Academic literature on the topic 'Japanese university websites'

Google Translate (GT) is a free on-line translation tool and accessible to anyone including students who study languages. Before the advent of GT, dictionaries have been used by language learners, which have only receptive translation function. Unlike dictionaries, GT has two translation functions: receptive and productive. This productive function of GT has been increasingly creating problems in university language assessment and language teachers with students’ cheating, plagiarism or academic infractions. The purpose of this article is to find evidence that GT has a causal effect of students’ cheating, plagiarism or academic infractions. As GT seems to be associated with cheating, plagiarism as well as academic infractions, these terms are defined. In addition, as coherence seems to be also associated with academic infraction, how coherence and academic infractions are also discussed before the methodology. The study investigated the formative Japanese coursework essay writings of three students who have studied Japanese for one year but with no basic understanding or knowledge of the Japanese language at a university of South of England. It is concluded that all three students were suspected of committing plagiarism in spite of teacher’s warning of plagiarism. The implications of this study are directed at institutions, teachers and students. Institutions should review the information gap between the websites which are written for students and the university’s official published website statement on plagiarism. Institutions may also need to mention GT specifically in the plagiarism documentation. Institutions may also consider adopting an additional coversheet system to use as students’ declaration of plagiarism. Language teacher should be familiar with the differences between plagiarism vs. cheatings, plagiarism vs. academic infractions/offences and the components of academic infractions of the university they work. Students should submit their own work, not using GT or copying and pasting translated sentences from websites.

<p class="AbstractText">Most of the studies focus on the teaching of foreign languages indicate that little attention is paid to the prosodic features both didactic materials and teaching-learning processes (Martinsen, Avord and Tanner, 2014). In this context and throughout this article, an analysis of the didactical and technical dimensions of OJAD (Japanese Accent Online Dictionary) is performed, linked to a project of the National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics led by Minematsu (University of Tokyo). With the collection of data and information through an adaptation of the CEETP "Questionnaire for the Evaluation of Didactical, Technical and Pedagogical aspects of Educational Websites" by Cabello, Martinez-Segura and García Sánchez (2013) and supported by studies and researches of the responsible teams, it is performed an analysis of the web that allows us to highlight its positive and to be reviewed aspects from an educational point of view. OJAD is an accessible and systematic tool linked to the didactic of Japanese language, with a great potential regarding the searching criteria and adaptation to the user tool.</p>

Background Online information seeking on medical topics by patients can have beneficial effects by helping them decide on treatment options and fostering better relationships with doctors. The quality of websites and processes of seeking information online have mostly been studied, with a focus on the accuracy and reliability of websites; however, few studies have examined the relationship between other aspects of quality and the processes of seeking medical information online. Objective This exploratory study aimed to shed light on the quality of websites used for information seeking from the perspective of understanding medical information in combination with seeking it online. Methods The study participants were 15 Japanese university students with no problem using the internet. A questionnaire survey about health literacy (47 items on a 4-point Likert scale) and information navigation skills on the internet (8 items on a 5-point Likert scale) was conducted before participants engaged in online information seeking and qualitative interviews. The students searched for information on a disease and its treatment. The websites viewed were gathered from search behavior recorded by software and browser logs. Follow-up interviews were conducted to elicit explanations from the participants about the assignments and their views of online information seeking. The explanations were evaluated by 55 health care professionals on a 3-point Likert scale and then assessed based on their comments and the participant interviews. Results The mean age of the participants was 20.6 years (median 21; SD 1.06). All participants were able to access reliable websites with information relevant to the assignments. The mean ratings of the students’ explanations were 108.6 (median 109; range=83-134) for the disease and 105.6 (median 104; range=87-117) for its treatment. The inter-rater reliability were 0.84 (95% CI 0.77-0.90) and 0.95 (95% CI 0.93-0.97), indicating good and excellent, respectively. The mean of the sum of the health literacy skills was 115.1 (median 115; range=80-166) and the mean for information navigation skills was 25.9 (median 26; range=17-36), respectively. Health literacy and information navigation skills were moderately correlated (r=0.54; 95% CI 0.033-0.822; P=.04). Among the four stages of health literacy, understanding and appraising (r=0.53; 95% CI 0.025-0.820; P=.04) were moderately correlated with information navigation skills (r=0.52; 95% CI 0.013-0.816; P=.046). The participants had no difficulties operating and browsing the internet and considered medical and public institution websites to be reliable; however, due to unfamiliarity with medical terms, they had difficulties choosing a site from the results obtained and comparing and synthesizing information provided by different sites. They also looked for sites providing orderly information in plain language but provided explanations from sites that gave inadequate interpretations of information. Conclusions This study revealed interactions between searching the internet for, and understanding, medical information by analyzing the processes of information seeking online, physicians’ evaluations and comments about the participants’ explanations, and the participants’ perceptions.

