Acquisition and Assessment of L2 Pronunciation Skills in Japanese Learners

The current paper reviews previous research on the acquisition of Japanese language sounds and pronunciation skills of second-language learners of Japanese, focusing on both segmental and suprasegmental features. We first provide a brief overview of Japanese language sounds. Studies based on comparative analysis of segmental features in Japanese and learners’ native languages are then discussed, followed by a review of recent studies involving a range of techniques, including acoustic analysis, cross-sectional and time-series experimental designs to explore the acquisition process and factors affecting it. In addition, we examine research on the production and perception of Japanese lexical accent, and the relationships between them. Based on this review, we propose that the rhythmic unit, mora, a typologically unique feature of Japanese, presents significant learning challenges for second-language learners, because it affects the perception and production of segmental features such as long and short vowels, double consonants, and syllabic nasals as well as the Japanese lexical accent. Finally, we examine previous research examming second-language learners’ pronunciation skills. We propose that insufficient attention has been paid to this issue, warranting future investigation

Measures of Task Effects: Comparison among Negotiation of Meaning, Corrective Feedback, and Language-Related Episode

A growing number of task studies have examined which tasks provide increased focus in language forms incidents. Researchers have used negotiation of meaning, corrective feedback. and language-related episodes (LREs) as measures of focus. However, each measure relates to different aspects of dialogue. Therefore, the results of task studies may differ depending on the measure employed. The present study was conducted to investigate which measure extracts more focus-on-form incidents regarding grammar. The participants were 20 low-intermediate-level and 14 high-intermediate-level students undertaking an intensive Japanese-language program in the United States. Using two conversation tasks, I made a comparison of how the frequency of focus-on-form incidents differed with the three measures. I found that each measure resulted in a different number of focus-on-form incidents. Regardless of the students' ability level, LREs produced the greatest number of focus-on-form incidents. Negotiation of meaning has been utilized as a measure for focus-on-form incidents in many task studies; however, it extracted hardly any focus-on-form incidents in the present investigation

Oxidative Deamination Activity of EGCG

(-)-Epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (EGCG), the most abundant polyphenol in green tea, mediates the oxidative modification of proteins, generating protein carbonyls. However, the underlying molecular mechanism remains unclear. Here we analyzed the EGCG-derived intermediates generated upon incubation with the human serum albumin (HSA) and established that EGCG selectively oxidized the lysine residues via its oxidative deamination activity. In addition, we characterized the EGCG-oxidized proteins and discovered that the EGCG could be an endogenous source of the electrically-transformed proteins that could be recognized by the natural antibodies. When HSA was incubated with EGCG in the phosphate-buffered saline (pH 7.4) at 37°C, the protein carbonylation was associated with the formation of EGCG-derived products, such as the protein-bound EGCG, oxidized EGCG, and aminated EGCG. The aminated EGCG was also detected in the sera from the mice treated with EGCG in vivo. EGCG selectively oxidized lysine residues at the EGCG-binding domains in HSA to generate an oxidatively deaminated product, aminoadipic semialdehyde. In addition, EGCG treatment results in the increased negative charge of the protein due to the oxidative deamination of the lysine residues. More strikingly, the formation of protein carbonyls by EGCG markedly increased its cross-reactivity with the natural IgM antibodies. These findings suggest that many of the beneficial effects of EGCG may be partly attributed to its oxidative deamination activity, generating the oxidized proteins as a target of natural antibodies

New Approach to Teaching Japanese Pronunciation in the Digital Era - Challenges and Practices

Pronunciation has been a black hole in the L2 Japanese classroom on account of a lack of class time, teacher\u2019s confidence, and consciousness of the need to teach pronunciation, among other reasons. The absence of pronunciation instruction is reported to result in fossilized pronunciation errors, communication problems, and learner frustration. With an intention of making a contribution to improve such circumstances, this paper aims at three goals. First, it discusses the importance, necessity, and e ectiveness of teaching prosodic aspects of Japanese pronunciation from an early stage in acquisition. Second, it shows that Japanese prosody is challenging because of its typological rareness, regardless of the L1 backgrounds of learners. Third and finally, it introduces a new approach to teaching L2 pronunciation with the goal of developing L2 comprehensibility by focusing on essential prosodic features, which is followed by discussions on key issues concerning how to implement the new approach both inside and outside the classroom in the digital era

Verbal Responses in Problematic Situations of Misunderstanding by English-Speaking Learners of Japanese

