Tips for Learning Japanese: Research Perspectives

1. Tips for Learning Japanese:Research Perspectives Yukiko A. Hatasa University of Iowa / Hiroshima University

2. Successful Language Learners • About 5 % of second language (L2) learners ever acquire the native-like proficiency • Successful L2 learners are: • Highly motivated • Autonomous • Capable of using a variety of language learning strategies • Select strategies that match with the learners’ cognitive styles, learning styles, and learning contexts and language use. • Able to maximize the opportunities for socialization with native speakers.

3. Motivation • The strongest predictor of general achievement measures (Gardner, 2003; Noels, 2000; Dornyei, 2005) • Oral task engagement (Dönyei & Kormos, 2000) & willingness to communicate (Maclntyre et al., 2003); • The degree of extensive reading (Yamashita, 2004) • Use of learning strategies (e.g., Schmidt,et al., 1996; Schmidt &Watanage, 2001) • Reading comprehension ability and kanji knowledge （Kondo-Brown, 2006)

4. Types of Motivation: Self-Determination Theory (Deci &Ryan,1985) A) Intrinsic motivation (performing the task because of the inherent pleasure in doing so) • IM-knowledge (the pleasure involved in learning new things) • IM-accomplishments (the enjoyment inherent in mastering challenges or grasp a difficult construct in L2), • IM-stimulation (for the general aesthetic pleasure of the experience, e.g., the high that I experience while speaking L2)

5. B) External motivation • Integrated regulation (It supports a valuable component of his/her identity and self-concept.) • Identified regulation(It will help him/her to achieve an important personal goal.) • introjected regulation(Imposing pressure on him/herself to perform an activity; e.g., I feel guilty if I didn’t know the L2. ) • External regulation(an complete external control over the activity by the expectation of rewards or punishments, e.g. to get a job. ) C) Amotivation(absence of motivation. e.g., I don’t really understand what I am doing studying L2. )

6. Effects of Different Types Motivation • Intrinsic motivation is more effective than extrinsic motivation. • Intrinsic motivation has utility as a predictor of: • lower anxiety, increased tolerance of ambiguity • positive attitudes towards language learning, • feelings of self-efficacy in language learning • language use • language learning strategy preferences • persistence • motivational intensity • grammatical sensitivity • speaking and reading proficiency • teacher ratings of competence (Ehrman, 1996; Noels et al., 1999, 2000; Ramage, 1990; Schmidt, Boraie, & Kassabgy, 1996; Tachibana, Matsukawa, & Zhong, 1996;Kondo-Brown 2006).

7. Tips to increase motivation • Set a realistic achievable short-term goal. • Find a task in which you use Japanese and enjoy (e.g., reading books, watching anime or drama, listening to J-pop, playing games, etc.) • Find a task that is slightly difficult but not too difficult. • Relax and pay attention to the sign of stress. • Reward yourself when you have done well on a L2 task.

8. Learning Strategies • The use of appropriate language learning strategies often results in improved proficiency or achievement overall or in specific skill areas (Oxford et al., 1993; Thompson & Rubin, 1993).･ • Successful language learners tend to select strategies that work well together in a highly orchestrated way, tailored to the requirements of the language task (Chamot & Kupper, 1989). • Successful learners can easily explain the strategies they use and why they employ them (O'Malley & Chamot, 1990).

