Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Japanese language Study and teaching (Higher) Australia'

In Applied Linguistics and English Language Teaching a growing emphasis on the social aspects of language teaching and learning has shifted research inquiry away from methodology to focus instead on the specific contexts in which these activities take place. Within these contexts, a prominent role is occupied by the teacher. Teacher identity is particularly significant in language teaching, where the teacher's Relationship and attitude to the target language could have important pedagogical implications. Nevertheless theoretical frameworks for understanding teacher identity have all too often been marred by cultural stereotyping or a reluctance to admit that identity matters at all. This thesis proposes a methodology for researching teacher identity which derives from a poststructuralist conceptualisation of identity as a form of 'strategic positioning'. According to this concept, identity is never fixed but people do signal temporary affiliation with particular social categories or groups from which insights can be inferred concerning the social world that they experience and their values and beliefs about that world. An analysis of strategic positioning in the transcripts of long interviews with eight English teachers in Japanese higher education permits a richer understanding of the multiple ways in which identity and practice are intertwined. The findings support a critique of current thinking about professionalism and expertise, and offer an original challenge to a number of critical linguistic arguments associated with English as an International Language such as linguistic imperialism, intercultural spaces and post method pedagogy.

Students' use of language learning strategies (LLSs) is affected by their educational backgrounds and academic requirements, and so are their attitudes toward language learning. This study investigates Japanese students' perception of their English LLSs in different language environments: Japan and the United States. A group of 43 Japanese students from Otemae College participated in a cultural study program at Portland State University. The group consisted of 28 students who studied for two terms (ST Group) and 15 students who studied for three terms (LT Group). In this study, a combination of a self-assessment questionnaire, dialogue journals, and a card-ranking activity was employed. The self-assessment questionnaire, SILL (Rebecca Oxford's Strategy Inventory for Language Learning), was administered at different times during the learning period for identification of students' English LLSs in Japan (Ll) and in the United States (L2). The SILL provided this study with quantitative data; whereas, dialogue journals and the card ranking activity supplied qualitative data that more insightfully indicated students' perception of language learning, learning experiences, and insight into the students themselves. Dialogue journals allowed students to record their positive and negative experiences in the L2 related to language learning, emotions, concerns, problems, and questions. The students' LLSs increased in frequency and variety of use when the language environment changed from the Ll to the L2. The LLSs of the LT Group continued to improve during an additional term in the L2. Conversely, the LLS use by the ST Group regressed after only four months back in the Ll (except Affective and Social Strategies). The results of the SILL indicated direct strategies were adjusted according to English learning experience in a different learning environment. Three administrations of the SILL, dialogue journals, and the card ranking activity gave students opportunities to review the process of their English learning. This process functioned in raising students' awareness of language learning from cognitive, psychological, social, and cultural perspectives. Such conceptual development of metalinguistic awareness of the language and culture helped the students recognize their language learning experiences in the L2 as the process of human development.

This focus of this interpretive study was aimed at presenting an active conception of differentiated curriculum from within the context of Western Australian (WA) second language teaching practice. Significantly, research into differentiation is a relatively new phenomenon in Australia and in particular, to WA second language teaching. Data was collected from seven Japanese language tcachers and their perspectivcs illustrated the realities of individual teaching in the construction and implementation of diffrerentiated curriculum. These teachers worked within an outcomes-based Curriculum Framework (Curriculum Council. 1998) mandate which defines curriculum for all WA schools and require responsive teaching to cater for the myriad range of learners apparent in classrooms. Differentiation authors suggest how teachers may differentiate classroom elements of ' content', 'process'. 'product' and 'learning environment' and design curriculum in response to student needs and address learner characteristics of 'readiness', 'interest', 'learning profile' and 'affect'. Teachers' interviews in this study highlighted how students enter Year 8 with a range of prior primary school second language learning experience that differs in terms of intensity, duration or type. Students in transition to secondary school may therefore be both beginners and continuers of the Japanese language and be in the same Year 8 class.