The present study investigates how foreign language learners of Japanese (JFL learners) in the US respond in misunderstanding situations, and whether interpersonal relationship and situational factors affect their behaviors. Twenty-nine JFL learners who are native speaker of American English are presented with a series of misunderstanding situations and are asked to tell the likelihood of them saying something about the problems and write what they may say if they are to respond. The results show that the learners tend to respond verbally, in both serious and trivial misunderstanding situations. Also, they tend to defend their position and try to find the cause. In addition, they make explicit statements, instead of using mitigating expressions. Although the learners are more confrontational and willing to resolve the conflict than native speakers of Japanese, they are also sensitive to social hierarchy and degree of intimacy in that they tend to apologize more often to social superiors and acquaintances than to social equals and friends

A study of learning and teaching of Kanji for nonnative learners of Japanese

Kanji (Chinese characters) present a serious obstacle of learners of Japanese as a foreign language. Finding an effective and efficient way of teaching them is essential. However, there has not been much research done to investigate how non-native learners of Japanese, in particular English speaking learners, learn these characters.Three studies were conducted. The first study was an experiment which addressed the question of whether pictographic characters are easier to learn than non-pictographic characters. The second study was a survey asking instructors of introductory Japanese language courses for various information about how existing Japanese programs teach Japanese orthography. The third study was a semester-long classroom experiment to investigate (a) effects of different orders of presenting Kanji, and (b) effects of pre-training which is designed to sensitize students to learning of Kanji.The first study showed that pictographic characters were in fact easier to learn and retain than non-pictographic characters, and that the use of mental imagery facilitated overall learning. The survey study provided various demographic information about existing programs and instructional methods being used. The third study failed to demonstrate the effects of alternative orders or pre-training. However, after the analysis of each Kanji introduced during the semester, the study showed (a) that Kanji which were more difficult in production were also more difficult in recognition, and (b) that the visual complexity (measured in stroke counts) was more closely associated with difficulty in production than recognition. Further, the study suggested that provided mnemonics could be an effective way to facilitate the learning of Kanji.U of I OnlyETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissio

Acquisition of Speech Acts by Second Language Learners : Suggestion for future research on Japanese language education

This paper examines previous studies on the use and acquisition of speech acts by second language learners in order to identify issues that are yet to be investigated. The paper begins with a brief overview of the theoretical background for L2 speech act theory. Then, factors that affect native speakers’ choice of expressions are explained and the extent to which they are investigated in L2 pragmatic studies is considered. Thirdly, the strengths and weaknesses of methodology employed are discussed. In addition, this paper examines what types of speech acts that have or have not been extensively studies, focusing on Japanese as a second language. Based on these analyses, we will attempt to identify future area of studies that can deepen the understanding of the acquisition of Japanese speech acts by non-native speakers and enhance the instruction of speech acts

Effects of Pre-Task Instruction and Task Complexity on Oral Production in Learners of Japanese as a Second Language

The present study investigated the effects of task complexity and pre-task instruction on oral production by intermediate learners of Japanese. Previous studies have reported that task complexity affects L2 learners· performance. The relationship between increased complexity and aspects of oral production such as complexity, accuracy, and fluency of speech. has not been fully investigated. Further, some studies have found that providing pre-task instruction enhances the quality of production. However, its effects vary, depending on the specificity and focus of instruction, and few studies have investigated how pre-task instruction affects learners of languages other than English. Accordingly, the present study examined the effects of pre-task instruction and task complexity in intermediate learners of Japanese. Fourteen Chinese learners of Japanese enrolled in four private language schools in Japan were shown two sets of cartoons, one representing a simple story and the other a complex one. They were subsequently asked to relate the stories. In the first story-telling task, the subjects were given ten minutes to plan the task without any guidance. In the second task, they received instruction on how to plan the task in that time. Their oral production was recorded and analyzed in terms of complexity, accuracy, and fluency. The results showed that the pre-task instruction negatively affected complexity, accuracy, and fluency, although one of the two measures of complexity was not affected by the instruction. Also, increased task complexity did not result in improved oral production. These results suggest that the task employed in the present study may have been too difficult for the learners to receive any advantage through instruction

An Analysis of Task Types, L2 Learners' Focus, and Their Production in Japanese as a Foreign Language Classrooms

Pair work activities support natural communication and facilitate students' selfdirected learning (Johnson & Johnson, 1992). Recently, negotiation of form and meaning through peer-interaction during the pair/group work is found facilitative in second language acquisition (Long, 1996; Swain & Lapkin, 2001; Pica, 2008). However, little is known about its effectiveness in Japanese language settings since preceding researches are grounded on Indo-European language settings. Therefore, the data from the tasks performed in actual Japanese classes were analyzed to investigate this argument. The speech length, accuracy, and complexity, as well as the number of language related and form-meaning negotiation episodes, were analyzed using 12 hours of recorded data from the intermediate and advanced levels. The results show that the higher proficiency learners produced more complex but less accurate utterances. The speech length is affected by the task types rather than the proficiency levels. In addition, intermediate and advanced learners paid little attention to forms during pair and group work