9. Types of Strategies • Direct Strategies • Memory Strategies (Creating mental linkages, Applying images and sounds Reviewing well Employing action) • Cognitive Strategies (Practicing, Receiving and sending messages, Analyzing and reasoning, Creating structure for input and output ) • Compensation Strategies (Guessing intelligently, Overcoming limitations in speaking and writing • Indirect Strategies • Metacognitive Strategies (Centering your learning, Arranging and planning your learning, Evaluating your learning) • Affective Strategies (Lowering your anxiety, Encouraging yourself, Taking your emotional temperature) • Social Strategies (Asking questions, Cooperating with others , Empathizing with others)

10. Effects of different strategy use • Cognitive and metacognitive strategies are often used together, supporting each other (O'Malley & Chamot, 1990). • Well tailored combinations of strategies often have more impact than single strategies.Certain strategies or clusters of strategies are linked to particular language skills or tasks(Chamot & Kupper, 1989). Writing: planning, self-monitoring, deduction, substitution Speaking: risk-taking, paraphrasing, circumlocution, self-monitoring, self-evaluation. Listening: elaboration, inferencing, selective attention, self-monitoring Reading: reading aloud, guessing, deduction, summarizing.

11. Factors affecting strategy use • Motivation • Gender Females reported greater overall strategy use than males in many studies • Cultural backgrounds e.g.) Rote memorization and other forms of memorization were more prevalent among some Asian students than among students from other cultural backgrounds. • Attitudes and beliefs Have a strong effect on the strategies learners choose, with negative attitudes and beliefs often causing poor strategy use or lack of orchestration of strategies.) • Types of tasks • Learning styles- General approach to language learning • Tolerance of ambiguity

12. Learning to use strategies • Strategy use should be based on your attitudes, beliefs, and stated needs. • Strategies should be chosen so that they mesh with and support each other and so that they fit the requirements of the language task, the learners‘ goals, and the learners’ style of learning. • Learning to use strategies is like learning to drive. It takes practice and time to be good at it. But in a long run, having a good set of strategies will facilitate L2 learning.

13. In-Class Strategy Training • Training should be integrated into regular L2 activities over a long period of time rather than taught as a separate, short intervention. • Strategy training should include explanations, handouts, activities, brainstorming, and materials for reference and home study. • Affective issues such as anxiety, motivation, beliefs, and interests -- all of which influence strategy choice -- should be directly addressed by L2 strategy training. • Strategy training should be explicit, overt, and relevant and should provide plenty of practice with varied L2 tasks involving authentic materials. • Strategy training should provide strategies that are transferable to future language tasks beyond a given class • Strategy training should be somewhat individualized, as different students prefer or need certain strategies for particular tasks. • Strategy training should provide students with a mechanism to evaluate their own progress and to evaluate the success of the training and the value of the strategies in multiple tasks.

14. Vocabulary and Reading Reading Strategies Bottom-up strategy (Processing of smaller units to larger units, e.g., letter → word →phrase →sentence →paragraph Top-down strategy (Processing of larger units to smaller units by making an educated guess from context, linguistic knowledge, discourse structure, real-world knowledge etc. )

15. The both the bottom-up and top-down strategies are used in reading. • Proficient readers are capable of using the top-down strategy; An ability to use the top-down strategy positively correlates with language proficiency.(Everson & Kuriya, 1992; Horiba, 1990, 1996; Kondo-Brown, 2007) • Less proficient learners rely on the bottom-up strategy because of the lack of automaticity in processing lower-level information. • The bottom-up strategy tends to be used by advanced learners of Japanese.(Warnick, 1996) • Teaching the top-down strategy tends to be more effective for beginners, but erroneous guesses are common (esp. with difficult materials or without sufficient pre-reading activities).

16. Vocabulary Knowledge • Vocabulary knowledge is the best predictor of reading proficiency. （Anderson & Freebody,1981; Ammon, 1987; Garcia 1991; Flood et. al., 1991; Rupley, Logan, and Nichols , 1999) • The majority of vocabulary items are learned incidentally through reading and listening. Conscious learning of vocabulary has a limitation (Nation, 2001).

