[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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This study aims to clarify the types of sequences of connective expressions that different Japanese speakers use, tendencies in combining such expressions, and factors influencing the selection of such expressions. For this purpose, this study compares opinion statements written by Japanese native speakers with those written by Chinese learners of Japanese.The results show that Japanese native speakers and Chinese learners of Japanese use connective expressions differently. The former predominantly use the "hitotsume" and "daiichi" series, while the latter do not use these series much and use the "mazu" series instead. In addition, the Japanese compositions written by Chinese learners of Japanese are compared with Chinese compositions written by the same group. This comparison suggests that the selection of a sequence of connective expressions may be influenced by not only the Japanese textbooks used in China but also language transfer.

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Natsume is a writing assistance tool for learners of Japanese as a foreign language that uses genre-diverse corpora to assist co-occurrence writing tailored to the writer's target genre and register of writing. In this paper, we present results of an evaluation study of Natsume in the context of advanced learners' academic report writing that aims to measure the effect of the tool on co-occurrence usage. Results from the evaluation, which compares subjects' reports written with and without Natsume with respect to each co-occurrence's meaning, syntax and register, indicate improvements across all evaluated categories.

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This article reports on the effectiveness and problems of a classroom environment in which a foreign sempai (a graduate student who took the course in a previous semester) acts as a supporter in a Technical Japanese Language course for Science and Engineering majors. According to our previous study, students appear to suffer a decline in motivation when taking Technical Japanese classes handled by Japanese language teachers with little technical knowledge. However, for students at an intermediate level of Japanese, it is hard to understand lectures in the Japanese language presented by Japanese technical specialists, and this makes them feel very uncomfortable. To address this problem, the authors have tried inviting a sempai to join the class to give students more opportunities to talk about their specialist field using the Japanese technical vocabulary they have just learned. Interviews with students revealed that the sempai's participation produced a powerful influence on students as NPRM (Near Peer Role Models), enhancing learning effectiveness as well as improving emotional factors. The interviews also showed that students who have a much higher level of specialist knowledge tended to prefer being taught by native Japanese specialists, that is to say, perceptions toward learning Technical Japanese Language differ widely between students.

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