Technology-Supported Learning In and Out of the Japanese Language Classroom: Advances in Pedagogy, Teaching and Research 9781788923514

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Technology-Supported Learning In and Out of the Japanese Language Classroom

SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION Series Editors: Professor David Singleton, University of Pannonia, Hungary and Fellow Emeritus, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland and Associate Professor Simone E. Pfenninger, University of Salzburg, Austria This series brings together titles dealing with a variety of aspects of language acquisition and processing in situations where a language or languages other than the native language is involved. Second language is thus interpreted in its broadest possible sense. The volumes included in the series all offer in their different ways, on the one hand, exposition and discussion of empirical fi ndings and, on the other, some degree of theoretical reflection. In this latter connection, no particular theoretical stance is privileged in the series; nor is any relevant perspective – sociolinguistic, psycholinguistic, neurolinguistic, etc. – deemed out of place. The intended readership of the series includes fi nal-year undergraduates working on second language acquisition projects, postgraduate students involved in second language acquisition research, and researchers, teachers and policy-makers in general whose interests include a second language acquisition component. All books in this series are externally peer-reviewed. Full details of all the books in this series and of all our other publications can be found on http://www.multilingual-matters.com, or by writing to Multilingual Matters, St Nicholas House, 31–34 High Street, Bristol BS1 2AW, UK.

SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: 133

TechnologySupported Learning In and Out of the Japanese Language Classroom Advances in Pedagogy, Teaching and Research Edited by

Erica Zimmerman and Abigail McMeekin

MULTILINGUAL MATTERS Bristol • Blue Ridge Summit

DOI https://doi.org/10.21832/ZIMMER3507 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Names: Zimmerman, Erica – editor. | McMeekin, Abigail – editor. Title: Technology-Supported Learning In and Out of the Japanese Language Classroom: Advances in Pedagogy, Teaching and Research/Edited by Erica Zimmerman and Abigail McMeekin. Description: Bristol; Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Multilingual Matters, 2019. | Series: Second Language Acquisition: 133 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2018055800 | ISBN 9781788923507 (hbk : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781788923491 (pbk : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781788923538 (kindle) Subjects: LCSH: Japanese language—Study and teaching—Foreign speakers. | Japanese language—Computer-assisted instruction for foreign speakers. Classification: LCC PL519.T35 2019 | DDC 495.680078—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018055800

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN-13: 978-1-78892-350-7 (hbk) ISBN-13: 978-1-78892-349-1 (pbk) Multilingual Matters UK: St Nicholas House, 31–34 High Street, Bristol BS1 2AW, UK. USA: NBN, Blue Ridge Summit, PA, USA. Website: www.multilingual-matters.com Twitter: Multi_Ling_Mat Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/multilingualmatters Blog: www.channelviewpublications.wordpress.com Copyright © 2019 Erica Zimmerman, Abigail McMeekin and the authors of individual chapters. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. The policy of Multilingual Matters/Channel View Publications is to use papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products, made from wood grown in sustainable forests. In the manufacturing process of our books, and to further support our policy, preference is given to printers that have FSC and PEFC Chain of Custody certification. The FSC and/or PEFC logos will appear on those books where full certification has been granted to the printer concerned. Typeset by Nova Techset Private Limited, Bengaluru and Chennai, India. Printed and bound in the UK by Short Run Press Ltd. Printed and bound in the US by Thomson-Shore, Inc

Contents

Acknowledgments Contributors Abbreviations 1

vii ix xv

Technology Past and Present: The History of CALL and Technology for Learning Japanese Erica Zimmerman and Abigail McMeekin

1

Part 1: Technology for Writing and Reading 2

3

Screencast Delivery of Feedback on Writing Assignments for Beginning Japanese Language Students: An Alternative to the ‘Red Pen’ Nina Langton The Pedagogical Value of Web-Based Readings in the JFL Classroom Abigail McMeekin

31

60

Part 2: Collaborative Online Learning 4

5

Impact of Lexical Categories on Skype-Mediated Multimodal Focus on Form and Vocabulary Learning: A Task-Based Study Yuka Akiyama Identity (Re)construction and Improvement in Intercultural Competence through Synchronous and Asynchronous Telecollaboration: Connecting Learners of Japanese in the USA and Sweden Yumi Takamiya and Mariya Aida Niendorf

91

111

Part 3: Creation and Analysis of CALL Programs for Learning Japanese 6

Rakugo CALL Program for Japanese Language Learning: Its Development and Possibilities for Implementation Toru Yamada, Takako Sakai and Cade Bushnell

v

149

vi

7

8

Technology-Supported Learning In and Out of the Japanese Language Classroom

Co-Chu: Japanese Corpus Analysis System and Two Analyses for Language Teaching Saeko Komori, Hiroko Yamamoto, Tae Homma and Matthew Lanigan How a Self-Learning Website can be Utilized for Better Pronunciation Education: Bridging Learning In and Out of the Classroom Kazuhiro Yonemoto, Asami Tsuda and Hisako Hayashi

171

204

Part 4: Learning Through Online Games 9

The Effective Use of a 3D Virtual World in a JFL Classroom: Evidence from Discourse Analysis Kasumi Yamazaki

10 Game-Mediated Activities in JFL Classrooms: Considerations and Issues in Learning, Teaching and Implementation Kayo Shintaku

227

252

Part 5: Technology Beyond the Physical Classroom 11 Distance Learning and Asynchronous Communication While on Study Abroad: Conversation-for-Learning and Journal Reflections as a Means to Enhance Language Use Erica Zimmerman 12 Learners’ Participation in Japanese-Related Online Communities and the Relationship between Online Activities and Classroom Learning: A Comparative Case Study of Two JFL Learners Jae DiBello Takeuchi

283

311

Epilogue Erica Zimmerman and Abigail McMeekin

336

Index

345

Acknowledgments

We want to thank all the contributors to this edited volume for their dedication during the countless drafts and revisions. We truly appreciated their patience and willingness to work with us. We would like to thank all of those who peer reviewed the chapters for this edited volume. Their suggestions shaped the fi nal version. Last but not least, we also would like to thank our families for their patience and support while we worked on this edited volume.

vii

Contributors

Mariya Aida Niendorf received her PhD from Indiana University Bloomington in 2005. Her doctoral thesis in Central Eurasian Studies was entitled ‘Investigating the future of Finnish congruency: Focus on possessive morphology’, which dealt with language variation and change. During and after her doctoral studies, she taught Japanese at Purdue University for nine years. Currently, she teaches Japanese language, Japanese culture and society, and linguistics at Dalarna University (Sweden) where she is an assistant professor. Her research interests include socio- and applied linguistics, linguistic and cultural anthropology, and internationalization and intercultural communicative competence. Yuka Akiyama received her PhD in linguistics from Georgetown University and is currently a lecturer (junior associate professor) and vice director at the Center for Global Education in the School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo. Her research investigates online intercultural interaction between learners of Japanese and English (i.e. telecollaboration/eTandem) from second language acquisition and discourse analysis perspectives. Specifically, she is interested in examining the longitudinal development of social interaction and the role of corrective feedback and tasks for language learning. Her research has been published in various venues including Language Learning, Modern Language Journal, TESOL Quarterly, System, CALICO Journal and Language and Intercultural Communication. Cade Bushnell is currently an associate professor of Japanese linguistics and Japanese language pedagogy at the University of Tsukuba, where he teaches Japanese, conversation analysis, membership categorization analysis and Japanese language pedagogy to international master and doctoral students. He has published articles on identity in interaction, L2 language play and learning in participation. He received his PhD in Japanese linguistics from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. His current research interests include participation, membership and learning; laughter and language play; and identity work in interaction – all particularly in the case of second language users. Hisako Hayashi received a PhD from the Department of Curriculum Theory and Implementation in Education at Simon Fraser University. Her ix

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Technology-Supported Learning In and Out of the Japanese Language Classroom

research interests include multilingual students’ academic, transnational and sociocultural identity construction, Japanese language education (curriculum, instruction and pedagogy) and qualitative research. Tae Homma is a part-time lecturer at the Center for Foreign Language Education and Faculty of Humanities at Chubu University. Her research focuses on improving Japanese teaching methods applying pragmatics and discourse analysis. She is particularly interested in understanding the functions of discourse markers by comparing native and non-native Japanese speakers. Her other major work is ‘How Japanese language learners grasp corrections of their essays after thesis writing class’, Japanese Language Education Method, 2014, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 4–5, with H. Yamamoto and R. Nakabayashi. She obtained an MA and a PhD in language and culture from Chubu University. Saeko Komori is a professor of Japanese language and culture at Chubu University. She is interested in the second language research, especially in the field of vocabulary development and corpus linguistics using written and spoken Japanese. Her work ‘A critique of web-based Kanji learning programs for autonomous learners’ with Erica Zimmerman appeared in CALL, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 43–67 in 2001. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Nanzan University, an MA from West Virginia University and a PhD from University of Hawai’i at Mānoa in East Asian languages and literatures (Japanese). Nina Langton is an associate professor in the Department of Languages and World Literatures at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus, where she teaches beginning Japanese language and Japanese fi lm classes. Her research focuses on technology-assisted language learning, gaming in language learning and effective development and delivery of online course material. Matthew Lanigan has two major passions: software and Japanese language, and has spent the last several years applying modern software development best practices to furthering Japanese corpus linguistics through the development of the corpus system Co-Chu. He also has a strong interest in evidence-based teaching materials development, especially regarding the effective usage of popular culture for teaching Japanese as a foreign language. He has a BA in linguistics from Ohio University and an MA in language and culture from Chubu University. He was born and raised in Pittsburgh, where he currently lives and works as a software engineer. Abigail McMeekin is an associate professor of Japanese and Japanese program head in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics at the University of Lethbridge. Her research focuses on Japanese pedagogy and second language acquisition, study abroad, computer-assisted language

Contributors xi

learning, conversational analysis and intercultural communication. Use of technology in and out of the classroom is a current focus of her research. She received an MA in Japanese pedagogy from the University of Iowa and a PhD in Japanese language and linguistics from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. Takako Sakai is currently a professor of the Graduate Program of International and Advanced Japanese Studies at the University of Tsukuba. She specializes in Japanese linguistics and Japanese language pedagogy and teaches Japanese to international students at the university. She holds her MA from Ochanomizu University. Her research interests include the use of rakugo for L2 Japanese language learners’ education and the measuring of the development of Japanese language skills for youth L2 learners. She has been a rakugo connoisseur for over 40 years and has been tirelessly working to spread it around the world. Kayo Shintaku received a PhD from a graduate interdisciplinary program in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT) at the University of Arizona. Her research interests include technology-mediated L2 pedagogy and learning, autonomous and self-directed learning, and literacy practices with media such as digital games, anime, and manga. Yumi Takamiya is an assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She holds a PhD in applied linguistics from Purdue University. Her doctoral dissertation was entitled ‘Confl ict management in Japanese: An examination of native and non-native speakers’. She is an experienced Japanese language teacher, having taught in Japan and the USA. Her research interests include pragmatics, foreign language pedagogy, technology-mediated language learning, second language acquisition and teacher development. Using a conversation analytic approach, she is currently investigating how second language learners of Japanese develop pragmatic competence. She has authored papers in these areas for Kotoba [Language] and Gengo to Bunka [Language & Culture], among others. Jae DiBello Takeuchi is an assistant professor of Japanese in the Department of Languages at Clemson University. The focus of Dr Takeuchi’s research is Japanese sociolinguistics and second language acquisition. She is especially interested in Japanese language learners and how they navigate the numerous speech styles of the Japanese language. Her current research project examines long-term residents of Japan and their experiences with Japanese language use in local communities, workplaces and leisure activities. At Clemson University, she teaches Japanese language and linguistics, Japanese professional communication and Japanese culture. Asami Tsuda received her MA in Japanese linguistics and pedagogy from the University of Toronto and has taught beginner to advanced Japanese

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language courses in Japan, Canada and the USA. She was also a core member of a project called ‘Multimodal approaches to the empowerment of pronunciation teaching and learning: Creating online interactive tutorial videos’. The materials are open to the public and can be found at http://enunciate.arts.ubc.ca/. Her interests include the development of learning materials to support and promote student autonomy in Japanese language learning. She is currently teaching Japanese at Columbia University. Toru Yamada is an associate professor at the School of Arts and Letters at Meiji University. He received his PhD in anthropology from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. His research interests are legal/cultural translation, comedy and community sports. He has been conducting his ethnographic research on how Japanese regional public administrators translate and implement international conventions in their particular local sociopolitical contexts. Hiroko Yamamoto is a professor of global culture and communication at Aichi Shukutoku University. She is interested in analyzing Japanese language from the pragmatic perspective, especially how the native speakers use basic grammar items such as subsidiary verbs. Her work ‘A study of the pragmatic function of -te ageru’ appeared in Sekai no Nihongo kyoiku published by Japan Foundation, Vol. 13, pp. 143–160 in 2003. She received a bachelor’s degree from Ochanomizu University, an MA and a PhD from Nagoya University in the Department of Japanese Language and Culture. Kazuhiro Yonemoto is an assistant professor at the Institute of Global Affairs of Tokyo Medical and Dental University, where he coordinates the Japanese language program. His research interests include educational sociolinguistics, education for language minority students and affective dimensions of second language teaching and learning, particularly in the context of Japanese as a second language. Kasumi Yamazaki is an assistant professor of Japanese at The University of Toledo, where she teaches advanced level courses of Japanese as a foreign language (JFL) and culture. Her current research focuses on a wide range of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) pedagogy and integration, namely, the use of 3D simulation games and virtual realities, contemporary CALL resources and the effectiveness of hybrid teaching curricula. Dr Yamazaki is currently leading an interdisciplinary project in the area of Intelligent CALL (ICALL), designing an intelligent smartphone application to support language learners’ experiential and communicative learning. Erica Zimmerman is an associate professor of Japanese at the United States Naval Academy and received her PhD from the University of Hawaiʼi at Mā noa. She has published articles on the acquisition of

Contributors

xiii

Japanese as a second/foreign language, language pedagogy, computerassisted language learning, conversation analysis, intercultural communication and identity in talk. In addition to teaching all levels of undergraduate Japanese, she has taught courses on intercultural communication, cultural anthropology, Japanese language and society, Japanese and the digital age and Japanese culture through fi lm.

Abbreviations

3D ACMC ACTFL ANOVA API ARIS BCCWJ CA CALC CALL CALPER CF CbF CMC CMS CSV CTL DRR EFL ELL ESL ER FL FonF GRE ICC ID IMALL IME IPA IRB JFL JLPT JR

Three-dimensional Asynchronous computer-mediated communication American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language Analysis of variance Application programming interface Augmented reality interactive storytelling Balanced Contemporary Corpus of Written Japanese Conversation analysis Computer-assisted learning of communication Computer-assisted language learning Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research Corrective feedback Conversation between friends Computer-mediated communication Course management system Comma-separated values Commonly taught languages Difficult request and refusal English as a foreign language English language learner English as a second language Easy request Foreign language Focus on form Graduation Record Examination Intercultural competence model Intercultural dialogue Intelligent mobile-assisted language learning Input method editor Integrated performance assessment Institutional Review Board Japanese as a foreign language Japanese-language proficiency test Japan Railways xv

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Technology-Supported Learning In and Out of the Japanese Language Classroom

JSL KWIC L1 L2 L2TL LCTL LRE MALL MI MMO MMOG MMORPG NfM NS NNS OJAD OPI SAT SCMC SLA SNA SNS SUW TL TOEFL UI URL V WGL ZPD

Japanese as a second language Keyword-in-context First language Second language Second and foreign language teaching and learning Less commonly taught language Language-related episode Mobile assisted language learning Mutual information Massively multiplayer online Massively multiplayer online game Massively multiplayer online role-playing game Negotiation for meaning Native speaker Non-native speaker Online Japanese accent dictionary Oral proficiency interview Scholastic Aptitude Test Synchronous computer-mediated communication Second language acquisition Social networking approach Social networking services Short unit word Target language Test of English as a foreign language User interface Uniform resource locator Verb Weekly game log Zone of proximal development (Vygotsky)

1 Technology Past and Present: The History of CALL and Technology for Learning Japanese Erica Zimmerman and Abigail McMeekin

Preface

According to the latest survey by the Japan Foundation (2015: 8), the number of learners studying Japanese in second language (L2) classrooms was over 3.6 million worldwide. In addition to those learning in formal contexts, the accompanying report suggests that there is a rapidly growing cohort of learners who self-study Japanese language and culture using technology. Indeed, the dramatic increase and improvement in technological developments, the rise in popularity of Japanese pop culture, along with the increase in internet access and the boom of Japanese internet content, have created opportunities for learning and interaction in the Japanese language for both in- and out-of-class learners. The availability of authentic resources and relative ease of use of technology to study Japanese is a decidedly recent state of affairs that has not characterized previous generations. Prior to this decade, Japanese instructors struggled to incorporate technology into their teaching, dealing with issues such as poorly designed input methods for the myriad of Japanese orthographies, little to no support for Japanese word processing (remember EGWord, MacWrite II, Nisus?) and glitchy, proprietarily designed language learning software programs that were expensive and difficult to use and install. Most instructors have incorporated some level of technology in their classrooms, but did not have the time, patience, funding or expertise to create materials to use in classrooms until recently. We have come a long way since then. In fact, we now have the opposite problem. We are inundated with Japanese apps, language learning programs and websites, as well as Web 2.0 applications, all available as resources to enhance Japanese language learning/teaching. A cursory search on Google Play (August 2018) 1

2

Technology-Supported Learning In and Out of the Japanese Language Classroom

revealed more than 140 apps (many of them free) for learning various aspects of Japanese (e.g. kanji, hiragana, katakana, grammar, vocabulary, simple phrases), not to mention full language learning programs such as Rosetta Stone and the recent (long-awaited) Japanese version of Duolingo. The problem now is certainly not the lack of easy-to-use resources. It is that we are overwhelmed by the sheer number and variety of resources and do not have sufficient pedagogical and practical know-how to incorporate them into our classrooms. This volume came about as a result of being motivated to use best practices when integrating technology into our Japanese language teaching. One editor received two grants to create internet reading tasks as well as online tutorial videos to supplement inclass learning, while the other has always integrated technology into her teaching. Since the field of Japanese computer-assisted language learning (CALL) has overcome some difficult hurdles and reached a new stage of evolution, both editors were motivated to search for the newest information on best practices and learning outcomes that have been found in the research for learners of Japanese. Having found that current Japanese CALL research offered little help in achieving our goals, we sought to help alleviate some of the unknown for not only Japanese, but all less commonly taught languages (LCTL) teachers and scholars who might be in the same situation. This edited volume thus provides examples of how recent technology is being used in acquiring, learning and teaching Japanese in and out of Japanese as a second or foreign language (JFL/JSL) classrooms. The goal is to cover the latest in technology use for a broad range of teaching objectives from the linguistic (e.g. pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar) to the social (e.g. identity, humor, communities of practice). We also aimed to provide practical advice on implementation, pedagogical methods and outcome assessment that might help someone else achieve their goals of using technology in and out of the language classroom. Introduction

Harnessing technology to promote in- and out-of-class opportunities for learning has never been easy. It requires thoughtful reflection on the technology itself, instructional objectives, appropriate pedagogical methods and the goals of the learners. As such, CALL has attracted enormous interest in second language acquisition for the past 30 years with a noticeably dramatic increase in the last decade. Reflecting on the past 20 years of publications for Language, Learning and Technology (2016, Special Edition), Chun notes: As Bax (2003, 2011) has proposed for CALL, I suggest that both the fields of CALL and SLA are moving in the direction of so-called normalization. Normalization for CALL refers to a state where technology is fully

The History of CALL and Technology for Learning Japanese

3

integrated into second language teaching and learning and is no longer special or unusual, in the way that books, pencils, and blackboards were in traditional classrooms. (Chun, 2016: 107)

This normalization of the use of technology for language learning, while usual for commonly taught languages (CTLs), is still lagging behind for less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) such as Japanese. Godwin Jones (2013: 9) aptly suggests that there are main considerations for LCTLs that teachers should include when using technology: LCTL students early on should, for example, gain familiarity with such basics as online dictionaries (and how to use them effectively), translation services (and their limitations), keyboard layouts/input methods, and spell/grammar checkers. Important as well in the early stages of language learning are concepts which get short shrift in textbooks but which are important as foundations for longer-term learning, particularly of languages radically different from English. These include language variation (so important in many LCTLs, especially Arabic), language registers (an important cultural as well as linguistic phenomenon), and pragmatics (including sociolinguistic areas such as politeness formulas).

In the past, students who chose to study Japanese inevitably had less access to linguistic and cultural resources (whether technology-based or not) than those who studied CTLs (Blake, 2013; Godwin-Jones, 2013). In the last decade, however, better technology (Web 2.0), a boom in available materials and wider internet access in general has leveled the learning field considerably. Moreover, Japanese educators report being strongly motivated to incorporate technology use into their teaching to facilitate learning (Wiebe & Kabata, 2010). This motivation is strong, likely because Japanese, a Category IV language (US Foreign Service Institute, 2015), takes learners approximately four times longer than a Category I (e.g. Spanish, French) language to reach the same level of proficiency and technology can help to alleviate this gap. Despite the availability and sophistication of current technology as well as the motivation to use it, research that examines technology use and its effect on language learning in Japanese language classrooms is behind compared to the research conducted on more commonly taught languages. In fact, a review of learning and instruction of Japanese spanning 10 years, 2000–2010 (Mori & Mori, 2011), mentioned the use of computer-mediated instruction only once in the entire article even though this area of study has been growing slowly but steadily since 2002. More recently, major reviews of technology use in second language teaching/learning (see Golonka et al., 2014; Grgurović et al., 2013; Li & Swanson, 2014; Nagata, 2002a; Sauro, 2016; Wang & Vásquez, 2012) argue that more studies are needed on LCTLs such as Japanese and that much of the available research lacks substantive fi ndings (Godwin-Jones, 2013; Ward, 2018).

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Technology-Supported Learning In and Out of the Japanese Language Classroom

Although certain factors (discussed below) have caused unavoidable delays in technology implementation and subsequent research in Japanese L2 classrooms, as the field has somewhat leveled, we have reached a time to stop and reflect, offer a status-quo update and suggest future directions for technology use for learning Japanese. This volume thus presents a current snapshot of how technology is being utilized both in and out of the Japanese language classroom. More importantly, it shows how current directions are breaking new ground, moving beyond the drill-based, repetitive, behaviorist/structural approach (Warschauer, 2004) of previous decades into areas of inquiry that focus on more integrative and even ecological approaches to technology use. To this end, the authors in this volume have used both quantitative and qualitative methods to examine a broad range of technologies used in and out of the Japanese L2 classroom. The chapters cover a broad spectrum of pedagogical objectives, several of which are currently underrepresented in the Japanese L2 CALL literature, including cultural learning, interactional competence and identity construction. Different e-learning configurations are also included among the chapters such as fl ipped, online and distance learning classrooms. In the end, our goal was to show how different types of technology could be used as a means to enhance Japanese L2 learning (rather than replace the instructor) and meet the needs of modern students, many of whom have grown up as ‘digital natives’ (Prensky, 2001, 2010). Understanding the difficulty and complexity surrounding the implementation of new technologies in the Japanese L2 classroom, we have also endeavored to provide specific suggestions for pedagogical implementation and analysis of learning outcomes throughout the volume. As an introduction to this volume, this chapter fi rst gives an overview of Japanese CALL in terms of how the history of technology combined with features of the Japanese language has affected technology use in the L2 classroom. Next, pedagogical approaches in CALL in the wider field of second language acquisition (SLA) and how Japanese CALL research has fitted into these approaches are discussed. And fi nally, the studies in this volume are introduced. Japanese and Asian LCTLs: Features of Language

While there are many commonalities and important features that need careful attention when teaching an LCTL (Godwin-Jones, 2013; Ward, 2018), there are some specific features of Asian languages that have contributed to difficulties/challenges in incorporating technology in the classroom. The most common of the Asian LCTLs, Chinese, Korean and Japanese, are challenging for most native speakers of English (US Foreign Service Institute, 2015). For all three languages, one of the greatest challenges is learning the writing system. They are all written in

The History of CALL and Technology for Learning Japanese

5

non-alphabetic scripts but differ greatly from each other. Chinese writing consists of hanzi, characters that individually represent a word but can be combined with other hanzi to create additional words. The Korean writing system, Hangul, has 24 basic letters and these can be combined to create words. While Chinese and Korean writing systems pose significant difficulties for instructors with regard to teaching reading and writing, the Japanese writing system is considered the most difficult of the three. It requires being able to read and write three different orthographies, namely approximately 2000 Chinese characters (called kanji in Japanese) and two phonetic syllabaries known as ‘kana’ (hiragana and katakana), to be literate. Each of these has specific functions: kanji are used primarily for nouns, verbs and adjectives; hiragana (e.g. あいうえお) is used for verb and adjective inflections, particles, and some nouns and adjectives that do not normally use kanji, while katakana (e.g. アイウエオ) is primarily used to write foreign loan words. Additionally, Roman letters are often used for abbreviations and acronyms (e.g. J-Pop = Japanese pop music). Any given sentence in Japanese can combine all four of these orthographies. Due to the orthographic features of Japanese (as well as Chinese and Korean), the use of computers and technology for L2 learning was delayed by the lack of an easy input system that could be used across computer platforms. This meant limited opportunities for implementing technology in the Japanese L2 classroom in the early days of CALL. Teachers either needed to be experts in computer programming or had to enlist the help of programmers to design programs that could use Japanese for simple drill exercises. Most of the important technological advances for Japanese in the 1980s were made mainly by Apple’s Macintosh computers (Ashworth & Stelovsky, 1989; Harrison, 1993; Hatasa et al., 1992; Saito & Abbot, 1994). However, educators still typically had to utilize a Japanese operating system to make things work smoothly and to create software programs (Harrison, 1993). The advent of Apple’s Worldscript in 1994 (Saito & Abbott, 1994) and Microsoft’s IME (Input Method Editor) in 19951 launched less commonly taught languages into a new era. Worldscript and IME enabled Latin keyboard users to input non-alphabetic languages including Japanese, Chinese and Korean. Teachers and learners fi nally had a consistent and easy method for typing Japanese orthographies on the computer. This allowed learners to not only read and interact with target language texts but also to engage in writing via email, which was a step toward a more communicative approach to language learning. Challenges, however, still persisted with Window’s IME, which was full of glitches and inconsistencies. One way to circumvent the input issue was to use the Romanized version of Japanese, romaji, which makes use of English letters of the alphabet to spell out Japanese words based on sound (e.g. arigatou for ‘thank you’). The use of romaji allowed some

6

Technology-Supported Learning In and Out of the Japanese Language Classroom

instructors and researchers to use email communication for class projects (Aida, 1997; Ishida, 1995; Kimoto, 1995a, 1995b) and chats (Kitade, 2000) during in the earlier stages of CALL on Windows. Until Window’s Vista (released 2007), which located IME in the control panel where it was easily activated, Window’s IME was considerably more difficult to access (downloads or system disks were necessary). Despite initial problems, IME and Apple’s Worldscript radically changed access to non-Western script languages and eliminated the need for users to have separate operating systems for word processing and creating materials in Japanese. Many of the input issues teachers faced were significantly reduced and learners had more access to Japanese resources than ever before. Along with IME in the 1990s came the creation of UTF-8 unicode, which standardized encoding and had a significant impact on internet and computer use in Japanese. Before UTF-8, there were several Japanese encodings that were incompatible with each other and learners and educators alike could not access websites written in Japanese unless they had the right encoding. UTF-8 created seamless access across websites, reducing the need to know how to change the encoding and enabled the sharing of materials between Mac and PC users. To illustrate the impact Windows IME and UTF-8 had on Japanese language scholars and their ability to incorporate and do research on technology in the L2 classroom, it was not until seven years after the advent of Windows IME that Nagata (2002, Special Issue on Asian Languages and Technology, CALICO Journal) and Nakajima (2002, Learning Japanese in the Network Society, University of Calgary Press) published the fi rst cutting edge collection of CALL studies on Asian languages. Nagata’s (2002) volume focused on learning Japanese through the use of online web-based programs. The chapters mainly reviewed and/or reported on the use or creation of computer-based programs and tools. Nakajima’s (2002) volume was similar, although it examined a broader range of topics in CALL (learner autonomy, instructor collaboration, copyright issues). However, most of the volume examined online CALL programs or websites as a means of improving reading and writing and, reflecting the infancy of IME at that time, was mainly a how-to guide. What both these collections lacked was an examination of potential or actual learning outcomes and best pedagogical practices for technology use in the Japanese L2 classroom. Two exceptions to this were Kitajima (2002) and Itoh and Hannon (2002) in Nagata’s (2002) collection. Kitajima’s (2002) chapter emphasized using sound pedagogical methods when designing a computer-mediated reading program to improve higher order reading processes, which he created based on theories of reading comprehension, thus emphasizing sound pedagogical approaches to technology use. Itoh and Hannon’s (2002) chapter evaluated actual learning outcomes by examining the learning effects of online quizzes in Blackboard. They found that the quizzes resulted in increased scores on

The History of CALL and Technology for Learning Japanese

7

the grammar portion of midterm and fi nal exams. In short, however, the articles included in Nakajima (2002) and Nagata (2002) reflected of the state of affairs at that time. Having fi nally reached a critical point where input issues and accessibility allowed programmers, researchers and educators alike to create Japanese language resources with technology, reviews and critiques of these resources were the norm. Comparatively speaking, the issues of the CALICO Journal for that same year (2002) show, among others, three studies on learners of Spanish and synchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) focusing on (1) oral skills and interlanguage development of learners of Spanish using Levelt’s (1989) model of language production (Payne & Witney, 2002); (2) analysis of development of social interaction features using Vygotskian sociocultural theory (Darhower, 2002; Vygotsky, 1962, 1978); and (3) learner–learner negotiation of meaning (Fernández-García & MartínezArbelaiz, 2002) using Varonis and Gass’ (1985) negotiation routine model. This comparison accentuates the pedagogical and theoretical gaps between what was being examined in CTL (like Spanish) CALL research versus that of LCTLs like Japanese. Namely, the CTL studies reflected a shift to a more communicative and/or integrative approach to technology use in language learning and used well-known theories, models and frameworks of language learning and communication to examine actual learning outcomes. In contrast, Japanese research was still mainly focused on the mechanical and practical aspects of creating and implementing CALL programs. Japanese after IME

After overcoming the difficult hurdles of input methods, Japanese CALL has progressed much like the wider field of CALL. The progression of CALL was outlined, and phases were identified by Warschauer (2004) and Warschauer and Healey (1998), who maintain that CALL began with a focus on behavioristic/structural aspects of learning, then progressed toward a more communicative approach followed by an integrative approach. Currently, a newer stage labeled the ‘ecological approach’ has been identified (Blin, 2016; Lafford, 2009). It is important to note that although the words ‘progression’ and ‘phase’ suggest an evolutionary timeline, these pedagogical genres are like branches on the CALL tree. That is, when a newer pedagogical approach such as integrative appears on the scene, scholars still continue to explore, in parallel fashion, technology use from all the other identified approaches. While space limitations do not allow for a complete review of all studies, the point of this section is to give a brief account of Japanese CALL research as it relates to these different pedagogical genres. This sets the stage for understanding how and where the pedagogical focuses and methods presented in this volume fit into the overall framework of JFL/JSL CALL research.

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Technology-Supported Learning In and Out of the Japanese Language Classroom

Behaviorist/structural CALL began in the 1960s (1960–1980) and typically involved the use of standalone computers with software designed for learners to use at their own pace. The programs provided grammar and vocabulary drills as a means to provide repetition and promote accuracy as well as rote memorization of the forms being practiced. Many Japanese teachers will remember their fi rst introduction to behavioristic Japanese CALL through HyperCard (Macintosh) that targeted anything from kanji/kana to vocabulary, reading, grammar and listening (see Harrison, 1993 for a review of Japanese HyperCard programs; see also Saito-Abbot & Abbot, 1993 and Nakajima, 1988). HyperCard exemplified the drill and rote memorization of the behaviorist approach. It was widely available, simple to use for even non-programmers, and most importantly for Japanese instructors, it supported Japanese scripts. It also incorporated hypermedia (graphics, text, audio, animation) for things such as animated stroke order (for kanji/kana) and hypertext glosses (for kanji and vocabulary). Like other language studies in the behaviorist stage, Japanese research has generally focused on the benefits of technology versus traditional pen and paper methods for learning structural aspects of language (grammar, listening comprehension, pronunciation, reading, vocabulary and kanji learning). Overall, early studies found that technology was at least as good as and quite often better than traditional methods in that it could: (1) provide more repetition of input and individualized feedback (Nagata, 1993, 1997; Nesbitt, 2009; Yang & Akahori, 1999); (2) relieve lower order processing demands (e.g. glosses – Nagata, 1999); and (3) provide different types of multimedia input (e.g. Hew & Ohki, 2001; Hirata, 2004; James, 2009; Motohashi-Saigo & Hardison, 2009; Nagata, 1999; Nielsen, 2016), all of which, with few exceptions, were generally found to increase opportunities for learning. Communicative CALL (late 1980s to 1990s) was a shift toward a focus on meaning over rote memorization of form. Whereas the behaviorist approach involved compartmentalizing linguistic areas of study (e.g. grammar, vocabulary), CALL exercises using this approach emphasized integration of skills sets and interaction (e.g. person–computer, person–person), use of forms and vocabulary (rather than just memorization) and encouraged more implicit understanding of grammar through actual use. A lot of CALL in this genre follows communicative language teaching (CLT) (Nunan, 1991), which emphasizes authentic input, learning through interaction, incorporating learning management skills (e.g. metacognitive strategies, awareness raising), connecting learning in and out of the classroom, and adding personalized/individualized elements to classroom learning. Japanese studies in this communicative vein have investigated a range of learning through CALL. From the use of interactive programs designed to be ‘computer as tutor’ (e.g. DeHaan, 2005; Hazelbeck & Saito, 2009;

The History of CALL and Technology for Learning Japanese

9

Kitajima, 2002; Lin et al., 2007; Nielsen, 2016) to task-based, collaborative activities (e.g. Gruba, 2004, 2006) to more communicative activities such as email exchanges (e.g. Chapman, 1997; Chikamatsu, 2003; Stockwell & Harrington, 2003). Because of its pedagogical underpinnings, it is in this genre of research that we notice an increased focus on more than just the rote learning of basic linguistic components. Kitajima’s (2002) study, for instance, shows that using CALL for reading is not just about providing comprehensible input in the form of vocabulary and kanji glosses, but also about building higher order interpretations skills. Also notable in this genre was research that began to focus more than just linguistic aspects of learning Japanese such as pragmatics. Through explicit instruction using online instructional tools (e.g. Ishihara, 2007; Utashiro & Kawai, 2009), studies demonstrated that CALL could be used to raise learners’ pragmatic awareness and that more social aspects of language use could be incorporated into out-of-class learning. Starting in the 2000s, integrative CALL emerged (coined by Warschauer, 2000). This approach called for more interactive communicative task-based learning that included using both synchronous and asynchronous modes of communication along with internet-based activities using multimedia. The approach was meant ‘to integrate various skills (e.g. listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and also integrate technology more fully into the language learning process’ (Warschauer & Healey, 1998: 58). There was also a shift toward a more integrative approach to language learning, which included examining the relationship between pedagogical approaches, technology use and the benefits for learners. Spurring the shift to the integrative phase was the advent of Web 2.0, which, although coined in 1999 (DiNucci, 1999), did not gain widespread attention or use until the mid-2000s. Web 2.0 created a realm of possibilities to allow for more interaction between students and teachers, but also with the world outside the classroom. It provided an ease of use and availability of technology (e.g. social networking, blogs, multimedia access to native speakers, authentic materials, multimodal learning) for language learners that had, up to that point, been unavailable. Reflecting this, pedagogical approaches to technology use in L2 learning were used to address a more complex, socio-interactive learning environment. Despite Japanese CALL’s main focus on descriptions and the how-to of technology use in the L2 classroom at that time (Nagata, 2002; Nakajima, 2002), it is important to note that there were a few scholars, Kitade (2000) and Toyoda and Harrison (2002), who were visionary in their approaches to technology use for learning Japanese. Despite issues that remained for using IME and the encoding of Japanese script on websites, these authors were the first in the field of Japanese CALL to adopt a more integrative approach. Kitade (2000) was the first to examine chats (i.e. written texts in romaji) using discourse analysis to uncover opportunities for learning within a CMC chat environment between native and

10

Technology-Supported Learning In and Out of the Japanese Language Classroom

non-native speakers. Following Kitade’s lead, Toyoda and Harrison (2002) used a program called JEWELS (created by Harrison), an online virtual campus, to examine learners’ chat interactions in this virtual world, revolutionary for Japanese that time. However, even in 2002, in order for this program to work, Toyoda and Harrison (2002) used computers with a Japanese operating system and the learners typed using Romanized Japanese that was then converted to hiragana, katakana and kanji as appropriate. All of the students interacted on computers located in one classroom using these special computers. Despite these challenges, both studies found that linguistic and interactional features of online chat promote opportunities for learning through negotiation of meaning (Long, 1996). Since these two studies, the field of Japanese CALL, in particular for CMC, has examined various aspects of learning through interaction via the internet for both synchronous and asynchronous written, audio and video communication including: • • • • • • •

Blogs: Fukai et al. (2008); Tanaka (2015); Takamiya and Ishihara (2013). Email: Kakegawa (2009); Kitade (2006); Pasfield-Neofitou (2012); Takahama and Pasfield-Neofitou (2013). Bulletin board exchanges: Edasawa and Kabata (2007); Kitade (2008). Chat: Bower and Kawaguchi (2011); Kurata (2007); Okuyama (2005). Skype: Akiyama (2014, 2015); Akiyama and Saito (2016); Kato et al. (2016). 3D virtual worlds: Yamazaki (2018). Asynchronous video exchanges: Hirotani and Lyddon (2013).

These studies focus on how language is learned in a complex, sociointeractive learning environment and show that whether through negotiation, scaffolding, socialization, error correction or social interaction in general, CMC promotes learning and the conditions for learning. The newest stage, ecological CALL, focuses on the interactions between psychological, social and environmental processes in CALL contexts (Blin, 2016; Lafford, 2009). Finding its origins in ecology as studied in the natural sciences, the understanding is that all systems and components are interconnected as ecosystems. CALL ecosystems thus consist of: interacting components including language, learners, teachers, and other users of the target language, technological devices, applications, and platforms and multimodal material/semiotic artefacts and resources, all of which participate in a language learning/use activity, as well as the social processes and semiotic practices that characterise the way the human actors interact with one another and with other components of the system. (Blin, 2016: 39)

Research that utilizes an ecological approach thus examines the interconnectedness of the different components and seeks to understand how this

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interconnection affects interaction and learning. Chun (2016) writes that this genre represents a shift towards a focus on identity, symbolic and intercultural competence, and communication in a global world. This perspective requires a combination of theories, frameworks and models that integrate both cognitive and social (rather than either/or) to deal with the complex interconnectedness of numerous components. Considering the newness of ecological CALL, Japanese studies are slow in appearing on the scene, with none yet delving into an examination of all the components of a given ecosystem. One study in this genre is Kitade (2012) who examines the interplay between exchange structure, identity, interculturality and community development with a goal to understanding how these work to promote intercultural learning. No doubt we will see more studies in this genre as Japanese researchers and scholars delve into examining more social and semiotic practices of technology use. This brief foray into how Japanese CALL research has developed within the CALL pedagogical phases shows that, despite setbacks in implementing technology into the learning process, Japanese CALL is clearly catching up with CTL CALL research. However, given the shifting landscape of CALL in terms of the proliferation of newer technology (e.g. mobile devices – apps) as well as the multitude of pedagogical frameworks, models and theories that have come to defi ne particularly the last two phases of CALL (integrative and ecological), Japanese and other LCTL researchers and teachers alike are encountering challenges in fi nding their pedagogical, theoretical and technological footing as they implement technology in and out of the L2 classroom. The Contributions in this Volume

The chapters in this collection are meant to address some of the most pressing concerns of teachers and researchers who are looking for ways to integrate technology use in and out of their classrooms and assess its usefulness in the learning process. As such, this volume provides an up-todate examination of technology-supported pedagogy and language acquisition in a variety of JFL/JSL contexts. The studies included here are first and foremost concerned with learners and the learning process. They all discuss potential learning outcomes and provide specific suggestions and considerations for pedagogical implementation of technology in and out of the language classroom. The topics examined include cultural learning, identity construction, speaking, reading, writing, pronunciation, collaborative online learning, digital and 3D virtual reality games, online text analysis and participation in online communities. In addition, different e-learning configurations such as fl ipped, online and distance learning classrooms are explored.

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Technology-Supported Learning In and Out of the Japanese Language Classroom

This volume is divided into five sections that examine the following areas: (1) technology for reading and writing; (2) collaborative online learning; (3) creation and analysis of CALL programs for learning Japanese (4) learning through online games; and (5) technology beyond the physical classroom. Technology for Writing and Reading

The first section focuses on using technology to improve reading and writing proficiency. The two studies included here focus on using the latest technology for improving writing skills via digital feedback (Chapter 2, Langton) and promoting digital literacy through authentic web-based reading (Chapter 3, McMeekin). These two studies expand on traditional studies for reading and writing by demonstrating the importance of evaluating the effectiveness of the procedures used for feedback (Chapter 2, Langton) as well as the importance of teacher-designed tasks (bridging activities) for facilitating learning while reading online texts (Chapter 3, McMeekin). For learners of Japanese, Li and Akahori (2007, 2008) are the only studies that have examined the effects of feedback on writing (digitally handwritten versus pen-based feedback), yet these studies used software that was not widely available. Since 2008, technology has improved such that audio/video technology is readily available for teachers to use for feedback on learner work. Langton (Chapter 2) thus examines the use and effect of screencasting (or video-recorded feedback) with Mediasite, a readily available proprietary software program, for revising/commenting on JFL beginner student drafts. Using screencasting technology to provide feedback to L2 learners on their writing has mainly been conducted for English as a second language (McGarrell & Alvira, 2013; Seror, 2012), Spanish (Elola & Oskoz, 2016) and German (Ducate & Arnold, 2012) with a noticeable lack of studies on non-alphabetic LCTL languages such as Japanese. For Langton’s study, Mediasite was used to record oral comments via video and allows digital feedback (e.g. correction marks) that are made available to learners to revise their essays. The program also provides analytics that allow the researcher/teacher to view how long and in what manner learners use this video feedback. Langton examines the process and procedures for screencasting using both quantitative (calculation of errors) and qualitative methods. The qualitative fi ndings indicate that learner preference and cognitive load must be considered when adopting new technology. Learners may not get the perceived benefits from the use of the technology due to their own learning styles or processing constraints. Nevertheless, Langton’s findings support results from other studies showing that screencasting is an important option for corrective feedback. Overall, the study demonstrates that a careful analysis of the technology is essential for further understanding of how the use of screencasting can be effectively used in error correction for writing.

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Using pre- and post-activity questionnaires, feedback sessions and the data from a recall task from 13 third-year learners of Japanese at the university level, McMeekin (Chapter 3) reports on the creation and immediate learning effects of a web-based reading task using a pop-up dictionary for intermediate JFL students. Though the number of studies exploring digital reading in L2 classrooms has soared in the last decade (see Lotherington & Jenson, 2011 for a review), very few have focused on logographic languages (see Abe, 2016; Fukai, 2005; Peterson, 2016) like Japanese, which pose specific challenges for readers. A part of being digitally literate, web-based readings present real-life, unfiltered reading challenges that can provide increased opportunities for learning kanji, vocabulary and culture. An immediate post-recall questionnaire showed that students immediately recalled vocabulary and kanji at the i + 1 level (Krashen, 1985) that were targeted on a task sheet, but that incidental learning also occurred, including kanji that drew the students’ interest. Moreover, the pre- and post-questionnaires indicated an increase in student motivation and confidence to read online texts. McMeekin’s study thus shows how web-based reading activities can improve learners’ ability to decipher unknown kanji, enhance vocabulary knowledge, foster learner autonomy, motivation and confidence, and promote some cultural learning. Collaborative Online Learning

The two studies in this section (Chapter 4, Akiyama and Chapter 5, Takamiya & Aida Niendorf) examine how authentic intercultural contexts can be created through the use of online exchanges that enhance language learning. In earlier studies (e.g. Kitade, 2000; Toyoda & Harrison, 2002), learners mostly engaged in asynchronous communication with learners located in the same classroom at individual computers. Now, Japanese L2 students can be connected with native speakers (NSs) or expert learners in remote locations through both synchronous and asynchronous telecollaboration both in and out of class. While both studies in this section examine how telecollaborative interactions offer opportunities for language use in a meaning-focused manner, Takamiya and Aida Niendorf (Chapter 5) investigate how the interactions affect social dimensions of language use in terms of identity development and intercultural competence, while Akiyama (Chapter 4) focuses on linguistic aspects by examining vocabulary learning through socialization. JFL/JSL research has explored various technologies and their effectiveness with regard to vocabulary learning, from the effect of different gloss types (e.g. pictures, L1, L2 text) (James, 2009; Nagata, 1999; Nielsen, 2016) to using corpus-based sentences (Hazelbeck & Saito, 2009) or digital video games (Hitosugi et al., 2014) to promote vocabulary learning in context. Akiyama’s study (Chapter 4) uses task-based focus-on-form activities

14

Technology-Supported Learning In and Out of the Japanese Language Classroom

in eTandem videoconferencing (Skype  – CMC) to examine languagerelated episodes (LREs) produced by learners who were engaging in activities for vocabulary learning using different modalities (e.g. video, chat). The use of interactional tasks in eTandem for promoting focus on form for vocabulary learning has been examined for other languages such as Spanish (Fuente, 2003; Yanguas, 2012); yet, other than Ware and O’Dowd (2008), LREs have not been extensively examined in a telecollaborative setting. Expanding on a previous study (Akiyama, 2014), Akiyama investigates the effect of LREs in different modalities (audio-only versus multimodal: text chat, images, webcam) and vocabulary types (i.e. nouns versus onomatopoeia) on vocabulary learning. Her fi ndings show that the multimodal LREs were more effective than audio-only LREs for vocabulary learning. This study demonstrates the potential for using multimodal focus-on-form video conferencing tasks that require collaborative spoken interaction for vocabulary learning. The use of telecollaboration, specifically blogs and online conferencing, has been widely examined in NS–NNS (non-native speaker) interactions for both CTL languages (e.g. Bakar et al., 2010; Bloch, 2007; Dujsik, 2012; Elola & Oskoz, 2008; L. Lee, 2010, 2011; Murray & Hourigan, 2008; Saito & Akiyama, 2017; Sun, 2009; Warschauer, 2010; Yang, 2011) and for L2 learners of Japanese (e.g. Aida Niendorf, 2013; Aida Niendorf & Takamiya, 2015; Akiyama & Saito, 2016; Hashimoto, 2012; Ishihara & Takamiya, 2014; Kavanagh, 2016; Takamiya & Ishihara, 2013). Takamiya and Aida Niendorf’s study (Chapter 5) departs from the typical NS–NNS interaction paradigm to examine how two sets of L2 learners of Japanese (American and Swedish) (re)construct and negotiate identities as a part of intercultural competence through blogging (asynchronous CMC: WordPress) and online discussions (synchronous CMC: Adobe ® Connect™). The learners’ reflections, interactions and social behaviors in their blogs and online discussions are analyzed and examples are given as to how their identities are performed, shaped and reshaped by juxtaposing their beliefs and views about Japanese culture with both American and Swedish cultures. The analysis demonstrates that interaction with other L2 learners of Japanese promotes critical thinking about one’s own and others’ cultures and, most importantly, promotes identity development that is crucial for improving intercultural competence. Creation and Analysis of CALL Programs for Learning Japanese

In the wider field of commercial language learning and in budgets for creating digital materials along with textbook development, LCTLs are often given the short shrift. Case in point, Duolingo’s Japanese version was just released in 2018. This is why many JFL/JSL teachers and researchers have resorted to designing and creating their own proprietary CALL programs. This typically involved teams of researchers/teachers

The History of CALL and Technology for Learning Japanese

15

with various backgrounds and expertise designing programs that they believed would facilitate language learning. More often than not, the teachers/researchers worked with IT personnel who were not specialists in language learning so that they could create these programs. For the three studies in this section (Chapter 6, Yamada, Sakai & Bushnell; Chapter 7, Komori, Yamamoto, Homma & Lanigan; Chapter 8, Yonemoto, Tsuda & Hayashi), the authors have used the latest technology to design and create their own CALL programs. All three describe, evaluate and reflect on their new programs, examining how the program should and could be used to promote language acquisition and learning. Yamada, Sakai, and Bushnell (Chapter 6) address the importance of understanding culturally specific sources of humor, namely Rakugo (a traditional Japanese comedy), and how understanding humor plays a role in pragmatic competence. They examine sociocultural learning through the use of an online video-database of Rakugo performances that includes post-viewing quizzes about the content of the performances to gauge comprehension and reactions of the learners. Previous studies such as Ishihara (2007), for instance, designed online audio materials for Japanese speech acts to enhance pragmatic awareness, but this was before it was feasible to incorporate interaction with the videos. Using newer technology, the authors of this chapter designed the program with the goal of providing cultural, linguistic and social information to aid in understanding the Rakugo humor presented in the live video-recorded performances. With this in mind, they uploaded video clips of Rakugo performances, designed supplemental quizzes with cultural and social explanations that records the learners’ answers, and also included a response function to track learners’ responses while watching the video clips (e.g. if the video was funny or difficult). The analysis of the quiz data and follow-up interviews collected thus far compares the results of NS and NNSs of Japanese alike. This preliminary exploration of their program shows promise for enhancing pragmatic competence by linking cultural performances with the social and linguistic development of learners of Japanese. Chapter 7 (Komori, Yamamoto, Homma & Lanigan) focuses on using a digital corpora program to compare NS and NNS speech in corpus data and use the fi ndings to contribute to SLA and pedagogy (e.g. searching corpora for common collocations and using this to inform L2 students). While there have been a few studies focusing on how corpus data could be used to inform pedagogical practices (Iori & Yamauchi, 2015; Nakamata, 2014, 2016), these studies used written text and spoken data of native speakers. Komori, Yamamoto, Homma and Lanigan produced an easy to use digital corpora program, Co-Chu, for use by researchers, teachers and students. Current Japanese corpora programs tend to be cumbersome and require multiple programs for analyzing

16

Technology-Supported Learning In and Out of the Japanese Language Classroom

data. In contrast, Co-Chu was written and programmed so that users can easily conduct various types of analysis all in one program. In this chapter, Komori, Yamamoto, Homma and Lanigan describe Co-Chu and its various functions, then examine viewpoint-oriented verbs (iru and kuru) in conversational corpus data and the ambiguous expression, chotto, in role-play data with the goal of showing how fi ndings from corpus data can be used to improve and inform L2 teaching/learning. Previous studies on viewpoint-oriented expressions iku and kuru (Kondo et al., 2010; Mizutani, 2011; Yamamoto, 2001, 2006) and on the discourse marker chotto in conversational data (Homma, 2011; Hotta & Horie, 2012) have analyzed the various meanings and pragmatic function of these elements, but have generally not extended their fi ndings to include pedagogical implications. Overall, Komori et al.’s quantitative and qualitative fi ndings demonstrate how using digital corpora software to analyze how NSs and NNS use social and linguistic features of language differently poses significant pedagogical implications for instructors and researchers in SLA. Like the other chapters in this section, Yonemoto, Tsuda and Hayashi (Chapter 8) focus on the creation and use of newer technology to enhance learning, in this case, pronunciation. Several studies have examined technology use to enhance pronunciation learning (Hew & Ohki, 2001; Motohashi-Saigo & Hardison, 2009; Hirata, 2004; Okuno & Hardison, 2016); however, Yonemoto, Tsuda and Hayashi’s study takes the process a step further by supplementing out-of-class technology use with in-class interaction to promote a social-constructivist approach to pronunciation learning in a flipped learning environment. To this end, they helped design and then implement a web-based self-learning CALL program for pronunciation, eNunciate! (http://enunciate.arts.ubc.ca). The program uses ultrasound imaging technology that enables learners to easily and clearly observe the movement inside the mouth and can be used to support and enhance pronunciation education. In class, they use a social constructivist approach to raise awareness of pronunciation issues and to promote engagement with other classmates (who are NSs of different L1s) to enhance the learning process. They use autoethnographic techniques and a student survey to examine instructor reflections and student evaluations of the program. The fi ndings show that the implementation of pronunciation learning was viewed favorably by the students. Specifically, the online program was effective in helping the students learn pronunciation outside of class, while the in-class interaction with their peers helped them have a more practical and rounded understanding of their pronunciation difficulties. Based on the reflection data from the instructors, they conclude that a combination of online  self-study and in-class social interaction that allows for peer learning is essential for maximizing learning potential in a flipped classroom.

The History of CALL and Technology for Learning Japanese

17

Learning Through Online Games

Gaming has become popular both as a pastime for young people and as a promising means for enhancing L2 learning. Both Chapters 9 and 10 (Yamazaki; Shintaku) focus on how vernacular digital games (i.e. games not made for educational purposes produced by and for Japanese NSs), assist in Japanese language learning. While several SLA studies have examined Japanese language learning through games focusing on a variety of learning objectives (Chik, 2014 – gaming outside of the language classroom to facilitate the development of autonomy in L2 learning; DeHann, 2005 – listening and reading comprehension; Hitosugi et al., 2014 – vocabulary retention; Nesbitt & Muller, 2016 – kanji learning; and Shea, 2014 – augmented reality game for spoken and written Japanese examining the willingness to communicate), the two chapters in this section fi ll different gaps in the literature. Shintaku’s study (Chapter 10) focuses on beginner (first year) learners of Japanese, a rarity in the literature on gaming where participants are inevitably intermediate or advanced learners. Yamazaki’s chapter (Chapter 9) addresses another gap by using a discourse analysis approach to examine how learner interactions in a virtual reality game facilitate learning. Although CMC studies examining computer-based synchronous virtual environments or virtual worlds is one area that is growing in popularity in the English as a second language/ English as a foreign language (ESL/EFL) context, the use of virtual worlds for LCTL learning is still relatively new (Yamazaki, 2018). In this chapter, Yamazaki (Chapter 9) examines the use of a 3D virtual world for advanced learners of Japanese and demonstrates language learning outcomes with empirical data using discourse analysis. Using a new instructional approach called computer-assisted learning of communication (CALC), she conducted a semester-long conversation course that was based in a 3D virtual world of Tokyo (Yamazaki, 2018). Three sources of data depicting the participants’ written, in-game interactions were collected and analyzed to evaluate potential learning outcomes. The fi ndings show that the interactions in the game facilitated active learning through learner autonomy, peer-scaffolding and negotiation for meaning via coconstruction of the target language. From a pedagogical perspective, Yamazaki’s study demonstrates that a 3D virtual world can provide a range of learning opportunities from scaffolding and negotiation (usually found in face-to-face, spoken interaction) to vocabulary and kanji learning (usually a product of reading activities). Shinktaku (Chapter 10) addresses the use and implementation of vernacular digital games as a pedagogical tool for beginner level JFL learners and the role of supplemental materials to support the use of the game. Based on the results of a survey about the use of the game and the supplemental materials provided by the researcher, the learners, for the most part, found the game beneficial, but they also reported challenges (too

18

Technology-Supported Learning In and Out of the Japanese Language Classroom

fast, difficult with reading the font, too repetitive, boring). As McMeekin (Chapter 3) also found for bridging activities, the results highlight how carefully designed supplemental materials are essential for guiding foreign language learners. Shintaku’s study ultimately offers suggestions to JFL instructors on how to incorporate a simple vernacular game even at the beginner level so as to provide culturally rich learning opportunities for vocabulary. Technology Beyond the Physical Classroom

For the chapters in this section, Zimmerman (Chapter 11) and Takeuchi (Chapter 12) go beyond the physical classroom to examine learners’ introspection about their learning processes as a means for language improvement. Both studies consider the need to examine students’ experiences learning about Japanese language and culture outside the classroom. Zimmerman uses asynchronous CMC as part of a distance learning course that examines interaction and Takeuchi examines the use of CMC in online communities. Both show that CMC can be used as a tool for fostering L2 learning. While there are many studies that examine L2 learner language use while on study abroad (Cook, 2006, 2008; Iino, 1996, 2006; McMeekin, 2006, 2017; Siegal, 1994, 1995, 1996; Taguchi, 2015; Zimmerman, 2007), Zimmerman’s study (Chapter 11) examines the integration of technology as a space for digital mentoring and self-reflection by two learners while on study abroad. The instructor’s role in the distancelearning classroom was to guide and support learners as they moved from exposure to an idea or concept to practical use of that knowledge (Moore & Kearsley, 2005; Shively, 2010). Zimmerman examined the data collected from an asynchronous distance-learning course that required students to engage in, reflect on and analyze their own digitally audio-recorded face-to-face conversations with NS friends. She found that learners on a semester study abroad who are guided in their study by reflecting on their conversations, notice important aspects of their own and other’s language production. Analyzing the two students’ selfreflection journals and their fi nal papers as case studies, her fi ndings suggest that the students’ guided reflection promoted noticing of NS conversational adjustments and negotiation. As such, learner and researcher analyses are revealed as an important element of the learning process while on study abroad. Takeuchi’s study (Chapter 12) takes a different approach by examining two learners’ participation in online communities and how this affects their language learning. Only a few studies have examined L2 learners of Japanese and their interest in Japanese pop culture and collaboration in online communities (Fukunaga, 2006; Japan Foundation, 2013, 2015; H.K. Lee, 2011; Mori & Takeuchi, 2016; Rush, 2009).

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Takeuchi’s study expands our understanding of the role that online communities play in learning Japanese beyond the classroom. Her study examines two learners’ involvement with participatory media fandom to see what connections, if any, students make between their formal Japanese classroom learning and their participation in online communities, or ‘affi nity spaces’ (Gee, 2005). Framing her study within Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development (ZPD), Lave and Wenger’s (1991) communities of practice and Thorne’s (2009) online communities, the semistructured interviews with the two participants show how the participants view themselves as members of Japanese-related online communities through their participation in these various communities and how this has affected their language learning in the classroom. This comparison demonstrates how online communities off er a range of activities and spaces for Japanese language learners within which their identities as Japanese learners and users evolve. In addition, the learners both expressed (in interviews) how the online participation in participatory fandom benefited their learning in the classroom such as how they were able to incorporate specific personal interests into classroom projects. An important implication of this study is that instructors need to be aware of their students’ diverse linguistic and cultural knowledge and activities from outside the classroom. This information can then be used to adjust the classroom environment to the interests of the learners and facilitate student participation in digital communities beyond the classroom, which ultimately provides out-of-class opportunities for language learning. Summary

Together the chapters in this volume provide insight into how current and up-and-coming technology, research and/or pedagogical practices can be applied to enhance and assess learning in and out of the Japanese L2 classroom. Each contribution addresses the main questions that many LCTL teachers, researchers and scholars have with regard to how current technology can be used in a pedagogically sound way and how to assess technology use in terms of potential learning outcomes. Intended to be a point of reference for researchers and practitioners alike who are searching for a starting point for future implementation of and/or research into technology for learning Japanese, researchers and teachers of LCTLs who have also struggled with issues of input and availability of technology for their respective languages will fi nd that many of these chapters offer resources for their fields as well. Note (1) See: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc194852.aspx.

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Part 1 Technology for Writing and Reading

2 Screencast Delivery of Feedback on Writing Assignments for Beginning Japanese Language Students: An Alternative to the ‘Red Pen’ Nina Langton

Introduction

This study compares the use of screencasting technology and conventional text-based methods to give corrective feedback on writing assignments to beginning Japanese language students. Despite the controversy over the past two decades surrounding its efficacy (e.g. Ferris, 1999; Truscott, 1996), corrective feedback on writing assignments continues to be provided by instructors and expected by students learning foreign languages (Morra & Asis, 2009). As Ferris et al. (2013) observed, corrective feedback is likely here to stay, so the question then becomes how best to deliver this feedback and guidance so that it has the most powerful effect. Corrective feedback has conventionally been delivered by the instructor marking up a hard copy of the student’s written assignment by hand, or by inserting comments using word processing software on a digital file, but screencasting presents another possibility for the production of corrective feedback. Screencasting is a technology that allows an instructor to create a digital file that simultaneously captures computer screen annotations and an audio recording of the instructor’s voice. This digital file can be accessed by the learner via a weblink whenever, wherever and as many times as desired. This ability to comment directly on student writing in a manner that more closely replicates a conversation may offer the instructor more flexibility in tailoring feedback to accommodate students’ needs and learning goals. Some students may find this method of feedback delivery more

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effective for them, and as Ferris et al. (2013: 323) noted, a consideration of ‘not only students’ written products but also their own testimony about what was most useful to them’ is a dimension that has been missing in many of the narrowly-defined studies on the effects of corrective feedback. The current study does not employ a rigorous experimental design; rather, it aims to investigate and compare the efficacy of screencast and text-based feedback as they are used in an actual classroom setting. It includes an analysis of the work produced on an iterative writing assignment from a small sample of learners who have stated a preference for either screencast or text-based digital feedback and compares their success rates for error correction for these two media. The data collected for the analysis also includes student perceptions and preferences surrounding feedback delivery methods. In addition, reflections of the instructor-researcher are included to provide some insights that might help classroom instructors decide how best to use technology to deliver feedback, encourage engagement and facilitate the attainment of student learning goals. The use of screencasting technology as a pedagogical resource for delivering feedback has previously been examined in the teaching and learning of foreign languages such as English (McGarrell & Alvira, 2013; Seror, 2012), Spanish (Elola & Oskoz, 2016) and German (Ducate & Arnold, 2012). Li and Akahori (2008) conducted a study of intermediate and advanced-level Chinese learners of Japanese, examining the use of handwritten feedback on a tablet in conjunction with audio feedback on a single written assignment in a process that appears somewhat similar to screencasting. The current study investigates the use of oral and typewritten feedback over a longer-term iterative writing assignment, further contributing to the research on the use of screencasting technology in the context of teaching Japanese as a foreign language. Literature Review

While Truscott’s influential articles (1996, 2007) questioned the value of corrective feedback (CF) for the improvement of accuracy in L2 writing, other studies have concluded that corrective feedback assists students in their acquisition of the target language. For example, Van Beuningen et al. (2011: 31) found that ‘comprehensive CF is an effective means of improving learners’ accuracy over time’ and Ferris (2010: 186) argued that there is considerable evidence to support the notion that ‘written CF, under the right conditions, can facilitate L2 development and help students improve the accuracy of their writing’ for particular features. Bitchner (2008) found significant improvements in accuracy after the provision of focused corrective feedback targeted on a narrowly defi ned error-prone grammatical structure, with the level of accuracy retained in delayed post-tests. Sheen (2010: 175) concluded that ‘instruction that incorporates written CF constitutes a technique to draw L2 learners’ attention to linguistic forms in

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their own output and thereby facilitate acquisition’. Moreover, a metaanalysis of studies of various types of feedback across several disciplines indicated that simple, focused formative feedback that provides specific information about a learner’s work beyond the level of accuracy, including guidance on how to improve it, can play an important role in the learning process (Shute, 2008). Finally, from the learner’s point of view, ‘writers are aware of their language limitations and, consequently, expect and want their teachers to correct errors’ (Morra & Asis, 2009: 77). Several studies have focused on the effects of either direct (the instructor indicates the error and provides the correct form) or indirect (the instructor draws attention to the error but does not provide the correct form) feedback, but the results have been varied and depend on several factors, such as the proficiency level of the students. While indirect correction is thought to promote student reflection, Shute (2008) argued that direct feedback might be most helpful during the early stages of learning. Conventional handwritten feedback, however, can sometimes be misunderstood or misinterpreted by the reader (Bailey, 2009), and can lead to student frustration. Students complain that feedback is not clear or comprehensible, often because the instructor’s handwriting is not legible. However, technological advances over the years have led to alternatives to traditional ‘red pen’ approaches to providing feedback, and these advances have the potential to address issues of comprehensibility. Ferris (2012) noted that tools provided by word processing software, like strikethrough, highlighting, track changes and insert comment, make feedback legible. In addition, the feedback becomes more permanent, in that both teacher and student can save texts for future reference and interaction. Ene and Upton (2014), in their study of engineering students placed in an English for academic purposes class, reported that the students responded positively to teacher-provided electronic feedback. However, the use of the comment function in word processing software can result in an overcrowded margin where comments are difficult to match to the corresponding error (Ducate & Arnold, 2012; Li & Akahori, 2008), potentially causing comprehension difficulties for the student. Non-text-based multimedia feedback has also proven to be effective. In fact, Hattie and Timperley (2007) concluded that reinforcing, goalrelated instructional feedback provided by video, audio or computerassisted means, is most effective. This may be related to the fact that audio-recorded feedback methods have been found to allow instructors to provide more detailed comments (Merry & Orsmond, 2008). Furthermore, the use of audio feedback has been shown to increase students’ comprehension of the intent of the instructor’s comments and results in a perception that the feedback is more personal, particularly in online environments (Olesova et al., 2011). Ice et al. (2007: 19) reported similar fi ndings, and, in addition, found that the graduate-level education students in their study both retained content better when they received audio feedback and

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‘applied that content in more cognitively complex ways’. Studies examining student preference have shown that a large percentage prefers audio feedback. For example, Lunt and Curran (2010) found that 75% of the upper-level management students in their study felt that audio feedback was more detailed than written comments and 65% preferred audio to text-based feedback. Almost all of the students in Morra and Asis’s (2009) study of post-intermediate English as a foreign language (EFL) students chose oral feedback over text-based feedback, in part because they felt as though they were actually talking to the teacher. A more recent development in computer-based audio feedback comes in the form of screencasts, which capture both the instructor’s onscreen annotations and audio comments (and, optionally, the instructor’s ‘talking head’). The addition of a visual element to the audio component takes advantage of the dual coding effect reported first by Paivio and Begg (1981), and elaborated on by Mayer (2005), proposing that information coming in simultaneously from auditory and visual channels is processed more effectively and efficiently than information coming in from either channel alone. Compared to text-based feedback, Edwards et al. (2012), in their study involving graduate-level communications students, found that screencasting increased learner receptivity of feedback. Furthermore, McGarrell and Alvira (2013) reported that their intermediate-level English as a second language (ESL) research participants made a greater number of revisions when they received screencast feedback as compared to text-based feedback. On the other hand, two examinations comparing screencast feedback to electronic text-based feedback indicated that there might be no significant difference between the two media in terms of error correction rates. Ducate and Arnold (2012), in their study of fourth-semester German learners, reported that successful error correction on second drafts of student writing assignments was not significantly affected by the use of either text-based comment or screencast feedback, and Elola and Oskoz (2016: 67) also reported that learners ‘corrected similar percentages of form errors whether using Word’s Track Changes/coding or screencast’. However, several observational studies have reported that, similar to feedback provided through audio recordings, the sense of personal attention and rapport is increased through the medium of screencasting (Ducate & Arnold, 2012; Elola & Oskoz, 2016; Harper et al., 2012; Seror, 2012; Thompson & Lee, 2012). In addition, McGarrell and Alvira (2013: 48) reported that ‘the vast majority of the students found screencasts easier to understand than written commentary alone, motivational and suitable for their learning preferences’. Mathisen (2012: 111) also  pointed out the motivational aspects of screencasting feedback and reported that ‘video comments are regarded as being more precise and nuanced than written feedback, and as such give students a greater amount of inspiration and motivation when completing future academic work’. From the standpoint of the teacher, researchers found that instructors using screencast feedback gave a greater number of more detailed comments

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than those providing text-based feedback (McGarrell & Alvira, 2013). This is not surprising, as Lunt and Curran (2010) estimated that one minute of talking equals six minutes of writing. Seror (2012) reported that he produced 265 words, the equivalent of one double-spaced written page, in 64 seconds. Seror (2012: 110–111) also asserted that he was able to ‘communicate more with greater flexibility’ and provide ‘a greater degree of personalization and subtlety’ in his feedback. In addition, both Mathisen (2012) and Edwards et al. (2012) asserted that screencasting, due to its efficient nature, can assist instructors who are dealing with heavy workloads and increased class sizes, but Harper et al. (2012) reported concerns about increased workload because of the time involved in learning how to use the technology. As stated in the introduction, the current study is of an observational nature, investigating the practices around feedback in a natural classroom setting. It does not address all of the rigorous design issues discussed by Guenette (2007) and Ferris (2010), including control groups, pre-and-posttests, focused feedback on targeted errors, and homogeneous participant groups. Both Ferris and Guenette, however, have recognized the merits of descriptive studies that ‘reveal other dimensions of feedback, such as students’ ability to engage with feedback, the type of errors that benefit from feedback, the inconsistency of feedback provided by teachers, students’ perceptions and preferences, and individual differences’ (Guenette, 2007: 50). Individual differences in the current study would include the mix of various levels of proficiency in learning of the target language, various levels of proficiency in the language of instruction, and the priorities, goals, and learning styles of each particular student. The current study seeks to reflect the authentic back-and-forth interaction between the instructor and student over time during the writing process and contribute to the discussion around options for and best practices in the delivery of feedback in actual classroom situations. The questions addressed in this study are: (1) Does the method of delivering feedback (screencast or text-based) affect error correction rates on beginning Japanese language students’ writing assignments? (2) Does the level of proficiency in either Japanese or English affect the method of feedback delivery preferred by the student? (3) What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of screencast feedback experienced by instructors and students? Methodology Setting and participants

The study was conducted at a mid-sized research university in Canada, where there is no formal major or minor degree program in Japanese language and Japanese language courses are offered only as electives. The data included errors and revisions taken from an iterative writing assignment,

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the instructor-provided feedback on these submissions and participant evaluations of the type of feedback received. These data were collected in a beginning level Japanese language class (50 hours of instruction) taught by the researcher in 2015. Due to ethical considerations, the identity of the research participants was not known by the instructor-researcher until after the course concluded and data analysis was conducted at that time. In total, 51 students out of a total registration of 68 consented to participate, but two females did not complete all of the assignments and were therefore excluded from the study. The remaining 49 (26 males and 23 females) were analyzed as a data set based on their preference for screencast or text-based feedback, gender, proficiency level in the target language based on the participant’s final grade and proficiency level in the language of instruction (English). While a summative grade may not reflect the level of proficiency with complete accuracy, relative levels of high, mid and low were considered appropriate categories for the purpose of the analysis. In terms of proficiency in the language of instruction, it was decided that the distinction between L1 and L2 speakers of English was not completely satisfactory, as several L2 speakers of English approached native fluency. Furthermore, international student and domestic student status was also found not to be completely aligned with English proficiency as several of the naturalized Canadians were recent immigrants who had not yet achieved native-like fluency in spoken English. Therefore, the researcher made a considered judgment on native-like proficiency in spoken English based on observations of classroom interactions. The gender, proficiency level in the target language and native or non-native level in the language of instruction of these 49 participants are summarized in the Table 2.1. The data were collected from a multi-draft descriptive essay written by the participants over the course of the term. The students submitted three drafts of a self-introduction describing their personal and family information, neighborhood, and likes and dislikes. After the first draft, which required a minimum of 10 sentences, each subsequent draft contained both corrections from the previous draft, as well as an additional seven sentences incorporating new structures learned as the term progressed. Feedback on the drafts was given in the following order: text-based feedback on Draft 1, screencast feedback on Draft 2, and finally, the feedback medium of the student’s choice on Draft 3. All students received screencast feedback on Draft 2 of their Table 2.1 Personal characteristics of participants (n = 49) based on feedback preference Preference

Male

Female

High

Mid

Low

Native speaker

Non-native speaker

Screencast

9

13

12

5

5

10

12

Text-based

17

10

10

10

7

13

14

Totals

26

23

22

15

12

23

26

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assignment, which contained approximately 17 sentences. The average length of screencast video for these students was 4 minutes 4 seconds. The shortest video was 1 minute 5 seconds, and the longest was 7 minutes 46 seconds. Oneway ANOVA analyses were run on the full set of consenting participants (n = 49) to determine if there were significant effects for the proportional amount of time viewing the first screencast video and native or non-native speaker, proficiency level and subsequent preference for screencast or textbased feedback. Of these 49, 22 chose to receive screencast feedback for Draft 3 and 27 chose to receive text-based feedback. Students indicated their preferred form of feedback directly on their Draft 3 submission. Due to the large quantity of data retrieved from three subsequent drafts of the writing assignment, the instructor-researcher limited the analysis for errors and uptake of feedback to the work of 10 participants, six male and four female, who, in the instructor-researcher’s opinion, sufficiently represented the diverse nature of the students enrolled in the class (see Table 2.2; names have been changed to preserve anonymity). The participants were chosen in order to represent level of proficiency in the target language (TL) based on their fi nal grade in the course, observed proficiency in spoken English (native speaker or non-native speaker) and preference for text-based or screencast feedback, indicated by the students when they submitted the third draft of the assignment towards the end of the term. Gender was also taken into account. (Six of these 10 also submitted the participant questionnaire after the course was completed, which was also a factor in their being chosen for further analysis.) The data for these focal participants included the 10 screencast videos that were

Table 2.2 Participant information (n = 10) Name (pseudonym)

Feedback medium preference

Gender

TL proficiency >85% = high; >65% = mid; 0.05). In other words, no specific group of students showed a preference for a particular type of feedback. Furthermore, a chi-square contingency analysis showed that the preferred choice of feedback was independent of gender (P > 0.05). The focal group of 10 students was analyzed for percentages of successful corrections, unsuccessful corrections, instances where the feedback was ignored and errors that were deleted, based on the feedback method chosen. One-way ANOVA analyses (see Table 2.3) showed that the method of feedback had no significant effect (P > 0.05) on any of these variables, although the percentage of deletions approached significance (P = 0.074). The relatively large confidence intervals may be attributable to the small sample size. A one-way ANOVA was also performed on instructor error, which included incorrect, misleading, or non-existent feedback, but no significant effect emerged (P > 0.05). Regression analyses were performed for proportional time (total time spent viewing the video in seconds/length of the video in seconds) and percentage of correct, incorrect, ignored and deleted revisions, and no relationship was shown between proportional time and any of the variables (P > 0.05). In other words, spending a greater amount of time watching the video did not result in a greater or lesser percentage of successfully or unsuccessfully corrected, ignored or deleted errors. Questionnaire results

At the end of the semester, an e-mail request was sent to the 49 students who had consented to participate in the study, asking them to complete a questionnaire regarding their opinions about the text-based and screencast feedback, but only eight responded, as noted above. Given the low numbers, an analysis of the Likert-scale items was impossible. However, responses to the open-ended questions revealed some patterns in the participants’ evaluations of the two types of feedback and were similar to the concerns and comments provided by students in other classes taught by the instructorresearcher, as well as those reported in other studies (Ducate & Arnold, 2012; Li & Akahori, 2008; Mathisen, 2012). These are summarized below.

