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Although much research has reported the effectiveness of task repetition on oral performance (Bygate, 2018), few studies have investigated its effectiveness on writing performance (Manchón, 2014), especially in languages other than English. For instance, Nitta and Baba’s (2014) longitudinal study revealed that EFL undergraduates considerably progressed their syntactic complexity and lexical aspects, but not fluency, through repeating a timed writing task. In relation to the task repetition, however, whether and how L2 learners develop their grammatical accuracy and communicative adequacy (Pallotti, 2009) has remained unclear in the literature. Furthermore, in addition to the linguistic measurements and the qualitative assessments, scant research has attempted to investigate whether any significant changes are brought about in terms of learners’ perceptions through repeating language tasks. <br>Therefore, the current study has shed new light on the developmental changes in the writing performance of Japanese-as-a-foreign-language (JFL) learners. It investigated whether any remarkable changes are brought about in terms of overall complexity, complexity by subordination, accuracy, and fluency through repeating a weekly “15-Minute Writing Task” throughout one academic semester (16 weeks) and one academic year (32 weeks). The writing task topics were considered in terms of the Cognition Hypothesis (Robinson, 2001), which states that different cognitive demands of tasks will lead to different L2 output. Regarding this point, this study explored whether there were any significant differences between two task types: descriptive and argumentative essays. JFL learners who were enrolled in an intermediate-level course at an American university engaged in the two different types of timed writing tasks.<br>First, the one-semester investigation, based on the pre/posttest analysis, revealed different patterns between the two types of writing tasks. For the descriptive essays, despite the improvements in overall complexity, complexity by subordination, and fluency with a large effect size (r ≥ .6) (Plonsky & Oswald, 2014), no significant findings were confirmed for accuracy. In contrast, in the argumentative essays, the learners improved all the linguistic aspects but with a medium effect size (.4 ≤ r < .6).<br>Second, in the one-year investigation, the JFL learners significantly improved overall complexity, complexity by subordination, and fluency during the study period. The dynamic systems approach (Verspoor & van Dijk, 2011) also unraveled the developmental trajectories to show how different variables interacted in the two different types of writing tasks, respectively, throughout the measurement period. Although there were no statistically significant differences in grammatical accuracy measures, the process of L2 writing development showed fluctuations, demonstrating that the improvements in syntactic complexity seemed to have caused many grammatical errors temporarily. Lastly, the learners’ compositions, which were also assessed qualitatively by two native Japanese speakers in terms of readability, indicated significant improvements in communicative adequacy.<br>Finally, to investigate any changes in the learners’ beliefs toward Japanese writing before and after the task repetition, the JFL learners completed the Belief Questionnaire About Writing in Japanese (Ishibashi, 2009). In addition, to examine any changes in foreign language anxiety with a focus on Japanese writing, the learners were required to complete the second-language version of the Daly-Miller Writing Apprehension Test (Cheng, Horwitz, & Schallert, 1999). The study found that the extensive writing experience had a positive impact on the JFL learners’ confidence and willingness when writing in L2 Japanese.<br><br>