17. 　　　　は　　　　の　　　　で、　　　　　　をめぐる　　について「　　　には　が　　　きな　　を　　っている」と　べたうえで、　　や　　　　、　　　　の　　　　を　　　　する　　　　　　の　　について「　つの　　であった　が　　ではないか。こういう（　　　　の） 　も　なくなる。　いに　　　　をしていきたい」と、　めて　　きな　　を　した。

18. 安倍首相　二十四日　ＮＨＫ報道番組　、年金記録管理　　　　責任　　　　「政治的　　私　一番大　　責任　背負　　　　」　述　　　　、年金　医療保険、介護保険　個人情報　一元管理　　社会保障番号　導入　　　　「一　　番号　　　　方　便利　　　　　。　　　　（年金記録　）問題　出　　　　。大　　検討議論　　　　　　」　、改　　前向　　姿勢　示　　。安倍首相　二十四日　ＮＨＫ報道番組　、年金記録管理　　　　責任　　　　「政治的　　私　一番大　　責任　背負　　　　」　述　　　　、年金　医療保険、介護保険　個人情報　一元管理　　社会保障番号　導入　　　　「一　　番号　　　　方　便利　　　　　。　　　　（年金記録　）問題　出　　　　。大　　検討議論　　　　　　」　、改　　前向　　姿勢　示　　。

19. 安倍首相は二十四日のＮＨＫ報道番組で、年金記録管理をめぐる責任について「政治的には私が一番大きな責任を背負っている」と述べたうえで、年金や医療保険、介護保険の個人情報を一元管理する社会保障番号の導入について「一つの番号であった方が便利ではないか。こういう（年金記録の）問題も出なくなる。大いに検討議論をしていきたい」と、改めて前向きな姿勢を示した。安倍首相は二十四日のＮＨＫ報道番組で、年金記録管理をめぐる責任について「政治的には私が一番大きな責任を背負っている」と述べたうえで、年金や医療保険、介護保険の個人情報を一元管理する社会保障番号の導入について「一つの番号であった方が便利ではないか。こういう（年金記録の）問題も出なくなる。大いに検討議論をしていきたい」と、改めて前向きな姿勢を示した。

20. Word recognition • Letter and word recognition significantly affects on reading（Chikamatsu, 1996, 2003; Koda, 1992,1994, 1996） • Visual shapes, sounds, and meanings must be processed in order to recognize words, but the relative importance is still debated. (Orthographic Depth Hypothesis vs., Universal Phonological Principle.) • Use of information is different depending orthographic backgrounds. Alphabetic readers tend to rely heavily on sound information but Japanese readers use graphic information in addition to sounds. (Chikamatsu, 1996; Mori 1998, Koda, 1989, 1990, 1998) • Learners tend to be affected by their L1. As they become more proficient, they tend to acquire more appropriate strategies for L2 though they may never acquire native-like strategy (Chikamatsu, 2006; Akamatsu, 1998, 1999, 2002;Haynes & Carr, 1990

21. Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition • Guessing a word meaning using morphological information and contextual information facilitates the incidental vocabulary acquisition (Freyd & Baron 1982 ; Tyler & Nagy 1989). • An ability to guess the meaning of the word using the morphological information is unrelated to language proficiency （Mori, 2003) . • An ability to use context is positively correlated with language proficiency (Mori 2002a; 2003; Kondo-Brown, 2007)/ • If sound can be identified in context, it is easier to guess the meaning of a words. (Kondo-Brown, 2007) • Combined use of morphology and context is more effective than a heavy reliance on one of them. (Mori & Nagy, 1999; Mori 2002a)

22. Belief about Kanji and Learning • Beliefs about kanji learning significantly affect kanji knowledge (Mori , 1999a,1999b) • Learners who believe that kanji is difficult or learning kanji requires special skills do not acquire kanji effectively. (Mori, Sato & Shimizu, 2007) • Learners who understand the utility and cultural value of kanji acquire them more effectively. (Mori, Sato & Shimizu, 2007) • Learners who understand the importance of kanji component shapes and kanji morphology acquire them more effectively (Mori, Sato & Shimizu, 2007)

23. Tips for improving reading • Increasing automaticity for the bottom-up processing. Speeded word recognition tasks (e.g., scanning on the web, speed reading, kanji writing in the air) • Learning cultural significance and history of kanji. • Learning about the importance of kanji in reading • Utilize kanji morphology using kanji games, kanji-matching games, etc. • Reading materials on the same topic to increase frequency. • Reading a lot of slightly difficult and fun reading materials • Work on a lot of pre-reading activities in in-class reading. • Try to paraphrase or define expressions using your own words.

