scholarly journals Reading Tutor, A Reading Support System for Japanese Language Learners

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 77-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshiko KAWAMURA
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Japanese Language ◽  
National Examination ◽  
Reading Support ◽  
Tutorial System ◽  
Reading Tutor ◽  
Care Worker

The present paper gives an overview of the tools and materials included in the Japanese language reading tutorial system Reading Tutor and the multilingual lexicographical project Reading Tutor Web Dictionary, and discusses their possible uses both for Japanese language instruction and to support autonomous language learning. The paper further presents one particular use of these tools and resources for the development of learning materials for foreign candidates to the Japanese certified care worker national examination, and concludes with suggestions for effective guidance geared at fostering autonomous vocabulary learning.

scholarly journals Foreword

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 5-6
Author(s):  
Kristina HMELJAK SANGAWA
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Support System ◽  
Japanese Language ◽  
Chinese Characters ◽  
Learning Material ◽  
Learning Support ◽  
Project Report ◽  
Reading Support

Having received a lively response to our call for papers on the lexicography of Japanese as a second language, the editorial board decided to dedicate two issues of this year's ALA to this theme, and I am happy to introduce the second round of papers, after the first thematic issue published in October this year.This issue is again divided into two parts. The first two papers offer analyses of two aspects of existing dictionaries from the point of view of Japanese language learners, while the following four papers present particular lexicographic projects for learners of Japanese as a foreign language.The first paper, by Kanako Maebo, entitled A survey of register labelling in Japanese dictionaries - Towards the labelling of words in dictionaries for learners of Japanese, analyses register labelling in existing dictionaries of Japanese, both in those expressly intended for learners of Japanese as a second language and those intended for native speakers, pointing out how register information provided by such dictionaries is not sufficient for L2 language production. After stressing the usefulness of usage examples for learners trying to write in Japanese, she offers an example of a corpus-based register analysis and proposes a typology of labels to be assigned to dictionary entries, calling for the development of corpora of different genres to be used for lexical analysis.In the second paper, An analysis of the efficiency of existing kanji indexes and development of a coding-based index, Galina N. Vorobеva and Victor M. Vorobеv tackle one of the most time-consuming tasks learners of Japanese are confronted with: looking up unknown Chinese characters. After a comprehensive description of existing indexes, including less known indexing systems developed by Japanese, Chinese, Russian and German researchers, they compare the efficiency of these systems using the concept of selectivity, and propose their own coding-based system. Although searching for unknown characters is becoming increasingly easy with the use of optical character recognition included in portable electronic dictionaries, tablets and smart-phones, not all learners have yet access to such devices. Efficient indexes for accessing information on Chinese characters are therefore still a valuable tool to support language learners in this most tedious task, while the ability to decompose a character into component parts remains an important basis for character memorisation.The second part of this issue presents four projects aimed at supporting particular lexical needs of learners of Japanese as a second language.In the first paper, Development of a learners' dictionary of polysemous Japanese words and some proposals for learners’ lexicography, Shingo Imai presents a new lexicographic approach to the description of polysemous words. As Imai rightfully stresses, the most basic and common words learned by beginning language learners are actually often very polysemous; being deceivingly simple at first glance, they are often introduced with simple glosses or basic prototypical examples at the first stages of learning, and later treated as known words in intermediate or advanced textbooks, even if used for less common senses which are still unknown to the learners, causing much confusion. In the dictionary series presented here, polysemous headwords are thoroughly and systematically described within their semantic networks, where the connections between core and derived meanings are schematically visualised and exemplified.The following two papers present two of the first and most popular web-based systems for Japanese language learning support, both of which have been developing for more than a decade, supporting Japanese language learners all over the world.Reading Tutor, a reading support system for Japanese language learners, presented by Yoshiko Kawamura, is a widely known and used system based at Tokyo International University, which offers automatic glossing of Japanese text with Japanese definitions and examples, and translations into 28 languages. After introducing the system, its development, functionalities and its tools for signalling the level of difficulty of single words, characters, or whole Japanese texts, the author describes its possible uses in language instruction and autonomous learning, and one concrete example of its application to the development of learning material for a specific segment of learners, foreign candidates to the Japanese national examination for certified care workers, mostly Filipino and Indonesian nurses working in Japan. The author concludes with suggestions for fostering autonomous vocabulary learning.The other Japanese language learning support system with an equally long and successful tradition, developed at Tokyo Institute of Technology, is presented by its initiator, Kikuko Nishina, and one of its younger developers, Bor Hodošček, in Japanese Learning Support Systems: Hinoki Project Report. The article presents the many components of this successful system, including Asunaro, a reading support system aimed especially at science and engineering students and speakers of underrepresented Asian languages, Natsume, a writing assistance system using large-scale corpora to support collocation search, Natane, a learner corpus, and Nutmeg, an automatic error correction system for learners' writing.The last project report, by Tomaž Erjavec and myself, introduces resources and tools being developed at the University of Ljubljana and at Jožef Stefan Institute: JaSlo: Integration of a Japanese-Slovene Bilingual Dictionary with a Corpus Search System. The dictionary, corpora and search tools are being developed primarily for Slovene speaking learners of Japanese, but part of the tools, particularly the corpus of sentences from the web-harvested texts, divided into five difficulty levels, can be used by any learner or teacher of Japanese.I hope you will enjoy reading these articles as much as I did, and wish you a peaceful New Year.  

