Diversity, Inclusivity, and the Importance of L2 Speaker Legitimacy

This commentary builds on the work presented in Mori et al. (this volume) and considers diversity and inclusivity in the context of L2 speaker legitimacy in Japanese-language education. A discussion of linguistic ideologies, native speaker bias, language ownership, and speaker legitimacy is followed by a brief introduction of key research findings which demonstrate the persistence of native speaker bias for L2 speakers of Japanese. I argue that as Japanese-language educators, we must make a commitment to overcoming native speaker bias with regard to each other and especially with regard to our students. I conclude with some suggestions of steps we can take to become models for our students and demonstrate the legitimation of speakers regardless of linguistic background, so that we may begin to eliminate native speaker bias in our profession and in our classrooms.

Download Full-text

Efektivitas Pemakaian Aplikasi Katakana Memory Hint Dalam Mata Kuliah Shokyuu Moji Goi Zenhan

KIRYOKU ◽

10.14710/kiryoku.v5i1.46-53 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 46-53

Author(s):

Rita Arni

Keyword(s):

Rapid Development ◽

Language Education ◽

Japanese Language ◽

First Year ◽

Android Application ◽

Study Program ◽

First Year Students ◽

Education Study ◽

Research Findings ◽

Smartphone Technology

This research is about the effectiveness of an Android application called the Katakana Memory Hint in learning Japanese letters during the Shokyuu Moji Goi Zenhan course. The course is taken by first-year students of the Japanese Language Education Study Program of Universitas Negeri Padang. This research focuses on one of the Japanese characters, the Katakana letters, because they are difficult to understand. For basic level learners, of course, they need media to help make it easier to learn the Katakana letters. Due to the rapid development of today's smartphone technology, Android applications have become a medium to help the learning process especially Japanese. This research is done to find out the advantages of an Android application called the Katakana Memory Hint designed by the Japan Foundation. This research applied the experimental method. The respondents were first-year students of the Japanese Language Education Study Program of Universitas Negeri Padang with the number of research sample of 30 people. The research findings show that the application is, as a matter of fact, effective in helping students to read and write the Katakana letters.

Download Full-text

Toward Exhilarating Classrooms: Representation vs. Inclusion in Japanese Language Education

Japanese Language and Literature ◽

10.5195/jll.2020.141 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 54 (2) ◽

pp. 373-381

Author(s):

Arthur M. Mitchell

Keyword(s):

Native Speaker ◽

Language Education ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Japanese Language ◽

Diversity And Inclusion ◽

Identity Representation ◽

Inclusive Teaching ◽

The Way

This article responds to the important effort, regarding diversity and inclusion, to draw attention to the imbalance in identity representation amongst the ranks of Japanese language teachers and to interrogate whether this is a symptom of native speaker supremacy bias. While recognizing the presence of this bias, I argue that addressing it through frameworks of representation (e.g. increasing the number of non-L1 female-identifying teachers) could inadvertently serve to support larger frameworks of oppression. Promoting, instead, a method of inclusive teaching that prompts us to look inward and actually transform the way we teach by having the courage to draw attention to our gendered, racial, national, and class identities within the classroom and connecting them to the content we teach, I offer a tactic for more directly addressing native speaker bias, as well as other structures of exclusion, that can be practiced by any instructor, no matter what their identities.

Download Full-text

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

International Journal of Modern Languages And Applied Linguistics ◽

10.24191/ijmal.v4i3.8545 ◽

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.

Download Full-text