Aizuchi and ma (pause) in online interactions of distance learning classes of Japanese: an empirical study

In recent years, classes and project works that involve online communication between foreign language learners of Japanese and Japanese native speakers have increasingly taken place. In a video call, in order to have a fluent conversation it is necessary to be able to use appropriate aizuchi and to take pauses accordingly. Considering that the ability to communicate remotely in foreign language learning will be increasingly important in the future, this is a valuable attempt to convey the cultural context of the local learner in a global environment. It is well known that aizuchi tends to be used more frequently in modern Japanese than in other languages during conversation. Non-monotone aizuchi used with high frequency leads to good communication, and its frequency of use by learners has been considered, by previous research, a way to measure language proficiency. In this study, I analyze the use of aizuchi and pause/interval ma in remote conversations between Italian learners of Japanese language and Japanese native speakers in Japan. This kind of research on remote communication between foreign language learners and native speakers provides important suggestions to ease distance language learning in the future

Is Japanese gendered language used on Twitter ? A large scale study

This study analyzes the usage of Japanese gendered language on Twitter. Starting from a collection of 408 million Japanese tweets from 2015 till 2019 and an additional sample of 2355 manually classified Twitter accounts timelines into gender and categories (politicians, musicians, etc). A large scale textual analysis is performed on this corpus to identify and examine sentence-final particles (SFPs) and first-person pronouns appearing in the texts. It turns out that gendered language is in fact used also on Twitter, in about 6% of the tweets, and that the prescriptive classification into "male" and "female" language does not always meet the expectations, with remarkable exceptions. Further, SFPs and pronouns show increasing or decreasing trends, indicating an evolution of the language used on Twitter

A Japanese subjective well-being indicator based on Twitter data

This study presents for the first time the SWB-J index, a subjective well-being indicator for Japan based on Twitter data. The index is composed by eight dimensions of subjective well-being and is estimated relying on Twitter data by using human supervised sentiment analysis. The index is then compared with the analogous SWB-I index for Italy in order to verify possible analogies and cultural differences. Further, through structural equation models, we investigate the relationship between economic and health conditions of the country and the well-being latent variable and illustrate how this latent dimension affects the SWB-J and SWB-I indicators. It turns out that, as expected, economic and health welfare is only one aspect of the multidimensional well-being that is captured by the Twitter-based indicator

On a Japanese Subjective Well-Being Indicator Based on Twitter data

This study presents for the first time the SWB-J index, a subjective well-being indicator for Japan based on Twitter data. The index is composed by eight dimensions of subjective well-being and is estimated relying on Twitter data by using human supervised sentiment analysis. The index is then compared with the analogous SWB-I index for Italy, in order to verify possible analogies and cultural differences. Further, through structural equation models, a causal assumption is tested to see whether the economic and health conditions of the country influence the well-being latent variable and how this latent dimension affects the SWB-J and SWB-I indicators. It turns out that, as expected, the economic and health welfare is only one aspect of the multidimensional well-being that is captured by the Twitter-based indicator

The impact of COVID-19 on subjective well-being: Evidence from Twitter data

This study analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on subjective well-being as measured through Twitter for the countries of Japan and Italy. In the first nine months of 2020, the Twitter indicators dropped by 11.7% for Italy and 8.3% for Japan compared to the last two months of 2019, and even more compared to their historical means. To understand what affected the Twitter mood so strongly, the study considers a pool of potential factors including: climate and air quality data, number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, Facebook COVID-19 and flu- like symptoms global survey data, coronavirus-related Google search data, policy intervention measures, human mobility data, macro economic variables, as well as health and stress proxy variables. This study proposes a framework to analyse and assess the relative impact of these external factors on the dynamic of Twitter mood and further implements a structural model to describe the underlying concept of subjective well-being. It turns out that prolonged mobility restrictions, flu and Covid-like symptoms, economic uncertainty and low levels of quality in social interactions have a negative impact on well-being

Joseigo: un linguaggio femminile "stereotipato" in via di estinzione?

L'articolo prende in esame il joseigo, il cosiddetto linguaggio femminile giapponese, ne esplora origini, caratteristiche e stereotipo sino a considerarne la sua più recente evoluzione

Analisi comparativa di due programmi per l’apprendimento dei kanji

La descrizione e valutazione di risorse CALL (Computer-Assisted Language Learning) è un compito molto complesso che implica l’analisi di diverse problematiche a partire da quelle pedagogiche fino a quelle più tecniche. É tuttavia importante sottolineare che senza un principio guida, l’analisi di tali risorse può rivelarsi uno sforzo arbitrario e poco efficace. Il presente studio, seconda parte di una ricerca condotta sulla base di studi teorici nella sua prima versione, ne illustra la parte applicata procedendo nell’analisi di due software (Kantarō e Kuroobi) per l’apprendimento dei kanji per discenti con background linguistico di tipo alfabetico. La ricerca esamina in primo luogo le ragioni nella scelta di analizzare determinati programmi e ne fornisce successivamente una descrizione dettagliata riportando come riferimento le interfacce più salienti. Sulla base delle conclusioni teoriche tratte dalla precedente ricerca, la cui premessa che i discenti oggi usano raramente la scrittura manuale per optare invece per una scrittura “elettronica” rimane invariata, il presente studio sottolinea quali caratteristiche specifiche debbano essere integrate in tali programmi per un apprendimento e scrittura dei kanji più efficace oggigiorno. Il lavoro si conclude con una valutazione dettagliata secondo uno schema basato su ricerche condotte nel campo degli studi cognitivi e delle teorie di apprendimento di una seconda lingua (Second Language Learning o SLA), integrata ulteriormente con alcuni principi tratti da un modello di analisi di software elaborato da Chapelle (2001). Le conclusioni di questa analisi, che includono un elenco di punti di forza e debolezza dei rispettivi programmi, forniscono validi suggerimenti sulle implicazioni pedagogiche nella difficile selezione e nell’uso di tali risorse, sia da parte dei discenti alla ricerca di mezzi utili all’auto-apprendimento, sia dei docenti che desiderano implementare il curriculum con risorse CALL realmente efficaci.The description and evaluation of CALL (Computer-Assisted Language Learning) resources is an important and complex task, which can easily become an arbitrary and not very valuable endeavour if a guiding principle and a wide variety of issues, ranging from pedagogical to technical ones, are not examined. The purpose of this work is not only a pragmatic evaluation of two programs for kanji learning, but to provide theory-based guidelines for teachers who wish to select valuable and efficient software for their students. The approach of analysis, based on research in cognitive studies and studies on Instructed SLA, draws inspiration from different frameworks including evaluation features taken from Chapelle’s (2001) model. Following to a detailed description of the two software, conclusions include strengths and weaknesses of both, and useful clues for their improvement

Alla ricerca dell’onomatopea perduta: strategie traduttive dal giapponese

Le onomatopee rappresentano un fenomeno molto complesso in giapponese. L’obiettivo del presente lavoro è identificare e analizzare, dopo una rassegna della letteratura sull’argomento, le scelte traduttive operate nella traduzione, inedita in italiano, del racconto Fushigina toshokan (2005, Una strana biblioteca) di Murakami Haruki, scrittore giapponese noto nel panorama letterario contemporaneo. Saranno discussi la metodologia, i risultati correlati da esempi e le conclusioni di tale analisi