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Paper short abstract:

This study clarifies the manner of and changes in the intermediate Japanese language learner's reading of noun modifying clauses. The data analyzed in this study are six-month observations of the process of reading Japanese text by an international student studying education at a graduate school.

Paper long abstract:

The author has conducted a six-month observational study on a Japanese language learner at an intermediate level with a non-kanji background in terms of the process of reading Japanese text. This study focused on clarifying the manner of and changes in the learner's reading of noun modifying clauses. A long-term observation allows us to understand what types of reading errors learners make and what they notice and become able to read correctly.

The participant was a graduate school student, R, who studied education in Japan. His native tongue was English, and his ability to read Japanese text was at the early intermediate level The reading materials were documents regarding school education. R used the necessary equipment freely to read the materials as usual and organized their English translation text. The observation period was from June to December 2021, 19 times in total.

The data analyzed in this study included 137 sentences with noun modifying clauses, the English translations of these sentences, and notes and comments by R. All relevant data were video-recorded to document the translation process. The reading errors recorded in the data were compared for the first ten sessions and the second nine sessions. The results indicated that;

(1) the total number of errors was reduced from 22 to 11.

(2) the reading errors associated with specifying the scope of modifying clause, especially errors due to the influence of commas in the modifying clause, were often observed in the first half sessions.

(3) R tended to translate without paying attention to the whole sentence structure. In the first half sessions, especially in the first few, he only understood the meaning by connecting the sentence fragments. The tendency was reduced in the second half sessions, and he began to grasp the sentence structure visually using particles as a clue. This was observed not only in terms of noun modifying clauses but also in R's reading practice in general.

These changes were derived from R's awareness of effective reading. Based on these, what is necessary for the support of reading practice for intermediate learners is discussed in this article.