Paper short abstract:

The purpose of this study is to clarify messages and communicative functions that can be derived from tongue clicks. Through multimodal analysis, tongue clicks of Thai can be summarized in 3 categories: 1) cognitive behaviors, 2) emotional expressions and 3) operative utterance.

Paper long abstract:

Tongue clicks are generally perceived as negative behaviors in communication. In particular, Japanese are sensitive to tongue clicks in utterances. However, they do not recognize certain types of tongue clicks that only exist in the communication of other languages. Morita(2015: 172), for example, classified tongue clicks in French into 5 categories and described them as "expressions of a desire to continue communicating". For Thai, the frequency of tongue clicks in utterances was observed to be high(Hagiwara & Iketani 2015, 2016, 2017). Hagiwara & Iketani(2020) thus created two categories of tongue clicks: cognitive and emotional. So far, very few previous studies have used video data to explore tongue clicks. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to utilize video recordings to clarify messages and communicative functions that can be derived from tongue clicks. In so doing, multimodal analysis has been employed to investigate "chain and integrated relationship in interactions" (Takanashi2016: 62). The variables used in this analysis are 1)facial expressions, 2)gaze, 3)gestures and 4)speech. All 15 participants in this study are university students of Thai. They come in 5 groups and are asked to engage in three-person conversations. Participants are then asked to perform a set of 3 tasks in 50 minutes. The first task is to be conducted in Thai, and two tasks that followed are to be conducted in Japanese. All activities during the study are recorded by a video camera. The investigation revealed that tongue clicks were observed in 3 out of 5 groups. Of those 3 groups, there were 35 cases of tongue clicks in total. Only 1 out of 35 cases was connected to negative emotions; the rest of the 34 cases were the types of tongue clicks that did not exist in Japanese.

As discussed, my previous research with Iketani(2020) suggested two categories of tongue clicks for Thai. Findings of this current study allowed me to construct a new third category called operative utterance. In conclusion, tongue clicks of Thai can be summarized in 3 categories: 1)cognitive behaviors (e.g. thinking), 2)emotional expressions (e.g. good idea!) and 3)operative utterance (e.g. response/expansion).

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Paper short abstract:

In this presentation, I propose onomatopoeic game teaching materials based on the usage-based model of cognitive linguistics and examine the effects of the game to demonstrate the effectiveness of active learning materials that differ from conventional methods.

Paper long abstract:

I hear from European teachers that there are not enough activity materials to increase Japanese learners' motivation. In this presentation, I propose onomatopoeic game teaching materials based on the theory of cognitive linguistics and examine the effects of the game to demonstrate the effectiveness of active learning materials that differ from conventional methods. Onomatopoeia was born from both the customs and sensibilities of the Japanese people. Thus, the mappings between form and meaning of onomatopoeia are unclear for foreign learners, and even if the learners understand these things, they experience difficulty using them. The onomatopoeia syntax includes particles and co-occurrences with verbs and verb-ized "onomatopoeia+suru" (Kageyama 1996). The usage-based model shows that, in English (Tomasello 2003), patterns (syntax) are learned through experience in the outside world, and researchers have demonstrated the effectiveness of this model in Japanese (Hashimoto 2011). Therefore, I have created game material focusing on the context of onomatopoeia usage and its patterns (syntax). When they played the game, Japanese learners were divided into teams and native speakers served as judges. The games were observed and videotaped, and questionnaire surveys and interviews with learners were conducted both immediately and afterward.

Errors on the core meaning of each onomatopoeia, co-verb, connection form, and usage context were confirmed. The questionnaire survey and the interview data showed the following: 1. It is possible for learners to progress from understanding to use (output) and to correct their knowledge. 2. Both the judge's feedback and the sentences of other participants were effective input. 3. The process in which the learner thinks through the possible sentences and makes errors, the imagination of the usage context of onomatopoeia, and accidental learning had a positive impact on learning. 4. Pattern awareness leads to the modification of the syntactic schema. Findings 1 and 2 show the possible effects when learners fill the proximal zone of development (Vygotsky 1934). I presume that a method such as this, where learners recall their own experience and map it to the syntax, is effective for both cognition and memory.

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Paper short abstract:

This study focused on how teachers should interpret and evaluate cultural conflicts and wavering attitudes in students' reports. The two authors mutually analyzed each other's class presentation based on multilateral descriptions of the conflicts that arise among students from diverse backgrounds.

