An attempt at Project Work analyzing natural conversations between Japanese people

Abstract

This study presents an attempt at Project Work. It involved the participation of advanced Japanese learners at International Student Center in University of Tsukuba, who recorded and transcribed natural conversations between Japanese L1 conversants. The learners then made presentations based upon these materials according to their own questions and interests. This study reveals that, through this activity, the learners' relative amounts of speaking and listening were increased. Furthermore, the learners' understandings of the features of spoken Japanese, and their levels of integrated motivation were elevated.