In the last 20 years or so, there has been a phenomenal increase in the number of international full-fee paying students applying to study in Australian universities, The revenue provided in this way has helped to address the problems faced by cash-starved universities facing recurring funding cuts over the same period. Furthermore, the presence of such students on any university campus provides immeasurable enrichment to the student body in terms of cultural diversity and research potential, and indeed it is very tempting in an ever,-increasing global market, to be as flexible as possible with prospective international students. However, the process of admission also demands careful consideration on the part of the various stakeholders involved. Although several factors need to be taken into account, the most obvious and certainly of primary importance would be the need to prove proficiency in the English language, Given that English is the dominant means of communication in the university, all students are required to draw from a complex web of linguistic resources to construct meaning and to complete the range of tasks required of them during their tertiary studies, This volume deals :with the overarching theme of issues of English language proficiency for overseas students studying in an Australian university. This focus can be viewed from many angles, and there are certainly many key facets involved, a selection of which is explored in the papers of the portfolio. These include the following broad areas: recruitment and admissions, language testing and technology, curriculum and inclusivity, English language support, academic conduct and finally the specific needs of international students, as viewed from their own perspective.

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 study attempted to locate some possible sources of oral Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) among Japanese students in the United States. This study proposed that the following three factors were possible sources of FLA: 1) the subjects' traitlike anxiety, which is carried by individuals across all communication-bound contexts; 2) the subjects' self-perceived oral proficiency levels in English and 3) the subjects' gapsize (i.e., the distance between their self-perceived and their self-expected oral proficiency levels in English) . This research examined whether the above three independent variables and the dependent FLA variable were significantly correlated, and if so, which one had the strongest correlation with the FLA variable. Also, whether the subjects' biographical variables had a significant effect on their FLA levels was investigated. All the variables were quantified through a questionnaire. The subjects' FLA levels and traitlike anxiety levels were measured by a 10-item, Personal Report of Communication Apprehension inventory (PRCA, Mccroskey, 1978). The subjects' self-perceived oral proficiency levels were measured by asking the subjects to rate their self-perceived oral proficiency level from 1 (poor) to 5 (fluent). The gapsize was quantified by asking the subjects to rate it on a scale from 1 (minimal) to 5 (maximal). The statistical methodology used in obtaining the PRCA scores in this study differed from McCroskey's in its interpretation of Likert type scales. The scales were treated as interval data in McCroskey's study, while, in this study, they were interpreted as ordinal data. After hierarchically ordering the subjects' answers, non-parametric tests were performed on them. Overall, each of the three variables and the FLA variable were found to be significantly correlated at p < .01. The traitlike anxiety variable, the proficiency variable and the gapsize variable correlated at .46, -.45 and -.33, respectively. The participants' demographic variables (age, gender, status at school or year(s) of residence in English speaking places) did not have a significant effect on their FLA levels. A discussion of the results was provided, with references to previous studies.