The Involvement of Native Speakers in Teaching and Learning Japanese Language at UiTM

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Choong Pow Yean ◽  
Sarinah Bt Sharif ◽  
Normah Bt Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Japanese Culture ◽  
Japanese Language ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Lexical Density

The Nihongo Partner Program or “Japanese Language Partner” is a program that sends native speakers to support the teaching and learning of Japanese overseas. The program is fully sponsored by The Japan Foundation. The aim of this program is to create an environment that motivates the students to learn Japanese. This study is based on a survey of the Nihongo Partner Program conducted on students and language lecturers at UiTM, Shah Alam. This study aims to investigate if there is a necessity for native speakers to be involved in the teaching and learning of Japanese among foreign language learners. Analysis of the results showed that both students and lecturers are in dire need of the Nihongo Partner Program to navigate the learning of the Japanese language through a variety of language learning activities. The involvement of native speaker increases students’ confidence and motivation to converse in Japanese. The program also provides opportunities for students to increase their Japanese language proficiency and lexical density. In addition, with the opportunity to interact with the native speakers, students and lecturers will have a better understanding of Japanese culture as they are able to observe and ask the native speakers. Involvement of native speakers is essential in teaching and learning of Japanese in UiTM.

scholarly journals INVESTIGATING EXPERIENCED AND NOVICE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS` PERCEPTIONS of MOST USEFUL VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES (VLS)

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-295
Author(s):  
Elnaz Zariholhosseini ◽  
Ehsan Namaziandost ◽  
Mehdi Nasri
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
New Words ◽  
Novice Learners ◽  
Vocabulary Learning Strategies ◽  
Personal Use

Purpose of the study: This article report’s findings from a study on the differences and similarities between experienced and novice English language learners with regards to their personal use of VLS. Methodology: Closed questionnaire and semi-structure interviews were applied to collect the data. The questionnaire was distributed among 60 (30 experienced learners and 30 novice learners). In addition, 20 learners (10 experienced learners and 10 novice learners) were asked to answer the questions in the interview. Therefore, descriptive statistics, U Mann Whitney test, and independent-sample t-test were run to compare and analyzed the data. Main Findings: The finding showed that there were significant differences between experienced and novice learners’ thoughts towards vocabulary learning strategies and experienced learners used vocabulary learning strategies while learning new words in English language learning. Applications of this study: If the learners are taught how to use each strategy correctly, their understanding of the language can naturally be improved. Moreover, VLS is beneficial throughout the process of vocabulary learning which makes learners more independent and allows teachers to focus on other things as well. Novelty/Originality of this study: To the best of researchers’ knowledge, no study has been done on investigating Iranian experienced and novice English language learners` perceptions towards most useful vocabulary learning strategies (VLS).

Theories and Literatures for Technology-Enhanced Language Instruction

2014 ◽  
pp. 29-59
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Assisted Instruction ◽  
Positive Effect

This chapter examines the related literatures and theories for technology-enhanced language instruction. Blended learning, as computer-assisted instruction, has a positive effect on students' learning performances. The research on long-term applications of blended learning in language instruction in middle schools and its effects is hard to find. Nevertheless, some defects exist in the few studies. In China there are much fewer empirical studies on the effects of blended learning on language learning represented by examination scores. Vocabulary learning is essential to English learning and requires the mastery of the pronunciation, spelling, and meaning. Computer-assisted vocabulary learning can provide choice and cloze questions regarding the pronunciation, spelling, and meaning, and give the students instant feedback and grading. The literature review suggests that a quasi-experiment for at least one school term or even longer time in different schools located in various areas is valuable to assure the results' reliability.

