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published_or_final_version / abstract / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

The critical period hypothesis for second language learning, which states that young children learn additional languages better than adults, lacks unambiguous empirical support as well as a coherent theoretical model. An experimental study was conducted which analyzed child-adult differences in difficulty of acquisition and long-term retention for rules of syntax and words in Japanese, a language unfamiliar to the subjects. The results of this study found no advantage for children over adults either in acquisition or long-term memory. However, relative to the difficulty of acquisition, the children had lower forgetting rates for words than for rules when both materials were learned completely. In the lexical study, the children's performance at retention was closer to the adults' than at acquisition, whereas in the syntax study, the opposite was the case. These results confirm the existence of developmental differences in the forgetting rates of different materials. Such results imply that, if there is an advantage for learning language at an early age, it might be localized in lexical retention.

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Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 179-190). / xvi, 190 leaves, bound 29 cm

The intent of this study is to examine the trajectory of ideology regarding standard Japanese and dialects from the historical perspective, and also to discuss the cause of the post-war shift of the ideology. Before the war, the government attempted to disseminate hyojun-go aiming at creating a unified Japan in the time when many countries were developing to be nation states after industrial revolution. After the Pacific war, the less strict-sounding term kyotsu-go was more often used, conveying an ideology of democratization. Yet despite the difference in the terms, speaking a common language continues to play a role of unifying the country. Today there is great interest in regional dialects in Japan. Although kyotsu-go is the common language, most people, especially in urban areas, are familiar with (if not fluent in) kyotsu-go. Due to the development of media and mobilization there are few people who cannot understand kyotsu-go. However, until around the 1970s people were more likely to believe in the superiority of standard Japanese (hyojun-go). Standard language was believed to be superior as a result of language policy that had its origins in Meiji and lasted through WWII. This included education policy that required school children to learn hyojun-go. After the war, in a process of democratization there emerged greater acceptance of language variety: dialect. Thus, there has been a shift in language ideology in Japan, and the people's interests in dialects is one indicator of this. This shift is analyzed here from the perspective of Bourdieu's notion of social and linguistic capital, tying it to policy, historical events and societal change.

Any type of education implemented by a modern nation-state is, at least in part, a tool for socializing its people. In this regard, Japanese language and literature education, kokugo, has played an important role in Japan by emphasizing nationalism and the integrity of a Japanese identity. According to Ishihara (2007) and Lee (1996 [English translation 2010]), kokugo, since its inception in 1900, has promoted moral awareness and assimilation of Japanese ideals across the country. However, responding to unsatisfactory test results in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2003 and 2006, Japan's Ministry of Education Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) adjusted kokugo education policies. A decision was made to place more emphasis on language skills rather than on the traditional kokugo approach that had been in place from the beginning of the Meiji era (1868-1912). Based on an analysis of Wakaru Kokugo Yomikaki no Tsubo (WKYT) (Understanding Kokugo: The Secrets of Reading and Writing), an educational television program for elementary school kokugo classes by Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (NHK), this thesis discusses how language skill development has recently been introduced into the kokugo curriculum and Japanese kokugo education policies. This thesis also uses the historical-structural approach of critical language policy research developed by Tollefson (1991, 2013) and Street (1993) to analyze how this modified kokugo education has the potential to affect the social development of students.

The Japanese as a foreign language classroom in the United States is full of information about the target culture and cross-cultural interaction between American students and Japanese instructors. This cross-cultural interaction promotes culture learning but sometimes produces potential conflicts due to American students and Japanese instructors having different expectations of each other. The purpose of this study was to investigate student expectations of their Japanese teachers and to explore similarities and differences among Japanese and American expectations. The research questions addressed were 1) What do American students expect of their Japanese teachers in the Japanese language classroom? Do their expectations have any distinctive features?, and 2) What do Japanese teachers expect of themselves in the Japanese language classroom? Do their expectations have any distinctive features? The data was gathered in the two Japanese programs at universities in the Northwest. This exploratory study used both the quantitative and descriptive research methods. There were three primary data analysis procedures: multidimensional scaling analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis, and rank-order analysis. These multidimensional and hierarchical clustering analyses explored the underlying structure of the concept of what makes a good Japanese language teacher. The rank-order analysis revealed which beliefs were most important for different groups' judgments of who is a good teacher. In addition, the results of these analyses were discussed with the subjects through interviews. The results suggested a major similarity and also some culture differences. Both Americans and Japanese seemed to share a very basic framework about what makes a good teacher, which contained three domains: Classroom management, Interaction and Personality. However, some of the results seemed to reflect a difference between the role-specific aspects of Japanese society and the individualistic elements of American society. In addition, the rank-order analysis seemed to reveal a difference between the two schools.

This thesis discusses the current Japanese language (nihongo) education for immigrant students at public schools in Japan and provides recommendations through the study of language policy and the comparison of bilingual education in the United States. The current situation of a decreasing birth rate and increasing aging population in Japan has led to the acceptance of more foreign workers. Due to this change, language education in Japan has increasing development. The focus of chapter 1 is on the theories of language policy. This paper particularly focuses on the ideas of Wright (2004), Neustupný (2006), Spolsky (2004), and Cooper (1989), and discusses similarities and differences between them. By applying these theories to language policy in Japan, chapter 1 shows how language policy changed throughout Japanese history. Chapter 2 discusses the current environment surrounding immigrant students. It includes a description not only of the expanding population of foreign students, but also the history of Japanese language education and the laws related to it. This chapter also presents the present movement of language policy in Japan and how the movement affects Japanese language education for language minority students. Chapter 3 compares bilingual education in the United States to bilingual education in Japan, and makes three suggestions to improve Japanese language education at public schools in Japan, particularly addressing the classification of language levels for immigrant students, teaching styles, and the limitation of qualified bilingual teachers.