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Text-based feedback

Text-based feedback is seen as being clear, straight to the point, and effective for correcting treatable errors (Ferris, 1999), as Gayle remarked: The comments are succinct, straight to the point and easier to review. This is especially helpful for correcting technical errors, like missing vocab words, misspelling, etc.

Derrick also felt that ‘written feedback is more concise.’ Some students appreciated having a physical copy from which to work, as they found that it was inconvenient to have to rewind the screencast video, and sometimes difficult to fi nd the place in the video on which they wanted to concentrate. I like how easy it is to read conventional feedback multiple times to take a closer look at specific parts – rather than having to replay a video to try to recall one of the pieces of information in the video. I also like how the written feedback can be physically placed next to the piece of writing that it’s critiquing. (Ethan)

Furthermore, Helene noted that text-based feedback provided additional opportunities to study Japanese script, as the instructor-provided suggestions for revisions or example sentences that were sometimes written in Japanese. However, participants recognized the limits on how much text-based feedback can be physically written by the instructor and commented on the lack of nuance in written feedback. Gayle noted: There’s a certain limit of how much a prof can write for notes, and there’s only so much that can be explained via written feedback. It’s harder to understand the nuances of language and sentence structure and grammatical errors when the mistakes are all written down, making concepts harder to grasp.

Derrick remarked, ‘a lot of the quirks of Japanese can be understood more when it is described verbally.’ In addition, Ethan commented on the lack of ability to hear the ‘tone’ of the instructor’s comments with text-based feedback. ‘The written feedback doesn’t convey tone very well, so sometimes it is slightly harder to tell if a certain piece of feedback is really being emphasized or not.’ Dusty found it sometimes difficult to understand what the error was just by reading the comments and he also remarked that he did not ‘know how to fi nd the right answers sometimes.’ Screencast feedback

Gayle felt that ‘it’d be easier for the educator to elaborate on a mistake’, and provide more information, examples and detailed explanations with screencast feedback. She also noted that ‘the screencast demanded

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more of me as a student to listen.’ Eunjin commented that she paid more attention to screencast feedback than to written feedback. Both Gayle and Derrick commented on the advantages of the aural aspects of screencast feedback, in that they could hear the correct pronunciation of the language. Gayle appreciated ‘hearing how to pronounce words and how they would work together. Not only do we hear what we did wrong, but we can hear how it’s supposed to sound and how we can make our sentences flow.’ Eunjin also noted that screencast videos were beneficial for audio-oriented learners. Five of the eight participants who completed the questionnaire commented on the personal nature and perceived increase in instructor presence that resulted from the screencast video. ‘I felt like professor is directly explain [sic] to us through the screen’ (Eunjin); it’s ‘like a mini lecture’ (Helene); and it ‘feels like actually talking to the professor about an assignment’ (Dusty). Ethan commented that ‘the oral feedback felt a lot more personal which was a really positive thing. It was easy to tell which issues might have been just small little things versus large problems, and it was easy to tell what parts of the project you [the instructor] were enthusiastic about.’ However, participants also commented on the drawbacks of screencast feedback. Some noted the technical difficulties inherent in using online tools, complaining of the inconvenience of rewinding the video to review and the inability to access the feedback without a computer or internet connection. Dusty commented that he sometimes had difficulties comprehending pronunciation and understanding which sections of the assignment the instructor was discussing. Ethan, who considers himself a visual learner, made the following comment: I have a hard time taking in all the information from an auditory format, but that is just because I think I am more visual. But I fi nd it more difficult to really listen to the video to get all the information rather than reread and analyze specific parts of a conventional written format. In-Depth Analysis of Data from Four Focal Participants

The drafts and revisions of four participants were chosen for more detailed analysis to show the interaction between the instructor and learner. These particular participants were chosen because they represented the diversity of students in the actual classroom (high and low profi ciency in Japanese, native and non-native speakers of English, male and female), and because they spent proportionally more time viewing the fi rst screencast video. Therefore, they were assumed by the researcher to have been potentially more engaged with this diff erent method of feedback than participants who did not watch as long. In addition, three of the four completed the questionnaire at the end of the term, giving concrete reasons for type of feedback preference. In

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the current study, while there are no corresponding fi gures for the amount of time students who chose text-based feedback spent looking at their feedback, a detailed analysis of the results of students who spent a proportionally longer amount of time listening to the video would seem useful for determining whether or not screencasting affects error correction rates. Text-based preference: Ziyan and Ethan

Ziyan did not complete the participant questionnaire, so her reasons for choosing text-based feedback are not known. She is an international student whose English was judged to be at the non-native level and whose fi nal grade in the course was under 65%. Her second draft contained 21 T-units (321 characters), of which 11 were error-free, yielding an errorfree T-unit ratio of 0.52. (A ratio of 1 would indicate an error-free assignment.) Ziyan watched her 5 minute 36 second screencast on two occasions for a total of 15 minutes 55 seconds. In the screencast, the instructor first explained the color coding for inputting and spelling mistakes and clearly explained how to input the topic marker on the keyboard. Ziyan was able to correct all of the keyboarding and spelling mistakes that were pointed out to her on the screencast on her subsequent draft. The software analytics show that she spent additional time reviewing the instructions on the video that explained how to produce small vowels on the keyboard. Ziyan produced a common mistake among beginning students of Japanese, where the verb desu is attached to another verb (xTokidoki asagohan o tabemasen desu for Sometimes I don’t eat breakfast). The instructor was able to give detailed feedback consisting of 82 words, considerably more than would likely be offered in written form, concluding with the following: ‘Asagohan o tabemasen’. That’s where your period goes. Desu is a different verb… so when you say ‘tabemasen,’ that’s all you need. It’s in polite form, it’s in negative form, and it’s the verb ‘to eat.’ You don’t need to add the verb ‘to be’ on to that.

Ziyan produced the correct form in the subsequent draft. Ziyan, like most of the other students in the class, had trouble distinguishing between sentences that state the existence of an object and sentences that describe where the object exists. Ziyan introduced her dormitory and her room using the following sentences: Watashi wa Monashee no heya ni sunde imasu. (I live in a room in Monashee.) Monashee wa Semi no tonari desu. (Monashee is beside Semi.)

The instructor responded with the following: Now your sentences are not grammatically incorrect, but in the context, they appear a little bit before you’ve, sort of, introduced… Okay, so,

Screencast Delivery of Feedback on Writing Assignments for JL Students 45

I have no idea what Semi is, I think it’s maybe a name of a different dorm, but I don’t know what it is, so you can’t start talking about it as though I know what it is before you tell me that’s it there, right? … So before this, you might say ‘At my university, there are a lot of dorms. There is Monashee, there’s Semi’… So you sort of set the scene fi rst, tell me what there is. And then you can start telling me where they are.

Despite the instructor’s intention to make the feedback clear, the student’s revision was not as anticipated, although not completely incorrect. In the subsequent draft, Ziyan wrote: Watashi wa Monashee no heya ni sunde imasu. (I live in a room in Monashee.) Semi wa apaato desu. (Semi is an apartment.) Monashee wa Semi no tonari desu. (Monashee is beside Semi.)

However, in the text-based feedback on this draft, the instructor neglected to comment about the fact that the writer was still assuming that the reader was already familiar with the name Semi, and there was no change to these sentences in the fi nal submission. The Mediasite analytics indicate that Ziyan also concentrated on reviewing a section of the video that dealt with a mistake in the use of the conjunction demo (but). Ziyan had written: Mado to eakon ga arimasu. (There is a window and an air-conditioner.) xDemo, chisai kuroozetto ga arimasu. (But, there is a small closet.)

In addition to pointing out a spelling mistake (chisai), the instructor provided the following feedback: And then you’ve got the word demo here which means ‘but,’ right, so when I started reading the sentence I assumed that you were going to say arimasen, ‘But there is no small closet,’ so, you know ‘I have an air conditioner but I don’t have a closet’… So it’s good to use something like demo to make the flow between sentences better, but it doesn’t work in this particular context.

Ziyan corrected this issue in the subsequent draft by deleting demo from the closet sentence. She also attempted to use demo appropriately in a new context, although the sentence she produced contained other errors. The instructor also suggested that Ziyan ‘…say something like chiisai kuroozetto (small closet) and… say mo (also) here [using a cursor to underline ga (subject particle)] – I also have a small closet’, but there was no change in the subsequent drafts, indicating that Ziyan either did not understand the suggestion or chose to ignore it. She did, however, respond to direct text-based feedback on Draft 3 that read, ‘You could use mo instead of ga here’, perhaps indicating that direct written correction was more effective for her uptake of the feedback.

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Ziyan’s Draft 3, for which she received text-based comments, contained 470 characters in 29 T-units, of which 17 were error-free. On the third draft, the students were required to include sentences using the newly introduced te-form (the gerund form) and Ziyan incorrectly conjugated both of her attempts to use verbs in this form. In both cases, the instructor highlighted the errors, indicating a grammatical problem, but did not provide the correct answer. Ziyan successfully corrected one of the te-form verbs on her final script but deleted the sentence containing the other. She did, however, produce a new sentence containing a different, correctly conjugated te-form verb. Generally speaking, she was able to correct insignificant errors that had been highlighted, but she tended to delete sentences that contained more significant grammatical or lexical errors. For example, Ziyan wanted to express the idea that, although her major was math, her dream was to become an architect, for which she produced the sentence xSenkou wa suugaku desu, demo watashi no ime wa kenchikuka o naimasu. In addition to highlighting a spelling mistake and inserting feedback with the comment function that read, ‘you can’t have demo in the middle of the sentence, use ga’, the instructor inserted in-text feedback that read, ‘you need kenchikuka ni naritai desu, I want to become.’ This sentence, which contains a structure that had not been introduced in class yet, was eliminated in the final script, indicating that perhaps Ziyan found it easier to avoid unfamiliar structures rather than try to master them. Ziyan’s final script contained 511 characters in 32 T-units, of which 29 were error-free, resulting in an error-free T-unit ratio of 0.9. Ethan is a high-proficiency Japanese language student who is a native speaker of English. He explained his preference for text-based feedback as follows: ‘I have always been stronger at communicating through writing – it lets me generate and process information at my own pace.’ His Draft 2 contained 339 characters in 19 T-units, 12 of which were errorfree. The error-free T-unit ratio on this draft was 0.63. Six out of seven of the significant errors involved the use of particles and one concerned an existence/location issue. Ethan watched his 5 minute 48 second screencast video four times for a total of 12 minutes 49 seconds. Ethan’s analytics showed that he spent relatively more time reviewing a section that explained how to combine sentences, as well as sections that discussed the existence and location of buildings and objects. In his revisions, Ethan successfully combined the sentences as suggested, but issues around existence and location were not resolved. On Draft 2, for which the instructor provided screencast feedback, Ethan produced the sentence xBasu tei ga watashi no uchi no chikaku arimasu. (A bus stop is near my house.) The instructor responded with: Okay, now when you’re using this form… the basic form would be basu tei ga arimasu, but we’re also giving the location here, so when you are adding that location in as well, then you would want to say watashi no uchi no chikaku, we need the particle ni in here, ni arimasu. So um, and

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47

a lot of times we would put that whole phrase at the beginning, so watashi no uchi no chikaku ni basu tei ga arimasu.

The instructor provided a direct, explicit correction, and Ethan produced the suggested sentence on his next draft. Returning to the draft for which screencast feedback was provided, Ethan’s next sentence is xBasu tei ga haiwei sanjuusan no tonari arimasu (The bus stop is next to Highway 33), to which the instructor responded: In this sentence, you introduced that there’s a bus stop, so now you can talk about the bus stop as the topic, we both know what you’re talking about, so here what would probably better would be to just use the structure that the textbook gives you for where something exists. Basu tei wa haiwei sanjuusan no tonari desu. So with that type of sentence, where you are saying where something is, you could either use, you’re going to start with, you know, it’s just like toshokan wa doko desu ka, it’s the same kind of sentence, right? So basu tei wa and then you can either use, for the verb you could either use desu or ni arimasu.

It is obvious, however, that there was lack of clarity about using either ni arimasu or desu for the sentence about the location of the bus stop, as Ethan used a combination of both in his subsequent draft (xBasu tei wa haiwei sanjuusan no tonari ni desu). The instructor neglected to notice this new error and did not give feedback, so it was repeated in the fi nal script. Ethan’s final script contained 514 characters in 30 T-units, of which 24 were error-free. The fi nal error-free T-unit ratio was 0.8. Four of the six remaining errors were attributable to instructor error or oversight. Screencast preference: Dusty and Helene

Dusty is a low proficiency student of Japanese and a non-native speaker of English. He states that he chose screencast feedback because ‘I feel that screencast feedback gives me more information and comment [sic] about my assignment. By hearing the comments given by professor [sic] I can better understand where I did wrong.’ He watched his fi rst screencast video, which was 3 minutes and 25 seconds long, two times for a total of 11 minutes and 34 seconds. His Draft 2 contained 280 characters in 19 T-units, of which 12 were error-free, resulting in an error-free T-unit ratio of 0.63. A portion of his Draft 2 text is as follows: Watashi wa ryou ni sunde imasu. (I live in the dormitory.) Kore wa watashi no heya desu. (This is my room.) xKitsusaten wa toshokan no naka desu. (The coffee shop is inside the library.) Basu tei wa honya no mae desu. (The bus stop in front of the bookstore.)

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xChikaku ni resutoran to basu tei to toshokan to honya arimasu. (Nearby, there is a restaurant and a bus stop and a bookstore.) xFuku to koohii to konpyuutaa to tsukue arimasu. (I have clothes and coffee and a computer and a desk.) xShokudou wa kitsusaten no chikaku desu. (The cafeteria is near the coffee shop.)

In addition to describing how to input double consonants and providing indirect feedback about mistakes with particles, the instructor spent a significant proportion of the screencast feedback for Draft 2 suggesting organizational changes. For example, So that ‘Nearby, there’s a restaurant, and a bus stop and a bookstore’ needs to go before you start telling us where things are. Because you can’t say, like you’ve got, the kissaten is inside the toshokan, the bus tei is in front of the honya, and then you say, ‘Nearby there’s a basu tei and toshokan and a honya,’ right, so that doesn’t make sense there, you need to move this into this spot… [moving the cursor to indicate where the sentence would better fit]. Keep the stuff about your room together and keep the stuff about the university together.

According to the analytics, Dusty focused his attention on this section of the screencast, and he did organize his subsequent draft more logically. Dusty viewed parts of his second screencast video for Draft 3 three different times for a total of 4 minutes and 16 seconds. The video duration was 4 minutes 44 seconds, so it is clear that Dusty did not watch all of the video. The instructor gave direct and explicit feedback to change the incorrect particle no to ga in the sentences pertaining to the existence of buildings and objects. Dusty reviewed this feedback on the video several times and did make the correct changes to the particles on his fi nal script. As mentioned above, the students were required to add new material to Draft 3, including the te-form of the verb, adjectives, and likes and dislikes. In the second screencast video, the instructor commented on the sentence Mado o shimete, dekakemashita (I closed the window and went out) that contained the te-form of the verb. Now this sentence here, like here you’re talking about every day I get up and drink water and whatever, and then I think you want to say, I close the window, and I go out, right, so here what you’ve got is you put this in the past tense, so that means, you know, like, yesterday, once, or something like that, I closed the window and I went out. I think what you want is just to have this in the masu form, and then you’ll be good to go.

Dusty, however, dealt with this issue by deleting the sentence from his fi nal script. In response to the new material that Dusty added to Draft 3, the instructor again commented on organizational issues.

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‘You have some good basic sentences here. What I’m concerned about is that they don’t kind of… they don’t seem to belong together…This sentence doesn’t sort of fit in the flow of your story’ [indicating with cursor movement] ‘so maybe you need to fi nd a different place to put it’.

However, Dusty did not take up this feedback or make significant changes to the organization of this section of his self-introduction on his fi nal script. Furthermore, he did not listen to the end of the second screencast video where the instructor made suggestions for ways to conclude the presentation. His fi nal script contained 381 characters in 27 T-units, of which 24 were error-free, resulting in an error-free T-unit ratio of 0.89. Helene is a high proficiency Japanese language student whose fi rst language is not English, but whose ability to speak English is native-like. Her reasons for choosing screencast feedback were that oral feedback is more nuanced, amenable to the provision of examples and more like a ‘mini-lecture.’ She watched her 7 minute 36 second screencast video for Draft 2 twice, for a total of 16 minutes and 55 seconds. Helene’s Draft 2 consisted of 353 characters in 17 T-units, 11 of which were error-free, resulting in an error-free T-unit ratio of 0.64. Her draft contained four significant errors: two incorrect particles, one adjective conjugation and one vocabulary item. She was able to correct all of the significant errors, as well as insignificant spelling and vocabulary errors, with indirect oral feedback and highlighting on the text. Because Helene’s draft showed few grammatical errors, the instructor concentrated on stylistic features and organization. Helene, who watches authentic materials such as TV dramas and anime, and therefore is exposed to more colloquial expressions, chose to use the nonstandard fi rst-person pronoun atashi to refer to herself. The instructor commented on the ramifications, in terms of the identity Helene would project by using this pronoun. In addition, the use of conjunctions to produce more complex sentences was suggested. The instructor also advised adding transition words when new subjects were introduced and suggested organizational changes to improve coherency. Helene incorporated most of the suggestions into her next draft, although she continued to refer to herself as atashi. Despite her advanced proficiency, Helene’s writing indicated that, like most of the other students, she had trouble with the concept of introducing the existence of an object before discussing its location. In response to Helene’s description of her dormitory, the instructor provided the following feedback: ‘Atashi no ryou wa deikea no migi desu.’ (My dorm is next to the daycare.) ‘Okay, now the problem here is that you haven’t told us that there’s a daycare. Now those of us who go to university might know that there’s a daycare there, but not everyone will, right? So before you start talking about the daycare as though we, assuming that we know what it is, you should introduce it. ‘There’s a daycare at my university. My dorm is to the

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right of that.’ Or, what you could do is say, ‘To the right of my dorm, there’s a daycare.’ That would involve changing the structure of this sentence a little bit, too.

According to the analytics, Helene reviewed this section of the feedback video several times, and her subsequent draft incorporated this feedback. This third draft, including the new required content, contained 495 characters in 26 T-units, of which 24 were error-free. The screencast feedback video for this draft was 3 minutes 45 seconds long, and Helene listened to it one time for 3 minutes 7 seconds. The feedback again focused on stylistic features, including how to connect sentences where one sentence is the reason for the other, a grammar pattern that had not yet been introduced in class. We haven’t learned it yet, so I’m just giving you a heads up, but we’re going to look at it next week, then, adding kara (because) on to here as the reason, which you did, sort of, down here in a different way. But, um, Muzukashii desu kara ‘Because it’s difficult,’ um, you can use. It’s not a full sentence, and the way you would make a full sentence would be ‘Because it’s difficult, I dislike chemistry’.

While she did not review this feedback more than once, Helene again incorporated the suggestion into her final script. Her final script contained 514 characters in 26 T-units, of which 25 were error-free. The error-free T-unit ratio was 0.96, and the one remaining error was attributable to an instructor oversight.

Discussion Research question 1: Does the method of delivering feedback (screencast or text-based) affect error correction rates on beginning Japanese language students’ writing assignments?

The small sample size of this study makes it impossible to produce results that can claim to be statistically valid; however, the analysis indicates trends that can be the basis for speculation and further study. This analysis indicates that the method of feedback had no substantial effect on the revision of errors in the iterative writing assignment of the beginning Japanese language students. Within this small sample, the percentage of successful corrections was higher for screencast than for text-based feedback, but the percentage of unsuccessful corrections was also higher for screencasting. This may be attributable in part to the fact that there was a higher rate of errors deleted amongst the participants that chose text-based feedback. In addition, confounding factors such as the high rate of instructor error, particularly in the delivery of text-based feedback, make it impossible to determine the impact of each method. However,

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although no significant effect was found for percent of errors deleted, given the relatively low P-value (P = 0.074), it could be argued that the method could have an effect on deletion of errors. The screencast method may lower the percentage of deleted errors, so perhaps a more detailed explanation of the mistake on the screencast made it less likely that the writer would delete the error. Truscott (1996, 2007) argued that students who want to avoid errors either write simpler sentences or delete errors that are pointed out to them, and Guenette (2007) added that this is especially true on graded assignments. In this respect, the use of error-free T-units, while reflecting accuracy, does not necessarily provide a complete picture of what learning has taken place because unfamiliar or difficult structures can be simply avoided rather than learned. This tendency to delete errors can be seen in Ziyan’s writing, but it would be simplistic to say that the initial errors that prompted these deletions could have been rectified with screencast rather than text-based feedback. As explained earlier, the text-based feedback provided for at least one sentence in which Ziyan was trying to express meaning that required an advanced structure was not detailed and only provided the correct answer. This limited feedback may have discouraged her from attempting to revise the sentence, so instead, she deleted it. At the same time, this particular experience with limited text-based feedback did not prevent Ziyan from continuing to challenge herself to produce grammatically incorrect but creative sentences that were beyond her current ability in other parts of her writing. On the other hand, despite the lengthy explanation he received through screencast feedback, Dusty chose to delete at least one problematic sentence rather than attempt to improve it, so in this case, detailed screencast feedback did not prevent avoidance. Dusty did not show as much engagement with his second screencast, as illustrated by the short viewing duration, indicating that he did not use it to its full potential. Therefore, while overall numbers indicate that using screencast feedback may result in fewer deleted errors, it appears that the results will vary depending on individual circumstances. Research question 2: Does the level of proficiency in either Japanese or English affect the method of feedback delivery preferred by the student?

Guenette (2007) argued that the proficiency level of students needs to be taken into account when evaluating the effects of corrective feedback. Seror (2012) claimed that screencast feedback is beneficial for low proficiency listeners, but that this type of learner requires more written text and visual codes to reinforce oral comments. Li and Akahori (2008) showed that low proficiency Japanese language students also benefited from corrections that included audio feedback, but that additional visual feedback in the form of error playback resulted in a substantial cognitive

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burden. In contrast to the idea that dual coding (both visual and aural input) results in more efficient uptake of information, it may be that there is a point where too much information can result in cognitive overload, especially if that information lacks clarity. Despite the intuitive assumption (or perhaps the desire of the instructor) that low proficiency learners might prefer feedback that highlights errors both visually and aurally, one of the factors that might lead them to choose text-based feedback is this issue of cognitive load. However, as the quantitative analysis of the larger sample (n = 49) indicated, there was no significant effect evident in the students’ preference for feedback delivery based on proficiency level in the target language. Regarding the effect that students’ proficiency in the language of instruction might have on preference for screencast or text-based feedback, Edwards et al. (2012) argued that the conversational nature of comments delivered by screencast may be beneficial for students whose fi rst language is not English and who are not as familiar with more formal academic language. In the current study, the instructor adopted a conversational tone and an off-the-cuff style that included the insertion of elements like ‘um’, ‘sort of/kind of’, ‘you know’, etc., but the quick changes of topic and start-and-stop style characteristic of conversation might obstruct meaning and may not have been helpful for either non-native or native speakers of English. The statistical analysis of the current study (n = 49), however, indicated no significant difference in terms of NS or NNS student preference for method of delivery. Research question 3: What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of screencast feedback experienced by instructors and students?

McGarrell and Alvira (2013) found that screencast feedback increases the amount of target language input learners receive. In the current study, Eunjin noted that the screencast feedback gave her more opportunity to hear the target language, a result of the instructor tailoring the feedback to Eunjin’s proficiency level input by providing it in Japanese. While it is, of course, possible to give written feedback in the target language even in beginning-level classes, in the context of most beginners’ foreign-language classrooms, opportunities to read the language far outnumber opportunities to hear it, so increased aural input in the form of screencast feedback may be beneficial. Several other participants commented that they appreciated the opportunity to hear the pronunciation and flow of the sentences in their compositions. Results concerning the efficacy of screencast comments leading to increased revisions in organization and content are mixed. McGarrell and Alvira (2013) reported that, while the instructors in their study provided more comments regarding organizational issues when giving screencast

Screencast Delivery of Feedback on Writing Assignments for JL Students 53

feedback than text-based feedback, and students in the screencast group did make relatively more organizational changes, on the whole students tended to use feedback more for editing grammatical and mechanical errors than for making organizational changes. Ducate and Arnold (2012), however, suggested that one of the advantages of screencast feedback is the increased opportunity to give advice on organization and sentence structure. In the current study, particularly with screencasting, the instructor did offer a considerable number of suggestions regarding the reorganization of sentences and ideas, and the students took up many of these suggestions. In addition, the instructor was able to offer more detailed feedback to students on how to combine sentences to produce more complex writing, which may result in higher-order learning outcomes. While this seemed to have positive results with Helene, some students, like Dusty, were not consistent in their uptake of feedback regarding organization and content. Other students, like Ethan, were apparently not able to understand and successfully utilize the suggestions, perhaps due to error or lack of clarity on the part of the instructor. Instructor error is a factor that must be taken into account in the study of corrective feedback. In the current study, there were several cases where the instructor failed to offer feedback on grammatical errors. While some studies (e.g. Bitchener, 2008; Ferris, 2012) indicate that it is preferable to focus on only a small number of errors and comment on more global issues like organization and ideas, at the beginning level, when students generally expect all of their errors to be flagged, instructor error and inconsistencies in marking will be confusing for the student. Interestingly, the rate of instructor error in this study was higher with text-based feedback. A potential explanation for this may be that the instructor often reads the writing assignment slowly and out loud while giving screencast feedback, thereby making errors more salient. However, inconsistencies were also evident in the screencast feedback, so it is clear that ‘teachers need relevant and repeated training when learning how to prioritize and formulate their comments to achieve the desired effects’ (McGarrell & Alvira, 2013: 38). One of the advantages of screencasting is that an archived fi le remains which the instructor can use to reflect on the quality of feedback that was delivered. Of course, this is also possible with archived copies of text-based feedback, but the sense of immediacy that a video provides works to make the reflection more effective. In addition, reviewing the video makes the instructor aware of the importance of audibility, pace, and conversational idiosyncrasies that may affect student reception and comprehension of the feedback. Several participants commented on the fact that the screencast felt more like a personalized mini-lecture. Screencasting is not an interactive dialogue, but it could be considered a closer approximation of a writing conference than text-based feedback would be. In some respects, a screencast video can be more effective than a face-to-face conference because

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students can replay the video in order to remind themselves of points they need to consider and revise, while they may forget things that are said in a face-to-face conversation. Furthermore, Olesova et al. (2011) argued that the availability of tone and intonation in audio feedback increases student engagement, and participant responses on the questionnaire indicate that they did appreciate being able to hear the nuances imparted through instructor intonation. As Ethan noted, ‘it was easy to tell what part of the project you were enthusiastic about’, and perhaps this enthusiasm resulted in increased motivation on the part of the student. However, it might be tempting for instructors to become too enthusiastic and provide more detail and options than the student wants or can process, so instructors must consider the balance between ‘enough’ and ‘too much’, and tailor the feedback to the student’s needs and level. Helene commented that one of the downsides of text-based feedback for her was ‘feeling like my assignment has mistakes instead of thinking that there are better expressions available.’ Text-based feedback, which may visually present as an overwhelming collection of coloured highlighting, inserted comments and crossed out or underlined words and phrases, can be discouraging and demotivating for beginning language students. While some of these elements were retained in the screencast feedback, the more detailed oral feedback that included alternative and more complex or native-like expressions was perhaps received in a more positive way. As Helene noted, ‘When giving oral feedback, the instructor is able to better articulate the reason why one expression is preferred over another.’ Instructors must also take into account the amount of time required to produce either form of feedback. While some studies (Edwards et al., 2012; Mathisen, 2012) claimed that the time required to produce a screencast video is less than that required to provide conventional textbased feedback, the instructor must also factor in the time it takes fi rst to learn the screencasting software, and then to run the software for each individual fi le. In addition, there is inevitably time spent by the instructor helping students resolve technical issues; instructors must be prepared to coach students through this new and perhaps unfamiliar method of feedback delivery. Therefore, in the initial stages at least, it is possible that providing screencast feedback will require more time than conventional text-based feedback, but this may decrease over time as both instructor and students become familiar with the technology. Conclusions and Future Directions

The current study is limited by the sample size, making it difficult to come to a confident conclusion on percentages of error correction rates. Additional limitations include the low response rate on student questionnaires and the fact that the instructor-researcher made subjective judgments on student proficiency in the language of instruction. However,

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the  fi ndings from this descriptive study reinforce fi ndings from other recent studies (e.g. Ducate & Arnold, 2012; Elola & Oskov, 2016) indicating that, while there is no defi nitive answer to the question of whether screencasting is a more effective method of giving corrective feedback, it is nevertheless an important option that instructors should consider when deliberating the use of technology to provide feedback to students. The current study has addressed several issues regarding the advantages and disadvantages of using screencast feedback, but further areas of interest can also be fruitfully examined. As technology changes, new features and advances in video software, for example, the ability to play videos at two times the normal speed or add captions and subtitles, may make it possible to ameliorate some of the drawbacks such as the difficulty in fi nding and replaying specific parts of the screencast video, and this may lead to better learning outcomes. In addition, investigations into the optimal length for feedback videos may be beneficial. While current research (e.g. Guo et al., 2014) indicates that in general, shorter (approximately six minutes) is better for student engagement in viewing online educational videos, the case for feedback videos in foreign language instruction may differ. A more detailed discourse analysis of instructor comments on screencast videos and talk-aloud responses of students as they view their feedback would also be interesting areas for further study. The questionnaires indicate that students have reflected on their preference and made a choice based on their particular circumstances, regardless of proficiency level in the target language or the language of instruction. Participants were able to clearly articulate their positive and negative responses to both methods of feedback. They recognize that while, in general, more detail can be provided through an oral screencast explanation, in many cases, a short, clear, text-based comment is sufficient and perhaps preferable. If the student is under time constraints and the demands of other courses, or if the student does not prioritize the course content in his or her overall study plan, the most efficient method of feedback that satisfies the student’s learning goals in the least amount of time may be appropriate. Students are able to make judgments on their learning styles and goals and choose their delivery method of feedback accordingly. If the instructor has competently provided a high-quality model demonstrating the features of screencasting to their greatest potential, then they can entrust the student with the decision to use this method of feedback or not. The ability of the students to make these decisions should be respected and accommodated by the instructor to the extent possible. At the same time, the instructor must also strive and train themselves to provide comprehensible oral feedback. While the conversational tone that is possible to achieve using screencasting may have positive effects on student reception of feedback, the instructor must be mindful of delivering the ‘conversation’ in a clear and comprehensible oral style. It may be that the most eff ective method of delivering feedback is to

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augment clear, conversational oral comments with visual, text-based annotations on a screencast video so that the advantages of both methods of feedback delivery can be leveraged for the achievement of student learning outcomes. References Bailey, R. (2009) Undergraduate students’ perceptions of the role and utility of written assessment feedback. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education 1, 1–14. Bitchner, J. (2008) Evidence in support of written corrective feedback. Journal of Second Language Writing 17, 102–118. Ducate, L. and Arnold, N. (2012) Computer-mediated feedback: Effectiveness and student perceptions of screen-casting software versus the comment function. In G. Kessler, A. Oskoz and I. Elola (eds) Technology Across Writing Contexts and Tasks (CALICO Monograph Series, Vol. 10, pp. 31–55). San Marcos, TX: CALICO. Edwards, K., Dujardin, A.F. and Williams, N. (2012) Screencast feedback for essays on a distance learning MA in professional communication: An action research project. Journal of Academic Writing 2 (1), 95–126. Elola, I. and Oskoz, A. (2016) Supporting second language writing using multimodal feedback. Foreign Language Annals 49 (1), 58–74. Ene, E. and Upton, T. (2014) Learner uptake of teacher electronic feedback in ESL composition. System 46, 80–95. Ferris, D.R. (1999) The case for grammar correction in L2 writing classes: A response to Truscott (1996). Journal of Second Language Writing 8 (1), 1–10. Ferris, D.R. (2010) Second language writing research and written corrective feedback in SLA: Intersections and practical applications. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 32 (2), 181–201. Ferris, D.R. (2012) Technology and corrective feedback for L2 writers: Principles, practices, and problems. In G. Kessler, A. Oskoz and I. Elola (eds) Technology Across Writing Contexts and Tasks (CALICO Monograph Series, Vol. 10, pp. 7–29). San Marcos, TX: CALICO. Ferris, D.R., Liu, H., Sinha, A. and Senna, M. (2013) Written corrective feedback for individual L2 writers. Journal of Second Language Writing 22 (3), 307–329. Guenette, D. (2007) Is feedback pedagogically correct? Research design issues in studies of feedback on writing. Journal of Second Language Writing 16 (1), 40–53. Guo, P.J., Kim, J. and Rubin, R. (2014) How video production affects student engagement: An empirical study of MOOC videos. In Proceedings of the First ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale. See http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2566239. Harper, F., Green, H. and Fernandez-Toro, M. (2012) Evaluating the integration of Jing screencasts in feedback on written assignments. In Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning. See http://www.icl-conference.org/ icl2012/. Hattie, J. and Timperley, H. (2007) The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research 77 (1), 81–112. Ice, P., Curtis, R., Phillips, P. and Wells, J. (2007) Using asynchronous audio feedback to enhance teaching presence and students’ sense of community. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks 11 (2), 3–25. Li, K. and Akahori, K. (2008) Development and evaluation of a feedback support system with audio and playback strokes. CALICO Journal 26 (1), 91–107. Lunt, T. and Curran, J. (2010) ‘Are you listening please?’ The advantages of electronic audio feedback compared to written feedback. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 35 (7), 759–769.

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Mathisen, P. (2012) Video feedback in higher education: A contribution to improving the quality of written feedback. Universitetsforlaget, Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy 7 (2) 97–116. Mayer, R.E. (2005) Cognitive theory of multimedia learning. In R. Mayer (ed.) The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning (pp. 31–48). New York: Cambridge University Press. McGarrell, H. and Alvira, R. (2013) Innovation in techniques for teacher commentary on ESL writers’ drafts. Cahiers de l’ILOB 5, 37–55. Merry, S. and Orsmond, P. (2008) Students’ attitudes to and usage of academic feedback provided via audio fi les. Bioscience Education eJournal 11 (1), 1–11. Morra, A.M. and Asis, M.I. (2009) The effect of audio and written teacher responses on EFL student revision. Journal of College Reading and Learning 39 (2), 68–81. Olesova, L.A., Weasenforth, D., Richardson, J.D. and Meloni, C. (2011) Using asynchronous instructional audio feedback in online environments: A mixed methods survey. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching 7 (1), 30–42. Paivio, A. and Begg, I. (1981) Psychology of Language. New Jersey, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Seror, J. (2012) Show me! Enhanced feedback through screencasting technology. TESL Canada Journal 30 (1), 104–116. Sheen, Y. (2010) The role of oral and written corrective feedback in SLA. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 32 (2), 169–179. Shute, V.J. (2008) Focus on formative feedback. Review of Educational Research 78 (1), 153–189. Thompson, R. and Lee, M. (2012) Talking with students through screencasting: Experimentations with video feedback to improve student learning. The Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy 1. See http://jitp.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2012/ talking-with-students-through-screencasting-experimentations-with-video-feedbackto-improve-student-learning/. Truscott, J. (1996) The case against grammar correction in L2 writing classes. Language Learning 46 (2), 327–369. Truscott, J. (2007) The effect of error correction on learners’ ability to write accurately. Journal of Second Language Writing 16 (4), 255–272. Van Beuningen, C.G., De Jong, N.H. and Kuiken, F. (2011) Evidence on the effectiveness of comprehensive error correction in second language writing. Language Learning 62 (1), 1–41. Wolfe-Quintero, K., Inagaki, S. and Kim, H.Y. (1998) Second Language Development in Writing: Measures of Fluency, Accuracy & Complexity. Honolulu, HI: Second Language Teaching & Curriculum Center, University of Hawai’i at Manoa.

Appendix 1: Error Codes and Classifications

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

Mechanical/spelling error. Inputting/keyboarding error. Lexical/vocabulary error. Missing, wrong or extra particle. Inappropriate verb. Incorrect verb conjugation. Incorrect verb tense. Problem with existence/location. Incorrect word order (general). Incorrect conjugation of the adjective.

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(11) (12) (13) (14)

Conjunction problem, including incorrect punctuation. Demonstrative noun or adjective problem. Meaning of the sentence is not clear. Not incorrect but could be improved with style revision or more context/detail. (15) Other. Appendix 2: Participant Questionnaire

(1) Please indicate your level of agreement to the following statements regarding the conventional written feedback provided for your writing assignment: strongly disagree

disagree

neither agree nor disagree

agree

strongly agree

The written feedback was easy to understand.

□

□

□

□

□

The written feedback was detailed.

□

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□

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The written feedback was of appropriate length.

□

□

□

□

□

The written feedback helped me to correct my errors.

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□

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The written feedback was useful for future drafts and assignments.

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□

□

(2) Please indicate your level of agreement to the following statements regarding the screencast (video) oral feedback provided for your writing assignment: strongly disagree

disagree

neither agree nor disagree

agree

strongly agree

The screencast feedback was easy to understand.

□

□

□

□

□

The screencast feedback was detailed.

□

□

□

□

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The screencast feedback was of appropriate length.

□

□

□

□

□

The screencast feedback helped me to correct my errors.

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□

□

□

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The screencast feedback was useful for future drafts and assignments.

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□

□

□

□

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(3) Please indicate which type of feedback you prefer and your reasons for OR Screencast preference. Conventional written feedback □ Why? (video) oral feedback □ (4) Please comment on any negative aspects that you feel apply to the conventional written feedback on your writing assignment and your ability to use it to help you learn Japanese. (5) Please comment on any positive aspects that you feel apply to the conventional written feedback on your writing assignment and your ability to use it to help you learn Japanese. (6) Please comment on any negative aspects that you feel apply to the screencast oral (video) feedback on your writing assignment and your ability to use it to help you learn Japanese. (7) Please comment on any positive aspects that you feel apply to the screencast oral (video) feedback on your writing assignment and your ability to use it to help you learn Japanese. (8) Why are you studying Japanese? Please comment on your level of motivation for studying the language. (9) How important is it to you to get a good grade in your Japanese language class? Why?

3 The Pedagogical Value of Web-Based Readings in the JFL Classroom Abigail McMeekin

Introduction

In the last decade, our traditional notion of literacy has been reshaped by technology. To be literate in today’s society, one has to be skilled in digital literacies: ‘the modes of reading, writing and communication made possible by digital media’ (Hafner et al., 2015: 1), which includes, among other things, web-based reading, text creation (e.g. blogs and wikis), multimodal interactive media (e.g. online gaming), and synchronous text and verbal communication (Hockly et al., 2013; Jones et al., 2015). Recent research shows that among young people web-based reading is preferred over print-based reading (Singer & Alexander, 2017) and requires very different skills (Hafner et al., 2015; Jones, 2016). Compared to print-based readings, web-based material provides a nonlinear, 3D experience with a range of hypermedia sources (e.g. pictures, audio, video, hypertext). As such, it demands a wide range of reading strategies including managing multiple modes of information, fi nding the reading path in a nonlinear environment, and using computer-mediated tools to successfully comprehend and navigate online texts (Afflerbach & Cho, 2008; Hafner et al., 2015; Jones & Hafner, 2012; Salmeron et al., 2018). Unfortunately, instruction on and research into new literacies in second or foreign language (FL) learning contexts has been slow to take hold (Lai, 2017; Son & Windeatt, 2017) and FL textbooks often do not address digital literacy (Guikema & Williams, 2014). This is especially the case for a non-alphabetic, less-commonly-taught language (LCTL) such as Japanese, which poses specific challenges for readers because it combines the use of different orthographies (kanji – Chinese characters; hiragana and katakana – two native syllabaries) and has no space between words. In fact, most Japanese textbooks still focus on print readings typically modified to contain only the vocabulary, grammar and kanji that 60

The Pedagogical Value of Web-Based Readings in the JFL Classroom 61

students know at a given level. That the text is often so modified that it no longer represents authentic language use is not surprising considering the number of kanji (around 2000) readers have to know to read authentic text. Add to this the fact that Japanese readers need to know more vocabulary (40%) to be skilled in reading as compared to only 30% for readers of other languages (Komori et al., 2004) and there leaves no doubt as to why instruction and research on web-based reading in Japanese as a second and foreign language (JSL/JFL) classrooms is lagging behind. In this day and age of digital literacies, this approach is no longer sufficient. As Godwin-Jones (2013: 16) points out, ‘It is even more important for LCTL students to have their instructors from the very beginning incorporate technology in a way that makes it clear that this knowledge and these skills are essential to learning the target language.’ Indeed, research on different languages in a second language (L2) context shows that the benefits of web-based reading significantly affects learning and reading proficiency. Specifically, web-based reading increases student motivation (Godwin-Jones, 2013; Luck, 2008; Souleyman, 2009), promotes vocabulary acquisition (Chun, 2001; Peterson, 2016; Yoshii, 2006; Yun, 2011), imparts cultural-specific knowledge (Dubreil et  al., 2004; Jones & Hafner, 2012), increases learner autonomy (Luck, 2008) and promotes the use of different reading strategies including those that utilize both lower- and higher-level processing skills (Kitajima, 2002; Luck, 2008; Park & Kim, 2011). Of these, Peterson (2016) is the only study that focused on Japanese web-based reading. He found that students who read folk tales online with access to only Google Search for vocabulary and kanji meanings learned more vocabulary and kanji than students who read print-based manga or engaged in video games. Despite Peterson's study, we still know little about how web-based reading affects learning outcomes in JFL classrooms. For these reasons, the present study sought to understand the different outcomes and learning opportunities of utilizing web-based reading activities in an intermediate JFL classroom. Specifically, this study asked the following: How do online reading activities affect: (1) Affective variables such as motivation and confidence? (2) Productive outcomes such as immediate recall of vocabulary, kanji, and culture? Literature Review Affective variables

Studies show that learners are motivated by interesting, authentic texts that engage them in intentional reading purposes (Al Seghayer, 2013; Guthrie et al., 2004), and that increasing motivation to read is likely to have a significant impact on learning (Warschauer, 1997). While many

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second language acquisition (SLA) scholars have investigated the relationship between extensive in-print reading and affective variables such as motivation (Asraf & Ahmad, 2003; Cho & Krashen, 1994; Hitosugi & Day, 2004; Leung, 2002; Rankin, 2005), only a few have looked explicitly at web-based reading and affective aspects (Arnold, 2009; Luck, 2008; Taylor, 2006; Yun, 2011). These four studies found that several factors specific to web-based reading contributed to increased motivation, interest and autonomy. Luck’s (2008) study of 46 high school learners of German compared a treatment group (A) who read web-based nonlinear plus linear (textbook) texts with a control group (B) who read only linear (textbook) texts. The goal was to see how each condition affected students’ ability to skim and scan, as well as their participation and motivation. She found that the treatment group surpassed the control group in their ability to skim and scan. Additionally, the treatment students were highly motivated by the variety of authentic materials available in the target language, the use of modern technology (which they had positive attitudes toward) and the ease of using the web, which allowed them to do things autonomously outside of the classroom. In his study of an optional, extensive online reading program and its effect on eight advanced learners of German, Arnold (2009) similarly found that the students enjoyed the online reading and were motivated to read even difficult texts. Both Luck (2008) and Arnold (2009) found that web-based reading expanded their participants’ motivation so much so that they read additional online texts not required by the course. Other studies (Taylor, 2006; Yun, 2011) have confirmed that students appreciate the ease of use of modern technology. Both studies involved a meta-analysis of numerous studies to determine the effect of different types of glosses. Taylor (2006) found that computer-assisted first language (L1) glosses increased learner comprehension of texts and their motivation to read more than traditional paper-based L1 glosses. Similarly, Yun’s (2011) meta-analysis showed that, among other things, the use of hypertext and hypermedia glosses had a positive effect on students’ motivation. Overall, these studies show that web-based reading offers learners features not present in traditional print-based readings that increase motivation, interest and autonomy. Vocabulary learning

SLA scholars have long argued that the most crucial component in reading comprehension is vocabulary knowledge (Horiba, 2012; Lee & Schaller, 1997). Reading research shows learners acquire vocabulary through authentic target language materials that expose them to comprehensible input at the i + 1 level (Krashen, 1985), input that is slightly above the learner’s current level of competence, which is required for acquisition (Lightbown & Spada, 1999). Thus, a research focus in reading studies on

The Pedagogical Value of Web-Based Readings in the JFL Classroom 63

technology use in SLA has been on how computer-mediated tools such as hypertext glosses provide comprehensible, i + 1 input and facilitate vocabulary acquisition (Chun, 2001; Souleyman, 2009; Yun, 2011). Hypertext glosses and other computer-mediated tools (e.g. dictionaries, translation sites) have received considerable attention when it comes to web-based reading. Overall, research shows that online tools aid comprehension and facilitate vocabulary acquisition (Rafatbakhsh & Alavi, 2014; Souleyman, 2009). Peterson (2016), for instance, examined incidental learning of intermediate Japanese language students in three conditions; online reading, print-based (manga) and digital game-based reading. He found that online reading facilitated more incidental vocabulary and kanji recall than the other two conditions because of the ease of cutting and pasting vocabulary into Google Translate. More broadly, Abraham’s (2008) meta-analysis of 11 SLA studies that focused on digital text reading with computer-mediated glosses showed a significant positive effect on incidental vocabulary learning and retention. Several other studies have confirmed that glosses improve both short-term recall and longterm retention of vocabulary (Chun, 2001; Souleyman, 2009; Yun, 2011). However, use of hypertext glosses and online dictionaries is not without caveats. In an early study, Fraser (1999) found that when Francophone learners of English inferred a word then looked it up in a dictionary, they recalled the word 50% of the time compared to 30% recall rate if they merely looked it up without inferring it first. This means that the immediate availability of hypertext glosses, which discourages inferring, may negatively affect vocabulary learning. Indeed, a couple of studies on learners of Japanese found that the lower-level students generally did not attempt to infer unknown words on their own (Tabata-Sandom, 2016; Wake, 2013). The students simply resorted to using pop-up hypertext glosses, which required minimal processing, and therefore achieved only a minimum level of comprehension and vocabulary retention. These two authors suggested although higher-level students were able to infer words, the text was too difficult for lower-level students, who resorted to excessive use of pop-up glosses, resulting in slower reading time and shallower comprehension. Since effective reading combines both lower (e.g. at the word level) and higher-level (e.g. inferring, predicting) processing, this finding points to the need for instructors to design web-based reading tasks at the i + 1 level that explicitly scaffold learners through the reading process (see Thorne & Reinhardt, 2008 – ‘bridging activities’) to promote the application of a range of reading strategies such as setting goals, problem solving as well as making predictions and inferences. Synthesizing this information, one of the goals of the present study was to investigate the vocabulary recall of students who read authentic online texts with the help of a task sheet that prompted student to use bottom-up (pop-up dictionary hypertext glosses) processes and scaffolded them to use top-down processes such as activating schema to make predictions on content.

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Kanji learning

Two types of research are relevant to the current study as they offer insight into how students might acquire kanji through web-based reading. The fi rst type of research examines strategies students use to figure out the meaning of novel (new) kanji compounds. Research specific to Japanese L2 learners shows that use of contextual cues, especially paired with another orthographic-specific source of information, increases a readers’ ability to infer the meaning of unknown kanji compared to when only one of those sources of information is made available to them (Mori, 2002; Mori & Nagy, 1999). Likewise, in her review of studies that focused on word-level processing skills for in-print reading, Toyoda (2007) found that three strategies were shown to enhance autonomous learning of kango (Japanese words of Chinese origin): (1) making use of morphemic and phonetic clues; (2) making use of the information conveyed by constituent kanji characters including radicals, smaller components of kanji that carry semantic or phonetic information: and (3) analyzing syntactic and semantic information outside of the words. Thus, research shows that when students read new kanji, they should use both lower (e.g. morphemic and phonetic clues) and higher-level (e.g. guessing via context) strategies to determine the meaning. What remains to be seen is what kinds of strategies students use to guess the meaning of unknown kanji in web-based reading environments. Other research relevant to this study is on how learner beliefs affect how they learn and process kanji (Everson & Kuriya, 1998; Mori, 1999; Mori et al., 2007). Mori et al.’s study (2007), for instance, revealed that students’ belief that kanji requires special skills (a reflection of their lack of confidence in their own kanji learning aptitude) was negatively correlated with their ability to infer novel kanji meanings, awareness of radicals and choice of contextually appropriate readings. Everson and Kuriya’s (1998) study offers somewhat different insight as they had students do a think-aloud protocol while reading a portion of an authentic Japanese newspaper article. Students made it clear that the articles were too difficult to read, there was too much kanji and that they felt overwhelmed. Everson and Kuriya (1998) concluded that because the students had significantly negative views of kanji, they mainly used their knowledge of kana to decode meaning in the text, yielding poor comprehension results. These studies show that a significant hurdle for students reading authentic Japanese texts is the level of difficulty of the text, their feeling of being overwhelmed, and the belief that understanding kanji is not within their current abilities. Given that these beliefs affect their ability to decipher the meaning of new kanji and therefore overall text comprehension, the importance of having kanji strategies and computer-mediated tools when reading in a web-based environment to aid in identifying kanji meaning cannot be understated. A case in point is Peterson (2016), who looked

The Pedagogical Value of Web-Based Readings in the JFL Classroom 65

at incidental kanji learning from web-based reading content. He found that the students immediately recalled more kanji and vocabulary from the online readings as compared to the gaming and in-print readings. Peterson suggested that this was due to the ease of looking up words by cutting and pasting them into Google Translate in the online condition versus having to manually type them into Google Translate in the two other conditions. This meant that students could process more kanji/vocabulary in less time and focus on understanding the text. The logical conclusion is that easier, faster methods of obtaining kanji/vocabulary information like hypertext glosses are likely to facilitate more recall after the activity. In addition to facility and speed of use, the types of information hypertext glosses offer and how they rank in terms of effectiveness has been a focus in studies on vocabulary acquisition that could similarly be applied to kanji. Overall fi ndings show that multimodal glosses (e.g. text, picture, video, audio) are most helpful because they allow learners to choose modes consistent with their learning styles (Souleyman, 2009). While the effectiveness of L1 or L2 text plus picture glosses is shown to be the most effective combination of information resulting in more recall (Yoshii, 2006; Yoshii & Flaitz, 2002), the pop-up dictionary used in this study did not include pictures, video and audio for the kanji, rather only L1 defi nitions and L2 text readings. Nevertheless, Mayer’s (2001) Generative Theory of Multimedia Learning states that multimedia presentations of information lead to better cognitive processing and therefore acquisition. Cultural learning

Cultural knowledge has long been considered a critical component of what L2 learners need to know to be competent in a target language (Saville-Troike, 2003). However, investigating how web-based reading can contribute to students’ cultural knowledge has been slow to catch on in SLA. The only study that has specifically examined cultural learning via authentic web-based text reading, Dubreil et al. (2004), defi ned culture as practices (patterns of social interaction, behavior), products (tangible/ intangible creations) and perspectives (meanings, beliefs, values etc.) (based on Standards, 1999). They examined 54 learners of French and their cultural knowledge gains gleaned from surfi ng several websites that covered a variety of cultural topics. The results from the pre/post-test questionnaires showed that while the students’ knowledge of culture had increased in all three categories of culture, they reported learning more about ‘products’. Dubreil et al. (2004: 56) argued that the internet may be more conducive to learning about cultural products just because it tends ‘to focus more on discrete facts and information’. Unlike the present study, Dubreil et al. (2004) used readings focused on cultural topics. Moreover, students were prompted with an advanced

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organizer that directed their attention toward cultural learning. Dubreil et al. note, however, that all authentic texts are infused with references to native culture and for this reason, web-based activities are excellent resources from which to learn culture. This suggests that students are likely to learn culture incidentally even when reading texts are not specifi cally focused on culture. Setting and Participants

This study was conducted in an intermediate (third semester) Japanese language class at a Canadian university. Although the class was made up of 14 students, one student, a native speaker of Chinese, was excluded from the study because he already knew kanji and this was likely to skew the results. This left a total of 13 eligible students. Thus, eight males and five females, ages 18–26, participated in the study. Four of the participants had studied Japanese in high school. Based on a placement test, however, they were placed in the Beginner I (fi rst semester) level. Three of the participants reported brief stays in Japan (2 weeks to 1 month). The instructor-researcher also participated by facilitating discussions on the online reading activity. Methodology

The first step in the implementation of the web-based reading was to create a task that was practical, authentic and similar to what students might do in their L1. Since students often talk about wanting to travel to Japan, a task where they had to fi nd a restaurant in a Japanese city was created. The scenario is as follows (see Appendix A for full task sheet): You are studying in Hakodate, Japan for the summer. You and some friends would like to go out for lunch. Everyone wants to eat American food. Use Japanese Trip Advisor (tripadvisor.jp) to fi nd a place that is highly ranked and in the middle range for price. Find out a) what restaurant is top-ranked based on your criteria, b) where it is, c) what is on the menu, d) how much the menu items are, e) when it is open and, f) what a reviewer has written about it.

To be able to complete this task, students were fi rst taught how to use the different computer-mediated tools to mitigate the difficulty of the authentic online content. Since the tripadvisor.jp website is designed for native speakers and contains a significant amount of unfi ltered vocabulary, grammar and kanji, it can easily lead to cognitive overload (Chun & Plass, 2000). For this reason, scholars recommend that instructors mediate and support students in the reading process (Dubreil et al., 2004). In terms of dealing with the large number of unknown kanji and vocabulary, students were taught how to use (a) the Jpn-Eng/Eng-Jpn word

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67

translation and kanji lookup of two online dictionaries: JDIC (http:// nihongo.monash.edu/cgi-bin/wwwjdic?1C) and Jisho (http://jisho.org/); (b) a pop-up dictionary browser extension, Rikai (http://www.rikai. com/), that provided hypertext glosses of L1 and L2 defi nitions for unknown vocabulary as well as L1 translations and L2 readings in kana of unknown kanji; and (c) a handwritten kanji recognition website (http:// kanji.sljfaq.org/draw.html) that allowed readers to look up unknown kanji by drawing the kanji with their computer mouse. At the beginning of the task, students were given a task sheet. This is because scholars maintain that pedagogical methods such as using ‘bridging activities’ (e.g. activating attention to schematic relationships) are needed to provide instructional guidance to help facilitate learners’ comprehension and reading strategy use in an online context (Thorne & Reinhardt, 2008). Accordingly, the task sheet contained questions and prompts that scaffolded the students through the activity. Figure 3.1 illustrates what was on the task sheet for the first three steps of the task (See Appendix A for the full task sheet). Since research shows that questions and prompts in the L2 can be distracting and create cognitive overload (Filipi, 2012), the questions were provided in English, except where it was necessary to use Japanese. Each sub-task was broken down into micro-steps (as in Figure 3.1: 3(a)–(d) below) providing scaffolding to students that prompted analysis of the text in a way meant to mimic the cognitive reading process. That is, both top-down (e.g. inferencing) and bottom-up (e.g. character/word decoding) processing are essential for reading comprehension (Alderson, 2000; Koda, 1994), and task sheets should therefore reflect a combination of the two. For instance, several steps encouraged students to infer the meaning of words based on context and to use their knowledge of kanji before looking at the L1 translation provided by Rikai’s hypertext glosses (see Figure 3.1: 3(a)). These types of prompts are based on fi ndings that show students retain more words when they infer word meaning before looking it up in a dictionary as compared to just inferring without looking it up (Fraser, 1999). Likewise, students were given

Figure 3.1 Portion of the task sheet

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instructions to engage in bottom-up, lower-level processing (see Appendix A, question 6). To give a more specific example, as the task sheet (Figure 3.1) shows above, the fi rst task students were asked to do once they accessed the website was to change the currency to yen and fi nd the name for several different countries’ currencies (e.g. Canadian dollar, Euro, Russian ruble), which were listed in the drop-down menu. This is because when someone goes on to TripAdvisor to look up a restaurant, they generally want the prices to reflect the target country. Choosing Japanese currency not only gives the students an authentic feel for how much things cost in Japan, but it prompts them to look at the words for other countries’ currencies. Figure 3.2 shows the drop-down menu for the currency selection and the use of rikai hypertext glosses (box to the right with explanations in English) to provide the reading of the kanji that was chosen (英国 – eikoku – Great Britain). To collect pre-activity data, students fi lled out a pre-activity questionnaire (Figure 3.3).

Figure 3.2 Currency type

Figure 3.3 Pre-activity questionnaire

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Figure 3.4 Post-activity questionnaire

This short questionnaire gauged the students’ prior experience of looking up a restaurant on a review website (Q1), interest and motivation concerning performing the task (Q2, Q5) and confidence that they could do the task in Japanese (Q4). Question 3 also served as an advanced organizer meant to activate the students’ schematic knowledge of the subject and engage their lower- and higher-level reading skills, which scholars maintain is an integral part of reading (Alderson, 2000). The questionnaire was followed by a short discussion with the students about their answers. This was recorded and the researcher took notes. The original answer sheets were also gathered to analyze along with the post-activity feedback session. Immediately after the students completed the task, a post-activity questionnaire (Figure 3.4) was given that included asking students to do a free recall of any kanji, vocabulary and culture they remembered from the activity. Similar to the pre-activity questionnaire, the questions gauged how confi dent (Q10) the students were that they could do the activity on their own and how motivated they were to read and do similar activities on their own (Q9). In addition, they were asked to identify strategies they used (Q6), how this activity was different from in-print exercises (Q7) and what they liked or did not like about the activity (Q8). A discussion of the answers was conducted immediately after the students fi lled out the questionnaire to gather any details or opinions not garnered by the pen and paper questions. As with the pre-activity discussion, the post-activity discussion was recorded, the researcher took notes on what was discussed and the questionnaires were gathered.

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Results and Discussion Prior knowledge

The pre-activity questionnaire (Figure 3.3, Q1–5) and ensuing discussion revealed that all the students had looked up restaurant reviews online in English, but had never done so in Japanese (Q1). All but two students had used TripAdvisor or Yelp in English. These two had accessed a restaurant’s website directly for information. This meant that all students had basic background knowledge about restaurant websites. They indicated that the primary motivation for looking up restaurants online (Q2) was to see the menu, reviews, prices and location and noted that this information is what they expected to see on similar Japanese websites as well (Q3). However, students commented that an additional motivation to look up restaurants in Japanese (versus in English) was to read/decipher the menu ahead of time rather than having to do so in the restaurant. Knowing the menu ahead of time, they noted, would save time and embarrassment at not being able to read specific items. As mentioned previously, these three questions were meant to prime students for the task by activating schematic knowledge. Reminding students of how restaurant review websites are organized and the types of information made available activates higher level processing that allows them to make general assumptions and predictions about the reading content (Grabe, 2004, 2009). Moreover, asking them to write down their typical motivations for accessing information sets up specific reading purposes and stimulates planning to focus on selective content, which scholars note is essential for motivation and successful comprehension (Coiro & Dobler, 2007). Confidence and motivation

Question 4 of the pre-activity questionnaire (Figure 3.3) asked the students to rank their confidence regarding the likelihood that they ‘would be able to go on a Japanese review website and look up a restaurant.’ Twelve students reported (see Table 3.1) that it was ‘unlikely’ and one reported ‘somewhat likely’, resulting in an average of 1.08 (unlikely). This indicated an overall low level of confidence in their ability to navigate a Japanese restaurant review website. In the ensuing discussion, all the students agreed that unknown vocabulary written in kanji would be the most significant barrier to being able to read information on the website. Previous studies have also found that students’ low confidence in reading Japanese texts is associated with the belief that reading unknown kanji is difficult (Everson & Kuriya, 1998; Mori, 1999; Mori et al., 2007; Saito et al., 1999). The post-activity questionnaire (Figure 3.4, Q4) revealed that the students’ confidence rose from an average of 1.08 (unlikely) to 3.39 (likely) (see Table 3.1). Specifically, after the activity, eight students reported that

The Pedagogical Value of Web-Based Readings in the JFL Classroom 71

Table 3.1 Reported levels of confidence and motivation Confidence (1 = unlikely, 2 = somewhat likely, 3 = likely, 4 = highly likely)

Motivation (1–10, 10 = extremely motivated)

Pre-activity (Figure 3.3, Q#4)

Post-activity (Figure 3.4, Q#10)

Pre-activity (Figure 3.3, Q#5)

Post-activity (Figure 3.4, Q#9)

1

1

3

10^

10

2

1

3

10^

10

3

1

4

10~

10

4

1

4

9^

10

5

1

3

10^

10

6

1

3

10^

9

7

1

4

10^

10

8

1

4

10^

10

9

1

4

10^

10

10

1

3

9^

10

11

1

3

10^

10

12

1

3

9~

10

13

1

3

10^

10

Average

1.08

3.39

Student

9.77

9.93

^ = student’s comment indicates intrinsic motivation. ~ = student’s comment indicates extrinsic motivation.

they were likely to be able to look up a restaurant and five students indicated they were highly likely. During the post-activity discussion session, students commented on how easy and useful the pop-up dictionary was for looking up kanji and vocabulary. Several noted that without the pop-up dictionary, they would not have been able to navigate the website. They also commented that the task sheet was integral in navigating the website as it helped them maintain focus on specific tasks while fi ltering out distracting and unnecessary information. These comments suggest that both the online (hypertext L1 and L2 glosses, pictures, Google Maps) and offl ine (task sheet) resources provided the necessary conditions required for learning. Namely, they provided the students with comprehensible input (Long, 1996) and focused the students’ attention (Schmidt, 1990), thereby making the authentic, unmodified text comprehensible. Regarding motivation (Figure 3.3, Q5), students reported high levels of motivation before the activity (see Table 3.1), with a student average of 9.77 out of 10. When asked in the discussion to clarify their motivation, 11 students reported intrinsic motivation (indicated by ^ in Table 3.1), namely they were interested in reading about real restaurants with reviews

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written by native speakers and learning different vocabulary and kanji. Two students indicated their motivation was mainly extrinsic (indicated by ~ in Table 3.1): ‘It is part of the assignment and we get graded on it’ (though this was not the case). In general, however, these results are consistent with the fi ndings showing students are motivated by reading texts that are interesting, authentic and have an intentional reading purpose (Guthrie et al., 2004). The post-activity questionnaire (Figure 3.4, Q5) asked students how motivated they were to do similar types of tasks on the internet. Table 3.1 shows that all students reported they would be highly motivated (9–10). The discussion revealed that the students felt the web-reading task was ‘fun, interesting, informative and challenging’ because it exposed them to new ‘real-life’ vocabulary, grammar and kanji. Their answers to Question 7 (How was this exercise different from a traditional workbook exercise?) reiterated many of these same sentiments. Students commented that, unlike textbook reading, the web-reading task was more interactive in that they could click hyperlinks to see pictures of the food, menu and interior of the restaurant as well as to figure out how to get to the restaurant via Google Maps. This made the task more authentic and similar to what, as digital natives (Prensky, 2001), these students would do if they had to look up a restaurant in their L1 (English). Students also said that beyond being interested in the task, their motivation to do similar reading activities increased because they now knew how to use the tools and techniques to navigate a Japanese website successfully. The ease of use of the pop-up dictionary empowered them to look up unfamiliar vocabulary and kanji they found new and interesting. These comments confirm fi ndings that the authentic content of web-based readings and the ease of use of technology are highly motivating for students (Arnold, 2009; Luck, 2008) and may even encourage them to do further web-reading outside the classroom. Vocabulary recall

In the post-activity questionnaire, the students were asked to engage in a free recall of vocabulary by writing down words that they did not know before the activity. The list of the words they recalled (Table 3.2) shows that the pop-up dictionary hypertext glosses (L1 meaning, L2 text reading of kanji) provided the students with comprehensible input that enabled them to recall several words post-activity. A few patterns were noted in the results. First, the students mainly wrote down words specifically targeted by the task sheet (indicated with an asterisk *). This is not surprising given that drawing explicit attention to unknown words is known to promote vocabulary learning (Coady et al., 1993; Hunt & Beglar, 2005). Second, most of the words recalled met the criteria of input at i + 1, the level of input required for students to

The Pedagogical Value of Web-Based Readings in the JFL Classroom 73

Table 3.2 Vocabulary recall results placed in task subcategories

incorporate new knowledge into their already existing knowledge (Krashen, 1985). These i + 1 words contained either a kanji students already knew or were English loan words (in katakana), thus just one level beyond their current lexical knowledge. Given their prior knowledge of the kanji and/or the English meaning of these words, the cognitive load required to remember them was relatively low. Third, students recalled words by grouping them around common or associated criteria such as words associated with particular parts of the reading task (e.g. words used in ratings – excellent, good, poor, bad). In fact, the students wrote the words on the post-activity questionnaire in lists that indicated which category they belonged to as if recalling one word led to another in the same category. This suggests that the task itself, along with the task questions (e.g. identify four types of cuisine) and the lists of words provided on the website activated the students’ schematic memory, enabling students to recall words in categorical bundles, which reduces cognitive load (Sweller, 1988) and reinforces vocabulary learning and retention (Souleyman, 2009).

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Antithetical to these fi ndings, however, is that even when words met all three criteria, that is, they were (a) targeted by the task sheet; (b) belonged to a salient category of words; and were (c) at the i + 1 level, students did not necessarily recall them. While it is improbable for all students to remember all words due to limited memory capacity and cognitive resources, some words, such as derikatessen (delicatessen), met all three criteria but not one student recalled it in the ‘restaurant types’ category (Table 3.2, column 3). It could be argued that the word delicatessen is a bit of an outlier in terms of restaurant types (compared with – Asian food, Italian food, fast food, etc.) or that it is a longer katakana (loan) word than say, bakery (beekarii). For these reasons it might have been just beyond the i + 1 level, which leads to another observation: if words did not meet the i + 1 criteria, regardless of being targeted by the task sheet and belonging to a category of words, they were the least likely to be recalled. For instance, words such as Chinese currency (人民元 – jinmingen) and other kanji based words that were targeted on the task sheet (e.g. 国内 – kokunai – domestic/within country) were not recalled by any of the students. Compared to the list of words students recalled, these words were beyond the students’ current level of lexical knowledge. Lastly, while the evidence is minimal, there is some indication that students more successfully recalled certain words when they were prompted by the task sheet to guess/infer them rather than just use the pop-up dictionary (janru – genre (13), okosamatsure – take along a child (7), kuchikomi – word of mouth (13)). In fact, the task sheet prompted the students to guess at the meaning of ‘genre’ and ‘word of mouth’ before using the pop-up dictionary, and they were the only two words that all 13 students recalled. This lends some support to studies showing that inferring the meaning of a word before using a dictionary activates deep level processing that can result in better vocabulary retention and that the ease of use of pop-up dictionaries can result in minimal processing and lower retention (Tabata-Sandom, 2016; Wake, 2013). Kanji recall

After the activity, students were able to immediately recall and write down several kanji compounds that they did not know before. As with the vocabulary, most of the kanji recalled were those specifically targeted by the task sheet (marked by an asterisk * in Table 3.3). Table 3.3 breaks down the recalled kanji in three columns. The first column, semantically transparent kanji, lists those kanji compounds for which the students already knew both kanji but they were presented in a new-to-them combination, meaning or reading. This new aspect represents the +1 portion of i + 1. Not surprisingly, the number of kanji recalled in this column is higher than in the other columns.

