This study investigates how to support reading comprehension in regional Japanese classes. 46 native Japanese speakers (JJ) and 31 non-native speakers (JSL) were surveyed regarding their understanding of 12 sentences depicting action requests in a school letter. The results showed that, even when furigana or translated words were included, the correct response rate of JSL was significantly lower than that of JJ. Sentences with long hiragana sections in the predicate and sentences in which the writer was the subject were perceived as difficult to read. Difficulties in reading comprehension included the inability to find word breaks in long hiragana sections, excessive attention to numbers leading to misreading of particles, lack of verb conjugation knowledge, the inability to infer the person of action in a sentence in which the subject was omitted, and failure to infer meanings from known words. JSL make full use of bottom-up reading based on knowledge of known words and learned grammar, and top-down reading based on background knowledge. Therefore, to provide greater reading comprehension support to JSL, it would be useful to provide activities that supplement knowledge of sentence form and provide Japanese school background knowledge, in addition to words and grammatical knowledge that frequently appear in action-request sentences.

In this study, we interviewed four Chinese graduate students who communicate in Japanese about their experiences building relationships in laboratories and the speech styles they chose. The data were analyzed using M-GTA, which found the following five categories in their descriptions: “perception of laboratory environment,” “desired relationship,” “participation in conversation opportunities,” “choice of speech style, ” and “evaluation of the experience.” The students proactively participated in formal/informal conversation opportunities based on their desired relationships, and with a sense of successful/unsuccessful relationship building, but their degree of satisfaction and proactiveness did not necessarily correspond. In addition, there was no single process of speech style selection associated with relationship building. The results confirmed that the choice of speech style reflected not only students’ normative consciousness or limited Japanese language ability, but also their self-directed choice as a means of adjusting their desired relationships by the degree of intimacy and self-presentation in the laboratory environment. The international students cultivated (developed) their own position by coming to terms with their own desires and surroundings, and reached a satisfactory understanding by integrating their experiences with their past, present, and future experiences.

This paper focuses on the use of the Japanese benefactives -te ageru/-te yaru in children’s interactions and analyzes how relationships are brought into being and negotiated through these constructions. Utilizing an interactional approach, the findings are discussed in relation to language socialization. In children’s interactions, while hierarchical relationships arise due to differences in ability emanating from disparities in age and in knowledge/experience, such hierarchical relationships are not static but are oriented to and change dynamically depending on the situation. Children orient to differences in age and ability between themselves and others and display a fine-grained sensitivity through their use of -te ageru/-te yaru, and skillfully display their own ability through verbal/nonverbal behaviors. Through their use of -te ageru/-te yaru, children show their understanding regarding the direction (s) in which benefit is conferred. By offering and directing actions with -te ageru/-te yaru, older siblings conduct normative behaviors and show that they can assist others who are in need. On the other hand, asymmetry in status breaks down and hierarchical relationships become more fluid and negotiable when a child challenges rather than accepts the proffered assistance. In this manner, children acquire norms of relationships through their interactions with peers and siblings and negotiate those norms.

This study defines narrative as a collaborative process where conversation participants construct a story world while positioning themselves through their interactions. In this study, how a second-generation Zainichi Korean (long-term resident Korean in Japan),the father of the author, positions himself within his family’s narrative about South Korea. This analysis uncovered an identity paradox. Despite viewing South Korea, a place he has physically experienced, as “foreign,” he was found to also regard South Korea as his “homeland.” Furthermore, he positions himself beyond the confines of the nation-state and yet he aligns Korean nationality with ethnic identity. Hence, he is intrinsically bound within the nation-state framework. This study thus suggests that identity contradiction is the key to understanding the lives of Zainichi Koreans.