Communication networks of Japanese language learners in their home country

2004 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomi Kurata
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Communication Networks ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Home Country ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Japanese Language ◽  
Language Play ◽  
The Relationship

This paper deals with communication networks of four upper-intermediate level Japanese language learners with in-country experience who are studying at an Australian university, and it also examines the relationship between the learners’ networks and language learning. Utilizing Boissevain’s criteria for network analysis, I compared the characteristics of the informants’ current networks with those that existed prior to their in-country experiences. In addition, this study applied the framework of communicative competence developed by Hymes and Neustupny to analyse the informants’ language learning that occurred within their networks. The study found that a number of characteristics of the informants’ networks, such as their multiplex social roles and the variety of backgrounds of their Japanese network interactants, were probably related to the raising of the learners’ non-linguistic as well as linguistic awareness. It therefore appears that learners’ out-of-class communication networks with native speakers of the target language play an important role in terms of language learning.

scholarly journals The semantic roles of ‘kaku-joshi’ in Japanese textbooks

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 545-558
Author(s):  
Dedi Sutedi
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Japanese Language ◽  
Semantic Roles ◽  
Instructional Process ◽  
Japanese Case ◽  
Case Particles ◽  
Analysis Technique ◽  
And Function ◽  
Meaning And Function

Case particles are an important Japanese language learning aspect that the learners should have learned since the beginner level, yet there are still many who still do not grasp the meaning and function of each particle. This is because in the instructional process, the elaboration of such articles is confined to the external structure, while the inner structure (semantic roles) is rather neglected in the textbooks. This study seeks to explain each semantic role of the particles 'kaku-joshi' contained in Japanese language teaching materials starting from elementary to secondary levels used in Indonesia. The method used is descriptive, with textual analysis employed as a data analysis technique. Findings reveal that all Japanese case particles have appeared in elementary level textbooks, namely particles GA, WO, NI, DE, TO, E, KARA, MADE, and YORI which are used to follow arguments or syntactic functions in the form of subject, object, complement, and adjunct. However, not all semantic roles appear in the textbook; 14 semantic roles are evidently not present. The findings of this study can be used as reference material for Japanese instructors in the teaching of Japanese case particles, so that the differences among the particles will be clearer and more easily understood by Japanese language learners in Indonesia.

scholarly journals A pathological analysis of barriers to vocabulary learning and teaching

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 350-354
Author(s):  
Fahimeh Farjami
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Teaching Techniques ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
New Words ◽  
Mnemonic Devices

Learning a foreign or second language at different levels of proficiency involves the acquisition of a great number of words. Language learners look for effective ways to increase opportunities for retaining new words in long-term memory, but forgetting is a common problem. Language learners often complain that they forget new words soon after learning them. The importance of vocabulary learning also poses some challenges for teachers. They like to know in what ways instructional programs might foster the acquisition of so many words. Students face some obstacles when they try to assign the vocabularies to their long term memories. They also confront insumountable hurdles in the cognitive process of retrieval and recall. In this discussion, learners’ problems in vocabulary leaning are elaborated on and some guidelines are offered to ameliorate or even to remove them. It introduces language learning strategies that make vocabulary learning interesting and easy for learners. It also familiarizes teachers with useful techniques and activities for presentation. Ideas and viewpoints put forward by distinguished scholars such as Baker,Nation, Ausuble, Uberman, Thompson, Carter, Moras, Schmitt, Richards,Celce-Murcia, Chastain are utilized to substantiate the arguments. The purpose of this study is to present practical vocabulary learning strategies that can help learners and to offer influential teaching techniques and activities, which are of help to the teachers. A misconception analysis of teachers’ and students’ attitudes to vocabulary learning is carried out in terms of learning strategies, dictionary use, input, intake, output, affective variables, mnemonic devices, declarative and procedural memories. The relevant instructional points will be given to EFL teachers to enormously increase the efficiency of their teaching techniques and strategies in terms of students’ vocabulary learning and vocabulary expansion.   Keywords: vocabulary learning, forgetting, memory, mnemonic devices, input, intake, output

The Kanji Learning Website for EPA Care Worker Candidates, "Kaigo-no-Kanji Supporter” (Learning Support for Kanji Vocabulary in the Caregiving Field)