The aim of this study was to investigate the communicative orientation of classroom interaction in Japanese language lessons that are conducted in the virtual environment of synchronous (real-time) telematics. Specifically, the study examined Japanese telematics classrooms in upper primary and junior secondary schools in Western Australia. This study focused on whether the interaction in the classes studied, evident in the virtual learning mode of telematics was facilitative of second language (L2) acquisition. The form of telematics used in this study was synchronous communication between teacher and students using telephone and computer links, sometimes also referred to as "audiographics". Telematics may also include the use of other communication technologies, such as live interactive television (LIT) however this was not available to all sites in the current study so it was not investigated. The aim of this study is articulated through the research questions: 1. What is the nature of the communicative orientation in upper primary and junior secondary Japanese language classrooms in telematics mode? 2. ls the interaction observed in Japanese language telematics classrooms of the type that promotes L2 acquisition? The first question seeks to identify the relative emphasis placed on interaction and form-focused interaction in the telematics classroom context. The second question identifies whether the features of interaction that SLA researchers suggest promote L2 acquisition are evident in the telematics context. This study uses the term interaction to refer to the type of human-human communicative interaction occurring in L2 telematics classes via the computer/technology that is facilitated by a number of key communicative features of interaction drawn from the second language acquisition (SLA) research. Interactivity on the other hand is used to refer to the human-computer engagement which is technologically facilitated. Subjects in the study were three telematics teachers, with distributed classes across several student receival sites. The study examined descriptive process data collected from Japanese telematics classes in Western Australia via audio and video recordings. The study engaged in a descriptive inquiry using Classroom-Centred Research (CCR) methodology. CCR as a methodology provides evidence about the nature and influence of language instruction and classroom interaction have on L2 acquisition. This study used multi-methods of data collection via four stages: teacher questionnaire, classroom observations of interactions, teacher focus group discussion and follow-up interviews conducted later in the study to confirm the findings. The major analytical tool used was the current version of the Communicative Orientation of Language Teaching (COLT) Observation (1995). The use of this scheme stems from its ability to bring together all of the communicative variables to capture features deemed theoretically and empirically relevant to the L2 classroom. The COLT Observation Scheme also provides a framework for comparing features of discourse in classrooms with features of natural language acquisition considered to be facilitative of L2 acquisition. In this way the extent to which an instructional treatment may be characterised as communicatively orientated can be measured. Both Part A and Part B of the scheme were used. The features and categories in Part A are primarily derived from pedagogical issues identified in the literature on communicative language teaching (CL T). Features and categories in Part B reflect issues in first and second language acquisition. The only modification was an additional investigation of how form was used in the telematics lessons. Although recent studies have recommended improvements to telematics delivery, no other known study has specifically investigated whether the interaction evident in the delivery of Japanese via telematics is of the type that promotes successful L2 acquisition. Through the use of the COLT Observation Scheme, this study was able to capture and measure features of L2 classroom interaction in these telematics environments. The results indicate that there were a number of internal and external variables that influenced the nature of the communicative orientation of telematics classes in this study. In terms of the communicative features of interaction identified in the COLT Observation Scheme as predictors of successful L2 acquisition, a number of these were not strongly evident in the results, for example, use of the target language, interaction in group work, use of extended text, use of authentic resources and student-made materials, reaction to message and clarification request. Pedagogic factors impinging on the communicative orientation of the telematics environment included the highly teacher-centred nature of the telematics context. The use of the computer as a controlling device and the only visual connection also moved teachers further towards a more directive delivery style and greater dependence on using the L 1. Given the recent support for the incorporation of some focus on form into a communicative curriculum, the supplementary focus on form data revealed how the electronic nature of telematics delivery influenced how form was taught and the overuse in some cases of vocabulary games, drilling, substitution and repetition. There was also little evidence of students initiating discourse, negotiating activities or requesting clarification. Students engaged in mainly minimal rather than extended text thus limiting opportunities to experiment with the L2. The communicative orientation of L2 telematics classes in this study was also impacted upon by a number of external factors, such as noise, technical breakdowns and inadequate learning environments at receival sites. The impact of the absence of a two-way human visual connection led to teachers using a more directive style of teaching where "silences" were often filled with teacher talk. Teachers identified this limitation as also limiting opportunities for students to obtain comprehensible input. However, teachers developed useful compensation strategies to overcome some of these limitations such as, using colour on the computer screen and tone of voice to highlight salient features. They also introduced games that promoted interaction between sites. Whilst this study has revealed that some of the communicative features of interaction are evident, a greater number of these features need to become more prominent or more communicative. As well as targeting the technological orientation of the delivery method by adding a human visual connection, this would also involve the careful incorporation of the features that are characteristic of a more communicative approach to L2 acquisition. This study has contributed to the fields of SLA and virtual delivery in a number of ways. It has added to the existing literature base through interfacing the SLA literature with the telematics literature. It has also contributed to a new methodology by taking an existing methodology and methods and applying them to the virtual L2 telematics classroom, in particular, the use of the COLT Observation Scheme in a virtual context. A contribution this study has made to language teaching through telematics lies in a mapping framework that has evolved from the study that aims to bring the type of interaction that occurs in SLA, communicative interaction and telematics closer together. Further research needs to determine how interaction can be more effectively promoted m the telematics and virtual learning environments. It is anticipated that this study will encourage other researchers to further investigate the benefits of a more communicatively orientated intervention which will ultimately lead to positive L2 learning outcomes for all students in telematics environments and the broader virtual learning contexts.