24. Conversation and Grammar Communicative competence • Linguistic competence (An ability to use linguistic information such as vocabulary, phonology and grammar) • Sociolinguistic competence (An ability to use expessions appropriately depending on social situations, interlocutors, tasks, etc.) • Discourse competence (An ability to form a cohesive and coherent discourse.) • Strategic competence (An ability to use verbal and nonverbal means to sustain a converation when verbal interaction is difficult.) Savignon, 1972; Canale and Swain, 1980, Bachman 1990; Bachman& Palmer 1996

25. Grammatical Knowledge • Grammatical knowledge is an important component of language proficiency though it is not as important as it has been emphasized in instructional context. • Learners must acquire implicit knowledge of grammar in order to become proficient in L2. • Implicit knowledge (An intiutive knowledge. Native speakers has it much more than non-native speakers.) • Explicit knowledge (Knowledge that can be verbaly explained and can be obtained through grammar explanation and reference books. ) • Acquiring implicit knowledge requires a lot of conversational practices and experiences in conversation. (R. Ellis, 2005a; Philp, 2005 ; N.Ellis, 2005；Hatasa, 2006)

26. Acquisition of grammatical knowledge • Learners must receive a lot of comprehensible input (input that is slightly difficult to undersand) (Krashen, 1982) • Learners must notice the target information in the input in order to acquire it (Schmidt, 1990, 1993; Robinson, 1996; Leow, 1997). • Learners must notice the gap between his/her own form and the correct form. Without noticing, acquisition does not take place (Long,1996; Swain, 1985). • Learners must produce a comprehensible output. In order for an output to be comprehensible, it must be accurate and appropriate (Swain, 1985)

27. Tips for learning grammar and conversation • Grammar explanation helps, but a heavy reliance on grammar drills and reading reference books do not lead to the acqusition of functional abilty to use grammar. Grammar must be used in conversation. • During speaking: • Analyze your own form and the correct form • Analyze grammar and hypothesize the corect form using your knowledge of grammar. • Speak and try to get some feedback from your listener to test your hypothesis. (Iwashita 1999, 2003, Philp 2003, Takahashi 2003, Oliver & Mackay 2003)。

28. Learn a lot of expressions that help you to negotiate meanings and use them during conversation in L2 (Long, 1991) • Comprehension check (e.g.（私がいったことが／いみが） わかりますか？（この表現は／意味は）正しいですか。まちがっていませんか。） • Confirmation check (e.g., 〜ですね。〜っていうことですか？〜っていいましたか, 〜ですか） • Repetition • Clarification request （e.g, あのう、今よくわからなかったんですけど， 〜がわからなかったんですけど, もういちどいってくれませんか， 〜ってなんですか。

29. After speaking • Try to write down what you have talked about and check the forms on your own • Use check list to find out what you have been able to or not able to do during the conversation.

30. Try to engage in one-to-one conversation because it increases the amout and complexity of speech. It also helps improving the comprehension ability and facilitates grammar acquisition. (Pica & Doughty 1985; Pica, Young & Doughty 1987, Gass & Varonis 1994, Loschky 1994, Polio & Gass 1998; Mackay 1999, Ellis and He 1999, Ohta 1999, 2000). • Ask your teachers to provide more opportunities for pair work. Pair work should have a specific communicative goal and go beyond pattern practice with gaps or script with blanks. A good pair work should be task-oriented and can be extended to a real-life task.

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