抄録
This paper reports on a “Japanese essay-writing activity,” designed to develop foreign workers’ reading and writing skills and, at the same time, to enhance workplace communication. In this activity, participants write short daily essays describing their tasks or experiences, and Japanese colleagues respond with comments. The results show that the activity promotes communication and mutual understanding between the workers and their colleagues. However, their interactions and written responses suggested that some participants did not fully understand the purpose of writing in the activity. In order to support participants who are unsure of its purpose, essay themes and model texts are currently being developed to match the workers’ language proficiency.