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Table 3.3 Kanji recall results (number of students who recalled each kanji in brackets)

Column 2 lists semi-transparent kanji compounds in which students knew one of the kanji but not the other; thus the new kanji represented the +1 component. It could be argued, however, that recalling more difficult kanji such as 級 in 高級 (koukyuu – high class/level) represents higher than i + 1 learning. Comparatively speaking, this kanji is more difficult given the higher stroke number (9), abstract meaning and student unfamiliarity with the right side (及) kanji radical (radical = smaller components of kanji). Compare this to 者 in 旅行者 (ryokyousha – traveler), which has fewer strokes (8), the concrete meaning of ‘person’, and two radicals 耂 and 日, which students were familiar with. This discrepancy in difficulty may explain why, for instance, seven students recalled 旅行者 while only three recalled 高級. This does not explain, however, why 国内 (kokunai – domestic/in country), though targeted on the task sheet (Appendix A, 2), was not recalled by any of the students. 内, the portion of the kanji compound the students did not know, has a smaller stroke count (4) and simple radicals (冂 and 人). Students stated they did not remember this kanji (国内) when asked during the discussion. Some remembered, however, that this kanji was included in a question on the task sheet (Appendix A, 2) where the focus was mainly on the meaning of 口コミ (kuchikomi – word of mouth), which all the students remembered. This suggests that task sheets and organizers can play a vital role in promoting saliency and noticing, which is important in learning (Schmidt, 1990). Lastly, column 3 lists previously unknown kanji that students did not know before the activity. They may have known the word, but not the kanji. Interestingly, students recalled twice as many unknown kanji (6) than semi-transparent kanji (4), which may merely be an indication of the frequency of completely unknown versus semi-transparent kanji on the website. Some of the kanji in this category represent fairly simple (i + 1

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kanji), namely 市 (shi – city), 良い (yoi – good) and 丼 (donburi – rice dish). 悪い (warui – bad) may even be considered i + 1 because it combines a known radical (心) with an unknown one (亜). However, 寿司 (sushi), 美味しい (oishii – delicious) both contain two relatively difficult unknown kanji and are beyond the i + 1 level for the students. During the post-activity discussion session, students reported various strategies or reasons for remembering the diff erent kanji. Students reported that the semi-transparent kanji were the easiest to remember since they already knew the kanji in all the compounds even though the combinations and meanings were new to them. Students noted that these kanji (e.g. 本日 – honjitsu – today) mainly used the Chinese reading (onyomi), which contrasted with the textbook focus on the Japanese reading (kunyomi). Thus, reading the text on this website provided students with more practice of Chinese readings. The students who recalled new kanji (column 3) stated that they thought the kanji was interesting and they took a few minutes to memorize the kanji. Two even wrote the kanji down as a way to practice it. This shows that web-based readings can motivate students to look up and remember kanji for words they are interested in, something that Matsumoto (2007) noted when she suggested that intrinsic motivation would improve kanji retention. When students were asked about strategies in the post-activity questionnaire and discussion, they reported that their main strategy for deciphering unknown kanji was the use of hypertext glosses provided by the pop-up dictionary. That is, they often did not fi rst look at the kanji to see if it could be deciphered without hypertext help. This is consistent with observations made in other studies that students accessed dictionary help immediately and excessively, sometimes not processing the item deeply enough to root it in long-term memory (Tabata-Sandom, 2016). However, 10 out of the 13 students said that when they were prompted by the task sheet to guess the kanji before using the pop-up dictionary, they used bottom-up processing by identifying the kanji they already knew and guessing the meaning based on schematic or contextual knowledge. For instance, they recognized the kanji for child 子 (ko – child) in the phrase お子様連れ (okosamatsure – take along a child) and guessed that this indicated restaurants that were child-friendly. Some students commented that although they were prompted to guess the meaning of kanji compounds containing kanji they already knew, it was more difficult than they thought. Kanji compounds such as 店名 (tenmei – store name), for instance, were easier than 本店 (honten – main store), which students overwhelmingly guessed meant ‘bookstore’. As well, the compound 本日 (honjitsu – today) drew no correct guesses, with some students initially reading this backward as 日本 (nihon – Japan) and two students guessing that it meant something about ‘original day’, which was, in fact, closest to its meaning of ‘today’. This type of bottom-up process of guessing

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unknown kanji compounds by recalling the meaning of each kanji and then adding them together to get a complete word meaning thus reinforced student understanding of how kanji can have different meanings and pronunciations. The discussion on kanji led to some students asking about one of the semi-transparent kanji compounds, 旅行者 (ryokousha – traveler), which appeared in the restaurant ranking section. Note that seven students recalled this kanji though none of them had known it previously. Although the students knew the fi rst two kanji, the context did not provide enough clues for them to figure out the meaning of the entire kanji compound. After looking up the meaning with the pop-up dictionary, students understood that the third kanji meant ‘person’, which surprised them as they already knew one kanji for person, 人 (hito – person). Students remarked that they found the kanji easy to remember because the radicals that made up the kanji were already familiar to them (土 – land, 日– sun). Students were corrected and told that the radical was not 土 (land), but 耂 (old), which are similar but differ by one stroke. Radicals such as these are sometimes used in bottom-up processing to determine the meaning of a kanji. In this case, the radicals did not lend themselves to determining the meaning, rather, the students used the radicals to remember the shape of the kanji and were able to recall it on the post-activity questionnaire. Additionally, the instructor explained that 者 was often used as a suffi x meaning ‘person who does…’ for words the students were already familiar with in kana: 医者 (isha – doctor) and 芸者 (geisha – geisha). Two other words that combined 者 with kanji the students already knew were also introduced: 学者 (gakusha – scholar) and 科学者 (kagakusha – scientist). This discussion thus led to extended opportunities for learning because the students were exposed to new kanji that the instructor was able to tie to prior knowledge. In the end, students were provided with comprehensible (i + 1) input on the difference between similar radicals, the use of 者 as a suffix in vocabulary they already knew and in vocabulary they did not know with kanji they had already learned. The patterns noted previously about students recalling vocabulary words that were (a) targeted on the task sheet; (b) i + 1; and (c) belonged to a category of words, only somewhat played out in the kanji recall. That is, students did mainly recall kanji targeted on the task sheet (minus a few exceptions) and most of these words were at the i + 1 level; however, some students recalled words beyond the i + 1 level (e.g. sushi) because they were intrinsically motivated to remember them. Moreover, as evident on the way Table 3.2 columns are labeled, the kanji recalled did not fit into neat associated word bundles. Rather, the most important factor in recall seemed to be the i + 1 factor with the ‘i’ representing prior knowledge. That is, students recalled kanji compounds for which they knew one or both kanji or the vocabulary word itself. This points to a difference in how kanji recall might differ from vocabulary recall in tasks such as this.

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In terms of strategies used, students mentioned using their knowledge of individual kanji and utilizing semantic and phonetic radical information to guess at the meaning and pronunciation of the entire kanji compound. This indicated that students were using sub-word level processing (bottomup) to decipher kanji, particularly when they were prompted to do so by the task sheet. This also means that all three of Toyoda’s (2007) strategies (e.g. using (1) morphemic and phonetic clues; (2) semantic and phonetic elements of kanji characters and components; and (3) syntactic and semantic information) were utilized for deciphering unknown kanji. Using morphology (e.g. affixes, inflectional suffixes), however, was not mentioned by the students. This may be because the majority of kanji words recalled were nouns, which do not have inflectional suffixes. Only four of the kanji were adjectives with distinct inflectional suffi xes that offered clues as to the word type. Other types of reading tasks that have more extended reading paragraphs may be more conducive to using morphology as a strategy. Culture

Students reported minimal culture learning in the post-activity questionnaire. Similar to Dubreil et al. (2004), students reported learning more about cultural products than practices or perspectives. This came in the form of identifying names for the different food items (e.g. donburi – bowl of rice with different food on top) and genres (e.g. jingesukan – Genghis Khan grilled mutton) that students deemed uniquely ‘Japanese’. Although this may have been partly because of the nature of the content on the website, it also may have been because students defi ned culture very narrowly. Upon discussing the different types of culture (products, perspectives and practices) after the activity, students came up with more cultural learning that they had not originally recognized as cultural. For instance, students were keenly aware of the formality of the vocabulary on the website as compared to the vernacular versions they had learned in class, yet they had not considered this ‘culture’. One example was the formal 本日 (honjitsu – today) versus the vernacular 今日 (kyou– today). Technically, this falls under the category of linguistic practices. Two other linguistic practices were discussed based on the reading. Students were made aware of the use of creative Japanese loan words such as the use of 口コミ (kuchikomi – word of mouth) which combines the kanji for mouth, 口, and the truncated English loan word for ‘communication’. Students remarked on how they initially thought this word was read ‘rokomi’ (the katakana symbol ‘ro’ ロ is similar to the kanji character ‘kuchi’ 口) and upon checking it on hypertext, they found it was read kuchikomi. Understanding linguistic practices like combining words in novel ways meant for internet or advertising is considered a part of cultural knowledge. The use of シルバー (shirubaa – silver) as a euphemism for elderly people was another linguistic practice that students were made aware of.

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This led to a discussion of other phrases using silver such as ‘silver life’ (shirubaa raifu – elderly or retirement life) and ‘silver seat’ (shirubaa sheeto – bus/train seats meant for elderly passengers). This, in turn, was a segue into discussing the proliferation of the use of the word silver to describe services or products for the elderly in Japan due to the rapidly aging population. Summary and Conclusions

As an exploratory study, this chapter sought to evaluate the reported affective and learning outcomes of web-based reading tasks in a JFL intermediate classroom. The pre- and post-activity questionnaires, as well as discussions and observations, revealed several advantages, learning opportunities and a few caveats of web-based reading. Overall, the results provide a snapshot of how students are responding to real-life reading tasks on the internet. The fi ndings and conclusions are summarized here and, where applicable, pedagogical implications are noted. Concerning their incentive to do the online activity, students rated their motivation to do the web-based activity as ‘very high’ both pre- and post-activity. Pre-activity, the task appealed to students both on an intrinsic (wanting to travel in Japan) and extrinsic (for the sake of grades and classroom learning) level. Post-activity, the students described the task as fun, real and interesting, confirming fi ndings in other studies that show students are motivated to read online texts that are authentic and interesting (Godwin-Jones, 2013; Luck, 2008; Souleyman, 2009). However, to date, little attention has been paid as to how web-based reading affects student reading confidence. In this study, the students shifted in their level of confidence from believing they would not be able to navigate the website to overwhelmingly believing they would be able to do so. The initial low level of confidence stemmed from students’ fears of too many unknown vocabulary written in kanji. This is confi rmed in other studies that show negative beliefs and feeling overwhelmed about kanji can affect a student’s ability to decipher unknown kanji and comprehend text (Everson & Kuriya, 1998; Mori, 1999; Mori et  al. 2007). Students reported that the increase in confidence was due to the task sheet, which helped focus their attention and broke down the task into manageable chunks, and the ease of use of the hypertext glosses that alleviated their concerns about too many unknown kanji and vocabulary. These fi ndings on motivation and confidence have implications for learning. Both online (hypertext L1 and L2 glosses) and offline (task sheet, advanced organizers) resources appear to be essential to increasing confidence in being able to navigate web-based content mainly because they decrease cognitive burden by focusing the students’ attention and providing them with comprehensible input (Long, 1996), two conditions necessary for learning. It follows that if students are motivated and provided

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with the tools to be confident enough to look up information on Japanese websites, this potentially increases exposure to authentic, up-to-date, selfrated interesting material, which leads to opportunities for more learning outside the classroom. For the current study, students immediately recalled several vocabulary words, kanji characters and, to a lesser extent, cultural information. The vocabulary recalled from the task were mainly those targeted by the task sheet that met the i + 1 criteria. The majority of recalled vocabulary were English loan words that required minimal cognitive processing, but these were still at the level of i + 1 because of phonetic changes (+1). Moreover, students recalled the words in categories (e.g. currency types) that directly mapped and correlated to the sub-tasks in the task sheet. These fi ndings are supported in the literature; that students are likely to recall vocabulary not too far beyond their current level of proficiency (Long, 1996), which are made salient to them (Schmidt, 1990) and that can be bundled into similar categories (Sweller, 1988). The i + 1 condition seemed to be the deciding factor in the current study, meaning anything beyond i + 1 was least likely to be recalled. Even when these conditions were present; however, students did not always recall certain vocabulary even if targeted by the task sheet, perhaps due to memory limitation. In contrast, words that the task sheet specifically directed students to guess the meaning of before looking them up, were recalled at a higher rate than other words, confi rming fi ndings that show inferring the meaning of words might improve retention rate (Tabata-Sandom, 2016; Wake, 2013). Similar to vocabulary, the kanji students recalled were also mainly at the level of i + 1 that were targeted by the task sheet. In line with the i + 1 criteria, students recalled more semantically transparent kanji compounds (both kanji were known, but not the meaning or reading) and semi-transparent kanji (one kanji of the two known). Contrary to this, some students recalled kanji that one might consider slightly beyond the i + 1 level. These were completely novel kanji for them, but they were words they already knew. Students who remembered these kanji reported that they took the time to look up the kanji and practiced writing it a couple of times because they were interested in learning it, adding confirmation to findings that intrinsic motivation (Matsumoto, 2007) and extra processing (i.e. writing them down, looking up) can lead to better recall. Extra processing also occurred during the postactivity discussion about the meaning and use of the kanji 者 (sha – person), a suffix in vocabulary the students already knew. The discussion thus provided students with additional learning opportunities that tied their previous knowledge to kanji they were exposed to during the activity. In terms of strategies, students reported mainly using the pop-up hypertext gloss dictionary. However; they also used both schema and context along with prior logographic knowledge both at the individual kanji and radical level to identify unknown kanji, suggesting that although the immediacy of hypertext glosses may contribute to shallow processing,

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web-based reading activities also engage both higher- and lower-level processing skills, which facilitate reading comprehension (Alderson, 2000). Though students reported learning some cultural products (e.g. menu items and food genres), other types of cultural knowledge (practices and perspectives) were not reported on the questionnaire. Rather, knowledge of culture was gained during the discussion as byproducts of the reading, such as fi nding out that websites tend to use more formal counterparts of everyday words (linguistic practice). This could be because the type of web-based content did not contain a lot of cultural elements or a consequence of the students’ lack of awareness of what constitutes ‘culture’. In future studies, choosing materials that have more salient cultural content and making the students explicitly aware of different types of cultural knowledge (e.g. practices, perspectives, products) would likely increase opportunities for cultural learning. In sum, introducing web-based reading in the second/foreign language classroom provides opportunities for learning on a variety of levels. On a basic level, it teaches students to use computer-mediated tools which develop digital literacy skills as well as increase confidence, motivation, and autonomy, which ultimately leads to increased reading proficiency (Grabe, 2004). Specifically, for a web-based reading activity like the one described in the present study, Japanese instructors can reasonably expect students to learn some cultural knowledge, but mainly content-specific vocabulary and kanji at the i + 1 level that students are directed to focus on through a bridging activity (e.g. a task sheet). Additionally, individual interest in content beyond the i + 1 level may motivate some students to look up kanji and vocabulary and remember it. In addition to the basic fi ndings of this study, several pedagogical implications were noted that instructors and scholars alike might fi nd useful. For instance, this study shows that students are likely to recall content at the i + 1 level, which has implications for teaching lower level learners, who may fi nd web-based reading tasks overwhelming without extensive scaffolding. As such, it is important for instructors to determine what reading content is at the target students’ i + 1 level. Anything beyond the i + 1 level will likely require more extensive use of computer-mediated tools (e.g. pop-up dictionary) or scaffolding. In the current study, for example, the task sheet was designed to scaffold the students at every step and prompts were included to facilitate the use of both lower (e.g. identify known kanji) and higher (e.g. schema activation) level processing. Creating such scaffolding requires a lot of effort on the instructor’s part and an inordinate amount of time in class spent on doing the activity itself. Thus, creating task sheets that focus on smaller, shorter tasks would mitigate student overwhelm and require less instructor preparation. Likewise, using an e-learning software (e.g. iSpring – an authoring software used for developing e-learning courses) with an interactive question–answer platform that could provide immediate feedback

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(e.g. correct/incorrect answers) would allow students to do all or part of an activity outside the classroom, thus saving in-class time for more productive skill practice. One of the fi ndings during the post-activity discussions was that the discussions and/or task sheets could be used to create segues into extended learning. For instance, pointing out semi-transparent kanji in the reading can help students understand or reinforce the different meanings and readings of kanji already introduced in class. Instructors also have an opportunity to increase cultural knowledge through discussions on the use of words (e.g. silver) or social phenomena when only minimal information is presented on the website. Similarly, for kanji, pointing out prefi xes and suffi xes (e.g. ~ 者) or common radicals can improve not only students’ kanji knowledge but increase their vocabulary as well. Thus, one of the end goals of the task should be to provide students with learning opportunities beyond what is presented on the website itself. This includes using knowledge gained from reading exercises for more integrative activities that make use of different skills or combinations of skills (e.g. speaking, writing, listening) (Jing, 2006; Mohan, 1986; Nunan, 1989). For this study, examples of integrated activities may include having students look up different restaurant reviews and compare restaurants with their classmates in an oral exercise to decide which restaurant is better. Another idea would be to have students write a review of their favorite restaurant using the words and phrases they learned in the exercise. While this study provides insights into the learning opportunities that web-based reading provides, several gaps in our understanding still remain, and questions are raised that one would hope future research could address. First, the small number of students precludes generalizations about learning outcomes for learners of Japanese in general and at different proficiency levels in particular. The lack of a control group makes it difficult to comment on learning outcomes as compared to traditional paper-based reading outcomes. As well, future studies that test students’ long-term retention of vocabulary and kanji via delayed post-tests would also go a long way toward assessing whether long-term learning has occurred. Another intriguing question that this study raises is whether the use of (a) hypertext, (b) handwritten kanji lookup or (c) kanji lookup via radical identification and stroke count could be more effective than immediate pop-up hypertext readings and defi nitions. Options (b) and (c) require more work in terms of copying the strokes and kanji shape, identifying radicals and counting strokes, but studies show that the more attention and cognitive processing students put into deciphering words/ kanji, the more likely they are to retain it. Similarly, the data show that the type of reading task and what is focused on in the task sheet affect what is learned. Accordingly, future studies would do well to examine learning outcomes and opportunities using task sheets that direct students’ focus toward different features (e.g. grammar, culture).

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Mori, Y. and Nagy, W. (1999) Integration of information from context and word elements in interpreting novel kanji compounds. Reading Research Quarterly 34 (1), 80–101. Mori, Y., Sato, K. and Shimizu, H. (2007) Japanese language students’ perceptions on kanji learning and their relationship to novel kanji word learning ability. Language Learning 57 (1), 57–85. Nunan, D. (1989) Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom. New York: Cambridge University Press. Park, H.R. and Kim, D. (2011) Reading-strategy use by English as a second language learners in online reading tasks. Computers & Education 57 (3), 2156–2166. Peterson, J. (2016) Incidental learning of Japanese through reading online, in print, and in digital games. Master’s thesis. Brigham Young University – Provo See scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/5799. Prensky, M. (2001) Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon 9 (5), 1–6. Rafatbakhsh, E. and Alavi, S. (2014) The effect of online versus paper-based ‘Whodunits’ as out of class reading materials on the incidental vocabulary learning of Iranian EFL learners. International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World 7 (1), 79–91. Rankin, J. (2005) Easy reader: A case study of embedded extensive reading in intermediate German L2. Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German 38 (2), 125–134. Saito, Y., Horwitz, E. and Garza, T. (1999) Foreign language reading anxiety. The Modern Language Journal 83 (2), 202–218. Salmeron, L., Stromso, H.I., Kammerer, Y., Stadtler, M. and van den Broek, P. (2018) Comprehension processes in digital reading. In M. Barzillai, J. Thomson, S. Schroeder and P. van den Broek (eds) Learning to Read in a Digital World (pp. 91–120). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Saville-Troike, M. (2003) Extending communicative concepts in the second language curriculum: A sociolinguistic perspective. In D.L. Lange and R.M. Paige (eds) Culture as the Core: Perspectives on Culture in Second Language Learning (pp. 1–14). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing. Schmidt, R. (1990) The role of consciousness in second language learning. Applied Linguistics 11 (2), 129–158. Singer, L. and Alexander, P.A. (2017) Reading across mediums: Effects of reading digital and print texts on comprehension and calibration. The Journal of Experimental Education 85 (1), 155–172. Son, J.B. and Windeatt, S. (2017) Language Teacher Education and Technology. Approaches and Practices. Londres: Bloomsbury Academic. Souleyman, H.M. (2009) Implicit and explicit vocabulary acquisition with a computer-assisted hypertext reading task: Comprehension and retention. Unpublished dissertation, The University of Arizona. Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century (1999) Yonkers, NY: National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project. Sweller, J. (1988) Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. Cognitive Science 12, 257–285. Tabata-Sandom, M. (2016) How do learners of Japanese read texts when they use online pop-up dictionaries? The Reading Matrix: An International Online Journal 16 (2), 98–109. Taylor, A. (2006) The effects of CALL versus traditional L1 glosses on L2 reading comprehension. CALICO Journal 23 (2), 309–318. Thorne, S.L. and Reinhardt, J. (2008) Bridging activities, new media literacies, and advanced foreign language proficiency. CALICO Journal 25 (3), 558–572. Toyoda, E. (2007) Enhancing autonomous L2 vocabulary learning focusing on the development of word-level processing skills. The Reading Matrix 7 (3), 13–34. Wake, K. (2013) Chuukyuu nihongo gakushuusha no dokkai ni okeru konnanten: Thinkaloud hoo ni yoru jirei kenkyuu. [Reading difficulties of Intermediate Japanese

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learners: According to think-aloud case study]. Gengo Kagaku Kenkyuu: Kanda Gaigo Daigaku Daigakuin Kiyoo 19, 101–115. Warschauer, M. (1997) The internet for English teaching: Guidelines for teachers. TESL Reporter 30 (1), 27–33. Yoshii, M. (2006) L1 and L2 glosses: Their effects on incidental vocabulary learning. Language Learning and Technology 10 (3), 85–101. Yoshii, M. and Flaitz, J. (2002) Second language incidental vocabulary retention: The effect of picture and annotation types. CALICO Journal 20 (1), 33–58. Yun, J. (2011) The effects of hypertext glosses on L2 vocabulary acquisition: A metaanalysis. Computer Assisted Language Learning 24 (1), 39–58.

Appendix A The task

You are studying in Hakodate, Japan for the summer. You and some friends would like to go out for lunch. Everyone wants to eat American/ Western food. Use Japanese TripAdvisor to fi nd a place that is highly ranked and in the middle range for price. Find out (a) what restaurant is top ranked based on your criteria, (b) where it is, (c) what is on the menu, (d) how much the menu items are, (e) when it is open and (f) what a reviewer has written about it. • • • • •

First, Click on this link: http://www.tripadvisor.jp/Restaurants. Next, paste that same address into rikai.com. Hover over the words and kanji you want to look up. For an online dictionary: JDIC. Use the ‘text glossing’ tab by cutting and paste unknown words or kanji to fi nd out readings and/or meanings. Alternatively, you can use denshi jisho.

(1) Once on TripAdvisor, change currency to yen (fi nd the currency icon on the top right corner of the screen). (a) Find names for these currencies: Canada, India, U.S., Euro, Russia, and Great Britain. (2) The title above the green shaded box reads: トリップアドバイザ ーで、国内・海外のレストランの口コミをチェックしましょう。 (a) What does this mean? Look up words you don’t know. Be careful of the underlined portion. (3) The first blank is 都市名 – based on the 2nd and 3rd kanji – what do you think this means? (a) Write out the reading (in hiragana) of this kanji. (b) Write the meaning of this kanji in English (c) Type the appropriate word (based on the Task instructions) in the blank. (4) The second blank is a drop-down menu labeled 料理ジャンル. (a) What does this mean? (Hint: Identify the fi rst two kanji – which we know already).

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(5)

(6)

(7) (8) (9)

(10)

(b) What do you think the katakana word means? (Hint: Try looking at the words in the drop-down menu to determine the parent category meaning.) Now that you know what the category is, identify 4–5 types of food you can choose from: (a) Look at the list carefully. What similarities do you see in the way cuisines are labeled in Japanese? (b) Is Chinese food one of the choices? What is the kanji? How do you read it? How is this reading different from the way other countries’ food types are called in Japanese? (c) The list not only includes cuisine from different countries, it also includes the following types of food: バーベキュー、デザート、デ リカテッセン. What do these words mean? (d) What is the word for Vietnamese food in Japanese? (e) The fi rst choice on the list is ‘全ての料理’ – guess what this means (Hint: Based on your knowledge of what comes fi rst in a drop-down menu like this – what do you think it means?) (f) Look it up. Were you right? Write the reading in hiragana and the meaning in English. (g) Which type of cuisine should you choose based on your situation? The next blank is titled こんな人におすすめ and is a drop-down menu. Based on the drop-down menu, guess the meaning of this phrase. Look it up – were you right? (a) What types of items can you choose from on this list? Identify at least 4. (b) What do you think お子様連れ means? Guess then look it up for confi rmation. (c) What does the first option mean? こだわり条件 Look it up. (d) What does the last option mean? 安い事 – how is this phrase read in hiragana? (e) Which option is best for the situation? What are the boxes to the right for? Do not click anything here. After clicking the green button, you will see a list of recommended restaurants. What is the name of the top ranked one? Click on the top recommended restaurant. (a) Guess what 本日 means? (b) What time is the restaurant open today? (c) Is there a link for a map? How do you know? (d) How can you get to the restaurant from the nearest train station? On that same screen, fi nd the link for the menu. (a) What type of food do they serve? (b) Approximately how much are the meals there – how much is that in Canadian? (c) Do they serve lunch?

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(11) Go back to the previous menu (or tab) and see the ratings for this restaurant. (a) There are five different ratings – what are the phrases and their meanings? (12) The following review was taken from this website: Read it and answer the questions: What is the title the reviewer has given her/ himself? What does it mean?

(a) What type of restaurant did the reviewer think this was? Instead, what did s/he fi nd out about the restaurant? (b) What type of food does s/he say they have? (c) How does she describe the food? (d) What does this sentence mean? ボリュームたっぷりなので、小さ いお子さんと行くならバーガーひとつで… (e) Write down three words/phrases that you did not know before doing this activity.

Part 2 Collaborative Online Learning

4 Impact of Lexical Categories on SkypeMediated Multimodal Focus on Form and Vocabulary Learning: A Task-Based Study Yuka Akiyama

Introduction

Telecollaboration is an organized partnership between geographically distant foreign language learners for the purpose of language learning and intercultural competence development (Belz, 2003). One of the most popular telecollaborative set-ups is eTandem (Helm, 2015), in which learners of different native languages work together to help learn each other’s languages by using and practicing one language during the fi rst half of the session and the other language for the latter half (Cziko, 2004). Although previous studies on eTandem have shown that such dyadic interaction creates opportunities for language learning in a written mode of communication (e.g. text chat, email exchange) (e.g. Kötter, 2003; O’Rourke, 2005; Schwienhorst, 2004), second language (L2) learning in the video-mediated context has rarely been examined (see Akiyama & Saito, 2016; Saito & Akiyama, 2017 for such studies). With the popularity of videoconferencing tools such as Skype and Google Hangouts, it seems crucial to explore the process of meaning negotiation in a video-mediated interaction (i.e. multimodal focus on form) and the impact of such interaction on language learning. Thus, the current study examines L2 Japanese as a foreign language (JFL) students’ Skype-based multimodal focus on form (FonF) and vocabulary learning under two task conditions: one whose target vocabulary is nouns and the other whose target vocabulary is onomatopoeic verbs/adverbs.

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Task-Based Focus on Form

Second language acquisition (SLA) researchers have dedicated a considerable amount of energy to identifying interactional elements that may strengthen the link between interaction and L2 development (see Ellis, 2012 for a summary). Initially inspired by the early version of the interaction hypothesis (Long, 1983), researchers were mainly concerned about identifying strategies that are used to resolve communication breakdowns (e.g. clarification requests, comprehension checks and confi rmation checks) used in negotiation of meaning (Long, 1991; Pica, 1994). More recently, as more acquisitional benefits of conversational interaction are found (Mackey, 2012), the research focus has been extended to discerning task variables that can promote FonF regardless of communication breakdown (Révész, 2011). As such, an increasing body of research has been examining language-related episodes (LREs), ‘any part of the discourse where students talk about language they are producing, question their language use, or other- or self-correct their language production’ (Swain & Lapkin, 2001: 104), for occasions in which learners incidentally draw attention to L2 form–meaning connections in the context of meaningbased communication (Ellis et al., 2001; Loewen, 2005, 2006). Although LREs have been used in many classroom studies (Basterrechea & Mayo, 2013; Révész, 2009, 2011), to the best of the author’s knowledge, Ware and O’Dowd (2008) is the only study that investigated LREs in a telecollaborative setting. The study examined peer feedback practices of Spanish and English learners in asynchronous forums by comparing two conditions: e-partnering, where participants could choose to provide feedback and e-tutoring, where they were required to correct linguistic errors. It was found that those in the e-partnering condition provided corrective feedback significantly less than those in the e-tutoring condition, although both groups wished for error correction. This fi nding suggests that participants usually avoid a potentially facethreatening act of error correction unless they are forced to do so (see Akiyama, 2017 for similar fi ndings). Since eTandem is a learning arrangement where a native speaker (NS) is expected to support a non-native speaker’s (NNS) learning via the provision of feedback (Little et al., 1999), it is crucial to fi nd a way to facilitate this FonF process. One way for language practitioners to promote FonF is via designing interactional tasks that require eTandem participants to use certain target forms to complete the task (i.e. task essentialness, see Loschky & BleyVroman, 1993). For instance, Yanguas (2012) employed a jigsaw task called ‘The Amazing Race’ to study the efficacy of meaning negotiation on vocabulary learning (nouns) by Spanish learners. The participants were placed into three conditions: audio, video and face-to-face communication. The jigsaw task was chosen because the two-way task has been reported to promote the most negotiation of meaning, as it forces

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participants to share and combine their distinct sets of information in order to achieve a single outcome (Pica et al., 1993). The study revealed that the audio group outperformed the other two groups in listening comprehension, although no significant effect of medium of communication was found for the production or recognition of the target vocabulary. Another study that examined the effectiveness of meaning negotiation on vocabulary learning is Fuente (2003). The participants in her study interacted either via text chat or face to face to complete an information gap task by negotiating the meaning of target words. The study found that participants in either mode of communication improved their understanding of basic meanings in the receptive test, while the face-to-face group outperformed the text chat group in the oral production test. To summarize these two studies, the fi ndings suggest that negotiation of meaning facilitates learning of the basic meaning of nouns and that modes of communication influence the degree of learning. While it is certainly important to examine learning outcomes in relation to the differences in the modes of communication (i.e. vocabulary learning in video versus text-chat contexts), it seems as important to focus on a particular mode of communication (e.g. videoconferencing) and examine the relationship between types of FonF (e.g. text-based FonF, audiobased FonF, image-based FonF) and language learning outcomes. In addition, as Fuente (2003) explained, there is a clear need to empirically explore aspects of lexical acquisition other than the learning of basic nouns. Thus, this study investigates the learning of not only basic nouns but also onomatopoeia, namely words that phonetically imitate and resemble the sound that the words describe (see the next section for more details). Types of Vocabulary

Word class (e.g. nouns, adverbs, verbs) has traditionally been examined in vocabulary learning. Past research has found that nouns, which give rise to a mental image, are the easiest to learn, while verbs and adverbs are the most difficult to learn (e.g. Rodgers, 1969). For instance, from a psycholinguistic perspective, Ellis and Beaton (1993) examined 47 English-speaking students’ learning of German words (nouns and verbs) under three conditions: repetition (i.e. reading aloud English-German translation pairs repeatedly), keyword (i.e. linking the sound of the English and German words together via keywords) and ‘own’ (i.e. learning vocabulary in their own preferred method). The fi ndings revealed that (1) no matter what condition the participants were under, nouns were the easiest to learn and (2) the keyword condition resulted in the most learning because keywords helped participants visualize concepts and increase their meaningfulness. They concluded that this was because imageability of a concept is a strong determinant of learnability.

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We can also categorize lexical items by their phonological features such as reduplication (i.e. repetition of sound) and word length. For instance, phonologists who work in the Optimality Theory paradigm argue that reduplication enhances perceptual distinctiveness of lexical items (Urbanczyk, 2005) and increases perceptual saliency, namely the degree to which a certain stimulus becomes noticeable and observable. The Japanese language is known for having a set of onomatopoeic words that repeat two syllables and thus are high in perceptual saliency (e.g. niko niko for smiling and gara gara for gargling). These onomatopoeic words include not only giongo, namely sound mimetics (e.g. nyaa nyaa for cats), but also gitaigo, words that describe a state or manner of action (e.g. kiri kiri for a sharp stomach ache and kari kari for being irritated) (Imai et al., 2008), and are frequently used in daily interactions in Japanese. Informed by these psycholinguistic and optimality theory perspectives, the current study used two communicative tasks: one that targets nouns (i.e. words that are high in imageability) and the other that targets onomatopoeic words (i.e. words that are high in perceptual distinctiveness) that were used in Akiyama (2014), which we turn to next. Multimodal Focus on Form: Precursor Study

To examine the impact of target vocabulary on how participants negotiated meaning using the technology affordances of Skype, Akiyama (2014) examined the FonF practices of American-Japanese eTandem participants who engaged in two sets of tasks that targeted nouns versus verb/ adverb onomatopoeia. The study found that participants often used text chat, images, and a webcam to carry out telecollaborative interaction and that the lexical categories (i.e. nouns versus verb/adverb onomatopoeia) affected which of these multimodal features were used for meaning negotiation. It was found that participants resorted to the use of the webcam more often during the onomatopoeia task than during the noun task and that more images were sent during the noun task than during the onomatopoeia task. There was no statistically significant difference in the use of text chat between the two tasks. The results indicated that participants’ use of multimodal features was influenced by the properties of target vocabulary, namely imageability of nouns versus dynamicity of adverbs/ verbs. In contrast, text chat, which is often used as a supplement to the audio mode, was not influenced by the target vocabulary. The study called for more research examining the impact of multimodality on vocabulary learning. Thus, expanding Akiyama (2014), the current study aims to reveal the relationship between multimodal FonF and vocabulary learning. Specifically, this study addresses (1) whether multimodal LREs (i.e. audio + text chat, audio + images, audio + webcam) facilitates vocabulary learning, and (2) whether there is a relationship between types of

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multimodal LREs (e.g. audio + text chat vs. audio + images) and types of vocabulary learned (i.e. the learning of nouns versus verb/adverb onomatopoeia). The Current Study Participants

The participants in this project are 12 learners of Japanese in the USA who were analyzed in Akiyama (2014). These participants had studied Japanese for a semester before the project started. There were seven males and five females, ranging from 19–26 years of age (median = 20.5 years). When they completed the course, most of the participants were officially rated as Intermediate Low, the seventh rank in the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Oral Proficiency Interview scale which categorizes students into 10 levels from ‘Novice Low’ to ‘Superior’. Eight of the participants were native speakers (NSs) of English, while the remaining four spoke Spanish, Pakistani, Russian and Chinese as their first language. The four non-native speakers (NNSs) of English were considered near-native, which was demonstrated by their Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)/Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)/ Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores. As is usual in telecollaboration projects, the exchange was designed for the learners of Japanese in the USA to practice Japanese and for the participants in Japan to improve their English. The EFL (English as a foreign language) participants in Japan, on the other hand, were not enrolled in an English course at the time of data collection due to academic calendar differences. They were volunteer language exchange partners who took a two-unit telecollaboration course in the previous semester and who expressed their desire to continue with the project. Their proficiency in English ranged from intermediate to advanced, but their level was generally higher than that of their US peers’ L2 Japanese level. These Japanese participants majored in engineering and none of them had extensive teaching experience. The participants in this eTandem project engaged in seven biweekly hour-long interaction sessions using a videoconferencing tool, Skype. Each interaction session was divided into 30 minutes of Japanese and 30 minutes of English. This study focuses on the Japanese half of Sessions 4 and 5. The participants engaged in the noun task in Session 4 and the onomatopoeia task in Session 5 (see ‘Interactional tasks’ section below). Interactional tasks

Before each Skype session, a survey was conducted in class to assess the JFL learners’ existing lexical knowledge and to increase the internal

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validity of the study by controlling the potential exposure to the targeted items outside of class before the Skype sessions. Each survey asked the JFL learners to indicate their familiarity with 40 pre-selected words by checking: ‘I know the meaning of the word’, ‘I have heard of the word’ or ‘I don’t know the word’. For ‘I know the meaning of the word’, the participants were also asked to provide a translation of the word in English. All the items had a maximum of four syllables, reflecting Ellis and Beaton’s (1993) fi ndings that the learnability of a word decreases after exceeding four syllables. Based on the survey results, 14 words that none of the participants knew/answered correctly were chosen to be included in each Skype task. Of those 14 words, about half were included in the NSs’ task prompt, while the other half was included in the NNSs’ task prompt. In order to balance the difficulty of the two tasks, the remaining part of the task prompts only used language that was previously introduced in class. Each task was piloted with two NS-NNS dyads and modified as needed. The structure of the two tasks was the same, but each task targeted different types of vocabulary (i.e. nouns versus verb/adverb onomatopoeia). The tasks combined elements of a jigsaw task and a decisionmaking task (Pica et al., 1993). To complete the tasks, the participants, who held portions of a totality of information, had to exchange what was written on the task sheet to work toward a single outcome. The participants were told to negotiate all of the unknown vocabulary items, as they would be tested on this new vocabulary after the conclusion of a session. The theme of the noun task was Doraemon, a popular Japanese manga and anime character who uses futuristic gadgets to save those who are weak. The task instructed each dyad to go back in history and write a report about the Edo period in Japan. In order to go back to the period, the participants had to agree on which four items (out of 10) to borrow from Doraemon, bearing in mind the weight limit and budget (see Appendix A for the noun task prompt). The theme of the onomatopoeia task was a trip to Europe for a vacation. The task instructed each dyad to decide on four essential medicines (out of 10) to bring with them, bearing in mind the weight limit and budget (see Appendix B for the onomatopoeia task prompt). The noun task took 19.24 minutes (SD = 3.4) to complete, while the onomatopoeia task took 22.08 minutes (SD = 3.9). This indicates that the onomatopoeia task took longer to complete, although the difference was not significant. Vocabulary test data

In order to measure the learning outcomes, two timed, online, multiple-choice vocabulary quizzes (one for nouns and the other for onomatopoeia) were used. The same quizzes were used for both the immediate and

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delayed post-tests, but the order of items was randomized for each participant in each test. The quizzes were considered a reliable and valid way of measuring participants’ vocabulary gains because (1) the participants had no prior knowledge of the vocabulary items, as determined beforehand with the survey and (2) the quizzes were piloted with six students who took the same Japanese course in the previous year and were revised based on the feedback given by three Japanese instructors who did a think-aloud while taking the quizzes. Each quiz consisted of 28 questions. Fourteen questions were on the target words and the other 14 were distractors. Each question displayed a fi ll-in-the-blank sentence with four answer choices and the participants were asked to pick the most appropriate choice within 20 seconds. The length of the question sentences ranged from 15 to 25 moras and these question sentences were presented in contexts that were different from those in the task prompts. The four answer choices consisted of (1) one correct answer, (2) two words that were in the task prompt, and (3) one word that was not in the task prompt, as the example below shows. Example Question

(Note: Translations are given in parentheses for readers of this study) 昨日カラオケに行ったから、今日はこえが_____だよ。 Kinoo karaoke ni itta kara, kyoo wa koe ga _____da yo. (Yesterday, I went to karaoke, so my voice is ________.) A. B. C. D.

ズーズー (zuu zuu; zzz) ← not in the task prompt カラカラ (kara kara; thirsty) ← in the task prompt ドンドン (don don; pounding) ← in the task prompt ガラガラ (gara gara; scratchy) ← correct

Each response was coded as 0 (incorrect) and 1 (correct). Analysis of Interactional Data

For the analysis of interaction, the participants were instructed to record their audio conversation using Audacity (a free open source digital audio editor and recording software application) and Vocaroo (a website to record voice messages). The participants also submitted a copy of the text chat history. Note that this study did not analyze video data, as collecting the data was not plausible for reasons of privacy and technical difficulties. Thus, webcam use was analyzed by counting the frequency of audio prompts that indicate gestures such as ‘こんな感じ’ (konna kanji – like this) and ‘ここ’ (koko – here) that are often followed by an interlocutor’s confirmation such as ‘ああ’ (aa – ah) and ‘わかります’ (wakarimasu – I see). This study analyzed LREs that were produced for each target word. Note that FonF episodes on items irrelevant to the target words were

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Figure 4.1 Multimodal LRE coding scheme

excluded from analysis. As Figure 4.1 shows, the quality of LREs was analyzed based on (1) whether the LREs were audio-only or multimodal and (2) if multimodal, what types of LREs they were (see ‘Analysis of Multimodality’ section below). In cases where a targeted word was negotiated in multiple channels in a sequential order, only the fi nal channel was recorded as the representative LRE type. For instance, if a target word was negotiated fi rst using the webcam, then via text chat and fi nally via images, then ‘image’ was recorded as the representative type of multimodality that most likely led to the successful negotiation of meaning. It was decided not to create a combination category (e.g. text chat + webcam) to allow for statistical analyses considering the small sample size. Analysis of Multimodality

Modality was coded based on Akiyama (2014), which revealed three types of multimodal LREs in Skype: (1) text chat; (2) images; and (3) webcam. Below the three types of multimodal LREs are explained. Text chat

Text chat was observed frequently when participants were negotiating meaning to clarify kanji homophones, to clarify pronunciation and to provide textual enhancement by writing down a new word. The sample excerpt below shows how the text chat function of Skype was used to supplement the audio channel. In this excerpt, the NNS said /kara gara/ instead of /gara gara/, which is an onomatopoeic expression that indicates dryness. In response, the NS asked whether the NNS meant to say /gara gara/ and wrote down the word in the text chat box. Example 4.1

NNS:

歌いすぎてのどがカラガラになってしまた時。 Utai sugite nodo ga kara gara ni natte shimata toki. (Singing too much and when the throat became /kara gara/.)

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カラガラ？ガラガラ？ Kara gara? Gara gara? (Kara gara? You mean gara gara?) → NS: [text: ガラガラ] [text: Gara gara] (Dryness) NNS: そうです。ガラガラです。 Soo desu. Gara gara desu. (Yes, that is so. It is gara gara.) NS:

Images

Participants often sent web links and shared visual images to explain word meanings. This is a unique feature of Skype-based language exchange where participants are afforded opportunities to utilize web browsers (e.g. Google). In the sample excerpt below, the NS sent an image of konnyaku because he was struggling to defi ne this particular food. Example 4.2

コンニャクは何ですか。 Konnyaku wa nan desu ka. (What is konnyaku?) なんか、ゴムみたいな野菜で、なんだろう、なんか、 ゼリーみたいな、か NS: たいゼリーのような食べ物です。 Nanka, gomu mitai na yasai de, nan daroo, nanka, zerii mitai na, katai zerii no yoo na tabemono desu. (Well, it’s like a rubber-like vegetable. How can I say it? Like, it’s like jelly. It’s like hard jelly.) NNS: うん。。。 Un… (OK…) ちょっとこれは見たことがないと難しい。これ、コンニャクは。 NS: Chotto kore wa mita koto ga nai to muzukashii. Kore, konnyaku wa. (It’s hard to explain if you’ve never seen it. Here, this is konnyaku.) → NS: [text: web link for the image of konnyaku] NNS: おいしいですか。 Oishii desu ka? (Does this taste good?) あんまり味はついていないです。 でも、おいしいですよ。 NS: Anmari aji wa tsuite nai desu. Demo oishii desu yo. (Well, it doesn’t have much taste, but it’s good.) NNS:

Webcam

Participants often used the webcam to show body movement/actions. In the sample excerpt below, the NNS asked what /tsuru tsuru/ (an

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onomatopoeia for slippery objects) meant. Then, the NS explained verbally that it means to slip. However, the NNS did not understand the word, so the NS resorted to explanation using the webcam. Example 4.3

ツルツルは何ですか。 Tsuru tsuru wa nan desu ka? (What is /tsuru tsuru/?) ツルツルはね、滑ること。わかる？ NS: Tsuru tsuru wa ne, suberu koto. Wakaru? (/tsuru tsuru/ means to slip. Do you understand?) NNS: 滑る？ Suberu? (To slip?) うん。とか、頭に毛が無い人はツルツルって言う。 NS: Un. Toka, atama ni ke ga nai hito wa tsuru tsuru tte iu. (Yeah, like, we call those people with no hair on the head /tsuru tsuru/.) → NS: [webcam: demonstrating slipperiness; こんな感じ。] [webcam: demonstrating slipperiness; Konna kanji.] [webcam: demonstrating slipperiness; Like this.] NNS: ああ、わかりました。 Aa, wakarimashita. (Ah, I got it.) NNS:

Statistical procedure

The responses to the quizzes were fi rst analyzed binarily, as either correct or incorrect. Next, the relationship between the types of multimodal LREs (i.e. text chat, image, webcam, audio only) as well as correct versus incorrect responses in the immediate and delayed post-tests of noun and onomatopoeia tasks were examined via a series of chi-square analyses.

Results Modality and vocabulary learning

A total of 336 LREs were observed for the two tasks combined, as all the 12 dyads negotiated all the unknown target word (i.e. 12 dyads × 14 target words × two tasks). Of the 336 LREs, 112 were multimodal, while 224 were audio-only. This indicates that one-third of the FonF activities utilized channels of communication other than audio. First, in order to investigate how effective multimodal LREs were in comparison with audio-only LREs for vocabulary learning, the frequency of: (1) multimodal LREs that resulted in a correct response;

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Table 4.1 Relationship between the modality of LREs and post-test results Immediate post-test

Delayed post-test

Correct

Incorrect

Correct

Incorrect

Multimodal LREs (N = 112)

66 (58.93%)

46 (41.07%)

57 (50.89%)

55 (49.11%)

Audio-only LREs (N = 224)

102 (45.54%)

122 (54.46%)

79 (35.27%)

145 (64.73%)

(2) multimodal LREs that resulted in an incorrect response; (3) audioonly LREs that resulted in a correct response; and (4) audio-only LREs that resulted in an incorrect response were calculated. Table 4.1 shows how many multimodal versus audio-only LREs resulted in correct versus incorrect answers in the immediate and delayed post-tests. A 2 × 2 chisquare analysis was performed for the immediate and delayed post-tests. The result for the immediate post-test revealed a significant relationship between multimodality and vocabulary scores, X 2 (1, N = 12) = 5.36, p = 0.02, with a large eff ect size (r = 0.67). This indicates that multimodal LREs facilitated the immediate recall of word meanings. The result for the delayed post-test also revealed a significant relationship, X 2 (1, N = 12) = 7.57, p < 0.001, with an even larger effect size (r = 0.79). This fi nding demonstrates that multimodal LREs helped the participants retain lexical knowledge. Since the effect size for the delayed posttest was found to be larger, it can be argued that multimodal LREs are more effective for the retention of lexical knowledge than for the immediate recall of word meanings. The study then examined whether a particular modality of LREs facilitated vocabulary learning. Table 4.2 shows the number of correct responses in relation to the three types of multimodal LREs: (1) text chat; (2) images; and (3) webcam (note, again, that the fi nal channel was coded if a targeted word was negotiated in various channels in a sequential order). According to a 2 × 3 chi-square analysis, there was no statistically significant relationship between the types of multimodal LREs and Table 4.2 Relationship between the type of multimodal LREs and post-test results Immediate post-test

Delayed post-test

Correct

Incorrect

Correct

Incorrect

Text chat (N = 52)

27 (51.92%)

25 (48.08%)

24 (46.15%)

28 (53.85%)

Images (N = 31)

22 (70.97%)

9 (29.03%)

20 (64.52%)

11 (35.48%)

Webcam (N = 29)

17 (58.62%)

12 (41.38%)

13 (44.83%)

16 (55.17%)

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Table 4.3 Relationship between modality of LREs, target vocabulary and post-test results Immediate post-test

Delayed post-test

Noun

Onomatopoeia

Noun

Onomatopoeia

Multimodal LREs

66.13% (41/62)

50.00% (25/50)

50.00% (31/62)

52.00% (26/50)

Audio-only LREs

47.17% (50/106)

44.07% (52/118)

33.02% (35/106)

37.29% (44/118)

vocabulary learning for either immediate (X2 (1, N = 12) = 2.91, p = 0.23) or delayed (X2 (1, N = 12) = 3.20, p = 0.20) post-tests. This indicates that none of the three multimodal LREs was superior to the other in terms of facilitating lexical learning. Modality and learning nouns versus onomatopoeia

Next, the study examined whether multimodal LREs were effective for learning a particular type of vocabulary. Table 4.3 shows the percentage of accurate responses in relation to modality and target vocabulary in immediate and delayed post-tests. A series of 2 × 2 chi-square analyses revealed no statistically significant relationship between modality and the acquisition of nouns versus verb/adverb onomatopoeia, indicating that multimodal LREs were not necessarily effective for the learning of a particular type of target words. This study then examined the relationship between the types of multimodal LREs and types of target vocabulary. As Table 4.4 shows, FonF via images was most effective for the learning of nouns and this was also the case for the delayed post-test. As for onomatopoeia, FonF via webcam resulted in the highest accuracy rate in the immediate post-test, while FonF via text chat was found to be most effective for retaining lexical knowledge in the delayed post-test. The results of a series of 2 × 3 Table 4.4 The relationship between the types of multimodal LREs, target vocabulary and post-test results Immediate post-test

Delayed post-test

Nouns

Onomatopoeia

Nouns

Onomatopoeia

Text chat

59.26% (16/27)

44.00% (11/25)

29.63% (8/27)

64.00% (16/25)

Images

75.00% (21/28)

33.33% (1/3)

67.86% (19/28)

33.33% (1/3)

Webcam

57.14% (4/7)

59.09% (13/22)

57.14% (4/7)

40.91% (9/22)

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chi-square analyses revealed a statistically significant relationship only for the delayed post-test of the noun task, X 2 (2, N = 12) = 8.20, p = 0.02. This indicates that (1) image-based FonF was helpful for learning nouns and (2) the types of modality did not mediate the learning of onomatopoeia at a statistically significant level, although there was a tendency for the webcam and text chat to facilitate slightly more learning of the onomatopoeic expressions. Discussion

This exploratory study examined JFL learners’ learning of new vocabulary in Skype-mediated, task-based eTandem interactions. Participants’ FonF practices were examined in relation to modality and the types of target vocabulary, and their responses to the immediate and delayed post-tests were used as an indicator of lexical learning. The results revealed that (1) multimodal LREs were more eff ective than audio-only LREs for vocabulary learning in general and (2) there was a statistically significant relationship between types of multimodality and types of target vocabulary (i.e. images were found to facilitate the learning of nouns). First, this study revealed the efficacy of multimodal LREs over audioonly LREs. This corroborates the argument that message abundancy (Gibbons, 2003), namely duplication of the same message via multiple cues (e.g. oral + gestural cues), facilitates the learning of new vocabulary items. Readers are advised not to conclude, however, that increasing the degree of multimodality (e.g. employing a maximum number of multimodal cues such as oral + gesture + text) leads to more lexical learning, as it is still possible that excessive multimodality may confuse learners with limited digital literacies and/or overwhelm elementary-level learners who may consider multimodality cognitively taxing. This study also found that FonF via images facilitated noun learning, while FonF via webcam and text chat tended to support the learning of onomatopoeic verbs and adverbs in the immediate and delayed post-tests, respectively. This indicates that language learning is facilitated when the type of multimodal LRE aligns with the property of a target word (e.g. image-based LREs for nouns that carry meanings with images). Another important fi nding is that FonF via webcam resulted in the highest accuracy rate in the immediate post-test, while FonF via text chat was found to be the most effective for retaining lexical knowledge in the delayed post-test. This may indicate that textual enhancement by spelling out a word may support the learning of onomatopoeic expressions whose meanings are differentiated by the voicing feature (e.g. kon kon versus gon gon). On the other hand, the efficacy of gestures for the learning of verb/ adverb onomatopoeia may be temporary. Future studies may examine this

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hypothesis by highlighting the role of multimodality in the retention of lexical knowledge. Limitations and Future Directions

First, as this project was a part of educational practice, the two tasks were not counterbalanced. Future studies may ask half the participants to engage in one task and the other half to engage in the other task to mitigate the order effect (e.g. familiarity with the task format). Second, since this study did not collect video data in consideration of participants’ privacy but analyzed webcam use based on audio prompts, it is possible that participants engaged in more webcam LREs. It may also be the case that the webcam was used in conjunction with other modes of communication simultaneously. Thus, it is suggested that future studies replicate this study in a laboratory setting and videotape the interaction. Another limitation of this study is the way vocabulary learning was measured. Since the quizzes used in this study only measured participants’ receptive knowledge of form–meaning connections, future studies may employ both receptive and productive measure of lexical learning. One way to measure participants’ productive skills in the oral mode is to have them work on a similar decision-making task that includes the target vocabulary. The drawback of this method is the risk of avoidance. Another method is to use a timed, contextualized vocabulary completion test, although this type of test will be problematic when accounting for more than one correct answer. This study is also limited in terms of the selection of target vocabulary. Since this study did not control for the difficulty of target words within each lexical category, it is possible that some vocabulary items are easier to learn than others. In addition, although this study made sure that each task would include vocabulary items that are similar in terms of word length, it did not control for the level of visualizability and abstractness. Thus, it is possible that, even within a task, some nouns that are more visualizable resulted in successful learning, while the meanings of some nouns that are more abstract were not learned. Also, since the current study used the exact same test for both immediate and delayed post-tests to make the two versions comparable, it is possible that the participants learned the target vocabulary during the immediate test rather than from the interactional treatment and used the knowledge in the delayed post-test (i.e. practice effect). Future studies may include a control group who only takes the test and/or create two versions of the test, asking half of the participants take the test in the order of A → B and the other half in the order of B → A. One fi nal limitation of the study is the coding of multimodal LREs. In this study, only the fi nal channel was recorded as the representative LRE

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type when a targeted word was negotiated in various channels in a sequential order. Future studies may increase the sample size and create a combination category (e.g. text chat + images) to measure the efficacy of sequential multimodal LREs. Conclusion

This exploratory study examined the efficacy of multimodal FonF in Skype-supported eTandem interactions. The analysis of multimodal FonF provided novel insight into the relationship between target vocabulary, the types of multimodal FonF and lexical learning. Future studies may increase the sample size, employ both receptive and productive measures of vocabulary, and analyze video-based interaction to advance the study of multimodality for computer-supported language learning. References Akiyama, Y. (2014) Using Skype to focus on form in Japanese telecollaboration: Lexical categories as a new task variable. In P. Swanson and S. Li (eds) Engaging Language Learners Through Technology Integration: Theory, Applications, and Outcomes (pp. 181–209). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. Akiyama, Y. (2017) Learner beliefs and corrective feedback in telecollaboration: A longitudinal investigation. System 64, 58–73. Akiyama, Y. and Saito, K. (2016) Development of comprehensibility and its linguistic correlates: A longitudinal study of video-mediated telecollaboration. The Modern Language Journal, 100 (3), 585–609. Basterrechea, M. and Mayo, M.D.P.G. (2013) Language-related episodes during collaborative tasks: A comparison of CLIL and EFL learners. In K. McDonough and A.  Mackey (eds) Second Language Interaction in Diverse Educational Contexts (pp. 25–44). Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. Belz, J. A. (2003) Linguistic perspective on the development of intercultural communicative competence in telecollaboration. Language Learning & Technology 7 (2), 68–117. Cziko, G. (2004) Electronic tandem language learning (eTandem): A third approach to second language learning for the 21st century. CALICO Journal 22 (1), 25–39. Ellis, N. and Beaton, A. (1993) Psycholinguistic determinants of foreign language vocabulary learning. Language Learning 43 (4), 559–617. Ellis, R. (2012) Language Teaching Research and Language Pedagogy. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. Ellis, R., Basturkmen, H. and Loewen, S. (2001) Learner uptake in communicative ESL lessons. Language Learning 51 (2), 281–318. Fuente, M.J. (2003) Is SLA interactionist theory relevant to CALL? A study on the effects of computer-mediated interaction in L2 vocabulary acquisition. Computer Assisted Language Learning 16 (1), 47–81. Gibbons, P. (2003) Mediating language learning: Teacher interactions with ESL students in a content-based classroom. TESOL Quarterly 37 (2), 247–273. Helm, F. (2015) The practices and challenges of telecollaboration in higher education in Europe. Language Learning & Technology 19 (2), 197–217. Imai, M., Kita, S., Nagumo, M. and Okada, H. (2008) Sound symbolism facilitates early verb learning. Cognition 109 (1), 54–65.

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Kötter, M. (2003) Negotiation of meaning and codeswitching in online tandems. Language Learning & Technology 7 (2), 145–172. Little, D., Ushioda, E., Appel, M. C., Moran, J., O’Rourke, B. and Schwienhorst, K. (1999) Evaluating Tandem Language Learning by E-mail: Report on a Bilateral Project. [CLCS Paper No. 55]. Dublin, Ireland: Centre for Language and Communication Studies, Trinity College. Loewen, S. (2005) Incidental focus on form and second language learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 27 (3), 361–386. Loewen, S. (2006) Autonomy and language learning behaviour: The role of student initiation in meaning-focused L2 lessons. In T. Lamb and H. Reinders (eds) Supporting Independent Language Learning: Issues and Options (pp. 37–53). London: Peter Lang. Long, M.H. (1983) Native speaker/non-native speaker conversation and the negotiation of comprehensible input. Applied Linguistics 4 (2), 126–141. Long, M.H. (1991) Focus on form: A design feature in language teaching methodology. In K. de Bot, R. Ginsberg and C. Kramsch (eds) Foreign Language Research in Crosscultural Perspective (pp. 39–52). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Loschky, L. and Bley-Vroman, R. (1993) Grammar and task-based learning. In G. Crookes and S. Gass (eds) Tasks and Language Learning: Integrating Theory and Practice (pp. 123–167). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Mackey, A. (2012) Input, Interaction and Corrective Feedback in L2 Classrooms. Oxford: Oxford University Press. O’Rourke, B. (2005) Form-focused interaction in online tandem learning. CALICO Journal 22 (3), 433–466. Pica, T. (1994) Research on negotiation: What does it reveal about secondlanguage  learning conditions, processes, and outcomes? Language Learning 44 (3), 493–527. Pica, T., Kanagy, R. and Falodun, J. (1993) Choosing and using communication tasks for second language instruction and research. In K. van den Branden, M. Bygate and J.M. Norris (eds) Task-based Language Teaching: A Reader (pp. 171–192). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Révész, A. (2009) Task complexity, focus on form, and second language development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 31 (3), 437–470. Révész, A. (2011) Task complexity, focus on L2 constructions, and individual differences: A classroom-based study. Modern Language Journal 95 (S1), 162–181. Rodgers, T.S. (1969) On measuring vocabulary difficulty: An analysis of item variables in learning Russian-English vocabulary pairs. International Review of Applied Linguistics 7 (4), 327–343. Saito, K. and Akiyama, Y. (2017) Video-based interaction, negotiation for comprehensibility, and second language speech learning: A longitudinal study. Language Learning 67 (1), 43–74. Schwienhorst, K. (2004) Native-speaker/non-native-speaker discourse in the MOO: Topic negotiation and initiation in a synchronous text-based environment. Computer Assisted Language Learning 17 (1), 35–50. Swain, M. and Lapkin, S. (2001) Focus on form through collaborative dialogue: Exploring task effects. In M. Bygate, P. Skehan and M. Swain (eds) Researching Pedagogic Tasks: Second Language Learning, Teaching and Testing (pp. 1–20). New York: Pearson Education Limited. Urbanczyk, S. (2005) Enhancing contrast in reduplication. In M. de Gruyter (ed.) Studies on Reduplication (pp. 211–238). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. Ware, P. and O’Dowd, R. (2008) Peer feedback on language form in telecollaboration. Language Learning & Technology 12 (1), 43–63. Yanguas, I. (2012) Task-based oral computer-mediated communication and L2 vocabulary acquisition. CALICO Journal 29 (3), 507–531.

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Appendix A: Noun Task (Doraemon) Setting

You are taking a Japanese history class, and you have an assignment about the Edo Period. You decided to ask your Japanese partner for help, but your partner had forgotten about Japanese history and cannot answer your questions ☹ So, Doraemon suggested that you and your partner actually visit the Edo period using his awesome tools! However, the customs in the Edo Period impose strict restrictions as follows: (1) Each of you can bring up to 2 of the 5 items from the list below. (2) Together you can bring a total of 4 items that are no more than one million yen and weigh no more than 10 kg. (3) In order to get an A in the history class, you need to: (a) Analyze the customs of both local citizens (farmers, merchants, etc.) and the Shogun family in the Edo Period. (b) Conduct interviews/surveys with the locals who speak classical Japanese. (c) Include some kind of visual aids (map like Google Earth) in your report. Task

(1) Your and your partner’s task card includes different pieces of information. First, compare the two task cards. IMPORTANT: Discuss all the unknown words. They are required for completing the task and will be tested after the session. (2) Once fi nished comparing your task cards, agree on which 4 items you and your partner will bring to the Edo period. Keep in mind the restrictions on what you can bring and the criteria to get an A for the assignment.

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Translation

Translation

Appendix B: Onomatopoeia Task (Vacation to Europe) Setting

You and your partner decided to travel to Europe together for 2 months, but you two are worried because you and your partner tend to get sick easily when overseas. So, you two need to bring as many kinds of

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medicine as possible. However, the customs in EU (for some reason) are very strict and impose the following restrictions: (1) Each of you can bring up to 2 of the 5 items from the list below. (2) Together you can bring a total of 4 items that are no more than 15,000 yen and weigh no more than 5 kg. (3) Consider your travel plan: (a) You are planning on visiting more than 10 European countries. (b) You want to explore different bars in Europe. (c) You are not planning on studying at all. Task

(1) Your and your partner’s task card includes different pieces of information. First, compare the two task cards. IMPORTANT: Discuss all the unknown words. They are required for completing the task and will be tested after the session. (2) Once fi nished comparing your task cards, agree on which 4 items you and your partner will bring to Europe. Keep in mind the restrictions on what you can bring and the tips on how to avoid getting sick.

Translation

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Translation

5 Identity (Re)construction and Improvement in Intercultural Competence through Synchronous and Asynchronous Telecollaboration: Connecting Learners of Japanese in the USA and Sweden Yumi Takamiya and Mariya Aida Niendorf

Introduction

This study focuses on identity development in learners of Japanese as they use synchronous and asynchronous online tools in and outside of their Japanese language courses in the USA and Sweden over a 15-week semester. As demonstrated in several recent studies of computer assisted language learning (CALL), authentic intercultural contexts can be created by using online exchanges to enhance students’ foreign language learning as well as their identity development (Kohn & Hoff staedter, 2017; Ushioda, 2011). Thanks to CALL, L2 learners can now be electronically connected with native or expert speakers of the target language via technology-mediated telecollaboration in and out of the classroom on a regular basis. This has been shown to enhance their motivation to learn the target language, especially if they use it in a meaningfocused manner (Belz, 2007; Freiermuth & Huang, 2012; Li & Swanson, 2014; Taguchi & Sykes, 2013). In this globalized world, scholars believe

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that the acquisition of social and networking abilities should be one of the goals of language education (Harrison & Thomas, 2009; Mills, 2011; Tohsaku, 2012, 2013, 2016). These abilities include the capacity ‘to engage in social activities, to connect with others to develop new communities and societies’ (Tohsaku, 2012: 8). Japanese language education scholars have thus been encouraged to incorporate online interaction such as telecollaboration (also known as online intercultural exchange) into their curriculums (Kokusai Bunka Forum, 2012; Tohsaku, 2012, 2013, 2016), which connects target language speakers (learners and/or native speakers) through computer-mediated communication to enhance their linguistic, intercultural and digital skills. Research on telecollaboration in a second language (L2) context has focused primarily on how telecollaborative interaction affects intercultural competence (also known as intercultural communicative competence) and identity construction (Belz & Thorne, 2006; O’Dowd, 2006), both recognized as key social components of language learning (Norton, 2013). Broadly speaking, intercultural competence is the ability to communicate appropriately with members of other cultures, while identity construction is about negotiating and (re)constructing multiple identities (linguistic, social, religious, national, cultural, etc.) through interaction in the target language (Norton, 2013). Different aspects of one’s identity can have an impact on language learning. For example, advanced L2 learners are often more confident of their language abilities than beginners and may seek out more interactions with native speakers, thereby increasing their opportunities for language learning. In addition, identity and intercultural competence are intertwined. Scholars argue that identity is a key factor in intercultural competence and that evidence of identity development is ultimately indicative of increased intercultural competence (Kim, 2009; Houghton, 2013). As an example, identity affects learners’ intercultural behavior as when, for instance, a learner identifies strongly with in-group categories (national, ethnic, religious, etc.) and identifies others as out-groups. This type of categorization can ‘lead to dissociative behaviors in intercultural contexts’ (Kim, 2009: 59) because it creates psychological distance which, in turn, promotes stereotypes and prejudice. Research on these two constructs demonstrates that beyond acquiring a new set of linguistic forms, language learning is a social process of negotiating and (re)constructing one’s understanding of self and other in order to communicate smoothly in cross-cultural interactions (Pavlenko & Lantolf, 2000). Studies on native speaker (NS) and non-native speaker (NNS) online interactions show that telecollaboration is an effective means for facilitating identity construction and therefore improving intercultural competence (Byram, 1997; Lee, 2006; O’Dowd, 2006; Risager, 2007; Thorne et al., 2015). That is, telecollaboration promotes a more complex understanding of self and people from other cultures as individuals that

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transcends strict in-group/out-group categorization by engaging participants in authentic interaction (Emrullah & Savaş, 2018; Schenker, 2012). Although research in this area has mainly focused on NS–NNS interaction, a few recent studies on NNS–NNS telecollaborative interaction show that exchanges can similarly offer opportunities for intercultural communication (Basharina, 2007; Guth, 2008), which positively affect identity construction and intercultural competence (Aida Niendorf & Takamiya, 2015; Takamiya & Aida Niendorf, 2017). This chapter adds to the small number of studies that examine NNS–NNS telecollaborative interactions by examining two sets of NNSs with different L1 backgrounds; seven advanced NNSs of Japanese from a US university (NSs of English and Chinese) and three intermediate NNSs from a university in Sweden (NSs of Swedish). The present study is also different from other telecollaborative research in that it used a reading and language learning in context approach combined with asynchronous written (blogs) and synchronous verbal (online discussions) telecollaborative activities. As a part of a 15-week Japanese language class, students were required to read texts in Japanese, chosen to facilitate critical intercultural awareness (e.g. articles on minorities in Japan, the working poor). These readings were then followed up with instructor-designed discussion questions created to engage the students in a critical discussion about the themes found in the texts, which they did via blogging and online discussions. The ultimate goal of the study was to examine how L2 learners using synchronous and asynchronous telecollaboration tools engage in identity (re)construction, which ultimately improves their intercultural competence. To this end, we qualitatively examined the learners’ reflections, interactions and social behaviors in their blogs and online discussions. The principal research question for this study was: •

How did the students (re)construct (e.g. perform, shape and reshape) their identities as a part of intercultural competence through telecollaboration, and specifically through blogs and online discussions?

Literature Review Intercultural competence

The term ‘intercultural competence’ is understood differently by various disciplines and no single, universally-accepted defi nition exists. Following Deardorff (2011: 66), intercultural competence in the present study refers to ‘effective and appropriate behavior and communication in intercultural situations’. More specifically, we use Byram’s (1997) Intercultural Competence Model (Table 5.1), which outlines five components that make up intercultural competence, namely intercultural attitudes, knowledge, skills of interpreting and relating, skills of discovery and interaction, and critical cultural awareness.

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Table 5.1 Intercultural competence Interpreting/ relating skills

Knowledge

• Social groups • Interpret in own culture. symbols and events of other • Social groups in other cultures. culture. • Relate interpretations • General interaction to one’s own process. culture and experience.

Discovery/ interaction skills

Critical cultural awareness

Attitudes

• Cultural practices, knowledge acquisition. • Procedural application of knowledge in real time.

• Curiosity and • Evaluate openness. perspectives, • Readiness to practices and suspend disbelief products from re: other multiple cultures. cultural • Readiness to perspectives. suspend belief • Identify criteria re: own cultures. for evaluation.

Source: A summary of Spitzberg and Changnon’s ICC model diagram (2009: 42) which is originally based on Byram’s (1997) Intercultural Competence Model (ICC Model).

