2018 Volume 22 Pages 1-10
This study, conducted with 34 learners of basic Japanese, investigates the effects of pragmatic consciousness-raising (PCR) activities on the acquisition of linguistic content which learners had previously studied but were not yet using in a grammatically accurate or pragmatically appropriate manner. PCR is an inductive approach to developing awareness about how language forms are used appropriately in context. In addition, the present study investigated whether superior results were produced with or without the availability of meta-linguistic information provided through discussion alongside with PCR activities. The target structure was Japanese benefactive construction tekureru, and acquisition of the form was measured through comprehension and production tests. Pre-post design was used to investigate the short- and long-term effects of instruction. Results indicated there was no statistically significant difference between the two experimental groups and the control group in the comprehension test. However, the two experimental groups performed significantly better than the control group in the immediate post production tests. Further, the analysis of results implied that PCR accompanied with discussion is more effective than conducting PCR activities alone.
