[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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This study examined the issues and characteristics with regard to quotation/interpretation of materials, using oral presentations and Q&A sessions conducted by foreign students in engineering and technology seminars. We divided the issues regarding quotation that participants pointed out into three types: “the source of the information was unclear,” “material to back-up the claims was insufficient,” and “how to position prior studies”. “Material to back-up the claim was insufficient” and “how to position prior studies” did not refer to the instruction that rules concerning quoted material were not obeyed. Instead, what was presented was closely related to the value of the entire thesis, not limited to partial issues. Thus, it was noted that proper quotation and interpretation of the materials could improve the value of the students’ study; this type of effective quotation/interpretation of the materials is considered especially necessary in the final stages of the study. It is presumed that guidance in quoting and interpreting materials is required at various stages of the study.

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Based on appropriation, a complementary learning to acquisition, the present study has attempted to reveal how an EPA care-worker candidate interpreted specific technical terms using year-long longitudinal interviews. For the participant “fuon” initially meant incomprehensible state and therefore she perceived that it must be removed from the resident but as she found herself in a position in the workplace, she changed its meaning to something which is a part of the resident and came to accept her fuon. The participant has also interpreted how “hôshitsu” and “yûdô” should be used through active participation in writing nursing records. In both cases, she has made these words her own through participating in her practice. The present study has provided a new viewpoint that suggests that what was seen as a problem of technical terms could be replaced by an unique learning process for each EPA care-worker candidate.

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The Japanese government has started to admit foreign housekeeping support staff to some specific areas as a measure to help combat the falling birth rate and the decline in the labor force population. In this research, we carried out questionnaires and interview surveys with companies involved in the housekeeping support services and clarified the Japanese language proficiency required in order for foreign housekeeping support staff to perform their work. Based on findings, we created Can-do Statements for housekeeping support services and prepared a syllabus for the Japanese language education of foreign housekeeping support staff. In this paper, we present Can-do Statements for housekeeping support staff when conducting cleaning and laundry work. Also, we analyzed the sentences in books about cleaning and laundry, extracted the vocabulary required for cleaning and laundry work and prepared vocabulary lists. Moreover, we received evaluation from the company involved with the housekeeping support services on the above items and confirmed the effectiveness and practicality of them.

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In this paper, I investigated awareness of research and the manner of development of awareness of five Chinese international students who had completed graduate school, using PAC analysis. Analysis results confirmed international graduate students’ attitude towards active engagement in research. Furthermore, by actively talking about research and discussing with others in seminars, they obtained multifaceted viewpoints and were able to grasp research in a holistic way. The experience of two years of research activities and writing a thesis not only deepened understanding of research, but also saw the encouragement of self-development. On the other hand, in the early stages after admission to graduate school, students were hurt by comments from others, felt dissatisfaction, did not see the significance of discussion with others, and suffered a complex that their research was not proceeding smoothly. This suggests the need for consideration and understanding on the part of fellow students and supervisors to ensure that international graduate students can engage more effectively in research activities.

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This study analyzes graduation theses of undergraduate Japanese majors in China (hereafter referred to as “Japanese majors”) with the aim of probing into how Japanese majors are using citations in their academic writing. The results of the survey show the following tendencies: 1) Japanese learners' citation density is low; 2) Japanese learners' citations from less academically published sources, even unknown sources are not rare; 3) Japanese learners tend to use indirect citation rather than direct citation; 4) Many citations with the reference mark of “author’s family name plus publication year” are found, and citations with only annotation or reference serial number are few. Secondary citations are also found in Japanese learners' writing; 5) Japanese learners prefer to use "Noberu" as the citation verb, also with a tendency of overgeneralization of past tense in citation verbs; 6) Japanese learners cite more in the introduction.

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We asked Japanese students and Chinese international students to answer questions from the linguistic section of the SPI, and compared their scores and trends in their answers. The overall correct answer rate of Japanese students was higher than that of Chinese students. The Japanese students had higher correct answer rates on idiom formation, word usage, sentence rearrangement, and fill-in-the-blank questions. However, no significant difference in correct answer rate was observed for two-word relationships, idiom meanings, and long-sentence reading comprehension between the Chinese and Japanese students. The Chinese and Japanese students did not score high on the same questions, and it took longer for the Chinese students to answer questions. These findings suggest that when Chinese international students start to study SPI questions, it is important for them to learn polysemy, idioms, vocabulary not written in Chinese characters, and vocabulary not covered on the JLPT. Opportunities are also needed for international students to read broadly outside their own specialties, as well as to deepen their knowledge and understanding of Japanese culture and society. Furthermore, international students should become accustomed to the two-step multiple choice question format and practice answering many questions quickly.

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This paper examines how a person should instruct a writing method for “Interpretation” required for an appropriate citation. Prior to the examination, we conducted the analysis of composition cases for learners in reference to classification of citation/interpretation by Yamamoto/Nitsu and interpretation structure model in a logical development, then analyzed what kind of difficulty would exist in a sentence preparation of “Interpretation”. As a result, it was suggested that there would be lack of comprehension in terms of a way of reading an arguing point from materials as reference source, a way of writing a focus point for reference source, a way of writing a consistent interpretation sentence from a focus point to an assertion, and a way of logical development by moderate steps. For dealing with this issue, we proposed that it would be effective to conduct a reading exercise for citation, a composition exercise as leading from rephrasing of sentence to interpretation, and an exercise of moderate conscious development steps.

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