Paper long abstract

This presentation reflects on the pronunciation education delivered by the presenter in introductory Japanese language courses at a French university and considers the challenges in teaching pronunciation from the perspective of language education programs.

This type of education focuses on sound, encouraging learners’ awareness of Japanese pronunciation and developing their pronunciation and listening skills. Even among long-term learners, the pronunciation of some students is unclear. However, it is difficult to correct fossilized pronunciation; therefore, pronunciation education is crucial during the introductory stage.

The presenter collaborated with fellow instructors to integrate pronunciation education into introductory Japanese language courses as part of the Japanese language education program at a French university. Given the limited instructional time in courses structured around a grammar syllabus, the presenter designed the pronunciation education in advance by selecting phonetic items tailored to the characteristics of native French speakers, sharing pronunciation training methods, and developing tasks for learners to complete independently. However, after a year of implementation, some learners exhibited improvement in pronunciation awareness, while many continued to have accents. Furthermore, phonetics teaching methods did not become widespread among instructors, resulting in unresolved challenges.

“The Program Description Template in Language Education” is used to reflect on the challenges encountered in the presenter’s pronunciation education program. Specifically, the following issues were identified: (1) social context: the importance of pronunciation training is unclear because the region does not prioritize communication in Japanese and (2) implementation and management: insufficient explanation to other instructors made understanding pronunciation education difficult.

(Word count for the Body part: 247 words)

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References

The Language Education Program Study Group (2024) “The Program Description Template in Language Education (PDTLE) Ver. 3.2.,” 6 Mar. 2026.Association of Japanese Language Teachers in Europe. (http://www17408ui.sakura.ne.jp/tatsum/project/Pro_Ken/contents.html)