Short-term intercultural exchange programs provide a wealth of information and experiences for participants. Participants are given the opportunity to travel out of their native country and are exposed to new languages and cultures. This case study looks at the Japanese sojourners in the Northwest/ Pacific Rim {NWPR) summer program. The purpose was to examine the language use of the Japanese sojourners throughout the course of the NWPR program. This case study sought to determine when the Japanese sojourners used English and/or Japanese, in which situations, what strategies the Japanese sojourners employed and who initiated contact with whom. All of the data was gathered from a participant observer who also employed various ethnographic methods. The Japanese sojourners were observed informally and six were interviewed formally. All four of the ESL teachers were also formally interviewed to provide as wide a range of information as possible. The results showed that the Japanese sojourners did, in general, have a positive experience in the NWPR program but they did not learn as much English and intercultural sensitivity as they could have. Although this case study was focused on the language use of the Japanese sojourners aspects of program evaluation inevitable infiltrated in.

Correction of oral errors in foreign or second language classrooms has been an issue of great concern. Although the literature on error correction is abundant, the studies on student reaction to this pedagogical practice are few. This study investigated the preferences for correction of classroom oral errors among university students of English in Japan. Data were collected from anonymous questionnaires. The study examined the students' attitudes toward the views about correction of oral errors which have been controversial among foreign and second language educators. The study also investigated the students' preferences for correction of different types of oral errors (e.g., grammatical errors) and particular types of correction as well. The results showed that the students had a strong positive agreement regarding teacher correction of oral errors. They showed a tendency toward agreement concerning peer correction, and a slight tendency toward agreement regarding selective error correction. Concerning overcorrection of errors, they showed a tendency toward disagreement. There was no significant difference among the different levels of oral English proficiency. The students had positive attitudes toward the correction of all five types of errors listed in the questionnaire: grammatical errors, phonological errors, and errors regarding vocabulary, pragmatics, and discourse. Pragmatic errors received the strongest preference. A significant difference among the proficiency levels was observed in only preference for correction of discourse errors. Preferred methods of error correction were: 1) the teacher gives the student a hint which might enable the student to notice the error and selfcorrect, 2) the teacher explains why the response is incorrect, 3) the teacher points out the error, and provides the correct response, and 4) the teacher presents the correct response or part of the response. The methods disliked were: 1) the teacher ignores the student's errors and 2) the teacher repeats the original question asked of the student. A significant difference among the groups was observed in preference for only one error correction method: the teacher presents the correct response or part of the response.

One of the perennial problems faced by language teachers is how to assess learners' language skills reliably to place them at suitable levels in courses. Learners who have lived In a community where the target language is spoken pose the greatest problem in terms of where they should be placed because while they frequently lack the accuracy In grammatical form of students who have studied the language formally, they have skills in pragmatic areas (communicative ability) which have traditionally played only a minor role in foreign language teaching.

This thesis examines the ideas of social representations and the "relation to writing" (Barre-De Miniac 2000) in a multilingual context. Firstly, the thesis examines these ideas, arising from the research field of didactics of teaching French as a first language, in the multilingual context of a French program at an Australian university. Secondly, it analyses the progress in writing ability made by students from the second to the fourth year of French studies, and compares the ways in which they describe the process of writing in their first language and in a foreign language. The objective is to understand the process of writing in its psychological, social and cognitive dimensions. An analysis of the topic (Berthoud 1996) carried out on the discursive corpus of teachers (based on individual interviews) illustrates the limitations of the concept of "relation to writing" in a multilingual context, and makes it possible to identify an idea specific to this teaching situation: the "relation to the foreign language" being learned. An analysis of the topic carried out on the discursive corpus of learners (discussion groups) indicates that their written work in a foreign language originates with ideas, and that the "transposition to writing" in a foreign language can be recognised as a key point in the awareness of linguistic phenomena insofar as this as moment of writing engages knowledge of at least two languages. The situation of transition between languages, made more explicit through the process of writing, is akin to the "zone of proximal development" (ZPD) in Vygotsky's sociocultural theory in that the development of learning strategies and the internalisation of the language are apparent in this negotiation process. A comparison of the processes of writing in a foreign language and writing in a first language shows that the student's level of ability influences the attention given to different aspects of writing. The analysis of written data is divided into three parts. First, those elements in the guidelines for written assignments that reinforce literacy in the foreign language through writing are identified. Secondly, the students' written work enables exploration of another possibility in their "relation to writing". Adopting an analytical approach based on M. K. Halliday's systemic-functional linguistics to determine the writer's investment in his or her output, the data show that the investment varies depending on the stage the student has reached in their foreign language learning. Finally, an analysis of. the comments made by those reading or marking the work establishes a certain continuity of the topics between spoken and written discourse, and highlights the fact that these comments mainly confirm the importance of the "relation to language". The thesis contributes empirical oral and written data in a multilingual university context in which the "relation to writing" can be observed through a grasp of the continuity of the topic. It also constitutes a theoretical contribution to the teaching methodology of writing in a foreign language in that it highlights ideas including the "relation to language", the "relation to learning" and the "transposition to writing".

