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Japanese-Language Education Overseas
Japanese-Language Education around the Globe - Vol.14 Summaries
A Study of Decision-making
in Teacher Training: The Relationship of
Program Structure and Decision-making
(PDF/144KB/Japanese)
IKEDA Hiroko (Postgraduate Student, Graduate School of Ochanomizu University
/
Lecturer. Rikkyo University)
How supervisors design teacher training
program is an important issue because
teacher training facilitates teaching skills and
teacher beliefs. However, according to
Horiguchi (1992) there is no fundamental
study on the teaching skills of Japanese
teacher trainees. This paper focuses on the
relationship of decision-making process and
program structure because decision-making
forms the core of a teacher’s cognitive
action.
The purpose of this paper is to describe
the relationship of the decision-making process
and program structure. In order to
describe the decision-making process, I was
able to identify the following three processes
(1. object, 2. cue, 3. interpretation of
cue and how the cue leads to the decisionmaking
process). I also made clear the relationship
of the decision-making process and
program structure. This survey used protocol
data from the teacher-training program
by stimulus recall method in teaching Japanese
as a second-language course of a graduate
school. This study compared with two
different teacher training (1. teacher training
1999: Uchida and Shiraishi, 2000 and 2.
teacher training 2001, 2002).
The results show that the process of decision-making is characterized by “content
of activity” in object and “student reaction” in
cue and substitute choice in interpretation of cue and how the cue leads
to the
decision-making process. This result is different
from that of a Uchida and Shiraishi
(2000) (teacher training 1999) in 1. object
and 3. interpretation of cue and how the
cue leads to the decision-making process,
because it points out that different program
structure leads to a different decision-making
process.
Demonstrative Performance by
First-generation Koreans in Japan
(PDF/78KB/Japanese)
KIM Jee-young (Postgraduate Student, Osaka University Graduate School of
Letters)
The purpose of this study is to describe
the performance of Japanese by first-generation
Koreans in Japan (heretofore, firstgeneration).
Peculiar use is seen in the Japanese of the first-generation, that is lexical
item, usage, etc. With their long and
complicated historical / social background
experience, they acquired Japanese naturally
without receiving explicit education,
and a peculiar use of Japanese was established
as a means for leading daily life.
This paper aims at clarifying the use of
the demonstrative by the first-generation.
The informants are three first-generations,
Y, P, and B. The following became clear as
a result of analyzing their use of demonstratives.
First, the use, which can be called
fixed form expression, was checked. More-over, there is a possibility
of a relationship between mental distance and an a-system
demonstrative. Last, the boundary in the use
domain of a so-system demonstrative and an
a-system demonstrative is not clear. At the
present stage, the possibility of being
influenced by Korean, which is the mother
tongue, is also being considered.
A Study of Distant Contact
Situations Mediated
by a Video-conferencing System
(PDF/103KB/Japanese)
YOON Ji-hyun (Postgraduate Student, Japanese Applied Linguistics, Waseda
University)
Research on contact situations between
native and non-native speakers has mainly
been examined in face-to-face communicative
situations. More recently, with the development
of the state-of-the-art technology,
personal computers, and cyber network, it
is now possible for learners to communicate
in a “distant” contact situation. The present
study compared the communication between
native Japanese speakers (NSs) and nonnative
Japanese speakers (NNSs) in a distant
contact situation, which was mediated
by a video-conferencing system, with a face-to-
face communicative situation. It aimed
to find out how NNS of Japanese interacted
with NS in a video-conferencing-system-mediated communication.
The data was analyzed and investigated
in terms of turn-takings and the usage of
strategies to solve communicative breakdowns.
The results of this study showed
that there are some differences between distant
contact situations and the face-to-face
communicative situation in respect of turntakings
and usage of strategies. This can be
interpreted as the tendency of participants
to avoid “an unnatural pause” and “simultaneous
talk,” which may be considered an
interruption and/or a hindrance to smooth
communication.
Japanese Learners’ Oral
Narratives: Linguistic Features
Affecting Comprehensibility
(PDF/130KB/English)
KONDO Junko (Lecturer of Japanese, University of Michigan)
For language learners, the development
of productive skills to narrate and describe
in connected discourse is critical in order to
advance language proficiency.
In Japanese discourse studies, the main
focus has been on the cohesion between
sentences and the overall structure in written
discourse. Some recent studies (e.g.
