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Accepted Poster
Description
This study aims to qualitatively examine the formation and transformation of beliefs about kanji instruction among 20 Japanese language teachers who teach kanji to children in overseas heritage language education. Using questionnaire and interview data, it explores
not only how instructional beliefs develop and change, but also the underlying processes of teachers’ professional growth.
The analytical framework is grounded in teacher cognition research (Borg, 2003), which focuses on the relationship between teachers’ beliefs and practices, and captures how instructional beliefs dynamically evolve within specific experiences and contexts. Analysis of open-ended responses and interview data revealed that teachers faced difficulties arising from learning environments, such as students’ inability to retain kanji, as well as dilemmas between norms and practice, including how strictly to enforce stroke order and character form. These challenges can be understood as processes of cognitive dissonance (Festinger, 1957), in which teachers reconcile discrepancies between pre-existing beliefs and practical constraints. As a result, many teachers reconstructed their instructional beliefs to emphasize meaning, contextual understanding, and learner enjoyment.
The novelty of this study lies in two key contributions. First, it conceptualizes changes in instructional beliefs not merely as the accumulation of knowledge, but as dynamic shifts in decision-making mediated by emotions. Teachers adjusted their instructional decisions through emotional experiences such as frustration and a sense of achievement, while drawing on empathetic understanding of learners and emotional support—sometimes influenced by their own experiences of raising children in cross-cultural contexts. This aligns with the view that emotions play a central role in decision-making (Damasio, 1994).
Second, the study positions ICT, including AI and digital teaching materials, not simply as tools but as environmental factors that mediate changes in teachers’ beliefs. While ICT enables visualization, repetition, and individualized learning, its use reflects teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and practical judgments.
Overall, the findings suggest that the formation and transformation of beliefs about kanji instruction in overseas heritage language education should be understood as a dynamic process of teacher growth shaped by the interaction of teacher cognition, emotional experiences, and environmental factors such as ICT.
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References
Borg, S. (2003). Teacher cognition in language teaching: A review of research on what language teachers think, know, believe, and do. Language Teaching, 36(2), 81–109.
Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford University Press.
Damasio, A. R. (1994). Descartes’ Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain. New York: Putnam.
| Poster abstract in Japanese: | 海外の継承語教育における漢字指導観の形成と変容 ー教師の成長過程を探る質的研究」 山本 絵美（ライデン大学） 米良 好恵（おひさまプロジェクト） 上野 淳子（オランダアムステルダム日本語教室） 本研究は、海外の継承語教育において児童に漢字を指導する日本語教師20名を対象に、アンケートおよびインタビュー調査を通じて、漢字指導観の形成と変容過程、およびその背後にある教師の成長過程を質的に明らかにすることを目的とする。 分析枠組みとして、教師の信念と実践の関係を扱う教師認知研究（Borg, 2003）を基盤とし、指導観が経験と文脈の中で動的に変容する過程を捉える。 自由記述とインタビューの分析から、教師は「定着しない」といった学習環境に起因する困難や、「書き順や字形の厳密さをどこまで求めるべきか」という規範と実践のジレンマを経験していた。これらは、既存の教育的信念と現実的制約との不一致を調整する認知的不協和の過程として理解され（Festinger, 1957）、その結果として意味・文脈理解や楽しさを重視する指導観への再構成が見られた。 本研究の新規性は、第一に、漢字指導観の変容を教師の知識獲得ではなく、感情を媒介とした意思決定の動的変容として捉えた点にある。教師は子どもへの共感的理解や情緒的支援（時として、自身の異文化における子育て体験などに影響を受けた感情移入）を基盤としつつ、挫折や手応えといった感情経験を通じて指導判断を調整しており、この点は感情が意思決定を駆動するという知見とも整合する（Damasio, 1994）。 第二に、AIやデジタル教材等のICT活用を、単なる技術ではなく教師の指導観変容を媒介する環境要因として位置づけた点である。ICTは視覚化・反復・個別最適化を可能にする一方、その活用は教師の教育観に依存した実践的判断として現れていた。 以上より、海外の継承語教育における漢字指導観の形成と変容は、教師認知を中核としつつ、ICTを含む環境要因と感情的経験が相互作用する中で生じる動的な成長過程として捉えられることが示唆された。 参考文献 Borg, S. (2003). Teacher cognition in language teaching: A review of research on what language teachers think, know, believe, and do. Language Teaching, 36(2), 81–109. Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford University Press. Damasio, A. R. (1994). Descartes’ Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain. New York: Putnam. |
Association of Japanese Language Education poster session 2
Session 1