Research indicates that adult Second Language (L2) learners typically do not become native-like in their perception or production of their L2, likely as a result of interference from their native language (L1). Research also indicates that L2 perception and production nonetheless improves with increased experience with the L2. Until recently, however, theories of L2 acquisition (e.g., SLM: Flege, 1995; PAM: Best, 1994) have been vague in their account of the processes underlying this improvement. The recent PAM-L2 (Best and Tyler, 2007), however, opens up new ways to understand experiential change in L2 perception and production. Centrally, PAM-L2 suggests that a large L2 vocabulary curtails change in L2 perception and production because it forces the learner to settle on an accented version of the L2 phonology. The present thesis introduces the Vocabulary-Tuning Model of L2 Rephonologisation (Vocab Model). This model extends PAM-L2 by highlighting the facilitating effect of L2 vocabulary expansion, in early L2 immersion when the L2 vocabulary is still small, on the perception and production of an L2. It is further argued that the processes underpinning this improvement are analogous to those that underpin L1 acquisition in infants and toddlers. The thesis tests the Vocab Model in a series of studies (cross-sectional as well as longitudinal) of the perception and production of Australian English vowels by native speakers of Japanese, who have recently arrived in Australia for the purpose of acquiring English. The results show that L2 vocabulary size is indeed associated with L2 vowel perception and production and thus support the predictions of the Vocab Model. The thesis examines the usefulness of different criteria for L2-L1 vowel assimilation and discusses the findings in relation to results from L1-vowel perception research. The research design also pioneers a ‘whole system’ approach to cross-language vowel perception research that allows the learners to use all native vowels and all native vowel combinations (all three thesis studies), and to apply them to the full inventory of L2 vowels (Study 1). It is argued that results from such an approach more appropriately reflect the actual perceptual flexibility of the learners in a natural L2-immersion context than would a smaller subset of L1 and/or L2 vowels. This ‘whole system’ approach further suggests that L1 phonotactics is worthwhile to consider in future studies of L2 segmental perception and production.
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The last comprehensive data on the profile and motivation of German Studies students in Australian universities was collected in the late 1980s and hence does not reflect changes to the Australian higher education sector introduced in the late 1990s. This lack of current data constrains German Studies programs in their options to prepare for the future. The main objective of this thesis is not only to fill the gap of recent data but at the same time to analyse the new data in the context of relevant theories of language learning motivation. The analysis establishes a theoretically informed and data-based platform for future course design which will assist German Studies programs in designing their courses. The thesis begins with a review and critique of former research on German Studies students in Australian universities as well as pertinent models of language learning motivation. It will be argued that previous studies related their findings to Gardner's dichotomy of integrative and instrumental motivation without testing whether their data matched Gardner's model. The thesis' centrepiece is the analysis and discussion of new data collected for this thesis. The data focuses on students' demographic backgrounds, their motivation to learn German, and on their expectations towards course content. Where possible, the new data is compared with data from former studies in order to investigate what changes have occurred over the last two decades. In this context, it will be shown that these changes are primarily a reflection of changes to higher education policies. The data-based analysis of student motivation will reveal that students' reasons for choosing German as part of their degree are more complex than Gardner's dichotomy of integrative and instrumental motivation.