As Byram’s model suggests, the components together promote ‘critical cultural awareness: an ability to evaluate, critically and on the basis of explicit criteria, perspectives, practices and products in one’s own and others’ cultures and countries’ (Byram, 1997: 53). Thus, the importance of intercultural competence in L2 communication cannot be overstated. A learner who is fluent in a language can still be ignorant of the related culture and not be able to communicate appropriately in cross-cultural situations. In fact, some studies show that companies prefer to hire someone with limited language abilities but high cultural awareness, rather than someone fluent in the language but lacking in cultural knowledge (Zaharna, 2009). Byram (1997: 12) explains that intercultural speakers who are considered desirable today are those who are able ‘to see and manage the relationship between themselves and their cultural beliefs, behaviors, and meanings […] and those of their interlocutors’, and the way to become such a person is to be aware of one’s values, which ‘allows a conscious control of biased interpretations’ (Byram, 1997: 35). Thus, the development of intercultural competence encompasses moving away from surface level awareness to a deeper understanding of one’s own as well the other’s culture, ultimately achieving the ability to apply one’s intercultural competence when called for and in a sophisticated manner (Byram, 1997; Bennett, 1993; Deardorff, 2006, 2009, 2011; Liaw, 2006). In L2 education, the development of intercultural competence can be achieved through local cultural immersion or studying abroad (Deardorff, 2011), but advances in digital technology and the potential for interactive experiences have also been shown to facilitate interactional competence (Chun, 1994, 2011; Kern, 1995). Indeed, contact theory (Allport, 1954/1979), which examines and evaluates ‘the various conditions under which face-to-face contact would promote greater personal and social understanding between members of different ethnic and racial groups’ (Erickson & O’Connor, 2000: 63), maintains that regardless of the way

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in which it occurs, interaction is essential to having rewarding intercultural experiences. This means that for today’s L2 learners, developing intercultural competence through online communication is not only possible, but infi nitely more accessible. Online communication has already become mainstream in various contexts, from casual encounters including discussions on social networking services (SNSs), chatting during online gaming, to more formal transactions such as business negotiations and political meetings. Consequently, there are multiple opportunities for intercultural competence development in this modern age of digital communication. Identity

Although the concept of identity varies, this study uses the broad definition of identity as: what students ‘tell themselves and others about who they are, and who they are not, as well as who and how they would like to [or] should be’ (Yuval-Davis, 2010: 266). Most importantly, identity is thought to be a key component in intercultural competence (Deardorff, 2011; Houghton, 2013; Kim, 2009). Deardorff (2011: 71) argues that ‘assessment through critical reflection can help ascertain the degree to which students learn and understand their own and others’ identities, which is an important element in intercultural competence development’. Several of the components in Byram’s (1997) ICC Model (Table 5.1) deal with identity issues, including those listed in the knowledge category (knowing social groups in own/other culture) and critical cultural awareness (evaluate perspectives, practices and products from multiple cultural perspectives). In fact, Houghton (2012) based her Intercultural Dialogue Model (ID Model) on Byram’s (1997) ICC Model. Her ID Model outlines the five stages of development that teachers can use to promote and assess ICC and identity development in the language classroom, which are: (1) analysis of self; (2) analysis of other; (3) critical analysis of value similarities between self and other; (4) critical evaluation of the values of self and other with reference to a clear standard; and (5) identity development (Houghton, 2013: 312). Houghton noted that the last stage, simply labeled ‘identity development,’ takes place when ‘decision making is evident in students’ statements that they have either already changed, or that they do (or do not) intend to change, in response to intercultural dialogue’ (2012: 196). She maintained that all five stages play a role in identity development and that ‘evidence of ICC [Intercultural Communicative Competence] and identity-development cannot easily be separated’ (2012: 323), stressing the complex interconnectedness of intercultural competence and identity construction. Identity development in L2 education has been investigated by many researchers (Kunschak & Girón, 2013; Norton, 2013; Rivers & Houghton, 2013; Weedon, 1997), reflecting a growing interest in the importance of

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understanding how identity affects intercultural competence and L2 learning and vice versa. Norton (2013: 3) argues that language acquisition is enhanced through the act of ‘reframing one’s relationship with others’ and re-creating more “powerful” identities rather than using the target language from one identity position.’ That is to say, identity is not something one chooses. Rather, it is constructed in and through language (Bourdieu, 1991; Said, 2000; Weedon, 1997), and the process is multidimensional, complex and always changing (Hall, 1996). In this study, we use the term ‘identity (re)construction’ to refer to both identity construction and reconstruction because the learners’ identity in their L1 and L2 can either be partially reconstructed or be completely new to them (constructed). In terms of how identity affects language learning, research shows that when learners and NSs have conversations centering around different facets of the learner’s identity (e.g. social life, family role, hobbies/interests), rather than their national or L2-learner centered identities, learners are less inhibited and become more active participants (Sugihara, 2003). They are able to find more common ground with their interlocutors by not over-identifying themselves as novices (Zimmerman, 2007). This is because, in conversations where the focus is on the NNS’s identity as a learner (e.g. when NSs assist NNSs with their language), the emphasis becomes a comparison between NS and NNS (Nishizaka, 1997). If NSs treat NNSs less like learners and more like people whose identities are grounded in their individual life, family role and interests, more genuine interactions can be expected, and this improves learners’ opportunities for language learning (Sugihara, 2003). Identity studies using conversation analysis (CA) have demonstrated that participants from different cultural backgrounds come to shared understandings of different cultural practices as a group through interaction in the target language (Mori, 2003; Zimmerman, 2009). These studies support the notion that as L2 learners speak, they not only communicate messages but also organize and reorganize ‘a sense of who they are and how they relate to the social world’, thus affecting their social identity, which is ‘constantly changing across time and space’ (Norton, 1995: 18). While Mori (2003) and Zimmerman (2009) examined NS–NNS interaction, there are only two studies that have investigated NNS–NNS interactions with learners of different fi rst languages (L1s) (Basharina, 2007; Chen, 2013). These studies found that the participants eventually perceived their identities as multilinguals and users of the language rather than as learners of it (Chen, 2013), while others reported various intraand intercultural contradictions as well as technological issues that were difficult to resolve (Basharina, 2007). While the above-mentioned studies show that communication between people, whether NS–NNS or NNS–NNS, offers opportunities for identity development, Houghton’s (2013) and Houghton and Yamada’s (2012)

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studies show that actually developing materials and designing interaction that focuses students’ attention and reflection on identity issues has a more profound effect on identity development and therefore intercultural competence. These studies used the ID Model (Houghton, 2012) to not only develop and design activities that targeted specific stages of development, but also to qualitatively assess their participants’ (ESL students at a Japanese university) written and audio-recorded statements as they related to identity development. The studies concluded that the use of a curriculum based on the ID Model promoted identity development as a part of ICC and that overtly targeting ICC and identity development through various activities (e.g. having learners ask NSs about their values and then reflecting on this in writing, etc.) is highly effective and concretely assessable. In short, scholars maintain that identity construction is an integral part of intercultural competence (Deardorff, 2011; Houghton, 2013; Kim, 2009), intercultural exchanges promote identity reconstruction (Mori, 2003; Zimmerman, 2009), identity is constructed in and through language (Bourdieu, 1991; Said, 2000; Weedon, 1997), designing materials and activities to target ICC overtly is integral to promote identity development and ICC (Houghton, 2012, 2013; Houghton & Yamada, 2012), and that evaluating students’ written and spoken comments in studies of identity development is paramount to evaluating how intercultural exchanges affect identity development as a part of ICC (Houghton, 2012, 2013; Houghton & Yamada, 2012). Telecollaboration

The term ‘telecollaboration’ in the L2 learning context is defi ned by Guth and Helm (2010: 14) as ‘(I)nternet-based intercultural exchange between people of different cultural/national backgrounds, set up in an institutional context with the aim of developing both language skills and intercultural communicative competence (as defi ned by Byram, 1997) through structured tasks’. Telecollaborative activities can involve using asynchronous channels (e.g. email, online bulletin boards, social networking services (SNS), instant text messaging and blogs) or synchronous tools (e.g. SKYPE, SecondLife) that allow for either oral or text-based communication. Asynchronous tools are highly efficient because they allow students to communicate with their peers and respond to them at their own pace at mutually convenient times. Among asynchronous tools, blogging is widely used today among L2 learners (e.g. Dujsik, 2012; Ishihara & Takamiya, 2014; Lee, 2010; Murray & Hourigan, 2008; Takamiya & Ishihara, 2013). There are a few researchers who have found that using blogs in the L2 classroom can be a powerful tool for strengthening identity construction. For example, Luzón (2018) analyzed how academic identities are

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constructed in research group blogs. The result shows that blogging can be a vehicle for ‘self-presentation, self-promotion and identity management’ (Luzón, 2018: 36). Analyzing English class blogs, West (2008) also claimed that blogs help students to develop socially situated identities. In contrast, Simpson (2013) analyzed one learner’s class blog in an English course and found that learner did not develop or negotiate her identities established in the class blogs, and surmised that she may have viewed it as a benefit to stay within certain identity boundaries. He concluded that it is important to consider how established identity positions and self-understandings are constructed or fossilized in an online blog discourse. While only a few studies have investigated how blogs affect identity (re)construction (e.g. Luzón, 2018; Simpson, 2013; West, 2008), L2 scholars have examined other modes of asynchronous written exchanges (e.g. Facebook, discussion boards) and found that this type of interaction facilitates identity (re)construction. Guamán (2012), for instance, investigated how groups of teenagers who are English as a foreign language (EFL) students at a public school in Colombia constructed and reconstructed their social identity in a virtual community on Facebook using English. Her fi ndings suggest that participants’ social identities were expressed in dialogues and reconstructed by having conversations with other members of the virtual community. Nelson and Temples (2011) analyzed how online interaction affects identity reconstruction in a group of graduate students from Canada, the USA and Mexico taking an online intercultural communication course. The course was meant for students to reflect on their own past intercultural experiences and have new intercultural experiences by interacting with other students from different backgrounds using online discussion postings and email communication. The outcome revealed that while some achieved multi-membership or a sense of belonging in the course via online discourse, others failed and felt marginalized, eventually choosing not to participate, though the authors believe that multi-membership is key to identity reconstruction. Similarly, Kitade (2012) examined asynchronous online intercultural discussions involving Japanese students and language learners from multicultural backgrounds to see what type of exchange structure affected intercultural learning the most. Her fi ndings point out that frequent contributions to a discussion play an important role in improving one’s intercultural competence from knowledge-based competence to changes in perspective. Synchronous tools such as face-to-face online video discussions are also receiving increasing attention among L2 instructors and learners. However, they are almost always used in conjunction with some sort of asynchronous tools. It is often argued that while asynchronous communication grants students time to reflect, synchronous communication helps students acquire the skills needed to communicate in real time. Videoconferencing, in particular, simulates features of face-to-face

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interaction. Scholars note that a combination of both is an ideal mode of communication (Guth & Helm, 2012a). Two studies specifically examine the use of synchronous tools as a means for identity (re)construction and identity development for L2 learners. Guth and Helm (2012b) designed a pre- and post-task telecollaboration project which used asynchronous (wiki) and synchronous (Skype) tools with German and Italian learners interacting in English as lingua franca. The authors observed students’ development of multiliteracies including online and cultural literacy which in turn provided an understanding of the influence of culture and identity in telecollaboration. Dubreil’s (2012) case study examines identity development through synchronous (videoconferencing) and asynchronous (blogs, wikis, online surveys) telecollaboration between an American university student and French university students. Based on data collected through observations, journal entries and interviews, Dubreil’s analysis demonstrates how the American student negotiated her own sense of identity as well as indicated changes in her perspective about France and her own country. The American student developed her own transcultural perspectives, which suggests that a transcultural dialogue in a computermediated environment is an effective approach for influencing identity (re) construction.

Methodology Participants and settings

A group of 10 mixed-proficiency students from intermediate to advanced (with five to six semesters of university Japanese) participated in this study. Their ages ranged from 19 to 30. Seven of these students (Xun, Mike, Kevin, Jane, Patricia, Sandra, Kate1) had studied Japanese for six semesters (advanced level) at a university in the eastern USA. Three upper intermediate to advanced Japanese students (one or two years of university intensive study) from a Swedish university (Lars, Joakim, Sven) volunteered to participate in the project. All the US students had previous experience of studying in Japan for periods ranging from six weeks to one academic year (two semesters), while only one of the Swedish students had been to Japan. Since there is a six-hour time difference between the two countries, the online video discussions took place during the US students’ class time in the afternoon. As it was already late at night in Sweden, only a few Swedish students participated in the study. In contrast, everyone enrolled in the US course, which was 15 weeks long, agreed to take part in the study and signed consent forms to that effect. The US and Sweden university instructors (authors of the present paper) of Japanese as a foreign language (JFL) are NSs of Japanese and also participated in the study. They taught language and identity to their

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university students in the classroom as well as through synchronous and asynchronous online instruction. The instructors created a set of PowerPoint slides to illustrate what identity is and what types of identity each student potentially has in their L1 and L2. They also promoted interactions between each other’s students through blogs designed for intercultural learning. A teaching assistant from the US university, a NS of Japanese, also joined the online discussions. The data

The data analyzed for the present paper consisted of: (a) the content of the learners’ blogs, which was created and managed by the US students and posted twice a week; (b) blog comments by both US and Swedish students, who were asked to comment on the blog entries; (c) research papers on identity written by the US students and posted to the blogs (four times during the course); (d) video recordings of two 90-minute online discussions between the US and Swedish students; and (e) researchers’ observation notes on the online discussions (both whole-group and small-group). In addition, two types of surveys, a background survey and pre-, mid-, and post-instructional surveys, were administered to the US and Swedish students. However, analysis of the survey data was not included in this study due to limited space, so it will not be discussed here. Course materials

During the semester, the US students studied advanced Japanese by reading articles, watching videos, reading and writing blogs, writing and posting research papers, and participating (on two occasions) in online discussions. Each online discussion session consisted of two whole-group discussions (10 participants) and three small-group discussions (two to three participants). These activities were designed to help them think about and respond critically to issues of identity. The main topic the course focused on was identity, and students were not directly taught about intercultural competence. However, as mentioned previously, identity is considered an important component of intercultural competence (Byram, 1997; Houghton, 2012, 2013; Norton, 2013). Thus, learning about identity and writing reflections about their own identity was expected to have a positive impact on their intercultural competence. The course packet, for instance, included various readings related to identity issues including: foreigners in Japan, Brazilians in Japan, Koreans living in Japan, stereotypical images toward Japan and Japanese people, Japan as a global country, the working poor, ‘third-culture kids’ (Japanese children raised in another country during early development), the Kansai dialect and discrimination toward foreigners. Interview videos of Ichiro Suzuki (a Japanese baseball player who plays in US major league baseball),

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Thane A. Camus (an American-born TV personality and actor working in Japan) and Ian Hideo Levy (an American-born Japanese author) talking about their identity were also included in the course materials. The US instructor selected these resources so the students could discuss the identity issues raised in the materials during class. Blogs

In addition to reading articles and watching videos, each student created an individual blog site using WordPress, a blog publishing application specifically customized for L2 learning. The students posted blogs once a week in Japanese, describing their reflections on or reactions to the course materials. Both the US and Swedish instructors created their own teachers’ blogs, posted updates and created links to the students’ blogs. Each blog entry had to be over 300 Japanese characters in length, with no upper limit. Students were encouraged to make their entries interesting for their audience by using pictures and videos. Thus, through the blogs, the US learners interacted with their peers from their own classroom as well as with the JFL learners living in Sweden by posting, reading and commenting on as well as responding to comments on their and others’ blog posts. For the Swedish students, commenting on the US students’ blog posts was voluntary, while the US students were required to respond to classmates’ blog entries as part of the coursework. These blog responses made up 5% of the course grade. Comments had to include opinions, thoughts and feelings about the articles based on students’ knowledge from reading textbooks, magazines or websites. Each response counted as 0.1%, and if points exceed 5%, this was added to the grade as extra points. Comments had to be uploaded by midnight on the due date and a detailed schedule for posting comments was given to the students. During the semester, students also wrote and posted four research papers in Japanese on their blog on a topic of their own choosing that was related to identity. As mentioned previously, the instructors promoted and facilitated discussion on many topics concerning identity during the semester by selecting materials (articles, videos) that gave students a chance to discover multifaceted elements of identity (re)construction. To compose each research paper, students first assembled materials from different sources in Japanese (e.g. newspaper articles, website content, videos, books) related to the topic of identity. Next, they wrote down their own opinions and thoughts about the articles. They were asked not only to summarize or introduce each resource, but also to think critically and write down their opinions about the resource. The content also had to be useful to the discussion. Students first needed to submit a hardcopy draft of their paper so that the teacher could assess their writing ability through one-on-one writing conferences. Students then revised the fi rst draft based on the instructor’s comments. Next, a group assessment of student

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papers was conducted in class. After this, students revised their papers again and sent the fi nal version of their paper to the instructor via email attachment. The instructor edited and modified the fi nal version and sent it back to the students via email. Finally, the students uploaded the papers on their blog site. Each entry had to consist of over 1000 Japanese characters, with no upper limit. Online discussions

In addition to the blogs, there were face-to face online discussions (using the online video conferencing system Adobe® Connect™). Participants met twice online during the 7th and 14th week of the semester, and each online session consisted of a sequence of discussions. First, there was an opening whole-group discussion (15 minutes), then students broke up into smallgroup discussions (60 minutes) and the session ended with a whole-group discussion (15 minutes). The total time for this sequence of discussions was about 90 minutes. Students were able to participate in the online discussions using both verbal and textual (instant chat messages) communication. During the whole-group discussions, all the US and Swedish students interacted with each other freely. Both instructors were present during the two online discussions, actively participating in the whole-group discussions, but not in the small-group discussions. Additionally, a teaching assistant joined the second online discussion (Week 14) as there was an odd number of participants that day. The teaching assistant joined both the whole-group and the small-group discussions. The small-group discussions involved pairing one (sometimes two) US students with a Swedish student. These small-group discussions were conducted using the ‘breakout room’ function in Adobe® Connect™, through which an instructor can send selected students into separate discussion rooms, which look exactly the same as the main room, thus allowing students to use both verbal and textual communication tools. However, while in breakout rooms, students were so involved in verbal communication that they hardly used the chat function unless there was a sound problem. One of the small-group discussions was not successfully recorded due to technical issues. In that case, the researchers’ notes written during the observation of the discussion were used as supplementary sources. While observing, the researchers entered the breakout room with camera and microphone off so the students could carry on the discussion without being disturbed by the observers. Only one or two groups were observed during the online discussions, but all small-group discussions were recorded and the researchers used the video data for taking observation notes from the rest of the groups. Learners expressed and exchanged their thoughts about selected topics regarding identity solely in Japanese. Prior to both online discussion sessions, the Swedish students read the US students’ research papers regarding identity on their blogs and did

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some preparation for discussing the topics mentioned in these entries. Findings from a previous online learning project (Salmon, 2000, 2002) and telecollaboration projects (Müller-Hartmann, 2007; O’Dowd & Ware, 2009) indicate that holding two preparatory phases is important for successful collaboration: (1) an initial phase for socialization and familiarization; and (2) a second phase involving tasks including comparison and analysis. Students exchanged messages via the blog comments in an initial phase, then had an opening or warm-up session at the beginning of the online discussion. Details of how each online discussion was structured are shown in Figure 5.1. As a warm-up activity in the whole-group discussion, each instructor initiated a discussion regarding identity in a larger context by asking questions (Figure 5.2). For example, one of the questions (Figure 5.2) asks, ‘Have you thought about your own identities? Who am I?’ Students then spoke or wrote their responses to this prompt in the chat and then commented on each other’s responses. Next, in the small-group discussion portion, both the US and Swedish students participated verbally (as the chat function was not used unless there was a sound problem) in one-onone/two-to-one discussion sessions about the content of the US students’ blogs (Figure 5.3). Because of the small number of Swedish participants, there were two groups of two US students paired together along with one teacher (Figure 5.1). There were three small groups consisting of one or two US students with one Swedish student. Students were rotated so that all US students had a chance to work with a Swedish student at least three

Figure 5.1 Structure of online discussions (total duration: 90 minutes).

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Figure 5.2 Screenshot of whole-group online discussion2.

out of four times. Finally, in another whole-group discussion portion at the end of the process, both teachers, the assistant teacher and all 10 learners discussed verbally, with some using chat, what they talked about during the small-group discussions and summarized their conclusions. Data analysis

The primary resource for our analysis consisted of communication through telecollaboration supported by two types of media: blogs and

Figure 5.3 Screenshot of small-group online discussion.

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videoconferencing. Since the main issues where identity development as a part of intercultural competence, the ID Model (Houghton, 2012, 2013) was used to evaluate the outcome in terms of the five stages of development (see Table 5.2). Although the model suggests that students only reach ‘Identity Development’ at Stage 5, it is important to point out that Stages 1–4 are integral to identity development (Houghton, 2013). To analyze the students’ blog entries, papers and discussions for signs of these five stages, both authors read all blog entries and selected passages reflecting the development of identities in the learners. 3 The authors discussed these issues and agreed which excerpts were to be selected for further qualitative analysis and discussion. The video recordings of two online discussions, which consisted of both whole-group and small-group discussions, were transcribed and examined, and several excerpts related to identity construction were qualitatively examined. A total of 14 excerpts from these two data sources were selected for analysis. The excerpts were selected because they included clear evidence of the students’ identity (re)construction. As Belz (2003) points out, there are potential problems with qualitative research, including the risk of researcher bias in the content analyses. To minimize the risk of bias, we elicited data following Flowerdew’s (2000) method of using quantitative tools to lead to the qualitative analyses. We first identifed in the participants’ blog texts and conversation data some key terms (e.g. pronouns such as I, my, you, your and they and words such as identity, culture, language, Japanese, American, Swedish, role, stereotypes, etc.), which relate to identity and interculturality. We then looked at surrounding text to expand on our interpretation of the learners’ development. We chose this approach because it is often the case that researchers make claims regarding identity development without substantiating this with evidence or paying due attention to negative results or the limitations of their study (Huh & Hu, 2005). Thus, we avoided making strong claims or generalizations based on our results. Table 5.2 Summary of Intercultural Dialogue Model Stage 1 (Analysis of self) involves student reflection upon their own values with reference to a given conceptual framework. Stage 2 (Analysis of other) involves student exploration of their interlocutor’s values by using non-judgmental, empathy-oriented communication strategies. Stage 3 (Critical analysis) involves student identification of value similarities and differences between self and other. Stage 4 (Critical evaluation) involves student evaluation of the values of self and other with reference to a clear standard. Stage 5 (Identity development) involves student reasoned reflection, having progressed through Stages 1–4, upon whether or not to change in response to the interlocutor which provides the opportunity to change consciously. Source: Summary of Houghton (2013).

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Results and Discussion

In this section, results are presented using portions of the blog entries and students’ discussions that demonstrate how participants’ identities are performed, shaped and reshaped as a part of intercultural competence through telecollaboration. The excerpts are taken from the US students’ blog entries and video discussions. They were all in Japanese and have been translated into English. The following analysis will show how, through their conversations during the online discussions and blog activities, the L2 learners (re)constructed and reframed images of themselves and others using Japanese, their common L2 (Norton, 2013; Weedon, 1997). Learner reflections about their identities in Japanese

During the very fi rst online discussion (Week 7), both the US and Swedish students’ comments illustrated a lack of understanding or reflection about their identities, as shown here: Excerpt 5.1 Xun’s blog post

日本語は専門だから仕方がない […趣味は]アニメを見たり音楽を聴いた り、それしかない[…] ‘I am studying Japanese just because I have to [… my hobby is] just watching anime and listening to music, that’s all there is to it […]’ Excerpt 5.2 Lars’ blog post

ぼくは知らなくてもいい所の出身 ‘I am from a place no one needs to know…’

The first comment by Xun claims that he studies Japanese because he has to, indicating no specific motivation, while Lars’ comment indicates that knowing where he is from (a very small town in northern Sweden) is not something his readers need to know. While introducing himself, Joakim, a Swedish student, alluded to his ‘Swedishness’ several times: Excerpt 5.3 Joakim’s blog post

ハイキングが好き。アメリカの方から見るとスウェーデンっぽいと思いま す。スキーとかスノーボードとかスウェーデンっぽいことが好き。別にスウ ェーデン人だからじゃないと思いますが…。‘I like hiking. I guess it is very Swedish to you Americans. I also like skiing and snowboarding, which are also very Swedish! I don’t think that’s because I am Swedish though….’

These statements construct images of the learners’ identity but show a lack of understanding of that identity (though Joakim’s comments do

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show an understanding of how he thinks US students might perceive him as having a Swedish identity) and do not contribute to a deeper discussion or analysis of issues of identity. According to Norton (2013) and Weedon (1997), this is typical of learners who have not yet become aware of their identity as L2 learners. The data above implies that there exists a stage prior to the fi rst stage (analysis of self) in the ID Model, namely a ‘noawareness’ stage. However, excerpts taken from Xun’s blog entry following the first online discussion present a different picture that illustrates his reflections on his own identity (Figure 5.4, Excerpt 5.4).

Figure 5.4 Xun’s blog entry (6 April 2012)

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Excerpt 5.4 Xun’s blog post

Xun’s writing shows that he sees his identity as multifaceted, including that of being a Chinese national and an L2 speaker of both Japanese and English. He indicates that his identity as a Chinese speaker supersedes his identity as an L2 speaker of English and Japanese when he chooses to use more Chinese loanwords over English loanwords when using Japanese. This excerpt also shows that he considers part of his identity to be that of a proficient speaker of Japanese (but not as good as a native speaker) and

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that of a fan of Japanese anime, jokes, dialects and Japanese history. Interestingly, the literature shows that learners such as Xun who claim various identities beyond that of L2 learner and their own nationality are more likely to do better in their L2 learning (Sugihara, 2003). Here, Xun’s hobbies and academic interests have resulted in him studying and learning aspects of Japanese not normally introduced in the L2 classroom (anime, history, jokes, dialects, old vocabulary) that positively affect his L2 cultural, lexical and sociolinguistic knowledge of Japanese. Xun concludes by writing that his Japanese expresses his different identities and that all languages express the identities of those who use them, thus showing that he understands how his identity is expressed in different ways in his use of the Japanese language and how language and the construction of identities are intertwined. Excerpt 5.5 Xun’s blog – comments and replies

Comment 1: Your post is interesting. For you, your Japanese reflects your identity, but my Japanese does not express my identity at all. Xun’s reply: I see. Then how about creating your identity intentionally? One of the fun parts of learning a foreign language is that you can create a new identity, isn’t it? Comment 2: After all, your way of speaking Japanese is quite unique. Because you grew up in China, I envy your knowledge of Chinese characters compared to me, who speaks only English. However, you have taught me many interesting words and Chinese characters for the past four years; I will forgive you and accept this unfair situation. Xun’s reply: (Laughter) Sorry about that. But the more you study kanji, the easier it is going to be. I am not lying. Comment 3: Interesting. Identity is an important aspect of language learning. Great point in this post.

Figure 5.5 (Excerpt 5.5, translation) is a screenshot taken from the comment section of Xun’s blog entry. Several students revealed that they now reflected more on their identities and were eager to (re)construct positive identities in the future, indicating an awareness of the fluidity of identity. One peer reader comments that Xun’s Japanese expresses his identity but that her own Japanese does not. Xun replies and suggests that she should try to create her own identity consciously because one of the joys of learning a foreign language is that the learners are free to create their own identity. The student who posted Comment 3 shows understanding of how identities play an important role in their language learning. Furthermore, Xun clearly shows his progression from not understanding his identity (Excerpt 5.1) and how it contributes to his language studies to understanding his identity and its relation to the language he studies. This

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Figure 5.5 Comments posted on Xun’s blog entry

constitutes evidence of a second stage of development, where students begin to see themselves as not having a specific identity or just a single identity (often nationality) but rather multiple identities. They thus display awareness and reconstruction of who they are, which corresponds to Stage 1 of identity development in Houghton’s (2013) model.

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NNS–NNS discussion of identity and shifts in perceptions

When the topic shifts to ‘images of Japan’ during the fi rst online discussion (Week 7), the students’ comments range from superficial, stereotypical opinions to deeper, more critical opinions. However, by the end of this discussion, the participating students all exhibit increased interest and motivation to learn more about different perspectives, while some also commented that it is important to communicate with others studying the same language and not just with NSs. In response to that, another student added that online discussion offers good opportunities to learn from errors made by other language learners as well as about differences between learners. This was the starting point for the learners to explore issues of identity with other L2 learners. Whereas Xun’s entry in the previous section (Excerpt 5.4) shows his reflection and understanding of how his different identities are expressed in his use of Japanese, other students’ entries show a shift or gain in intercultural perceptions. Mike, an American student, writes in his blog that he changed the way he thinks about stereotypes as well as his views about certain cultures after having an online discussion with the Swedish students. Excerpt 5.6 Mike’s blog post

In his blog, Mike indicates through his writing that his view of Japanese people and their identity shifted numerous times in response to several experiences. He began this project with the stereotype that religion plays a large role in Japanese identity, but after talking to the Swedish students, his view of Japanese identity shifted. He found that although he had been to Japan, his understanding of Japanese identity was based only on how a Japanese person

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presents themselves on the surface (tatemae – public persona) but that their true persona (honne – one’s true intentions or feelings hidden deep inside) was not visible to him. Mike continues by stating that people need to take time to share opinions with non-Japanese interlocutors, ask native Japanese people more questions and not take the Japanese at face value if we are to truly understand a Japanese person’s various identities. This remark implies that Mike understands the pitfalls of assuming one can learn about identities just by studying in Japan and taking part in a short online exchange project such as this one. He notes that although he is now more aware, he still holds stereotypes about Japanese people, but that to eliminate these, he needs to communicate more with them to understand what is below the surface. This indicates that Mike is at Stage 5 of the ID Model. His comments show that he has changed some of his stereotypes about Japanese people in response to what he has learned from the Swedish students and is ready to change other stereotypes after more interaction with Japanese people themselves. A similar shift was noted in Kevin’s blog entries, which express how people are basically the same no matter where they are from, thus exhibiting empathy toward others. He comments that the stereotypes he held earlier about the Japanese are not necessarily true, thus demonstrating increased awareness of self as well as others’ culture: Excerpt 5.7 Kevin’s blog post

Here, Kevin expresses his surprise at fi nding that Japanese people, who he thought were very polite, behaved differently when faced with a natural disaster. His real-world experience helped form his understanding of identity construction and led to his realization that identity is fluid and can change in different situations (Mori, 2003; Zimmerman, 2007). This blog post (Excerpt 5.7) reflects how Kevin is moving through Stage 2 ‘Analysis of others’ to Stage 3 ‘Critical analysis of value similarities between self and other’ as suggested in the ID Model.

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Self-reflection, realization of fluidity and multiple facets of identity

During the second online discussion seven weeks after the fi rst one, discussion topics focused more on specific identity issues. In response to the warm-up question posed by the teachers regarding one’s own identity, Excerpt 5.8, a conversation taken from the warm-up preceding the second online small-group discussions, is a good representative of how the discussion of identity progressed. Excerpt 5.8 Second online discussion (opening whole-group discussion)

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Here, we can see that the students presented their views of their own identity, including such notions as the multiple nature of identity, the issue of cultural versus individual identity, the fluid nature of identity, the repeated (re)construction of one’s identity, other’s perceptions of one’s identity, the national identity dilemma (not knowing where one belongs) and future identity construction. These views show a metacognitive awareness of several of the stages in the ID Model, illustrating that focusing on identity issues in class activities and interaction increases students’ understanding of their own and others’ identities. Later in this same discussion, a student’s comment showed that he was aware of the tension between various identities. Specifically, Joakim explained that one day in a shopping mall in Japan, he witnessed a Japanese mother hitting her unruly child. As this behavior is illegal in Sweden, he immediately ran up to her and started telling her about how wrong she was to hit her child. Even though Joakim used what he thought was polite language to the mother, all the surrounding Japanese people were glaring at him, which put him in an incredibly awkward situation. While discussing identity issues in the seminar, Joakim asked his peers what he should have done. He mentioned that not doing anything in such a situation would not be an option as it would go against who he is, namely a Swede and an advocate of children’s rights. On the other hand, he was also a foreigner living in Japan whose Japanese was quite good, including a range of pragmatic strategies for him to choose from, but his identity as a Swede with strong opinions about hitting children prevailed in this incident. Excerpt 5.9 Conversation from the second online discussion (opening whole-group discussion)

This segment highlights Joakim’s difficulty in balancing his identities as a Swede and as a foreigner in Japan. Both Kevin and Sven provide

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suggestions that follow traditional Japanese customs for this particular type of situation. However, Joakim constructs his identity as a Swede and holds this identity as the most relevant for his actions in that situation. This segment also points to Kevin and Sven’s sensitivity to Japanese cultural norms but to differing degrees. Overall, the discussion illustrates that students are engaging at the level of Stage 4 of the ID Model; namely ‘student evaluation of the values of self and other with reference to a clear standard’ (Houghton, 2013: 312). Joakim shows that he is using his own Swedish culture as the ‘standard’ and judging the Japanese parent according to that standard, but he is also questioning what he should have done. This shows that even though he may judge the parent according to the Swedish cultural standard, he is aware that his actions (as opposed to his beliefs) should conform to a Japanese standard. In response, Sven comments that Joakim should have spoken to the parent ‘quietly’ in polite language. His comment shows how, like Joakim, he is also using Swedish value standards of beliefs (the parent is wrong to hit the child) and actions (telling the parent that she is wrong, which is not what a Japanese person would do). However, Sven adds what he thinks would be the Japanese person’s action (doing so in polite language, quietly). This is a creative combination of Swedish and Japanese perspectives that shows how to keep one’s value (Swedish), but perhaps adjust one’s actions to reflect what is perceived to be ‘the Japanese way’. Kevin, on the other hand, is the only participant who puts himself in the place of Japanese people and comments that the Japanese would not have done anything. He argues that his view reflects the Japanese mindset and action most accurately. Thus, although all participants are at Stage 4 of the ID Model, each of them presents different critical evaluations of self and other according to their own as well as the Japanese cultural standard. Like Sven, Joakim and Kevin (the other US students) displayed a noticeable change in identity development. The following are excerpts from the fi nal blog entries by Kevin, Jane, Patricia and Sandra, reflecting on their learning throughout the term. Excerpt 5.10 Blog post from Kevin’s blog

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Excerpt 5.11 Blog post from Jane’s blog

Excerpt 5.12 Blog post from Patricia’s blog

Excerpt 5.13 Blog post from Sandra’s blog

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The students’ blogged compositions above by Kevin, Jane, Patricia and Sandra all demonstrate that these students are aware that people have more than just one identity and that identity can change over time, as Hall (1996) emphasizes. All the learners’ blogs show a self-recognition of growth in their understanding of issues of identity, whether their own or Japanese native speaker identities. Using Japanese as means of communication, they reframed their relationship with others, came to understand their own identities and how these are manifested in their use of Japanese, and thus created more ‘powerful identities’ (Norton, 2013: 3). By creating blog entries and providing comments through communication over an online videoconferencing system, the participating students continuously constructed and reconstructed their identities as well as their understanding of others from their own perspectives. Through their written and oral discussions, the students’ choice of words showed that they constructed images of who they are (e.g. a language learner) or how they wanted to be perceived by others (e.g. good at gaming) which helped them eventutally build an understanding of their own identities. This shows that language use does not necessarily reflect who one is, but that it is used to contribute to the construction of one’s identities. While the participants’ identity development followed stages of the ID Model (Houghton, 2013) quite closely, we also observed that there exists a stage prior to Stage 1 in the ID Model, namely a ‘no-awareness of self’ stage. Furthermore, our fi ndings indicate that Stage 1 ‘Awareness of self’ occurs as two sub-stages: (1a) Awareness of single identity; and (1b) Awareness of having multiple identities. Our data also suggest that at one point, several students were offering different critical evaluations of self and other as a result of their own and the Japanese cultural standard not fitting the standard identity development model, suggesting that the multicultural nature of NNS–NNS interactions involving different L1 backgrounds can accelerate identity development. Conclusions

In this section, we draw conclusions regarding how participants’ identities are performed, shaped and reshaped during telecollaboration with other NNSs and how this affected their intercultural competence. The data show that the students’ blogs and discussion comments reflected each stage of the ID Model, demonstrating at every step what level students were at in their identity development process. Since identity construction is a key component of intercultural competence; developing one is part and parcel of developing the other. Each stage of the process thus represents a step toward increased intercultural competence. To illustrate and summarize, fi rst, the data show that the project helped students identify multiple facets of their own identities (Stage 1: Analysis of self). Through participating in the synchronous and

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asynchronous interactions, students came to the understanding that one’s identity is multi-layered. Xun (Excerpt 5.4), for instance, realized how he established (or re-established) his multifaceted identities as Chinese, an exchange student living in the US and a Japanese major student at a US college. This showed that students went from little to no awareness of their identity (Stage 0) to acknowledging one identity (Stage 1a) to having a more complex view of self (Stage 1b). It also showed that even students with obvious multiple identities are perhaps not aware of them until they are obliged to analyze themselves through self-reflection and interaction with others. Second, through their performance and evaluation of stereotypes of the USA, Sweden and Japan, students realized they held stereotypical images of their own and other’s culture (Stage 2: Analysis of other). The data show that the students acknowledged and analyzed these stereotypical images and generally came to view their images of each country more critically. Thus, not only were they able to reshape their ideas about the three cultures involved but also likely developed an understanding of how to avoid stereotyping other cultures as well. Next, students (e.g. Kevin – Excerpt 5.7) noted the similarities between their own and the other’s culture (Stage 3), recognizing that no matter how different cultures are, basic feelings such as fear are universal. They came to understand that even though their nationalities may be different, people from different backgrounds share similar values and ideas. This suggests that developing critical thinking is crucial for reducing stereotyped images of those who belong to different cultures. Such an attitudinal change is fundamental if students are to grow as life-long learners. Similarly, the complex analysis of one’s own values and actions as measured against a clear standard (whether one’s own or other culture) (Stage 4) was noted in the discussion about how Joakim reacted to the parent who hit the child (Excerpt 5.9). The comments in this discussion represent a complex interplay between the participants, their values, their perceived understanding of Japanese values and behavior. We also see how Joakim questions his own behavior (though not his ideas), but we do not see (in the end) if he decides to change his behavior (Stage 5) in response to the other students’ suggestions. It suggests, however, that he is open to changing his behavior, thus making this discussion a precursor to Stage 5 (identity development – changing/not changing behavior in response to interlocutor). This excerpt, in particular, may be used as in argument toward promoting more NNS–NNS interaction in the L2 classroom. That is, the multi-perspective input in this discussion suggests that there may be more opportunities for identity development due to the multicultural nature of the participants, particularly if the NNSs are from different backgrounds. Lastly, although each Stage 1–4 is indicative of identity development (Stage 5), several excerpts (e.g. Mike – Excerpt 5.6 and Kevin – Excerpt

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5.7) show clear evidence that students shaped and reshaped their identities and changed their ideas in response to the other participants’ input. In sum, by participating in these online activities, the students moved through the different stages and developed their identities through interaction with each other. It is also important to note how blog and online discussions played a major role in this process. Using blogs and online discussions simultaneously during the semester allowed two sets of students to connect despite both the physical distance and the substantial time difference. In this study, all the students shared a common interest in Japanese, but having common ground beyond that and sharing it while using the various online tools (blogs, comments, exchanges and face-to-face online discussions) enhanced the motivation needed for the learning process to unfold. While not everyone will have the opportunity to study abroad, modern technology allows students to be part of internationalization processes that enable them to (re)construct their identities and develop their intercultural competence. The learners were not only able to practice their Japanese but also expand their horizons and deepen their understanding of another culture as well as of the topics discussed during online discussions. In short, this project helped the students become aware of themselves as active participants in a globalized world. To summarize, this study showed how synchronous and asynchronous telecollaboration through blogging and videoconferencing were successfully integrated as pedagogical tools into a course in Japanese as a foreign language. Like Chun (2011), Helm (2009), Kitade (2012) and Schenker (2012), the present chapter confirms that technology can help the development of foreign language (FL) learners’ intercultural competence through identity construction and (re)construction, as argued by Deardorff (2011). The fi ndings show that the application of this approach, specifically promoting interaction between FL learners in different locations via social networking, exemplifies Tohsaku’s (2016) proposal that we can enrich the lives of JFL learners and their use of Japanese through cross-cultural exchanges. Pedagogical Suggestions

The process of implementing synchronous and asynchronous online tools to facilitate identity development and intercultural competence is not an easy one. As an end to this chapter, we suggest a few considerations for other instructors intending to do similar projects to make the process smoother. First, it is important to make sure that participants share similar interests and are at a similar proficiency level to facilitate smooth communication during the exchanges. This project ensured that students from both countries involved (Sweden and the USA) were at a similar proficiency

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level and shared similar interests (in this case the Japanese language and culture). As a result, communication was smooth regardless of nationality, age or gender, showing neither major confrontation nor conflict. Our data show that the students were willing to challenge notions of identity construction and cultural stereotyping by others constructively. They debated when their opinions were different, but because both videoconferencing and blog exchanges took place within a classroom framework, they understood the importance – even the need – to discuss topics constructively. Because the topic we chose was identity, which includes understanding diverse values, the students avoided seeking a single best answer. This resulted in more active and complex debates and exchanges. When students engage in debate, one side typically wins and the other loses. This was not the case for the discussions in this study. Because students understood the purpose of the project before it started, they were able to explore the topic without trying to convince others or change their opinions. Rather, as the data show, students often changed their perspectives without overt coercion from their peers. In addition, in order to improve participating students’ interactions, it would be best to have two-way blog participation. That is, the blogs were one-way blogs, created and maintained only by the US students. Although the Swedish students commented on the US students’ blogs consistently throughout the semester, they did not create blogs of their own. Thus the topics of communication depended on the themes selected by the US students for each of their blog posts. However, two-way blogs (i.e. also having the Swedish students manage their own blog site) would encourage both sets of participants to reflect on specific topics before they communicate via telecollaboration. Finally, it is important for the teachers to clarify the goal of the seminar before the project starts. One student commented in the survey that she learned nothing during the seminars as she was hoping to improve her Japanese grammar and pronunciation through these seminars when the focus was in fact on sharing views and experiences using Japanese as a tool. She was upset that the students were speaking incorrectly and that the teachers did not correct their grammatical errors. To avoid this type of situation, teachers need to explain the objectives of the exchanges clearly before the telecollaboration project starts. As Guth and Helm (2012a) claim, teachers and learners need to understand the importance of flexibility and adaptability as not everything will happen as planned. Notes (1) All the names appearing in this study are pseudonyms. (2) This project was approved by the International Review Boards in both Sweden and the USA prior to the project starting. We also obtained the students’ written informed consent for using the data for publication. Enrollment in the US class was seven, and all participants signed an informed consent form indicating that they agreed to

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participate in the study. Three students in Sweden voluntarily participated in this study, and no written consent was required from the Swedish Institutional Review Board (IRB) for participating in the project. (3) All blog entries and comments were translated into English by a research assistant whose native language is English, holding Japanese-Language Profi ciency Test (JLPA) 1st grade and ranked as American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Oral Proficiency Interview (ACTFL OPI) superior level. The assistant fi rst translated the texts exactly as the writers wrote them, then edited them to ensure accurate English.

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Part 3 Creation and Analysis of CALL Programs for Learning Japanese

6 Rakugo CALL Program for Japanese Language Learning: Its Development and Possibilities for Implementation Toru Yamada, Takako Sakai and Cade Bushnell

Introduction

Rakugo is a traditional Japanese oratory art form in which a single performer plays the roles of multiple characters while kneeling on a cushion in the middle of an undecorated stage, using no tools apart from a handkerchief and a folding fan to elaborate the stories. The performers tell stories that often portray the humorous aspects of human relationships and Japanese customs, and these stories are culturally condensed. Back in the early 1990s, American comedian Dave Barry (1993) wrote about his experience watching a rakugo performance in Japan as a part of his business trip in Japan. Without any proficiency in Japanese, Barry went to the theater with a highly-experienced translator who provided him with ongoing translation. Despite the translator’s best efforts, it was a puzzling experience for Barry because the audience showed no reaction to what he thought of as the punchline and he could not understand the performer’s wordplay. Barry thusly described rakugo humor as untranslatable and expressed that he was lost in the audience, who, unlike him, shared a cultural and linguistic base. Likely Barry was lost because rakugo stories are full of cultural references and wordplays that do not easily or directly translate to other languages. Moreover, scholars maintain that understanding and enjoying humor such as in rakugo stories requires not only cultural competence, but also linguistic proficiency and pragmatic competence (e.g. Bell, 2009; Bell & Pomerantz, 2014; Bushnell, 2017; Deneire, 1995; Schmitz, 2002). Barry’s story illustrates why there are few humorous materials to be found in foreign language sections of bookstores. Indeed, some instructors avoid humor in L2 contexts partly because they 149

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do not fi nd it to be ideal material for the L2 classroom (see Ziyaeemehr et al., 2011). Second language (L2) learners, however, can benefit from learning humor not only to develop their linguistic ability, but also to be able to gain rapport with first language (L1) speakers by being able to understand humor (e.g. Bell, 2009) or by co-constructing humorous exchanges with them (e.g. Davies, 2003). Therefore, to gain pragmatic competence in a target language, ‘inferential processing based on discoursal and contextual information (e.g., understanding irony, humor, and metaphors)’ (Taguchi, 2009: 4), is considered an important part of second language acquisition. This corresponds with Ochs and Schieffelin’s (1984) discussion that language is not learned in isolation from culture. However, the L2 classroom setting of language education consists of a series of fictional situations created to enable instructors and L2 students to focus on, drill and master a few aspects of a target language in each class (Bell & Pomerantz, 2014). Balancing the fictional nature of the language classroom and the pragmatic application of the target language is always a challenge for language teaching and learning. Because of its cultural references and wordplays, rakugo is potent material for improving pragmatic competence if framed in a learnerfriendly format. Rakugo presents an ideal platform for exploring the possibility of integrating language and cultural learning that ultimately has the potential to improve pragmatic competence. To provide these opportunities for L2 learners, we designed a rakugo computer-assisted language learning (CALL) program; a webbased interactive system that features video clips, a quiz and answer check system, a viewer response system and other help functions, all of which serve to create opportunities for learning based on an interactionist perspective (e.g. Chapelle, 2009; Long, 1996; Pica, 1994). It allows us to calculate the statistics of participant responses to video clips and quiz answers, as well as how long it takes for learners to respond (via clicking the mouse) to comedians’ facial expressions, embodied actions or to the live audience’s laughter, which is indicative of learner understanding of the content. While this chapter describes the early development and initial results, the hope is that future statistics recorded by the program may ultimately provide information on how watching humor such as rakugo in the target language via CALL offers opportunities (e.g. Gibson, 1979; van Lier, 2000, 2002, 2004) for L2 learners to acquire pragmatic competence in terms of understanding and responding to humor. This chapter thus describes the process of designing a rakugo CALL program as extracurricular materials mainly for intermediate L2 learners of Japanese studying at a Japanese university. The goals of designing the program were twofold: (1) to make rakugo more accessible to learners; and (2) to assist them in improving their pragmatic competence in terms of

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understanding humor by helping them comprehend the linguistic and cultural features of rakugo stories (e.g. Ishihara, 2007; Sakai & Yamada, 2016). In this chapter, we first review the major research fi ndings on humor, pragmatic competence and interactionist CALL in the L2 context. Next, we explain the process of designing the CALL program, which involved gathering L2 learners’ opinions via survey about watching live rakugo performances and considering their responses in the design. We then give examples of the online rakugo program content and describe how it works. Finally, in the last section, we describe how 26 L2 and 17 L1 speakers tested a beta version of the CALL program in a pilot study and provided feedback on its efficacy. Literature Review/Background

In this section, we first situate our project with respect to previous studies on humor in an L2 environment. Next, we examine how interactionist perspectives have provided frameworks for designing effective CALL programs for L2 learning in general and for enhancing pragmatic competence in particular. In short, we identify the key issues that were important to consider in the process of building our rakugo CALL program. Humor in the L2 context

Humor has been a subject of continued study by scholars in various academic fields (e.g. Arno, 1976; Haugerud, 2013; Lewis, 2006). For those in the fields of communication and anthropology, humor has been a major research focus because it makes empirically apparent a number of social characteristics: social roles of individuals (e.g. social status, political affiliations, gender ), interpersonal rules (e.g. the power differential between a speaker and listeners) and boundaries of specific cultural groups (e.g. taboos on certain topics in humor) (Radcliffe-Brown, 1940, 1949). L2 researchers maintain that understanding humor requires linguistic and cultural competence (e.g. Bell, 2009; Bell & Pomerantz, 2014; Bushnell, 2017; Deneire, 1995; Schmitz, 2002). While linguistic competence involves understanding grammar and lexicon, cultural competence with regard to humor includes things like understanding specific cultural references (e.g. movies, literature, music, social relationships and discrepancies) and more broadly, understanding what is perceived and considered humorous in a particular cultural sphere (e.g. implied meanings, slapstick, irony, use of word play) and how it manifests in speech and communication. Understanding humor is also considered an important part of pragmatic competence. Scholars note that understanding humor can help L2 learners express their thoughts in a target language more playfully and effectively. In a non-classroom setting, L1 speakers’ use of humor can exclude L2 learners from the flow of conversation as they do not have the

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opportunity or resources to quickly infer the meaning of humor. In other words, if L2 learners acquire comprehension and competence in humor, it allows them not only to participate more in L1 speaker conversation circles but also to interact with L1 speakers in a more casual, relaxed way (e.g. Bell, 2009; Bell & Pomerantz, 2017; Deneire, 1995). While there are different materials and approaches to the use of humor in L2 contexts, what they have in common is that L2 researchers use jokes as language instructional materials, and to make their classroom more relaxed and relatively informal. Schmitz (2002) uses ‘word-based’ humor from popular magazines (e.g. Reader’s Digest). He uses humor both as reading and listening materials in order for L2 learners to improve their proficiency in the target language by making them aware of the translatability and untranslatability of humor. Deneire (1995) uses conversational joke skits to teach grammar and pragmatics. He points out that funny, inappropriate responses in a conversation not only cause his students to laugh, but also indicate their acquisition of pragmatic competence in a target language. The ‘inappropriate’ responses that Deneire (1995: 292) points out can be used as an approach to intentionally create jokes in order for L2 learners to improve their competence. Davies (2003) did just that by pairing L2 learners with L1 speakers to create joke skits. On a more reflective level, Bell (2009) used multiple types of materials on humor from conversations to television programs for L2 learners to examine their familiarity and difficulty with joke contents in order to help them to improve their L2 proficiencies. Humor is considered a highly interactional activity and it is often associated with rules. For instance, when a speaker tells a humorous story, the hearer laughs with appropriate timing. Without appropriate timing, laughter can be considered awkward or inappropriate. In terms of L2 learners’ timing of laughter in response to jokes in rakugo, Bushnell (2014, 2017) argues that it can be an indicator of linguistic, pragmatic and social comprehension. The timing of laughter and silence can indicate the degree of the recipient’s understanding of the joke content and familiarity with its structural and organizational features (Sacks, 1989). Listeners sometimes laugh just before the speaker arrives at the punchline, and this shows the engagement of the listener with the speaker’s story and the ability of the listener to comprehend when laughter is due. However, it is not easy to determine whether an audience member’s laughter is based on their actual understanding of the joke or whether it is based on the surrounding audience’s laughter. That is, audience laughter provides hints as to the appropriate timing for laughter and this can compel others, who may not understand the humor, to laugh at the same time. Since L2 learners of Japanese often find it difficult to follow the contents of rakugo humor, they find themselves outside of the boundary of humor when they fail to laugh in the right places. This can make them aware of the degree of their understanding. Moreover, there is a concern that peers may notice their reactions or lack thereof and be able to assess whether or not

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they are understanding or enjoying the humor. Consequently, when students are in the same room and able to see others’ reactions, it can pressure them to quickly decide whether or not to laugh when others are doing so even if they are not fully confident about the degree of their understanding. CALL programs with humor: Enhancing pragmatic competence

L2 scholars have investigated best pedagogical practices when implementing CALL in L2 contexts and found that applications of interactionist theory (e.g. Doughty, 1982; Long, 1996; Pica, 1994) can facilitate second language learning (see Chapelle, 2009). An interactionist perspective views meaning as not absolute or fi xed, but as constantly negotiated and adjusted in the interaction process. In her review of interactionist theory and CALL studies, Chapelle (1998, 2009) points out certain aspects of CALL design that have been shown to facilitate L2 learning including: (1) providing help or ‘modification of the input’ (Chapelle, 1998: 23) (e.g. help functions for reading and subtitles for video clips); (2) requiring learner output in the target language (e.g. text input); (3) providing feedback on the output (e.g. minimally correct/incorrect answer feedback); and (4) prompting noticing or focus on form (e.g. via overt feedback or explanations). Applications of interactionist theory in CALL have been shown to improve L2 learners’ pragmatic competence. For instance, Ishihara (2007) developed online exercises (with audio) and sentence construction drills (text inputs) with self-evaluation functions to improve L2 learners’ pragmatic competence in Japanese specifically for Japanese speech acts (e.g. apologies, complaints, requests). Utilizing reflective journaling to record their experiences and to track changes in their pragmatic awareness, Ishihara found that L2 learners used the web-based material and ultimately improved their pragmatic awareness on their own at their own pace. Her research showed that L2 learners can balance in-class learning with out-ofclass materials to develop language skills such as pragmatic competence. To use humor as material to teach pragmatic and cultural aspects in the L2 environment, retaining authenticity as much as possible is important. L2 learners need to balance their classroom learning with out-of-classroom contexts in order to develop their language ability, particularly cultural and pragmatic competencies. Research shows that in order to use humor material to teach pragmatic and cultural aspects in the L2 environment, the humor should be as authentic as possible. In research examining L2 learners, instructors used short joke lines either as listening or reading materials for L2 students to learn and practice linguistic and cultural references (e.g. Bell, 2009; Long & Graesser, 1988; Schmitz, 2002). Those jokes were popular among the L1 speakers or were from popular magazines and the idea was that L2 learners could later use them when they interacted with L1 speakers.1 Thus, one of the primary goals of this rakugo CALL program was to make authentic humor material accessible to L2 learners. To build on

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previous research on the use of humorous materials in the language classroom, we added another layer of authenticity by using video clips in which rakugo professional comedians perform in front of an audience primarily consisting of L2 learners of Japanese with some L1 Japanese speakers. This makes the input more natural and authentic because learners can observe the laughter which the rakugo performer and audience co-construct in their live interactions. The rakugo CALL program thus aims to holistically improve L2 learners’ competence in Japanese by providing opportunities for them to observe both verbal and non-verbal expressions.

Designing and Creating a Rakugo CALL Program for L2 Learners

The rakugo CALL program was developed as an extension to a live series of rakugo performances for L2 learners at a Japanese university. All live performances were video/audio recorded including audience laughter and participation. A survey was used during the live performances to determine what learners found difficult or funny about the rakugo material. This helped the program designers determine what information to include in the instructional materials for the videos. Additionally, 43 students – from L1 speakers to intermediate L2 learners of Japanese – were asked to pilot test the program once it was in fi nal draft form and provide feedback via an interview about the effectiveness of the program and its functions (e.g. response function and subtitles). The rakugo program consists of over 50 video recordings of a subset of the aforementioned live rakugo performance. The video clips are accompanied by optional subtitles in kana and kanji as well as a response button that allows the student to indicate, at any point in the video, if they found the material funny or difficult. After viewing the video, simple quizzes test the students on their understanding of the video content (e.g. lexical, grammatical, cultural) and feedback is provided on their answers. Since the research on humor and pragmatic competence as well as CALL and interactionist theory identifies important issues to consider in helping learners comprehend humor and improve their L2 pragmatic competence. Specifically, CALL environments should provide learners with: (1) modified input; (2) feedback; and (3) focus on form or opportunities for noticing. These elements are manifested in the rakugo CALL program in these components: (1) Natural, unedited video recordings of live performances of rakugo that portray popular Japanese humor (containing wordplays, cultural references and grammar material). (2) Response function for the learner to evaluate video material (as funny or difficult), which also allows them to compare their response (e.g.

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laughter timing) to the responses of the original audience members and other CALL users. (3) Quizzes that allow the learner to assess their comprehension of the video: (a) Linguistic content (e.g. grammar, lexicon). (b) Cultural content (e.g. historical and social references). (4) Learner feedback in the form of explanations of the quiz answers that provides comprehensible/modified input. In rakugo, since there is only one comedian using a few props, cultural references are embedded in the short monologues and the context must often be inferred. Thus, the timing of laughter can leave L2 learners behind. It can be psychologically uncomfortable for L2 learners if they cannot laugh when others are responding to jokes and it might cease to be fun to listen to humor if the learners think they do not understand the material. Since L2 learners are generally outside of the boundary of humor, to move across this boundary, they need ‘additional time to decode the literal message’ of humor (Bell & Pomerantz, 2017: 38). A joke ceases to be as funny once it needs an explanation and thus L2 learners may be discouraged by the efforts required in the decoding process of humor. In the developmental stage of the rakugo CALL program, the members of the project discussed how the program could assist the students across this boundary to understand the rakugo stories. Currently in its beta stage, 2 the project members have designed the program to incorporate sound language pedagogy via computer technology while considering the following aspects: (1) Rakugo stories contain typical grammar and vocabulary along with everyday humor that students can benefit from learning. These can be incorporated into material for the CALL exercises accompanying the video clips. (2) Rakugo humor has the potential to be more interesting and enjoyable than some of the standard materials for Japanese language learning, but it requires L2 learners’ effort to study it. (3) Since the rakugo performer plays multiple roles in a story by changing his/her voice tones and physical gestures, learners must learn to recognize various pragmatic and interactional cues in order to interpret the performer’s monologue as a dialogue or conversational exchange between multiple people. We analyzed through tracking mouse clicks how students reacted to the turn-taking within the one-man ‘dialogue’. We will expand on the specifics of this methodology in the analysis section. (4) We also considered the length of the rakugo stories we used. Some stories can last for approximately 10 minutes and others may continue for hours. Due to the variations in story length, we considered kobanashi stories to be the most ideal for Japanese language education as

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they typically end after approximately one minute. Moreover, because a kobanashi story is often more straightforward in terms of story structure and does not have too many linguistic or cultural references within the story, it prevents learners from getting distracted while they are studying Japanese and rakugo humor. To understand the types of issues that a live audience of L2 learners would have watching a rakugo performance, after multiple live rakugo sessions we conducted a survey (Appendix 2) of the international students at the University of A, and the results of this survey include recommendations for the design of the rakugo CALL program. Specifically, we asked the international students to describe what they found difficult about rakugo. Their responses to this survey were: • • • • • •

Fast-paced monologue (linguistic factor). Unfamiliar accents such as Edo-Tokyo accent or Kamigata-Osaka accent (linguistic factor). Kakekotoba (homonyms) (linguistic factor). The performer’s multiple speech manners, which are related to the roles in the monologue (cultural/linguistic factors). Unfamiliar Japanese traditions or cultural practices (cultural factor). Imaginary Japanese creatures such as ghosts or demons (cultural factor).

Based on these responses, we created various functions within the rakugo CALL program to assist L2 learners in improving their linguistic and cultural competence that would lead to improved understanding of humor, which is an important part of pragmatic competence. These included video rewinds, subtitles and transcription, as well as online quizzes and answer explanations. The development of the CALL program also required balancing the considerations of rakugo’s oral tradition with the needs of L2 learners in their acquisitional process. That is, some rakugo performers are philosophically opposed to technological means in their training and performances (e.g. Brau, 2008: 109–153). This is because each performance is an original collaboration between the performer and the audience, where the audience’s responses of laughter and silence affect the performer’s counter-reactions of intentional delays or changes in speech manner and nonverbal expressions. All this entails an extensive undergirding of shared linguistic and cultural understanding. In contrast, many current L2 materials do not give much consideration to this interactive/collaborative perspective. They often consist of model interactions or conversations extracted from their social situations and engage learners in repetitive exercises and rote memorization with the ostensible goal of becoming able to use the phrases unconsciously. In the case of the rakugo CALL program, however, while one focus of the program is to assist L2 learners in the development of their linguistic skills in the traditional sense, it also

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aims to familiarize them with rakugo and the related contexts of its humor. In the development of the program, the designers and the professional rakugo performers created a shared vision of integrating language learning and cultural socialization (e.g. Ochs & Schieffelin, 1984). The specific functions of the rakugo CALL program

The rakugo CALL program takes advantage of recent developments in CALL systems as well as advancements in internet technologies, which have increased CALL program functionality in areas such as videoconferencing, distance education and real-time data collecting functions. Such technological advancements allow the rakugo CALL program to be more virtually realistic and more effective for language education. Utilizing this CALL program consists of: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Selecting a video clip. Watching the clip without subtitles and with real-time video responses. Taking online quizzes. Checking the quiz answers and contextualizing explanations. Watching the clip again with subtitles.

In particular, the real-time video response function is one of the unique features of this CALL program. The learners can click the buttons on the screen as they watch video clips to indicate whether or not the performer’s humor was funny or difficult. The online database immediately stores the statistics of the clicks and generates an onscreen histogram that the learners can view to compare their responses with others when they watch the clip again after they answer online questions. In this way, the learners can see how their rakugo understanding is similar or different from other users including both L2 learners and L1 speakers. This function has the potential to not only make the users more aware of the content of the humor but also allows the program administrator to analyze users’ responses for improvement. This response function is integrated into all of the video clips for this CALL program. Response function

From the ‘Video’ menu at the top of the page, the program users can access the list of video clips (Figure 6.1). As of July 2018, there are over 50 video clips in the database. The users can choose the clips based on their preferences of performers, content, duration and the level of their Japanese proficiency (Table 6.1). Ochi (punchlines) are sorted out in the following three categories: homonym, contextual and facial expressions. While many jokes are context-based, the punchlines with homonyms (kakekotoba) end in word play. Homonym and contextual categories require the L2 learners to understand the story content in order to answer the online questions.

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Figure 6.1 The screenshot of the video clips . Permission was obtained from the two performers to use their pictures.

Contrary to the punchlines in these two categories, the punchlines in the facial expression category usually consist of verbal and nonverbal cues by the performers ending stories with funny facial expressions. In addition to dividing by punchline type, we also sorted out the video clips into four levels according to the following factors: the vocabulary and grammar, the complexity of the story, the duration and the number of characters in the story. We also took into consideration whether or not it was complicated to prepare learning support for a story. 3 Although L2 learners must have at least intermediate level ability in Japanese to use this CALL system fully, by including some clips of nonverbal jokes, the program can also partially accommodate beginner learners. Beginner learners can simply watch short video clips to familiarize themselves with rakugo, or use the response function to check at which point other learners and L1 speakers react. Once the users choose a clip, the program directs them to the next page (Figure 6.2). On this page, the video clip is positioned in the left half of the screen, and the transcribed text4 and three buttons are shown in the right Table 6.1 Examples of kobanashi (warm-up short comical video clips) video clips Video ID

Performer

Title

Punchline

Level

Duration

Accent

HA211

HS

tori hun

Homonym

1

0:00:03

Edo-Tokyo

HA104

HS

bijyutsukan

Content

2

0:00:23

Edo-Tokyo

SA101

SK

bijyutsukan

Content

2

0:00:32

Edo-Tokyo

SO116

SJ

gokai

Homonym

2

0:00:39

Kamigata-Osaka

SO102

SJ

kao

Facial expression

3

0:00:55

Kamigata-Osaka

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Figure 6.2 The screenshot of a kobanashi lesson page

half of the screen. One of the buttons directs users to the quizzes, which only become available after viewing the clip. The other two buttons are for the users to click while they are watching the rakugo stories. By clicking the ‘omoshiroi (funny)’ button or the ‘muzukashii (difficult)’ button on the screen as they watch video clips, they can respond to the performer’s humor at any moment. 5 This idea came out of discussions on how to provide an interactional environment using video clips as educational materials. Along with the quizzes to measure users’ pragmatic competence, we thought the ‘funny’ and ‘difficult’ buttons would help users be actively engaged while watching the clips rather than just simply waiting for the clip to end so that they can proceed to the online quizzes. That is, in any form of humor, rakugo included, both in person and via mass media, active engagement from the audience is necessary. Members of the audience make constant judgments as to whether a performer’s story is funny or boring either by laughing, smiling, being silent or simply just trying to pay attention to the performer’s actions. Even deciding to walk away from the theater or changing the television channel or webpage requires an audience member’s active decision. Whether the L2 learners laugh at the content of the story or because of perceived pressure from peer laughter, the learners’ reactions are indicative of either their understanding of the material or how they have been socialized to laugh with others. Therefore, the user response function is an important tool by which we attempt to get a glimpse into their degree of linguistic and cultural understanding of the content of the rakugo material. To enable this CALL program to provide more realistic rakugo experiences, the majority of the clips contain not only the performances with performer’s gestures and facial expressions, but also the audience’s reactions

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such as their laughter and silence. In this way, the video clips can be interactionally more realistic than a video-recorded performance without an audience. The users of this CALL system can feel like they are watching an actual rakugo performance, but are physically and temporally removed from the original location and time of the performance. One of the major differences in the video clips of this CALL program and a live rakugo performance is that it is not fully interactional. As it is a video-recorded clip, the speed or the timings of the performer’s silence cannot be modified based on the audience’s reaction. The clips do not have agency or utilize artificial intelligence, but rather expose all users to the same timings of punchlines and silences. This can provide the learners with the same value as repetitive drill exercises as they learn to predict the timings of the performer’s jokes and silences. Another significant difference between live and recorded rakugo is that there is less disturbance from peers in the recorded version. Unlike sitting in a classroom with other L2 learners or in the audience at a rakugo theater, the learners can use the rakugo CALL program in a private or isolated environment. While it is sometimes difficult to hear the performers’ jokes if the audience’s laughter is too loud, the performer’s voice in the video clips is clear enough so as not to miss any of the utterances. In a classroom or theater, the learners are usually members of the audience, and they are consciously or unconsciously observing others’ reactions to performer’s jokes. Because of others’ laughter, some people laugh even if they do not understand the performer’s punchline or do not clearly hear what the performer is saying. Furthermore, they might decide to be silent because no one else is laughing, even if they want to laugh. In short, there are fewer disturbances for the learners when they use the CALL program as they can observe others’ reactions a little more objectively. Online quizzes

In the rakugo CALL program, there are three kinds of quizzes: standard multiple choice, fill in the blanks (multiple choice) and word order exercises. We designed the quiz questions not only to help L2 learners to improve their Japanese, but also to help them be more familiar with the humor and its context in the rakugo story. The fi rst rakugo story we examined is the following: Video clip 1: tori hun (a three-second video clip)6

(1) P1: tori ga nanika ( ) otoshite itta yo. The bird dropped something. (2) P2: hu:n…. [Oh Yeah?/Bird dropping]

The following four quiz questions focus on a homonym for hu:n (Oh Yeah?/Bird dropping). After watching the clip on ‘tori (bird)’ without subtitles, the users have to answer four questions. The first question is:

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Figure 6.3 Multiple choice quiz (example: ochiru and otosu)

Quiz Question 1

Q1: Which drawing represents the plot of the story?

The users choose the drawing that matches with the storyline (Figure 6.3). The bird is falling in Answer A (ochiru), and the bird is dropping something in Answer B and C (otosu). This quiz checks whether the user can distinguish between an intransitive verb (ochiru) and a transitive verb (otosu) in making a decision between Answer A and B/C. In addition, the difference between Answer B and C elucidates whether the users understood B’s response. When the users fi nish the quizzes, they receive the correct answer with the right drawing and brief explanations of the meaning of the word hu:n and its synonyms (Figure 6.4). The next three quiz questions check if the users understand the kakekotoba (homonym) in the story. Quiz 2, 3 and 4

Q2: Which of the following can be inserted in the blank (P2’s response)? (1) P1: tori ga nanika ( ) otoshite itta yo. The bird dropped something. (2) P2: ( ). Answers: A: (hun) and (hun) B: (hun) and (hu:n) C: (hu:n) and (hu:n) Correct answer: B Q3: What does (hun) mean in the video clip? (1) P1: tori ga nanika ( ) otoshite itta yo. The bird dropped something. (2) P2: (hun).

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Figure 6.4 Multiple choice quiz answer (example 1)

Answers: A: Bird droppings B: Present Correct answer: A Q4: What does (hu:n) mean in the video clip? 1. P1: tori ga nanika ( ) otoshite itta yo. The bird dropped something. 2. P2: (hu:n). Answers: A: Oh yeah? B: No. Correct answer: A Q4 Tips: Hun: Example: Inu no hun ga ochiteru kara, ki o tsukete. (Be careful. There is a dog poop [on the street].) * Kuso, unko, daiben are synonyms of hun. The appropriate use of these words are highly context dependent. Check who uses which of these words in a particular context. Hu:n: * It is a response when you don’t know what the speaker said. Also, a-sou, he’e, and hontou are its synonyms.

The system provides the answers when the users answer all of the questions for each video clip. This question sequence is designed for the users to

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Figure 6.5 Multiple choice quiz answer (example 2)

become aware of the meanings of the homonym, hun and hu:n. On the following answer page in the program, there are more sample sentences and explanations of the homonym (Figure 6.5). The second video clip examined is about a dialogue in an art museum: Video clip 2: bijyutsukan (30-second video clip)

(1) P1: (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

ara ma: suteki na e ga zuibun naran de iru wa ne. Oh my! There are lots of fabulous paintings here. P2: a, okusama, irasshai mase. douzo kochira no hou de. Oh, Madame, welcome. Please come this way. P1: ma: suteki na e. kochira donata no e nano? My! What a fabulous painting! Whose painting is this? P2: kochira shaga:ru de gozai masu. This one is a Chagall, Madame. P1: shaga:ru. Ma: suteki desu koto. kochira wa? Chagall. My! This is fabulous. This one? P2: kochira, runoa:ru de gozai masu. This one is a Renoir’s, Madame. P1: ma: runoa:ru kore mo suteki ne? My! Renoir. This is fabulous, also. P1: ah, kore atashi shitteru. kore pikaso desho? Oh, I know this one. This is a Picasso, isn’t it? P2: a e: kagami de[su. Oh, well, this is a mirror. Au: a e: kagde[hah hah HAH HAH]

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Q1: Where this conversation taking place?

Answers: A: Art Museum B: School C: Hospital Correct answer: A Q2: What kind of personality does this person have? Answers: A: She is clever. B: She is a little slow on the uptake. C: She is very confident in herself. D: She is beautiful. Correct answer: C Q3: What did she see in the end? Answers: A: Picasso’s painting B: Picasso’s painting in the mirror C: Herself in the mirror. Correct answer: C The explanation section of Q3 provides images of paintings by Picasso, Renoir and Chagall to help the users visually understand the differences. Both of these video clips are very short, as the bird dropping joke lasts only for approximately three seconds and the art museum story is 25 seconds. However, even such short video clips can embed a considerable amount of linguistic (e.g. transitive and intransitive verbs) and cultural information (e.g. the visual difference between different painters’ works) that may confuse learners while they study these materials. This CALL program can provide effective explanations of the content of kobanashi stories by integrating multiple pedagogical resources while keeping it accessible and funny with sound and visual resources. Interactional Analysis: The Program in Action Participants, methodology and data

To determine if the program improved linguistic and cultural understanding concurrently, we had 17 native Japanese speakers, 14 advanced (Japanese Language Proficiency Test: JLPT N1) learners of Japanese and 12 intermediate learners (who have studied no more than 400 classroom hours). Most of the L1 and L2 participants were college students who voluntarily took the quizzes in an out-of-class setting. When they made their user accounts for the CALL program, we asked them to watch at least two video clips, use the response function and answer the quizzes. We conducted follow-up interviews with those who agreed to participate. The CALL program stored the data gathered from these participants’

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response clicks in its database server, which the researchers accessed and analyzed. Below, we examine the data collected for the two rakugo story examples given above. Results

The tori hun (bird dropping) video clip lasts only three seconds and consists of only two turn constructional units (TCUs),7 one by each of the two characters. No laughter is recorded or observed in the video clip. The data are very simple. Nobody responded to this video clip by clicking the funny/ difficult response button, and there was no pre-emptive response – clicking the button before the punchline – from any of the participants. This is likely because the video clip contained a homonym and was so short that learners had delayed responses that were too late to be captured by the funny/difficult response button. Capturing participants’ responses for this video would have required an immediate response. In most cases, many users waited until they confirmed their thoughts before clicking the ‘Funny’ or ‘Difficult’ buttons. One of the informants (an L1 Japanese speaker) expressed during a followup interview that she found that the video clip was over before she could respond, and the program did not let her click the response buttons once she had finally started laughing at the performer’s humor.8 The next sample, the bijyutsukan (art museum) video clip is approximately 25 seconds long and is considerably more complex in terms of structure, featuring nine turns consisting of multiple TCUs. The performer changes his gestures and voice tones to enact the dialogue more distinctively than he did with the earlier video clip on bird droppings. Figure 6.6 is the second-to-second plotted chart of the ‘Funny’ responses to this video clip. The fi rst laughter from the audience in the video clip occurs at the end of the 18-second point immediately after the performer fi nishes the story. The laughter of the rest of the audience starts at the beginning of the 19-second point after the initial laughter.9 The peak response point of the program users corresponds with the moment at which the audience’s laughter is the loudest.

Figure 6.6 Bijyutsukan (HA104) ‘Funny’ click responses

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The reason for this requires further analysis. One of the common comments during the follow-up interviews on this video clip was that the program users often waited to click the button until after they had confirmed their understanding of the content. All of the program users made the same comment whether they clicked the ‘Funny’ button at the 19-second point or did not click at all while they were watching the video clip. The statistical data on the server indicate that the majority of the program users did not click the response button while they were watching this video clip; a mere eight users clicked the button, but the clip was viewed more than 60 times as of 20 July 2018. This lack of response button clicking may be partially due to the program users’ hesitation and the influence of the audience silence in the video. Another advantage with this click response function of the rakugo CALL program is that it can provide data on the users’ reactions to non-verbal factors in the performances. For example, in Figure 6.6, there are clicks from all the participants (the L1 speakers, the advanced and intermediate L2 learners) at the 6 and 11 second points. At these points, the performer changes roles in the story from the woman to the museum curator. The performer switches roles by changing the tone of his voice and the direction of his eyes at these points (Figure 6.7). The fact that the participants clicked the response button at these points indicates that they found these role transitions to be funny. This means that the click response function can capture students’ reactions not only to the verbal, but also to nonverbal factors, both of which are critical components of language acquisition. In sum, the preliminary data from the participants indicate that program users can observe and compare their own reactions to rakugo

Figure 6.7 Example of role changes

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performers’ jokes. The lack of response clicks at some points in the video indicate that there is sometimes not enough time to respond to the humor before the video clip is over, but also indicates that there is less peer pressure to respond when watching a video as compared to being part of a live audience. Moreover, in combination with online quizzes, students can also check their linguistic and cultural comprehension of the contents of rakugo stories. The response click function and the quiz combination in this CALL program focus the learner’s attention on not only the linguistic aspects but also on the cultural nuances found in rakugo jokes. Concluding Discussion

Barry described his experience at the rakugo theater in Japan thusly: ‘The performers tended to tell long, wandering stories, often taking five minutes to set up a punchline, which would turn out to be impossible for us to understand because it involved a play on words, or a knowledge of written Japanese’ (Barry, 1993: 130). Without proficiency in Japanese and familiarity with Japanese culture and interactional practices, rakugo can not only be difficult to understand but can also be a numbing experience. However, the responses from the L2 learners who participated in our follow-up interviews were positive in regard to using rakugo as material for Japanese language education. In the interviews, some students expressed that they thought it was fun to watch even though it was their fi rst rakugo experience. Another student pointed out similarities between rakugo and xiang sheng, Chinese stand-up comedy. Even though rakugo humor is often difficult for L2 learners and can make them feel left outside of the boundary of the discursive community, it can still be useful material for students to improve their linguistic, cultural and pragmatic competence. While we reviewed only two examples in this chapter, this rakugo CALL program allows the users to watch many rakugo video clips in a private environment to study the content at their own pace, with various supplementary materials to help guide them through the web of linguistic and cultural content embedded in the stories. Concurrently, the data we have collected from the program can be used for further development of the program to integrate the demands both of the language learners and the instructors. Even though the users are not exposed to opportunities to be fully immersed into a rakugo interactional environment fi rst-hand, they can use this CALL program to acquire linguistic and cultural comprehension to improve their pragmatic competence in Japanese. This program removes peer pressure, but it still requires more discipline and engagement for autonomous learning. Notes (1) Another use of humor in the classroom is to encourage to L2 learners to make their joke lines within their linguistic capabilities. Along with preparing the rakugo CALL

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(7)

(8) (9)

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program, we asked the L2 participants to write a joke line from their countries in Japanese before coming to the rakugo fi lming sessions. The professional rakugo performers check out these jokes from the L2 learners before and during the session and rearrange it in rakugo style in Japanese with the L2 learners. As of July 2018. The lower the number is, the easier in terms of the level of Japanese. Additionally, level 5 means that the clip has ‘R-rated’ content. Transcribed texts are in Japanese in kana/kanji. Users can access to the ‘How to use this site’ menu on the top of this screen to see the instructions on the response buttons and online quizzes. As it may be difficult for readers not familiar with the Japanese language and the use of homonyms in Japanese puns, we provide the following English examples, which make use of a similar device: (1) What do you get when you give a ghost a wedgie? A hand full of sheet! (2) Why does the Pillsbury Doughboytm wear an apron? To hide his doughnuts! As there is only a single performer playing multiple roles, these units cannot be TCUs, strictly speaking, since there is no possibility of actual turn-taking (see Sacks et al., 1974). We use the term here metaphorically. After the end of the punchline, there are approximately three seconds until the end of the clip. We are trying to improve this while the program is in its beta stage. Another two peak clicks at 1st and 3rd seconds were accidental error clicks by one of the users.

