Much effort has been put into the ongoing teaching process to improve Chinese students' level of learning capabilities in universities. The paper investigates whether it is effective to improve Japanese learning by participating in extracurricular activities. Sixteen Japanese major students were instructed and trained by Japanese instructors collectively to practice karate. Comparison in scores and motivations in Japanese language learning was made in one year's time, upon which the conclusion of how effective such activities could be in assisting Japanese learning is drawn, followed by analysis and suggestions of whether such conduct should be popularized.

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This paper considers what types of corrections are most effective with high-proficiency Japanese language learners (NNS) with a need to write papers in Japanese. An analysis of NNS' awareness regarding corrections was performed and compared with Japanese university students (NS). Both groups tended to stress content problems, yet showed a higher understanding of problems of form. However, NNS had higher comprehension of problems than NS, and understood necessary points. This is likely due to studying essay writing for a semester. In contrast, comprehension was unsatisfactory regarding content problems that cannot be solved with local corrections, such as "depth of consideration".

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In this study, one native and one non-native but advanced-level speaker read, considered, summarized, and discussed a newspaper article. Issues faced by the advanced non-native speaker, the characteristics of their reading process, and changes in understanding brought about through discussion were then analyzed. The results suggested that in increasing reading and communication ability within a communication activity based on both individual monologue and cooperative discussion, the most essential factors are monitoring, reconstructing the content information understood, and improving explanation skills to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the content.

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In order to support the learner to conduct self-directed learning, the learning advisor is required to inform him/her of the learning resources corresponding to his/her needs and styles. CULLA (Common Utilities for Language Learning Advising), a web database system for advisors, contains the practical information available for advisory service. By searching the learning resources for language skills and linguistic elements in CULLA, the advisor can find and access the most suitable one for every learner. To enrich CULLA, the advisor can also add data of new resources for other users.

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This study looks at one way to improve the effectiveness of a Japanese vocabulary simplification system for leaners from non-kanji backgrounds. The system uses the Simple Japanese Replacement List to rewrite difficult vocabulary automatically. However, until now there has been no verification of whether the replaced items were actually simpler for JFL/JSL learners. To verify this, an experiment was conducted with learners from non-kanji backgrounds on the effects of replacing difficult nominal verbs with easy Japanese. The results show that the effect of simplification varies with the type of replaced word(s). These results indicate a need to modify the replacement list.

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This paper presents the findings of interviews with 26 Japanese language teachers who teach Japanese language major students or Japanese school students in China about how they teach causative expressions in Japanese language. The following are the main points of the findings. 1) Teachers focus their guidance on the sentence patterns in which causative expressions are used and the meanings that causative expressions express in sentences. 2) The guidance about how to use causative expressions in communication is inadequate, and one of the reasons of the inadequacy in guidance is attributable to the lack of teachers' consciousness.

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This study examines the functions of deshoo in discourse on Japanese talk shows. It indicates that deshoo is used to do further actions, often developing a discourse, through "confirming" something, which is one of the recognized functions of deshoo. In most Japanese textbooks, however, deshoo is explained as the expression that makes a prediction, and the confirmation function is either not introduced at all, or if it is mentioned, the examples and explanation are often insufficient. It is necessary to give examples of deshoo in discourse in order to help learners understand the further functions that are achieved by using deshoo for confirmation.

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This research is intended to clarity the research question of the following three proposed teaching methods of causative sentence in Japanese education. 1. What kind of causative sentence is covered in elementary Japanese textbooks. 2. What kind of causative sentence is being used in the real world. 3. What kind of causative sentences should be instructed by the Japanese teachers to beginners.

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Self-assessments were conducted in intermediate Japanese language discussion classes in a university in France. Before every discussion, the leaners set their own learning objectives and they evaluated themselves on their performance after each discussion using a survey sheet consisted of 3-grade scale evaluation and a free writing section. The result shows self-assessment could clarify and make leaners become self-conscious of their learning objectives and conduct autonomic learning. On the other hand, some learners merely set abstractive or vague objectives and reflections. It needs further considerations on how the instructors can support and aid these leaners.