Izuhara and Dake 1991, Watanabe 1996)
discuss possible causes of low comprehensibility,
pointing out various features that
appear in Japanese learners’ narratives, such
as inappropriate viewpoint shift and sentence
linkage. However, these studies deal
with coherence solely from the point of
view of the Japanese language teacher. It is
thus imperative that we investigate whether
these linguistic features indeed cause problems
with native interlocutors’ understanding
of learners’ speech.
The present study shows what kind of
factors affect comprehensibility, and offers
an analysis of low- and high-comprehensible
narratives in order to locate the specific features that learners need to
be aware of to
make themselves more easily understood.
Seventy-nine judges listened to narratives
of four learners (two superior and two
advanced speakers, based on ACTFL Oral
Proficiency Guidelines) and two native
speakers and were then asked to assess the
narratives in terms of flow of discourse and
comprehensibility. Assessment of the narratives
revealed that in addition to
insufficient content, problems with pronunciation,
sentence connections, and filler use
may cause difficulty in understanding learners’ narratives. Also,
close analysis of highand low-rated narratives revealed potential
problematic factors associated with low comprehensibility
in learners’ narratives: lack
of stress in PPU (Pause-bounded Phrasal
Units) boundaries, overuse of language production-based fillers, and ambiguous
references
to story characters. Though further
research is needed to confirm the findings,
the present study provides useful pedagogical
insights into teaching Japanese language
skills, especially story-telling narrative production.
A Proposal for Conversational
Syllabuses on the Discourse Level:
Lists of Discourse Skills from the Approach of
Discourse/Conversation Analysis
(PDF/114KB/Japanese)
NAKAI Yoko (Visiting Lecturer, Center for Japanese Language, Waseda)
OHBA Miwako (Graduate Student, Graduate School of Social Science and Humanities,
Chiba University)
DOI Mami (Chief Lecturer, The Japan Foundation Japan Cultural Center, Kuala
Lumpur)
It has been pointed out that language
learners who have been instructed only
through grammatical syllabuses have communication
problems on the discourse level,
even though they are able to produce grammatically
accurate sentences. In order to
avoid these problems, it is necessary to teach
conversation on the discourse as well as
grammatical level, starting from the elementary
learning stages. Therefore, it is necessary
for teachers to share their understanding
of syllabuses needed for teaching conversation.
However, this kind of syllabus has not
been fully designed yet, due to individual
differences in teachers’ understanding of
the need to teach conversational items and
in the ways of dealing with them.
In this study, we will review two types of
previous research on teaching conversation
on the discourse level: 1) syllabuses based
on conversation strategies, and 2) syllabuses
based on discourse/conversation analysis.
We will then propose a conversational syllabus
based on both conversation strategies
and discourse/conversation analysis, which
was designed for Japanese language learners
to promote their discourse skills in conversation.
The syllabus consists of four
categories: A) Verbal category, B) Nonverbal
category, C) Prosodic category, and
D) Overall category. The items in the syllabus
were extracted from the syllabuses used
in the Japanese language courses, including
visitor sessions and a drama project, which
were designed based on discourse/conversation
analysis. The goals of these courses
were to promote learners’ discourse abilities.
This syllabus will enable teachers to
teach conversational items which are not
found in grammatical syllabuses, starting from the elementary level. It
will also help
Japanese language teachers to reach a shared conunderstanding
of the syllabuses necessary
for conversational instruction.
Development of the Discourse
Function of the Japanese Conjunctive
Particle kara in Learners’ Language
(PDF/124KB/Japanese)
KIYAMA Mika (Lecturer, Intensive Japanese Language Program for Overseas Students,
Takushoku University)
This paper studies the developmental
process of the discourse function of the
Japanese conjunctive particle kara.
To do so, I present a new classification
standard focusing on the positional order of
the main clause and kara. That is 1) propositional
[E1] (~ kara / main clause), 2) text
1 (main clause / ~ kara), 3) text 2 (~ kara /
other clause /main clause; main clause / other
clause / ~ kara), 4) discourse management
1 (main clause stated by another person just
after ~ kara), 5) discourse management 2
(main clause stated by another person just
before ~ kara), 6) expressive (no main
clause).
A sample was collected twice from 18
learners of Japanese (just after arrival in
Japan and after six months of living in
Japan). For comparison purposes, a sample
was also collected from 20 native Japanese.
As a result of comparison of the functional
distribution of the Japanese conjunctive
particle kara used in the samples from
learners of Japanese and native Japanese,
the development of the discourse function
of kara was 1) simple sentence 
complex
sentencetext,
2) dependent upon conversational partner self-completion collaborative
conversational style compound collaborative conversational style.