References Arno, A. (1976) Joking, avoidance, and authority: Verbal performance as an object of exchange in Fiji. The Journal of the Polynesian Society 85 (1), 71–86. Barry, D. (1993) Dave Barry does Japan. New York: Fawcett Columbine. Bell, N. (2009) Learning about and through humor in the second language classroom. Language Teaching Research 13 (3), 241–258. Bell, N. and Pomerantz, A. (2014) Reconsidering language teaching through a focus on humor. EuroAmerican Journal of Applied Linguistics and Languages 1 (1), 31–47. Bell, N. and Pomerantz, A. (2017) Humor in the Classroom: A Guide for Language Teachers and Educational Researchers. New York: Routledge. Brau, L. (2008) Rakugo: Performing Comedy and Cultural Heritage in Contemporary Tokyo. Lanham: Lexington Books. Bushnell, C. (2014) Warai no tsuikyu: Ryugakusei muke no rakugo-kai ni okeru warai wo fukumu sougo koui ni tsuite [In the pursuit of laughter: Laughter-in-interaction at a rakugo performance for foreign students]. Journal of Japanese Language Teaching 29, 19–41. Bushnell, C. (2017) She who laughs fi rst: Audience laughter and interactional competence at a Rakugo performance for foreign students. In M. Ishida, T. Greer and Y. Tateyama (eds) Pragmatics & Interaction: Vol. 4. Interactional Competence in Japanese as an Additional Language (pp. 81–114). Honolulu: National Foreign Language Resource Center. Chapelle, C. (1998) Multimedia CALL: Lessons to be learned from research on instructed SLA. Language Learning & Technology 2 (1), 22–34. Chapelle, C. (2009) The relationship between second language acquisition theory and computer-assisted language learning. The Modern Language Journal 93 (1), 741–753. Davies, C.E. (2003) How English-learners joke with native speakers: An interactional sociolinguistic perspective on humor as collaborative discourse across cultures. Journal of Pragmatics 35, 1361–1385.

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Deneire, M. (1995) Humor and foreign language teaching. Humor 8 (3), 285–298. Doughty, C. (1982) Second language instruction does make a difference: Evidence from an empirical study of SL relativization. In W.F. Smith (ed.) Modern Media in Foreign Language Education: Theory and Implementation (pp. 133–167). Lincolnwood: National Textbook Company. Gibson, J.J. (1979) The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Haugerud, A. (2013) No Billionaire Left Behind: Satirical Activism in America. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Ishihara, N. (2007) Web-based curriculum for pragmatics instruction in Japanese as a foreign language: An explicit awareness-raising approach. Language Awareness 16 (1), 21–40. Jefferson, G. (2004) Glossary of transcript symbols with an introduction. In G. Lerner (ed.) Conversation Analysis: Studies from the First Generation (pp. 13–31). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Lewis, P. (2006) Cracking Up: American Humor in a Time of Confl ict. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Long, M. (1996) The role of linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In  W.  Ritchie and T. Bhatia (eds) Handbook of Second Language Acquisition (pp. 413–468). San Diego: Academic Press. Long, D. and Graesser, A. (1988) Wit and humor in discourse processing. Discourse Processing 11, 35–60. Ochs, E. and Schieffelin, B.B. (1984) Language acquisition and socialization. In R.A. LeVine, R.A. Shweder and Social Science Research Council Committee on Social and Affective Development During Childhood (eds) Culture Theory: Essays on Mind, Self, and Emotion (pp. 276–320). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pica, T. (1994) Research on negotiation: What does it reveal about second-language learning conditions, processes, and outcomes? Language Learning 44 (3), 493–527. Radcliffe-Brown, A.R. (1940) On joking relationships. Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 13 (3), 195–210. Radcliffe-Brown, A.R. (1949) A further note on joking relationships. Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 19 (2), 133–140. Sacks, H. (1989) An analysis of the course of a joke’s telling in conversation. In R. Bauman and J. Sherzer (eds) Explorations in the Ethnography of Speaking (2nd edn, pp. 337–353). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Sacks, H., Schegloff, E.A. and Jefferson, G. (1974) A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversation. Language 50 (4), 696–735. Sakai, T. and Yamada, T. (2016) Rakugo kobanashi o riyo shita Nihongo gakushu shien CALL puroguramu no kaihatsu to shikou [Rakugo CALL program for Japanese language teaching: Its development and possibilities for implementation]. Journal of Japanese Language Teaching 31, 69–80. Schmitz, J.R. (2002) Humor as a pedagogical tool in foreign language and translation courses. Humor 15 (1), 89–113. Taguchi, N. (2009) Pragmatic competence in Japanese as a second language: Introduction. In N. Taguchi (ed.) Pragmatic Competence (pp. 1–17). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. van Lier, L. (2000) From input to affordance: Social-interactive learning from an ecological perspective. In J.P. Lantolf (ed.) Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning (pp. 155–177). Oxford: Oxford University Press. van Lier, L. (2002) An ecological-semiotic perspective on language and linguistics. In C.J. Kramsch (ed.) Language Acquisition and Language Socialization: Ecological Perspectives (pp. 140–164). London: Continuum. van Lier, L. (2004) The Ecology and Semiotics of Language Learning: A Sociocultural Perspective. Boston: Kluwer Academic. Ziyaeemehr, A., Kumar, V. and Abdullah, M.S.F. (2011) Use and non-use of humor in academic ESL classrooms. English Language Teaching 4 (3), 111–119.

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Appendix 1: Transcript Symbols

The transcript symbols in this paper follow Jefferson’s glossary (2004). () [ ] :

unclear utterance overlap onset end of overlapping utterances lengthening of vowel

Appendix 2: Questionnaire

7 Co-Chu: Japanese Corpus Analysis System and Two Analyses for Language Teaching Saeko Komori, Hiroko Yamamoto, Tae Homma and Matthew Lanigan

Introduction

Due to recent technological advancements, software-based analysis of Japanese speech data is possible (Ishikawa, 2012; Lee et al., 2012), and yet there is a marked lack of software strong enough to compare the language use of native speakers (NSs) and non-native speakers (NNSs), while remaining simple enough for teachers and researchers to use. Co-Chu is a user-friendly Japanese text analysis system with an all-inone interface (https://co-chu.org/). It was developed to investigate the characteristics of learner speech by supplying a set of useful and necessary tools for language text analysis, such as original text data fi le importation, editing and morphological analysis of Japanese texts. Co-Chu provides invaluable Japanese text analysis tools for analyzing natural conversation and classroom data. Using Co-Chu, teachers and researchers can analyze existing corpus data or their original, self-collected text data by following a few simple steps to receive the results in their desired format. One of the gaps in corpus research on second language learners of Japanese is a lack of an investigation into differences between NS and NNS speech. This is especially the case for differences in NS–NNS pragmatic use of language, which requires a more sophisticated analysis than previous software-based analysis has been capable of. For learners, smooth communication in Japanese with NSs is a primary goal of Japanese language education. Japanese has a high degree of linguistic variation according to context and interpersonal relationships among the speakers. This being the case, understanding and utilizing pragmatic aspects of Japanese spoken language is beneficial for both Japanese 171

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teachers and learners. Two characteristics of spoken Japanese that Japanese learners fi nd difficult to acquire are ‘viewpoint-oriented expressions’ (Mizutani, 2011: 106) and ‘ambiguous expressions’ (Kanokwan, 2012: 23). For instance, the pragmatic use of the subsidiary verbs iku (go) and kuru (come) in viewpoint-oriented expressions as well as words such as the ambiguous expression chotto (a little bit) are extremely common in NS speech and serve a wide range of pragmatic functions but are difficult to understand for NNSs (Kanokwan, 2012; Kondo et al., 2010; Mizutani, 2011; Sasagawa, 2016). This may be because textbooks and instructors commonly introduce only simplified explanations of these two linguistic features that do not include pragmatic aspects. Consequently, learners are often at a disadvantage when using these two types of expressions in natural conversation because they have a limited understanding of how and in what context they are used. In this chapter, we set out to accomplish several goals. First, for those scholars interested in corpus-based analysis systems, we describe, in detail, the design of Co-Chu. We explain each feature and focus on the three currently available analysis modes: Word Search, Word Count and N-Gram View. Second, we attempt to shed light on how corpus-based analysis systems such as Co-Chu can contribute to research on the complex analysis of NS–NNS differences in spoken communication. To this end, we use Co-Chu to analyze the differences between NSs and Chinese learners of Japanese use of: (1) viewpoint-oriented expressions utilizing the subsidiary verbs iku and kuru in a corpus of conversational data; and (2) ambiguous expressions with chotto using corpus data made up of request and refusal roleplays. Additionally, we compare the NS and NNS use of these two features with what is introduced in popular Japanese textbooks, demonstrating how fi ndings from corpus-based analysis research can lead to the improvement of textbooks and make teaching methods more effective. Literature Review

In the following section, we fi rst review the recent literature that explores Japanese corpus linguistics and collocation studies using Japanese corpus data. Next, we review the research on the subsidiary verbs iku and kuru in viewpoint-oriented expressions and fi nally, the research on the use of chotto in ambiguous expressions. Japanese corpus linguistics and collocation studies

In recent years, there have been several book-length works that provide step-by-step instructions for conducting corpus-related research (Ishikawa, 2012; Lee et al., 2012). Up to this point, however, the process involved combining a variety of software, because no single tool was

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designed to do all the analysis needed to examine corpus data. Despite these difficulties, recent studies have not only managed to utilize Japanese corpus technology, but also to relate their fi ndings to language learning and pedagogy (Iori & Yamauchi, 2015; Nakamata, 2014, 2016). Many of these studies use collocation analysis, which is the examination of certain sequences of words (e.g. koi ocha (strong tea, lit. thick tea) versus *tsuyoi ocha (lit. strong tea)). Sometimes in syntactic relationships (e.g. object + verb), sequences are regularized and co-occur more often than would be expected by chance, as in kusuri o nomu (take medicine, lit. drink medicine) versus *kusuri o taberu (lit. eat medicine). Knowing what words or syntactic sequences go together was recognized very early in second language acquisition (SLA) research as crucial for language learners mainly because violating collocational preferences often results in awkward sounding and/or incomprehensible utterances: (e.g. kasa o sasu (use an umbrella, lit. raise an umbrella) versus *kasa o tsukau (lit. use an umbrella). Collocation analysis typically involves identifying a keyword of interest and the words that immediately surround it to understand how the keyword is used. Nakamata (2014, 2016), for instance, used the Balanced Contemporary Corpus of Written Japanese (BCCWJ, Maekawa et al., 2013), to examine specific grammatical items that appeared in the elementary level of seven major Japanese language textbooks. His fi ndings revealed that the natural collocations seen in BCCWJ did not always match those presented in the textbooks. Furthering this same line of research, Nakamata (2016) found some forms, such as sugiru (too ~), for example, are introduced in simple forms such as sugiru or sugimashita in the textbooks, but they are used with succeeding forms of -te or -to such as sugite or sugiru to in natural use. However, these observations only compare examples from textbooks with BCCWJ, a written rather than spoken language corpus. In her study examining several textbooks, Shinada (2012) similarly found that example sentences in grammar-based Japanese textbooks are oversimplified, which may result in learners not acquiring forms typically used by NSs. While the previously mentioned studies used only written data, Iori and Yamauchi (2015) used both written and spoken data to critically examine the basic idea of introducing grammar in Japanese classrooms based on a perceived order of grammatical difficulty. Specifically, they analyzed how often grammatical items listed in Japanese grammar-based syllabi occurred in written and spoken NS language corpora. They found that the grammatical items introduced and the order in which they were taught were based on teachers’ experience and intuition rather than actual usage seen in the corpus data. Based on their fi ndings, they suggested a corrected syllabus for each level of Japanese language study, one that reflected actual usage. However, this study was limited to assessing only the frequency and form of grammatical items and did not assess how the forms were used in actual contextualized spoken and written data.

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The review of the literature thus indicates that there are two main issues that need to be addressed: the dearth of findings based on natural spoken discourse data; and the fact that the corpus-based software used in studies does not readily analyze the surrounding context in which words are typically used. When NNSs reach an advanced level, for instance, they are often able to use grammatical structures and phrases found in NS discourse, but when the context surrounding these structures or phrases is examined closely, NNS use often differs considerably from NS use. The present study addresses these gaps by examining natural NS and NNS spoken data using a corpus analysis software (Co-Chu). The software incorporates not only word search variation such as specifying the speaker’s native language and/or language proficiency level, but also output variation using keyword-in-context (KWIC) format in order to examine the surrounding context. The high-degree of search specificity enabled by these features allows for easy comparison of NS and NNS natural spoken speech, making the clarification of differences a relatively simple task. Viewpoint-oriented expressions with subsidiary verbs iku and kuru

Viewpoint-oriented expressions refer to how the speaker expresses, through grammatical means, their perspective regarding the event they are talking about (Mizutani, 1985, 2011). They are commonly used in Japanese, while English and Chinese speakers tend to use more factoriented expressions (Ikegami & Moriya, 2009; Mizutani, 1985). For example, when saying that it rained, a fact-oriented expression such as ame ga futta (it rained) is devoid of the speaker’s perspective about it having rained. However, with a viewpoint-oriented expression, one might use a passive verb furareta as in ame ni furareta (lit. (I) was rained on), which indicates the speaker’s viewpoint that being rained on was inconvenient. One way viewpoints are expressed in Japanese is through the use of subsidiary verbs, which are grammaticalized verbs used as V2 in the form ‘V1-te + V2’. There are only a small number of V2 verbs that are grammaticalized in this way, but they are frequently used in Japanese. In this chapter, we look at the subsidiary verbs iku and kuru, which are prominent examples of viewpoint-oriented expressions. Giving-and-receiving verbs morau/kureru are also typically used (Yamamoto, 2010). However, because using giving-and-receiving verbs incorrectly can make the speaker sound impolite and lead to misunderstandings, they are treated as an important topic in Japanese language education in a way that iku/kuru are not. Considering that learners of Japanese tend to use subsidiary verbs less frequently than native speakers (Kondo et al., 2010; Mizutani, 2011), we will use Co-Chu to analyze NS and NNS usage of iku/kuru so as to gain more insight into these two infrequently studied subsidiary verbs and make suggestions for teaching them.

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In viewpoint-oriented expressions, determining which verb (iku or kuru) to use depends on how the speaker understands the situation. They are typically used as V2 in cases such as Examples (1) and (2), where the speaker wishes to convey that when the V1 action (e.g. sending a package) is toward (kuru, come) or away (iku, go) from the speaker. (I) Direction of action away/toward the speaker (1) 母が荷物を送ってきました。 Haha ga nimotsu o okutte kimashita. My mother sent a package (toward the speaker). (2) 友達の家に花を持っていきました。 Tomodachi no uchi ni hana o motte ikimashita. I took some flowers along to my friend’s house (away from the speaker). Although iku and kuru are taught as typical verbs in the first semester of learning Japanese, their subsidiary use is taught in later stages. A brief review of seven different textbooks – Situational Functional Japanese (Tsukuba Language Group 1992), Nakama (Hatasa et al., 2000), Genki (Banno et al., 1999a, 1999b), Shinpen Kiso Nichigo (Sun & Jian, 2005), Yookoso! (Tohsaku, 2006), Sougou Nichigo (Sun, 2010) and Minna no Nihongo Shokyuu (2013) – shows that how iku and kuru are presented as subsidiary verbs varies significantly. In addition to meaning (I) (‘Direction of action away/toward the speaker’) illustrated in (1) and (2), the following meaning is also commonly introduced in Japanese textbooks. (II) Action followed by actual movement (3) ここでコーヒーを飲んでいきましょう。 Koko de koohii o nonde ikimashou. Let’s drink coffee here and go. (4) お土産を買ってきました。 Omiyage o katte kimashita. I bought souvenirs before I came (here). The meaning of (3) and (4) seems to be the clearest use of iku and kuru as subsidiary verbs simply because they are explained as ‘to do V1 (action) and then go or come away or toward the current location’. For the Examples (5) to (7), however, iku and kuru take on a more temporal rather than spatial meaning. In (5), iku indicates that the number of elderly people is increasing and will continue to increase into the future, therefore indicating that the future is a ‘location’ that the state is moving/ going toward. For (6), kimashita indicates that the action of listening to rock music extends from the past and has continued/come to the present time. Meaning (IV) is the most abstract use of kuru (come) in that (7) indicates that the state of being hungry has started or that the speaker has come to the point where they feel hungry.

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(III) Continuation of action or state change from the past/into the future (5) 老人がこれからますます増えていく。 Roujin ga korekara masumasu fuete iku. The number of elderly people is increasing more and more. (6) 子供のころからずっとロックを聞いてきました。 Kodomo no koro kara zutto rokku o kiite kimashita. I have listened to rock music since I was a child. (IV) Beginning of state change (kuru past-tense only) (7) おなかが空いてきました。 Onaka ga suite kimashita. I am starting to get hungry. Although textbooks generally explain iku/kuru in terms of these four meanings (I–IV), this is insufficient to explain how iku/kuru are actually used in conversation. For example, although meaning (II) is explained in terms of movement after an action (e.g. ‘V1 and go’), Yamamoto (2001, 2006) and Mizutani (2001, 2011) found that expressions using V1-te followed by iku and kuru also function pragmatically to make an utterance viewpoint-oriented as in the following examples: (8) 何か食べ物を買っていきます。 Nanika tabemono o katte ikimasu. I will buy some food and go there. (9) 来週までにレポートを書いてきてください。 Raishuu made ni repooto o kaite kite kudasai. Please fi nish the report by next week. (lit. Please write the report and bring it here by next week. In Examples (8) and (9), the speaker and the hearer consider both the action itself and the movement as incidental, while the true focus of the statement is that the result of the action (i.e. the food that was bought and the report that was written) is present at the end point of the movement. These indicate that the speaker uses iku/kuru to show their empathy or consideration. Without iku and kuru, (8) and (9) would sound unnatural. This is true of (4) as well, where the important factor is that the purchased souvenirs are present at the end point of the action. Moreover, this type of kuru has been grammaticalized, allowing it to be used to convey an event that is separated by time and space. (10) 先月、北海道に行ってきました。 Sengetsu, Hokkaidou ni itte kimashita. Last month, I went to Hokkaido [and came back]. Unlike (4) and (9), (10) attaches kuru to an event (Hokkaidou ni itta, went to Hokkaido) that occurred significantly in the past. This is termed ‘sharing experience’ by Yamamoto (2001, 2006) and Mizutani (2011), and is used when the speaker wants to share with the listener an action

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the speaker performed alone. Kuru indicates that ‘here’, where both the speaker and the listener are now, is the goal of the action the speaker did alone. In this way, the speaker is building empathy and expressing consideration with the listener. This use is also not addressed in the textbooks. These example sentences, as well as studies on the use and translation of subsidiary verbs in general, illustrate how difficult it is to translate the meanings of V1-te + V2 combinations. Mizutani’s (2001) study, for instance, investigated how subsidiary verbs, including iku and kuru, that appeared in newspaper articles and interviews were translated into English. She found that iku and kuru are translated mainly when appearing in fact-oriented expressions, but are not generally translated when they appear in viewpoint-oriented expressions. This shows that translating the nuances of iku and kuru, particularly in viewpoint-oriented expressions, is difficult. Additionally, since it is difficult for Japanese learners to understand viewpoint-oriented expressions at the sentence level, Mizutani (2001) suggests that an explanation at the discourse level is necessary, something that textbooks generally omit. Regarding Japanese learner use of subsidiary verbs, Kondo et  al. (2010) surveyed NSs and Chinese learners of Japanese using a fi ll-in-theblank style questionnaire and found that the Chinese learners used subsidiary verbs in viewpoint-oriented expressions with iku/kuru significantly less frequently than NSs. Yamamoto (2009) also surveyed NSs and Chinese learners use with a multiple-choice style questionnaire and found that NSs almost always use kuru in situations where they are leaving a place only briefly before returning, as in kopii kaado o karite kuru (I am going to borrow a copy card and come back). This suggests that when NNSs describe this same type of event without kuru, it may sound unnatural, so NNSs should be encouraged to use kuru in this situation. Using spoken, rather than written data, Mizutani (2011) counted the number of subsidiary verbs appearing in oral proficiency interview (OPI) transcripts to investigate and compare the frequency of subsidiary verbs used by NSs and NNSs and found that NNSs use subsidiary verbs only 60% as frequently as NSs. Moreover, the use of iku and kuru with viewpoint-oriented expressions was extremely limited in NNS speech. In sum, a review of Japanese textbooks shows that they do not convey important pragmatic information regarding the use of subsidiary verbs. Moreover, studies show that Japanese language learners’ use of subsidiary verbs is less frequent than and significantly different from NS use. However, these studies are based upon analyses of data such as surveys and OPI interviews and do not investigate how NSs or Japanese language learners use subsidiary verbs in actual natural conversation. For this reason, we analyze natural conversations between native and non-native speakers of Japanese to investigate each group’s actual use of subsidiary verbs. By doing so, this study shows how subsidiary verbs are used in real

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conversation as well as how this information can be used to improve how subsidiary verbs are taught in the language classroom. Ambiguous expression chotto

Ambiguous expressions are another characteristic of the Japanese language that learners find challenging to understand and acquire (Sasagawa, 2016). They are generally used by Japanese speakers to avoid fi nishing sentences or making assertions (Kanokwan, 2012; Sasagawa, 2016). This ambiguity in spoken Japanese is widely reported in the literature (Kindaichi, 1975). Studies show that learners of Japanese recognize this ambiguity and consider this one of the difficulties of learning Japanese (Kanokwan, 2012). Sasagawa (2016) surveyed 55 foreign students residing in Japan regarding the difficulties they experienced in communicating in Japanese. Many respondents indicated that they found the use of ambiguous expressions to be difficult. Sasagawa divided different ambiguous expressions at the pragmatic level into three categories – indirect expressions, euphemisms and abbreviations – and discovered that sentences with chotto (a little bit) were found in all of these categories and were difficult for NNSs to understand. For example, one respondent offered the phrase chotto katayori sugiteiru (a bit too biased), saying that they did not know if it meant that it was extremely biased or just a little bit biased. In this chapter, we chose to investigate chotto because it is used in all three categories of ambiguous expressions. Many Japanese language textbooks introduce chotto in the form of breaking off mid-sentence with -wa chotto… when refusing (Masden, 2012; Okamoto & Saito, 2004). In this section, we examine the same seven Japanese textbooks used in the subsidiary verbs section. All of these textbooks provided examples of chotto for refusing an invitation or request and explained that using chotto can soften expressions of inconvenience or unacceptance. (11) すみません。ちょっと つごうが わるいんです。(Makino et  al., 1998: 291) Sumimasen. chotto tsugou ga warui n desu. I’m sorry, I’m a bit busy. Furthermore, many of them gave examples in the form of the sentence-final ellipsis expression -wa chotto… and explained that this ambiguous refusal is often used in Japanese, giving the impression that it is a typical way of refusing in Japanese. (12) 金曜日の晩はちょっと…。(Minna no Nihongo Shokyuu I, 2012: 73) Kinyoubi no ban wa chotto… Friday night is a bit…

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Although a majority of textbooks explain chotto as an example of refusal expressions, they also explain that it can be used to make expressions other than refusals softer by making them ambiguous. Additionally, Minna no Nihongo Shokyuu and Situational Functional Japanese also introduce chotto for expressions related to requests. Specifically, chotto onegai ga aru n desu ga (I have a little favor to ask) and chotto ii desu ka? (May I have a little time?) are given as examples of expressions with which to begin requests. In short, the textbooks explain chotto as a way to soften or add ambiguity to an expression; however, in reality, it has a much wider range of use. To summarize Homma’s (2011) analysis, chotto is an adverb that means a small degree or amount. It is grammaticalized and has many functions. Examples (13) to (17) show various uses of chotto. (13) 昨日作ったクッキー、ちょっとだけ残ってるけど食べる？ Kinou tsukutta kukkii, chotto dake nokotteru kedo taberu? I made some cookies yesterday and I have just a little bit left. Would you like some? This is an example where chotto is used with dake (only), a word expressing limitation, and clearly is a standard adverb having the normal meaning of ‘a little’. (14) この文、ちょっと直してみたんだけど、どうかな？ Kono bun, chotto naoshite mita n dakedo, dou kana? I tried fi xing up this sentence a bit. What do you think? Chotto in (14) does not necessarily mean that the fi xes are small in number. It can be interpreted that the speaker is thinking that fi xing the sentence is not a big deal and is trying not to exaggerate this point. However, chotto in this example can be replaced with sukoshi (a little) and retain most of its meaning. (15) Q: 疲れた顔してるけどどうしたの？ (Homma, 2011: 38) Tsukareta kao shiteru kedo doushitano? You look tired. What’s wrong? A: うん、ちょっとね。 Un chotto ne. Well, nothing much. The chotto appearing in (15) cannot be replaced with sukoshi (a little). This ambiguous answer tries to convey that it is not a big deal or the speaker does not wish to be asked about it anymore. (16) ちょっと、これ忘れてますよ。 Chotto kore wasurete masu yo. Oh, you forgot this!

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(17) ちょっと − ！ Chottoo! Hey! Chotto in (16) is used to draw attention and (17) is used as a criticism. In both cases, chotto itself does not seem to hold the meaning of ‘a little’ at all. They are uttered impatiently with a sense of ‘do it quickly, hurry up, or make it short.’ In the abovementioned examples, chotto in (13) is used as a simple adverb; however, in examples (14) to (17), the original meaning of ‘a little’ fades and it gains pragmatic functions such as: (1) indicating, for example, that the effort put forth is not a big deal; (2) drawing a listener’s attention; or (3) expressing criticism. In Example (18), the use of chotto co-occurs with its opposite sugoku (a lot) and the hesitation-showing filler ano, and seems to be used as a filler in that it does not have any particular meaning. Similar to (16) and (17), it does not index its original meaning of ‘a little’; however, it also does not seem to have a clear pragmatic function as those in the previous examples. (18) あの、ちょっと、すごく、ちょっと、前から言おうと思ってたんだけ ど。(Homma, 2011: 40) Ano chotto, sugoku, chotto, mae kara iou to omotteta n dakedo. Um, well, I really, well, I’ve been thinking this for a while, but… Several studies examine chotto using actual conversational data (Homma, 2011; Hotta & Horie, 2012). Hotta and Horie (2012) examined hedges in invitation and refusal scenarios and observed differences in use between native and non-native speakers. They found that chotto has the function of making propositions ambiguous and softening speech content. This is mainly because chotto is often used with different kinds of hedges. Their study is important because they used transcripts from roleplay conversations and they compared actual differences in use between native and non-native speakers. Compared to NSs, NNSs used hedges both less frequently and with less variation. However, the study was limited to quantitative analysis of frequency and variation and was lacking any qualitative analysis; that is, the study did not look at the context in which hedges were used. Homma (2011) similarly analyzed chotto in request and refusal scenes using transcript data and found that chotto was used more often in refusing a request than for accepting it and appeared more frequently in interactions carrying a heavier burden than those with a lighter one. Her study captured these characteristics of chotto, but was limited since she only analyzed NS speech. Moreover, in their conclusions, neither of these studies addressed pedagogical implications. Some scholars, however, have weighed in on pedagogical implications. Based on her survey of learner difficulties, Sasagawa (2016) suggests that students should be provided with opportunities to understand the social

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context in which such ambiguous expressions with words such as chotto are used. More concretely, Masden (2012) surveyed several Japanese textbooks and revealed the risk of introducing chotto with an overly simplified explanation. She argued that using chotto to add ambiguity to something difficult to say can show consideration to the hearer, but on the other hand, it can also have the effect of avoiding taking responsibility for the utterance. Although her analysis is helpful, the analysis is only of textbooks and does not take into consideration the actual use of chotto in natural speech. Research Questions

Thus far, we have reviewed previous research on Japanese corpus studies, the subsidiary verbs iku/kuru and the ambiguous expression chotto. Although previous studies have shown some NS and NNS differences, a detailed analysis is still necessary, specifically for how these forms are used in context in unscripted NS and NNS conversations for the subsidiary verbs and roleplay conversations for chotto. As such, the following research questions will be examined: (1) Are there any differences in the use of subsidiary verbs between Japanese native speakers (NSs) and Chinese learners of Japanese (NNSs) in natural conversations in terms of: (a) frequency; (b) expressions co-occurring with iku/kuru; and (c) how iku and kuru are used in context. (2) Are there any differences in the use of chotto between Japanese native speakers (NSs) and Chinese learners of Japanese (NNSs) in request and refusal roleplays in terms of: (a) frequency; (b) use of ellipsis with chotto; and (c) collocations with chotto. (3) Additionally, does the NS–NNS use in the corpus differ from what is taught in popular Japanese textbooks for subsidiary verbs and the ambiguous expression chotto? If so, what are the pedagogical implications of these differences? The Study Participants and setting

The participants for this study were six high-proficiency Chinese learners of Japanese (NNSs) and 11 native Japanese-speaking friends (NSs). The NSs were college students at a four-year university and the NNSs were third-year college students that passed the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) N1 (the highest level) certification and were in Japan for one year as exchange students.

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Table 7.1 Subcorpora of Co-Chu Corpus used in this study Subcorpus

Data

Participants

Conversations

Words

Types

Lines

CbF

Conversation between friends

NS: 7 NNS: 4

11

52,232

2,433

11,118

ER

Roleplay: Easy request

NS: 10 NNS: 6

11

822

144

194

DRR

Roleplay: Difficult request and refusal

NS: 10 NNS: 6

21

4,016

408

409

Data

The sample data we used to analyze spoken Japanese are original data. This corpus is still in the process of development and expansion as we continue to collect, transcribe and import Japanese conversations. For this chapter, we used two different settings of spoken data: casual conversations and roleplays. Each conversation is between one NS and one NNS. There are 43 conversations in total, and the details of the subcorpora used in this chapter are as shown in Table 7.1. The conversation between friends (henceforth CbF) data consists of 11 casual conversations with no set topic, each approximately 30 minutes in length. These data were used to analyze NS–NNS use of the subsidiary verbs iku/kuru. To see how and how frequently chotto is used in requests that carry a heavy burden on the requester/requestee and compare this with the use of chotto in requests that carried a lighter burden (Homma, 2011), we designed two short roleplay conversations. One was an easy request (henceforth ER) and consisted of instructing one participant to ask to borrow a notebook and the other to accept the request. In the difficult request and refusal (henceforth DRR) roleplay, one participant was instructed either to ask for a part-time job or to borrow money, and the other was instructed to refuse. The ER data consists of five conversations where the NS makes the request and six conversations where the NNS makes the request. The DRR data consists of 10 conversations where the NS makes the request and the NNS refuses; and 11 conversations where the NNS requests and the NS refuses. Participants took on each role (requestor and refuser) in the different conversations. Terminology

In this section, we defi ne some basic terms that we use throughout the analysis. First, we defi ned a ‘word’ as a short unit word (SUW), which is the output of morphological analysis performed within Co-Chu. Second, a ‘type’ is a unique combination of the dictionary form, dictionary reading and part of speech tags; this roughly corresponds to individual, unique

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words. Lastly, a ‘line’ refers to one utterance. However, overlapping or simultaneous speech is divided into two ‘lines’. The following is an example of two lines of data: NNS:

あ、音量は大丈夫かな。 A, onryou wa daijyoubu kana. Oh, I wonder if the volume is okay.

NS:

うん、たぶん大丈夫。 Un, tabun, daijyoubu. Yeah, I think it’s okay.

In Co-Chu, punctuation would first be removed and the result from SUW morphological analysis would be as follows. In this example, there are nine ‘words’ and eight ‘types’ (as daijyoobu is used twice) used in two ‘lines’. NNS:

あ｜音量｜は｜大丈夫｜か｜な A | onryou | wa | daijyoubu | ka | na

NS:

うん｜たぶん｜大丈夫 Un | tabun | daijyoubu

Using these datasets and specifications, the analyses for the subsidiary verbs iku and kuru and the ambiguous expression chotto were conducted. Instrument: Corpus analysis software

To analyze the data, we used Co-Chu, a system for the creation and analysis of Japanese language corpora, developed with the primary goals of accessibility and ease of use. For that purpose, a three-tiered web application architecture was chosen, as web applications offer a simple solution to collaboration and ease-of-access. Co-Chu’s software is divided into a database, an application programming interface (API) and a user interface (UI). This three-tiered architecture allows rapid development and easy extensibility with new features. Four modes, modeled after the steps of corpus creation, comprise Co-Chu’s UI features: Build, Import, Edit and Analyze. In this section we introduce the features and tools present in each mode, focusing on the fi nal step, Analyze. The Build mode allows users to create and manage the hierarchical tree structure associated with a corpus. It also offers the ability to manage arbitrary subcorpus-level metadata as well as metadata associated with speakers present in the corpus data as needed. The Import mode is used to perform data import. At the time of this writing, supported fi le formats include plaintext, CSV (comma-separated

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values), and the Advanced SubStation Alpha subtitle fi le format, which includes the start and end times of an utterance. From these data fi les, lines (roughly equivalent to strings of words such as an utterance, a sentence and a speech event) are extracted according to the structure of the data, displayed to the user for confirmation and fi nally sent to the API to be saved in the database. The Edit mode is where data processing is performed, including short unit word (SUW) morphological analysis using the morphological analyzer MeCab (Kudo, 2005) with the dictionary UniDic (The UniDic Consortium, 2013). Any errors from the morphological analysis are corrected by the user and fi nally, collocation analysis is executed. Co-Chu’s first three modes (Build, Import and Edit) allow for the creation of a corpus. The fourth and final mode, Analyze, is used to perform various analyses of the corpora present in the system. Co-Chu’s current analysis features center upon word chain searches and all search modes use a common search criteria interface for ease-of-use. The system currently offers three search modes: Word Search, Word Count and N-Gram View. The fi rst step of analysis in Co-Chu is to specify the target dataset. Subcorpora are selected from the corpus tree and dataset filters can then be applied. Dataset filters narrow the search dataset prior to executing the search and can be assigned as needed on line-, speaker- or subcorpus-level metadata. For example, a speaker metadata fi lter would allow the user to narrow the dataset by metadata such as the speaker’s native language. Thus, in addition to excluding non-matching search results, using dataset fi lters also reduces the search time due to the smaller resulting dataset. Search criteria in Co-Chu are specified as a sequence of word-level tag fi lters (e.g. the part of speech, lemma or reading of the word). These can be combined with AND, OR and NOT operators to create a detailed narrowing of the search results. The Word Search mode is the most general purpose search and allows a user to find word sequences matching the search criteria. Results are displayed individually, allowing the user to view the results with their original context (e.g. line and speaker data). Users can choose to display the details of matching words or to show them in KWIC (keyword-in-context) form. In the Word Count mode, search results are separated according to configurable criteria and the number of results associated with each group is displayed. For example, results could be grouped according to part of speech (e.g. verb, noun, interjection), and the results would output the number of words matching each different part of speech. The configurability of grouping criteria allows users to count as precisely as necessary for a particular application. Furthermore, results can be counted by the word preceding or following the search result, rather than the search result itself. Finally, the N-Gram View search mode enables the user to search for collocations using an MI (mutual information) score, which is an index that estimates the strength of association of two words. Results indicate

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that word pairs with scores larger than three are generally considered to be likely candidates for meaningful collocation (Church & Hanks, 1990: 24). As we are interested in how words or phrases are used together, mutual information is used in the corpus system. In order to measure a longer multi-word sequence, not just two words, Wei and Li (2013) proposed an extension of Church and Hanks’ formula. Their MI measure is similar to the original MI, but it compares the probability that the constituent parts of an N-gram (a sequence of words in the text) occur together with the probability that they occur independently, using a weighted average probability. The N-gram could consist of phonemes, syllables, letters and words depending on the purpose or application. The smallest N-gram is called a unigram, and the next smallest is a bigram (or 2-gram), trigram (3-gram) and so on. In our study, we applied N-gram to morphologically analyzed Japanese text. N-grams are calculated during collocation analysis in Co-Chu’s Edit mode. The MI score and frequency threshold for meaningful collocations are configurable by the user at the time of the search. It is also important to note that all these tools and techniques are available in one unified and user-friendly interface. As it will be demonstrated in the analysis section, the total corpus analysis system enables users to observe characteristics of NS and NNS language use. Methodology Subsidiary verbs iku/kuru

In order to determine the difference in NS and NNS use of iku and kuru, especially in regard to whether NNS use was limited to that seen in textbooks, and to determine how each group used viewpoint-oriented expressions, we used Co-Chu to extract and analyze all instances of iku/ kuru used as subsidiary verbs (i.e. te + iku/kuru). We used Co-Chu’s Word Count function along with fi lters to differentiate by mother tongue to divide our results between NS and NNS use. We then examined: (1) which verbs and (2) which conjugations/modal auxiliaries NSs and NNSs used with iku/kuru. Finally, we analyzed the meaning of each instance of iku/kuru to determine if they matched the four textbook defi nitions and whether NSs used iku/kuru in ways that NNSs did not. Finally, we chose several representative samples for comparison. Ambiguous expression chotto

The goal of our analysis was to confirm or disconfirm Homma’s (2011) observation that: (1) chotto is used frequently where both requester and requestee feel burdened; and (2) chotto is generally not used in instances where neither feels a burden. We calculated the frequency of NS and NNS use of chotto in both the difficult and easy request subcorpus using Co-Chu’s Word Count function with fi lters differentiating by mother

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tongue as was done in the subsidiary verbs section. Next, we examined sentence-fi nal ellipsis to see whether it is used frequently, as is suggested in the textbooks. Finally, we analyzed the collocations with chotto to determine differences in set phrase use involving chotto used by native and non-native speakers. Analysis and Results Subsidiary verbs iku and kuru Quantitative analysis of subsidiary verbs

To begin, we looked at the frequency of the subsidiary verbs iku and kuru used by native and non-native speakers in the conversation corpus. However, due to the limited overall size of the data, we did not perform a statistical analysis. First, we selected the CbF subcorpus using the Word Search function and fi ltered the results by mother tongue in order to examine the differences between native and non-native speakers. Figure 7.1 shows the search parameters for iku. According to our analysis, as shown in Table 7.2, NSs used the subsidiary verbs iku and kuru about four times (kuru) and 15 times (iku) more often than NNSs. Even though the NNSs in this subcorpus are at an advanced level, these differences show that the rates at which native and non-native speakers use iku and kuru in conversation vary significantly. Verb collocations and conjugations

To understand these differences in use, we investigated verbs that cooccurred with iku and kuru using the Word Count function in Co-Chu.

Figure 7.1 Search parameters for NS use of iku

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Table 7.2 Frequency of NS and NNS use of iku/kuru iku (-teku contraction)

kuru

Total verbs

Lines

NS

29 (21)

36

3071

5467

NNS

2 (2)

9

2311

5492

Table 7.3 shows the results of that search. Since the NNSs did not use iku and kuru often, all verbs used by NNSs in the CbF subcorpus are listed, while only verbs used more than twice by NSs are shown in Table 7.3. Verbs used by both NSs and NNSs are shown in bold. As seen in the results, NSs used a wider variety of verbs together with both iku and kuru. This suggests that NNSs pair fewer verbs with subsidiary verbs, particularly for iku (only two co-occurring verbs). The analysis also shows that although the NNSs used fewer co-occurring verbs than the NSs, the verbs they did use were mostly the same as those used by the NSs. For kuru, for instance, the most frequent co-occurring verbs for both NSs and NNSs are deru (to be out) and kaeru (to return), suggesting that common collocations are used equally by NNSs. In contrast, however, NSs used suru (to do) most often (eight times) with iku, but the NNS data does not show a single use of suru with iku, suggesting that learners may not be using certain common collocations. After investigating co-occurring verbs, we then looked at the conjugations of iku/kuru to determine the conjugated forms they typically appear in during conversation. With Co-Chu, it is possible to change the criteria used to count results; in this case, to examine the actual Table 7.3 Verbs co-occurring with iku and kuru in CbF iku

kuru

NS

NNS

NS

NNS

1

suru (to do)

8

naru (to become)

1

deru (to be out)

10

deru (to be out)

3

2

naru (to become)

2

fukeru (to get older)

1

kaeru (to return)

5

kaeru (to return)

2

3

kaeru (to return)

2

naru (to become)

4

motsu (to have)

1

4

dasu (to put out)

2

iu (to tell)

2

kau (to buy)

1

5

aruku (to walk)

2

suru (to do)

2

iku (to go)

1

6

fukeru (to get older)

2

kawaru (to change)

2

suru (to do)

1

16 types of verbs used in total

2 types of verbs used in total

16 types of verbs used in total

6 types of verbs used in total

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Figure 7.2 Word count results for iku surface forms

conjugated forms appearing in the CbF, we chose to include the ‘surface’ form in the ‘Counting Columns’ (i.e. type differentiation criteria) as shown in Figure 7.2. Table 7.4 shows that both NSs and NNSs used iku and kuru in simple forms such as V-te continuative conjugation, V-ta plain past conjugation and plain non-past conjugation. NSs only used one conjugation that learners did not use: plain non-past negative (konai). However, NSs were more likely to use modal auxiliaries (e.g. mitai, kamoshirenai) or conjugative particles -to and -kara after iku/kuru to express different meanings (e.g. causal, conditional, conjecture etc.). In fact, the conditional particle to (if/when) is used frequently by NSs with both iku (seven times) and kuru (four times), whereas NNSs do not use -to at all. Overall, the data suggest that while both native and non-native speakers use roughly the Table 7.4 Frequency of iku and kuru surface forms used in CbF iku

kuru

NS

NNS

NS

NNS

1

-teku to

7

-teku

1

-teki ta

5

-teki ta

6

2

-teku kara

2

-teku kamo

1

-tekuru to

4

-teki ta Noun

1

3

-teku mitai

2

-tekuru kara

4

-te kite

2

4

-te itte

2

-teki te

3

5

-tette

2

-tekonai

2

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same limited range of conjugated forms of iku/kuru (-te form and plain forms), the NSs tend to use more modal auxiliaries and particles after iku/kuru. The use of iku and kuru: Pragmatic use

This section examines actual examples of iku and kuru in the CbF data. To begin, we examined every instance of iku/kuru use in the learner data and then identified how the learner was using it based on the functions we identified in the literature review section. We found that every instance of learner use of iku/kuru was consistent with one of the four meanings we identified from the different textbooks. The examples shown in (19) to (23) are grouped with their respective meaning type. Words included in parentheses explain the omitted context. (I)

(II)

(III)

(IV)

Direction of action away from/toward the speaker (19) NNS: もう帰ってきた。 Mou kaette kita. He has already returned. Action followed by actual movement (20) NNS: 買ってきて、あの、時間のない時（食べる）。 Katte kite, ano, jikan no nai toki (taberu). I buy some food outside (and eat at home), when I don’t have enough time. Continuation of action from the past/into the future (21) NNS: どんどん老けてく、殺すよ、もうそんなこと言わないで。 Don don fukete ku, korosu yo, mou sonna koto iwa naide. It looks that I am getting older and older, you mean. Don’t say that. I’ll kill you. (22) NNS: 日本語の助詞、どれか覚えてないけど、ずっと研究して きた。 Nihongo no joshi, dore ka oboete nai kedo, zutto kenkyuu shite kita. I have studied Japanese particles for a long time, but I am not sure which particles I picked up. Beginning of state change (kuru past-tense only) (23) NNS: 私、試験の途中で鼻血が出てきた。 Watashi shiken no tochuu de hanaji ga dete kita. My nose began to bleed during the exam.

These examples are all common uses illustrated in the textbooks. Iku or kuru cannot be removed without the sentence either becoming grammatically incorrect or changing the meaning from the original. For example, in (20), with kuru the sentence expresses that the speaker will purchase food, return home and eat the food at home. In contrast, when kuru is omitted, the sentence expresses that the speaker will buy food at a particular location and eat it at that location. Thus, the meaning varies according to the inclusion or exclusion of kuru. As Mizutani

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(2001) identified, these typical uses usually have corresponding forms in a learners’ native language, which makes iku and kuru easier to use for NNSs. Now we will look at actual examples of iku and kuru from NS speech that are different from the NNS speech. We chose to focus on the native speakers’ most frequent use of iku/kuru – the use of the conditional -to, as shown in Table 7.4. The NS uses of iku/kuru with -to matched the textbook meanings (III) and (IV). In (24) and (25), for example, the shite ku (doing) and natte ku (becoming) express the continuation of a state into the future (textbook meaning (III)), while (26) natte kuru (getting to be) exemplifies textbook meaning (IV), the beginning of a state change. Interestingly, both the conditional -to and the use of iku/kuru (in meaning (III) and (IV)) express a change of state. This means that iku/kuru used with conditional -to duplicates the meaning of change of state. Moreover, in the case of natte kuru, the verb naru appearing before kuru itself means ‘to become’, so the change of state is tripled in this utterance. (24) NS: それを経験してくと、あの経験が上がるから Sore o keiken shite ku to ano keiken ga agaru kara If you keep going through it, you can be an experienced person. (25) NS: そうなってくと、え、じゃあこういう人はどう思ってんの？こっち はどうなの？みたいな。 Sou natte ku to, e, ja, kou iu hito wa dou omotte n no? kocchi wa dou nano? mitai na. If it gets to be so, I am getting wonder what this kind of person thinks about it and how about this. (26) NS: 分かってもらえないとか、そういう感じになってくると Wakatte moraenai toka, souiu kanji ni natte kuru to When I get to feel that they don’t understand me, … (lit. I began to feel)

The use of iku/kuru in all of these examples is thus redundant. This is why, unlike the learners’ examples, iku and kuru can be deleted in every case and still retain both the intended meaning and grammaticality. This suggests that in certain instances: (a) NSs don’t always use iku/ kuru purely for their semantic and grammatical functions; (b) their use differs somewhat from learners’ use because in the learners’ use, iku/ kuru could not be deleted without changing the meaning or grammaticality; and (c) this ‘redundant’ use must serve a different function from what is introduced in textbooks. This begs the question, why do NSs use iku/kuru here with conditionals? As part of the analysis, we investigated this phenomenon further to determine why NSs in our study used iku/kuru together with conditionals when they did not add any obvious grammatical function to the utterance. To illustrate, we examine Example (27).

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(27) NS and NNS are talking about the topic of the thesis NS is writing. NS: 後は、…ねえ、助詞、助動詞いっぱいあるじゃん。 Ato wa, nee, jyoshi, jyodoushi, ippai aru jan. And you know, there are a lot of particles and auxiliary verbs right? NNS: うん、そうそう。 Un, sou sou. Yeah. NS: だからそれは、意外と深いから、それをこうだーっと論にし てくと、なんか意外とそのテーマが助動詞とかだったら、 Dakara sore wa , igai to fukai kara, sore o kou daatto ron ni shiteku to, nanka igai to sono teema ga jyodoushi toka dattara, So since there’s so much there, if you explain them one by one, and your topic is auxiliary verbs, NNS: うん。 Un. Okay. NS: could, wouldとか、mayとか。 ‘could’, ‘would’ toka , ‘may’ toka. Like ‘could’, ‘would’, and like ‘may’. NNS: ふうーん。 fuun. Ahhh. NS: そういうの、全部出していくと、結構書けるみたいで。 Souiu no, zenbu dashite iku to kekkou kakeru mitai de. If you discuss them one after another, you can write a lot more than expected.

If iku were taken out of the sentences in lines 3 and 7, they would sound more objective (fact-oriented), as if the speaker were talking about someone else. On the other hand, using iku here helps to convey the feeling that the situation is changing. Therefore, the sentence sounds more vivid with iku. This function of iku is one that is not explained in the textbooks. This lack of understanding about this function may be one of the reasons the learners in this study did not use iku with the conditional to. While Examples (24) to (27) are utterances that matched the meaning and grammatical use in textbooks, (28) and (29) were NS uses of kuru in the data that did not coincide with the four textbook explanations. In the following examples, the verb form without iku/kuru is shown in brackets for comparison. (28) NS: でも先生、 （宿題を出さなくても）何も言ってこないよ。[言わ ないよ] Demo sensei, (shukudai o dasanakutemo) nani mo itte konai yo. [iwanai yo] But the teacher says nothing to me (even if I don’t hand in my homework).

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(29) NS: 僕は３年生になってからだから、１年生、２年生の方がうまい のに僕にね、 （後輩が）頭下げてくるのよ。[頭下げるのよ] Boku wa 3-nensei ni natte kara dakara, 1-nensei, 2-nensei no hou ga umai noni boku ni ne, (kouhai ga) atama sagete kuru no yo. [atama sageru no yo] Even though the underclassmen are better than me because I joined (the club) as a senior, they still defer to me (because I’m older). In these examples, kuru is not necessary for the sentences to be grammatical; instead, the NS used kuru to express that the speaker is a receiver of another person’s action or intention, similar to the passive construction. The use of kuru here conveys that the speaker is a target of the other’s action and its use expresses more of a direct psychological effect than a passive. In (28) and (29), the use of kuru seemed to be associated with a largely negative impression. This use of kuru is often observed in daily conversation but is not found in textbooks. Other NS uses of kuru that did not match the textbook meanings included (30) and (31). Kuru here conveys something similar to (28) and (29) in that it suggests that the hearer is included in the speaker’s action or somehow benefits from it. It indexes a sense of ‘sharing one’s experience’ with the hearer as described by Yamamoto (2001, 2006) and Mizutani (2011). Incidentally, including the hearer in one’s actions builds rapport and can invoke a type of empathy. This type of kuru is also not necessary to make the sentence grammatically correct. (30) NS: 今日もドラマで観てきたよ。[観たよ] Kyou mo dorama de mite kita yo. [mita yo] I watched it on TV again today. (lit. I watched it in a drama again at home and came here today.) (31) NS: XY(地名)の、イルミネーションに行ってきたんだって。[行っ たんだって] XY (place name) no, irumineeshon ni itte kita n datte. [itta n datte] (They) went to XY to see the illuminations. (Lit. They went to see the illuminations and came back.) In (30), the use of kuru conveys the sense that the speaker and hearer either both watch the same thing on TV or that the speaker watched something on TV that he/she shares or will share with the hearer. Similarly, in (31), the use of kuru carries the speaker’s attitude of sharing the event with the hearer. Thus, in these examples, kuru has the function of connecting an event separated by time and distance to the current place, rather than conveying actual movement. Although the grammatical meaning is not changed significantly by using kuru, its use conveys

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a sense of including the hearer in the event. Conversely, when kuru is not used, it merely conveys a fact. These viewpoint-oriented functions are clearly not included in the textbook explanations of iku/kuru and were not found in the NNS data; however, as shown here, they were used by the NSs in this study. Ambiguous expression chotto Frequency of NS and NNS use

In this section, we examine the frequency of the use of chotto by both native and non-native speakers from the ER and DRR subcorpora in Table 7.5. However, due to the limited overall size of the data, we did not perform a statistical analysis. In the ER subcorpus, where there is not much of a burden associated with the request, NSs use chotto in 3.1% of the lines, whereas in the DRR subcorpus, where both sides feel a burden, 20.7% of the lines contain chotto. As discussed previously, the frequency of chotto seen in the DRR subcorpus (i.e. with diffi cult requests) is significantly higher than in the ER subcorpus. The same trend is shown in the NNS data, although the difference is not as large as seen with the NS data. Table 7.5 Frequency of lines containing chotto (% of lines) ER subcorpus

DRR subcorpus

NS

3/96 (3.1%)

42/203 (20.7%)

NNS

6/98 (6.1%)

33/206 (16.0%)

Sentence-final ellipsis with chotto

Next, since textbooks often introduce the sentence-fi nal ellipsis expression -wa chotto… as a way to soften refusals, we examined both NS and NNS ellipsis in the roleplay data. To investigate this, we set Word Search with the display format of KWIC and sorted by the word following chotto, as shown in Figure 7.3. From this search, we found one NS instance of chotto with a sentencefi nal ellipsis (i.e. nothing after it) and three instances used by NNSs. To determine if these were actual instances of sentence-fi nal ellipsis, we considered the context of each line. The single NS instance of use is examined below in (32). (32) NS is requesting to borrow money from NNS NS: 次のバイト代が入るまでに、３週間あるんだけれど、ちょっと 部活に必要なカバンとかそういうの買ってたらお金なくなっ ちゃって、このままだとちょっと

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Figure 7.3 Search options for NNS use of chotto in DRR subcorpus

Tsugi no baitodai ga hairu made ni, 3-shuukan aru n dakeredo, chotto bukatsu ni hitsuyouna kaban toka sou iu no kattetara okane nakunachatte, kono mama da to chotto There are still three weeks until I get my next paycheck, but I bought a bag and other stuff for my club activities, so my money’s gone and like this… NNS: あーん、かわいそうですねー。 Aan, kawaisou desu ne. Oh, that’s terrible. NS: 生活費っていうか、食費、ご飯代とか、水道代が払えなくて。 Seikatsuhi tte iu ka, shokuhi, gohandai toka, suidoudai ga haraenakute. I can’t pay for things like living expenses, food and water. In (32), when the NS is explaining his/her situation preceding a request to borrow money, NNS responds in line 2, while NS is still speaking. The full utterance by NS is thus divided into two lines (line 1 and 3); therefore this is not an instance of sentence-final ellipsis. Additionally, of the three instances used by NNS, one was similarly split across two lines and was not an actual sentence-final ellipsis. The other two instances of non-native use of chotto, however, are used with ellipsis, as shown in Examples (33) and (34). (33) NNS is attempting to refuse a request to borrow money by NS NS: 3万円ぐらい貸してもらえないかな？ 3 man en gurai kashite moraenai kana? Could you lend me 30,000 yen?

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NNS: うーん、 でもねー、あのーNSちゃん、NSちゃんは私の、 あー、友達、友達だから、あのー、あー、手伝いたいけ どー、あー、最近私もあのバイトしないで、あの、あ、ず っと簿記の試験の準備をしてしまっていたから、あ の、 私のこっちの方もあまりお金がちょっと。 Uun, demo ne, ano NS-chan, NS-chan wa watashi no, aa, tomodachi, tomodachi dakara, ano, aa, tetsudaitai kedo, aa, saikin watashi mo ano baito shinaide, ano, a, zutto boki no shiken no junbi o shite shimatte ita kara, ano, watashi no kocchi no hou mo amari okane ga chotto. Um, you know, NS, you’re my friend, uhh, so I want to help you out, but uh, I haven’t been working, and just uh, studying for an account exam, so um, money for me is also a bit… (34) NS is giving a reason for refusing NNS’s request to borrow money NS: 貸せたとしてももっと少ない額になっちゃうかもしれな い、 でも定期とかも出さなきゃいけないから。 Kaseta to shite mo motto sukunai gaku ni nacchau kamo shirenai, demo teiki toka mo dasanakya ikenai kara. If I were able to lend you money, it might be a lot less, but even so I still have to buy my commuter pass. NNS: ああ、それはちょっと。 Aa, sore wa chotto. Ah, that’s a bit… NS: 3万じゃないといけないんだよね。 3 man ja nai to ikenai n da yo ne. I guess you really need 30,000 yen, though. Examining the context shown in (33), before NNS uses chotto, he/she tries to explain the reason for declining the request for a loan. However, it appears that after struggling to decline gracefully, NNS in line 2 uses this sentence-final ellipsis to end the utterance in an easier way. In (34), the context shows that NNS uses sentence-fi nal ellipsis as the requester. As explained previously, textbooks widely present chotto with sentence-fi nal ellipsis as an example of a refusal expression, but they emphasize that chotto can function to soften statements other than refusals. This may lead learners to believe that in addition to refusals, sentence-fi nal ellipsis with chotto can be used to omit things which are difficult to say or which they do not want to say in order to soften the expression. After hearing the reason for refusal, NNS says sore wa chotto (That’s a bit…), which can be taken to mean either ‘I’m sorry for making this request when you are in that situation’ or ‘Your situation doesn’t make my problem go away.’ After this response from NNS, NS in line 3 of (34) tries to confi rm

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the content of the request. NS attempts to confirm which of the two possible meanings is the correct one. Among the 42 instances of chotto use by NSs in the DRR data, there are no instances of sentence-fi nal ellipsis; however, in the 33 instances of chotto produced by NNSs, there are two uses of sentence-fi nal ellipsis. In DRR, where the scenario requires both participants to say things which are difficult (i.e. large requests and their refusals), NSs use chotto many times even in a single sentence, as shown in (35). (35) NS: うーん、 でも、 ちょっと、最近忙しくって、休めてなくって、 ちょっ と久しぶりに休みだから、 ちょっと休みたいなと思ってるから。 Uun, demo, chotto, saikin isogashikutte, yasumete nakutte, chotto hisashiburi ni yasumi dakara, chotto yasumitai na to omotteru kara. Um, well, you know, I’ve been so busy lately, with no free time, and it’s like my first break in a while, and I kind of want to just take it easy. However, NNSs do not use chotto with the same high frequency and are rather limited to more simplistic uses. Additionally, as shown in (34), they also use the sentence-final ellipsis introduced in the textbooks. In fact, although chotto can soften expressions, its use is different between native and non-native speakers. Therefore, both textbooks and instructors may need to consider this when presenting sentence-final ellipsis with chotto to their students as a common, acceptable way to say things which are difficult. Collocations of chotto

In this section, we investigate words that co-occur with chotto in requests and refusals by both native and non-native speakers. For this, we used the N-Gram View search mode, as shown in Figure 7.4, for both sets

Figure 7.4 Co-Chu’s N-Gram View search mode

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Table 7.6 Collocations containing chotto in the ER and DRR subcorpora Collocation

MI score

Frequency

NS

ちょっときつい chotto kitsui ちょっと厳しい chotto kibishii ちょっと厳しいか chotto kibishii ka ちょっと厳しいかな chotto kibishii ka na ちょっと3万円 chotto 3 man en ちょっと無理 chotto muri

4.08 4.40 4.18 5.84 3.26 4.18

2 2 2 2 2 3

NNS

ちょっとお願い chotto onegai ちょっとお願いが chotto onegai ga ちょっとお願いがある chotto onegai ga aru ちょっとお願いがあるん chotto onegai ga aru n ちょっときつい chotto kitsui ちょっと困る chotto komaru

5.25 5.49 6.36 5.32 4.12 5.70

4 4 4 3 2 2

of roleplay data. Table 7.6 shows collocations containing chotto produced by both native and non-native speakers that occurred. Among the collocations shown in Table 7.6, chotto kitsui (tough), chotto kibishii (severe) and chotto komaru (troublesome) are similar types of collocations. Kitsui, kibishii and komaru are words that express a state of psychological discomfort with the topic being discussed. Using chotto with these words softens the negative aspect of each word’s respective meaning. Chotto 3 man en (30,000 yen) also softens a difficult request, ‘please lend me 30,000 yen’. This type of chotto was found in both NS and NNS speech. In the NS data in Table 7.6, regarding refusals, NSs used a combination of chotto together with muri (impossible) three times as shown in the excerpts below: (36) NS: 俺もそんだけ余裕ないから、ちょっと無理じゃないかな。 Ore mo son dake yoyuu nai kara, chotto muri janai kana. Things are a bit tight for me, so I don’t think I can. (37) NS: ちょっと無理っぽそうかな。 Chotto muri ppo sou kana. That’s going to be a bit hard. (38) NS: 私は、あ、ちょっと無理だから。 Watashi wa, a, chotto muri dakara. I, well, I just can’t. Interestingly, though textbooks caution against making blunt refusals, our data show that NSs used the direct refusal word muri (impossible) together with chotto. This may be because these roleplays are interactions between college-age friends where it might be more acceptable to make blunt refusals. This difference between what is acceptable refusal behavior between friends versus less psychologically close participants is something that is often glossed over in textbooks in favor of a ‘more polite’ approach.

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Conversely, the collocations with chotto and onegai as in chotto onegai ga aru n dakedo (I have a bit of a request) were only found in the NNS data. This particular way of requesting is presented in the textbooks as a phrase to use when beginning a request. However, our analysis did not show NSs using this phrase in face-to-face requests. On the other hand, Komori et al. (2015) analyzed collocations used by NSs in requests over the phone and found that NSs do use this phrase when beginning a request in telephone conversations. It is thus possible that NS use of chotto differs when the request is face-to-face as opposed to when they cannot see the other party. Because its usage seems to vary according to the setting, it may be necessary to explain this phrase in more detail in the L2 classroom. Summary and Conclusions

In this study, we introduced the use of technology to analyze NS and NNS actual spoken speech and described how this analysis can be used to improve textbook and classroom instruction. Specifically, we used Co-Chu, a corpus-based analysis software to analyze two linguistic features: (1) the subsidiary verbs iku and kuru; and (2) the ambiguous expression chotto. By examining both NS and NNS speech and different types of spoken data (i.e. natural conversation and roleplays), the analysis revealed some important differences between the two groups. Moreover, when the fi ndings were compared to what is currently introduced in textbooks, it revealed some misconceptions and limitations of textbook explanations that have some important pedagogical implications. In this section, we answer the research questions and state our conclusions. Subsidiary verbs iku/kuru

The fi ndings for the frequency analysis of the conversation data supported other studies’ fi ndings that NNSs use iku/kuru less than NSs (Kondo et al., 2010; Mizutani, 2011). The analysis also led to some new fi ndings that have yet to be explored by other studies. Namely, the data showed that NS use of iku/kuru co-occurred with a more extensive range of verbs than NNS use (see Table 7.3). In particular, NSs used iku most often with suru (to do) (eight times) and kuru most often with two verbs: deru (to be out), 10 times; and kaeru (to return), five times. NNSs’ top use of kuru included these same verbs, suggesting that common collocations with kuru are used similarly by native and non-native speakers. However, the learners did not use iku with suru at all and the number of verbs they used with iku/kuru, in general, was limited to two verbs versus a total of 16 different verb collocations with iku for NSs. This suggests that the use of iku may be less clear to NNSs and that they may need more examples or overt instruction on how to use iku with other verbs to create different meanings.

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Conjugations and modal auxiliaries/particles co-occurring with iku/ kuru were also found to be different between native and non-native speakers. In many ways, the conjugation plus modal auxiliary/particles fi ndings mirrored the verb collocation fi ndings. First, although both NSs and NNSs used plain forms and the -te form similarly, NSs used a wider range of modal auxiliaries and particles with both iku and kuru, whereas NNS use of modal auxiliaries and particles was limited. Second, the data showed that although NS and NNS use of kuru was similar, especially in terms of the top frequency of use of -te + kita (plain past), there was a large discrepancy between the types of modal auxiliaries/particles used by NSs (five different types) with iku versus those used by NNSs (two types). Additionally, the data showed that NSs used iku most often with -to conditional (seven times), but the NNS data did not show a single use of iku + -to conditional. That these advanced level NNSs did not use these functions of iku in particular, suggests that these functions may not be easily acquired and that instruction could be improved in this area. How subsidiary verbs were used in context by native and non-native speakers in this study also added some new fi ndings to the literature. Though NNS use of iku/kuru was limited to the four meanings introduced in textbooks, NSs used iku/kuru in three additional ways: (1) iku was used as if the situation is changing right in front of you (Examples 24–27); (2) kuru was used to express that the situation affected the speaker psychologically (Examples 28 and 29); and (3) kuru was used to express a sharing of an experience (Examples 30 and 31). These uses of iku/kuru indicate iku/ kuru can build empathy between a speaker and a hearer. While textbooks do introduce iku and kuru as grammatical items, learners are not taught how to invoke different viewpoint-oriented expressions like the three discussed in this chapter. Consequently, learner use of iku/kuru may be just a reflection of what is taught in textbooks. NNSs do not have to use iku and kuru the same as NSs, but instructors could consider expanding the explanations of iku and kuru in the classroom to provide examples of the pragmatic aspects of iku and kuru. When focusing on grammar in the classroom, it may be difficult to highlight pragmatic aspects. Unlike most grammar, bringing pragmatics to the attention of learners requires context to be included with examples, rather than simply presenting individual sentences. A corpus analysis software such as Co-Chu could be used to find these types of examples for use in the classroom and to highlight expressions which commonly co-occur with iku and kuru. Ambiguous expression chotto

We found similar results and came to a similar conclusion about the inadequacy of textbook explanations in our analysis of chotto. The frequency analysis of chotto confirmed Homma’s (2011) findings that NSs and NNSs use chotto with higher frequency in difficult requests than they do

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with easy requests. Further, NSs use chotto more frequently for difficult requests. In terms of how chotto was used, though Japanese language textbooks introduce the sentence-final ellipsis expression -wa chotto…, a difference was seen in the use of chotto between NSs and NNSs. For example, while NSs used chotto many times within a single sentence, they did not use the sentence-final ellipsis. Conversely, NNSs used chotto more simplistically and used the sentence-final ellipsis twice, as introduced in the textbooks. As for collocations, both NSs and NNSs used chotto to soften requests and refusals. However, NSs used chotto with muri (impossible) to produce blunt refusals, likely because they were interacting with friends and could be more informal. This bluntness, however, contradicts textbook information that emphasizes softening refusals. Moreover, while NNSs used chotto with onegai in phrases such as chotto onegai ga aru n dakedo (I have a bit of a request) in their requests, NSs did not use this phrase. However, other research shows that NSs do use chotto + onegai when making requests over the phone (Komori et al., 2015), suggesting that more research is needed to determine how much the setting plays a role in NS use of certain collocations and whether textbooks are overestimating the use of these collocations. Overall, the data show that there are inconsistencies between the examples of chotto presented by textbooks and the language used in roleplay data between NSs and NNSs. When teaching chotto to learners of Japanese, it is insufficient to simply explain that chotto makes an expression polite through ambiguity. It is also necessary to explain that chotto is used in more delicate situations such as requests and refusals where the burden on both parties is higher. These fi ndings lead us to rethink whether it is appropriate to present sentence-fi nal ellipsis and request-beginning expressions (chotto onegai…) as representative uses of chotto. Chotto can be used to soften things which are difficult to say or which one does not want to say. However, it is necessary for learners to understand that chotto’s wide variety of meanings and uses can lead to difficulties in communication, such as confusion over which meaning is being used or misinterpretations of the speaker’s intentions. For example, beyond chotto’s dictionary meaning (a little), it is also necessary to nurture the ability to consider the meaning of the entire utterance, including the intentions of the speaker when a sentence-fi nal ellipsis is used and how one should react to that particular use. Although it is not possible to take into account all possible situations, Japanese language textbooks and educators might want to be more liberal in presenting chotto in a way which is closer to what occurs in actual communication. Conclusion

Although we only analyzed two forms (the subsidiary verbs iku/ kuru and the ambiguous expression chotto), the analyses demonstrated

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the need to adopt an evidence-based approach to Japanese language education based on actual instances of language use. The results show that teachers and learners need to pay attention to both the pragmatic function and the context of grammatical items that are common in natural speech. Thus an important fi rst step is the analysis of NS and NNS speech to clearly identify what is lacking. Co-Chu is particularly well-suited to this purpose. Text analysis with a corpus-based analysis system that can analyze more than just instances of use provides researchers, teachers, and learners the ability to examine how certain expressions are used in actual NS conversation as well as how NNSs use or do not use the form being examined. Utilizing analysis software, such as Co-Chu, that can analyze corpus data in more complex ways, can raise awareness about how specific forms and expressions are realized in conversations. At the very least, this type of software can be used to show NNSs how Japanese NSs use particular linguistic forms and in what contexts. Finally, Co-Chu’s ability to fi lter based on metadata such as speakers’ traits and ability to perform a variety of searches according to the researcher’s interests allows researchers to perform more complex analysis that, along with conducting discourse and conversation analysis, can reveal important fi ndings for the benefit of language education. We intend to continue to improve Co-Chu by extending the available search methods and analysis techniques for more users including researchers using discourse and conversation analysis as well as individual learners. In the near future, we plan to release Co-Chu publicly as a free software so that Japanese language teachers and researchers can analyze their learner data easily. By improving current features and adding new features to fulfill a variety of needs, it will become possible to perform more intricate and pedagogically meaningful analyses.

References Banno, E., Ohno, Y., Sakane, Y. and Shinagawa, C. (1999a) Genki I: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese. Tokyo: The Japan Times, Ltd. Banno, E., Ohno, Y., Sakane, Y., Shinagawa, C. and Tokashiki, K. (1999b) Genki II: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese. Tokyo: The Japan Times, Ltd. Church, K. and Hanks, P. (1990) Word association norms, mutual information and lexicography. Computational Linguistics 16 (1), 22–29. Hatasa, Y., Hatasa, K. and Makino, S. (2000) Nakama 2. Boston: Houghton Miffl in. Homma, T. (2011) Jisshitsu teki imi wo motsu fi raa no danwa teki kenkyuu: tokutei no intarakushon ni hyoushutsu suru ‘chotto’ ‘nanka’ ‘yappari [Discourse analysis of fi ller with substantial meaning: ‘chotto’ ‘nanka’ ‘yappari’ appearing in specific interactions]. Doctoral thesis, Chubu University. Hotta, T. and Horie, K. (2012) Nihongo gakushuusha no ‘kotowari’ koudou ni okeru hejji no kousatsu: chuukan gengo goyouron bunseki wo tsuujite [Hedges in refusals of invitations by Japanese learners: An interlanguage pragmatic analysis]. Goyouron Kenkyuu 14, 1–19.

