE (Languages
Other Than English) programs are promoted strongly at government level.
Among all LOTEs, Japanese has the greatest number of students.
It is our belief that all LOTE programs should facilitate the development
of communicative competence in a balanced way, that is, using all four skills.
To achieve this balance, it is particularly important to promote reading and
writing skills in today's LOTE classrooms, where the emphasis has tended to be
on oral / aural skills. This point is particularly relevant to the learning of
the Japanese language, in which orthographical change can be a major problem
for many learners.
This paper reports on a study conducted on 585 primary- and secondary-school
Japanese-language learners to examine: 1) their kana proficiency (mainly recognition);
2) their attitude toward learning written forms of the language; and 3) how these
two factors are affected by different teaching approaches. This study is the
first stage of a project which investigates teaching approaches to reading /
writing in Japanese as a LOTE.
This project was conceived to investigate two problems:
1) after the initial learning of kana (mostly at primary schools), students'
reading proficiency
does not develop as smoothly as desired: and 2) the effect of different teaching
approaches, particularly the use of romaji, has been an issue of debate. However,
there is no concrete classroom evidence that clarifies which approach is more
effective and whether the use of romaji (or any alphabet-based code) actually
hinders students' mastery of kana.
Kana learning is often regarded as an easy task; however, for Japanese
learners of non-character-based language background, it can be a major 'hurdle'
which may affect their future learning.
As well as the discussion of the outcomes of the sdudy, further
research questions will be raised specifically on the teaching of reading and
Japanese teaching at the primary-school level.
Some Aspects of Students' Behaviour
When Reading in Japanese
Michelle Hall (Lecturer, Department of Japanese and Chinese, The
University of Melbourne, Australia)
There has been much research undertaken in the field of
L2 reading, particularly where the L2 is English. There is, however, a
lack of information about L2 reading in other languages, especially character-based
languages such as Japanese and Chinese.
This study sought to discover how students behave when reading Japanese.
Ten pairs of students at (pre) intermediate-level read aloud a passage of Japanese,
which was recorded and transcribed. The students were of six subgroups: high
and low ability students who had studied Japanese from Beginners' Japanese in
university, those who had studied to VCE (Victorian Certificate of Education)
level in high school, and those who had spent some time in Japan, usually as
exchange students. The groups were determined by the students' mid-year examination
results: students who achieved 80-95% were allocated to the H (high) group; students
whose results were between 50-65% were allocated to the L (low) group. All pairs
consisted of students of the same level.
The data was analysed for the behaviours demonstrated by students
when reading in Japanese. The three behaviours observed were:
1. Discovery of Topic / Picture Recognition
2. Self Assessment
3. Automaticity
High-group students discovered the topic earlier and made use of the pictures
in their comprehension of the passage by utilising them to activate the appropriate
schema. Automaticity was found to be more common in the returned exchange students.
Low-group students exhibited a range of self-defeating behaviours, including
poor self-assessment. This group made little or no use of the pictures to aid
their comprehension, and took longer to discover the topic of the passage.
It would seem that there are several ways in which the low-group
students' performance could be improved. Activities such as pre-reading tasks
would assist students in recognising extra-text information as well as improving
students' perceptions of their abilities and improving students' overall performance.
Suggestions are made for incorporating the teaching of effective reading strategies
into classroom work.
Sentence-Final Form of Japanese
and English:
On the Function of "To Omou" and "I Think "
ASANO Yuko (Graduate Program in Linguistics, Australian National
University, Australia)
When we try to communicate smoothly with others using a
particular language, we require knowledge or ability to express what we
want to say or write. In recent years, pragmatic approaches to explaining
linguistic phenomena have been adopted, especially on the issues which
are not dealt with by syntax or semantics. Kamio (1979, 1990) significantly
contributed to pragmatics, showing some rules on the sentence-final form.
However, there are many linguistic phenomena which cannot be explained
by his theory. The aim of this study is to describe the different rule
in pragmatics between Japanese and English, focusing on the "indirect form" I
think, using Kamio's "theory of the speaker's territory of information." I
analyzed written texts to find the rule covering selection of the sentence-final
form, "direct form" or "indirect form," and reached the following conclusion:
When an addresser gives information, the main criterion for selecting the
sentence-final form in English is whether the information belongs to his
territory-- or whether he has the right to judge, while in Japanese the
main criterion is how the others who share common information or knowledge
will judge or think.