Although Japanese English learners are well aware of the potential of English as a means to communicate with the world, this remains an abstract concept for most, who have limited English interaction outside the classroom and continue to associate the language primarily with the people and cultures of traditionally English-speaking countries. Japanese university students, furthermore, tend to have less experience with international online English communication than their counterparts in many other countries. In this article, the author discusses several factors that contribute to the difficulty many Japanese students have conceptualizing themselves as members of an imagined global community of English users: the Japanese discourses of Nihonjinron and kokusaika, the Japanese translation and publishing industries, and a preference for domestic social networking websites. He concludes by advocating increased employment of international Internet exchange projects in Japanese English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms as the best hope for facilitating membership in the imagined global community of English users. 日本人の英語学習者たちは、世界中の人々とのコミュニケーションをとる手段としての英語の可能性をよく理解しているが、教室以外で英語を使用することがあまりなく、多くの人々は英語を主に伝統的な英語圏の国の人々や文化に連想づけ、英語は抽象的な概念にとどまっている。さらに、日本の大学生は他の多くの国の大学生より英語による国際的なオンラインコミュニケーションをした経験が少ない傾向にある。本論では、多くの日本人に英語ユーザーとして自分自身を仮想国際社会の一員と見ることを難しくしているいくつかの要因を述べる。（例えば、日本人論と国際化という日本語の言説、日本の翻訳、出版業界、日本国内のソーシャルネットワーキングサイトを好む傾向など。）国際的なインターネット交流プロジェクトは、日本のEFLクラスで使用することによって日本人の英語ユーザーが仮想国際社会の一員となりうる最善の希望的方法であると締めくくる。

The research defines the key factors of shaping a digital identity of a modern university and its representation in media discourse. The object of analysis is the official website of University of Tsukuba designed in Japanese and English. University of Tsukuba functions as a model of a university-corporation and actively implements mission 3.0. in its practices. A university website is viewed as an ensemble of promotion texts that are applied as a tool for promoting the university brand and positioning a university in the international educational space. The comparative analysis of the website architecture and mission of the university in English and Japanese reveals the key role of the addressee in digital communication. It was discovered that the university website uses various means of defining the target audience constructing its image portrait based on certain linguistic and cultural characteristics.

This study reveals the analysis of the online media's role, "Tsutaeru Hatsuon", to improve Japanese language learners in mastering and to apply Japanese phonetics, especially in accents and intonation. This study uses primary data in the form of respondents' answers to questions in the website "Tsutaeru Hatsuon", which was conducted twice, namely pre-test and post-test, and secondary data in the form of responses questionnaires. Respondents in this study were 64 Japanese language education students at Semarang State University, class of 2019. The results showed that the post-test scores increased than the pre-test scores. In Japanese intonation material, respondents who answered questions correctly on all questions increased by 23%, while in accent material, respondents who answered questions correctly on all questions increased by 31%. Thus, it can be concluded that there is an improvement in the respondent's ability to understand Japanese intonation and accent after using the "Tsutaeru Hatsuon" website. According to respondents, the questionnaire answers showed that the website "Tsutaeru Hatsuon" is easy to understand and use. Moreover, the material is easy to understand, and the explanation is very detailed, which is equipped with sound files and learning videos. It is beneficial for learners to be able to understand Japanese accents and intonations directly.