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Ikegami, Y. and Moriya, M. (eds) (2009) Shizen na nihongo wo oshieru tame ni: Ninchi gengogaku wo fumaete [Teaching Natural Japanese: Considering Cognitive Linguistics]. Tokyo: Hitsuji Shobo. Iori, I. and Yamauchi, H. (2015) Deeta ni motozuku bunpou shirabasu [Data-based Grammar Syllabus]. Tokyo: Kuroshio Shuppan. Ishikawa, S. (2012) Beeshiikku koopasu gengogaku [Basic Corpus Linguistics]. Tokyo: Hitsuji Shobo. Kanokwan, L. (2012) Hi-bogowasya ni wa muzukashii bogowasya no nihongo komyunikeeshon [Native Japanese communication which is difficult for non-native speakers]. In H. Noda (ed.) Nihongo kyouiku no tame no komyunikeeshon kenkyuu [Communication Research for Japanese Language Education] (pp. 23–42). Tokyo: Kuroshio Shuppan. Kindaichi, H. (1975) Nihonjin no gengo-hyougen [Japanese Linguistic Expression]. Tokyo: Kodansha. Komori, S., Yamamoto, H., Homma, T. and Lanigan, M. (2015, August) Nihongo kyouiku, kenkyuu no tame no tekisuto bunseki shisutemu ‘Co-Chu’ [Co-Chu: A text analysis system for Japanese language education and research]. Paper presented at the 6th International Conference on Computer Assisted Systems for Teaching & Learning Japanese (CASTEL/J), Honolulu, Hawaii. See http://www.co-chu.org/papers/ Co-Chu_2015-08-08.pdf. Kondo, A., Himeno, T. and Adachi, S. (2010) Chuugokugo bogo nihongo gakushuusha no jiitai haaku: nihongo shusenkou gakushuusha o taishou to suru chousa no kekka kara [Construal types of Chinese-native learners of Japanese: The results of a survey on Japanese language majors in China]. Proceedings of the Annual Meetings of the Japanese Cognitive Linguistics Association 10, 691–706. Kudo, T. (2005) MeCab: Yet another part-of-speech and morphological analyzer [Computer software]. See https://taku910.github.io/mecab/. Lee, J., Ishikawa, S. and Sunakawa, Y. (2012) Nihongo kyouiku no tame no koopasu chousa nyuumon [Introduction to Corpus Analysis for Japanese Language Education]. Tokyo: Kuroshio Shuppan. Maekawa, K., Yamazaki, M., Ogiso, T., Maruyama, T., Ogura, H., Kashino, W., Koiso, H., Yamaguchi, M., Tanaka, M. and Den, Y. (2013) Balanced Corpus of Contemporary Written Japanese. Language Resources and Evaluation 48 (2), 345– 371. DOI:10.1007/s10579-013-9261-0 Makino, S., Hatasa, Y. and Hatasa, K. (1998) Nakama 1. Lexington: D C Heath & Co. Masden, M. (2012) Aimai na ‘chotto…’ wa teinei ka?: iwanai koto to kikite no futan o megutte [Is ambiguous ‘chotto…’ polite?: Concerning unspoken things and hearer burden]. Kumamoto daigaku kokusaika suishin sentaa kiyou 3, 63–75. Minna no Nihongo Shokyuu I [Minna no Nihongo Beginner I] (2nd edn). (2012) Tokyo: 3A Corporation. Minna no Nihongo Shokyuu II [Minna no Nihongo Beginner II] (2nd edn) (2013) Tokyo: 3A Corporation. Mizutani, N. (1985) Nichiei hikaku hanashikotoba no bunpou [Comparative Grammar in Spoken English and Japanese]. Tokyo: Kuroshio Shuppan. Mizutani, N. (2001) Zoku nichi ei hikaku hanashi kotoba no bunpou [Continued Comparative Grammar in Spoken English and Japanese]. Tokyo: Kuroshio Shuppan. Mizutani, N. (2011) Hojodoushi ni miru tachiba shikou hyougen: juju hyougen to ‘kuru, iku’ o chuushin ni [View-pointed expressions in helping verbs: Focusing on givingand-receiving verbs ‘kuru’ and ‘iku’]. In G. Xiu and Y.B. Li (eds) International Conference of Japanese Language Education 2011: Ibunka komyunikeeshon no tame no nihongo kyouiku [Japanese Language Education for Cross Cultural Communication] (pp. 650–651). Beijing: Higher Education Press. Nakamata, N. (2014) Nihongo kyouiku no tame no bunpou korokeeshon handobukku [Handbook of Grammar Collocation for Japanese Language Education]. Tokyo: Kuroshio Shuppan.

Co-Chu: Japanese Corpus Analysis System and Two Analyses for Language Teaching

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Nakamata, N. (2016) Koopasu kara miru nihongo kyoukasho [Japanese language textbooks from a corpus perspective]. In H. Yoshioka and H. Honda (eds) Nihongo kyouzai kenkyuu no shiten: Atarashii kyouzai kenkyuuron no kakuritsu o mezashite [The Viewpoint of Japanese Teaching Materials Research: Aiming for the Establishment of a New Teaching Material Development Paradigm] (pp. 92–114). Tokyo: Kuroshio Shuppan. Okamoto, S. and Saito, S. (2004) Nihongo fukushi ‘chotto’ ni okeru tagisei to kinou [Polysemy and function of the Japanese adverb ‘chotto’]. Journal of the Hokkaido Bunkyo University 5, 65–76. Sasagawa, Y. (2016) Nihongo no poraitonesu saikou [Rethinking Japanese Politeness]. Yokohama: Shumpusha Publishing. Shinada, J. (2012) Komyunikeeshon no tame no nihongo kyouiku no houhou [Communicative Japanese language education methodologies]. In H. Noda (ed.) Nihongo kyouiku no tame no komyunikeeshon kenkyuu [Communication Research for Japanese Language Education] (pp. 147–166). Tokyo: Kuroshio Shuppan. Sun, Z.G. (2010) Sougou Nichigo [Comprehensive Japanese]. Beijing: Peking University Press. Sun, Z.G. and Jian, P.Z. (2005) Shinpen Kiso Nichigo [New Basic Japanese]. Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Publishing House. Tohsaku, Y. (2006) Yookoso!: An invitation to Contemporary Japanese (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Tsukuba Language Group (1992) Situational Functional Japanese. Tokyo: Bonjinsha. The UniDic Consortium (2013) UniDic (Version 2.1.2) [Computer software]. See https:// osdn.net/projects/unidic/ Wei, N. and Li, J. (2013) A new computing method for extracting contiguous phraseological sequences from academic text corpora. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 18 (4), 506–535. Yamamoto, H. (2001) Kikite to beesu wo kyouyuu suru koto o arawasu ‘-tekuru’ ‘-teiku’ [Conveying a shared base with the hearer with ‘-tekuru’ and ‘-teiku’]. Nihongo kyouiku 110, 52–61. Yamamoto, H. (2006) Houkousei o motsu hojyodoushi no imi to kinou ni tsuite [The meaning and use of subsidiary verbs of motion]. Doctoral thesis, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan. Yamamoto, H. (2009) Jitaihaaku to mie no keisei – nihongo bogo washa to nihongo gakushuusya o hikaku shite [A study of Japanese subjective construal]. Chubu University Jinbungakubu Kenkyuuronshuu 21, 71–86. Yamamoto, H. (2010) Hanashikotoba ni okeru hojodoushi no shiyou jittai [How the auxiliary verbs are used in Japanese conversation]. Chubu University Jinbungakubu Kenkyuuronshuu 24, 99–114.

8 How a Self-Learning Website can be Utilized for Better Pronunciation Education: Bridging Learning In and Out of the Classroom Kazuhiro Yonemoto, Asami Tsuda and Hisako Hayashi

Introduction

Pronunciation is an integral part of communication. It directly affects a speaker’s communicative competence and performance, that is, whether a speaker can get his/her meaning across to listeners. Pronunciation also influences listener perception, not only of a speaker’s language proficiency but also of the speaker themselves (Derwing & Munro, 2010). In this sense, pronunciation is inseparably linked to social interaction, and ultimately a speaker’s self-confidence and even social identity. In the context of Japanese pronunciation teaching, some researchers argue that there is a need for effective instruction on pronunciation within, as well as outside, the classroom due to various challenges as an instructor (e.g. Ogawara & Kono, 2002; Toda, 2009; Urakami, 2004). This argument is strongly backed by learners’ interest in improving their pronunciation and teachers’ understanding of the importance of good pronunciation (Nihongo Kyooiku Gakkai, 1991). However, even in English language education, pronunciation education receives little attention (Derwing & Munro, 2005; Kelly, 2000). Similarly, in Japanese as a second/foreign language, few researchers are devoted to improving the classroom teaching pedagogy of pronunciation. This may be due to large 204

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classes and intensive teaching schedules that leave little room for instructors to address pronunciation, which may appear to be less important than, for instance, grammar and vocabulary. The difficulty of verbally explaining how sounds are articulated, as well as the lack of resources and knowledge about students’ varying fi rst languages (Ogawara & Kono, 2002; Urakami, 2004) may also play a role in relegating pronunciation education to the back burner. Reflecting on the growing understanding of the importance of pronunciation teaching in the field of Japanese language education, several websites for pronunciation learning, such as Online Japanese Accent Dictionary (OJAD) (http://www.gavo.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ojad/) and Tsutaeru Hatsuon (http://www.japanese-pronunciation.com), have been developed. Yet while Goss (2018) has recently reviewed the current situation of pronunciation education with a focus on lexical accent learning, he does not consider technology as having teaching intervention potential. This suggests that technology use in the field of pronunciation is still not recognized perhaps because it is limited in quality and quantity. Indeed, although the OJAD and Tsutaeru Hatsuon websites provide support and resources, they have not been widely discussed or evaluated in the Japanese second language (L2) education literature in terms of how they might be incorporated into courses to improve teaching and learning of Japanese pronunciation. In practice, teachers typically suggest that students visit these websites, but do not give any instruction on how to use these resources. Given that proper instruction improves learner pronunciation (Gick et al., 2008) and prosody (Hardison, 2005), and that learners favorably view technology integration into pronunciation learning (Yonemoto et al., 2016), more research is needed to fully explore how language teachers can integrate technology-assisted learning materials for improved pronunciation education. Considering the importance of pronunciation education and the lack of studies on how to incorporate it into the classroom via technology, this study explores the use of a self-learning website for pronunciation called eNunciate! (http://enunciate.arts.ubc.ca) and its incorporation into two fl ipped Japanese language classrooms. Specifically, this chapter discusses the instructors’ and learners’ perceived effectiveness of using a fl ipped classroom environment that combined out-of-class explicit teaching via eNunciate! with an in-class social constructivist approach to enhance pronunciation education. This study analyzes the postinstructional questionnaires of Japanese language learners and the autoethnographies of two instructors at two diff erent universities. The research questions are: (1) how can pronunciation learning inside and outside the classroom be effectively connected using a fl ipped classroom model?; and (2) how can online materials along with social interaction with a focus on pronunciation be incorporated in the course to improve pronunciation education?

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Background to the Study Pronunciation education

Given the fact that pronunciation is widely affected by learner individuality (Derwing et al., 1998), there is no one-size-fits-all method of teaching a diverse learner population. Despite such difficulties, many language educators have attempted to improve and incorporate pronunciation education in their teaching. Fortunately, studies that have examined the use of technology with pronunciation training have generally found positive results. For example, a study examining the effect of software employing annotations and/or visual feedback on learner pronunciation found that ‘meaningful contextualized input is valuable in prosody training’ (Hardison, 2005: 183 – Anvil: http://www.anvil-software.org and Real-Time Pitch: http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/resource/sfs/rtpitch/). Similarly, a study which explored the effectiveness of auditory-visual training pointed out that ‘perception training significantly improved overall accuracy in the identification of vowel duration’ (Okuno & Hardison, 2016: 74 – Praat: http://fon.hum.uva.nl/praat/). The effectiveness of ultrasound imaging on pronunciation has also been demonstrated in research on English (Gick et  al., 2008) and French (Pillot-Loiseau et al., 2013). Both Gick et al. and Pillot-Loiseau et al. used ultrasound images to raise learner awareness of movement in the mouth made when producing specific pairs of sounds. The researchers of both studies concluded that ultrasound imaging has benefits for learning pronunciation because it provides visual feedback, for example, showing the actual movement of the tongue for sounds which typically challenge native Japanese speakers such as /r/ and /l/ in English (Gick et al., 2008) and [y] and [u] in French (PillotLoiseau et al., 2013). These studies show that the training intervention utilizing ultrasound imaging enabled the participants to successfully pronounce the target sounds in the contexts where they had trouble (Gick et al., 2008) and to pronounce the target sounds better than the controlled group, raising awareness about how their tongue moves (Pillot-Loiseau et al., 2013). Programs specifically for Japanese language education such as OJAD and Prosody Tuner (http://www.u.tsukuba.ac.jp/~matsuzaki.hiroshi.fp/ pg.html) have also been developed. While OJAD can display the pitch trajectory of a word or a sentence input by users, Prosody Tuner provides feedback on how close an utterance is to the model pronunciation. Studies indicate that these tools were positively evaluated by the learners in the study and successfully encouraged their motivation for pronunciation learning (Matsuzaki & Takahashi, 2015; Minematsu et  al., 2013). However, since the research focus was on the affective influences (e.g. motivation) of different tools, their actual effectiveness (e.g. effect on pronunciation) was not investigated.

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These studies show that technology integration positively impacts pronunciation education not only linguistically, but also psychologically. However, most of these studies have been conducted in a laboratory setting, so they reveal little as to how pronunciation technology can be utilized in an actual teaching setting. Moreover, these studies mainly used difficult technical applications such as Praat, which are challenging for teachers to implement. Given the fact that many language instructors consider themselves unprepared to teach pronunciation due to lack of skill and/or training (Foote et al., 2011) and also lack adequate time to incorporate pronunciation education into their courses (Yonemoto et al., 2016), the implementation and evaluation of teacher-friendly technology in an actual educational setting still needs to be examined. Social constructivism and a flipped classroom in language learning

Since the 1990s, the concept of ‘situated learning’, coined by Lave and Wenger (1991), has had a significant impact on research into second language education. According to Lave and Wenger (1991: 51), ‘participation is always based on situated negotiation and renegotiation of meaning in the world’. This is to say, learning is relational to one’s knowledge and experiences, classroom activities and social interactions which create meaning in any given situation. Learning is, thus, an ongoing social process of constructing learners’ identity in the targeted learning community. Our teaching philosophy used in this study resonates with the central principles of a social constructivist perspective on learning, in particular as described by Williams and Burden (1997). That is, an individual’s understanding and interpretation is constructed not in isolation, but through significant interaction with others in particular contexts. Through the classroom and online interactions, students establish knowledge based on their individual needs. In our pronunciation education, we provide various forms of learning (i.e. online learning, classroom interaction, individual and group practices and feedback) so that students reflect on their own learning and share their experiences and knowledge with their peers. Thus, second language teaching and learning not only involves linguistics systems, such as grammar and phonology, but also engages learners in sociocultural practices in particular contexts (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Norton, 2013). One pedagogical approach that can attend to learning as embedded in practice is the flipped classroom. Bergmann and Sams (2012) defi ne the benefits of a flipped classroom, where ‘direct instruction moves from the group learning space to the individual learning space’, as a ‘dynamic, interactive learning environment where the educator guides students as they apply concepts and engage creativity in the subject matter’ (Flipped Learning Network, n.d.). This means that the focus is not merely on what

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is to be switched in the curriculum; instead, the focus is on how to enhance students’ engagement in learning by co-constructing knowledge and meanings with their peers in a social constructivist way. A flipped classroom has been proven to have several advantages, not the least of which is its effectiveness in encouraging students’ social interaction and engagement in second language learning (Bergmann & Sams, 2012; Muldrow, 2013). While such advantages are widely recognized, several studies have revealed challenges to implementing a fl ipped classroom in language learning such as fi nding the appropriate resources and arranging them along with the course content. Students also face time-related difficulties as they are often required to engage in more outside classroom study time than traditionally expected (McNally et al., 2017; Tanno, 2013). In addition, students may be confused about the goals of a fl ipped classroom. Tanno (2013), who used a flipped classroom in a beginner Japanese course at a public university in the USA, pointed out the importance of providing students with a better understanding of the concept of a fl ipped classroom. Tanno also found that students are typically hesitant about their role as active learners, or about taking the initiative to learn on their own, which may be especially difficult for those who are used to traditional teacher–learner relationships. In addition to these challenges, pronunciation learning is often seen as a solitary venture, especially where technology is concerned. This aspect seemingly limits how pronunciation can be taught in a flipped classroom environment. While the out-of-class portion can be done by individuals via technology, it is difficult to complement this behavioristic type of exercise with a more social-constructivist approach to pronunciation in the classroom. Despite such difficulties, we believed that a flipped classroom approach could be effectively utilized in pronunciation education, with the help of appropriate technological tools/resources and curriculum design. Therefore, in this study, we implemented pronunciation education in two ways. We paired an overt out-of-class instruction through eNunciate! with an in-class social constructivist approach that consisted primarily of discussion and peer evaluation, to engage learners in meaning-making practices with their peers.

The Study Participants and settings

This study was conducted with Japanese language courses at two different research sites in 2015, University A in western Canada and University B in Japan. At University A, two summer-intensive upperbeginner (third semester) Japanese classes became a part of the study. Each class was 16 hours per week for three weeks. There were 17 students in the fi rst semester and 16 in the second semester. While the fi rst and

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second semester used different parts of the website, 12 students took both the first and the second semester. The students had diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds (Mandarin, Cantonese, Taiwanese, Korean, English, Spanish and Greek). They took Japanese because of their interest in the language, culture and the possibility of future careers in Japan, therefore, it was important for them to learn and improve their pronunciation of Japanese to communicate with native speakers. All students in these classes were undergraduates. The majority were aged 18–22 with two students between the ages of 30 and 35. Only one class at University B was used for the study. The class was a 16-week intensive beginner Japanese course with 21 classroom hours per week. This class was designed for students who have never studied Japanese before. The students at this university also had diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds including Mandarin, Ghanaian, Indian, Myanmar, Thai and Vietnamese. There were 18 students in this course, with the majority between the ages of 26 and 34. All of these students came to Japan to pursue a graduate degree in different fields, which in most cases, could be completed in English. Therefore, the course objectives were to ensure the students’ transition to life in Japan and to support their progress toward achieving success in academic and personal social areas. While such differences exist between the two courses, there were several commonalities in addition to time constraints. First, both universities used Genki (Banno et al., 2011) as the primary textbook. Although Genki incorporates all four communication skills, pronunciation is only briefly mentioned at the beginning of the book. Therefore, it leaves to the teacher’s discretion how and to what extent pronunciation education should be integrated into the course. As well, not only was the language of instruction English, but it was the common language among the students, although some students also had the ability to speak together in other languages. Despite their various first languages, which may have affected their Japanese pronunciation, English could usually be utilized as a reference for pronunciation teaching. These courses were taught by two of the authors of this study who are native speakers of Japanese. With backgrounds in linguistics and education, both were trained as Japanese language educators in Canada and have been teaching Japanese in second and foreign language settings in Canada, the USA and Japan for seven to nine years. All authors taught and developed eNunciate! together at a university in western Canada. eNunciate!: A website for pronunciation education

The website eNunciate! was developed to implement a flipped classroom for pronunciation education (see Figure 8.1). It was created as a collaborative work with linguistic and technological education specialists. Using our experience as Japanese language educators, we took a leading

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Figure 8.1 Top page of eNunciate! by UBC, used under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0/Desaturated from original (http://enunciate.arts.ubc.ca)

role in developing the website. As with most instructors, we could not devote enough time to pronunciation teaching due to course load and class/student ratios, and we had little knowledge about phonology. The goal of pronunciation education is often a focal point of discussions about what must be achieved, or how fluent and proficient instructors would like the students to become (e.g. Derwing et  al., 1998). Considering the diverse interests and expectations that the students have, the primary purpose of eNunciate! is to provide more opportunities for the students to practice pronunciation. Consequently, the site promotes autonomous practice, where students can focus on their individual pronunciation needs and interests, with the end goal of feeling more satisfied and confident with their pronunciation. Thus, the website was designed with an understanding that the online materials would typically be used outside the classroom. However, materials were also created on the

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website that could efficiently and effectively be combined with in-class activities such as quizzes and group work for teachers without any particular knowledge of pronunciation education. eNunciate! is therefore accessible to both teachers and individual students who want to incorporate technology into pronunciation teaching and learning. eNunciate! is divided into two parts: (1) a general introduction to Japanese phonetics and phonology; and (2) exercises including self-check quizzes. In the second part, challenging sounds for speakers of different fi rst languages (including English, Chinese and Korean) are identified based on teacher reports and linguistic expertise. For each sound, two sets of video materials were created: tutorials and exercises. Once students understand the features for each target sound, they can proceed to various related exercises. In addition to this, the website attempts to remove obstacles to teaching pronunciation; mainly teachers’ uncertainty about phonology and pronunciation education (Foote et  al., 2011; Ogawara & Kono, 2002; Urakami, 2004). Since eNunciate! explains the basics of Japanese pronunciation together with step-by-step instruction on how to correctly produce challenging sounds, teachers do not need to be hindered by a lack of expertise about teaching pronunciation. Instead, instructors can focus on creating practical in-class exercises to review the materials learned online. Data collection

In this study, our primary data were collected through field notes written by the two instructors during class hours as well as the authors’ reflective accounts (i.e. diary entries) that were produced outside of the class. We recorded our observations of classroom activities, focusing on students’ reactions and our thoughts while teaching. After the course ended, we shared and compared these notes with each other about the classroom experiences. Additionally, an online questionnaire survey was conducted with the students at the conclusion of the two courses. The survey asked three openended questions as to how the students perceived: (1) learning pronunciation outside the classroom; (2) the integration of online materials into in-class activities; and (3) collaborative activities with their peers. This questionnaire was anonymous and no individually identifiable data were retained. We cite students’ opinions collected from this questionnaire to triangulate and further our understanding of their personal perspectives and experiences. Methodology

This study used an autoethnographic approach to study the implementation of eNunciate! (described below), a self-learning pronunciation website, in the two flipped Japanese second language classrooms. An autoethnography is a qualitative approach capturing a subject’s experiences

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through their first-person perspective, through reflective activities such as recording diary entries (Reed-Danahay, 1997). According to Hayano (2001: 75), autoethnography is used to learn and understand our ‘own people’, which in this case, refers to those who are in the same pedagogical sphere; teachers and learners of the Japanese language. This study seeks to better understand how eNunciate! is used and perceived by learners and whether the objectives for developing and implementing the website are accomplished. Through our teaching experience, we discovered that teaching and learning pronunciation is closely tied to a learner’s identity (Derwing & Munro, 2010). Therefore, using an autoethnographic approach allowed us to collect our own and our students’ perceptions about pronunciation education. At both sites, eNunciate! was incorporated into the course mainly for learning outside the classroom. Twice a week, for both University A and University B, the students were assigned to watch videos at home and were given related content quizzes in class (see Figure 8.2). Because these quizzes were part of their grade, the students were motivated to watch the video until they understood the content. While the instructors could verify that students completed their homework through the quizzes, the quizzes were given primarily with the goal of encouraging students to self-learn through the use of eNunciate! outside the classroom. The students were instructed to pay attention to the terminology used in the videos, the tongue position in their mouth and the movement used to produce a particular sound. After each quiz, students engaged in a 10- to 15-minute group activity (see Figure 8.3) working with students who had different first languages. The students monitored their peers by pronouncing the keywords/phrases/ sentences together and correcting each other based on the knowledge acquired through the videos. Finally, after the group activity, the teacher asked each group for feedback, checked their pronunciation briefly and provided feedback. This activity was designed not only to check and consolidate what the students had learned through the website, but also to encourage them to conduct self-learning outside the classroom. Analysis

In conducting our data analysis, we reviewed the instructor’s field notes and reflective notes, as well as the students’ questionnaire results, marking passages that raised issues regarding our research questions. We used the constant comparative method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), which enabled us to group passages into meaningful categories through comparison. To provide a more in-depth understanding of data interpretation and increase the validity of our fi ndings, although inter-coder reliability was not measured, the authors discussed the coding and analysis process to ensure consistent interpretation.

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Figure 8.2 Sample quiz

Figure 8.3 A sample of the group activity

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Results Students’ perspectives

Overall, the implementation of the flipped classroom for pronunciation education was rated favorably by the students in both courses. The students showed enthusiasm for the pronunciation exercises, especially the class activities. They also perceived the website, used for learning outside the classroom, to be beneficial for pronunciation education. Based on the student survey, there were three main reasons why these implementations were highly evaluated. First of all, many students appreciated the explicit instruction provided by the online videos about how to pronounce challenging sounds. As previous research suggests, typical classrooms do not provide explicit instruction on pronunciation (Ogawara & Kono, 2002; Toda, 2009; Urakami, 2004). Generally speaking, mispronunciations are corrected orally by the instructor during conversational exercises or presentation practice. In such contexts, it is almost impossible for each student to receive step-by-step instruction on how to correct their pronunciation. At the time of this implementation, many students had already realized to some extent that they had their own pronunciation problems; some students pronounced the /r/ sound by rolling their tongue and others could not distinguish /tsu/ and /su/. The following comments from the student survey show that using eNunciate! accommodated students’ individual needs and provided them with a new way of learning the correct pronunciation for difficult sounds in Japanese. Using online pronunciation websites are really helpful and can help us save time. These short videos with different images can let us know how to move our tongue correctly to pronounce a sound. (Student, University A) I am more aware of my tongue positions when voicing words. (Student, University A) I have learned new ways of practicing pronunciation. The enunciation video clarifies many problems I have with certain Japanese words. The videos clearly demonstrate how each word should be enunciated and distinguished between other similar words. (Student, University A) I think visually showing how the mouth is supposed to be like was the best way of learning. I had friends who tried to teach me the word tsu but I didn’t understand what they meant because all they did was go tsu tsu tsu to me. So after watching the video, it made senses to be about the airflow and the movement of the tongue. (Student, University A) I felt it gave the insight to the pronunciation from the inside of the mouth. (Student, University, B)

These comments show that the explicit online instruction allowed students the time and means to self-monitor their pronunciation. This enabled them to reflect on and correct their own pronunciation through

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identification of movements within the mouth. At the same time, the tutorial videos focused on teaching target sounds and encouraged students to concentrate by practicing step-by-step. This increased their autonomy that they could learn proper pronunciation. Secondly, the students appeared to enjoy the pair and group activities in class. The purpose of these activities was not simply to ensure they completed their homework; rather, it was intended to consolidate the knowledge they obtained through the website and allow them to attend more closely to their self-learning outside the classroom. The students avidly engaged in group activities that were based on the website content, as these comments illustrate: Having peer feedback plays a very important role in developing pronunciation. This is because we spend most of the time practicing and speaking with other students, which means we can receive most of the feedback from peer. After listening about the feedback, we can know what is our problems and where shall we improve. This can really help us to develop Japanese pronunciation or even other languages. (Student, University A) Sometimes it’s fun to puzzle things out together before having a teacher come and check one’s efforts. I enjoyed it. (Student, University A) Working in a group is better especially from a different country origin so it could help us to learn more sounds that doesn’t exist in our language. (Student, University B)

The instructors expected the students to be hesitant about exchanging critical feedback; however, the students seemed to enjoy sharing their opinion and thoughts. According to their comments, discussing these opinions and thoughts expanded the students’ perspectives on learning pronunciation, and promoted a deeper understanding of the topic. Thus, the students perceived activities like group work and the discussions to be effective for learning pronunciation. Such positive group work experiences may have led the students to establish rapport with each other through sharing their learning experiences. Finally, students became more conscious of their own pronunciation and felt that their overall abilities had improved. This confidence, in turn, allowed them to have a positive attitude towards correction from the teacher and their peers, and also provided them with new tools and resources for their future study of Japanese. Throughout the course, sensei pointed out my mistakes in pronunciation, which allows me to better detect flaws in my pronunciation. Once I’m aware of my pronunciation, I will try to fi x it by watching the enunciate videos. (Student, University A) I think after I watched these videos, my pronunciation and intonation are improved a lot. If there is more time for review and practice, defi nitely it would be more improved than before. Thanks to give me a new way of learning system. (Student, University A)

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My view towards the importance of pronunciation has changed. Learning the correct way of pronouncing words improved my pronunciation. I am more aware of my tongue positions when voicing words. According to my peer, my pronunciation has improved. (Student, University A)

As previously mentioned, studies (e.g. Nihongo Kyooiku Gakkai, 1991) indicate pronunciation is one area learners would like to improve, yet, instructors tend to hesitate to incorporate pronunciation education in their courses due to a lack of time and resources. The excerpts above show that the students gained confidence and satisfaction by learning pronunciation via online tutorial videos in a fl ipped classroom environment. Some students expressed the desire to spend more time on learning pronunciation, even though they had already spent significantly more time focusing on it compared to a typical class. I think after I watched these videos, my pronunciation and intonation are improved a lot. If there is more time for review and practice, defi nitely it would be more improved than before. (Student, University A) I believe that the time specifically dedicated to learning about pronunciation has really helped. It’s a much more scientific way than just going by ear. (Student, University A) In my point of view, more time should be spent for practicing and correcting the pronunciation. (Student, University B) Teachers’ perspectives

In addition to students’ positive attitudes towards pronunciation education, we, as teachers found two advantages for implementing pronunciation instruction. The fi rst advantage came from the fl ipped learning environment, which allowed students to focus on individual linguistic abilities and weaknesses. This journal entry, written by University A’s instructor shows that the need for differentiated teaching and for monitoring students to address individual needs are some of the issues that teachers usually face when correcting pronunciation during class time. One of the reasons why correcting everyone’s pronunciation in class is almost impossible is that the students do not necessarily come from the same linguistic background. Therefore, when a teacher is correcting someone’s pronunciation, it often does not apply to other students who have different mother tongues, and those latter students tend to become impatient. However, in this implementation, no one seemed to think practicing pronunciation was a waste of time since everyone enthusiastically participated in the activity. (Teacher, University A)

During group sessions, the students noticed that each of their classmates had different problems pronouncing certain sounds, which was dependent on their language backgrounds. As written in the previous

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section, many English or Vietnamese speakers pronounced the Japanese /ra/ sound like an English /r/ sound. Similarly, many Thai and Myanmar students had difficulty distinguishing between /tsu/ and /su/. As students realized that their feedback could help their classmates, they no longer thought that practicing pronunciation in class was a waste of time even if they did not have a problem with a particular sound. The students monitored and shared their difficulties in producing sounds during group activities and those with different linguistic backgrounds offered feedback improving overall awareness of how to pronounce targeted sounds. Through such activities, students successfully co-constructed knowledge about pronunciation and gained the confidence to become better learners. The teacher from University B similarly commented about the way student differences were successfully addressed in class. Usually, differences in Japanese proficiency causes differences in learning pace in class such as answering questions in the textbook. However, we can handle this amount of class activity without a noticeable difference in pace. (Teacher, University B) What was interesting was that those who did well on the quiz were all less proficient learners in my course. (Teacher, University B)

For this reason, activities were specifically designed and incorporated to make it possible for class members to assist each other. Most questions used for activities required students to utilize information already learned from eNunciate! materials. For instance, one activity asked students to explain the tongue position for specific sounds (see Figure 8.2). Hence, as long as the students used eNunciate!, they were able to contribute to the group and assist those students who might tend to fall behind. This helped to motivate them and create a more inclusive class atmosphere. The second advantage of implementing a flipped classroom curriculum with eNunciate! was that it made the classroom a safe and comfortable learning space for the students. The previous instructor’s comment highlights the students’ reciprocal support in pronunciation teaching and learning. This created a respectful and inclusive environment. With the understanding that learning is co-constructed through interactions with peers and with the shared foundation of knowledge gathered from the website, students felt less embarrassed to share their questions and problems in pronunciation exercises. The instructor also witnessed that typically quiet students, due to differences in individual abilities in learning Japanese, took on the role of teacher. The passage below describes observations about peer learning in class: There was always laughter during the group activities, and the students were enthusiastically discussing how to pronounce target sounds until I (the teacher) had to stop them. Even when some students forgot to watch videos, other group members were explaining the content of the videos

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by using the proper terminologies, and I thought it was one form of learning. (Teacher, University A) The students discussed loudly in groups. There was a question as to which part of the tongue touches which part of the mouth. They appeared to be enjoying the activity. (Teacher, University B)

While there were many positive fi ndings, we also encountered pedagogical challenges including students’ hesitation to provide peer/selfevaluation and classroom dynamics. Although we tried to minimize the student workload by making each video three to four minutes long and only assigning up to two different challenging sounds to practice per week, time management was also a concern. Yesterday, I told them to watch the video, … there were several students who didn’t watch. The excuse was that they were busy. (Teacher, University B) Based on the students’ comments, I felt that it was also important to consider the amount of time they need to spend on their assignment outside the classroom. (Teacher, University B)

The lack of time possibly stems from the nature of these particular courses, which were intensive. However, given that Tanno (2013), who implemented a fl ipped classroom in a regular semester course, encountered similar difficulties, this is most likely a common issue. Another challenge was peer evaluation. As classroom observations by teachers and the student questionnaire indicated, students understood the need for and the effectiveness of self and peer evaluation. Nonetheless, some were still hesitant about these evaluations, as one student wrote in their self-reflection: The only problem when learning pronunciation online is that I do not know whether I have pronounced the words correctly or not. Gladly during the course time we have the opportunity to speak and get corrections from our sensei. (Student, University A)

In flipped classrooms, activities are co-constructed through the students’ interactions and their individual learning experiences (Bergmann & Sams, 2012). The students need to take the initiative for learning since instructors are not always present especially when they are studying outside the classroom. Therefore, students must take responsibility for their learning and evaluate themselves and their classmates. However, like the students in Tanno’s (2013) study, those who are used to the traditional type of classroom learning may need more time to adjust, in particular to the practice of self and peer evaluation. Finally, classroom dynamics, which can vary widely, should be considered during implementation. In this study, the majority of University A

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students came from a similar linguistic background, while University B had a range of international students from different countries. There was only one Korean student in my class. When we were practicing /tsu/ and /chu/, he was the only one who could not pronounce that sound. During the group activity, I heard him saying ‘Oh, everyone else can do it but I can’t!’ (Teacher, University A) Like my class, when there are students who have different fi rst languages, they could understand that different people have different challenges. … Also, if they are aware of this fact, even if we need to deal with a common mistake that comes from a specific fi rst language, they could understand that it is not something special. (Teacher, University B) It might be good to emphasize from time to time that different language speakers have different challenging sounds that are influenced by their own fi rst languages. (Teacher, University B)

As the teacher from University B stated, it is necessary and effective to consider the influences of learners’ first languages in pronunciation education (Derwing & Munro, 2005). This is one of the underlying philosophies for the creation and implementation of eNunciate! However, at the same time, it may lead to other issues unrelated to efficacy. As the teacher from University A pointed out, it may significantly affect the mood and motivation of individual learners. Teachers have to carefully consider more than just diversity in students’ linguistic backgrounds. In a flipped classroom, where learning is coconstructed, active interaction among learners plays a more pivotal role than the traditional model. Students are expected to learn autonomously and learning is not unidirectional from teachers to students. Here, it becomes imperative to account for differences in students’ personality traits and their relationships with others. During this implementation, the instructors also noticed that some students were intimidated by having their pronunciation corrected by a teacher or their peers who were more vocal in class. Correcting students’ pronunciation could be tricky because I don’t want them to lose confidence or shy away from talking in class. (Teacher, University A) After the class ended, one Chinese student was practicing ‘ta, da, ta, da’ in an innocent way. Other students said, ‘No, you couldn’t pronounce it properly.’ I was wondering what I should do, but the Chinese student said, ‘It is you who couldn’t pronounce it properly.’ And he made the other students pronounce it and said, ‘As I thought, you didn’t pronounce it properly.’ (Teacher, University B)

As noted above, some students were more vocal than the others. In this case, it is important to remind students to be respectful when providing feedback. The activities are not to be evaluated or ranked in class but are used to gain depth in understanding by learning about such differences.

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Summary and Conclusions

In this study, we asked the following two research questions: (1) how can pronunciation learning inside and outside the classroom be effectively connected using a flipped classroom model?; and (2) how can online materials along with social interaction with a focus on pronunciation be incorporated in the course to improve pronunciation education? This study showed that using effective out-of-class online resources coupled with in-class group activities reinforcing students’ individual learning outside of the classroom is a key solution. While flipped classrooms have been incorporated in many language instructional settings, pronunciation education has rarely been incorporated due to the lack of useful tools and resources for both instructors and students. Our pronunciation learning website eNunciate! enabled students in this study to learn about pronunciation effectively outside the classroom, while in-class activities incorporating a social constructivist approach reinforced their peer learning. Online selflearning was a source of shared knowledge that students brought into the classroom, allowing them to examine each other’s pronunciation critically. At the same time, this process promoted learner autonomy and selfresponsibility. Our analysis revealed that students positively viewed individual learning outside of class and group activities with peers in class. The website helped them to understand more technical aspects of pronunciation, while group activities with peers from different first languages promoted a deeper understanding of pronunciation. Past studies have shown the effectiveness of technological tools for these measures (e.g. Gick et al., 2008); however, this study contributes to understanding the usage and effectiveness of such technology in an actual classroom setting. While eNunciate! is relatively easy for anyone to use, it is essential for instructors to consider the challenges related to implementing a fl ipped classroom such as learner autonomy, time management and peer evaluation. By carefully considering the amount and combination of assignments and activities conducted in the classroom, this study showed that the flipped model gives students the opportunity to improve their pronunciation and gain confidence, but also to understand the importance of taking an initiative in their language learning.

Pedagogical implications

Given the challenges raised in the previous section, how can similar pronunciation lessons be implemented in other courses? In this section, we would like to make several suggestions based on our encounters with these challenges. Time management is often a problem in flipped classrooms (e.g. Tanno, 2013). If teachers simply switch the teaching that traditionally has been done in the classroom, students may end up with too much outside class work.

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Since flipped classrooms depend on self-learning and class participation for a better understanding of target learning outcomes, success requires sufficient student preparation. Thus, how can instructors design an effective curriculum without overwhelming students? First, instructors need to consider the suitable allocation of time for both homework and in-class activities. Although we avoided time spent in class on watching videos, it was important for us to remember this was extra work for our students. All videos on the eNunciate! website are only three to four minutes long so that they do not consume a large amount of students’ time. Nonetheless, some students may have concerns about doing additional work outside of the classroom. If it is the first time for students to participate in a flipped class, an explanation of how and how much time students should spend on each assignment can help reduce anxiety. In addition, because our ultimate goal was for students to become more independent learners, there was no need to cover all the available videos in one semester. Instead, we felt it was more important to show students how they could use self-learning to continue improving their pronunciation even after the semester was over. Finally, students need to be rewarded for their time spent outside of the classroom in a recognizable way. In our implementation, we achieved this by testing students on content learned outside of the classroom. Peer or self-evaluation can make some students feel uncomfortable, anxious or cause them to lose confidence. Though several students commented that evaluations were helpful, one student expressed a lack of confidence in his ability to judge his own pronunciation. Whether learners are evaluating their pronunciation or grammar, they might feel insecure and frustrated if they do not know the main purpose for what they are learning through self or peer evaluation. Therefore, instructors need to make sure that students understand the purpose and goal of such activities. Although improving students’ pronunciation is one primary goal, we feel that providing a new perspective for learning pronunciation is equally important. Therefore, when introducing a pronunciation activity, instructors need to emphasize that students are not expected to be perfect from the beginning. Rather, they are encouraged to share their fi ndings and thoughts about the similarities or differences between Japanese and their own languages as part of learning why some sounds may be difficult for them to pronounce. By setting an achievable goal, we can eliminate students’ anxiety about self and peer evaluations. Also, this study taught us that the students learned significantly more than instructors expected when communicating with their peers, indicating the importance of the social constructivist approach to pronunciation education. Lastly, a safe and comfortable learning environment is vital for the successful implementation of pronunciation education. For instance, instructors should choose the combination of target sounds carefully. One student at University A mentioned that she felt uncomfortable because the target sound of the lesson was Japanese /ra/ versus English /r/, and she was the

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only native English speaker in her group. She felt that everyone expected her to make a mistake when producing that sound. One solution to avoid this situation would be to choose two different target sounds for practice. In this way, students from different backgrounds can help each other. Having their pronunciation corrected may still be difficult for some students depending on how they perceive their instructor and classmates. The teacher at University A introduced one ice-breaker activity at the beginning of the implementation where, after watching two video clips about the 46 sounds and vowels in Japanese, students thought about which ones were hard to pronounce and compared it with their languages. Then, students were asked to come up with sounds that may be hard for Japanese people to pronounce. Since the students had already thought about the difference between Japanese and their languages, it was not difficult for them to list many examples. The students were highly engaged in this activity. The teacher tried to pronounce all the sounds students mentioned. The students guessed correctly as to what would be difficult to pronounce for a Japanese native speaker, and the teacher failed to pronounce almost all of the words correctly. I tried to pronounce all of them, but failed for most of them. Students were trying to teach me how to pronounce them, but it was difficult both for them to explain and for me to understand. However, they noticed that our fi rst language really affects the acquisition of foreign languages and it is very useful to understand their own language systems as well. They also understood the difficulty of teaching pronunciation. (Teacher, University A)

By trying to pronounce the students’ first languages, the ‘teacher’ became the ‘student’ and saw things from their perspective. By watching the instructor struggle to produce certain sounds just as they did, the students realized it was natural to make pronunciation mistakes. The instructor believed that this activity created an atmosphere for successful implementation. Future directions

In this study, we confirmed that bridging pronunciation learning inside and outside the classroom can create positive learning experiences. However, this study evaluates only one target language, two learning sites and two groups of students. Therefore, further research is needed to explore the effectiveness of pairing an overt out-of-class instruction using eNunciate! with an in-class social constructivist approach in different settings. Furthermore, whether this style of pronunciation education is perceived as effective for learning other languages remains to be explored. Such research agendas would contribute to the enrichment of pronunciation education, and ultimately, to learner autonomy and shared learning in this context.

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Acknowledgments

We sincerely appreciate our colleagues in the eNunciate! project for sharing their expertise and enthusiasm: Dr Brian Gick, Dr Bosung Kim, Dr Noriko Nakane and Dr Masaki Noguchi, among others. We also want to thank Dr Itsuki Hayashi and Dr Oliver van Kaick for their valuable comments. References Banno, E., Ikeda, Y., Ohno, Y., Shinagawa, C. and Takahashi, K. (2011) Genki: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese I (2nd edn). Tokyo: The Japan Times. Bergmann, J. and Sams, A. (2012) Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education. Derwing, T.M. and Munro, M.J. (2005) Second language accent and pronunciation teaching: A research-based approach. TESOL Quarterly 39 (3), 379–397. Derwing, T.M. and Munro, M. (2010) Comprehensibility as a factor in listener interaction preferences: Implications for the workplace. Canadian Modern Language Review 66 (2), 181–202. Derwing, T.M., Munro, M.J. and Weibe, G.E. (1998) Evidence in favor of a broad framework for pronunciation instruction. Language Learning 48 (3), 393–410. Flipped Learning Network (n.d.) Defi nition of Flipped Learning. See http://fl ippedlearning.org. Foote, J.A., Holtby, A.K. and Derwing, T.M. (2011) Survey of the teaching of pronunciation in adult ESL programs in Canada, 2010. TESL Canada Journal 29 (1), 1–22. Gick, B., Bernhardt, B., Bacsfalvi, P. and Wilson, I. (2008) Ultrasound imaging applications in second language acquisition. In J.G. Hansen Edwards and M.L. Zampini (eds) Phonology and Second Language Acquisition (pp. 315–328). Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. Glaser, B.G. and Strauss, A.L. (1967) The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. New York: Aldine De Gruyter. Goss, S. (2018) A critical pedagogy of lexical accent in L2 Japanese: Insights into research and practice. Japanese Language and Literature 52 (1), 1–24. Hardison, D.M. (2005) Contextualized computer-based L2 prosody training: Evaluating the effects of discourse context and video input. CALICO Journal 22 (2), 175–190. Hayano, D.M. (2001) Auto-ethnography: Paradigms, problems, and prospects. In A. Bryman (ed.) Ethnography (pp. 75–85). Cambridge: Sage. Kelly, G. (2000) How to Teach Pronunciation. Harlow: Pearson Education. Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991) Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Matsuzaki, H. and Takahashi, E. (2015) Ososagari ni taiooshita purosodi gurafu jidoo shutsuryoku shisustemu no kaihatsu [The development of a visual-representation system of prosody that solves the problem of delayed F0 fall]. The Journal of Japanese Language Education Methods 22 (1), 48–49. McNally, B., Chipperfield, J., Dorsett, P., Del Fabbro, L., Frommolt, V., Goetz, S. and Rung, A. (2017) Flipped classroom experiences: Student preferences and fl ip strategy in a higher education context. Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education Research 73 (2), 281–298. Minematsu, N., Nakamura, I., Suzuki, M., Hirano, H., Nakagawa, C., Nakamura, N., Tagawa, Y., Hirose, K. and Hashimoto, H. (2013) Nihongo akusento intoneeshon no kyooiku gakushuu o shiensuru onrain infurasutoracha no koochiku to sono hyoooka [Development and evaluation of online infrastructure to support teaching and learning of Japanese accent and intonation]. Journal of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers 196-D (10), 2496–2508.

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Muldrow, K. (2013) A new approach to language instruction: Flipping the classroom. The Language Educator 8, 28–31. Nihongo Kyooiku Gakkai [Society for the Teaching of Japanese as a Foreign Language] (1991) Nihongo kyooiku kikan ni okeru koosu dezain [Course Design at Japanese Language Institutions]. Tokyo: Bonjinsha. Norton, B. (2013) Identity and Language Learning: Extending the Conversation (2nd edn). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Ogawara, Y. and Kono, T. (2002) Kyooshi no onsee kyooikukan to shidoo no jissai [The influence of teachers’ beliefs toward pronunciation teaching on their teaching practices]. Nihongo kyooiku hoohoo kenkyuukaishi [Journal of Japanese Language Education Methods] 9 (1), 28–29. Okuno, T. and Hardison, D.M. (2016) Perception-production link in L2 Japanese vowel duration: Training with technology. Language Learning & Technology 20 (2), 61–80. Pillot-Loiseau, C., Antolík, T.K. and Kamiyama, T. (2013) Contribution of ultrasound visualisation to improving the production of the French/y/–/u/contrast by four Japanese learners. In Proceedings of Phonetics, Phonology, Languages in Contact: Varieties, Multilingualism, Second Language Learning (pp. 86–89). Paris, France. Reed-Danahay, D. (1997) Auto/ethnography: Rewriting the Self and the Social. New York: Berg. Tanno, K. (2013) A case study of implementing fl ipped-teaching in a beginning Japanese course. Proceedings of the 20th Princeton Japanese Pedagogy Forum, 140–149. Toda, T. (2009) Nihongokyooiku ni okeru gakushuushaonsee no kenkyuu to onseekyooikujissen [Studies in phonological acquisition by L2 learners of Japanese and teaching pronunciation in Japanese language education]. Journal of Japanese Language Teaching 142, 47–57. Urakami, F. (2004) Nihongo kyooiku ni okeru onsee shidoo [Speech sound in teaching foreign languages]. Chuugoku Gakuen Kiyoo [Chugokugakuen Journal] 3, 27–34. Williams, M. and Burden, R.L. (1997) Psychology for Language Teachers: A Social Constructivist Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Yonemoto, K., Tsuda, A. and Hayashi, H. (2016) Implementing a fl ipped classroom in teaching second language pronunciation: Challenges, solutions, and expectations. In C.H. Lin, D. Zhang and B. Zheng (eds) Preparing Foreign Language Teachers for Next-Generation Education (pp. 114–129). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Part 4 Learning Through Online Games

9 The Effective Use of a 3D Virtual World in a JFL Classroom: Evidence from Discourse Analysis Kasumi Yamazaki

Introduction

Virtual worlds are typically defi ned as computer-based synchronous virtual environments where users participate in various tasks and activities primarily for socialization purposes (Sadler & Dooly, 2013; Schroeder, 2008). Simply put, virtual worlds are computer-based simulated environments, where the online platform makes it possible for multiple users to access the world 24 hours a day and communicate simultaneously to explore alternative realities in which they live. Most existing commercial or non-commercial virtual worlds today come in two (2D) or threedimensional (3D) formats, allowing users to experience the sense of presence through the use of avatars. Avatars are an alternative representation of oneself in virtual worlds, granting users the options of self-replication or self-customization as they establish their virtual lives and interact with other users online. A recent research trend in the field of contemporary computer-assisted language learning (CALL) involves language learning in virtual worlds. However, despite the increasing number of published studies regarding the use of virtual worlds in language learning classrooms today, the paucity of empirical evidence is noted as one of the major issues in the field (Sadler, 2012; Sadler & Dooly, 2013). Furthermore, among the few published empirical studies examining language learning in virtual worlds, most of them were conducted with English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL). As the number of virtual world studies continues to grow, it is important to explore the effective use of virtual worlds outside of the ESL/EFL context, and further investigate empirical evidence indicating acquisition of a target language via virtual world-based instruction.

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Based on this background, this chapter sets out to provide the preliminary results of a longitudinal study examining the effective use of a 3D virtual world in a Japanese as a foreign language (JFL) classroom. The present study takes a constructivist approach to second language acquisition (henceforth SLA), providing empirical evidence to show how participants learn to communicate in the given 3D virtual environment. To achieve this goal, the chapter first provides a brief overview of trends and issues in virtual world research, exploring the connection between sociocultural theory of learning and participants’ interactions in 3D virtual worlds. Emphasizing an interactionist perspective, the present study further explores the participants’ potential language learning outcomes as shown through discourse analysis of in-game interactions. Language Learning in Virtual Worlds

As evidenced by existing SLA research on the use of commercial and non-commercial virtual worlds, Second Life and Active Worlds may be the two most cited virtual worlds in the field. Second Life, for instance, is a type of traditional virtual world in the sense that it allows users to create an avatar, reside in an online space, build objects and interact with other users in a synchronous 3D virtual environment. Virtual worlds are also occasionally cross-referenced with massively multiplayer online (MMO) role-playing games (MMORPGs) as seen in the recent literature on World of Warcraft (Ballou, 2009; Rama et al., 2012; Thorne, 2008). This is because virtual worlds and MMORPGs share some of the fundamental principles of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and simulation-based CALL. According to Schroeder (2008), virtual worlds and MMORPGs should be categorized differently, since the primary purpose of MMORPGs revolves around role-driven gaming activities as opposed to virtual worlds’ pure social interactions. In fact, MMORPGs are primarily designed to foster character progression through a series of predetermined tasks and activities. While the effects of such differences on student learning remain unexplored, current research involving virtual worlds and MMORPGs is often grounded in the same theoretical frameworks such as simulation-based CALL and CMC. In addition, some of the existing virtual worlds today, such as Meet-Me used in the present study, also share MMORPG elements with a variety of gaming and socialization functions via solving sequential tasks and grinding (i.e. ‘grinding’ refers to the process of engaging in repetitive tasks in order to level-up and access newer content). At the same time, recent MMORPG research further confirms the occurrence of non-task, non-game-oriented interactions to build rapport and collaborative social relationships among participants and game users online (Peterson, 2006, 2010c; Rama et al., 2012). Scholars highlight the advantages of virtual worlds as providing immediate, visual and affective access to language learners, which are otherwise

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not possible in other forms of online communication (Sadler & Dooly, 2013). Because of this interactive potential, many researchers are interested in finding out what various aspects of language learning are afforded by synchronous virtual worlds. Within contemporary CALL research, there are several books and journals that provide a thorough overview of the trends and issues regarding language learning in virtual worlds (Peterson, 2010a, 2012a), as well as insight into how virtual worlds can be effectively integrated into language classrooms (see Sadler, 2012; Sadler & Dooly, 2013). While much of the earlier work focuses on prototypical implementation in language learning classrooms (Peterson, 2010a), there are a number of published studies exploring the effective use of virtual worlds in language classrooms today. In particular, the research involving affective elements of language learning has received considerable attention, with researchers claiming that virtual worlds provide a safe and semi-anonymized learning environment through the use of avatars, which results in decreasing learners’ anxiety level (Grant et  al., 2013; Melchor-Couto, 2016) and increasing the level of participation (Deutschmann et al., 2009; Peterson, 2006). Some also report the effectiveness of virtual worlds in language learning outcomes from cognitive and sociocultural perspectives (Canto et al., 2013; Peterson 2010a, 2012a), though this is still an underdeveloped area of research that needs more investigation. Interactions in Virtual Worlds

Ever since the constructivist school of thought emerged in the field of SLA in the late 20th century, many theorists and practitioners have come to recognize the importance of a sociocultural approach to language teaching and learning, with a particular emphasis on the role of social interactions in target language (henceforth TL) development. While what constitutes effective social interactions as well as what conditions in social interactions directly contribute to successful TL development are subjects of debate among SLA researchers, interactionists generally claim that social interaction is an essential constituent contributing to TL acquisition (Atkinson, 2002). In general, the interactionist perspective draws upon the Vygotskyan view, which emphasizes the contextually situated, mutually mediated and socially constructed nature of language development (Lantolf, 2006; Lantolf & Beckett, 2009; Lantolf & Thorne, 2007; Sarem & Shirzadi, 2014; Vygotsky, 1978, 1986). In this view, TL acquisition is facilitated when learners engage in collaborative and meaningful interactions with more competent interlocutors (e.g. advanced TL speakers). In particular, interactions involving scaffolding with more competent peers is thought to generate more opportunities for/of co-construction of TL, interlanguage development, or negotiation for meaning (henceforth NfM) (Foster & Ohta, 2005; Long, 1996). According to Long, NfM can be defi ned as ‘the process in which, in an

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effort to communicate, learners and competent speakers provide and interpret signals of their own and their interlocutor’s perceived comprehension, thus provoking adjustments to linguistic form, conversational structure, message content or all three, until an acceptable level of understanding is achieved’ (Long, 1996: 418). Long further claims that NfM facilitates TL acquisition since it ‘connects input, internal learner capacities, particularly selective attention, and output in productive ways’ (Long, 1996: 452). NfM can also be considered to be an artifact of communicative problem-solving during ongoing interactions (Foster & Ohta, 2005). NfM most often occurs when learners and interlocutors face communicative problems that need immediate resolution (Ellis, 1999; Mackey et al., 2000; Pica, 1992, 1994) or when both parties need to confi rm the meaning of a shared communicative context, a process known as ‘maintaining intersubjectivity’ (Peterson, 2012b). Within CALL, the interactionist account of language acquisition is greatly valued in research involving simulation-based CALL (Peterson, 2010a) as well as CMC. Because most existing virtual words are interactive by nature, researchers use an interactionist framework to investigate how exactly participants learn to communicate, negotiate for meaning and develop an intercultural, intersubjective understanding of the TL in various virtual worlds and MMO contexts. For instance, Ballou (2009), Peterson (2010b, 2010c, 2012a, 2012b) and Thorne (2008) used 3D multiplayer virtual environments such as World of Warcraft, Second Life, and Wonderland as research venues to examine how participants engage in collaborative social interactions with other game users online. Based on the discourse analyses of in-game interactions, both Peterson (2010b, 2010c, 2012a, 2012b) and Thorne (2008) found that MMO virtual environments provided participants with more collaborative learning opportunities. In Thorne’s case study, novice and expert participants collaboratively exchanged both contextual and linguistic knowledge through game play, which resulted in ‘producing new knowledge and refining existing knowledge in the areas of language use’ (Thorne, 2008: 321). Peterson (2012a, 2012b) also found that, through the analyses of in-game interactions and post-study questionnaires, there were many instances of peer scaffolding used to resolve various communication problems, which also contributed to language learners’ ‘production of coherent and appropriate TL over the session’ (Peterson, 2012b: 377). Ballou’s (2009: 68) case study also suggests similar results, claiming that the participants, through the use of World of Warcraft, ‘displayed effective learner strategies, recording new words and seeking help when they could not understand’. As evidenced by the previously discussed research, social interactions in MMO virtual environments may uniquely influence language learners’ TL development. When exploring this influence, it is worth noting that the different features of CMC technology may have distinct effects on the quality and quantity of learners’ online interactions and TL production.

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Currently, there are many types of CMC in CALL, ranging from asynchronous email interactions to synchronous text chat in virtual environments that share both spatial, multisensory modalities. According to Smith et al. (2003), the combination of these characteristics, such as temporality, anonymity, modality (oral, written, visual) and spatiality, can have a significant impact on the way students communicate online. In Smith et al.’s (2003) study, university level ESL students participated in two CMC treatment sessions: (1) interactions via a text-based chat program with no graphic background; and (2) interactions in MMO virtual environment with 3D graphic and text-to-speech features activated. When examining the potential variation of L2 production, Smith et al. (2003) found that the types of interactions that occurred in the MMO virtual environment were more interpersonal in nature, while interactions that occurred in the text-based chat were more task focused. Additionally, Sykes (2005) found that the different types of synchronous CMC can also have a significant impact on language learner pragmatic development. In particular, participants who utilized written chat CMC during discussions outperformed those of who had used oral chat CMC or traditional face-to-face discussion formats in terms of both complexity and variety of strategies. In the context of JFL classrooms, Toyoda and Harrison (2002) examined text chat interactions between JFL students and native speakers in Active Worlds, claiming that CMC in Active Worlds provided various learning opportunities for students that were otherwise not possible had they not interacted with native speakers online. These fi ndings also suggest that the characteristics of CMC can have a significant impact on the way learners communicate both in quantity and quality, signifying the need to address pedagogical justifications when considering the design of virtual world-based language learning curriculum. Research Questions

As shown in the previous review of the literature, several studies suggested that social interactions in virtual worlds have a significant impact on language learners’ linguistic and communicative outcomes. However, empirical evidence as to how exactly language learners learn to communicate, negotiate for meaning and develop intersubjectivity remains unexplored, especially in the context of JFL classrooms. To address these issues, the present study investigates the use of a 3D virtual world in a JFL classroom, particularly focusing on in-game chat interactions between language learners and native speaker game users online. The research questions to be explored are the following: (1) What are the significant features of social interactions in the 3D virtual world-based Japanese learning environment? (2) Do the social interactions in a 3D virtual world provide evidence of JFL learners’ acquisition of the target language?

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Methodology Participants

The participants included nine university-level JFL students (n = 9) who were enrolled in an advanced Japanese conversation course during the fall of 2016. All participants except one were minoring in Japanese and were taking the course as an elective. Before taking the course, all participants fi nished at least four semesters of the prerequisite elementary and intermediate Japanese courses for a total of approximately 210 contact hours. Of the nine participants, eight students were traditional domestic students while one student was an international student who spoke English as a second language. As for the participants’ study abroad experiences, five participants had had a short study abroad experience and had spent between 3 to 18 weeks in Japan. In relation to technology experience and software literacy, all participants owned a personal laptop which was a part of the required equipment to participate in the 3D virtual world-based advanced Japanese course. In addition, all the participants were comfortable with basic technology requirements, and some of them were regular users of various computer games online. Table 9.1 shows a detailed breakdown of the participants’ demographic background. The participants in the present study received an instructional treatment called ‘conversation partner’ where they had ongoing interactions with a fi xed number of volunteer game users, who were mostly native speakers (henceforth NS), in and outside of the classroom. Having a conversation partner system provided more opportunities for the students to become acquainted with the NSs, allowing them to build mutual relationships over the course of the study. The NSs were experienced game users in the virtual world who randomly gathered for the first day of class and later volunteered (out of their interest) to join the course continuously to help support the participants’ development of Japanese as a TL. In each Table 9.1 Participants’ demographic information Student type

Gender

Year in school

Study abroad (SA)

SA duration

Student A

Domestic

Male

4th year

Yes

4 weeks

Student B

Domestic

Male

4th year

No

–

Student C

Domestic

Male

4th year

Yes

8 weeks

Student D

Domestic

Female

4th year

No

–

Student E

International

Female

4th year

Yes

18 weeks

Student F

Domestic

Female

4th year

No

–

Student G

Domestic

Female

4th year

No

–

Student H

Domestic

Female

4th year

Yes

3 weeks

Student I

Domestic

Female

3rd year

Yes

3 weeks

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session, an average of 10 NS game users (the number ranged from 4 to 18, depending on the session) logged into the virtual world and collaboratively participated in weekly sessions with the participants. Thus, the NSs were like teaching assistants as well as conversation partners in the 3D virtual world-based Japanese classroom. To maintain a stable number of NS game users, a representative from the NS group posted an advertisement regularly to call for more volunteers, which worked as a means of crowd-sourcing teaching assistants for the course. Occasionally, before and after the sessions, the instructor-researcher was able to provide an informational meeting with the fellow NS game users about effective ways to communicate with the JFL participants for maximum learning outcomes. This motivated NS game users to act as virtual teaching assistants in the present study. Research context: Meet-Me

In response to the significant dearth of research involving the use of virtual worlds in JFL classrooms, during the fall of 2014, a 15-week 3D virtual world-based Japanese curriculum was developed with a new instructional approach called computer-assisted learning of communication (CALC) (Yamazaki, 2018). The virtual world utilized in this curriculum is called Meet-Me (www.meet-me.jp/) developed by Co-Core, Inc., which was, at the time of the study, one of the most popular existing 3D virtual worlds in Japan. Meet-Me was originally released in 2008. It contains 3D renderings of Tokyo with fully functional transportation systems such as Japan Railways (JR) trains (Figure 9.1) and a metropolitan expressway known as Shutokōsoku. In this CALC curriculum, students participate in various thematic activities ranging from shopping to

Figure 9.1 Train system in Meet-Me

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Figure 9.2 Kimono shop in Meet-Me

fishing, driving a virtual car and collaboratively interacting with other game users in and outside of formal classroom settings (Figure 9.2). In this chapter, the preliminary results of a longitudinal study examining the participants’ social interactions in Meet-Me were investigated. In particular, the present study focuses on the social interactions among JFL participants (n = 9) and crowd-sourced NS game users (n ranged from 4  to  18), analyzing how participants learn to communicate, negotiate for  meaning and maintain intersubjectivity with experienced game users online. Data collection

This study has been reviewed and approved by the internal review board (IRB); all procedures involving participant selection and data collection followed protocols regulated by them. In the present study, three sources of data were collected, including: (1) 25-hour screen recordings of in-class chat interactions; (2) screenshots of out-of-class chat interactions retrieved from the assignment called weekly game logs (WGLs; see the detailed description of WGL below); and (3) 25-hour video recordings of in-class oral interactions. These data were collected and analyzed to evaluate the participants’ potential learning outcomes. Echo360 lecture capture software was used to collect in-class interactional data among students and NS game users. Once the semester officially ended, screen capture and video recordings were transcribed and thematically analyzed for significant events. To secure the confidentiality of the participants and avoid potential research biases, all interactions were transcribed using pseudonyms only. In particular, JFL students were addressed as Student X, while volunteer NS game users were addressed as User X. To show the

The Effective Use of a 3D Virtual World in a JFL Classroom 235

nature of interlanguage development among the participants, all data excerpts were presented without editing errors, fillers or JFL-specific language markers, keeping the original raw data as it was. Interactions in the CALC curriculum

Computer-Assisted Learning of Communication (CALC) (Yamazaki, 2018) is derived from the integration of an experiential (Kolb, 1984) and integrative CALL (Warschauer, 2004; Yamazaki, 2014) framework. As the name states, the CALC curriculum focuses on teaching communication rather than language, promoting an interactive, procedural and performance-based approach to language teaching. In this study, in each thematic session, participants completed assigned tasks and activities while interacting with other game users online. Furthermore, each session included a series of integrated performance assessment (IPA) tasks (Adair-Hauck et al., 2006, 2013) that reflected three modes of communicative activities known as interpretative, interpersonal and presentational tasks. For instance, for the lesson on buying a car at an auto-mall (week 11), sample interpretative tasks included watching and listening to the demonstration given by the instructor and reading the detailed features and specs of the target car. Sample interpersonal tasks included exchanging ideas in pairs about the ideal car’s design, specs and features, as well as test-driving the car and discussing likes and dislikes with their conversation partners. Sample presentational tasks included short show-and-tell presentations about the car they purchased and why, as well as writing a reflection about their experiences in the lesson in a five-minute speed writing activity (Figure 9.3). Furthermore, in the CALC curriculum, participants were required to complete an assignment called weekly game logs (henceforth WGLs) that were designed to reinforce what they had learned throughout the week. WGLs are written reports similar to a picture diary, where participants perform thematic tasks while talking to other game users in Meet-Me and write about their experiences with screenshots. For instance, for the week 10 WGL, participants were asked to fi nd a friend and go fishing together;

Figure 9.3 Participants’ speed writing samples

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during week 12, participants were asked to find a friend and go for a drive, and in week 14, participants were asked to find some friends to play soccer together. All WGLs were designed to solicit both social and task-based interactions between JFL students and the NS game users. Students submitted WGL reports each week including screenshots of their in-game chat conversations that they engaged in with the NS gamers while completing the assigned tasks online. Findings and Discussion

Based on discourse and conversational analysis of the data, the present study found some significant features of social interactions specific to the 3D virtual world context, namely active and collaborative interactions, as well as two components of communicative outcomes: (1) construction of TL via NfM; and (2) acquisition of context-specific, pragmatic communicative skills. The following section shows the specific features of synchronous virtual environments that influenced JFL learners’ communicative development and provides sample excerpts as evidence to explore how JFL participants learn to communicate in a 3D virtual world of Tokyo. Active and collaborative interactions

When examining the participants’ conversational data, there were many instances of collaborative interaction that influenced students to take an active role in facilitating continued interaction through questions. Because they were using avatars when exploring the Tokyo virtual world and completing thematic tasks together, the JFL students were given opportunities to actively maintain conversations by asking specific questions about completing tasks or surrounding objects. Supporting previous research regarding the level of participation in virtual worlds (Deutschmann et al., 2009; Peterson, 2006), the present study confi rms that the use of avatars generated a sense of presence where JFL participants were able to imagine themselves in the virtual environment and take charge of their own learning. As a result, this led to active and collaborative interactions among the JFL learners and NS game users as shown in Excerpt 9.1 (when they were put into groups to explore Shinjuku together): Excerpt 9.1: Student facilitation of interaction through questions 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

User K: Student B: User K: User A: User A: Student A: Student C: Student B:

みんないるかな？ うん OK! ここが入口です ここ！ この場所は何ですか 何ですか？ この建物は何ですか

minna iru kana? un OK! koko ga iriguchi desu koko! kono basho wa nan desu ka nan desu ka? kono tatemono wa nan desu ka

Are you all here? Yeah. OK! This is the entrance. Here! What is this place? What is it? What building is this?

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9 Student E: モールですか 10 User A: ここは東京都庁 (Tokyo Metropolitan Government) です 11 Student D: そうですか。 12 Student E: ああ、なるほどです 13 Student B: ああ、そうですね 14 Student A: かっこういい* こちらへ 15 User A:

moru desu ka Koko wa Tokyo tocho (Tokyo Metropolitan Government) desu sou desu ka. aa, naruhodo desu aa, sou desu ne kakkou ii*1 kochira e

Is this a mall? It is the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Center. I see. Ah, that explains it. Ah, that makes sense. Cool. Please come this way.

As Excerpt 9.1 shows, the NS game users showed participants around some of the tourist attractions in Shinjuku district, including the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Center (line 10). As shown in lines 6 to 9, Student A, C, B, and E were all taking an active role in the interaction by asking questions about the building. It is important to note that this virtual world environment facilitated opportunities for typical face-toface conversation as seen in the opening statement, ‘Are you all here?’ (line 1) by User K and also in the ways in which User A navigated the students by guiding them (lines 4–5, 15) and answering questions (line 10). This also included typical face-to-face listener (i.e. students) responses such as ‘I see’ (lines 11–14) which can easily be eliminated in written speech. This means that as the students and NS game users communicated via written chat, they were able to imagine themselves as actually present in virtual Tokyo and they successfully conveyed this with typical spoken conventions. It is also interesting to note that the peer input students receive from each other is rich in the sense that all four students asked User A the same question but in different ways (lines 6–9). Similarly, they provided a variety of different listener responses (lines 11–14) after User A answered their questions. When examining the out-of-class game interactions in Meet-Me (e.g. WGLs), similar cases of collaborative communication were observed. In the following excerpt, the JFL students took the initiative to facilitate the conversation while completing assigned tasks together with the NS game users: Excerpt 9.2: Student facilitation of interaction while completing assigned tasks together 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Student D: いっしょに釣りをしま せんか。 User L: whata kind of fish do you wanna fishing? しますよ～ User C: いいですね！ User J: どんなさかながつり User L: たい？ いいですよ！ User K Student D: あ、海のさかなが好 きです！

issho ni tsuri o shimasen ka whata kind of fish do you wanna fishing? shimasu yo～ ii desu ne! donna sakana ga tsuritai? ii desu yo! a, umi no sakana ga suki desu!

Would you like to fish together? What kind of fish do you want to catch? Let’s do it～ Sounds good! What kind of fish do you want to catch? Sure! Well, I like fish from the sea!

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海なら船に乗りませ んか？ 9 Student D: はい！ 海いいね！ 10 User L: 8

User A:

umi nara fune ni norimasen ka? hai! umi ii ne!

If sea, then, shall we get on a boat? Yes! Sea, yay!

As the CALC curriculum encourages JFL students to take an active role in their own learning, JFL students initiated conversations with NS game users by asking them to do collaborative activities together, such as bug catching or fi shing. Because NS game users have advanced experiences in Meet-Me, they responded to JFL students by asking further questions to solidify the details as to where they would conduct such tasks and what steps to follow next. In fact, this collaborative communication resembles the act of peer teaching, where the NS game users constantly assist JFL students with the task completion, while providing comprehensible input by showing the actions as well as prompting the students to provide more details.

Construction of TL via negotiation for meaning

When examining the social interactions among JFL students and NS game users in the 3D virtual world, there were many instances of communication breakdowns that triggered NfM. While there were various types of communicative problems in the present study, one of the frequently observed communication issues was related to kanji recognition, especially when the JFL participants encountered unknown kanji in the chat data that directly interfered with their comprehension and their ability to maintain the interaction. In such situations, JFL learners were able to actively negotiate for meaning in order to understand the unknown kanji words and their contextualized usages, while at the same time maintain interactions with NS game users online. For instance, consider the following interaction between Student F and User A upon completing the WGL assignment, when they met at the garage after their cellphone talk: Excerpt 9.3: Student negotiating the meaning of 帽子 (boshi – hat) 1 User A: あっStudent Fさん 2 Student F: ああ、User Aさん 帽子かったんです 3 User A: ね！ 4 Student F: すみませんが、かんじ は何といいますか。 5 User A: 帽子（ぼうし）＝hat 6 Student F: ああ、はい。原宿でし た。* あそこは服屋さん多い 7 User A: ですね

a, Student F-san aa, User A-san boushi katta n desu ne! sumimasen ga, kanji wa nan to iimasu ka. boushi (boushi) = hat aa, hai. Harajuku deshita.* asoko wa fukuyasan ooi desu ne

Oh hi, Student F Hi, User A You bought the hat! I am sorry but what is that kanji? Boushi = hat Ah ok. It was Harajuku (I bought it in Harajuku). That place has a lot of clothing stores.

The Effective Use of a 3D Virtual World in a JFL Classroom 239

As soon as User A met with Student F, User A commented on Student F’s appearance in line 4, again indicating that interaction in this virtual word simulates real-life situations. Given Student F did not know the kanji 帽子 (boushi – hat), Student F politely asked how to read it in line 4. User A responded by providing the kanji reading followed by its English translation (line 5), which led to Student F indicating her understanding of the word as exemplifi ed by her use of ‘aa’ (ah), at least at the recognition level. Student F then continues to communicate with User A about the hat by mentioning where she had purchased it (line 6). A similar case of NfM over an unknown kanji was also observed in Student A and B’s interactions with another NS game user. Student B took an active role in interacting with User B about his experiences with previous Japanese classes: Excerpt 9.4: Student(s) negotiating the meaning of クラス別 (kurasubetsu– separate classes) 1

Student B: あのう…私は、日本の 歴史や、書道が大好き ですよ。去年、書道の 授業をしました。本当 に楽しかったですよ

2

User B:

3

Student B: そうですよ、難しかった が、おもしろくて楽しか った

4 5

いいですね User B: Student B: 私の俳句が大好きｗｗ

(…) 6 User B: 7 8 9 10

11

書道はなかなか難しい ですね

クラス別でやってるん ですね

anou…watashi wa, nihon no rekishi ya shodou ga daisuki desu yo. kyonen, shodou no jugyou o shimashita. honto ni tanoshikatta desu yo shodou wa nakanaka muzukashii desu ne sou desu yo, muzukashikatta ga, omoshirokute tanoshikatta ii desu ne watashi no haiku ga daisukiｗｗ kurasu betsu de yatteru n desu ne

Student B: すみません、User B、 「 クラス別」は何です か？ Student B: その漢字はわからない と思います…

sumimasen, User B, ‘kurasubetsu’ wa nan desu ka? sono kanji wa wakaranai to omoimasu Student A: なにそれ nani sore べつべつのへやでじゅ betsu betsu no heya User B: ぎょう受けてるんです de jugyou o uketeru か？ n desu ka? Student B: あぁ、分かった

aa, wakatta

Um…I really like Japanese history and calligraphy. Last year, I took Japanese calligraphy class. It was a lot of fun. Calligraphy can be a bit difficult thing to do. You are right, it was difficult but interesting and fun. That’s good. I really like my own haiku lol You must be taking them in separate classes. Excuse me, User B, what is ‘クラス別’? I don’t think I know that kanji… What’s that? Are you taking those classes in separate classrooms? Ah, I understand.

