Paper short abstract:

This presentation reports a case study of communicative activities on SNS between learners of Japanese at beginner level and Japanese learners of English at advanced level, and examines what opportunities for learning Japanese and for collaborative learning are available in this type of activities.

Paper long abstract:

The emergence of Web 2.0 technologies, including social networking services (SNS), has dramatically has transformed the environment of language teaching and learning. In the field of Japanese Language Education, a growing number of studies have reported case studies utilising SNS, and specifically exploring the aspect of collaborative learning based on the sociocultural theory. Many of these projects were organised for intermediate to advanced learners. However, the case studies involving learners at beginner level are still scarce. From the perspective of the sociocultural theory, which claims that 'learning occurs through social interaction with others' (Thomson, 2007: 169), it is necessary to arrange learning activities in order to facilitate communication in meaningful contexts even at beginner level. One instructor of a Japanese beginner course at a British university and one instructor of an English as a foreign language at a Japanese university arranged communicative activities for their students, utilising an educational oriented SNS, Edmodo.

This study reports the results of the Edmodo project. A total of 27 British university students who took a beginner level Japanese course and 29 Japanese students who were enrolled in an advanced English class participated in this project. Over the course of one semester, both groups of students posted messages twice, in Japanese as well as in English, and commented on the other students' posts. In order to explore the students' perspectives on this project, a questionnaire was conducted. In this presentation, we will present the outline of the project, and particularly in order to examine the opportunities of learning Japanese and collaborative learning, the focus was placed on the beginner level students of Japanese. We will also explore how the project can be improved to support the learners of Japanese at beginner level.

Thomson, C. K. (2007). Gakushū kankyō o dezain suru - gakushūsha komyunitī toshite no nihongo kyōshi yōsē kōsu (Design a learning environment: a teacher training course as a learner community). Sekaino Nihongo Kyōiku, 17, 169-185.