Volume 8, Supplement, December 2011
Native speakers of a language can tell whether a speaker is native or non-native just by hearing one word or phrase in the language. It is expected that L2 learners will develop the ability to detect ‘good pronunciation’ as they establish the prototypes of the L2 sound system. However, it is not known what contributes to their judgement of good pronunciation. Therefore, this pilot study aims to clarify the mechanism of L2 listeners’ judgement of good pronunciation. In this study, we focus on the prosodic variations of timing and pitch-accent in Japanese. Four groups of informants participated in a perception experiment where they were asked to assess stimuli extracted from the recordings of L2 Japanese learners. These four groups are L2 Japanese learners at two levels of proficiency (beginner and advanced), and native Japanese speakers with and without formal teaching experience of L2 Japanese. All learner participants are native speakers of Australian English. We will report that the learners’ assessment of good pronunciation is not straightforward, being different from the logical expectation that learners will behave more like native speakers as their L2 Japanese proficiency develops. We will also discuss possible explanations for the results and implications for L2 Japanese education.
The primary aim of this paper is to introduce the day-to-day workings of the Digital Story module that has been running as part of the ANU second year intermediate Japanese language course for the past three years, and secondly to present the findings of a pilot research project that aims to generate questions and parameters for a more extensive research survey. The paper also aims to discuss something of the appeal of these stories to teachers and students and examine their value in foreign language teaching as an alternative to the individ- ual oral/aural presentations or tests. The Digital Story module has, overall, proved successful as a teaching and learning strategy for second language learners with a medium through which they can better express their opinions and emotional responses to Japan and its role in their lives. Although not without problems, particularly the balance between technological expertise and content, this mode of teaching and learning encouraged student motivation and enhanced learning outcomes, by challenging the students to incorporate their own interests, opinions and emotions.
Learning Languages as Expression of Culture (pp. 300–311)
This paper considers how ideas about language and culture influence language learning. The methodology for the study is a comparison of the tasks involved in learning introductory Hindi and Japanese. The paper was written after 132 hours of study of Japanese. Through comparing how Japanese and Hindi are taught I demonstrate that integral to the learning of these languages is the need to understand linguistic forms as expressions of distinctive cultural practices. This is prefaced by a discussion of standards being advocated for language teaching in the Common European Framework (CEFR) and in the American Council for the Teaching of foreign languages (ACTFL). I argue that further work needs to be done examining how Asian cultures influence language usage and how standards might be set for understanding the relationship between lan- guages and cultures. The conclusion which I draw from this is that the adoption of neither CEFR nor ACFTL standards will not have beneficial impact on learners without further studies of the relationship between socio- cultural and communicative approaches to language teaching.
Podcasting is increasingly being exploited by language teachers as a tool for delivering educational content and to encourage learning outside of the traditional classroom. While some studies have explored the application of podcasting in language learning as well as students’ response to podcast-based learning, there is still comparatively little research into effective podcast design and students’ perceptions of and attitudes towards this medium. This paper looks at two podcast projects conducted at a university in Singapore, which were created to supplement classroom instruction for Chinese and Korean as a foreign language. It first describes the projects’ background and target groups, and podcasts’ design and content. It reports subsequently on a study conducted on these two projects to address the current lack of empirical research and to seek insights for the further development of language podcasting. Data were collected from questionnaires administered to 120 Chinese and 61 Korean language students as well as semi-structured interviews to ascertain their perceptions of the podcasts’ quality and usefulness, and their attitudes towards podcast-based learning. It was found that there were statistically significant differences in the perceptions and attitudes of the two groups of students. The analysis of the data further uncovered that there are four possible reasons for these differences: 1) the podcasts’ objectives and students’ learning motivation; 2) a mismatch between podcast design and students’ expectations, needs and preferences; 3) teacher encouragement and student preparation; and 4) the experience of mobile learning. The implications of the study for future practice and further research are also discussed.
The role of consciousness in the learning of a second or foreign language has received increased emphasis over the last decade. Particularly, the ‘noticing’ of relevant features in the speech of authentic native speakers can promote learning. However, little has been studied about the learning of Japanese speech styles, which are recognised as one of the most difficult linguistic features to acquire because there is no neutral style in Japanese. The most appropriate style must be selected according to the interlocutor’s age, social status, intimacy, formality of situation, etc. and the style selected can constantly change depending on various contextual and psychological factors. Prompted by these issues, the author has conducted a study to investigate if elementary level learners of Japanese noticed anything about speech styles and, if they did, what they noticed when they communicated with Japanese native speakers. The present paper reports on the initial part of the 9 month-longitudinal study that explores what learners noticed during their first Japanese native contact situation. The data was collected from 65 student journal reports and was analysed by the Modified Grounded Theory Approach. Results indicate that the learners’ noticing varied greatly and that the variations are not only due to individual differences between the learners but also due to differences between the individual native speakers they encountered. Based on such findings, this paper discusses potential learning difficulties, related pedagogical issues and the possibilities for teaching speech styles from an elementary level.
Teaching Javanese Respect Usage to Foreign Learners (pp. 362–370)
With around 80 million speakers, Javanese is the biggest of Indonesia’s regional languages. It has a written tradition stretching back 1,000 years and today exerts a powerful influence on Indonesia’s national language, Bahasa Indonesia. Javanese has one of the most elaborate systems of respect usage of any recorded language. The compulsory tu-vous distinction of French is multiplied many hundreds of times over in all word classes of Javanese – even in affixes. In addition to the two basic respect levels (called ngoko or “low Javanese” and krama or “high Javanese”), there is an an augmented respect level with two aspects, called krama inggil and krama andhap. The respect levels of Javanese present special difficulties for teachers and learners of Javanese as a foreign language. Two difficulties stand out: how should teaching of respect levels be ordered, and how can teaching of respect levels be managed in the classroom when classroom practice may violate powerful conventions of linguistic interaction that apply in Javanese society at large? This paper sketches the dimensions of the two issues and suggests that a drama-based approach may best address these special problems.
Pelangi Bahasa Indonesia Podcast: What, Why and How? (pp. 371–384)
The rapid evolution of information and communication technologies (ICT) has created many pedagogical possibilities for the use of these technologies to support second and foreign language learning. ICT applications have been employed by the Bahasa Indonesia Programme at the Centre for Language Studies, National University of Singapore (CLS-NUS), since 2001 as supplementary tools to enhance students’ proficiency beyond classroom instruction. The most recent development is the integration of podcasting into the Bahasa Indonesia Level 1 curriculum. This paper describes how podcast units are used to optimize students’ learning experiences. Five podcast units were designed as supplementary materials to develop students’ listening skills and grammar knowledge in the beginners’ level course. A qualitative survey administered to 20 undergraduate students learning Indonesian as a foreign language was the main means of data collection. The result indicates that the application of podcasting enhanced students’ listening skills, grammar knowledge, and knowledge of the culture of the target community. It facilitated self-paced learning and provided a means of reviewing in preparation for tests. It was also a useful platform for remediation, especially for slower learners.
The study of good language learners has received considerable attention in the field of second language acquisition. Previous studies have identified certain kinds of behaviours associated with successful language learning. This paper investigates a much under-researched topic: high-achieving learners of Vietnamese as a foreign language. Focusing on four case studies, using interviews and questionnaires as the main data collection instruments supplemented by learners’ self-report journals, this exploratory study aims to shed light on the learners’ common characteristics, motivation and learning strategies. Findings suggest that these learners share six common distinguishing characteristics, some of which are concurrent with the literature. Several implications for foreign language teaching research are also discussed.