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This paper focuses on the learning motivation of a Chinese student majoring in Japanese, who changed his major half a year later. The results show 4 distinct phases, namely positive compulsory motivation, intrinsic motivation, non-motivation and extrinsic motivation. On the initial stage he is assigned the Japanese major and accepts it calmly. This is followed by intrinsic motivation where he gradually owns the learning. Non-motivation is identified by the complete abandonment of the learning due to onerous recitation. Finally, he is compelled to learn Japanese in order to pass his examination which is a pre-requisite for a change in major.

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This study observed and analyzed the interactions that occurred during group work in a multicultural class with both Japanese and international students. The study also investigated the ways in which the Japanese students provided linguistic support. The data indicated that there were two orientations in linguistic support-positive orientation, in which Japanese students provided linguistic explanation with international students; and negative orientation, in which explanation was avoided. The study explored the implications the two orientations have for multicultural interaction on the basis of the concept of yasashii nihongo 'simple and generous Japanese'.

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This paper shows framework to consider when determining Braille booklets' attachments and ways to file. Braille document preparation has been studied, however, no specific presentation on filing is assumedly found. Therefore, with JLPT Reading tests, we prepared Braille booklets with different attachments and conducted survey on these usability with Braille users. Braille booklets for reading in the survey are for reading texts extended to multiple pages and answering questions in limited time. The booklets can be reread for getting answers, not for afterwards. This paper shows the findings of Braille booklets' usability prepared as one case and how to select various attachments and filings, in terms of usage characteristics of booklets, contents and users.

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This paper reports on the activities of one beginner class using skits to improve speaking proficiency and learning motivation. In these activities, the students made and performed their own creative skits in pairs after learning appropriate expressions and conversation skills through a model conversation and drill exercises. The students showed a proactive approach during each of 8 skits done over the semester. When comparing the transcripts of the first and last performances, we saw positive changes quantitatively and qualitatively in sentence production. High motivation for oral practice and learning Japanese was observed from the questionnaire survey at the end of the semester.

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At Okayama University, the Japanese language curriculum is revised every year. Recently, a significant reform was made in order to meet the diverse needs of students and the new curriculum was implemented as of spring, 2013. We conducted a survey in 2013, and received responses from 74 students in the spring semester and 78 students in the fall semester. The results showed that almost 90% of the students answered positively to topic-specific classes, and more than 80% of them were satisfied with the Japanese language course. In this presentation we describe the students evaluations of the course, the individual classes, and their preference for new classes.

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Language classes in schools are organized by age or grade level, rather than by ability, so it is common to have a range of abilities in one classroom. In the primary grades, there are also age-related developmental variations in cognition. This study will demonstrate how these variations can be used to positive effect in the classroom. The teacher can use the same materials for all students, but have differing objectives or assessment criteria for individual students. In addition, by having the students collaborate with each other, the students' motivation is increased and their Japanese ability is improved.

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To support literacy learning for immigrant wives illiterate in Japanese, we interviewed long-term residents to investigate their learning readiness and needs. A tendency to easily learn basic kanji related to everyday life was observed, but it became clear that even if they could write, they were not able to recognize kanji components. The women were aware of the present need for writing skills, but were not yet aware of what they might need in the future. Using their level of readiness, it is necessary to provide support for literacy learning to meet the need for a greater command of kanji.

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This paper is a report on Practice and Analysis of Flipped Classroom for Japanese Teacher Training. Previous to the lecture, students study technical knowledge with lecture materials and e-learning contents by employing Moodle and take a check test to promote understanding and fixation of the technical term. Furthermore, I accept questions about lecture materials through setting up a question box in Moodle. Based on this preparation and after consideration of student's questions, a general active learning multiple choice question test, collaborative learning and problem-solving study is undertaken with the goal of bettering one's actual practice ability. As the result of class evaluation, 75% of students had a positive view.

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The purpose of the study is to report the outcome of the teaching materials fostering the elementary to intermediate level students' ways and ability of the implementation to Japanese language. Speculating a theme from several topics first, the students created a vocabulary map and tried making a short sentence. Reading and listening on the topic, they summarized the content of it by studying vocabularies, expressions, and sentence patterns. Lastly, they made an additional vocabulary map to express their ideas along with making sentences with vocabularies, collocation, and sentence patterns. Consequently, they retained strategies for opinion statements and could organize opinions.

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With the advance of information and communication technology, a variety of resources including dictionary applications on mobile phones, online dictionaries, free translation websites, and search engines are used when writing sentences. However, these resources tend not to be used effectively by Japanese language learners. Considering effective use of these resources as one of the necessary skills in writing, the presenters have developed learning materials for writing with utilization of the resources. This presentation reports the findings from the analysis of the developing process of these learning materials.