Paper long abstract:

This study focused on how teachers should interpret and evaluate cultural conflicts and wavering attitudes in learners' reports. As two author-presenters, we reciprocally analyzed our mutual practices through multilateral descriptions of the conflicts, clash of opinions, and uncertainties that arise among classroom participants from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The objective of this study was to discuss plurilingual and pluricultural competences and indicate a direction for the practices to which educators should aspire. The significance of this study is that it reveals diverse evaluation perspectives in the classroom without converging them unilaterally, enabling discussion of practices from multiple perspectives.

The analytical foci of this study were lessons given by the presenters in classrooms. One lesson was for international faculty students and the other was for international exchange students. Lessons consisted of conversations about culture and intercultural communication. Learners summarized their ideas in reports. In relation to our mutual practice, we the presenters verbalized the unique contexts, backgrounds, and educational philosophies of our practice and also shared our lesson designs, lesson processes, and results. Subsequently, we cooperatively evaluated and analyzed our practices. The specific data included audio data from the lessons, the products of students' work, and self-reflection records written by the teachers.

Through collaborative evaluation, it became apparent that the process of transforming learners' cultural perspectives contains stages of wavering and uncertainty. We learned that this indicates a disparity between learners and teachers; in other words, a difference in values and a disparity between their evaluations of the lessons in question. In this study, we assert that reflecting on the significance of this disparity will promote learning among students and teachers alike. In turn, we hope that it leads to a discussion of the nature of plurilingual and pluricultural competences and practices related to their cultivation and development.

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Paper short abstract:

The study reports the effects and challenges of "ACTION TUAT!", a multimodal communication website designed for international students. The study indicates that the learners should move back and forth between the real-life language activities and contextualized language learning of the website.

Paper long abstract:

The study reports the effects and challenges of ACTION TUAT! (https://tuataction.com/) a multimodal communication website designed for international students and researchers. Multimodal communication here refers to the meaning-making interaction leveraging a multiplicity of modes, verbal as well as non-verbal signals like body movements, gazes, visual information, and tools. The study indicates that the learners should move back and forth between the real-life language activities and contextualized language learning of the website.

Globalization demands the members of the science communities to interact with each other in a multimodal and multilingual manner as they conduct research collaboratively. In such situations, it is common to regard Japanese language use as one of the resources for their communication. However, this is not a widely practiced perspective in Japanese language education and international student support.

The website gives viewers opportunities to realize the usefulness of multimodal communication to make conversations more interactive and meaningful when they interact with people around them in Japan. Its video clips show a series of daily conversations with a focus on the multimodal communication taking place on a university campus.

The study evaluated and analyzed the use of the website, using three methods: 1) Google Analytics to investigate the user features and track their website activities; 2) qualitative text data obtained by questionnaires from Japanese language learners, and 3) descriptive data from the interviews with three Japanese language learners.

The results show that the users highly rated the multimodality and interactivity of the website. However, the link between contextualized language learning on the website and real-life language activities has room for improvement. Additional user-supplied materials can enhance their integration.

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Paper short abstract:

This study aims to find and analyse the use of polite expressions in e-mails by German Japanese Learners. The results showed that learners actively used polite expressions in most of the e-mail tasks. Learners did not learn the polite expressions explicitly but acquired them naturally.

Paper long abstract:

This study aims to find and analyse the use of polite expressions in e-mails by German Japanese Learners. In Europe, the Japanese language is taught from the "multilingualism" standpoint. Therefore, the question is, how much should we teach learners about polite expressions?

Noda (2014) has noted "Polite expressions" are the expressions that are used so that people do not upset to listeners and readers. Noda has provided several examples of polite expressions. This study uses introductory expressions to analyse the usage of polite expressions.

The study collected 600 e-mails from 30 Japanese learners in Germany and 30 native speakers of Japanese, which comprised 10 e-mail tasks. The tasks included making simple contact, an enquiry, refusals, and requests, among others. Thus, this study analysed how the participants use polite expressions when writing to the recipients.

The results showed that the German Japanese learners and native Japanese speakers actively used polite expressions in most of the e-mail tasks. There were more types and numbers of native speakers than learners, but learners also used them. The expressions used were "osewani natteimasu", "gomeiwakuo okakesuru", "oisogashiitokoro", "mooshiwakenai nodesuga", "zannennagara", etc.

On the other hand, there were few polite expressions used while asking for an item to be delivered, recent reports, a plan of summer vacation, and an opinion on a question. It could be possible that usually, people do not use a polite expression in these tasks, as they are talking about themselves or having a less formal exchange of messages.