AbstractWebsite analysis is an interdisciplinary field of inquiry that focuses on both digital literacy and language competence (Brugger, 2009). Website analysis in an EFL learning context has the potential to facilitate logical thinking and in the process develop functional language proficiency. This study reported on an English language website (http://www.travelbelize.org/) analysis experiment carried out for three weeks as an in-class and homework activity in a third year (junior) level English as a Foreign Language (EFL) course at a Japanese technical university. The purpose was to explore EFL learners’ ability to analyze an English language website and produce concrete design responses in English. During the first week of the analysis (involving sixteen students selected due to performing the best during earlier in-class website analysis activities on the course), participants produced their own responses to eight open-ended design questions about the website. The second week of the analysis (involving all 59 students on the course) tested the students’ ability to search for information from the website, and recorded their impressions about the website design based on standard usability questionnaires (CSUQ, QUIS, and MPRC). The third week of the analysis had the 59 students self-report on their use of meta-cognitive reading strategies (MARSI 1.0 Questionnaire) during the website analysis. The results of the questionnaires showed that, overall, the EFL students had a basic understanding of major design questions related to information organization, screen interface design, audience, technology used, etc. However, there was statistically significant variability between responses in different groups (comprehensive evaluation, webpage design, terminology and website information and website capabilities) and the respondents were not unanimous in their impressions about the website. The result of the student self-reports on metacognitive reading strategies showed wide acceptability and use of problem-solving strategies.

46 Background: The breast cancer genetic risk models for predicting BRCA1/2 mutation are widely used before genetic testing. BRCAPRO and Myriad II are common in Europe and America, and KOHBRA BRCA risk calculator (KOHCal) is utilized in the Asian model. However, it is unknown whether these mutation prediction models are useful in Japanese. In this study, we evaluated the accuracy of BRCAPRO, Myriad II and KOHCal in Japanese patients with breast cancer. Methods: We compared sensitivity and specificity with the 10% cut off value in 131 patients with breast cancer who underwent comprehensive BRCA1/2 genetic testing at Showa University Hospital between 2011 to 2014. All patients met the genetic testing criteria of NCCN Guidelines (Genetic/Familial High-Risk Assessment: Breast and Ovarian ver.1 2014) and were received counseling before genetic testing. We assessed validity of each model by constructing receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, and evaluating the area under each ROC curve (AUC). The carrier probabilities of BRCA1/2 with Myriad II were calculated using BRCA risk calculator from the Myriad company1), with BRCAPRO using the CancerGene software program (version 6.0) from the University of Texas South-western Medical Cernter2), and with KOHCal using KOHBRA BRCA risk calculator from the KOHBRA Study website (www.kohbra.kr)3). Results: DNA analysis identified 31 deleterious mutations (23.7%) and 10 unclassified variants (7.6%). The sensitivity of KOHcal (87.1%) was higher than BRCAPRO 67.7%) and Myriad II (72.2%) . BRCAPRO (AUC=0.882) had higher diagnostic accuracy than KOHCal (AUC=0.810) and Myriad II (AUC=0.763). KOHCal might be most suitable model to pick up patients for further genetic testing because it’s sensitivity was higher than Myriad II and BRCAPRO, although it had lower specificity than the other. Conclusion: Our results suggest that BRCAPRO and KOHCal are useful in Japanese patients with breast cancer for decision making for further genetic testing for BRCA1/2 mutations.

Although initial research involving Intelligent Personal Assistants (IPAs) for language learning have yielded promising results, no study has examined their use in the context of Autonomous Second Language Learning (ASLL). Thus, the main goal of this pilot study was to investigate the use of an IPA, specifically Alexa, for ASLL. Two Japanese university second language (L2) English students participated in a four-week study, which involved the learners interacting with Alexa through the Echo Dot speaker in their respective homes. Learner usage data was collected via the Alexa website and the students’ attitudes toward the IPA for ASLL were evaluated through a survey consisting of 12 Likert-scale items and four open-ended questions. It was found that while the L2 students had positive opinions toward the use of Alexa for ASLL, the learners did not make active use of the technology.