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"Japanese language Usage."
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Making sense of Japanese : what the textbooks don't tell you
\"Making sense of Japanese is the fruit of one foolhardy American's thirty-year struggle to learn and teach the Language of the Infinite. Previously known as Gone fishin', this book has brought Jay Rubin more feedback than any of his literary translations or scholarly tomes, \"even if,\" he says, \"you discount the hate mail from spin-casters and the stray gill-netter.\" To convey his conviction that \"the Japanese language is not vague,\" Rubin has dared to explain how some of the most challenging Japanese grammatical forms work ...\" --Publisher description.
Book
Usage-based approaches to Japanese grammar : towards the understanding of human language
It is often said that language standardization has been steadily advancing in modern Japan and that speakers in regional Japan are now bi-dialectal and code-switch between \"Standard\" and \"regional\" Japanese. The notion of code-switching, however, assumes the existence of varieties, or well-defined linguistic systems, that are distinct from each other. In this study, I examine the use of \"Standard Japanese\" and \"regional dialects\" and argue that it is much more complex and dynamic than what can be possibly accounted for in terms of the notion of code-switching involving two distinct varieties. I explore an alternative account employing the notion of variant choice and characterize the social meanings of \"Standard\" and \"regional\" variants as context-dependent and as multiple and ambiguous.
eBook
On the fractal patterns of language structures
Natural Language Processing (NLP) makes use of Artificial Intelligence algorithms to extract meaningful information from unstructured texts, i.e., content that lacks metadata and cannot easily be indexed or mapped onto standard database fields. It has several applications, from sentiment analysis and text summary to automatic language translation. In this work, we use NLP to figure out similar structural linguistic patterns among several different languages. We apply the word2vec algorithm that creates a vector representation for the words in a multidimensional space that maintains the meaning relationship between the words. From a large corpus we built this vectorial representation in a 100-dimensional space for English, Portuguese, German, Spanish, Russian, French, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Italian, Arabic, Hebrew, Basque, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, and Estonian. Then, we calculated the fractal dimensions of the structure that represents each language. The structures are multi-fractals with two different dimensions that we use, in addition to the token-dictionary size rate of the languages, to represent the languages in a three-dimensional space. Finally, analyzing the distance among languages in this space, we conclude that the closeness there is tendentially related to the distance in the Phylogenetic tree that depicts the lines of evolutionary descent of the languages from a common ancestor.
Journal Article
Interactions in EFL argumentative writing: effects of topic, L1 background, and L2 proficiency on interactional metadiscourse
This study examined how students of English as a foreign language (EFL) with different first language (L1) backgrounds use interactional metadiscourse markers in argumentative writing. Specifically, to explore unique patterns of metadiscourse features that reflect context and development, the essays written by Chinese, Japanese, and Korean EFL students at three proficiency levels were analyzed for topic, L1 background, and L2 proficiency. For a comprehensive analysis of 1986 essays, I used a natural language processing tool that generates quantity scores for Hyland’s (2005) metadiscourse categories (i.e., hedges, boosters, attitude markers, self-mentions, reader pronouns, and directives). The results showed notable differences in the students’ use of metadiscourse features across topics, and significant variation was also found across different L1 groups. However, their use of interactional metadiscourse did not differ by L2 proficiency. A post hoc analysis of a parallel native-speaker corpus further revealed EFL students’ underuse of hedges and overuse of reader pronouns. Findings are discussed in terms of academic writing instruction, writing prompt development, and L2 learner categorization.
Journal Article
The ‘internationalisation’, or ‘Englishisation’, of higher education in East Asia
In recent years, one of the most significant trends in higher education in non-anglophone countries has been the growth in English Medium Instruction (EMI). However, provision is rapidly outpacing empirical research. This study examined how macro-level education policy with regard to EMI is both implemented and conceptualised at the institutional and classroom level in Chinese and Japanese universities. Utilising questionnaires with home students (n = 579) and staff (n = 28), interviews with home students (n = 29) and staff (n = 28) and four focus groups with staff and four with home students, in addition to questionnaires (n = 123), interviews (n = 10) and three focus groups with international students, the study provides insights into how EMI policy is operationalised, including types of programmes and language use, and how it is conceptualised by different stakeholders. The results highlight contextual constraints to policy implementation, calling for the need for more research into this growing trend and curriculum evaluation to inform context-sensitive ways to implement EMI policy. It also calls for a critical examination of monolingual EMI policies and academic norms amidst growing multilingualism in the EMI classroom as well as clear goals and objectives due to varying conceptualisations of the purposes of EMI amongst staff and students.