Learners in this study did not learn the polite expressions explicitly but acquired them naturally during their study and used them for e-mail. It was observed that they use methods to avoid discomfort even if learners cannot use Japanese vocabulary and grammar well.

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Paper short abstract:

In Japanese public school, this practical research focuses on a classroom with about half of the students having a multicultural background, and reports whether Japanese and multicultural students are able to coexist in harmony and empower each other.

Paper long abstract:

With an increase in children of multicultural backgrounds attending Japanese public schools, students needing Japanese language instruction have reached more than 50,000 students. Now that the Japanese Education Promotion Act has been enacted, attention is being paid to how school education should proceed toward a symbiotic society. From a CDC perspective, there is a need to develop a sense of citizenship with fair education to understand cultural diversity. This research focuses on a classroom with about half of the students having a multicultural background, and reports whether Japanese and multicultural students are able to coexist in harmony and empower each other. Although this research is based on one classroom setting, I believe presenting children's conflicts and aspects of empowerment will lead to the reconstruction of future educational activities.

This practical research follows my experience for one year as a teacher in charge of a six-grade elementary school class. Focus will be on: career education class in which the school's foreign language assistants are invited to class, a cross-cultural exchange class with one-day experience students from Korea, and classes related to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Analyzing the changes in children's awareness through their thoughts and notes, after these classes were conducted, an increase in the children's acceptance of diverse cultures were seen, and they treated symbiosis in learning in a diverse environment as their own matter, which in turn affected their subsequent actions. In an interview with a student of multicultural background who had been living in Japan for 2 years, the student spoke on playing well together with Japanese children, and also on helping each other in learning. I clarified the aspects of empowerment in the friend relations in the class.

In this educational practice, the appearance of children trying to enhance each other's power was recognized. I would like to make use of it in the next initiative and theory construction while comparing it with practical examples in Europe.

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Paper short abstract:

In this presentation, we would like to convey what we analyzed focusing on the narratives concerning the possibility of multicultural understanding. The result of this study could be a small step that contributes to the designing of new learning environments for group activities in classes.

Paper long abstract:

In this presentation, we would like to convey what we analyzed and considered focusing on the narratives concerning the possibility of multicultural understanding. These narratives were observed during the post-factum interviews with the cooperating subjects of the data collection under the multi-person, multi-contact daily-conversation situations using Japanese.

We collect the daily conversation data in a dormitory, both Japanese and international students are dwelling. Data is collected diachronically in multi-person, multi-contact situations using Japanese as the common language. We aim to analyze such data multimodally, both from linguistic and nonlinguistic viewpoints. We also intend to visualize relationship-building processes across different languages and cultures and their actual state of change over time.

We collected data from June to August in 2019, nine times, about thirty minutes on each occasion, with two Japanese and four international students. Then we conducted semi-structured interviews (about thirty minutes each). We introduce what each interviewee talked about during the interviews. Scopes include the topics in the data collection, his/her impressions over other members, and the changes of the interviewee him/herself. There, we could observe changes in relationships, the way to address the situations when they expressed conflicting opinions with each other, and the impressions over other members in such timing.

We have conducted some group activities in the Japanese language and multicultural classes. However, sometimes they do not work well. What are the causes of such situations? Due to work balance? We continue to take an active role in and observe such activities, considering the reasons. Present data includes the following narrative.

(Rather than if you can understand each other?) Instead, I think it's OK because our ways of thinking are probably different.

I can't agree, but (Omitted) I can understand them, I couldn't do so before when I came to Japan.

This narrative gave us a different perspective who had previously believed the necessity of understanding each other in multicultural activities.

We believe that the result of this study is a small step that contributes to the designing of new learning environments for group activities conducted in the Japanese language and intercultural co-learning classes.

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Paper short abstract:

The purpose of this study is to clarify how the emphasis on JLPT by Japanese companies and university career education personnel works for foreign students who are planning to develop their careers in Japan and to reconsider the role of Japanese language educators to support them.

Paper long abstract:

The number of foreign students who wish to continue working in Japan after graduating from Japanese higher education institutions is increasing. In this study, we focused on the opinions of foreign students seeking employment in Japan about the "incomprehensibility" of their job hunting and employment in Japan and examined the social discourse behind these opinions. As one such discourse, we focused on the problem the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), which is required for career development in Japanese society. The purpose of this study is to clarify how the emphasis on JLPT works for foreign students who are planning to develop their careers in Japan and to reconsider the role of Japanese language educators to support them.