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12 13

つうじてよかったです ｗ Student B: はい、私たちの大学で、 沢山の日本語のへやが あります*

14

User B:

User B:

なるほど

tsuujite yokatta desu ｗ hai, watashitachi no daigaku de, takusan no nihongo no heya ga arimasu* naruhodo

I am glad it makes sense lol Yes, at our university, there are many Japanese classrooms. I see.

After listening to Student B’s reflections about different Japanese classes, User B requested confirmation in line 6 by asking if the classes were offered separately. Student B did not understand the word ‘クラス別 (kurasubetsu – separate classes)’, thus asked for clarification in line 7, by saying that he did not understand the particular kanji ‘別 (betsu – separate)’ (line 8). At the same time, Student A, who was less active in the conversation, spoke up and asked the same question in a casual format (line 9). These clarification requests prompted User B to rephrase the output given in line 6, asking the same question in a different form with less kanji (line 10). Not only does this output modification (line 10) result in Student B’s full understanding of ‘クラス別’ (line 11), but this modification also exposes him to an alternative way of asking the same question. Moreover, User B responds in line 12 with a third turn confi rmation. After this NfM side sequence, Student B answered the original question (line 13) given by User B, and the main trajectory of the interaction continued. In addition to NfM, it is worth noting that the participants’ use of small talk, as well as informal expressions, created a positive learning environment, which potentially contributed to the JFL students’ construction of the TL. For instance, before the communicative problem occurred in line 7, Student B talked extensively with User B about some of his previous Japanese courses. By providing this information, Student B works to solicit acknowledgement of shared interests by disclosing common and relatable interests (e.g. Japanese culture) with User B. Of particular note is Student B’s use of the internet slang ‘ww’ in line 5, which is a Japanese equivalent of ‘lol.’ This informal expression was frequently utilized by all participants during in-game interactions; it is one of the first expressions the students acquired solely from their interactions with NS game users without any formal instruction, showing that not only do learners receive input on written forms of communication, but they notice it and produce it (output) in appropriate communicative contexts. Furthermore, according to Peterson (2010b, 2012a, 2012b), the use of such informal utterances is an essential communicative strategy to signal common identity and ingroup status, as well as consolidate social cohesion among the participants. In the case of Excerpt 9.4, the use of informal slang appears to promote a positive, mutual space for the participants. Both Excerpts 9.3 and 9.4 indicated the presence of NfM, showing the process of JFL learners’ recognition of unknown kanji through

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rephrasing or clarification. While these instances occur frequently, there was also an instance of a communicative breakdown which prompted the NS game user to provide modified input with an additional learning opportunity. For instance, in the following interaction, Student A and User C were talking to each other while participating in a bug-catching activity together: Excerpt 9.5: Student negotiating the meaning of 赤い (akai – red) 1

User C:

いたいた！トンボ！

どこにいる これ！ おめでとう～ アキアカネ！ アキアカネは、赤い トンボだよ～ 7 Student A: 漢字がわかりませ ん。 8 User C: 赤＝あか (red) 9 Student A: 分かった。 秋（あき）に出るトン 10 User C: ボだから、 「アキ（あ き）」アカネ

2 3 4 5 6

Student A: User C: User C: Student A: User C:

11 Student A: 本当ですか？かっこ いいと思います うん。あと、昔（むか 12 User C: し）の日本の言葉 で、赤（あか）は「あ かねいろ」っていう 名前だったの。 だからあき＋あかね 13 User C: でアキアカネ 14 Student A: 全部わかります。 15 User C: 16 User C:

やった！ 伝わって、うれしい！

ita ita! tonbo!

There there! A dragonfly! doko ni iru? Where is it? kore! This! omedeto～ Congrats～. akiakane! Akiakane! akiakanewa akai Akiakane is a red tonbo da yo～ dragonfly. kanji ga wakarimasen. I don’t understand the kanji. aka = aka (red) wakatta. I got it. aki (aki) ni deru tonbo This is a dragonfly dakara, ‘aki (aki)’ which is often seen in akane fall, that is why ‘Aki (fall)’ Akane. honto desu ka? Really? I think it’s kakkoii to omoimasu cool. un. ato, mukashi Yeah. Also, we used (mukashi) no nihon to say red as ‘Akane no kotoba de, aka Iro’ in old Japanese. (aka) wa ‘akaneiro’ tteiu namae datta no. dakara aki+akane de That is why ‘Aki (Fall)＋Akane’ then akiakane Akiakane. zenbu wakarimasu. I understand everything. yatta! Yes! tsutawatte ureshii! I am glad it makes sense!

In line 7, Student A indicated that he did not know the kanji ‘赤い (akai – red)’ (line 6), which prompted User C to provide the modified input, the kanji reading as well as the English translation in line 8. After Student A indicated his understanding, User C continued to break down the word ア キアカネ (akiakane – red dragonfly) and how it was called a fall (aki) dragonfly because it is seen in fall (line 10). In line 11, Student A responded positively to User C’s additional information about the dragonfly. User C followed this by giving further details about the origin of the wordアカネ (akane – red) in old Japanese (lines 12–13). This transcript shows how

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User C provided scaffolding and modified input by clarifying the reading and meaning of an unknown kanji for Student A. Toward the end of the conversation (line 14), Student A expressed his understanding of all the input and User C (lines 15–16) expressed a positive assessment of their successful communication. User C was one of the regular users who volunteered to participate in most of the sessions online throughout the semester. Through interacting and communicating with JFL students in class, User C acquired the ability to provide on-point input. Because of the relationships established during the semester, regular NS game users like User C created not only a safe learning environment but also a welcoming atmosphere for the students to frequently ask questions in the conversations. In addition to the kanji-oriented NfM, analyses of the transcripts also revealed a few instances of communication breakdowns caused by the lack of familiarity with the Japanese sense of humor or pop cultural references. For instance, a breakdown occurred in this excerpt when User D and User E attempted to joke around with Student E by using a popularized spelling of the word パーリーボーイ (paariibooi – party boy). As the excerpt was retrieved from Student E’s WGL report, it is important to note that User D and User E were non-regular NS game users. Student E met these two users randomly as she completed her WGL assignment. Excerpt 9.6: Student negotiating the meaning of パーリーボーイ (paariibooi – party boy) 1 User E:

User Dはパーリーボー イだ　気をつけろ しぃーーーーーー 2 User D: 3 Student E: パーリーボーイって何で すか パーティーボーイ 4 User E: 5 Student E: ああ、なるほどですｗ ｗ 信じるなｗｗ 6 User D: 7 Student E 質問があります～

User D wa paariibooi da kiwotsukero shiiiiii paariibooi tte nan desu ka paatiibooi aa, naruhodo desuｗ ｗ shinjiru naｗｗ shitsumon ga arimasu～

Watch out, User D is a party boy. Shhhhhh. What is party boy? Party boy. Ahh, I got it lol Don’t believe him lol I have a question for you～.

Before Excerpt 9.6 occurred, Student E initially approached users politely by revealing her identity as a JFL learner. As Student E continued to talk with User E and User D about their experiences with Meet-Me, User E and D both provided a formal greeting to Student E. In line 1, User E attempted to joke with Student E by telling her that User D is a party boy, which was considered one of the trendy jokes in Japan at the time. Instead of using the typical spelling of ‘party boy’, User E used the popularized spelling ‘paariibooi.’ Student E was neither familiar with the joke nor the popularized/unconventional spelling, so she asked for

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clarification in line 3. User E responded by providing the conventional spelling, which led to Student E’s expressing her understanding of the teasing humor in line 5. She also used ‘ww’ (lol), indicating her alignment with the humorous tone. User D responded (line 6) telling her not to believe it, but also used ww (lol), affi rming his alignment with the humor as well. As seen in Peterson’s studies (2010b, 2010c, 2012a, 2012b), a sense of humor is used as an essential part of building mutual relationships and maintaining social cohesion among the participants. In Excerpt 9.7, Student E did not fully understand the humor in the beginning because she did not understand the word. However, she negotiated for meaning and carried on the conversation without changing the tone and flow of the interaction with other NS game users. The sense of humor was successfully maintained despite the minor communication breakdown. As a result, the breakdown promoted a culturally-rich learning environment for the students to acquire trendy phrases that indicate the Japanese sense of humor, which is not typically encountered in formal language classrooms. In Excerpts 9.3 to 9.6, the NfMs were triggered by something in the NSs’ utterances that the learners did not understand. In contrast, there were also cases of NfM initiated by the NS game users, when they did not understand student output, as in the following excerpt: Excerpt 9.7: NS game user negotiating JFL student’s output

その着ぐるみは買った の？ 2 Student A: いいえ、私の友達買い ました* 1 User F:

3 User F:

もらったの？

プレゼント？ 4 User F: 5 Student A: はい

sono kigurumi wa katta no? iie, watashi no tomodachi kaimashita* moratta no? purezento? hai

Did you buy that Kigurumi costume? No, my friend bought it. You mean you got it from your friend? As a gift? Yes.

User F and Student A were initially having a conversation about Student A’s interest in Japanese language and culture. As the conversation progresses, User F points out Student A’s outfit (i.e. kigurumi, an animal onesie costume), asking Student A if he bought the costume himself (line 1). However, Student A’s response in line 2 contains a grammatical error that User F responds to by providing two different candidate understandings (i.e. guesses of what User F thinks Student A’s utterance means) and then requests confirmation of them (lines 3 & 4). Student A then confirms User F’s candidate understandings (line 5). Excerpt 9.7 illustrates how User F’s candidate understandings provided opportunities for Student A to receive feedback on (1) the

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comprehensibility of his utterance – that what he said was not entirely understood; and (2) how he might be able to say that same utterance more correctly in a different way (moratta – I received it and purezento – It was a present). Importantly, just like research on verbal NfM shows (Ellis, 1999; Foster & Ohta, 2005; Long, 1996; Pica, 1992, 1994), the NS did not interrupt the conversation by explicitly correcting the student’s speech error (which is dispreferred); rather, they followed up with candidate understandings and requests for confi rmation until the communication breakdown was resolved. Opportunities for acquisition of context-specific, pragmatic communicative skills

Analysis of the in-game chat data also revealed some recurring themes with regard to context-specifi c communication skills. Since interactions in a 3D virtual world environment are multisensory and experiential by nature, there are many opportunities for participants to observe how people communicate in specific contexts, which provide context-specific comprehensible input (Krashen, 1985). Indicative of this was when students and regular NS game users were playing soccer as a part of an in-class assignment. Before the game started, User D, E and F all gathered around the center of the soccer field, lined up and greeted the students: Excerpt 9.8: Student exemplification of context-specific, pragmatic communicative skills おねがいします！

1

User G:

2

Instructor: 先生は審判です

onegai shimasu!

Let’s have a good game! (sports greetings) Sensei is the referee for this game. Let’s have a good game!

sensei wa shinpan desu よろしくお願いしま yoroshiku onegai 3 User C: す！ shimasu! 4 Student F: ああああ！ aaaa! Ahhhh! お願いします！ 5 User H: onegai shimasu! Have a good game! 青チーム頑張ろう！ aochiimu ganbaro!! Let’s go team blue!! 6 User G: ！ Let’s have a good game 7 Student E: よろしくお願いしま yoroshiku onegai す～ shimasu～ ～. 8 Student B: よろしくお願いしま yoroshiku onegai Let’s have a good game. す shimasu Let’s have a good game. 9 Student G: よろしくお願いしま yoroshiku onegai す。 shimasu. ～ 10 Student B: ～ がんばるぞ！ 11 User H: ganbaruzo! We’ll do our best!

As shown in Excerpt 9.8, the NS game users took the initiative to show students how to formally greet each other before the soccer game began.

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Following Users G, C and H’s example of a typical greeting (lines 1, 3 and 5), Students E, B and G repeated the greeting. This signifies the potential for the acquisition of context-specific, pragmatic communication skills. The next excerpt shows that once the soccer game started, the students were indeed exposed to a variety of context-specific input, but in contrast to Excerpt 9.8, this input did not become output. Excerpt 9.9: Students being exposed to context-specific, pragmatic communicative skills

Ｂチーム強い Aチームもが んばれ あっ 3 User C: 自殺点？ 4 User I: まずい！ 5 User C: やった！！ 6 User G: よっしゃ 7 User H: 8 Instructor: せってますね ー 9 User C: Student Cも 走ろう！！！！ 守れー 10 User G: やった！！ 11 User G: 12 Instructor: あと１分３０秒

Student C mo hashiro!!!! mamoreeyatta!! ato 1-pun 30-byo

13 Student B: えぇ

ee

1 2

User I: User I:

B-chiimu tsuyoi A-chiimu mo ganbare a jisatsuten? mazui! yatta!! yossha sette masu ne-

Team B is strong. Team A, you can do it. Ah! Own goal? Oh no! Hurrah!! Yessssss. Good game, guys. Student C, let’s run!!!! Defense. Woot!! One minute and 30 seconds left. Whaaaaat.

In Excerpt 9.9, we see the students are exposed to various interjections, affective utterances and expressions associated with playing soccer (lines 5–7, 11). Although this does not guarantee the students’ immediate repetition or production of these phrases, they did have an opportunity to receive input that was contextually situated with associated behaviors and emotions in the game. Another example of context-specific communication skills is the ability to balance the formality and the tone of interactions, specifically, the use of formal and informal language when communicating with NS game users online. Most students initially spoke to the NS game users using the formal language, especially when they asked for favors or asked a NS to complete assigned tasks with them. However, because students were exposed to more informal language during the interactions, they occasionally aligned themselves with the NS game users by shifting from formal to informal language during the interaction. Notice the flow of conversation in the following Excerpts 9.10 to 9.12. At fi rst, Student D opened up the conversation by politely asking if the NS game users would like to go fishing together and where.

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Excerpt 9.10: Student D initiating the conversation by politely asking where the NS game users like to fish 1 2 3 4

Student D: 皆さんはどこで釣り をするのが好きです か。 私は川で釣りをする User J: のが好きです。

mina san wa doko de tsuri o suru no ga suki desu ka. watashi wa kawa de tsuri o suru no ga suki desu. 海好きですよ！ User L: umi suki desu yo! Student D: どちらの方がいいか dochira no hou ga ii な。 kana? 釣り竿（つりざお）は tsurizao (tsurizao) wa User C: 持ってますか？ mottemasu ka? Student D: はい :) hai :) 海の上に神社（じんじ umi no ue ni jinja User C: ゃ）があるんですが (jinja) ga aru n desu ga

Where do you like to fish, everyone? I like fishing at the river.

I like the ocean! I wonder which one is better? 5 Do you have a fishing rod? 6 Yes :) There is a shrine 7 on top of the sea (floating) そこで釣ってみます soko de tsutte mimasu Shall we fish 8 User C: か？ ka? there? 9 Student D: はい。いいね。 hai. ii ne. Yes. Sounds good. じゃあ行ってみましょ jyaa, itte mimashou ka Well, let’s go then. 10 User A: うか Excerpt 9.11: Student D being exposed to more informal language and eventually aligning herself with the NS game users by shifting from formal to informal use of language 1

User L:

2 3

Student D: Student D:

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

User K: User A: Student D: User C: User K: Student D: Student D

11 User M:

釣りのやりかたはわか る？ うん。 [User K caught a fish] おめでとう! ありがとう！ 釣れましたね！ できたね！ おめでとう！ おじょうず！ ありがとう！ [Pointing at the fi sh] 大きいですね！ でかい

tsurino yarikata wa wakaru? un. [User K caught a fish] omedetou! arigato! tsuremashita ne! dekita ne! omedetou! ojouzu! arigatou! [Pointing at the fish] ookii desu ne! dekai

Do you know how to fish? Yeah. [User K caught a fish] Congrats! Thanks! You caught it! I did it! Congrats! You are pretty good! Thanks! [Pointing at the fish] It is pretty big! Huge.

Excerpt 9.12: Student mixing the use of formal and informal use of language 1 Student D: すみません。英語のク sumimasen. eigo no I am sorry. I have to ラスに行く筈です。* kurasu ni iku hazu go to my English desu.* class. じゃあ今日はこのへん jaa, kyou wa kono Then let us end it 2 User A: で hen de here. わかりました 3 User M: wakarimashita Alright. watashi wa mina san I really like you guys! 4 Student D: 私は皆さんが大好 き！ ga daisuki! 5 Student D: ありがとうございまし arigatou Thank you so much! た！ gozaimashita!

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こちらこそ！ ありがとうございま す:) 私もStudent Dが 好きです 8 User M: ありがとう’ 9 User K: いえいえ！ 10 Student D: まったね！:) さよなら～ 11 User A: 12 User M: またね ;) またねー！ 13 User K:

6 7

User L: User A:

kochira koso! arigatou gozaimasu :) watashi mo Student D ga suki desu arigatou ie ie! matta ne! :) sayonara～ mata ne ;) mata ne-!

Likewise (thank you). Thank you so much :) I like you too, Student D. Thanks. No problem! See ya! :) Good bye～ See you again ;) See you again-!

Excerpts 9.10 to 9.12 above are retrieved from a single, continuous conversation that lasted for over an hour. These excerpts captured the process of how Student D contextually modifies the tone of her speech, or occasionally mixes formal and informal style, as she establishes relationships with NS game users. At the beginning of the conversation in Excerpt 9.10, although Student D kept the audience in mind by using みな さん (minasan – everyone, formal), there appeared to be an existence of slight social distance among the group, with Student D using the polite forms to ask the NS game users questions about where they would like to go fishing (Excerpt 9.10, line 1). However, because of the NS game users’ sociable and welcoming tone through the use of positive acknowledgements (Excerpt 9.10, lines 2 & 3) and elaborative questions (Excerpt 9.10, lines 5 & 7), Student D eventually reduces the use of polite forms to gradually align herself with the informal tone of the conversation, especially after the group decided to go fishing together and did the task collaboratively (Excerpt 9.11). While there is some mixed use of formal/informal language throughout Excerpts 9.10 to 9.12 (e.g. Excerpt 9.11, line 10; Excerpt 9.12, lines 1 & 5), the interaction gradually became very positive and casual. Specifically, the participants expressed their thanks and their enjoyment of the activity and spoke to each other in a less formal tone, omitting polite variants such as gozaimasu, desu or masu. All of these conversational actions indexed a closer social relationship among the group. At the end of the conversation in Excerpt 9.12, Student D indicated her affection for the NS game users (line 4), thanked them for their collaboration formally (line 5) and eventually left the conversation informally (line 10). User A, User M and User K also responded to Student D with the same tone, indicating that they had mutually established close interpersonal relationships. Conclusions

The present study investigated the use of a 3D virtual world in a JFL classroom by examining the participants’ interactions to evaluate the potential learning outcomes. Based on the thematic and discourse analysis of the data detailing the participants’ social interactions in a 15-week

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virtual world-based advanced Japanese course (i.e. CALC curriculum), the study found evidence that there are several opportunities for JFL learners’ to be exposed to and acquire language skills in virtual world environments, which are similar to those in face-to-face verbal interactions. In response to the first research question (what are the significant features of social interactions in the 3D virtual world-based Japanese learning environment?), the discourse analysis of the chat interactions revealed instances of collaborative communication among the participants, with NS game users assisting the learners’ understanding and appropriate production of the TL. Since the MMO immersive environment created a sense of real ‘presence’ through the use of avatars, the learners actively engaged in conversations with the NS game users as if they were in a face-to-face conversation. They took initiatives for their own learning by doing such things such as inviting the NS game users to complete tasks with them, negotiating words and kanji they did not understand and navigating their use of formal and informal use of language, all of which illustrates the level of learner autonomy and active participation in the online virtual world interactions. As for the second research question (do the social interactions in a 3D virtual world provide evidence of JFL learners’ acquisition of the target language?), the results suggest that opportunities for acquisition occur similar to the way they might occur in face-to-face interactions. Opportunities to acquire language in general occurred not only through active language use in interaction with NS and student peers, but also through exposure to the different ways of forming a single utterance that would often occur in multiparty interactions (see Excerpt 9.1, lines 6–9; Excerpt 9.8, lines 7–10; Excerpt 9.9, lines 3–7; Excerpt 9.10, lines 1–4; Excerpt 9.12, lines 5–9, lines 10–13). Students also had opportunities to gain vocabulary and kanji knowledge through NfM with the NS game users. They were also given opportunities to produce context-specific utterances such as ww (lol) (see Excerpt 9.4, line 5; Excerpt 9.6 lines 5–6) and soccer greetings (see Excerpt 9.8, lines 7–10) that were first modeled appropriately by the NS game users. Their acquisition of ww (lol) also shows that they were given unique opportunities to not only acquire verbal but also written knowledge. Similarly, NfM about the readings of kanji (although not impossible in face-to-face interaction), occurred in this context because of the written mode of communication. Overall, because of the immersive and experiential nature of the virtual environment in Meet-Me, the learners were expected or even naturally conditioned to observe how people communicate in Japanese and become acclimated to a new learning environment through active participation and constant reflection. In addition, because of the active participation of regular NS game users who also worked as virtual teaching assistants, the learners were comfortable asking questions and negotiating, which provided them with opportunities to acquire various types of TL knowledge.

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Despite these positive fi ndings, the present study was subject to a number of limitations that can serve to generate avenues for future research involving virtual world language learning in L2 classrooms. While the present study collected 15-weeks’ worth of in-class/in-game interactional data from nine JFL students (n = 9), the sample is still too small to achieve any generalizable results outside of this research context. Furthermore, the present study showed some evidence of potential acquisition of pragmatic skills in this context. However, such development can also be influenced by a participant’s background such as the level of TL proficiency. Future studies should address these issues and conduct correlational analyses with an attempt to find what types of JFL learners will benefit the most from the 3D virtual world-based language learning curriculum. As a final note, the present study investigated the effective use of a 3D virtual world in a JFL classroom. From an instructional standpoint, the study found that 3D virtual worlds can provide a rich immersive and communicative learning environment for language learners. Such a rich learning environment is almost impossible to replicate in a typical L2 classroom. From an acquisitional perspective, further investigation using a sociocognitive perspective may lead to a more extensive understanding as to how people learn to communicate in virtual worlds. To achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the pedagogical benefits of this type of interaction on student learning, this chapter concludes with a call for more research to further investigate the effectiveness of 3D virtual worlds for use in L2 classrooms. Acknowledgments

I want to thank Masakatsu Moriyama (CEO) and the representatives from Co-Core Inc. for their continued support in making this research possible. I am also grateful to all the Meet-Me game users and in particular 画伯_v1.01, ミチェーリand ノーナ who volunteered to participate and help organize more volunteers to support student learning during the course of this research. Note (1) *Asterisk represents JFL students’ output errors as well as their interlanguage development.

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Atkinson, D. (2002) Toward a sociocognitive approach to second language acquisition. The Modern Language Journal 86 (4), 525–545. Ballou, K. (2009) Language learner experiences in an online virtual world. The JALT CALL Journal 5 (2), 61–70. Canto, S., Jauregi, K. and van den Bergh, H. (2013) Integrating cross-cultural interaction through video-communication and virtual worlds in foreign language teaching programs: Is there an added value? ReCALL 25 (1), 105–121. Deutschmann, M., Panichi, L. and Molka-Danielsen, J. (2009) Designing oral participation in Second Life – A comparative study of two language profi ciency courses. ReCALL 21 (2), 206–226. Ellis, R. (1999) Learning a Second Language Through Interaction. Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Foster, P. and Ohta A.S. (2005) Negotiation for meaning and peer assistance in second language classrooms. Applied Linguistics 26 (3), 402–430. Grant, S., Huang, H. and Pasfield-Neofitou, S. (2013) Language learning in virtual worlds: The role of foreign language and technical anxiety. Journal of Virtual Worlds Research 6 (1), 1–9. Kolb, D.A. (1984) Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Englewood Cliff s, NJ: Prentice Hall. Krashen, S.D. (1985) The Input Hypothesis: Issues and Implications. New York: Longman. Lantolf, J.P. (2006) Sociocultural theory and L2: State of the art. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 28 (1), 67–109. Lantolf, J.P. and Beckett, T.G. (2009) Sociocultural theory and second language acquisition. Language Teaching 42 (4), 459–475. Lantolf, J.P. and Thorne, S.L. (2007) Sociocultural theory and second language learning. In B. VanPatten and J. Williams (eds) Theories in Second Language Acquisition (pp. 201–224). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Long, M.H. (1996) The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In W.C. Ritchie and T.K. Bahtia (eds) Handbook of Second Language Acquisition (pp. 413–468). New York: Academic Press. Mackey, A., Gass, S. and McDonough, K. (2000) How do learners perceive interactional feedback? Studies in Second Language Acquisition 22 (4), 471–497. Melchor-Couto, S. (2016) Foreign language anxiety levels in Second Life oral interaction. ReCALL 29 (1), 99–119. Peterson, M. (2006) Learner interaction management in an avatar and chat-based virtual world. Computer-Assisted Language Learning 19 (1), 79–103. Peterson, M. (2010a) Computerized games and simulations in computer-assisted language learning: A meta-analysis of research. Simulation & Gaming 41 (1), 72–93. Peterson, M. (2010b) Learner participation patterns and strategy use in Second Life: An exploratory case study. ReCALL 22 (3), 273–292. Peterson, M. (2010c) Massively multiplayer online role-playing games as arenas for second language learning. Computer Assisted Language Learning 23 (5), 429–439. Peterson, M. (2012a) EFL learner collaborative interaction in Second Life. ReCALL 24 (1), 20–39. Peterson, M. (2012b) Learner interaction in a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG): A sociocultural discourse analysis. ReCALL 24 (3), 361–380. Pica, T. (1992) The textual outcomes of native speaker-non-native speaker negotiation: What do they reveal about second language learning. In C. Kramsch and S. McConnell-Ginet (eds) Text and Context: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives in Language Study (pp. 198–237). Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath. Pica, T. (1994) Research on negotiation: What does it reveal about second language learning conditions, processes, outcomes? Language Learning 44 (3), 493–527. Rama, P.S., Black, R.W., Van Es, E. and Warschauer, M. (2012) Affordances for second language learning in World of Warcraft. ReCALL 24 (3), 322–338.

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Sadler, R. (2012) Virtual Worlds for Language Learning: From Theory to Practice. New York, NY: Peter Lang. Sadler, R. and Dooly, M. (2013) Language learning in virtual worlds: Research and practice. In M. Thomas, H. Reinders and M. Warschauer (eds) Contemporary ComputerAssisted Language Learning (pp. 159–182). New York: Bloomsbury Academic. Sarem, S.N. and Shirzadi, Y. (2014) A critical review of the interactionist approach to second language acquisition. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research 1 (1), 62–74. Schroeder, R. (2008) Defi ning virtual worlds and virtual environments. Journal of Virtual Worlds Research 1 (1), 2–3. Smith, B., Alvarez-Torres, M.J. and Zhao, Y. (2003) Features of CMC technologies and their impact on language learners’ online interaction. Computers in Human Behavior 19 (6), 703–729. Sykes, J.M. (2005) Synchronous CMC and pragmatic development: Effects of oral and written chat. CALICO Journal 22 (3), 399–431. Thorne, S.L. (2008) Transcultural communication in open Internet environments and massively multiplayer online games. In S. Magnan (ed.) Mediating Discourse Online (pp. 305–327). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Toyoda, E. and Harrison, R. (2002) Categorization of text chat communication between learners and native speakers of Japanese. Language Learning & Technology 6 (1), 82–99. Vygotsky, L.S. (1978) Mind in Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Vygotsky, L.S. (1986) Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Warschauer, M. (2004) Technological change and the future of CALL. In S. Fotos and C. Brown (eds) New Perspectives on CALL for Second and Foreign Language Classrooms (pp. 15–25). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Yamazaki, K. (2014) Toward integrative CALL: A progressive outlook on the history, trends, and issues of CALL. Tapestry Journal: Digital Literacies for English Learners 6 (1), 45–59. Yamazaki, K. (2018) Computer-assisted learning of communication (CALC): A case study of Japanese learning in a 3D virtual world. ReCALL, 30 (2), 214–231.

10 Game-Mediated Activities in JFL Classrooms: Considerations and Issues in Learning, Teaching and Implementation Kayo Shintaku

Introduction

In recent years, applied linguists (Byrnes et  al., 2010; Cope & Kalantzis, 2000; Kern, 2000; Swaffar & Arens, 2005) have suggested that a pedagogy of multiliteracies should be implemented in second and foreign language (L2) curricula in order to teach and learn communication in socially, historically and culturally situated practices (New London Group, 1996). To actualize the concept, these applied linguists have advocated for a multimodal design of activities because ‘literacy pedagogy now must account for the burgeoning variety of text forms associated with information and multimedia technologies’ (New London Group, 1996: 61). In this pedagogical shift, the plural of literacy (i.e. literacies) has been used in the literature as a way to reconsider the notion of literacy and text, indicating a broader defi nition (Kern, 2000). By their multimodal nature, digital technologies provide the means to realize this expanded view of literacy and text into classroom learning (Lotherington & Jenson, 2011). Based on this literacy education paradigm shift in digital spaces, digital literacies are described as literacies that involve the use of the internet and related computer technologies (Reinhardt & Thorne, 2011). More generally, they can be considered any semiotic activity mediated by electronic media (Thorne, 2013). To incorporate multimodal digital literacies into L2 teaching and learning (L2TL), activities such as digital storytelling and media analysis are being employed in classrooms (e.g. Kumagai & Iwasaki, 2016; Kumagai et al., 2016). These activities, based on the pedagogy of multiliteracies, bring new literacy challenges and skill building to 21st-century learners (Jenkins, 2009). In these multimodal-designed 252

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activities, learners are motivated and empowered to demonstrate their learning with the help of digital technologies as alternative tools. Among the abundant media resources available today, digital games are acknowledged as an emergent pedagogical tool in L2 education to facilitate literacy development in interdisciplinary, multimodal digital contexts (e.g. Reinders, 2012; Reinhardt, 2017; Sykes & Reinhardt, 2013). In response to the wide variety of digital games available, Sykes and Reinhardt (2013) divide game-mediated L2 pedagogy into game-enhanced L2 pedagogy (i.e. the integration of L2 pedagogical practices with vernacular games, not designed for educational purposes, into learning environments) and game-based L2 pedagogy (i.e. the integration of games, made for L2 pedagogical purposes, into learning environments). Although digital games are gaining attention from L2 instructors and researchers alike, actual implementations of game-mediated L2TL at both the curricular level (e.g. Holden & Sykes, 2011; Reinhardt et al., 2014) and classroom level (e.g. Coleman, 2002; Hitosugi et al., 2014) are still limited in terms of the game types and genres, learner proficiency levels, supplemental activities or materials and target languages that are studied. In L2TL, Japanese as a foreign language (JFL) has its own unique situation with entertainment media, which seems to work to its advantage. Gaining access to Japanese popular culture, including digital games, appears as one of the top contemporary reasons for the JFL class enrollment (Mori & Mori, 2011; The Japan Foundation, 2012, 2015, 2016). Digital games offer a new learning landscape where ‘learners, instructors and the environment coexist, co-design and coact’ (Zheng et al., 2012: 342). The potential of digital games as a valid educational tool is worth exploring and researching because games can create a non-forced but powerful learning environment (Squire, 2011). In fact, it is often claimed that good learning and gaming have parallels such as non-risk-taking and just-in-time feedback (Gee, 2007). Digital games are easily accessed by L2 learners outside of the classroom, but incorporating these outside literacy practices (i.e. digital games) as a pedagogical tool requires additional preparation (Miller & Hegelheimer, 2006; Ranalli, 2008; Shintaku, 2016, 2018). Studies on JFL game-mediated activities have examined vocabulary retention (Hitosugi et al., 2014), the impact of game design on vocabulary learning (deHaan, 2005) and the relationship of game design between vocabulary types and retention (Shintaku, 2016, 2018). Although these studies are informative for learning processes and the applicability of digital games in JFL classrooms, they all focused on advanced or intermediate level students, which is a tendency when using authentic materials (Paesani et  al., 2015). Therefore, more studies with students of varying proficiency levels, such as beginner level, are still necessary to better capture how to pedagogically incorporate a digital game into JFL classroom practices at all levels. To explore the emerging application of games in classrooms, the current study involved implementing a game-mediated activity in

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first-semester, university-level JFL classrooms, thus addressing several gaps in the literature: (1) the use of game-mediated activities in L2 settings, specifically in (2) JFL classrooms with (3) introductory-level learners. A postactivity questionnaire and written reflection were used to capture feedback about the learners’ experience with the game-mediated activity. The purpose of the study was to investigate how beginner JFL learners respond to the use of a vernacular game to learn Japanese and whether there is a preference for the use of supplemental materials to complement gaming. Specifically, the following research questions were addressed: (1) What do JFL learners think about using a vernacular game for learning Japanese? (2) What kind of supplemental activities are the most well received by the participants? To give an overview of the organization of this chapter, first, the literature review provides a review of the critical issues involved in the use of vernacular games in L2 contexts, student perceptions of the use of digital games and the role of supplemental materials in game-enhanced studies. This is followed by a description of the study and then a presentation of the results based on the questionnaire and written reflections. Lastly, conclusions, including pedagogical implications and suggestions for future research directions, are discussed. Literature Review Vernacular games in L2 contexts: Preparation and challenges

Research shows that digital technologies and the media environment are ‘altering our understanding of literacy and requiring new habits of mind, new ways of processing culture and interacting with the world’ (Jenkins, 2009: 33). Consequently, applied linguists emphasize the necessity of integrating multiple facets of literacy or multiliteracies (i.e. including linguistic, visual, audio, gestural, spatial and multimodal patterns of meaning) into L2TL (Byrnes et al., 2010; Cope & Kalantzis, 2000; Kern, 2000; New London Group, 1996; Paesani et al., 2015; Swaffar & Arens, 2005). As pointed out in the ‘Introduction’, integrating multiliteracies for L2 learners in and out of the classroom is particularly vital in JFL instruction. However, using vernacular games requires some preparation and presents some challenges because they are not originally made for L2 educational purposes. Digital vernacular games need to be carefully selected in terms of game type, practicality of access, and font type, to suit the needs of L2 objectives and learners. The importance of choosing the types of games appropriate for L2 learning was observed in deHaan et al. (2010), which used a popular vernacular game to examine its efficacy in L2 vocabulary learning. The researchers paired a game player who physically pressed

Game-Mediated Activities in JFL Classrooms 255

buttons according to game rules and a game watcher who watched the partner play the game. Vocabulary test results showed that even though the game players successfully played the game, the game players retained less vocabulary than the paired watchers (deHaan et al., 2010). In this way, the research demonstrated that the type of game impacts L2 learner interaction with in-game texts, which is critical for L2 vocabulary learning (deHaan et al., 2010). Another challenge in the use of vernacular games for L2 education is practicality of access, including linguistic level. This is a particularly important point for massively multiplayer online games (MMOG). Although one of the benefits of playing such games is using the L2 in social interactions during gameplays, learners need to have at least an intermediate level of linguistic proficiency and communicative competence (Peterson, 2011; Rama et  al., 2012) because it is otherwise difficult to maintain control over interactions and language use (Rama et al., 2012). In addition, bringing vernacular games into class activities poses pedagogical and operational challenges including the lack of fi nancial and digital resources and IT infrastructure (e.g. Wi-Fi availability in a classroom, access to computer lab and game console) to facilitate access to game content (Franciosi et al., 2016). These operational considerations are critical to address if instructors are to integrate gaming at the class level. In addition to the literature that identified considerations of which game type is best for learning and the logistics of accessing digital games in a classroom setting, JFL educators need to consider the effect in-game font types may have on learners. Previous studies on Japanese have reported that the orthographic distance between alphabetic (e.g. English) and logographic (e.g. Japanese, Chinese) languages can interfere with learning, particularly with L2 word recognition (see Chikamatsu, 2006; Matsumoto, 2013). Therefore, lack of Japanese orthographic awareness in various fonts may affect students’ learning with authentic materials. This is because, in authentic materials (including vernacular games), font types can be quite stylistically different (e.g. calligraphy style versus block letter fonts). Contrastingly, in classrooms, font types that the learners are exposed to are typically limited to those found in JFL course materials (e.g. textbooks, course slides). To illustrate, Figure 10.1 displays different font types for the same set of hiragana with typical visual fluctuations. As shown, certain strokes are connected in Font 1 but separate in Font 2, and mixed (connected and separate) in Font 3. For example, the last character in the series, hiragana ‘fu’, is visibly different in all three font types. As a result, JFL learners can become easily confused when they are exposed to authentic materials using different fonts. This effect, however, is typically more present in the early stages of L2 learning and diminishes as proficiency improves (Akamatsu, 2002), suggesting that more font exposure and experience in the L2 lead to a restructuring of the recognition process, which provides for better L2 word recognition (Chikamatsu,

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Figure 10.1 Hiragana characters in different font types in Microsoft Word

2006). Indeed, since being able to notice slight differences in graphical representations is a part of being literate (Kern, 2000), to prepare JFL learners for literacies ‘in the wild’ (Reinhardt & Sykes, 2012: 33), instructors need to deliberately expose learners to a variety of fonts by incorporating them into language activities. At the same time, however, instructors also need to pay careful attention to the font types used in digital media when designing instructional materials so as not to overwhelm learners. In sum, in addition to general considerations of game type and practicality of access, font type should be considered in the selection process for game-enhanced JFL learning activities. Student perceptions of game-mediated activities

How students perceive game use for learning is a common focus in game-mediated L2 studies (deHaan, 2005; Hitosugi et al., 2014; Peterson, 2012; Reinhardt & Zander, 2011; Reinhardt et al., 2014). For instance, in the study by Peterson (2012), English as a foreign language (EFL) learners played a MMOG and interacted with other classmates and public players via online text chat. The learners reported that the gaming facilitated new linguistic and social opportunities to interact in English. The study argued that to determine the effectiveness of the gaming activity, L2 learners’ perceptions should be an important component in designing gameenhanced L2TL. Similarly, using a simulation game for educating world hunger, Food Force, Hitosugi et al. (2014) reported that challenges presented by the in-game language difficulty motivated JFL students to learn more Japanese, which, in turn, led to positive reflections on the gamemediated L2 learning. Although students’ positive reflections are often reported in gamemediated L2TL, researchers also routinely report difficulty in managing students’ perceptions of vernacular game use in classroom settings.

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Reinhardt and Zander (2011) demonstrated a tension between play and learning by examining the perceptions of social network gaming undertaken by a diverse body of EFL learners. According to their results, some students felt that the gaming created a communicative opportunity in a socially situated practice. However, others did not see gaming as a legitimate practice for improving their English or for bettering their scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). In another study with learners of German, Reinhardt et al. (2014) similarly reported students’ mixed reactions toward using vernacular games in a language class. For some students, doing the gaming homework (e.g. playing games and writing gaming logs) reminded them that gaming was for studying, and as a consequence, they could not fully enjoy playing the game in their gameenhanced L2 activity. Others did not take the gaming homework seriously and, instead, preferred their typical, ‘real homework’ (Reinhardt et al., 2014: 168). In both of these studies, those students seemed to think that ‘playing and learning are two oppositional activities that may confl ict’ (Reinhardt et al., 2014: 169). These fi ndings support Hubbard (1991), who argues that, regardless of the label assigned to it by L2 instructors, how learners perceive the game activity may affect how they interact with the game. Commenting on the tension between play and learning, Hubbard (1991) notes that, from the students’ perspective, the central task of gameplay may not be learning a language or culture, but playing well by following the rules. Since student perception is related to motivation and learning outcomes (Cornillie et al., 2012), confl icting students’ perceptions between play and learning is a challenge in game-enhanced L2 studies in general (Reinhardt et al., 2014). This is why learner views and experiences are important to consider in the use of vernacular games for L2 studies (Reinhardt et al., 2014). The role of supplemental material in game-enhanced L2 pedagogy

Vernacular games have been used as an engaging resource to connect and develop student literacies in and out of classroom contexts (e.g. Lacasa et al.’s (2008) study of the popular game Tomb Raider). Because vernacular games are usually made for native speakers of the language used in the game, they provide linguistic and cultural authenticity (deHaan, 2005). However, this also means that in-game language may contain linguistic and cultural information L2 learners have not yet learned and may cause confusion. This is partly why authentic materials, including vernacular games, tend to be aimed at intermediate- and advanced-level learners (Paesani et  al., 2015). Therefore, in gameenhanced L2 pedagogy, researchers agree on the necessity of complementing vernacular games with supplemental materials that focus on learning

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targets (Miller & Hegelheimer, 2006; Ranalli, 2008; Shintaku, 2016, 2018; Sykes & Reinhardt, 2013). As an example, using the vernacular simulation game, The Sims, Miller and Hegelheimer (2006) and Ranalli (2008) included supplemental material use as one of the experimental conditions (mandatory, optional and no access to the supplemental materials) to compare vocabulary learning among students. They reported a significant increase in vocabulary knowledge when the learners used the mandatory supplemental materials while playing the game. Likewise, Ranalli (2008) observed learners’ positive responses toward the use of supplemental materials with the game. Shintaku’s (2016) study also supports the use of supplemental materials. She used a vernacular game with supplemental materials to investigate intermediate-level JFL learners’ learning and vocabulary retention. In this study, a vocabulary reference list and sets of worksheets were used as supplemental materials, and they contained various activities to promote the use of a variety of learning strategies and guide the learners in gameplay and JFL learning. By comparing the activities available through the gameplay and from the supplemental materials, Shintaku (2016, 2018) reported that learners would not have been exposed to a variety of activities without the supplemental materials. Since varied exposure to new vocabulary is considered important for vocabulary learning (Hulstijn & Laufer, 2001), the results of this study indicate the importance of designing supplemental materials based on the vernacular game to assist learners’ navigation of the game and focus their attention on target learning items (Shintaku, 2016, 2018). While the studies discussed above explore the use of supplemental materials and their necessity, Sykes and Reinhardt (2013) underscore how supplemental materials should be implemented. They suggest wraparound activities, which occur before, during and after gameplay as a way of implementing pedagogically-mediated activities. To guide learners, L2 instructors should aim to help learners recognize the link between gameplay experiences and real-life language use (Zheng et al., 2012). Thus, it is the instructor’s role to select the appropriate game type, content and language level for the target students. Moreover, Miller and Hegelheimer (2006) emphasize the use of supplemental materials to make specific language features salient and appropriate to learners. In order to promote efficient and engaging language learning, L2 instructors need to analyze the game contents to determine which parts should be complemented by supplemental materials or what in-game elements can be linked to content in the textbook or to other learning targets (deHaan et  al., 2010). A common misconception of game-mediated L2 pedagogy in general is that the games are surrogates for traditional instructional methods (Levy, 1997). However, the mere use of technology does not miraculously transform learning environments (Thomas, 2012). This is why the use of supplemental materials should be considered in any class-level implementation

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of digital games, especially vernacular games for game-enhanced activities. To summarize, game selection, student perceptions and supplemental materials all play important roles in the integration of vernacular games in L2 education, particularly in the JFL setting. Methodology Participants

The participants for the current study were undergraduate international and domestic students who were enrolled in four sections of an introductory-level (first-semester) JFL class at a large public university in the USA. In this JFL course, 90 students enrolled and 61 students completed the voluntary extra-credit game activity. Out of 61 students, 47 students (34 males, 13 females) gave consent to be research participants. Their average age was 20.38 years. Their academic majors were: business and pre-business (n = 11), computer science and information science (n = 8), economics (n = 7), engineering and pre-engineering (n = 5) and other majors (n = 16). Out of the 47 participants, 31 participants were international students (China: n = 28, South Korea: n = 2, Mexico: n = 1). Out of those 47 participants, 45 students (n = 16: domestic; n = 29: international) answered that they have experience in playing digital games previously regardless of the platforms (e.g. Xbox, browser-based and mobile phone). Moreover, out of these 45 respondents, 34 students (n = 13 domestic; n = 21 international) reported ongoing gameplay at the time the current gaming activity was conducted. The participants’ gaming experience with in-game languages is listed in Table 10.1. The data in Table 10.1 show that the international students’ have more experience gaming in other languages than the domestic students. Instruments Game

The current study used a vernacular game, Fuyu Shougun vs. Nabe Bugyou Game 1: Nabe Bugyo wo Buttobase Hen (Ogiwara, 2002), which roughly translates as ‘General Winter versus the Nabe Master Game 1: Fighting Against the Nabe Master’ (hereafter called ‘the Nabe Game’). Nabe is a Japanese dish cooked in an earthen pot, and a Nabe Bugyo (or ‘Nabe Master’ in English) is a person who is obsessed with controlling how to cook and eat the nabe dish. The game is designed for fun (i.e. not for any specific educational purposes), and publicly available for free on the game designer’s web page (Ogiwara Yugijo) on the website Daily Portal Z run by Nifty (http://portal.nifty.com/special/1108/). This game was selected for the following reasons: (1) the use of only hiragana for the

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Table 10.1 Overview of participants’ experience with in-game languages In-game language

Past gaming experience (n = 45)

Present gaming experience (n = 34)

Domestic (n = 16)

International (n = 29)

Domestic (n = 13)

International (n = 21)

English

n = 16

n = 26

n = 13

n = 18

Chinese

n=0

n = 24

n=0

n = 13

Japanese

n=3

n = 14

n=3

n=6

Korean

n=1

n=2

n=0

n=1

Spanish

n=0

n=2

n=0

n=1

Russian

n=1

n=1

n=0

n=0

French

n=0

n=1

n=0

n=0

Italian

n=0

n=1

n=0

n=0

Notes: Multiple selections possible; it may include games in their L1; International: international students, Domestic: domestic students.

target vocabulary (food items) and very few kanji for game operation; (2) simple game rules; (3) a very accessible topic (food) with some interesting cultural information; (4) appropriate vocabulary level for the fi rst-semester learners; and (5) a free, browser-based game that anyone could play on a computer with an internet connection. Because the learners were just introduced to kanji in class at that time, having only hiragana for the target vocabulary was important. Also, the simple rules of the Nabe Game only require players to click over illustrated items. This simplicity was another important point for selecting the Nabe Game because typing was not yet introduced to the learners in this class. The game goal is to pick the right ingredients in the correct sequence from a pot (nabe) for the Nabe Bugyo to eat. There are six different ingredients already in the pot on the screen. Starting with three items (e.g. 1st – tofu, 2nd – shrimp and 3rd – leek), the Nabe Bugyo makes a ‘request’ (flashes one by one on the screen in hiragana), and the player chooses the requested item one by one from the nabe in the correct sequence. If the player successfully picks up the correct ingredients in the correct sequence with the chopsticks (i.e. mouse clicks), the Nabe Bugyo happily gives positive acknowledgment. Then, the Nabe Bugyo’s order sequence gets longer (six-ingredient sequences are the maximum), earning the player one point per correct ingredient chosen. If the player picks up the wrong ingredient, the Nabe Bugyo verbally expresses being upset (i.e. written texts with no sound). His emotional status is also visible both in his facial expressions and on his anger gauge. The game ends if the Nabe Bugyo’s anger gauge hits full or a player wins when they reach the maximum 61 points, which makes the Nabe Bugyo apologize. The game does not have audio other than sound effects for the chopsticks. Although the Nabe Game is a

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vernacular game, it does not fully capture the dynamics of game-enhanced activities found with other, more complex vernacular games. Therefore, for this Nabe Game activity, the inclusive term, ‘a game-mediated’ activity is used to more accurately describe the activity. Supplemental materials

In the current study, the JFL learners used two sets of supplemental materials for the extra-credit activity: paper worksheets and a PowerPoint file. These two sets of materials were interconnected and created based on the grammatical structures, phrases and vocabulary that the learners had already studied from their textbook (Nakama 1a, chapters 1–6, Hatasa et  al., 2009) and in-game texts. Additional vocabulary relevant to the game content was also incorporated into the supplemental materials to link their in- and out-of-class literacy practices. The paper worksheets and the PowerPoint fi le respectively consisted of three main sections: (1) pregame; (2) in-game; and (3) post-game, as wraparound activities (Sykes & Reinhardt, 2013). The goals of this extra credit activity were to: (1) provide opportunities to practice recognition of hiragana using a simple vernacular game; (2) learn new vocabulary used in familiar grammar structures and some cultural information (i.e. Japanese food and cooking) by linking it to a learner’s culture; and (3) extend learning opportunities of the game through the use of the instructor-made supplemental materials. The paper worksheets subsections are listed in Table 10.2 and the PowerPoint file’s content overview is listed in Table 10.3. The pre-game section in the PowerPoint file was a preview of the game content, which contained linguistic information (e.g. vocabulary and grammar) and cultural information about nabe. For example, it had an explanation of who is considered a Nabe Bugyo, images of how people eat nabe and a list of the six ingredients used in the game in hiragana with English translations. Pre-game subsection 1-3 was designed to connect learners’ culture with Japanese culture because it is important for learners to bring their knowledge, experience, interests and life-texts (i.e. texts that they have experienced in their daily life) to the learning situation (Cope & Kalantzis, 2009). Cross-connections between classroom and outside contexts facilitate the learners’ reflection on the language and culture presented in the game content. For subsection 1-4, although the writing task may look tedious, beginner JFL learners can be confused by hiragana characters that look alike (e.g. さ[sa] and き[ki]), and writing by hand is an efficient way for a teacher to find out if learners have made a correct link between recognition and writing (Kiefer et al., 2015). It was also useful practice for the learners, who had not yet learned how to type in Japanese. The in-game section in the PowerPoint fi le had actual game screenshots to explain the game rules and the expressions of Nabe Bugyo. The two subsections, 2-1 and 2-2 in the worksheets gave the learners an opportunity to play the game and learn the game rules. It is often

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Table 10.2 Overview of worksheet subsections Subsection

Description

Pre-game 1-1

Instruction on how to download a PowerPoint file from the content management system.

1-2

Instruction on where to find the game’s URL and the site address to download Adobe Flash Player (free) if necessary.

1-3

Questions in English asking whether learners have eaten nabe before and their experience with any similar dish in their culture.

1-4

Matching appropriate hiragana with illustrations of six ingredients introduced in the game and writing those words in hiragana to practice.

In-game 2-1

Writing down each sequence of six ingredients given by Nabe Bugyo in the practice chart where a learner can write the appropriate order number over the six ingredients. In-game vocabulary and expressions were also provided in Japanese and romaji (romanized Japanese) with English translations.

2-2

Writing down actual scores without the practice chart from first to fourth tries.

Post-game 3-1

Learning additional nabe-related ingredients vocabulary from the PowerPoint file.

3-2

Creating an original nabe by listing ingredients the learners like from the in-game vocabulary, additional vocabulary from PowerPoint file, and/or any other food vocabulary they want to add (in Japanese).

3-3

Incorporating new vocabulary into grammatical structures from the textbook by answering questions in Japanese.

3-4

Sorting ingredients by color in Japanese.

3-5

Writing sentences in Japanese about eating certain ingredients by using frequency adverbs.

3-6

Writing sentences in Japanese by answering questions about ingredients’ locations based on the image of shelved ingredients in the refrigerator shown in the PowerPoint file.

3-7

Writing a free-text reflection in English about the entire experience of the activity, including difficulty and interest.

reported that familiarity with how to play a target game is necessary as preparation before the gaming activity (Peterson, 2011, 2012). The students needed to play the game a minimum of four times using the practice chart (a table to write down the sequence of the ingredients) and four times without the practice chart along with completing the worksheets (see Appendix A). The post-game section was created to introduce additional vocabulary relevant to nabe. The section was also designed to facilitate the practice of all the new vocabulary items in sentence structures that the learners had already studied, to ensure a link between gameplay and coursework. In other words, the activities expanded their vocabulary repertories by utilizing the learners’ grammar knowledge in structures recycled from their textbook chapters (see subsections 3-4 to 3-7 in Appendix B). The PowerPoint file listed images of additional food vocabulary items not used

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Table 10.3 Overview of accompanying PowerPoint file contents Subsection

Page number

Description

Pre-game

1

Cover page of pre-game section with quick information on how to navigate the pages and the game URL.

2–3

Brief cultural and culinary description of a nabe dish.

4

Brief explanation of a term Nabe Bugyo in Japanese culture.

5

In-game food vocabulary in Japanese, photographs, and English translation.

In-game

6–12

Game manual instruction on how to play with actual game screenshots.

Post-game

13

Cover page of post-game section with quick information on how to navigate the pages.

14–15

Introduction of other typical ingredients in Japanese, photographs and English translation.

16

Images of a refrigerator and various ingredients for the activity linked to the paper worksheet in section [3–6].

Note: Most of the PowerPoint pages have simple animated moves for text displays.

in the game but commonly used in making nabe, with the hiragana spelling and English translations. Linking in-classroom activities with outof-class contexts is important as a reinforcement of what students are learning (Filsecker & Bündgens-Kosten, 2012), and this also applies to game-mediated L2 learning (Sykes & Reinhardt, 2013). The post-game section also provided an opportunity for the students to exercise their creativity by creating a nabe with their own chosen ingredients (subsection 3-2). The last page of the PowerPoint (subsection 3-6) contained images of various food items inside a refrigerator. The students were asked to write sentences in Japanese to describe the locations of those items in the refrigerator to review location nouns (e.g. right, left and next to) and to use grammatical structures that they had just learned from the textbook (see Table 10.3 for the PowerPoint file overview and Appendix C for pages 15 and 16 of the PowerPoint fi le). Procedures Data collection

The gaming activity was purposefully scheduled after the students fi nished their textbook Nakama 1a, chapter 5 (six chapters in total were covered during the semester) because the grammatical structures and vocabulary level targeted in the supplemental worksheets aligned with the content up to chapter 5. The game activity was conducted as a voluntary extra-credit activity. If students participated, an extra half point was added to their total points (100), for the semester. The printed worksheets were provided to all the students who were interested in completing the

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activity regardless of their research participation. The instructions and procedures were all written in English. The learners were asked to download the accompanying PowerPoint file from the university content management system regularly used by all the enrolled students for their coursework. The due date to complete and submit the worksheets was set for 11 days after the students received the worksheets. After the initial instruction of the extra-credit activity was given in class, no other communication about the activity happened during or outside of class. Data analysis

In the current study, both quantitative and qualitative data were used for analysis. The quantitative data were gathered from a questionnaire (see Appendix D) that was attached to the last page of the worksheets. This questionnaire had two sections: (1) a four-point Likert scale section with statements about the student’s experience (4 – strongly agree, 3 – agree, 2 – disagree, 1 – strongly disagree) and choices of respective activities; and (2) a student background information section that included questions on age, academic major, and their past and present gaming experiences (so as to understand their outside literacy practices through gaming). Student free-text reflections (subsection 3-7) in the print worksheets were used as qualitative data. These written reflections provided insightful responses that could not be captured by a Likert-scale (see Appendix B for the subsection 3-7 questions). For anonymity, each participant is referred to as Participant plus a number (e.g. Participant 1). For the content analysis of the student reflections, a procedure adopted by Rivers (2001) was used. Following Rivers’ (2001) steps based on the Grounded Method, all student reflections were first read without being categorized, and then general categories were created and coded on the participants’ written reflections. Next, relevant themes were developed and applied to the reflections to see if they fit. This coding step was repeated several times to avoid any fluctuations in coding. Based on these steps, the reflections were coded based on the following eight categories (see Table 10.5 for data): • • • • • • • •

game design (general): a reflection on the Nabe Game mechanics; game design (speed): the word display speed; game design (audio): the game’s audio features; game design (font): the font type used for words in the game; supplemental materials (general): an overall reflection of the supplemental materials used for this activity; supplemental materials (culture): the Japanese culture introduced in the supplemental materials; supplemental materials (vocabulary): additional vocabulary introduced in the supplemental materials; and supplemental materials (link): the connections between in and out-ofclass learning and between L1 and L2 cultures.

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Results and Discussion Research question 1

For the fi rst research question (What do JFL learners think about using a vernacular game for learning Japanese?), the results show that the learners have positive perceptions (see Table 10.4). They enjoyed the game (Statement 1: I enjoyed this game [n = 47, M = 3.28, SD = 0.67]) and felt that the game was easy to play (Statement 2: This game was easy to play [n = 47, M = 3.07, SD = 0.68]). The ease of play is also confirmed by the results of the game rule statement (Statement 3: The rules of this game were easy to figure out [n = 46, M = 3.72, SD = 0.54]). The learners were also positive about the use of a Japanese vernacular game for learning Japanese (Statement 9: I would like to learn Japanese with game-enhanced activities like this one [n = 46, M = 3.34, SD = 0.76]). Table 10.4 Students’ perception from Likert-scale results Statement

M

SD

Strongly agree [#] (%)

Agree [#] (%)

(1) I enjoyed this game.

3.28

0.67

[18] (38.30%)

[25] (53.19%)

(2) This game was easy to play.

3.07

0.68

[13] (27.66%)

[25] (53.19%)

(3) The rules of this game were easy to figure out.

3.72

0.54

[35] (76.09%)

[9] (19.57%)

(9) I would like to learn Japanese with game-enhanced activities like this one.

3.34

0.76

[21] (45.65%)

[21] (45.65%)

Note: S1, S2 (n = 47); S3, S9 (n = 46). Only the scale results of strongly agree and agree (majority) are displayed.

Although the overall perception of game use was positive, the learners’ open written reflections in the subsection 3-7 provided more insight. Most of the reflections had a comment about either the game design or the accompanying supplemental materials (the PowerPoint fi le and printed worksheets). These responses were further divided as shown in Table 10.5. Based on the categories that emerged from the content analysis shown in Table 10.5, the following three factors appeared to have influenced learners’ perception of the vernacular game used in learning Japanese: time pressure, unmodifiable content and font types. These three factors are also important to consider when an instructor implements a vernacular game as an in-class activity. Time pressure

The Nabe Game puts players under time pressure to recognize and memorize the sequence of each word. Although the game rules themselves were not difficult, the speed at which the words were displayed made it difficult for some learners to keep up. The display speed of hiragana in the game was

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Table 10.5 Reflection results Category

Count

Game design (general)

23

Game design (speed)

10

Game design (audio)

4

Game design (font)

3

Supplemental materials (general)

5

Supplemental materials (culture)

4

Supplemental materials (vocabulary)

5

Supplemental materials (link)

4

described as too fast or too quick by 10 learners. Since the game is a vernacular one and made for native speakers of Japanese, being challenged by the game speed provides authenticity to gameplay (deHaan, 2005). However, this authenticity can lead to different outcomes for L2 learners, particularly introductory-level ones. Whether learners consider the authentic speed as a challenge for improvement or consider it inappropriate for novice learners may depend on the learner’s background and experiences with language learning and gaming. Comments from the learners on this aspect of the game included the following: (note: all student written reflections are displayed in their original form (including grammatical errors)). Participant 1: The game is very interesting. Some is easy and some was difficult because the words show too fast so I didn’t remember it. Participant 2: The difficult thing is that the words flash so quick and hard to catch. Participant 3: The game is a little bit hard because the speed of speaking of the Nabe Bugyo is fast so that it is hard catch what he said.

For these learners, the pressure to read or recognize the words on time before the next word was displayed added additional difficulty to gameplay. However, the difficulty did not always translate into disliking the game, as demonstrated by Participant 1’s comment and the overall positive questionnaire responses. The data do not defi nitively indicate whether this ‘difficulty’ also blocked their learning opportunities; however, Participant 4 wrote about his trouble with word recognition during the gameplay: Participant 4: Reading the hiragana in time was difficult and I felt like I was remembering the order of bunch of hiragana letters rather than the meaning of the words from letters while playing.

For this learner, a confl ict emerged between being a good game player who wanted to successfully play the game and a good learner who wanted to attentively learn the meaning of each word.

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This tension between playing a game and learning a language through vernacular game use has been described in earlier studies (see Reinhardt & Zander, 2011; Reinhardt et al., 2014); however, the comment by Participant 4 suggests a slight difference. In earlier studies, this tension was caused by L2 learners’ expectation of language instruction (i.e. how instruction for an activity, unit or assignment should be conducted for language classes). Instead, Participant 4’s comment suggests tension within one’s self (i.e. game player self versus language learner self). In light of differences in interactions based on a game’s typological parameters (Sykes & Reinhardt, 2013), it is imperative to consider whether the same type of tension would occur with game-based activities with an educational game or a teachermade game. For example, if a JFL learner plays an educational hiragana game in which word display speed can be controlled, the tension described in earlier studies (i.e. Reinhardt & Zander, 2011; Reinhardt et al., 2014) and by Participant 4 might not be an issue. For the Nabe Game, as with the studies by deHaan et al. (2010) and by deHaan (2005), successful gameplay did not necessarily correlate to vocabulary comprehension. In the study by deHaan et al. (2010), the learners who successfully played the game seemed to experience cognitive overload and, as a consequence, did not learn as much vocabulary as the learners who simply watched the gameplay. In another study by deHaan (2005), the JFL learner reflected on the difficulty of dividing his attention between the simultaneous oral and written exposures to the baseball game. These studies show that learners experience difficulty in balancing play and language learning when game rules do not necessarily support understanding of word meaning. This underscores the importance of selecting appropriate games for L2 learners by examining the learner’s interactions with in-game texts during gameplays. While some of the learners in the current study felt the game was difficult because of the speed, others felt that the time pressure was necessary for their Japanese learning. Participant 5: This game is good. The Nabe Bugyo game is difficult. It’s speed is very fast. But it can really help us. Participant 6: The game was pretty fun. It helped me with reading hiragana faster. I also learned many new words because of this game. Really, the only difficult part was trying to read the hiragana fast. I feel like the game was very helpful.

Although these learners reported that the game facilitated their learning, it is crucial not to correlate self-reports with actual gains in learning as there are potential issues associated with self-reported learning (Peterson, 2012). Nevertheless, these comments add a different perspective to the game’s time pressure feature for learning – namely, that it engaged some players and made them feel that the game helped them learn. Thus, although deHaan et al. (2010) demonstrated that time pressure could be one of the causes for low vocabulary retention, instructors may not

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necessarily have to avoid time pressure features when they select games for certain language learning objectives. Unmodifiable content

Although using vernacular games may eliminate the cost of developing one’s own games (Ranalli, 2008), one of the challenges of using vernacular games is that the content, including in-game language and rules, usually cannot be modified. In the Nabe Game, the limited game content and audio features shed light on game-enhanced activity issues. That is, although the word sequence randomly changes each time, some learners (n = 6) mentioned that the Nabe Game became boring after a few tries because of the repetitive use of the same six words and the unchanged maximum length of the word sequence (six-word sequence). This is expressed in the comment by Participant 2: Participant 2: It’s an interesting game at fi rst but it’s getting boring after a few rounds.

However, as boring it may be, some studies show that a game’s repetitiveness can benefit L2 vocabulary learning if the game content changes while the game’s foundational flow and rules remain the same. For example, using a vernacular baseball game, deHaan (2005) had a JFL learner write game logs and take kanji tests. The learner’s reflections illustrated how the repetitive language use and rules in the game allowed for creating familiarity with and focused attention on particular lexical and syntactic items, and this repetitive feature provided the player with more learning moments. Whether this repetitiveness is perceived positively or negatively may depend on the quality of player engagement. Comparing with educational games, Sykes and Reinhardt (2013) explain that one of the benefits of a vernacular game is the design to maintain its player’s meaningful engagement. This is important to mention because many educational games, or as Van Eck (2006) calls, ‘edutainment’, tend to fail this essential quality because they ‘place the learning of particular content as the goal, and playing as the means to get there’ (Sykes & Reinhardt, 2013: 110). In this way, games need to be challenging to some extent to maintain engagement as a game (Salen & Zimmerman, 2004; Sykes & Reinhardt, 2013). Although the game in the current research is a vernacular game, it is simple and repetitive, and for these reasons, its quality of engagement as a game can be diminished. If a game is not interesting enough or does not require any challenge, game players lose interest in playing. Also, as Hitosugi et al. (2014) argued, the student’s desire to learn is often in relation to the level of in-game language. If the game rules are too simple and the in-game language too familiar, the game may become boring quickly and the student’s desire to learn wanes. This is exemplified in Participant 7’s comment: Participant 7: … not enough words. It is difficult at beginning. If more words, it will be more interesting.

Game-Mediated Activities in JFL Classrooms 269

Regarding the Nabe Game’s unmodifiable content, the participants also commented on its audio feature. Participant 8 (quoted below) and others (n = 4) expected to hear audio from the Nabe Bugyo; however, the game did not contain any spoken language: Participant 8: Before playing it, I expected that someone would say the words instead of there being absolutely no sound.

Suggestions from the students can easily be used to modify teacherdesigned games, but that is not usually possible with vernacular games. However, the L2 instructor can add activities and supplemental materials to fill the gap between the learning objectives and the game to create more learning opportunities. For example, because the Nabe Game does not have a language audio track, an instructor can add a listening or speaking activity in class to complement this lack of audio and to create more integrated learning activities. Japanese fonts

One of the benefits of using vernacular games is that they expose learners to authentic content; however, some students (n = 3) commented on the difficulty of recognizing the hiragana characters because the font used in the game was different from the ones used in their textbook and class instructional slides. Participant 9: The hard part was that the ひらがな (hiragana) came really fast, in a font I didn’t recognize. Participant 10: At fi rst I thought it was a little too fast and the font confused me slightly.

Indeed, the Nabe Game used a thick square-like font of hiragana characters with major visual fluctuations in fu, ki (gi) and sa as illustrated in Figure 10.1. Although these three students felt overwhelmed by the different font, the difference in font types did not seem to affect learning for the rest of the learners as Participant 11’s comment shows: Participant 11: This activity defi nitely helped me learn to recognize words written in hiragana faster.

As a mixed-script language with unique graphic elements (Joyce et al., 2012), the most efficient way to provide opportunities for students to get used to different font types is real world language exposure (Thorne, 2013). Exposing students to as many font varieties as possible is one of the necessary steps to introducing real-life literacy outside of the textbook, or literacies ‘in the wild’ as Reinhardt and Sykes (2012: 33) refer to it. More exposure and experience in the L2 lead to a restructuring of the recognition process, which provides for better L2 word recognition (Chikamatsu, 2006). Media, such as digital games in this case, can assist in this step by

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providing opportunities to become familiar with various fonts used in the current digital world. This challenge is an excellent opportunity for L2 instructors, in particular, to find out how to take advantage of authentic materials like vernacular games as a new tool for L2TL (Armour, 2011). Although incidental learning from gameplay has been reported (Purushotma, 2005), researchers have agreed that digital games should be incorporated in classrooms with carefully designed instructions because L2 learners need to be guided pedagogically to pay attention to learning targets (Miller & Hegelheimer, 2006; Ranalli, 2008; Sykes & Reinhardt, 2013). Instructors and administrators who are unfamiliar with game-mediated L2TL or computer-assisted language learning (CALL) may think that the ‘mere appearance of technology is meant to miraculously transform learning environments’ (Thomas, 2012: 16). Instead, game-mediated L2TL does not replace traditional lessons but complements them to produce more powerful learning opportunities. How authentic features of vernacular games, such as time pressure, unmodifiable content and font types, affect learning opportunities underscores the importance of selecting game types, features and in-game language appropriate for learning objectives and proficiency levels. Moreover, it exemplifies the challenges of using a vernacular game in educational settings, which makes the instructor’s role even more critical in gamemediated L2TL. Research question 2

The second research question was: What kind of supplemental activities are the most well received by the participants? For the Likert-scale portion of the questionnaire, as shown in Table 10.6, the learners were positive about the entire experience, including the activity with supplemental materials (Statement 4: I enjoyed the whole game activity, Table 10.6 Results of supplemental materials Statement

M

SD

Strongly agree [#] (%)

Agree [#] (%)

(4) I enjoyed the whole game activity including supplemental materials.

3.30

0.71

[20] (42.55%)

[22] (46.81%)

(7) This game’s supplemental materials helped me to improve my vocabulary in Japanese.

3.47

0.54

[23] (48.94%)

[23] (48.94%)

(8) This game’s supplemental materials helped me to improve my cultural knowledge about Japan.

3.49

0.58

[25] (53.19%)

[20] (42.55%)

Note: n = 47, only the scale results of ‘strongly agree’ and ‘agree’ (consisting of majority) are displayed.

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including supplemental materials). Since the supplemental materials contained various activities that complemented the gameplay and learning, the questionnaire asked ‘Which activity was the best?’ to see if there was any particular preference for certain activity types. The learners were requested to select one activity listed in the questionnaire: [1-3], [1-4], [3-2], [3-3], [3-4], [3-5], [3-6] or [3-7]. The four top-rated activities were as follows (n = 44 – removed three students who selected more than one activity). Activity [3-2] (build you own nabe) had the highest score of 18 (40.91%) and activities [3-4] (sorting ingredients by color) and [3-5] (writing sentences about eating ingredients using frequency adverb) both scored 6 (13.64%). Activity [3-6] (describing locations of ingredients in the refrigerator) scored 5 (11.36%). It is no surprise that activity [3-2] (build your own nabe) was the learners’ favorite. Here, the learners created their own nabe mainly by listing ingredients in Japanese. This kind of ‘makeyour-own’ activity was a creative endeavor in which it was more autonomous and personalized. It motivated students to add food from the supplemental materials, use their previous knowledge, or look up food items that were not in the supplementary materials. Such activities can provide a great opportunity for learners to explore the target language on their own and integrate ‘on- and off-line lifeworlds’ (Thorne, 2013: 211). The questionnaire also asked about vocabulary and cultural information provided in the supplemental materials that expanded on what was presented in the game (e.g. information about Nabe Bugyo). As shown in Table 10.6, students indicated that the game’s supplemental materials helped them to improve their vocabulary in Japanese (Statement 7). The same positive response was found for cultural knowledge (Statement 8). Again, it is not the scope of the current research to statistically measure actual gains for each learner; however, these types of questions about learners’ perception are necessary to determine if there are any conflicting feelings between play and learning (see Reinhardt & Zander, 2011; Reinhardt et al., 2014). According to the results of this questionnaire, the learners were positive about the entire gaming experience and the accompanying supplemental materials. Since the activity was an extra-credit activity, the study did not include any tests to compare their actual learning efficiency or knowledge before and after the gaming. However, the questionnaire results demonstrated the learners’ preference for the creativity-oriented activity and their positive perception of using a vernacular game for learning Japanese. This confirms that, with carefully prepared accompanying materials, incorporating a digital game can be a good additional learning tool and it may help instructors incorporate different modalities into L2 learning. As noted in the previous two sections, most of the learners responded positively to the use of the game and its accompanying supplemental materials; however, the learners’ reflections point to probable issues and

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suggestions which L2 or JFL instructors need to pay attention to when implementing digital vernacular games, especially for JFL introductorylevel learners. Supplemental materials: Qualitative results

The questionnaire quantitatively provided useful information into learners’ general opinions about the supplemental materials; however, the learners’ open-text reflections provided on the worksheet section 3-7 also revealed that those materials created an opportunity to expand vocabulary and cultural knowledge. For example, activity [1-3] yielded connections to the learners’ food cultures (‘In your culture or in your family, do you have something similar to the Nabe dish? If not a hot pot, do you have a dish to share with several people? What kind of food is it?). Based on the information included in the supplemental PowerPoint fi le, international students talked about Chinese and Korean hot pot dishes by listing the similarities and differences in ingredients and cooking tools used to prepare the nabe dish. Some US students talked about macaroni and cheese and chili, from the viewpoints of cooking and sharing with family and friends and serving a large number of people from a big pot. Connecting one’s culture to the target culture is important as it helps L2 learners expand their cultural knowledge and continuously discover different perspectives, which leads to developing an ability to hypothesize about cultural systems in general (Reinhardt & Thorne, 2011). For example, Participant 12 indicated that he made connections between the game activity and his family life: Participant 12: Learning about Nabe Bugyo was very fun and it was interesting to know a little about his history (especially because my dad is such a なべぶぎょう*) … Overall, this game really made me miss Japanese cuisine (and it made me really hungry). Can’t wait to go back home and make my own Nabe dish.