On the Use and Function of “Bare” Sentence-final
Forms in Japanese
Conversational Discourse
(PDF/94KB/Japanese)
UEHARA Satoshi
(Professor, Tohoku University International Student Center)
FUKUSHIMA Etsuko (Associate Professor, Tohoku University International Student
Center)
It is often noted (e.g., Mizutani, 1985)
that Japanese utterances are usually accompanied
by some pragmatic elements, such
as sentence-final particles, so that the “bare” sentence-final
forms (those predicate forms without any other sentence-final elements)
occur relatively less frequently. This impressionistic
observation, however, seems
to have led to overall neglect of research
into the functions of bare sentence-final
forms and the contexts in which they are
used. One notable exception is Maynard
(1993), which examines the data with bare
sentence-final forms in plain/direct (nonpolite)
style speech only.
This paper presents the results of a discourse
analysis on the use of bare sentence-
final forms in naturally occurring Japanese
conversation (60 minutes in total, by four
native speakers) and offers a systematic account
of when to use and not use them and
their pragmatic functions. This analysis contrasts its results with those
of Maynard
(1993), which argues that “bare” forms are
used when the speaker, in expressing his/
her thoughts and experiences in conversation,
cannot/need not pay attention to, and
therefore cannot/need not modify his/her
utterances for, the hearer. Our analysis has
in its scope bare sentence-final forms in
both plain and polite styles and demonstrates
that part of Maynard’s finding holds
for the polite-style bare forms as well, but
that it needs to be modified to accommodate
the date observed. Specifically, we argue
that bare form functions can be
distinguished from style factors, and that
whether or not the goal of an utterance is
only to express/convey its propositional content
determines the occurrence and nonoccurrence
of bare sentence-final forms in
conversation.
Let Learners Talk with Native
Speakers Outside the Classroom in Your
Home Country: Community Involvement Project
(PDF/139KB/Japanese)
IMURA Taeko
(Associate Lecturer, Griffith University)
Study abroad is often promoted as one of
the best ways to acquire the target language
outside the classroom. However, only a small
number of learners have such opportunities
to visit the country of their target language
and immerse themselves in the language
and culture. In order to bridge the gap
between formal classroom instruction and
real language use, creative teachers have
been seeking various kinds of resources outside
the classroom in their surrounding community
as well as, more recently, resources
which can be accessed through technology.
Besides the technology, one of the most
highlighted resources discussed in the literature
is the use of native speakers (NSs)
in the community. Nonetheless, to present,
few studies are available demonstrating the
benefits to the learners when interaction
with NSs is integrated as a part of the language
course.
This paper reports findings of a Community
Involvement (CI) project carried out at
Griffith University in Australia over the
last three years. All learners enrolled at an
intermediate-low level had one-to-one interaction
with their matched NS volunteers
in Japanese. They met for a minimum of
ten hours during one semester outside the
classroom. Post-course questionnaires were
collected from both learners (n = 92) and
NSs (n = 60) to examine the benefits and
effectiveness of the project. Results indicate
that both the learners and NSs enjoyed the
project immensely. Most learners and NSs
agreed that learners’ speaking and listening
skills and cultural understanding had improved
as a result of the participation in the
project. Some materials used in CI are presented
and guidelines for implementing CI
in the course are also suggested.
A Study of Shitsuzukeru
(PDF/107KB/Japanese)
HUANG Wenpu (Lecturer, College of Foreign Language, Huadiao University)
This paper investigates the meaning of the complex verb
shitsuzukeru in terms of its aspectual features. It points out
some of the shitsuzukeru’s uses ignored by researchers,
such as “the continuation of a permanent
state resulting from a change,” “the
continuation of a change,” and “the continuation
of a property.” It can be concluded
that the prototypical uses of
shitsuzukeru have covered the former element
shi- durative dynamic atelic as its
aspectual features.
The peripheral uses of shitsuzukeru involve that shi- is durative
dynamic only or shi- is durative atelic only.
In relation to the aspectual features, the
grammaticality of shitsuzukeru changes from
typical examples, unnatural examples to ungrammatical
examples by degree. The
mechanism of the shitsuzukeru’s uses come
from the interaction of the aspectual features
of shi- and the meaning of -tsuzukeru.
The Acquisition of Japanese
Intransitive and Transitive Paired Verbs
by English-Speaking Learners: Case Study at
the Australian National University
(PDF/144KB/English)
MORITA Makiko (Postgraduate Student, The Australian National University)
This study examined how the acquisition
of Japanese intransitive-transitive paired
verbs by students of Japanese is affected by
verb type (intransitive-transitive). The acquisition
of the paired verbs across four
levels of Japanese proficiency groups (Intermediate
I, Intermediate II, Advanced I
and Advanced II) was also explored. The
study analysed the performance of native
English speaking students of different Japanese
proficiency levels enrolled at The Australian
National University using a written
test and a follow-up interview. A Generalised
Linear Mixed Model (Schall, 1991) was
used for the statistical analysis.
