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Paper short abstract

This research deals with education specializing in Japanese pronunciation at the university in France. We focus on the changes in pronunciation of learners due to feedbacks. Learners could not only get noticed but also actually change pronunciation by using resources and feedbacks.

Paper long abstract

This research is a longitudinal practice which we conducted at the university in France, dealing with education specializing in Japanese pronunciation. From the viewpoint of establishing communication, easy-to-understand pronunciation is important, and pronunciation education is in demand. However, there are few practical examples of it. This research aims to contribute to the development of it by clarifying the learning of learners and teachers and the practice issues longitudinally.

In this presentation, we focus on the changes in pronunciation of learners due to pronunciation feedback (FB), which has been developed in the second year of practice. We gave a text and verbal FB to the learners who recorded their voices. It was focused on the special beats and prosody, which were the teaching items in our lesson.

All 41 learners who re-submitted after receiving the FB had some improvements in pronunciation compared to before the FB. According to our listening judgment, the pronunciation of the 3 learners changed significantly at the following 4 points.

1. The generation of special beats has been improved.

2. The generation of accent type has been improved.

3. The rise of the sound at the end of the phrase has been reduced.

4. Stagnation and pauses in words and sentences has been reduced.

Looking at the examples above, it was found that there were changes in words other than the words pointed out by the FB, and it was found that the learners perceived their pronunciation metaphorically based on the FB and changed it.

Therefore, it became clear that learners could not only get noticed but also actually change pronunciation by using resources and FB in a complementary manner. Thus, we can suggest that pronunciation FB is effective in pronunciation education and promotes learners' meta-learning.

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Paper short abstract

The study looks at the risks and challenges of adopting an online-based approach to teaching Japanese, and studies the progress and feedback of students who took a 10-week long online basic course. A lack of interaction was revealed to be the key issue, and we have several suggestions to present.

Paper long abstract

Recent developments in IT have led to dramatic changes not only in our everyday life, but also in our education, contributing to the establishment of a digital society and a new generation of students with new expectations and demands. We surmise that it is these new online media, rather than the traditional ones, that will influence the way the Japanese language is taught in the future.

In order to study these changes and potential challenges in more detail, we designed a 10-week long online Basic Japanese course that we launched in 2018, as an integrated model for teaching all traditionally taught aspects of Japanese, including phonetics, grammar, character writing, and conversation. The difference between the traditional methods used in class, and those we have to rely on when teaching online, highlighted a number of challenges in designing the course, as well as certain problems that our students had to face.

The online format turned out to be particularly challenging for phonetics, as the traditional way of teaching phonetics presupposes a personal interaction between the teacher and the students. Self-control exercised by students and self-awareness also become more evident with the online format. Interaction with students is limited to a special support forum, which proved to be insufficient. Should we rely solely on the students, or should we consider designing new types of tests and exercises?

The results gathered in the first year led us to conclude that combining grammar and phonetic activities could provide a possible solution, that could contribute to a faster acquisition of pronunciation skills while simultaneously improving the students' grammar literacy.

Finally, we found that the online course needed to be localized, as we also developed a version for English native speakers. Therefore, we had to adapt the way certain aspects of Japanese grammar were explained so as not to limit the accessibility of the course to just Russian speakers. What is more effective for the process of learning a foreign language, to have the process based on the students' native language, or to start thinking differently from the start? Our research has led us to some possible approaches.

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Paper short abstract

This presentation will show the revised Classical Japanese e-learning materials titled "BUNGO-bun GO!" in which, we reformatted the basic lesson structure and created a simpler and more straightforward way of learning. We will make suggestions on how to use it alongside classical Japanese classes.

Paper long abstract

This presentation will display the revised e-learning materials of Classical Japanese (bungo) for non-native speakers. Learning classical Japanese is useful not only for those who aim to be scholars of Japanese studies, but also for ordinary Japanese learners, in order to deepen their understanding of Japanese language and culture. However, the learning environment of classical Japanese has not yet been sufficiently developed. This learning material comprises a comprehensive program that can be used on demand, fitting the schedules and specific needs of teachers and learners.

　　　　Since 2014, we have created and test-used the prototypes for texts including "Furusato" (a song authorized by the Ministry of Education in 1914), "Haru wa akebono" ("Makura no Soshi"), "Hatsuka no yo no tsuki" ("Tosa Nikki") and "Honyaku Kushindan" ("Rangaku Kotohajime"). Surveys distributed to users of the test version indicated that navigating the format was difficult (especially on smartphones) and time-consuming. In May 2019, we thus presented a revamped set of learning materials and a redesigned platform.

　　　　In this revised version of "BUNGO-bun GO!" we increased the number of texts to 16. We additionally reformatted the structure of each lesson as follows:

[Text]-[Explanation of text]-[Modern translation]

The previous version organized explanations in the form of [grammar]-[comment]-[definition], now unified within the [explanation of text]. Important words/phrases are formatted as links, directing users to a vocabulary list; this will create a simpler and more straightforward way of learning. We also modified the layout to more easily relate the texts to their modern Japanese translations. In the previous version, we presented the text on the left side of the page and the translation on the right; this two-column format also posed further problems for smartphone users. In the revised version, short sections of the text are instead directly followed by their corresponding translations. Users can now read these sections in a more streamlined way, increasing the speed with which they navigate the lessons.

　　　　We will demonstrate the revised material, as well as make suggestions on how to use it in conjunction with (introductory) Classical Japanese classes.