These differences in rule are reflected in the sentence-final forms
of Japanese and English. However, spoken texts will have to be analyzed in the
near future, and regional differences in languages should also be considered.
Functions of the Overlap of Utterances
in Japanese Daily Conversation
IKOMA Sachiko (Graduate School, Nagoya University, Japan)
The purpose of this study is to throw light upon the functions
of the overlap of utterances in Japanese daily conversation. I examined
overlaps appearing in conversational data between close women friends and
classified them based on their positions and properties. I explored their
functions from two points of view: development of conversation and establishment
of interpersonal relations.
In the development of conversation, the overlap of utterances has
both positive and negative effects. A negative effect is that it impedes smooth
speaker-change, resulting in the omission of some information, consequently stagnating
conversation. On the other hand, a positive effect is that it lets conversation
flow efficiently and produces lively, quick talk, contributing to the further
development of conversation.
The effect of the overlap of utterances on the establishment of
interpersonal relations is different from that on the development of conversation
itself. The overlap of utterances has the same effect as casual physical touches
between the participants. Even the negative effect of overlap from the point
of view of the development of conversation is considered an expression of frankness
and contributes to the establishment of friendly relations. This psychological
effect, moreover, exerts a positive influence on the development of conversation
itself.
Finally, I present some opinions from the perspective of the teaching
of Japanese.
SPOT: A New Method of Testing Japanese
Language Proficiency
KOBAYASHI Noriko and YAMAMOTO Hilofumi
(Assistant Professor, International Student Center, University of Tsukuba,
Japan)
FORD-NIWA Junko
(Lecturer, International Student Center, University of Tsukuba, Japan)
SPOT (Simple Performance-Oriented Test) is a new testing
method developed by the present authors. SPOT looks like a so-called gap-filling
test, however, its unique feature is to require testees to react quickly
to natural speech. Testees are asked to listen to a tape which consists
of about 60 isolated sentences and fill in the blanks on an answer sheet,
each with a single hiragana character representing a grammatical item.
It takes only 10 minutes to complete, including time for instruction and
other necessary testing procedures, so testees are put in a stressful situation
for only about 5 minutes. Since the results are scored simply and objectively,
it can be conducted by non-specialists.
As it uses an audio tape, SPOT looks like a hearing test. However,
the tape functions mainly as a means to get testees to react promptly to natural-speed
speech. This method does not seem suitable for testing each discrete point of
language knowledge, but is effective for testing integrated proficiency, as has
become clear by checking its correlation to other tests conducted at University
of Tsukuba.
This simple test is useful and practical for class placement of
learners, or for admission to a course. Its theoretical background and some results
discussed.
The Influence of Japanese on the
Use of Honorifics in Korean Companies
KANG Suk-Woo (Department of Japanese Studies (Linguistics), The Faculty
of Letters, Osaka University, Japan)
At first glance, the use of honorifics in Korean companies
appears to be similar to the use of honorifics in Japan. Following this
line of thinking, there are those who explain such a phenomena as being
due to the influence of the Japanese language on Korean companies. The
purpose of this paper is to investigate the actual state of honorific usage
and individual consciousness regarding honorific usage in large and medium-sized
Korean companies.
The speech I targeted for my survey was honorifics used between
individuals of differing company rank specifically when referring to a third
party. As a result of the survey, it can be said that the usage within the military
of a particular kind of honorifics termed "Assonho" and the consciousness of
its usage acquired during military service has a strong influence on the kind
of honorifics used within companies themselves. Assonho is a type of honorific
used toward a higher-status listener in reference to a third party whose status
is higher than the speaker but lower than the listener. On the other hand, when
referring to a company member of higher status when speaking to someone outside
the company, honorific usage varied between medium-sized and large companies.
This difference is largely due to employee education programs that are carried
out in large companies. Concerning the influence of the Japanese language on
Korean companies, the following may be pointed out; (1) Honorific usage within
companies themselves does not appear to be the result of the influence of the
Japanese language. (2) In dealings with members outside the company, when referring
to a third party, to a greater or lesser degree the influence of the Japanese
language can be detected in large companies.