Modified output, second language (L2) learners' reformulation of their own utterances, has been attracting researchers' interest as an important component of learner interactions, and as a manifestation of interlanguage development and psycholinguistic processing. The output hypothesis (Swain, 1985, 1993, 1995, 2005) claims that the act of production constitutes part of the process of L2 learning in terms of noticing, hypothesis testing and metalinguistic functions. This hypothesis has been used as a theoretical framework to investigate the relationship between modified output and L2 learning (e.g., McDonough, 2001, 2005; Nobuyoshi Ellis, 1993; O'Relly, Flatiz, Kromrey, 2001; Takashima Ellis, 1999). However, the empirical evidence from these studies does not yet appear to confirm unequivocally that the production of modified output facilitates L2 learning. The present study further explored the impact of modified output on L2 learning, by means of an experimental pre-test, post-test and delayed-post design. The production of modified output was triggered by one type of implicit feedback, clarification requests. The data were collected from 28 undergraduate students who were learning Japanese as a foreign language. The target linguistic feature was the negation of adjectives in Japanese, and a total of 1,011 negations were elicited and analysed. The impact of modified output on L2 learning was measured in two different aspects of potential outcomes of modified output (i.e., grammatical accuracy and interlanguage development). In addition, the study investigated whether the non-targetlike forms which participants previously modified were then produced in the subsequent situations of use. The output hypothesis was originally framed in terms of the relationship between output and grammatical accuracy, but the findings of the current study suggest that production of modified output in response to clarification requests may facilitate the progress of interlanguage development towards targetlike use even when its immediate impact on grammatical accuracy may not be observed. Therefore, the present study lends at least partial support to the claim of the output hypothesis. The results did not clearly demonstrate whether or not production of modified output might sensitise learners to avoid the use of the same non-targetlike form that they have previously modified. This indicates a possibility of the limited role of production of modified output in L2 learning, and suggests that the follow-up feedback to learners' modified output may be necessary to maximise the impact of modified output in facilitating L2 learning.

The aim of this study was to investigate longitudinally how a child learner acquired verbal morpho-syntax in Japanese in a naturalistic second language (L2) context. Specifically the points of emergence for three verbal morpho-syntactic structures, namely verbal inflection, the V-te V structure and the passive/causative structure, were investigated within a framework of Processability Theory (PT) (Pienemann, 1998b). The subsequent development of these structures was also examined. Unlike earlier research about morpheme orders and developmental sequences in language acquisition which was criticised because of its apparent lack of theoretical underpinnings, Pienemann's Processability Theory (PT)(1998b) connects the processability of morpho-syntactic structure to linguistic theories. Pienemann also claims that this theory can be used to explain the acquisition of a wide range of morpho-syntactic structures and that it is typologically plausible and applicable to any language. In recent times PT has been extensively tested in a range of languages acquired as an L2, including German, English and Swedish (Pienemann, 1998b; Pienemann & Hakansson, 1999) and Italian and Japanese (Di Biase & Kawaguchi, 2002). The findings from these studies support this theory.

The immigration of Brazilian-Japanese to Japan has started as recently as the early 1980s as a result of an economic downturn in Brazil and labor shortages in Japan. In a recent study published by the Ministry of Justice in Japan, there are about 250,000 Brazilians currently working throughout Japan. Even though most of the Brazilians are second or third generation of Japanese descent, they are not fluent in Japanese, thus resulting in many cultural problems and misunderstandings. Some research has examined about the immigration of Brazilians (nikkeijin) to Japan, but none has investigated their acquisition of Japanese as a second language. The purpose of this study is to explore the factors that motivate or unmotivate the nikkeijin in Japan to learn Japanese as a second language (JSL). This qualitative study shows the life experiences of four nikkeijin who arrived in Japan at different ages (8, 18, 25 and 42 years old). It is a very richly descriptive study about the experiences of nikkeijin learning JSL. Through interviews conducted over the Internet using Online Messenger and phone conversations, the researcher gathered information and data about their real life experiences learning the language and adapting to Japanese culture. The results of this study show how positive and negative life experiences of nikkeijin in Japan can affect their motivation to learn or improve their Japanese language skills. The age of arrival and the place of residence in Japan are also important factors that influence their experiences in Japan.

