Abstract
Exchange students at higher education institutions today demonstrate varied objectives and readiness in learning the Japanese language. To encourage them to learn Japanese under their own initiative, a Language Portrait exercise was tried in a Japanese language class. Their submitted language portraits and reviews of the exercise indicated that the students reexamined their individual use of languages through the exercise, while also reflecting on the positioning and significance of the Japanese language for them. The exercise also helped students to communicate with each other by exchanging their portraits, resulting in better understanding of their fellow learners and stronger motivation to learn.