Esta dissertação tem como objetivo investigar a aprendizagem de estudantes universitários de japonês como língua estrangeira (JLE) e sua autonomia fora da sala de aula no contexto da cidade de São Paulo. Levando em consideração que a aprendizagem de língua tem o caráter contínuo ao longo da vida, o aprendiz precisa desenvolver a capacidade de dirigir seu estudo por conta própria, ou seja, autonomia. Enquanto essa concepção indica um atributo do aprendiz, sua prática pode ser restrita por fatores externos como o ambiente e a relação com outras pessoas. A fim de pôr qualquer ação em prática que visa à promoção da autonomia do aprendiz, faz-se necessário reconhecer formas e ambientes reais em que a aprendizagem se concretiza. No geral, o aprendiz tende a realizar atividades com sua língua-alvo fora da sala de aula por sua iniciativa, e para desenvolver sua proficiência nesse contexto, ele precisa gerenciar seu estudo. Partindo-se dessa perspectiva, fora da sala de aula é uma situação em que permite observar a autonomia do aprendiz uma vez que há certo grau de liberdade de dirigir sua aprendizagem. A pesquisa teve a natureza qualitativa com dados qualitativos e quantitativos, e configurou-se como estudo de caso. Os participantes foram trinta estudantes no total, de uma disciplina da língua japonesa (LJ) de nível básico do curso de habilitação na língua de uma instituição de ensino superior, localizada na cidade de São Paulo. Para a coleta de dados, foram utilizados instrumentos; observação de aulas, questionário para todos os estudantes, entrevista para sete estudantes e diário de estudo para três estudantes. Para a análise, os dados foram identificados, descritos e interpretados. Os resultados apontam que os estudantes desenvolviam várias atividades utilizando a LJ além da sala de aula por sua iniciativa, principalmente as receptivas no domínio pessoal. Na maioria das atividades de interação, amigos e colegas de estudo foram interlocutores. Apesar da ampla disponibilidade de recursos para a aprendizagem da LJ na cidade graças à imigração japonesa e ao intercâmbio econômico e comercial com o Japão, os estudantes tenderam a utilizar recursos e meios digitais como sites da internet, redes sociais e chat. Embora muitas atividades fossem realizadas principalmente pelo interesse cultural, alguns alunos tentaram compreender o conhecimento obtido durante aulas, aplicando-o nas atividades fora do contexto da instituição educacional intencionalmente. Verificou-se também o esforço de uma estudante para procurar oportunidades de interagir com falantes da LJ no domínio público e profissional. / This thesis aims at investigating the learning of undergraduate students of Japanese as foreign language and their autonomy beyond the classroom in the city of São Paulo. Considering that language learning is a lifelong activity, a learner needs to develop the capacity to direct your study on your own, namely, autonomy. While this concept indicates an learner\'s attribute, its practice can be restricted by external factors such as his environment and relationship with other people. In order to put into practice any action in pursuit of this capacity, it is essential to comprehend real forms and environments in which learning occurs. Generally speaking, the learner tends to realize activities using his target language outside the classroom taking his initiative, and so as to develop his proficiency in this context, he needs to administrate his study under his own direction. From this perspective, it can be said that it is a situation in which allows us to observe the learner autonomy because there is a certain degree of freedom to direct his own study. This research was qualitative treating both qualitative and quantitative data, and its approach was case study. The participants were thirty undergraduate students in total of a Japanese language basic level subject of the language course in the city of São Paulo. For the data collection, the instruments such as classroom observation, questionnaire for thirty students, interview for seven students and learning diary for three students were employed, and for the analysis, the data was identified, described and interpreted. The results point out that the students developed various activities using Japanese beyond the classroom, especially that of reception in the personal domain. In many cases of interaction, friends and classmates were their interlocutors. Regardless of wide range of variety of resources available to Japanese language learning in the city due to the Japanese immigration to Brazil and economic relationship with Japan, these students tended to use digital resources and medias such as internet sites, social networking services and chat. Although most activities were held primarily because of their interest in Japanese culture, some participants sought to comprehend the linguistic knowledge acquired in the classroom, using it in those out-of-classroom activities. Among the student\'s attempts to use the language, it was observed that a student looked for opportunities to interact with Japanese speakers even in the public and professional domains.

Esta dissertação tem como objetivo investigar a aprendizagem de estudantes universitários de japonês como língua estrangeira (JLE) e sua autonomia fora da sala de aula no contexto da cidade de São Paulo. Levando em consideração que a aprendizagem de língua tem o caráter contínuo ao longo da vida, o aprendiz precisa desenvolver a capacidade de dirigir seu estudo por conta própria, ou seja, autonomia. Enquanto essa concepção indica um atributo do aprendiz, sua prática pode ser restrita por fatores externos como o ambiente e a relação com outras pessoas. A fim de pôr qualquer ação em prática que visa à promoção da autonomia do aprendiz, faz-se necessário reconhecer formas e ambientes reais em que a aprendizagem se concretiza. No geral, o aprendiz tende a realizar atividades com sua língua-alvo fora da sala de aula por sua iniciativa, e para desenvolver sua proficiência nesse contexto, ele precisa gerenciar seu estudo. Partindo-se dessa perspectiva, fora da sala de aula é uma situação em que permite observar a autonomia do aprendiz uma vez que há certo grau de liberdade de dirigir sua aprendizagem. A pesquisa teve a natureza qualitativa com dados qualitativos e quantitativos, e configurou-se como estudo de caso. Os participantes foram trinta estudantes no total, de uma disciplina da língua japonesa (LJ) de nível básico do curso de habilitação na língua de uma instituição de ensino superior, localizada na cidade de São Paulo. Para a coleta de dados, foram utilizados instrumentos; observação de aulas, questionário para todos os estudantes, entrevista para sete estudantes e diário de estudo para três estudantes. Para a análise, os dados foram identificados, descritos e interpretados. Os resultados apontam que os estudantes desenvolviam várias atividades utilizando a LJ além da sala de aula por sua iniciativa, principalmente as receptivas no domínio pessoal. Na maioria das atividades de interação, amigos e colegas de estudo foram interlocutores. Apesar da ampla disponibilidade de recursos para a aprendizagem da LJ na cidade graças à imigração japonesa e ao intercâmbio econômico e comercial com o Japão, os estudantes tenderam a utilizar recursos e meios digitais como sites da internet, redes sociais e chat. Embora muitas atividades fossem realizadas principalmente pelo interesse cultural, alguns alunos tentaram compreender o conhecimento obtido durante aulas, aplicando-o nas atividades fora do contexto da instituição educacional intencionalmente. Verificou-se também o esforço de uma estudante para procurar oportunidades de interagir com falantes da LJ no domínio público e profissional. / This thesis aims at investigating the learning of undergraduate students of Japanese as foreign language and their autonomy beyond the classroom in the city of São Paulo. Considering that language learning is a lifelong activity, a learner needs to develop the capacity to direct your study on your own, namely, autonomy. While this concept indicates an learner\'s attribute, its practice can be restricted by external factors such as his environment and relationship with other people. In order to put into practice any action in pursuit of this capacity, it is essential to comprehend real forms and environments in which learning occurs. Generally speaking, the learner tends to realize activities using his target language outside the classroom taking his initiative, and so as to develop his proficiency in this context, he needs to administrate his study under his own direction. From this perspective, it can be said that it is a situation in which allows us to observe the learner autonomy because there is a certain degree of freedom to direct his own study. This research was qualitative treating both qualitative and quantitative data, and its approach was case study. The participants were thirty undergraduate students in total of a Japanese language basic level subject of the language course in the city of São Paulo. For the data collection, the instruments such as classroom observation, questionnaire for thirty students, interview for seven students and learning diary for three students were employed, and for the analysis, the data was identified, described and interpreted. The results point out that the students developed various activities using Japanese beyond the classroom, especially that of reception in the personal domain. In many cases of interaction, friends and classmates were their interlocutors. Regardless of wide range of variety of resources available to Japanese language learning in the city due to the Japanese immigration to Brazil and economic relationship with Japan, these students tended to use digital resources and medias such as internet sites, social networking services and chat. Although most activities were held primarily because of their interest in Japanese culture, some participants sought to comprehend the linguistic knowledge acquired in the classroom, using it in those out-of-classroom activities. Among the student\'s attempts to use the language, it was observed that a student looked for opportunities to interact with Japanese speakers even in the public and professional domains.

