Paper short abstract:

Research emphasises the importance of local actors in decision-making. This paper will review the macro-levels and agency (local actors) in Japanese education in Ireland supported by a networked learning community. An underpinning concept is ‘gemba’ - deference to frontline professional expertise.

Paper long abstract:

The Japanese community in Ireland is relatively small compared with other ethnic minority groups, while there has always been great interest in Japanese culture and language. There are many challenges for distant cultures to achieve engagement. In addition, Japanese has been on the official language curriculum within the post-secondary Leaving Certificate programme since 2000 and is a well-established subject at secondary school level.

The importance of local actors and their role in decision-making about language teaching has been emphasised (Liddicoat & Baldauf, 2008; Johnson & Johnson, 2015; Stewart & Miyahara, 2016). Built on previous studies, this paper will review the interactions between structure (macro-level policy) and agency (local actors) in the context of Japanese language education in Ireland supported by Networked Learning Communities (Stewart & Miyahara, 2016). It will then look at possible structures supporting the teaching of Japanese language in Ireland which seeks to recognise the ownership of various aspects of the process. An underpinning concept is ‘gemba’, which implies deference to frontline professional expertise and autonomy.

The paper will focus on results from research conducted with secondary teachers and those actively involved in leading Japan-related cultural projects in Ireland.

Jackson, D., & Temperley, J. (2006). From Professional Learning Community to Networked Learning Community. International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI) Conference 2006.

Johnson, D. C., & Johnson, E. J. (2015). Power and agency in language policy appropriation. Language Policy, 14(3), 221-243.

Lamb, T. (2012). Language associations and collaborative support: language teacher

associations as empowering spaces for professional networks. Innovation in Language

Learning and Teaching, 6 (3). 287 - 308.

Liddicoat, A. J., & Baldauf, R. B., Jr. (2008). (Eds.) Language planning and policy: Language planning in local contexts. Clevedon, Buffalo, Toronto: Multilingual Matters Ltd.

Stewart, A., & Miyahara, M. (2016). Language teacher associations in Japan: Knowledge producers and/or knowledge disseminators. ELT Journal, 70(2), 137–149.

Paper short abstract:

In 2020, we asked university students from Serbia (33), Germany (35), and Japan (20) to write short essays. From the learners’ corpus obtained we extracted sentences with words belonging to the "live/life" category and performed an ethnolinguistic analysis of the concept of “the ideal country”.

Paper long abstract:

According to the Kojien dictionary, 共生 is defined as “living together in the same place”. A “country” is the material manifestation of this concept. In 2020, we asked university students from Serbia (33), Germany (35), and Japan (20) to write essays on the topic “A country easy to live in”. In this research, we used those essays as a learners' corpus to extract sentences that use words belonging to the "live/life" category such as "生きる・生活する・住む・暮ら". We then ethnolinguistically examined how students describe the ideal country and life for human coexistence.

The ethnolinguistic approach is used in the Slavic-speaking world in particular to explain the world picture formed by the characteristics of the "nation", as seen through underlying linguistic and social concepts, etc.

For example, the statement “I would be happy if people with a lot of money and people who don't have a lot of money could live in the same way. I think that the world would be full of good things and everyone's life would be easier”, gives us an understanding of the way students in Serbia view “the ideal life”.

Although there are various studies on the concept of “living” in ethnolinguistics (Lazić Konjik 2015), there are not many studies that focus on what is a lifestyle highly valued by youth nowadays. The results of our research provide us with an illustration.

Lazić Konjik Ivana (2015) „Koncept života u srpskom jeziku i kulturi“, О вредностима у српском језику – Зборник етнолингвистичких радова (ed. Ајдачић Дејан), Aлма, 125-140.

Paper short abstract:

This paper proposes a multilayered approach for detecting academic misconduct in the Japanese language based on the test results of text-matching detection systems (a.k.a. plagiarism detection tools) performance in the Japanese language.

Paper long abstract:

Digitalization of learning environments in language teaching has been making online and digital materials preferable educational resources for both students and teachers, which contributes to Japanese language teaching (JLT), however, it also increases the possibility of academic misconduct (AM), particularly plagiarism. Taking measures (detective, reactive, proactive) to mitigate AM, the text-matching (a.k.a. plagiarism detection) tools are one of the important elements. However, while discussions about plagiarism in languages and language teaching have gone beyond the lingua franca, studies on the Japanese language (JL) and learners (JLLs) are still scarce, and besides, no study addressed the performance of such tools in JL. Considering the worldwide numbers of JLLs and the digitalization in JLT, it is essential, like all languages, to develop a solid methodology with a pedagogical approach for detecting and preventing AM in JLT. Accordingly, this paper proposes to explore to what extent text-matching tools catch similarities in Japanese texts and respond to the needs of JLLs and educators, besides, providing a solid AM detecting methodology with a pedagogical approach. Analyzing the tools' performance, intentionally-plagiarized Japanese-written documents were compiled from four different online and non-online sources (e.g., Wikipedia). The original text from each source was reconstructed according to the 5 most common plagiarism techniques (e.g., copy&paste, paraphrasing) that students possibly use in assignments. In total, 20 intentionally-plagiarized Japanese texts were tested in 10 text-matching tools. Results show us that tools were found to be relatively inadequate in detecting plagiarism in texts due to the characteristics of the Japanese. Besides, concrete evidence was provided on potential plagiarism techniques that come directly from the structure of the JL. Based on the data 1) a multi-term and multi-layered roadmap for JLT stakeholders to establish a solid foundation for detecting and preventing AM, 2) a concrete and ongoing pedagogical model for JL teacher training institutions to build up equipped JL teachers on AM issues were provided. Researchers believe that the findings presented in this study will be a milestone in proposing a discussion framework on AM not only in JL but also in all ideographic languages.

Keywords: academic honesty, Japanese language, plagiarism, text-matching tools