The study found:
| (1) | transitive verbs were easier to acquire than intransitive verbs. |
| (2) | there was no significant difference in results between the test scores for Intermediate I and II group in spite of the higher general Japanese ability of members of Intermediate II. |
Three contributory explanations for
finding (1) are put forward: (i) the lexical
differences between Japanese and English;
(ii) the structural differences of the two
languages; and, (iii) the differences in the
frequency with which intransitive and transitive
verbs occur in the instructions used
by language teachers and in language textbooks.
The explanation for finding (2), is that it
reflects ‘U-shaped behavioural development’ (Kellerman,
1985) which in this case was
attributable to an instructional effect.
On the Usages of the Expression
Dewanaika
(PDF/71KB/Japanese)
ZHANG Xing (Lecturer, Luoyang University of Foreign Languages)
A large number of studies have been made concerning the expression dewanaika, but most of them focus on the usage of requiring confirmation. This paper makes a comprehensive and thorough study on dewanaika. Its usages can be divided into the following: discovery, presentation of estimate, presentation of judgment result, recall of information, and requiring confirmation of recognition. We especially describe the usages of non-requiring confirmation and analyze the relation between requiring confirmation of recognition and non-requiring confirmation of recognition.
Opinions on Teachers’ Use
of the Mother Tongue in Japanese
Conversation Classes in Universities in Taiwan
(PDF/106KB/Japanese)
YEN Hsingyueh (Associate Professor, Department of Japanese Language
and Literature,
Shih Hsin University)
Using a questionnaire, the present study
investigated the opinions of teachers and
students towards the use of the mother
tongue by teachers in Japanese conversation
classes, using a questionnaire. The subjects
included Taiwanese and Japanese
teachers, and the learners in these classes.
The factor analysis of the research items
gave the following results. The factors “interaction
with the learners,” “explanation
of the contents of study,” and “the exchanges
conducted outside the contents of
study” were related to the aspect “Necessity
of the use of the mother tongue.” The
factors “facilitation of understanding” and“
aid to the progress of the lecture” were
related to the aspect “Credits of the use of
the mother tongue.” The factors “decrease
of Japanese input,” “decline of concentration
and desire to lear,” and “hindrance of
forming one’s own language usage” were
related to the aspect “Deficits of the use of
the mother tongue.”
Furthermore, the results of analysis of variance mainly showed the following
two
points.
| (1) | The learners felt that the use of the mother tongue concerning “facilitation of understanding” and “aid to the progress of the lecture” is of use to the teaching of Japanese and the learning activity not only in the first two grades, but also in the third grade. |
| (2) | Taiwanese teachers felt that the learners in their classes have a greater need for the use of the mother tongue than the learners in the classes of Japanese teachers, valuing the merits over the demerits. Since Taiwanese and Japanese teachers consider their characteristics and role in the conversation classes, their opinions differ on the use of the mother tongue. Furthermore, it is also suggested that the learners are aware of the characteristics and the role of the native teachers and nonnative teachers, and the differences in what they demand. |
Exploring Drama and Theatre
in Teaching Japanese: Hirata Oriza’s Play,
Tokyo Notes, in an Advanced Japanese Conversation Course
(PDF/154KB/Japanese)
Denton HEWGILL (Associate Professor of Mathmatics, University
of Victoria)
NORO Hiroko (Assistant Professor of Japanese, University of Victoria)
Cody POULTON (Associate Professor of Japanese, University of Victoria)
This paper attempts to shed light on drama as a potentially effective method for teaching Japanese, particularly communication skills. As eloquently summarized by FitzGibbons (1993), benefits of drama in the language teaching classroom are numerous: 1) “the acquisition of meaningful, fluent interaction in the target language; 2) the assimilation of phonetic and prosodic features in a contextualized and interactive manner; 3) the fully contextualized acquisition of new vocabulary and expression; 4) a sense of confidence in the learner’s ability to learn the target language. The purpose of this paper is three-fold: 1) to explore the potential benefits of using a Japanese-language play as a learning resource for communicative development for intermediate and advanced learners of Japanese; 2) to discuss the outcomes of the use of a Japanese- language play written by Hirata Oriza; 3) to discuss the technological implications of developing a CD-Rom based on the dramatization of the play by professional actors.