Paper short abstract:

This study examines the relationship between musical experience and attention to Japanese prosody through questionnaire data of Japanese language learners from Italy, Russia, China, and Vietnam between 2017 and 2019. The hypothesized relationship was somewhat supported.

Paper long abstract:

Japanese is classified as pitch-accented, and the sense of pitch is thus important in realizing speech. Although training methods and their effectiveness are being verified, there are individual differences in the sense of pitch, as well as individual differences in attention to Japanese prosody. Differences in the prosodic system of the learner’s native language and the learning environment of Japanese speech are possible causes, but it is also possible that the learner’s experience with instruction for musical instruments and vocal music (hereafter, “musical experience”) may also have an influence. Therefore, we conduct a preliminary study to determine the extent to which European (Italian, Russian) learners of Japanese whose mother tongue has a stress-accent system, and Asian (Chinese, Vietnamese) learners of Japanese whose mother tongues are tone languages pay attention to Japanese prosody when speaking Japanese, with a consideration of its relationship with their musical experience.

The questionnaires were conducted at universities in the above four countries between 2017 and 2019, and the analysis of data of 102 respondents (16 from Italy, 12 from Russia, 61 from China, and 13 from Vietnam) showed that most of the students in Italy and Russia (85.7%) paid attention to pitch accent when listening to Japanese spoken by native Japanese speakers, while most of the students in China and Vietnam (76.0%) learned the accent when learning new words. Additionally, 85.7% of the Italian and Russian respondents had musical experience (average duration, 5.2 years), while only 29.3% of the Chinese and Vietnamese students had musical experience (average duration, 1.2 years). Moreover, those who paid “no attention” to prosody had a shorter duration of musical experience than those who paid attention in both Europe and Asia, while those who looked up word accents in dictionaries tended to have a longer duration than the average for all participants. These results thus to some extent suggest a relationship between musical experience and attention to prosody.

Paper short abstract:

In this study, we analyze the interactions between a Japanese language teacher who is oriented toward the re-inclusion of other discipline teachers in the conviviality and a teacher in other discipline who responds to Japanese language teacher who has posture, and shows the issues involved.

Paper long abstract:

In recent years, there have been several essays that problematizes expecting only non-native speakers of Japanese to learn by including them in a Japanese community, at the same time, advocates expecting native speakers to re-learn and executing teaching them Japanese. In this study, we use the concept of re-inclusion in the sense that we expect native speakers to change their consciousness and include them in a convivial society living with non-native speakers. The re-inclusion is a situation in which triggered by contact with the minority, international students who are included in a Japanese college community, a change in consciousness occurs in the majority, teachers in other disciplines than Japanese language education. The purpose of this presentation is, through interviews with the teachers in other disciplines, to clarify the stance of the interviewer, the Japanese language teacher, who encourages re-inclusion in the hope that they will understand cultural diversity within the community, and to clarify the aspect of their reaction to the re-inclusion encouragement. We intend to capture how Japanese language education, which aims to realize a convivial society, can be made meaningful in a social context through such interactions between Japanese language education specialists and non-specialists. Therefore, we analyzed the interactions between the Japanese language teacher and the teachers in other disciplines from the standpoint of dialogue constructivism. As a result of the analysis, we confirmed narratives of "acceptance" that the teachers in other disciplines recognize the new insights and changes in awareness from contact with international students and expect the relationship between the international and the Japanese students to lead to new learning of the Japanese students. On the other hand, we also confirm narratives of "resistant" to the re-inclusion-oriented stance shown by the Japanese language teacher that they themselves had not changed even after interacting with the international students, and that the Japanese students would not be aware of cross-cultural diversity. Based on these reactions of the teachers in other disciplines and the social background surrounding Japanese language education, we will present the challenges for Japanese language teachers in their re-inclusion-oriented stance.

Paper short abstract:

This presentation reports on a disaster prevention learning practice conducted by a practitioner who is a teacher involved in Japanese language education, aiming to create a place for relationship building through social participation and dialogue.

Paper long abstract:

Kamiyoshi (2021) argues that Japanese language education to realize a symbiotic society requires practices to create both a place for learning Japanese and a place for building relationships through social participation and dialogue. This presentation reports on a disaster prevention learning practice conducted by a practitioner who is a teacher involved in Japanese language education, aiming to create a place for relationship building through social participation and dialogue.

There have been few reports on disaster prevention learning practices in Japanese language education targeting both Japanese and non-Japanese residents. In particular, there have been few studies or reports of practices related to community development. Takada (2017), in his attempt to conduct practical research on housing and community development, discusses the concepts of "Sumigokochi" and "Sumigotae" and "Sumikonashi" in order to evaluate the multifaceted value of housing.

(1) "Sumigokochi": the environment and systems provided by the town to its residents, (2) "Sumigotae": the sense of satisfaction gained by residents' social participation and involvement in the town, and (3) "Sumikonashi": the mutual and continuous enhancement of livability and livability.

To realize a symbiotic society, it is essential to make efforts to improve "Sumigokochi," for example, by providing information in easy Japanese. In addition, as a goal of future Japanese language education, it may be necessary to propose and promote the realization of "Sumigotae" and "Sumikonashi", in other words, resident-centered practices in the community. Based on the above, as a result of the practice of disaster education, this presentation argues that the following three things are necessary: (1) Improvement of "mutual-help ability" to make connections with neighbors, (2) Learning that is not expert-led, but that participants can see as "their own business," and (3) Promotion of self-expression that is not limited to Japanese language, and equal and open relationships. These arguments are not limited to Japan, but can be applied when considering the realization of a symbiotic society in the European region.