Orthoepic Competence Descriptors in Japanese Language Education: CEFR Levels B1 to C2

The Council of Europe’s 2001 Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) has shown rapid global adoption, and now includes Japanese language education though it primarily aimed at alphabetically transcribed languages. It basically acknowledges that orthoepic competence relates to comprehension of characters yet does not indicate descriptors. Descriptors examining A1 and A2 levels, using altered techniques, have already been set. In this paper, I re-examine descriptors for levels B1 to C2, which have not yet been attempted, and combine them with the results for levels A1 and A2 to present descriptors for levels A1 to C2 in overall.

A Comparative Corpus-Based Content Analysis of Head of Government Addresses in Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic: Japan and Western Countries

Addresses made by heads of government reflect their views and opinions. This article presents a quantitative content analysis of public addresses made by heads of government of the five countries, namely Japan, the USA, New Zealand, Germany, and Slovenia, which were done in response to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19). Word frequency analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis were used to identify the content specifics of these addresses. The comparative analysis of speeches concerning the novel coronavirus enables us to determine how these addresses reflect the speakers’ perspectives and political orientation and what they attempted to convey to the public.

Network for Supporting Education of Foreign Children During Covid-19: Language Assessments as a Tool for Promoting Community Integration

The rising number of foreign residents in Japan has caused the number of children with foreign backgrounds in Japanese schools to increase. The present Japanese education system does not adequately support children whose mother language is not Japanese, and their educational problems have turned into social issues. We have conducted an action research project in collaboration with several schools and one university to determine how to develop a support system through online media that would soften the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We argue that language assessment is the key to driving the project and sharing the results of the assessment analysis with all project participants works effectively to promote collaboration between schools, families, and the university.

“I Am Not Punjabi, My Parents Are”: Degradation of the Language of Dominant Majority

Due to social and geographical mobility and globalization, many minority languages in the world are pushed to the periphery. Reasons for such a trend differ among languages. In the case of the Punjabi language, despite being spoken by a major portion of the population, the speakers are gradually disowning it. Considering this gradual shift, the present study explores the predicament of the Punjabi language. The study uses phenomenological design and collects data from Punjabi ethnic students in four different universities in Islamabad. The study uses semi-structured interviews, TV shows, and natural conversations. Findings reveal that the Punjabi speakers themselves disown their language as well as Punjabi identity due to social, economic, religious, and political reasons. Especially women avoid the language more, they do not speak Punjabi with their children, and they reject their Punjabi identity.

Comparative Analysis of Coronavirus Metaphoric Representation in Chinese and Russian Online Media

This article aims at comparing the coronavirus metaphorical image in the online media of China and the Russia. Metaphor is viewed as a cognitive frame within the discourse. The study was conducted on 750 and 1000 headlines and leads of news reports about the coronavirus for the Chinese and Russian language. The results show that the virus image is based on similar metaphorical models, but the quantitative analysis of metaphors and metaphorical entailments indicate significant differences in the virus image that media creates. The coronavirus image in the PRC media mainly represents as an enemy which should be fought, and can be defeated, what helps to cool down public opinion. The Russian media discourse treats the coronavirus as a surprise enemy that is dangerous, and it is not clear “how it can be won”.

On the Use of Corpora in Second Language Acquisition – Chinese as an Example

This paper aims to introduce the language corpora and the advantages of their use in the process of Chinese language acquisition. We provide practical examples of the corpora's direct and indirect use for teaching and learning Chinese as a second language. The exploratory approach towards Chinese by using various types of corpora is applicable for general language seminars as well as specialized translation seminars. The indirect use is mainly linked to the preparation of teaching materials and facilitates the curriculum design.

Causation in Classical Chinese During the Warring States Period and in the Han Dynasty

In this paper, I explore causation in Classical Chinese during the Warring States period and in the Han Dynasty. Whether causation is realised via causative use of words with covert causative verbs, or via overt causative verbs, causation structures can always be divided into Agentive and Causative constructions, which can be further categorised into lexical causatives and productive causatives. I also account for causation in Classical Chinese by means of Feng’s (1998, 2000, 2009) prosodic approach and show that both strategies to form causation structures are compatible with a prosodic theory. I discuss both VO and VV causation and state that Agentive and Causative constructions involving covert causative (light) verbs are prosodic words, whereas those involving overt causative verbs exhibit properties of phrases.

Stop Voicing and F0 Perturbation in Pahari

The present study has been carried out to investigate the perturbation effect of the voicing of initial stops on the fundamental frequency (F0) of the following vowels in Pahari. Results show that F0 values are significantly higher following voiceless unaspirated stops than voiced stops. F0 contours indicate an initially falling pattern for vowel [a:] after voiced and voiceless unaspirated stops. A rising pattern after voiced stops and a falling pattern after voiceless unaspirated stops is observed after [i:] and [u:]. These results match Umeda (1981) who found that F0 of a vowel following voiceless stops starts high and drops sharply, but when the vowel follows a voiced stop, F0 starts at a relatively low frequency followed by a gradual rise. The present data show no statistically significant difference between the F0 values of vowels with different places of articulation. Place of articulation is thus the least influencing factor.

Polysemy of ‘Common Language’ and the Modern Japanese Nation: The Universalization of a ‘Standard Language’ to correct ‘Dialects’?

In this paper, the term futsūgo (common language) was viewed over two periods. The first period (1880s-1894) was concerned with education but aimed to establish everyday, commonplace language and script that was familiar to the populace. However, by the 1890s, the policy of Europeanization was being reconsidered, and national consciousness was on the rise. The second period (1894-early 1900s), with the start of the Sino-Japanese War, saw an increase in the national consciousness in strengthening both literary and military arts, with a desire for the establishment of an artificially unified language with artificial rules that would unify the populace and the nation. The natural shift from the populace’s everyday commonplace language to a unified national language became possible through the linguistic logic, or mediation of terminology, seen in the single (but ambiguous) word futsūgo.

Marked Geminates as Evidence of Sonorants in Sylheti Bangla: An Optimality Account

This paper analyzes the universal concept that sonorants are marked geminates in the gemination process of Sylheti Bangla (henceforth SHB). Evidence from SHB suggests that when SHB speakers confront borrowed words with sonorant initial or obstruent initial heterosyllabic clusters, it is invariably the sonorant that gets assimilated. In addition, SHB data indicates that when faced with choices between two sonorants of the heterosyllabic clusters, speakers opt for the less sonorous one for gemination. Given this phenomenon, the proposal that sonorant gemination is absent in SHB could not be the ultimate one as it receives additional support from the fact that SHB also possesses many underlying sonorant geminations. Based on this investigation the hierarchy of the constraints *GG*RR>>*LL*NN is proposed for analyzing the gemination process in SHB. Finally, this paper illustrates some additional constraints in the SHB gemination process found to be necessary.