Motivation always attracts language teachers’ attention as one of the most significant factors for second language learning. In the past decades, motivational studies have experienced transitions and developments, and various studies investigated language learning motivation. (Dörnyei and Ryan, 2015) However, those motivational studies indicate that research outcomes vary depending on languages, contexts, and individuals, and understanding L2 learning motivation requires investigations at the local level.<div>This study examined the motivation of Japanese learners at a large state university in the Midwestern United States by asking them to respond to an online survey with eleven motivational factors that include the L2 Motivational Self System (Dörnyei, 2005, 2009) and the anti-ought-to L2 self (Thompson & Vásquez, 2015). <div>The main findings are as follows. First, attitude towards leaning Japanese, classroom support, the ideal L2 self, and the anti-ought-to L2 self had significant relationships with students’ intended effort. Second, rather than how long/in which course students study, why/for what they are learning Japanese makes the most significant differences in their motivation. Third, the ought-to L2 self might not be the best motivational factor for learning Japanese since characteristics of Japanese are different from those of English, which is widely used around the world. Fourth, interest in Japanese anime, manga, and games did not correlate with participants’ ideal L2 self and intended effort although interest in the other cultural items showed moderate correlations with those factors. Fifth, the longer/higher-level their learning experience became, the less interest participants showed in Japanese anime, manga, and pop culture, indicating that their interest in these cultural aspects began to vary and shifted to the other aspects of Japanese culture. </div><div>The main pedagogical implications suggested by the study are that there is a need to help students to set realistic goals and visualize future self-image with the Japanese language so that they can continue learning regardless of the course level or length of study, and teachers should consider at which stages their students are, and on the basis of that, decide how much anime and manga to incorporate into their lessons.</div></div>

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a computer-based Japanese/English diglot reader on the breadth and depth of the acquisition of kanji-words. On a diglot reader, L2 text is embedded in L1 text, thus allowing L2 learners to receive enough context to understand the L2 text and learn vocabulary in it. This study was also conducted to determine the effects of two methods of presenting pronunciation of kanji-words, audio recording and romaji, on the acquisition of the meaning and pronunciation of kanji-words as well as the overall effect of learning of pronunciation on the learning and retention of meaning. Eighty-one university students enrolled in first-year Japanese classes participated in this study. They were divided into four groups, and each group received a version of the diglot reader with different presentation of pronunciation for self-study. One group received the reader with audio recording and romaji, one with audio only, one with romaji only, and the other with neither of them. A 50-item kanji pretest, posttest, and a retention test were administered. The posttest was administered immediately after the experiment and the retention test one week later. Results show that overall, participants gained the meaning of 21 words and the pronunciation of 17 words through the diglot reader. Mostly they gained the depth of knowledge of kanji-words that allowed them to understand the meaning of the words, but not to write sentences with them. The retention rates for meaning and pronunciation were both .73 one week after the completion of reading. No significant effects of audio and romaji notation of pronunciation were found on the learning of meaning of kanji-words. However, those who learned both the meaning and the pronunciation of kanji-words had a higher retention rate of kanji meaning than those who learned the meaning only, thus suggesting a benefit of learning pronunciation along with meaning when learning kanji. Results also indicated that when participants received pronunciation information in one form while reading, either in audio or romaji, giving an additional form of pronunciation information did not have significant effects on their learning of pronunciation.

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<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>