Journal Article
TASK REPETITION AND SECOND LANGUAGE SPEECH PROCESSING
This study examines the relationship between the repetition of oral monologue tasks and immediate gains in L2 fluency. It considers the effect of aural-oral task repetition on speech rate, frequency of clause-final and midclause filled pauses, and overt self-repairs across different task types and proficiency levels and relates these findings to specific stages of L2 speech production (conceptualization, formulation, and monitoring). Thirty-two Japanese learners of English sampled at three levels of proficiency completed three oral communication tasks (instruction, narration, and opinion) six times. Results revealed that immediate aural-oral same task repetition was related to gains in oral fluency regardless of proficiency level or task type. Overall gains in speech rate were the largest across the first three performances of each task type but continued until the fifth performance. More specifically, however, clause-final pauses decreased until the second performance, midclause pauses decreased up to the fourth, and self-repairs decreased only after the fourth performance, indicating that task repetition may have been differentially related to specific stages in the speech production process.
Journal Article
Empirically Defining Language Learning and Teaching Materials in Use Through Sociomaterial Perspectives
Language learning and teaching (LLT) materials—like teacher-created handouts, textbooks, and overhead transparencies—are central elements of language classrooms worldwide. Nonetheless, how language students and teachers actually engage with and deploy LLT materials has rarely been the focus of research. In response, this issue offers the first compilation of classroom-based studies of 'materials use' in language education and includes research on Ojibwe, Japanese, French, and English language pedagogy. In this introductory article to the special issue, we set the stage for the 7 empirical articles by offering much-needed definitions for the concepts of 'LLT materials' and 'materials use.' These definitions are based on a metasynthesis (i.e., an integrative qualitative analysis) of all of the materials used throughout the 7 empirical articles. Additionally, we explore sociomaterialism as a compelling and well-suited framework for the study of materials in use. Sociomaterialism is not a unified theory but rather a research orientation that seeks to examine connections between the social and the material world. In addition to substantively and theoretically advancing the field, all the articles of this special issue also have practical implications for language pedagogy.
Journal Article
An analysis of Japan's English as medium of instruction initiatives within higher education: the gap between meso-level policy and micro-level practice
In 2014, Japan's Ministry of Education (MEXT) announced the Top Global University Project (TGUP), a large-investment initiative to internationalise higher education that implicitly signalled increased emphasis on English-medium instruction (EMI) at Japanese universities. Despite substantial funding behind the initiative, little research has evaluated the implications for language planning, including contextualised implementation challenges. This study aims to investigate how the policy is being enacted into practice at a university in Japan at two different policy levels: the meso (institutional) and micro (classroom) level. The study contrasts one university's TGUP meso-level policy documentation with data from semistructured interviews with students and teachers to illuminate micro-level challenges. Data were coded according to emergent themes via qualitative text analysis, following similar processes to research into TGUP policy. The findings suggest that the meso-level policy goals of the university do not trickle down to micro-level practice as envisioned, revealing underlying challenges arising from policy diffusion. In comparing our results with data from other TGUP university studies, we conclude that micro-level linguistic challenges for teachers and students has relevance for other universities where English-taught programmes are being expanded via national and university-level policies.
Journal Article
Roles of Vocabulary Knowledge for Success in English-Medium Instruction: Self Perceptions and Academic Outcomes of Japanese Undergraduates
This study investigated the relationship between vocabulary knowledge (written and aural receptive vocabulary size and self-rating of vocabulary knowledge) and self-perceptions of four language skills (reading, listening, writing, speaking) targeting undergraduate students in English-medium instruction (EMI) courses in Japan. The students' academic performance (course grades and quiz scores) was also compared to their vocabulary knowledge. Results showed that learners with larger aural vocabulary sizes were more confident in spoken language use, and those who self-rated higher on their vocabulary knowledge were more likely to perceive themselves as proficient in productive language skills. Interestingly, learners with larger written vocabulary sizes tended to perceive themselves as less proficient in performing EMI tasks. Results also showed that none of the vocabulary measures were significantly associated with academic outcomes. Interview data suggest that EMI students' performance could be affected by the complex interplay of various factors, though not necessarily a large vocabulary size alone. Based on these findings, implications are discussed in terms of teaching and assessing vocabulary knowledge in EMI courses.
Journal Article