<p dir="ltr">Since the 2000s, there has been a growing interest in qualitative research in the field of Japanese language education, including life story research (e.g., Miyo, 2015). One of the purposes of life story research in Japanese language education is to pay attention to, listen to, and describe the voices of people to whom Japanese language education has so far paid little attention (Miyo, 2014, 2015a). Many studies have listened to the voices of Japanese language learners living in Japan and described their experiences (e.g., Miyo, 2009; Sato, 2015; Maruyama & Ozawa, 2018). However, many studies have not paid particular attention to the region where the learners are staying. One gets the impression that the place could be anywhere as long as the learners are in Japan. Further, cross-cultural adaptation research often focuses on international cross-cultural contact. However, in recent years, it has been pointed out that cross-cultural contact also involves regional differences within a single country (Gui et al., 2012; Berry, 2016). In other words, foreigners staying in a host country experience not only intercultural contact between their own country and the host country but also intercultural contact arising from regional differences within the host country, making the adaptation process complex.</p><p dir="ltr">This narrative case study focused on one American learner of Japanese, Kevin (pseudonym), and his experience on Futaba Island (pseudonym) and analyzed his process of cross-cultural adaptation. Data was collected from his diary and semi-structured interviews with him over six months. The collected data were then graphically represented using the method of Trajectory Equifinality Modeling (TEM) (Sato et al., 2009; Sato et al., 2014). The data obtained in this study showed that Kevin’s back-and-forth between Futaba Island and the mainland impeded and facilitated his cross-cultural adaptation in different ways. Unlike people in large cities on the mainland, people on Futaba Island stare at Kevin and treat him as a special guest, which made him aware of cultural barriers, leading him to construct an identity as an outsider and feel, “I will never fully integrate into Japanese society.” Furthermore, when he traveled to the mainland, he experienced reverse culture shock by encountering many American tourists that he cannot see on Futaba Island. Seeing American tourists behaving incompatibly with Japanese cultural norms made Kevin realize that he was more integrated into Japanese society than he had thought. All of this suggests that when considering the cross-cultural adaptation of foreigners staying in Japan, it is essential to take a place-based perspective on where they are in Japan and where they have been during their stay. Furthermore, just because a person is staying in the host country does not mean that cross-cultural adaptation is influenced by factors that are exclusive to the host country. While staying in the host country, one’s cross-cultural adaptation may be influenced by people from or by events in their home country. It is necessary to take into account home country-related factors as well.</p>

[pt] O presente trabalho investiga formas de tratamento de parentesco em uma comparação entre o japonês e o português do Brasil com aplicabilidade no ensino de Português como Segunda Língua para Estrangeiros (PL2E). Tanto na língua japonesa quanto na língua portuguesa é possível chamar, por exemplo, de tio uma pessoa que não é realmente irmão ou cunhado dos seus pais, mas a maneira de se utilizar esse e outros vocábulos de parentesco como tratamento difere em cada uma dessas línguas. Dessa forma, com dados de revistas em quadrinhos brasileiras e japonesas, analisa-se o uso de: avô, esposo, filho, irmão, neto, pai, tio e suas respectivas formas femininas. A análise é feita com base em conceitos da antropologia, do interculturalismo e da pragmática e confirma que há diferenças entre o uso japonês e o brasileiro dos vocábulos de parentesco. Os resultados desta pesquisa mostram quando, como e por que cada uma dessas formas é escolhida pelos falantes para se referir a não-parentes. / [en] This dissertation investigates kinship address forms in Japanese and in Brazilian Portuguese, with applicability in Portuguese as a Second Language classes. Both in Japanese language and Portuguese language it is possible, for example, to use the word uncle to refer to a person who isn’t actually brother nor brother-in-law of either your parents. Still, the way of using this and other kinship words as address forms differ in these two languages. With data collected from Japanese and Brazilian comic books, the use of the following kinship words is analyzed: brother, father, grandfather, grandson, husband, son, uncle and its respective feminine forms. The analysis is based in concepts from Anthropology, Interculturalism and Pragmatics and it confirms that there are differences between Japanese and Brazilian use of kinship words. The results of this research show when, how and why each of these forms is chosen by the speaker to talk with a non-relative.