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This is a practice report on the education of a Chinese student studying in Japan. The student was initially hesitant to speak Japanese in the classroom. However, after studying with a learning supporter, the student became more confident and even began asking questions towards the homeroom teacher. Moreover, the student seemed to be interested in arithmetic, and actively participated in arithmetic class. The report concluded that providing a peaceful learning environment which simulates the environment of foreign students' home countries and that allows them to use their mother tongue has a positive influence on the students' learning.

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This presentation investigates how multicultural classroom settings can enhance the student's critical thinking skills. Although the methods of teaching critical thinking skills can be divided into various groups, the author tried to focus on the cultural differences between Japanese and international students at a Japanese university. In the classroom, students were asked to read materials and then state their opinion. The main results are as follows: (a) cultural differences have an effect on the making of proposition; (b) international students tend to pay more attention to the language aspects of the materials than the contents; (c) international students tend to use mental resources for processing language.

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This paper examines whether or not students' reflections correspond to the aims of the course through hierarchical cluster analysis using the Term-Document matrix, which contains students' reflections in the form of free descriptions. In the author's interpretation of the analysis, students understood the diversity of opinions and evaluations of the discussions that they participated in. On the other hand, the author examined that the implicit instruction of the free description and the lack of sharing the students' reflections prevented the students from gaining an awareness of the cooperative relationship among the discussion participants.

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In this article I report on, and will analyze the effectiveness of, a classroom practice that introduced dictogloss as preparation for producing a video, which was the term final outcome in this task-oriented course. Dictogloss was used not only as a task to make students focus on grammar, but also as a resource for learning to explain graphs, make quotations, and summarize news texts. After the course, I evaluated the course design and analyzed the effectiveness of dictogloss from course evaluation by the students and analyzing the text written by the students in dictogloss tasks.

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Undergraduate international students studying the sciences at universities need to gain a command of fundamental specialized terms equivalent to the high school graduate level. This study attempted to identify a list of vocabulary that should be learned in order to gain a command of fundamental physics terms in an efficient manner. The study drew on indexes of terms from 26 junior and senior high school textbooks in three physics-related subjects, and identified 476 target terms listed in 50% or more of the indexes for each individual subject. These accounted for approximately 26% of all terms.

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This paper reports on a collaborative project involving the development of a kanji textbook focusing on the Japanese linguistic landscape; the project was undertaken in a course on Japanese language pedagogy. The students of the course were divided into groups of six. The students made presentations after completing the project. An analysis of questionnaire results, reaction papers, and the students' statements in class, revealed that designing activities that centered on the linguistic landscape motivated students greatly and made them aware of the difficulty faced by Japanese learners in acquiring kanji. This project work helped students to develop their compound-eye thinking abilities.

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This paper will analyze qualitative data of Japanese language learners. Data was obtained from a semi-constructed interview of 50 subjects, scripted and then analyzed. A coding method in stages was adopted in order to extract particular concepts from the whole data. The coding process is as follows. Certain parts of speech involving meaningful content were selected and expressions that represent some meaning shared with several subjects were categorized as keywords. From this data sub-set some featured keywords were obtained. These could be considered the components of speech data which show common concepts among subjects.

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Every year many university students graduate from Japanese Teacher Training Course. However, not all the graduates become Japanese teachers. Some get a job in various occupational fields. In this study, we consider the essential qualities and abilities for global society. We also examine the possibilities of success in the global society for graduates of the Japanese Teacher Training Course. As a result, we believe that the graduates with intercultural understanding and effective communication skills have the potentials to be active participants of the global society.

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It is often said that for learners of Japanese to acquire Japanese accent, they can only memorize each word individually. However, it is unlikely that Japanese native speakers follow the same process. In this paper, the results of the accent practice for superior-level speakers are reported. During the practice, a Korean learner read aloud sentences in a textbook and compared her own pronunciation to that of the recorded sentences read by a native speaker. After feedback and practice, the learner was asked to read aloud the sentences again. The results indicated that 1) correction of the accents made by an instructor was not necessary maintained, 2) consciousness can be raised through comparing the difference between her own pronunciation and that of the native speaker's.

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