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenji Nakagawa ◽  
Yosuke Hashimoto ◽  
Hokuto Sunami ◽  
Mami Saito ◽  
Katsuichiro Nunoo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Japanese Language ◽  
Learning Support ◽  
Actual Usage ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Search Tool ◽  
Economic Partnership ◽  
Care Worker ◽  
State Examination ◽  
Technical Terms

Care worker candidates under the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) must pass the Japanese State Examination for Certified Care Workers within four years to continue working in Japan. The Japanese language, especially kanji (Chinese characters), used in the examinations is a significant barrier for the candidates and there is a need for Japanese language learning support designed specifically to focus on kanji used in the examinations. The Authors developed “Kaigo-no-Kanji Supporter” (Learning Support Website for Kanji Vocabulary in the Caregiving Field) and “Kaigo-no-Kotoba Search" – Online Search Tool for Specialized Vocabulary in the Caregiving Field. “Kaigo-no-Kanji Supporter” is a website to learn kanji, two-kanji morphemes and technical terms used in the caregiving field interrelatedly. This website is a useful study tool for learning the technical terms that are likely to appear in the State Examination for Care Workers. This site consists of information in three main parts:1) Tan-kanji (single kanji) that frequently come up in the exam, 2) Two-kanji morphemes that include single kanji terms, and 3) Technical terms that include two-kanji words. English and Indonesian translations for each single kanji and two-kanji words, as well as technical terms, are provided. The other learning website, “Kaigo-no-Kotoba Search” has been designed so that candidates can look up words using kanji, hiragana, katakana, English and Indonesian. This means that if a candidate comes across a word they do not understand, there are multiple ways for them to look up the word and higher possibility they will find the meaning. We have evaluated the actual usage of this website from two perspectives – through access data analysis and through interviews with website users. According to these resources, we found that the website is used in various ways both online and offline. 

scholarly journals A Meta-Analysis of Vocabulary Learning Strategies of EFL Learners

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Batoul Nematollahi ◽  
Fatemeh Behjat ◽  
Ali Asghar Kargar
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Learning Strategy ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Social Strategies ◽  
Lexical Knowledge ◽  
Vocabulary Learning Strategies ◽  
Successful Students

Vocabulary learning is one of the crucial matters in second language learning. There is a vast body of research in this field which has been done by famous researchers around the world, but still there is no specific solution for extending lexical knowledge in the best way. Therefore, we have conducted a meta-analysis on a body of 30 research projects to investigate the usefulness of different strategies of vocabulary learning. The results showed that the strategies which are used by students are as follows in order: determination, cognitive, memory, meta-cognitive, and social strategies. Besides, it seems that guessing from context and using the dictionary are among the strategies which are most favored by successful students. In addition, the relationship between context, treatment, and methodology by vocabulary learning strategy were studied. It was clear that learners of different contexts would prefer different strategies, and teachers used specific strategies according to their syllabus. For further research, it is suggested to select a larger body of studies. It is advised to make teachers aware of the importance of choosing an appropriate strategy of vocabulary learning for language learners to pave the way of improving lexical knowledge for them.

scholarly journals Vocabulary Learning Strategies by JFL Good Learners in the Digital Era

IZUMI ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 156-170
Author(s):  
Eka Marthanty Indah Lestari ◽  
Dewi Puspitasari
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Learning Strategy ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Dominant Strategy ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Japanese Language ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Foreign Language Learners

Vocabulary is an integral aspect when learning a foreign language. The issue discussed in this research includes learning new vocabularies by Japanese language learners who are competent and the relevance of vocabulary-learning strategy by Oxford (1990) to foreign language learners' current condition. This research aims to elaborate on the relevant vocabulary-learning strategy for foreign learners of the Japanese language. The research methodology is qualitative, with semi-structured interviews by adopting the questionnaire by Saengpakdeejit (2014). The vocabulary-learning strategy is classified based on the taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategy by Oxford (1990), Schmitt (1997), and Churches (2009). The result shows that Japanese language learners who are competent apply the vocabulary learning strategy, as Oxford (1990) stated. The dominant strategy used by the participants is a cognitive strategy, which allows new vocabularies to be stored in the participant's memory. Furthermore, information related to new vocabularies needs to be stored in the participant's memory using vocabularies. Besides, a competent Japanese language learner can use the learning resources, printed materials, and digital application to improve the vocabularies.

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