What Japanese Language Learners Find Difficult About Email-writing Tasks:

A Survey of Native Chinese and Korean Speakers

Abstract

This study examines how Japanese language learners perceive email-writing task difficulty relative to preset levels, based on ratings after completing twelve tasks. Participants were 33 upper-intermediate to advanced learners in Japan, native speakers of Chinese or Korean. Judgments largely matched preset levels, but discrepancies emerged when beginner-level or intermediate tasks were chosen as the most difficult. The results suggest that difficulty judgments were influenced by the relationship with the reader, psychological pressure on the writer, task complexity, and prior experience with similar tasks.