<p dir="ltr">Vocabulary is a crucial element in second language learning. However, researchers in vocabulary acquisition express concerns about students’ successful acquisition of vocabulary (e.g., no significant gain after one semester of instruction (Clark & Ishida, 2005)) and the limited classroom instruction dedicated to vocabulary. In an effort to address these issues, the present study developed an online vocabulary learning system intended for use as homework, incorporating relevant theories, hypotheses, and empirical findings from existing literature and investigated its effectiveness employing a mixed-methods design.</p><p dir="ltr">For the quantitative component, students’ vocabulary gains were measured across three aspects of vocabulary knowledge (breadth/size, depth, and speed of access). A three-week experiment was conducted with students enrolled in the third-semester Japanese language course at a US Midwest institution. The final dataset included 54 students’ data. The experimental group (<i>n</i> = 28) utilized the new system to learn target words, while the control group (<i>n</i> = 26) used the current system employed in the course. The current system is also operated online and includes two types of exercises (i.e., listen-and-repeat and flashcards). ANCOVAs were employed to identify any significant differences between the groups, controlling for their pretest scores. Additionally, regression analyses were conducted to explore the relationship between the time the experimental group students spent learning new words using the new system and their outcomes, while also controlling for their pretest scores.</p><p dir="ltr">For the qualitative component, eight students from the same participant pool as the quantitative component participated in one-hour focus group discussions, conducted separately for the experimental and control groups.</p><p dir="ltr">The quantitative analysis revealed no significant differences between the groups; however, it was found that the time spent by the experimental group learning new words using the system significantly predicted two aspects of vocabulary knowledge. The qualitative data offered insights into potential explanations for the lack of significant differences between the groups, including the influence of students’ motivation on the experiment and the perceived difficulty level of the vocabulary exercises implemented in the new system. Based on the results of the present study, numerous suggestions are made for future development projects of similar systems and research.</p>

<div>Typing in Japanese is a difficult process for novice and intermediate learners of Japanese due</div><div>to the writing system of the Japanese language and its comparatively involved input method on a</div><div>keyboard. Considering that spell checkers, which enable the user to check and correct their own</div><div>errors and select the correct kanji word, are designed for native speakers, the learners of Japanese</div><div>as a foreign language (JFL) may not recognize their spelling errors and are thus unable to selfcorrect using this built-in tool.</div><div>The present study addresses this problem and conducts an experiment to evaluate the</div><div>effectiveness of a visual feedback tool by its error recognition rate on the learners spelling errors</div><div>when typing in Japanese. The participants were 46 beginner level JFL learners in a third semester</div><div>Japanese course, and the majority consist of native speakers of Chinese or English. The</div><div>participants participated in two experimental sessions. In both sessions, participants were audio</div><div>recorded while reading aloud a list of words in Japanese for pronunciation analysis and screen</div><div>recorded while typing the same list of Japanese words. These recordings are used to analyze the</div><div>characteristics of error patterns in both pronunciation and typing. During the typing sessions, visual</div><div>feedback is provided to the participants via a customized dictionary tool when participants make</div><div>a spelling error.</div><div>The results show that regardless of the native language, the learners have difficulty on certain</div><div>words that include long vowels or double consonants. The recorded error patterns align with the</div><div>findings of previous studies (Hatasa, 2001; Nakazawa, 2003; Tsuchiya, 2000), and the visual</div><div>feedback showed an average error recognition rate of 76% of the participants’ spelling errors. The</div><div>participants also assessed the dictionary tool in terms of usability, and their responses indicate that</div><div>such tools are very useful during typing. The researcher concludes that using a visual feedback</div><div>dictionary tool is effective in recognizing the spelling errors of the learners when typing, and it</div><div>increases the learner’s awareness of spelling accuracy.</div>

科学研究費補助金 研究種目:基盤研究(B)(2) 課題番号:07458049 研究代表者:尾崎 明人 研究期間:1995-1997年度