In this research, which centers on lifelong careers, we adopted a life-story interview method in which each person's narrative is read deeply from a social context. In particular, we analyzed the situation of two students from China and Vietnam, which are the countries that send the most foreign students in Japan, and conducted an integrated analysis of their impressions of JLPT regarding "contradiction" and "incomprehensibility" from the interview data. As a result, it was found that while Japanese companies and university career education personnel require foreign students to obtain JLPT, they face a dilemma of not being able to take advantage of the language and culture of their own country, which they want to utilize, in addition to the Japanese language ability and experience that they have accumulated through their life in Japanese society and student life; in other words, they are unable to use their plurilingual and pluricultural competences.

This study clarified that the use of the JLPT as an indicator by Japanese companies and society, which gives it authority, inhibits the will of foreign students toward career development. Conscious of this, Japanese language educators should support the students in developing their careers so that they can utilize their own language and culture as resources alongside their Japanese language ability. This issue is not unique to Japan, and all societies with foreign-born workers should be considering these problems.

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Paper short abstract:

The purpose of this practical research is to analyze classroom activities based on the analysis items extracted in previous research and this practical process, and to present concretely the methodology required for dialogue and collaboration in local Japanese language education.

Paper long abstract:

The purpose of Japanese language education in the local community is to establish equal relationships among participants with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds through dialogue and cooperation toward the realization of a multicultural society. However, according to Yonese (2010), which analyzed cases of human resource development in local Japanese language education, if the classroom relies on volunteers and coordinators, the role itself is fixed and the purpose of the activity is "communicate". Instead, it is easy to shift to teaching. It has been pointed out that not only training courses but also long-term involvement, explanation and discussion by the program coordinator is the key to fostering volunteers who engage in dialogue and collaboration.

Therefore, in April 2019, as one of the coordinators, we opened a classroom while exploring a system based on collaboration between industry, academia, and the private sector. The purpose of this practical research is to analyze classroom activities based on the analysis items extracted in previous research and this practical process, and to present concretely the methodology required for dialogue and collaboration in local Japanese language education. The analysis items were 1) "verbalization of information" by related parties, 2) "sharing of information" regarding foreigners, 3) "recognition of differences" in behavior styles among participants, and 4) "symbiosis" by each participant. Voluntary participation in "". The characteristic of this classroom activity is that while constructing a multi-layer system with functional differentiation such as planning (NPO, company, university), operation (public hall, volunteer, support student), finance (ward office), Japanese classroom Is expanding.

Analysis based on the minutes of the seminar, field notes, etc. during the classroom trial period showed the following specific methods of dialogue and collaboration. For example, (1) verbalization of information, (2) sharing of information, (3) introduction of self-introduction and culture by all participants, (4) placement and introduction of teaching materials by volunteers. On the other hand, from a sustainability perspective, issues such as continuing learning and maintaining volunteer motivation remain.

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Paper short abstract:

In this study, we examined the reading comprehension process and the written summaries in Japanese of non-native language students. We observed that correct understanding was hindered by the reading comprehension strategies gained from their cultural background or from the L2 learning process.

Paper long abstract:

According to cognitive theory, learning is facilitated when the instructor evaluates the extent and quality of the student's previous training in designing a class. In this study, aiming to design a reading comprehension class, we examined the reading comprehension process and the written summaries in Japanese of non-native language students. We used this output to analyze how their previous training influenced their reading comprehension. As a result, we observed that correct understanding was hindered by the reading comprehension strategies gained from their cultural background or from the second language (L2) learning process. It became clear that it is necessary to consider the activation of effective previously learned strategies and to be aware of unsuitable reading strategies.

The subjects of this survey were 3 international students (Romania, Vietnam, China) at a Japanese graduate school. Using the thinking aloud method, after noting their process of comprehension when reading essays and academic papers, they were asked to summarize what they read and then they were interviewed about the content and the reasoning behind their understanding. As a result, in one case it was found that L1 reading strategies were not used, but strategies taught during L2 instruction were overused. This resulted in a limited understanding of the details and an inability to understand correctly. In written summaries in L2 of the others, an unconscious influence of L1 culture resulted in unsuitable writing.

Accordingly, in order to plan a class, awareness of not only the linguistic or cultural background, but also a detailed awareness of previous training which might be unsuitable is necessary. Up until now, teaching reading strategies for reading comprehension to Japanese language learners was recommended and useful for beginners. However, it has become clear that learning reading comprehension strategies in L2 can be a hindrance to understanding written text. Instructors should not only be conscious of the difference in the extent and quality of previous training of each student, but also be able to recognize the influence of such reading strategies.

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