In this way, the supplemental materials provided a chance to link the learner’s life experiences with the Japanese culture, and this linking between different cultures makes the whole game activity more than just a vocabulary practice (Reinhardt & Thorne, 2011). Adult L2 learners often do not learn the conceptual difference between L1 and L2 vocabulary items because they often already know the vocabulary items in their L1 and assume certain cultural knowledge about those words based on their L1 (Swaffar & Arens, 2005). Therefore, it is essential for learners to have a chance to relate their L1 lifeworlds (or everyday experiences) to their knowledge of L2 cultures while honoring and comparing their L1 culture and experiences (Kalantzis & Cope, 2000). As shown in the present study, integrating cultural information based on the game content was perceived positively by the learners; however, the logistics of this integration proved

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that it requires preparation because the game activity must synchronize with the other course content and materials. How students feel about exercises in the game and supplemental materials may also depend on their language proficiency. Although developing supplemental materials can be a challenge for a socially and culturally diverse body of students in one classroom, L2 instructors can use this diversity as a sociocollaborative learning opportunity (Meskill, 1999). For example, taking advantage of diversity, the L2 instructor can create an activity which requires learners to talk and write about their culture and viewpoints based on a topic from the game content. This can be done individually or as a group/whole-class activity, by discussing the similarities and differences with other learners. In addition, as shown in Participant 12’s comment, linking the learning target (e.g. cultural information) with a learner’s actual life is one way to foster interest, motivation, and engagement in language learning (Reinhardt & Thorne, 2011). In the current study, just playing the Nabe Game would not have provided the cultural knowledge about the game’s character and content. Instead, the supplemental materials facilitated the link between the L2 culture expressed in the game and the learners’ L1 culture. Based on the questionnaire, since many JFL learners regularly play games (n = 34), this gaming activity and the supplemental materials provided an opportunity to connect their in-class learning with their outof-class practices. With an accessible topic (food culture in this case) based on the game content, L2 instructors can use the classroom to link their knowledge in and outside of the classroom (Lacasa et al., 2008). In this way, language learning is not isolated to class sessions alone. Although implementing a multimodal design in lower-proficiency level language instruction is challenging (Paesani et al., 2015), the learners’ reflections on the content and the use of supplemental materials serve as a starting point to develop classroom and curricular materials, activities, and projects. Conclusions and Future Implications

This exploratory study investigated students’ perceptions of a gamemediated activity using a vernacular game with the accompanying supplemental materials. The questionnaire results showed that the students had a positive learning experience with the gaming activity, and that the supplemental materials helped to connect the gameplay with learning Japanese vocabulary and cultural information. The results also revealed that the creativity-oriented activity (build your own nabe) was the most popular among the activities provided in the supplemental materials. For this activity, some learners went so far as to include food items that were not even in the supplementary materials, suggesting that personalized activities may motivate students to be more autonomous in their learning. The JFL learners’ comments also reflected on issues of using a vernacular game and provided insightful suggestions for implementing

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vernacular games. Some issues that came up were the importance of game selection, including game design (time pressure and unmodifiable content in particular) and careful attention to font types for novice learners. The time pressure feature in the game sometimes created tension between gameplay and learning, which is why the students’ comments suggested two opposite perceived learning outcomes with regard to time pressure (i.e. students felt it either hindered or helped their learning). This supports deHaan et al.’s (2010) suggestion that time pressure effects on language learning via games should be a focused inquiry in more game-mediated L2 studies. In addition, students’ comments on game design features, such as repetitiveness and audio in vernacular games, suggested the importance of designing supplemental materials and activities to fill the gap between vernacular game features and learning objectives. Learners’ reflections about the difficulty of recognizing different Japanese fonts also implicated the necessity of font selection in authentic materials, particularly for introductory level JFL learners. In the Nabe Game, the visual difference in the font was only for hiragana as this was the main syllabary used in this game; however, the same thing is likely to occur for katakana and kanji especially for introductory JFL learners. This is something that needs to be investigated further if vernacular games are going to be used effectively to expose L2 learners to authentic texts but not limit their learning opportunities. Overall, the study suggests that digital games and accompanying supplemental materials can be valuable tools to enhance digital literacies in L2 programs. Kern (2014: 352) emphasizes that it is necessary ‘to consider ways to use technology to study the very ways it mediates language use, communication, cultural expression, and social meaning.’ The only way to uncover how technology mediates language use is to examine actual implementation, which requires language instructors and researchers to work on expanding the variety of games for use in different languages, genres, and learner proficiency levels. Finally, the results of this study need to be considered with some associated limitations. The game used in this study was a simple, vernacular game, not made for educational purposes. It did not have complex narratives and was similar to a drill-based or fl ashcard-based game. Although a simple vernacular game has certain benefits (see Franciosi et  al., 2016), it does not adequately capture the dynamics of gameenhanced L2TL where design and personal narratives interact (Sykes & Reinhardt, 2013). In addition, although the purpose of this study was to explore learner perceptions of game-mediated activity, it does not report on actual learning outcomes, other than the students’ self-reports. Moreover, since there was no control and experimental group, comparisons of different media types or the use of supplemental materials and their associated perceived difficulties and learning outcomes are beyond the scope of the current study.

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Appendix A

Appendix B

In the original worksheets, there are illustrations of food items for subsections 3-5 and 3-6.

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Appendix C

In the original pages 15 and 16, there are pictures of food items.

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Appendix D

Part 5 Technology Beyond the Physical Classroom

11 Distance Learning and Asynchronous Communication While on Study Abroad: Conversationfor-Learning and Journal Reflections as a Means to Enhance Language Use Erica Zimmerman

Introduction

One fundamental reason for language learners to study abroad is to improve their target language spoken proficiency. Yet, if the learner does not make an effort to communicate in the target language, the gains most likely will be minimal (Kinginger, 2009; Kinginger & Belz, 2005; Paige et al., 2009; Wilkerson, 1998). While engaging in conversational interactions are essential for the growth and the development of one’s speaking proficiency, it is not necessarily enough. Reflection on and monitoring of interpersonal communication is also essential (Paige et al., 2009; Shively, 2010). ‘For many students the emphasis is placed squarely on oral communication, involving intimate negotiations between interlocutors and contexts that remain ephemeral and often go entirely undiscussed.’ (Hampton, 2015: 227). Research shows that learners who study abroad need guided study to improve their opportunities for learning the target language (Churchill & DuFon, 2006; Freed, 1995, 1998; Kinginger, 2008, 2011; Shively, 2010; Wilkerson 1998). The creation of a space for mentoring learners while abroad is thus important for introspection and reflection about the intricacies of conversational interactions (Hampton, 2015). In today’s digital world, the use of an asynchronous digital learning environment (e.g. distance-learning course) that requires learners to not only 283

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produce digital audio-recorded face-to-face conversations that facilitate communicative practice but also to reflect on those conversations would help to promote noticing (Schmidt, 1993). In fact, Shively (2010) calls for learners to engage in language learning along with the use of ethnography for the promotion of introspection. While she did not utilize distance learning, she suggests that ‘a distance-learning approach in which students complete pragmatic research assignments in the host community and then interact with an offsite mentor through e-mail, blogs, discussion forums, chat and other Internet-based tools is another option.’ (Shively, 2010: 119–120). Moore and Kearsley (2005: 140) further this notion by arguing that for distance learning ‘the role of the instructor is to support and assist each student as he or she interacts with the content and converts it into personal knowledge.’ In an effort to combine these elements (i.e. study abroad, mentoring, interaction with native speakers, and selfreflection of that interaction), the current study investigates the digital face-to-face audio-recorded conversation(s)-for-learning (Kasper, 2004) of two intermediate learners of Japanese on a study abroad program in Japan and their subsequent written reflections about their language use for an asynchronous distance-learning course. The learners participated in a distance-learning course, connected to an instructor at their home institution, which promoted on-site learner face-to-face interaction with speakers of the Japanese language. The learners then reflected on their language use found in these recorded interactions with the assistance of an instructor via asynchronous communication. The overall goal of the asynchronous course was (1) to promote interaction in the target language; and (2) to provide opportunities for students to think about, reflect, receive feedback on and learn from their language production. The data were gathered during the study abroad as a part of the course and included: digital audio recordings of the students’ conversations with native speakers (NS) of Japanese; ethnographic refl ection journals; a fi nal research paper; and a post-study abroad interview that focused on the reflection of language use as a means to maximize learning. The data analysis shows that the learners were able to use their interactions and the reflections on those interactions as a means of developing a deeper understanding of their own and their NS interlocutors’ target language use. Specifi cally, one student reflected on how he and his interlocutor used language in real time to negotiate trouble sources (i.e. problems in conversation), which led to him reflecting on how to adjust his language. The other student noticed that NSs use conversational adjustments such as a slower pace of speech or codeswitching words when interacting and this led him to understand how codeswitching can have multiple functions in the target language. The analysis thus shows that asynchronous distance learning can enhance noticing (Schmidt, 1993) during study abroad, specifically when it includes feedback from the instructor, promotes interaction with

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target language users (in this case a conversation-for-learning with NSs) and reflections on those conversations while on study abroad. Literature Review

The examination of face-to-face communication recorded by learners of Japanese during study abroad is not new. Research about the study abroad experience for Japanese learners has examined many avenues of inquiry that provide a better understanding of study abroad and language learning in general (Cook, 2006, 2008; Iino, 1996, 2006; McMeekin, 2006, 2017; Siegal, 1994, 1995, 1996; Taguchi, 2015; Zimmerman, 2007). These studies examine learners’ performance in interactional settings and demonstrate that active engagement in conversations with native (and even non-native) speakers of a language helps to foster language learning and development. However, as Paige et al. (2009) and Shively (2010) aptly suggest, learner’s engagement (e.g. playback, reflection) with those audio recordings is equally important for advancing learner noticing (Schmidt, 1993) of language use. These previously mentioned studies typically examined learners’ recorded interactions without necessarily having the learners reflect on their recorded interactions. Siegal’s (1994) work is an exception. In her study, she utilized learner journals and post-recording interviews for engaging her participants with their data. She played back researcherselected parts of the participants’ recordings and had learners reflect on their conversations. This type of reflection focused mainly on what the researcher was interested in, and due to technological limitations at the time of the study (1994), it required the researcher to be on-site in Japan. However, her study suggests how we might implement similar practices of recording and reflection while taking advantage of recent technological advancements. That is, using asynchronous distance learning eliminates the need for the instructor to be on-site to collect the data and provide feedback to the learners. Moreover, Siegal’s procedures can be expanded to have learners actively engage with their journal reflections and analyze the own digital audio recordings as learning tools. Thus, instead of a researcher-driven agenda, learners can select and examine aspects of their language use to promote self-introspection and learning. One means for guiding learners’ reflections of their recordings is to utilize ethnography (Roberts et al., 2001). Roberts et al. required students to take a course on the use of ethnography for study abroad prior to entry into the country. The lessons learned from this approach are instructive. Examining cultural acquisition while on study abroad, they follow the tradition of language learning as a social practice and argue that there is ‘no such thing as neutral cultural-free language’ (Roberts et al., 2001: 7). ‘Language Learners…who are already able to communicate, at least to some extent, in the local language, immerse themselves

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in the culture of another group in order to become better communicators and mediators in the intercultural encounters and so better language users.’ (Roberts et al., 2001: 12). Thus, once in the host country, learners are acquiring not just language, but the language in context. Social practices and engagement in talk with native speakers provide opportunities for learners to expand their understanding of communication and the host culture, use language in an authentic setting, and allow learners to negotiate their language use. While conversations are social practices and opportunities for learners to engage in language use, this does not always equate with opportunities for learning. Reflection and guided engagement with one’s conversational interactions enhance the learning process (Churchill & DuFon, 2006; Freed, 1995, 1998; Hassall, 2006; Kinginger, 2008, 2011; Shively, 2010; Wilkerson, 1998). This is demonstrated in Hassall’s (2006) longitudinal study, which examines the author’s language learning process through his diary written during his three-month long sojourn to Indonesia. Through his diary analysis, he found two distinct pragmatic developments and concluded that, based on his observations, ‘Schmidt’s (1993) conscious noticing of pragmatic input is crucial for acquiring second language pragmatic knowledge’ (Hassall, 2006: 58). His fi ndings are significant in that the use of diaries/journals is a promising tool for learners to notice changes in language use. However, since Hassall was a researcher of second language acquisition, his fi ndings do not tell us how diary/journals could be used for the average lay person (i.e. student), who would need more guidance. One way to guide learners and to raise their conscious noticing (Schmidt, 1993) is to provide them with ethnographic tools and skills in a distance-learning environment for critical analysis of the language and culture in which they are immersed. Studies show this type of analysis begins with learners interacting as participant observers and writing notes (refl ections) on interactions (Dereshiwsky, 1999; Zemliansky, 2008). Research Questions

While the abovementioned studies call for learner introspection and use of ethnographic techniques to promote noticing (Schmidt, 1993), this study takes a different approach to learner introspection. Rather than examining the learners’ recordings and reflection material from beginning to end and then drawing conclusions, the researcher-instructor worked backward starting with the learners’ reflections and analysis of their conversations as written in their fi nal research paper. This approach provided valuable insight into what the learners noticed and thought was important, thus emphasizing a learner-centered approach. The researcherinstructor then used these insights and reflections as a starting point for further examination of the learners’ digital audio recordings, journal

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reflections and feedback, and post-study interviews. The following questions were considered during this process: (1) How did the distance-learning course facilitate the learners’ analysis of their language use in the audio-recorded conversations as shown in their reflection journals and fi nal papers? (2) Using ethnography as the participants’ primary research methodology, what were the participants’ observations about language use for their fi nal project? (3) Did the students demonstrate an awareness of changes in their understanding of their and their interlocutor’s language use? If so, what did they notice? (4) What do the fi ndings of this study reveal about the study of learner research?

Methodology Participants and setting

Two third-year students, Scott and Neil (both pseudonyms), participated in this distance-learning course while studying abroad. They had both studied Japanese for four semesters (two years, 180 hours of instruction) before they went on study abroad. Scott and Neil were selected because they both had only four semesters of Japanese before attending the semester abroad program. While there was a third student who had three years of Japanese before study abroad and his work was considered along with the other two students’, in the end, it was decided that the observations from his work did not fit the agenda of this current study. Scott and Neil had completed Chapter 15 in the Genki textbook (Banno et al., 2010, 2011) at their home institution. The semester exchange program was from August until December at a university in Japan. After Scott and Neil had arrived at the host institution, the participants spent one month before classes began taking an additional intensive language course (160 hours) that used the Genki textbook series (Banno et al., 2011a, 2011b). Formal Japanese language classes were not a part of their course requirements during the semester. They took content courses taught in Japanese that corresponded with requirements for their majors. In addition, these students opted to take a threecredit, distance-learning course offered by their home institution – the course used in this study. The distance-learning course was designed to complement the participants’ content course studies at the study abroad institute and provide opportunities for engagement in and reflection on language use. Thus, both Scott and Neil were required to interact and record multiple interactions with one or more interlocutors (either native or non-native speakers) and reflect on these interactions in various ways.

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Other participants in the study include the two NS interlocutors, Akio (Scott’s partner) and Ichiro (Neil’s partner) (also pseudonyms) and the researcher-instructor, who interacted with each of the students via email responses about their written and audio recorded work. The distance-learning course and data

The title of the distance-learning course was ‘Study Abroad Japan: Conversation and Ethnography’. The course description is as follows: This distance-learning course is open to those students participating in the study abroad program to Japan. The students will be required to make recordings and analyze conversations in Japanese with language partners, friends, and acquaintances that they met in Japan. The students will keep language learning journals that reflect on their conversational experiences. In addition, the students will write journal entries in Japanese and also write a fi nal paper reflecting on the entire experience. The instructor will guide them through the process using email. The main objective of this course is for the students to reflect on their language learning processes while in Japan and work towards improving communication with members of the host country.

The course requirements are found in Table 11.1. All student submissions and recordings were potential sources of data for this study. Asynchronous email communication, a class website for housing course materials and digital audio recorders were used to conduct this distance-learning course. The two participants’ data were collected during the study abroad period (from August to December). The students had weekly assignments and spent about 2 to 3 hours per week completing the assignments, emailing the professor and conducting the research for their fi nal papers. Table 11.1 Course requirements Japanese 400 Level Distance-Learning Course 3 Credits Six audio recordings with friends, acquaintances, host family etc., using either a digital recorder provided by their teacher or the student’s iPod. Six journal entries (in English) about participants’ experiences in Japan for each recording sent via email. Three journal entries (free writing) about participants’ experiences in Japan, in Japanese, sent via email. Readings assignments on ethnography and language use (distributed through the class website). Complete one final paper that incorporates the readings and the observations from the audio recordings. Written in English and sent via email. Email correspondence. Final interview in both English and Japanese about experiences.

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To prepare the students for their written reflections (i.e. journal entries, fi nal paper), the first assignment required the students to read two articles (Dereshiwsky, 1999; Zemliansky, 2008) about ethnography. These articles provided them with an understanding of how to use ethnographic principles to reflect and self-analyze their learning and target language use. Each student wrote a summary of the articles and discussed the application to their learning. The instructor provided feedback and comments via email. The students were also required to select academic journal readings from a reading list that focused on linguistic and cultural aspects of the language. Typically, the students selected readings based on their interests, which were possible references for their fi nal papers. Another component of the course required the students to audiorecord a minimum of six, 30-minute conversations over the course of the semester and write journal reflections about each recording utilizing, when possible, ethnographic techniques from Dereshiwsky (1999) and Zemliansky (2008) as a starting point. The conversations that these two students recorded can be classified as conversation(s)-for-learning (Kasper, 2004). Kasper (2004) categorizes interactions as conversations-for-learning when learners are engaged in talk with a conversation partner for no specific purpose other than to use the target language. Kasper and Kim (2015) further note that conversation-for-learning is institutional talk that moves beyond the classroom. The most common characteristics of conversation-for-learning are the following: (1) They are held on multiple occasions over an extended period of time. (2) The purpose is to talk in the target language, with the expectation that the talk will be beneficial for L2 learning and that repeated participation will result in L2 development. (3) There is no other agenda than to ‘just talk’. (4) The L2 participants’ performance is not assessed. The talk has no institutional consequences. (5) Turn-taking is locally managed by the participants. When asymmetrical participation frameworks emerge, they do so contingently. (Kasper & Kim, 2015: 391) For this study, the students were required to examine and critically analyze their audio-recorded conversations with their NS interlocutors, with whom they spoke to on a frequent basis (sometimes daily). As for the conversations, they were not provided with any conversational parameters other than to ‘have a conversation in Japanese’. The instructor followed their progress and provided feedback on the various stages, by listening to the recordings, reading the reflections and responding with comments. The students’ fi nal paper was analytical and consisted of reviewing their conversations and journals and summarizing their understanding of their linguistic and cultural gains. The students provided an initial paper topic paragraph, an outline of their paper, a draft of their paper and the

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fi nal revised version. The students’ analysis of their language practices for the fi nal paper took different directions based on their interests and what they noticed from their talk. For this course, the assignment of grades was based on a holistic approach. Each assignment was assessed on the quality of the work. Data analysis methods

Following Moerman (1988), the researcher-instructor engaged in ethnographic practices as a means to uncover the participants’ emic or insider’s view of their language learning. The researcher learned more about the host institution to engage with the learners about their environment. The researcher-instructor did not begin any research analysis until once the semester had been completed. Once the grades had been turned in, the researcher then began to analyze the data. The researcher-instructor conducted a digital audio-recorded face-to-face interview with the two students in January immediately following the semester abroad. This interview was conducted to learn more about the students’ experiences using the target language and the overall study abroad experience. The preparation of the audio recordings for analysis began with hiring a third party professional transcription company to produce a basic transcription (of interlocutors’ lines of speech) of each audio-recording.1 Using conversation analysis transcription practices, the researcher completed the transcription by adding additional interactional details such as pauses, laughter and overlap (see Appendix A for transcription conventions). The researcher took detailed notes and created spreadsheets of summaries for each journal reflection, transcript, email communication, the learners’ fi nal papers and fi nal interviews. The data were then examined for similar themes and ideas across the entire data set. The fi nal paper was the researcher’s starting point for the analysis of the participants’ production in their audio-recorded conversations. In the fi nal papers, the two learners reviewed and discussed their audio recordings and journal observations about how they and their NS interlocutors used the target language to communicate during the conversations. Scott, for instance, noticed several issues including his and his NS interlocutor’s use of codeswitching, the disparity between his reading/writing and speaking/listening skills, his use of habitual phrases, his lack of speed when speaking and how he sometimes failed to communicate his meaning. Neil, on the other hand, noticed and examined his use (or lack thereof) of reactive tokens, the adjustments his NS interlocutor made to accommodate his (Neil’s) speech, their joint construction of sentences, the NS’s use of English codeswitching and how the context of the recording affected the language use (i.e. interview, casual conversation and multiparty conversation). The researcher examined the fi nal papers for students’ observations about their language use and noted parts of the paper

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where students referred to specific audio recordings and journal entries as part of their analysis. Thus, the selection of the data and the analysis was driven by what the participants noticed and explicitly remarked on. The data selected and analyzed for this study are based on what the students perceived as an issue (both positive and negative) in their fi nal papers and journal entry reflections. While the participants had many observations and reflections in their fi nal paper, the present chapter focuses on one topic for each participant. The topics were chosen because they were connected with a specific segment of talk that had been analyzed by the participant in the fi nal paper and had a corroborating journal entry and/or comments by the researcher-instructor that discussed the segment under scrutiny. For Scott’s self-analysis, he provided a transcript as part of his analysis. The researcher transcribed and analyzed the segments of talk from their fi nal papers using conversation analysis (CA) noting how the interactions progressed sequentially. To summarize, the analysis involved: (1) examining the students’ fi nal papers for salient issues; then (2) reading back through the students’ journal reflections about these issues, (3) re-listening to segments of their conversations that exemplified these issues and that the students themselves specifically referred to; (4) re-reading the instructor’s original comments on these issues (given during the course as feedback); and (5) examining the transcripts the students’ provided in their fi nal papers using CA. This process for the analysis provided the instructor-researcher with multiple perspectives on the data. First, it allowed the instructor-researcher to observe what the students noticed about their own language use from both a longitudinal (fi nal paper) and short-term perspective (journal entries right after a particular conversation) and what they noticed locally (in the transcript). Second, the instructor-researcher was able to directly observe the students’ actual language use in the audio recordings and analyze the student transcripts using CA to provide a microanalysis of the data. The analysis thus led to local (CA) and global (reflections) as well as a first-person and a third-party understanding of the participants’ data. Observations and Analysis

Through their journals and asynchronous interactions with the researcher, Neil and Scott revealed aspects about themselves as language learners and sojourners abroad. This section provides the students’ observations that they wrote in their journals about the conversations they had, the reflections on those observations in their fi nal papers, as well as analysis by the researcher. The two students had different approaches to language learning and social interactions that were recorded in Japanese. Neil was a self-described introvert whose roommates, friends and colleagues spoke to him mainly in English. Scott’s acquaintances primarily spoke to him in Japanese. While Scott’s roommates were reliable

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conversational partners, Neil struggled to fi nd partners. Neil was very nervous about interacting and often prepared topics and questions to start off his recordings. Scott, however, would just turn on the digital recorder and interact. As the analysis will show, both participants used this opportunity to reflect on their language use, albeit Neil’s analysis was more astute and in-depth than Scott’s. Scott’s data

Scott’s fi nal paper examined the difficulties learners of Japanese have while studying abroad and his perception of the effect this had on his speaking abilities. The following analysis focuses on the part of his paper where he talks about what had the most significant impact on his ability to speak with his NS partner. To illustrate his point, he included a transcript of an excerpt from one of his conversations: Excerpt 11.1: Final paper: December

‘Starting with what I believe had the biggest impact on my speaking, my beginner level of knowledge in Japanese. Obviously my knowledge of the language is going to affect my speech. If there is something I do not know, I will not understand it or say it. However, this extends past this point. My lack of knowledge with the language often caused many of my attempts to communicate with language to fail as seen in the following dialogue. S:

Scott, A: Japanese roommate, Akio Original transcript produced by Scott

S:

次映画Darth Vader は Obi won にねらせる。

A: S:

What? That’s not the right word. しねせる。 殺される。Kill? Yes. 殺される。

A: S: A:

Romaji added by the researcher for this analysis tsugi eiga Darth Vader neraseru Obi-Wan.

English translation by the researcher for this analysis

What? That’s not the right word. shineseru.

Next movie Darth Vader neraseru ((not a word)) Obi-Wan. What? That’s not the right word. shineseru. ((not a word))

korosareru. Kill? Yes. korosareru.

To kill. (passive) Kill? Yes. To Kill. (passive)

Often I sought out explanations in English. At times, it felt like I was better off reading a textbook or studying a vocab list, as I simply did not know enough to actively contribute to conversations and learn by trial and error. This lack of knowledge affected my confidence, which in turn affected how I spoke.’ (Emphasis, romaji and translation added) Scott views his occasional failure to communicate as a consequence of his beginner-level ability and as a negative part of his language

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learning. Most of his paper is critical of his recorded conversations. He speculates that learning by trial and error was not working for him and that perhaps reading his textbook or studying more vocabulary would be better strategies. Two months before his fi nal paper analysis, Scott’s reflection in his journal for this audio segment is critical of his language progression but at the same time suggests that he notices development and progress in his learning. Excerpt 11.2: Journal reflection: Scott, audio segment October 12

I thought this was an interesting recording to include because I think it is a good example of how a lot of my conversations in Japanese are carried out. Especially conversations that I have with my roommates and other Japanese people who know English at lease [sic] semi well. [sic] The conversation covers a lot of topics, but most of the topics were ones that I am use [sic] to talking about. There are parts of the conversation that I struggled through and parts of the conversation that felt very easy and understandable to me. Why I think this is a good example of my normal daily conversations is because I am still very much so learning the language. I think this dialogue shows that. I could hold my own in the conversation On the opposite side of that coin, I think this conversation also shows that I am developing, and in some cases have, a functional knowledge of Japanese. I feel that I could express a lot of my ideas and have them be (mostly) understood. If there was something that I did not know how to express exactly I can usually find a work around [sic] to get the idea communicated, or at least a part of it. (Emphasis added)

Scott’s reflection shows his awareness of his struggles during conversations and that he tries to fi nd ways to work around lexical problems. He also indicates an understanding that he is still developing his functional language. In response to Scott’s journal the researcher-instructor wrote the following: Excerpt 11.3: Fifth recording feedback

This was a very interesting conversation, and I would say it is one of the better ones because you had more opportunities to talk. This is partly because there is only one other person/interlocutor. The other is that he was a sympathetic interlocutor. I would call this a conversation for learning. I would defi ne this as a speaking event where learners have the purpose of improving their language (i.e. an assignment) and the interlocutor and the learner actually work to co-construct an environment for learning! This was accomplished by the use of code-switching and grammar help from Akio. It was a relaxed conversation, and I could hear how you are trying to put new things together.

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Great job. I hear improvements. I am happy that you can focus on the positive things you are doing. Some study abroad students feel discouraged when they hear themselves. However, I think it is a good way to learn and develop your Japanese.

The researcher-instructor encouraged Scott along with highlighting the co-construction of the interaction between Scott and his roommate and also acknowledged the use of codeswitching and grammatical help as positive steps taken by the NS. In his reflection immediately after the interaction and in his final paper, he is critical of his progress and production. The segment that he transcribed displays the occurrence of a trouble source, a point in a conversation where ‘the repair addresses as the “repairable”’ (Schegloff et al., 1977: 363). That is a place where repair (Schegloff et al., 1977) is necessary due to Scott’s inability to provide the correct word without intervention by his interlocutor. He views this as a failure to communicate. The researcherinstructor produced the following transcript in order to examine this interaction more closely. While Scott demonstrates an awareness of issues with his language production, his transcript is not as detailed as the actual conversation. The lack of detail led to a more superficial understanding of what was occurring in the conversation from Scott’s analysis and point of view. Excerpt 11.4: Researcher’s transcript: Scott, audio recording October 12

S: Scott, A: Japanese roommate, Akio (Note: The transcript has Romanized Japanese and below is an English translation.) 1

S: tsugi next 2 A: un un. uh-huh uh-huh. 3 (0.3) 4 S: eiga movie 5 A: un un. uh-huh uh-huh. 6 (1.1) 7 S: Darth Vader ((sounds like Vater)) Darth Vader 8 A: un un. uh-huh uh-huh. 9 (0.3) 10 S: a: wa (1.8) Obi-Wan ni:, a: wa (1.8) Obi-Wan 11 A: un un. uh-huh uh-huh. 12 (2.5)

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13 S: aa, (2.4) nu- tsk tsk tsk °dang it°(1.5) ne:ra:re:sa? (0.9) nera- (0.7) nera: (0.3) seru? aa, (2.4) nu- tsk tsk tsk °dang it°(1.5) ne:ra:re:sa? (0.9) nera- (0.7) nera: (0.3) seru? ((not a real word)) 14 (0.5) 15 A neraseru? neraseru? ((not a real word)) 16 (0.6) 17 S: u:n. uh-huh. 18 (0.6) 19 A: what? what? 20 S: that’s not the right word. (0.2) shin- (0.4) aa, (0.6) shi:ne:s:::eru. that’s not the right word. (0.2) shin- (0.4) aa, (0.6) shi:ne:s:::eru. ((not a real word)) 21 (0.2) 22 A: aa:, korosareru. aa:, to kill ((passive)) 23 (0.2) 24 S: u:n. uh-huh. 25 (0.5) 26 A: kill? kill? 27 (0.3) 28 S: un. uh-huh. 29 (0.2) 30 A: korosu. to kill 31 (0.2) 32 S: korosu? to kill? 33 A: yeah. (0.3) 34 S: koro[su:. ki[ll:. [kill is korosu. 35 A: [kill is korosu. 36 (0.3) 37 S: korosu:? kill:? 38 A: korosareru. to kill. 39 (0.6) 40 S: korosareru. hai. to kill. yes. 41 A: yeah. 42 (1.3)

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Scott’s analysis of this segment is that he failed to communicate. Upon closer inspection of this segment, Scott’s search for the correct word for kill or to be killed indicates his lack of knowledge or perhaps his failure to remember the necessary word at this moment. It does not necessarily indicate complete failure to communicate as the analysis will show. Before this segment starts, Scott and his roommate, Akio, are talking about Star Wars III. In line 1, Scott shifts the discussion to talk about Star Wars IV (A New Hope) with the use of demo (but) as a contrast marker to indicate he is going to make a point relevant to their ongoing discussion. During the fi rst 12 lines of talk, Scott is trying to put together a sentence to further explain the plot of the movie (that is, Obi-Wan Kenobi was killed by Darth Vader). The trouble source is fi rst found in line 13 when Scott produces a series of false starts indicating frustration, which is followed by a candidate word with rising intonation. The rising intonation is a potential strategy to elicit a repair of his word choice. In line 15, Akio’s pause and repetition of ‘neraseru?’ (not a real word) with rising intonation could be taken as a confi rmation check. Ohta (2005) argues that to determine if a turn of talk has been taken as a confi rmation check or an elicitation of repair, we need to look beyond two lines of talk to determine how the interlocutor interpreted the repetition with rising intonation. Some possible functions of responses by an interlocutor are ‘affi rmation, self-repair, laughter or provision of further information’ (Ohta, 2005: 392–393). Instead of rephrasing or conducting another word search to initiate repair, Scott takes this repetition to be a confi rmation of hearing and thus responds accordingly with a token of receipt (un, uh-huh) in line 17. In response to Scott’s lack of uptake of Akio’s subtle request to repair or provide more information, Akio says ‘what?’ in line 19, suggesting that ‘neraseru’ is a trouble source. This codeswitching to ‘what’ in English initiates Scott’s new word search that is a self-repair in line 20. Scott’s new word search (shineseru) is an attempt to make the word for die (shinu) into a causative word form (shinaseru). Unlike in line 15, where the roommate is repeating the trouble source in an attempt to elicit repair, in line 22, Akio demonstrates uptake (aa) and provides an other-initiated other-repair (Schegloff, 2000) of Scott’s utterance with korosareru (the passive form of ‘to kill’). Scott responds with un, indicating that, at the very least, he is following. It is ambiguous at this point as to whether he has understood or uptake has occurred. In line 26, Akio replies with ‘kill?’ with rising intonation. Kill is not a direct translation for korosareru. Thus, Akio’s rising intonation is a potential request for confi rmation. Scott provides confi rmation with un (uh-huh), in line 28. In line 30, Akio provides the translation for kill (korosu) and Scott repeats it with rising intonation in line 32. Akio takes this as a request for a confi rmation of his pronunciation and responds with ‘yeah’ (line 33). Scott practices it again (line 34). Akio defi nes the trouble source

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explicitly, that is ‘kill is korosu’ (line 35). Scott repeats korosu (line 37) with rising intonation as another candidate confi rmation check and then Akio changes the word into the form needed to complete Scott’s sentence ‘korosareru’ (line 38). After a pause, Scott repeats the new suggested form (to practice) and provides the token ‘hai’ (yes) to confi rm. Akio responds with ‘yeah,’ to complete the sequence, confi rm Scott’s pronunciation, and wrap up this negotiation between them for this particular word. The extended negotiation found in this segment leading to consensus by both parties that the word korosareru is the word he needs to fi nish his sentence. This interaction is a joint production of meaning and pronunciation practice allowing the two interlocutors to overcome communication issues and to create shared meanings. In this conversation-for-learning (Kasper, 2004; Kasper & Kim, 2015), these interlocutors worked together to resolve issues within this extended negotiation of meaning sequence by using confi rmation checks to elicit repair. Although Scott views this as a failure, the conversational work that occurs overcomes the communication breakdown between the two interlocutors and allows for the conversation to continue. Despite Scott’s continued lexical issues in the conversation that follows this segment, both partners continue to work with a similar approach to resolve issues as they arise. Rather than view this as a failure, the participant’s negotiation for a lexical item could be discussed with learners as an example of what occurs in a conversation when they do not know a lexical item. This type of discussion would help to increase learner knowledge about how to overcome issues in talk with native speakers. In addition, the learners’ attention could be raised to the use of subtle cues (e.g. rising intonation) that both parties produce when repeating a trouble source. Since the transcript was produced after the semester had ended, this was not discussed with this participant. Although Scott is very critical of his learning in his journal and his fi nal paper analysis, he indicates at the end of his paper that he has hope that these conversations and the subsequent analysis made a difference in his learning that semester. He wrote: Excerpt 11.5: Scott: Final paper

My experience of learning Japanese has been wrought with difficulties and obstacles. Many of the problems just make learning more difficult. However, I have noticed a few which, by their nature, have impacted my style and manner of speaking. The effects have been everything from slowing down my speaking, tripping over words, to the development of speech habits. Likely, there are more effects that I have not recognized and will make their appearance in the future. These 2nd order effects are difficult to address, but I believe the best remedy for them will be more, diligent study and being aware that the problems exist.

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This segment shows that Scott has gained a greater awareness of how his difficulties in learning Japanese impacted his way of speaking. It also shows that he recognizes how diligent study is a way to identify issues that arise in his conversations with other speakers of Japanese. However, additional guided analysis may help to prevent the negative stance that Scott adopted as a result of his frustration with his language use. Guided analysis may provide learners with the necessary tools to observe the co-construction of meaning around a trouble source and realize how the two participants in this conversation resolved the lexical issue and moved the conversation forward. This type of guided analysis would be instructive for recognizing the NS’s cues for indicating lack of communication (e.g. repetition with rising intonation, long pauses) and for the learner’s strategy to elicit help from the NS. Neil’s data

Neil’s fi nal paper begins with the premise that ‘the flow of natural Japanese can be interrupted quite readily when one of the conversational participants possess less-than-native fluency.’ (Neil, fi nal paper). Based on observations from his recordings and after reading Ikeda (2004) entitled ‘’Listenership’ in Japanese: An examination of overlapping listener response’, he takes a somewhat negative stance about non-native speakers’ lack of fluency in Japanese. The segment selected by Neil for analysis in his paper indicates a realization about what he deemed at fi rst to be his partner switching to English too much. As he examines the language use more carefully, he notices that the words being used are not truly English, but rather katakana words. As explained in Chapter 1 of this volume, katakana is a writing system that allows for the adoption of foreign words into Japanese. For example, this writing system takes the word ‘high school’ and transforms it into a word that fits the Japanese consonant-vowel system, ‘haisukuuru.’ Neil wrote in his fi nal paper the following: Except 11.6: Final paper – December

The second significant adjustment between the fi rst and last recordings with Ichiro initially appeared as counter-intuitive. A prominent use of English words is noticeable in the last recording but almost non-existent in the fi rst. At 3’30’’ in the second recording, Ichiro is describing to me how the Japanese sport of bo-taoshi is played by high school students. He initially uses the English word, ‘high school,’ instead of its Japanese counterpart, ‘koukou.’ Just a few seconds later, he also uses the English word, ‘hard,’ instead of ‘hageshii’ to describe the intensity at which the game is played. At first, the use of these words appeared to be a straight transition to English in order to more quickly facilitate my understanding of what he was saying. Upon closer examination of these words however,

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I realized that ‘high school’ and ‘hard’ are common Katakana words of western origin in the Japanese language. The manner in which Ichiro spoke these words – such as pronouncing ‘hard’ as ‘ha-do’ – indicates he was using them in as Katakana words and not direct English. This suggests that over time, he had accustomed himself to using Japanese words and phrases he thought I would more readily understand when speaking with me. This is in contrast to simply reverting to the other language he partially knows and I am fluent in English.

Neil did not produce a transcript of this segment for his fi nal paper. Instead, he listened to the recording and noted his observations. The researcher’s examination of the transcript revealed that Neil’s characterization of the types of English used was mostly accurate. He describes the use of English cognates such as ‘high school’ and ‘hard’ with a katakana pronunciation. However, he did not notice that there are several sequential environments his partner uses when inserting these katakana words into the dialogue. Excerpt 11.7: Researcher’s transcript: Neil, audio recording November 13

N: Neil, I: Friend, Ichiro 77

I:

78

N:

→79 I: 80

N:

81

I:

82

N:

→83 I: 84

N:

85

I:

86

N:

→87 I:

iya, hoka no daigaku wa yattenai to omou. no, I don’t think other universities are doing (this). aa yattenai. aa not doing (this). un. sono::, (1.1) sono haisukuur- ch- koukou toka, yes that:::, (1.1) that at high school- ch- (said with Japanese pronunciation) high schools (in Japanese) for example, un. yes. chuugakkou de, ano motto chiisai kibo de. (0.7) ano chiisai boutaoshi wa yatteru ke[do. (zenzen) = at junior high schools, well at a much smaller event. (0.7) well they do it with a smaller boutaoshi b[ut (not at all) = [chiisai boutaoshi. [[small boutaoshi. =ano, .hhh sono motto, (0.6) anna ni hageshikunai. haado janai. =well, .hhh that more, (0.6) it is not that intense. not hard. un un. [sou sou sou sou ka.] yes yes. [is that so. I see.] [aa (dame xxxx) sou sou.] boutaoshi wa yatteru to omou. [aa (not xxxx) it is that.] I think that they do boutaoshi. u[n. ye[s. [boku mo:, (0.3) sou. (0.7) chuugakkou no koro, juniaa haisukuuru no toki ni,: [I also:, (0.3) yes. (0.7) during junior high school (In Japanese), when I was in junior high school (with Katakana pronunciation)

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Excerpt 11.8: Researcher’s transcript: Neil, audio recording November 13

A: Neil, B: Friend, Ichiro 116

N: un. Yes →117 I: dakara honban toujitsu wa, sono dokutaa isha toka mo un. chi[kaku ni ite, tasukeru. so on the actual day, that doctor- (said in katakana pronunciation) doctor (said in Japanese) for example also yes. is [near by and helps. 118 N: [un. sou ka. [yes. I see. 119 N: ah: 120 I: ne? [((yawn)) 121 N: [un un. [yes yes.

In these examples, Ichiro, Neil’s conversation partner, uses kango (words of Chinese origin) or wago (words that existed before the introduction of kango from China) and katakana words (words from other foreign languages) to clarify the meaning preemptively. Ichiro accomplishes this in three ways: (1) he reformulates one word from kango to katakana (line 87: chuugakkou, juniaa haisukuuru (junior high school)); (2) he reformulates one word from wago to katakana (line 83 (hageshikunai, haado (hard)); and (3) he reformulates two words from katakana into kango (line 79: haisukuur-, koukou (high school), line 117: dokutaa, isha (doctor). Examining the sequential details of these four cases, Neil does not indicate in the talk a trouble source or elicit repair. In this case, Ichiro’s repair strategy is the reformulation of words (Alfonzetti, 1998), ‘a strategy by which bilingual speakers reformulate the same utterance in a different code’ (Liebscher & Daily-O’Cain, 2005: 237). Ichiro is doing self-initiated self-repair of his speech even though there is no indication of trouble source apparent at that point. It is a specific move by Neil’s conversation partner to use katakana words (i.e. words that appear to be English) as a form of recipient design (Sacks et al., 1974). Ichiro performs a participantrelated switch to another Japanese code (katakana), a code that may be easier for Neil to understand as a native English speaker. The L1 interlocutor (Ichiro) uses words that have katakana versions to design the talk for the recipient (Neil) as a means to facilitate intersubjectivity. In contrast to the examples above, there were also two occasions when Ichiro did not use a ‘Japanese original’ word in addition to the katakana word.2 Excerpt 11.9: Researcher’s transcript: Neil, audio recording November 13

N: Neil, I: Friend, Ichiro 30

N: aa: (0.5) demo aa samukunai? aa: (0.5) but aa (they) are not cold?

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→31 I:

32

iya. samui. sugaku samui keredo, demo (0.6) ano kanpu masatsu tte iu ano taoru o [motte, = no. (they) are cold. it is really cold but, but (0.6) this kanpu masatsu (rub down with a towel) as it is called, the practice of carrying a towel [towel , = N: [un [yes

Excerpt 11.10: Researcher’s transcript: Neil, audio recording November 13

N: Neil, B: Friend, Ichiro →103 I: housou sareteru you na, (0.6) sono sugoku (0.3) yuumei na ibento . (0.9) da kara, it is televised, (0.6) that is really (0.3) a famous event. (katakana pronunciation) (0.9) because,

In these examples, Ichiro uses katakana words (line 31, taoru (towel), line 103, ibento (event) without the Japanese kango or wago counterparts. Since taoru and ibento are both commonly used words in a variety of contexts, this does not represent a type of recipient design as found with the other katakana words in the November 13 recording. The katakana words that were paired with a Japanese synonym standout as marked. However, the cases of taoru and ibento, which are not paired with a synonym, appear less marked in this situation. Neil’s analysis shows his awareness of the contextual use of these katakana lexical items (haisukuuru, haado, juniaa haisukuuru and dokutaa) and also demonstrates how he was able to distinguish between these switches as katakana based versus English. Although Neil’s analysis does not capture many of the subtle details revealed in the detailed transcription analysis by the researcher, his analysis demonstrates his awareness of ‘recipient design’ in terms of Ichiro’s use of katakana words paired with ‘native’ Japanese words. This noticing (Schmidt, 1993) is just one step in his language development, which may or may not translate into learning or into the production of forms for what he has noticed (Schmidt, 1990). Further research would be necessary to confi rm if he had actual learning gains (Kasper, 2004). In his concluding remarks for his paper, Neil further demonstrated an awareness of his NS interlocutor’s conversational adaptations as a result of his limited language abilities. Excerpt 11.11: Neil: Final paper

In conjunction with other language tools – such as a limited understanding of the Japanese learner’s own natural language – these native speakers thus have the ability to turn conversations with non-native speakers into a unique form of productive communication.

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His conclusion demonstrates his awareness of the differences in NS– NNS interactions and of the potential for the conversation to be productive regardless of one participant’s limited linguistic knowledge. Although he exhibited progress in his conversational skills in his recordings and also with his detailed analysis in both his journal and the final paper, this was not salient to him or those around him. His overall impression of his conversational development was verified by a journal entry he made on November 26 where he noted that: Excerpt 11.12: Journal Reflection: November 26

It’s slightly painful to admit, but one of my roommates recently told me in earnest that he thinks my speaking has gotten worse since my fi rst month here.

He was not able to see many of the gains he had made during his time abroad due to negative comments from those around him. In Neil’s journal entry on November 13, for the conversation analyzed above, he did not comment on any of the linguistic aspects of the talk; instead, he summarized the topic of the conversation. However, the email response by the researcher-instructor on November 14 to Neil’s November 13 journal entry provided encouragement and expressed that she had noticed his progress with using reactive tokens, an aspect that he also analyzed in his fi nal paper. Excerpt 11.13: Email from researcher-instructor: November 14

Your conversation with Ichiro seemed a bit more relaxed. You seemed more comfortable, too! I heard ‘un’ from you, and your conversation was the most natural yet! otsukaresama deshita. I am also guessing you were comfortable with the topic.

The researcher-instructor recognized that Neil was uncomfortable making recordings and speaking in Japanese. Unfortunately, the encouragement by the distance-learning researcher-instructor throughout the semester was not enough to avert Neil’s negative assessment and mitigate the comment made by his roommate. Post-Study Abroad Interviews: Distance Learning and Recordings as a Means for Noticing

In post-study abroad interviews, these two participants remarked that this course presented them with opportunities to interact in the target language that they otherwise would have avoided. Scott felt that the interactions helped him to recognize diff erences in his speaking abilities over the course of the semester. During Scott’s fi nal interview, the researcher asked Scott to comment on his language learning and the

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distance-learning course to ascertain what he felt was the impact on his learning. Two of his remarks (transcribed verbatim) are as follows. Excerpt 11.14: Final interview: January

S: The more I study Japanese, this I could just see how like, I could see like the differences in their culture like, reflected in their language and like the language and how it influences their culture and it is just like everything is completely different. It was a- amazing. (At 14 minutes, 9 seconds) S: I was actually kind of surprised at how much I recognized my difference in speaking ability at the end? And it made me focus on, on like learning the language a lot more? And which really helped me with studying and things and like yeah it was a really positive course, I think. (At 20 minutes, 25 seconds) As stated in his interview, the opportunity to focus and reflect during his study abroad experience had a positive impact on his ability to notice the changes in his speaking abilities during the semester. Scott was metacognitively aware of the connections between the language and culture of Japan and the positive effect this course had on raising his awareness of language use and his learning progress. Scott’s critical analysis of his language production in the recordings provided a good starting point for him to continue examining his language production in future encounters. In Neil’s fi nal interview, while he had a positive overall evaluation of the experience and the course, he reiterated some of the feelings he expressed in his paper and his journal. Excerpt 11.15: Final interview: January

N: I have to admit though. Like I felt like my listening became so much better over there. But as far as talking I don’t know but may it is because I am an introvert? But like my speaking I feel like did not progress like, hardly at all. (At 5 minutes, 52 seconds) N: The recordings were, um, I think it was good to just kind of realize, and I don’t mean this like to sound like I was disheartened? But this ah it helps you realize, I guess what your deficiencies are? Like more or less how bad you are at Japanese compared to these native speakers and so it gives you more of a like a aw I wanna be like more like the guy I am talking to or the girl I am talking to. so I think that’s good. Kind of keep it real, cause sometimes, um, when you are just in a Japanese class and you are in the class oh you are just like oh I’m pretty good Japanese. Like and then you go speak to a native speaker and you are like wow I have a lot to go. There’s lot to go. ah lot to do. (At 15 minutes, 50 seconds) In his fi nal interview, Neil’s self-evaluation of his learning while on study abroad indicates a continued negative stance about his speaking

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abilities although he did notice an improvement in his listening abilities. He also indicated that the recordings were disheartening because they made him realize how far he still had to go. However, he also suggested that it helped to motivate him to be more like the NS in the recordings. This type of reflection through listening is something he felt he could not get just from interacting in a Japanese class; it brought language learning to life. In contrast to Scott’s interactions, Neil admitted that most of his opportunities to use authentic interactive spoken Japanese occurred during the weekends unless he was doing one of his assignments. Excerpt 11.16: Final interview (January)

N: I gotta admit, honestly, I used the most Japanese on the weekends? Because that’s when we went out and actually had to talk to- just you know people in restaurants people on the street ask for directions, things like that. But during the (.) I’d say during the week it was basically it was listening bec- um, it might have been different the other cadets but um. ah the other exchange students but my escort cadet, um he was like decent in English. And so and he always wanted to talk to me in English. Um, even if he didn’t know the word and it was and I knew the word he would like he would struggle just to try to get the word cause he was really enthusiastic getting better at English and having an English friend, um English-speaking friend so for me I didn’t use it too much? (At 19’50’)

The recordings provided Neil with opportunities during the week to use Japanese with speakers of Japanese at his school. Learners need to be persistent in their pursuit of speakers to engage in conversations within the target language. However, due to Neil’s self-stated introverted tendencies, a discussion prior to departure about how to incorporate recommendations made by Paige et al. (2009) into the course would have helped reduce this type of situation. Paige et al.’s five recommendations for learners while on study abroad are: • • • • •

Gather up your courage and speak to strangers. Take advantage of program opportunities. Become a regular at local establishments. Be careful in choosing housing. Be persistent about making new friends. (Paige et al., 2009: 211–214)

They also provide tips for staying in the target language especially when native speakers switch or conduct all conversations in English. For example, they suggest that students persist in speaking in the target language (and see what happens) or let the conversation be bilingual. For the next iteration of this course, this will be a part of the assigned readings and discussed.

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As a result, the learners in this study felt that the production of conversation-for-learning recordings and the subsequent reflections provided them with opportunities that they would not have otherwise had. The participants engaged in noticing through self-reflection that fostered their awareness of language use. Discussion and Suggestions for Future Courses

The analysis of the two participants’ final papers, interactions with their NS friends and acquaintances and the final interviews with the researcher revealed the learners were able to analyze their interactions and often concluded that their lack of competence in the target language resulted in their failure to communicate. Whether it was Scott’s failure to find the correct word or Neil’s observations that NSs interact differently with NNSs, the two participants observed and noticed aspects of the interactions that advanced their understanding of how the target language is used. Scott was overall positive about the experience and yet still viewed his language production as a failure on his part. He was not as sophisticated in his recognition of the details in his previous recorded interactions. In contrast, Neil’s overall tone of his final paper, journals and even in his final interview was decidedly negative. However, his analysis of his talk showed an acute awareness of what he first perceived to be English words, which were actually katakana words. Neil was able, with some degree of accuracy, to account for the use of the supposed English words in his conversations. However, the researcher’s analysis of the transcripts suggests that some of the details of the interactions were not accessible to the learners because they only had the audio recordings. Overall, this study of learner research has demonstrated that learners can uncover aspects of their own and others’ language production and analyze it critically. However, this is study is based on a very small sample of participants and should be explored in a larger study and also with different learner populations in different countries. Based on the analysis of the data, there are four suggestions for improving future distance-learning courses for study abroad. Create transcriptions with the students

The fi ndings of this study suggest that transcription of the digital audio recordings would be a good way to promote learner self-reflection of their language learning process and can be used by the researcher to provide a closer examination of the talk produced by the learners. The first suggestion is for the instructor to work with the students to produce transcripts. The students in this study were required to listen to the audio recordings, and Scott attempted to transcribe parts of his data, but he did not produce enough details that would allow him to have greater insight into his language production. While the participants cannot be expected

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to transcribe with the detail of a conversation analysis researcher, more guidance from the instructor and assistance with transcription may be useful and instructive. The transcripts can be utilized for further guided introspection. Add a post-study abroad course

The second suggestion is to make this a two-part course; the first part would be during the students’ study abroad. After their return, there would be a follow-up course to continue to analyze and complete a project based on their data. Several issues led to this recommendation. First, the time between the last recording and the due date for the final paper was approximately two weeks. Thus, neither of the learners examined the last recording of the semester. Second, the analysis indicates that the use of a transcript jointly produced by the learners and the instructor may allow for more guided noticing to occur. In the spring course, the learners and instructor would produce transcripts to be used for a more detailed analysis of the learners’ data for the fi nal project. This guided analysis and a more holistic approach to the data may afford learners the opportunity for greater introspection and the ability to make additional connections between the noticing of conversational actions and language use. Utilize video recordings

The third suggestion is to use videos recordings. In recent years, there has been a drastic increase in students who have access to smartphones, which makes it easier to create and send both audio and video recordings. Video recordings would be a great asset to the learning process and for the analysis of the learners’ talk. Conversation Analysis has been incorporating video recordings for some time now because audio recordings do not capture many of the non-verbal interactional details of face-to-face communication. At the time of the data collection (2012–2014), requiring the participants to use their smartphones for video recordings was not an option. However, since this technology has become more available, this could be required of the participants. The learners can upload videos to a server or Google Drive via Wi-Fi. In the past few years, the ability to use a smartphone from their home country and rent a Pocket Wi-Fi or use Wi-Fi at their host institution makes the need for an in-country smartphone or personal wireless access unnecessary. For future studies, it is planned to add video recordings as part of the required work for the class. Use voice/video communication during the semester abroad

The fourth suggestion would be to use voice or video communication (Oovoo, Skype, FaceTime, Google Hangouts, Messenger, Tango and Viber)

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as a means for communication with the instructor during the course and for class discussions rather than just using asynchronous email communication. This type of interaction will provide the learners with additional in-depth guidance to encourage reflection that they could apply to conversations while in Japan and also as input for their final papers. One potential issue for this suggestion is the time difference. In the case of Japan, it would require the instructor and the students to arrange for meetings either earlier in the morning or late in the evening. This type of interactions may not be possible due to the academic and extracurricular activities of the participants. Conclusion

In conclusion, this study examined an asynchronous distance-learning course where the objective was to create, reflect, and critically analyze digital audio recorded face-to-face conversation-for-learning. Distance learning enhanced the study abroad experience by providing a mandatory opportunity for interaction and reflection. Neil could have easily avoided interactions to use Japanese in his daily life and at times, he did, while Scott embraced interactions to use his Japanese. Through the use of guided reflection after a period of engagement, this study found that learner analysis of interactions promoted noticing (Schmidt, 1993; Shively, 2010) of trouble sources and conversational adjustments made by native speakers in the target language. The microanalysis of learner’s interactions in transcripts produced by the researcher along with the participants’ reflections provided a more global understanding and an emic perspective of the study abroad experience. Students and their home institutional instructors can use more advanced technology for distance learning as a means to improve critical reflection and allow for a critical examination of language use students encounter while abroad. Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the United States Naval Academy’s Faculty Development Fund. Approval was granted by the Human Research Protection Program at the United States Naval Academy. The identification number of this protocol is HRPP ID#: USNA.2012.0008. I want to thank Abigail McMeekin and the anonymous reviewers of previous versions of this manuscript for their suggestions. However, any errors or misinterpretations of the data are my own. Notes (1) The initial transcription by the profession transcription company was funded by the United States Naval Academy’s Faculty Development Fund. (2) Note that for these segments, the line numbers are from the original transcript and provide an indication of the original order.

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Kinginger, C. (2009) Language Learning and Study Abroad: A Critical Reading of Research. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Kinginger, C. (2011) Enhancing language learning in study abroad. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 31, 58–73. Kinginger, C. and Belz, J. A. (2005) Socio-cultural perspectives on pragmatic development in foreign language learning: Microgenetic case studies from telecollaboration and residence abroad. Intercultural Pragmatics 2 (4), 369–421. Liebscher, G. and Dailey-O’Cain, J. (2005) Learner code-switching in the content-based foreign language classroom. The Modern Language Journal 89 (2), 234–247. McMeekin, A. (2006) Negotiation in a Japanese study abroad setting. In M. DuFon and E. Churchill (eds) Language Learners in Study Abroad Contexts (pp. 177–202). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. McMeekin, A. (2017) NS-NNS interaction in a study abroad setting: Communication strategies, word searches, and intersubjectivity. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education 2 (2), 263-294. Moerman, M. (1988) Talking Culture: Ethnography and Conversation Analysis. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. Moore, M. and Kearsley, G. (2005) Distance Education: A Systems View. Belmont, CA.: Wadsworth. Ohta, A. (2005) Confi rmation checks: A discourse analytic reanalysis. Japanese Language and Literature 39 (2), 383–412. Paige, R.M., Cohen, A.D., Kappler, B., Chi, J.C. and Lassegard, J.P. (2009) Maximizing Study Abroad: A Students’ Guide to Strategies for Language and Culture Learning and Use. University of Minnesota: Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition. Roberts, C. Byram, M., Barro, A., Jordan, S. and Street, B. (eds) (2001) Language Learners as Ethnographers. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Sacks, H., Schegloff, E.A. and Jefferson G. (1974) A simplest systematics for organization of turn-taking for conversation. Language 50 (4), 686–735. Schmidt, R. (1990) The role of consciousness in second language learning. Applied Linguistics 11 (2), 129–158. Schmidt, R. (1993) Awareness and second language acquisition. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 13, 206–226. Schegloff, E.A. (2000) When ‘others’ initiate repair. Applied Linguistics 21 (2), 205–243. Schegloff, E.A., Jefferson, G. and Sacks, H. (1977) The preference for self-correction in the organization of repair in conversation. Language 53 (2), 361–382. Shively, R.L. (2010) From the virtual world to the real world: A model of pragmatics instruction for study abroad. Foreign Language Annals 43 (1), 105–137. Siegal, M. (1994) Looking East: Identity construction and white women learning Japanese. Doctoral thesis, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley. Dissertation Abstract International, 427, 9529497. Siegal, M. (1995) Individual diff erences and study abroad: Women learning Japanese in Japan. In B. Freed (ed.) Second Language Acquisition in a Study Abroad Context (pp. 225–244). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Siegal, M. (1996) The role of learner subjectivity in second language sociolinguistic competency: Western women learning Japanese. Applied Linguistics 17 (3), 356–382. Taguchi, N. (2015) Developing Interactional Competence in a Japanese Study Abroad Context. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. ten Have, P. (1999) Doing Conversation Analysis: A Practical Guide. London; Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Wilkerson, S. (1998) Study abroad from the participants’ perspective: A challenge to common beliefs. Foreign Language Annuals 31 (1), 23–39.

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Zemliansky, P. (2008) Chapter 10 Ethnographic research. In P. Zemliansky (ed.) Methods of Discovery: A Guide to Research Writing. See https://www.glowm.com/pdf/ JM-research_Chapter%2010.pdf (accessed December 2018). Zimmerman, E. (2007) Constructing Korean and Japanese interculturality in talk: Ethnic membership categorization among users of Japanese. Pragmatics 17 (1), 71–94.

Appendix A: Transcription Conventions

The transcription conventions used are based on the original conventions provided originally by Jefferson (1989) and summarized by ten Have (1999). Transcription conventions .

Falling intonation, declarative intonation

,

Falling-rising, continuing intonation

?

Rising intonation, question intonation

-

False start

:

Elongated vowel

=

Latched turn with no gap or overlap, or continuation by same Speaker from non-adjacent line

[

Overlap

(0.5)

Length of pause

(word)

Unsure hearings

°word°

Relatively quieter than surrounding talk

(xxx )

Unclear speech

ha

Laughter token

(h)

Laughter token within a word

h

Audible outbreath, more letters indicate longer outbreath

.h

Audible inbreath, more letters indicate longer in breath

12 Learners’ Participation in Japanese-Related Online Communities and the Relationship between Online Activities and Classroom Learning: A Comparative Case Study of Two JFL Learners Jae DiBello Takeuchi

Introduction

In recent years, participatory media fandom devoted to pop culture has been an object of inquiry in applied linguistics (e.g. Gee, 2005; Thorne et  al., 2009), cultural studies (e.g. Lee, 2011; Napier, 2006; PérezGonzález, 2012; Pérez-González & Susam-Saraeva, 2014), education (e.g. Black, 2009; Ito, 2006) and beyond. These studies point to the global impact of Japanese pop culture on today’s youth. A recent survey conducted by the Japan Foundation (2015) also confi rms that interest in pop culture remains among the top reasons for the study of Japanese language worldwide. Pop culture products, in particular anime and computer games, are frequently accessed online and via websites devoted to such media. In response to the importance of Japanese pop culture and online activities, a growing number of researchers (e.g. Ohara, 2011; Sauro, 2014, 2017) are considering the connection between students’ pop culture activities and their foreign language development. One early example is Fukunaga’s (2006) interview study of three American Japanese as a foreign language (JFL) learners who self-identified as anime fans. Although Fukunaga did not address online activities specifically, she described how 311

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JFL learners can use anime as an ‘out-of-class L2 [second language] learning tool’ (Fukunaga, 2006: 208); Fukunaga used her fi ndings to argue for the importance of teachers developing familiarity with students’ pop culture interests in order to utilize them in the classroom. While the call for studies of online activities is being heeded by more researchers (e.g. Abe, 2009; Chan & Wong, 2017), few studies have examined what connections, if any, students themselves make between their formal Japanese classroom learning and their participation in extra-curricular activities such as online communities or ‘affinity spaces’ (Gee, 2005), where participants interact around a topic of shared interest. Given the everincreasing involvement of students in online activities, it seems likely that online communities represent an untapped resource for both students and teachers. To expand our knowledge of the role that online communities can play for Japanese language learners, the current study compares the cases of two JFL learners from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds studying Japanese at a large American university. By juxtaposing these two learners’ experiences and perspectives, this study considers how online communities offer a range of activities and spaces within which Japanese language learners can both participate as contributors as well as benefit from as learners. Implications drawn from this study also offer insight into how instructors may respond to increasingly globalized classrooms in today’s higher education, where they must accommodate students with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. In other words, strategic incorporation of students’ extracurricular interests offers increased possibilities for personalizing classroom content to better match students’ interests, thereby meeting the various needs of a more diverse group of learners. In particular, this chapter makes the argument that even online activities conducted in English, which on the surface may seem not directly connected to Japanese language development, can contribute to students’ Japanese language learning.

Literature Review Online communities as communities of practice

While there are numerous ways to conceptualize a community, the notion of ‘communities of practice’ (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998) is particularly useful when examining participatory activities that take place in online communities. Lave and Wenger developed the idea of communities of practice as a way to describe and examine learning which is the result of changing or evolving participation in a group that shares some common interest(s) and pursuit(s). In the years since Lave and Wenger introduced the idea of communities of practice, it has been adopted in a wide variety of disciplines including second language acquisition. Of particular importance to this study are the key elements of the communities of practice framework. First, communities of practice may be more, less, or not at all,

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formalized and can be related to work, school, leisure or other activities in which people are engaged in some practice together. Wenger (1998) specified that there are three criteria that are present in a community of practice: (1) joint enterprise, which refers to an understanding (often continually negotiated) of what the community is about; (2) mutual engagement in terms of how the community functions; and (3) shared repertoire, which could include shared jargon, products and artefacts, as well as practices or shared routines and ways of doing community activities. Next, within the community, there are different types of membership in terms of the degree to which one is a core or peripheral member. These memberships are not static but dynamic; as members engage in the practice of the community, their membership evolves. Peripheral members often engage in ‘legitimate peripheral participation’ (Lave & Wenger, 1991: 29) or LPP, which refers to the experience of members new to the community who lack sufficient knowledge to engage fully in the practice of the group. New members begin at the periphery, and as they gain competency and increasing knowledge of the shared repertoires of the group, they gradually move to the center and towards fuller or core participation. This process takes place in and through engagement with other members in what is described as situated learning. In addition to research on communities of practice in physical spaces, a growing body of work examines communities of practice in online spaces, using terms like virtual, distributed, or mobile (e.g. Kietzmann et al., 2013; Kimble et  al., 2001). These studies demonstrate the various ways that Wenger’s criteria for communities of practice can be seen in groups where most or all of the interaction and practice of the community occur online. Thorne (2009) focused on the notion of online communities and in particular how community can be understood ‘in the context of internetmediated contexts and processes’ (Thorne, 2009: 82). Thorne problematizes the notion of community, citing the lack of consistency in its many modified forms (e.g. online community) and the ‘homogeneity and similarity’ (Thorne, 2009: 92) that its use can suggest. Nevertheless, he concludes that use of the term has its place, provided that researchers and educators do so with a critical awareness of its limitations. A major takeaway from his investigation into what constitutes a community is his description of the basic components of community: Core elements shared across many defi nitions of community include membership, shared location, shared cultural practices and values, interpersonally meaningful relationships, commitment, reciprocity, collective goods and resources, sense of shared identity, and generally social formations that are durative over time. (Thorne, 2009: 83)

Thorne’s notion of community fits well with that of ‘community of practice’ as described above. We can then draw from both depictions to evaluate a particular community and examine the types of participation in that community.

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In considering various internet-mediated communities and what they may offer to members, Thorne draws on Vygotsky’s notion of the zone of proximal development, or ZPD (e.g. Thorne, 2009; Vygotsky, 1978) to evaluate online activities and the potential they hold for second language learners. The ZPD refers to the difference between what individuals can do on their own and what they can do with assistance from someone else (often a more advanced peer) (e.g. Thorne, 2009; Vygotsky, 1978). The ZPD has been utilized in second language acquisition research (e.g. Aljaafreh & Lantolf, 1994; Kinginger, 2002). Ohta (e.g. 1995, 2001, 2005, 2006) in particular has examined the ZPD in the context of Japanese language classrooms. For example, Ohta (2001) described one instance that demonstrates how the ZPD can be seen in classroom pair work. In this example, one member of a classroom pair assists another in arriving at the correct grammar form. The fi rst student uses scaffolding: rather than merely telling her partner the correct form and moving on, the student guides her partner to the correct form. Once the partner produces the form, but with slightly incorrect pronunciation, the student offers a prompt, stopping at the point of the pronunciation mistake, to which the partner responds with the correct form in the correct pronunciation. This example shows how peers can scaffold each other to produce more accurate speech during classroom interaction. With regard to online contexts, Thorne (2009) highlighted ways in which online activities can be seen as ZPDs by virtue of the interaction among members. For example, he reported on writers of fan fiction and the feedback they received from readers, which allowed the fan fiction writers to continually refi ne and improve their output (i.e. the fan fiction). Thorne’s discussion underscores the utility of ZPD as a concept that can further our understanding of practices within the online communities in which increasing numbers of second language users are active. Pop culture and online activities

Websites devoted to pop culture are becoming increasingly common and include those centered around the discussion of specific games or anime as well as those involved in the creation of new content related to pop culture products. As these websites proliferate, researchers are beginning to examine both the websites and the people who frequent them. Some studies examine websites that revolve around fansubs or fan fiction, two examples of participatory media fandom. Although scholarly attention to these activities is increasing, most studies have been conducted in disparate disciplines, and online activities have only recently begun to receive more attention within the field of Japanese language pedagogy. In addition, informal discussions with Japanese teachers suggest that efforts to apply new research findings to classroom practice remain inconsistent (cf. Hatasa, 2012, who pointed out

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that pedagogical implications presented in JFL research can be difficult for Japanese teachers to incorporate). One important pop culture study is Fukunaga’s (2006) examination of American college students studying Japanese as a foreign language. She considered the role of pop culture in foreign language literacy development and conducted interviews with three American college-level Japanese language students (described as ‘Caucasian … born in the United States and … native speakers of English,’ (Fukunaga, 2006: 209)), whose interest in Japan was tied to an interest in anime, which generally began in high school. Based on her findings, Fukunaga argued that language teachers should pay greater attention to students’ pop culture activities, understand students’ pop culture interest and draw those interests out in the classroom. Fukunaga also noted that her participants tended to view the same anime multiple times, and generally watched subtitled rather than dubbed versions. She found that the repeated viewing of anime benefited Japanese language learners in terms of: ‘word recognition, listening and pronunciation, and awareness of various Japanese linguistic features’ (Fukunaga, 2006: 213); an increased sensitivity to ‘good or bad translation’ (Fukunaga, 2006: 214); and an ‘increased Japanese cultural knowledge of nonverbal gestures, mannerisms, social settings and rules, families, meals, and homes’ (Fukunaga, 2006: 215). Fukunaga found that students were often ‘exposed to many aspects of the language and culture of Japan through anime and its subcultures before they start taking Japanese courses’ (Fukunaga, 2006: 215). As her participants continued their language studies, they benefited from what Fukunaga called ‘a cycle of anime watching and Japanese learning’ (Fukunaga, 2006: 215) in which watching anime provided exposure to cultural knowledge while Japanese language classes provided instruction in grammar, writing, and speaking. As the cycle of anime viewing and classroom experiences continued, classroom learning allowed them to understand more of the anime they watched, and the anime activities served as ‘reinforcement of Japanese knowledge’ (Fukunaga, 2006: 216) acquired in the classroom. Finally, Fukunaga argued that ‘foreign language learning in the United States often lacks cultural context’ (Fukunaga, 2006: 217) and thus ‘the most significant advantage that anime offers JFL students is in the contextual and multiple meanings of the text’ (Fukunaga, 2006: 217). As such, anime and anime-related activities online give students an important opportunity to connect to a Japanese-related community beyond their classrooms. Fukunaga concluded with several important implications: that teachers of JFL need to ‘be aware of the power of pop culture’ (Fukunaga, 2006: 220); ‘encourage students to share their insider knowledge of a particular form of popular culture and spend some time learning from students’ (Fukunaga, 2006: 221). Although Fukunaga’s study is over 10 years old, her findings about the important role that Japanese pop culture can play in Japanese language study have been supported in subsequent studies (e.g. The Japan Foundation, 2013, 2015; Mori & Takeuchi, 2016).

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While Fukunaga (2006) described how Japanese language learners could benefit from their consumption of Japanese pop culture, a related question is how foreign language students benefit from actual participation in computer-mediated activities and how those activities diff er from or complement formal classroom activities. In their comprehensive review of research on digitally-mediated interaction, Thorne and Black (2007) examined activities in formal instructional contexts and in non-classroom-related participatory online spaces. They also considered how online activities give foreign language learners important opportunities to move beyond the role of learner/student and take on other identities. They argue that for second language learners, internetmediated interactions are becoming almost as common as face-to-face interactions and these interactions can result in greater motivation to learn or improve in a target language. Thus, Thorne and Black advocate for language educators to maximize students’ classroom opportunities to make use of knowledge gained online, but note that to do this, educators need to be able to understand and accommodate the various online genres in which students are active. Building on such an understanding, educators can then guide students to incorporate their outside interests to complement classroom activities, thereby expanding the possibility for language learning and increasing the personal relevance of classroom activities. With regard to online contexts, one common online activity is the creation of fan fiction or fansubs. Fan fiction refers to stories written by fans of a particular fiction or fi lm series; fansubs refer to subtitles for anime or video games that are created not by professional subtitling companies, but by fans who do not receive payment for their work. Most often fansubs are created through extensive online collaboration with multiple people contributing to the production of an individual fansubbed product. Given how increasingly common fansubbing is, it is not surprising that there are a number of different kinds of research being conducted to examine it. Pérez-Gonzalez and Susam-Saraeva (2014) described the history of fansubbing with a particular focus on the role of non-professionals as compared to professionals. Their article shows how wide-spread fansubbing has become, including groups in a variety of countries translating Japanese anime into languages such as English and Chinese. In another example, Rush (2009) used ethnographic participantobservation field research to examine English-language fansubbing of Japanese anime with regard to its origins, its participatory culture, and the motivations of the people involved in its creation. Rush noted the difficulty of translating cultural details. He found that one motivation to fansub was fansubbers’ concern with the removal of ‘essential Japanese elements’ (Rush, 2009: 6) when anime was localized by English-language production companies – the fansubbers responded by working to preserve what they saw as important Japanese cultural aspects. Often fansubbers

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felt that they were creating translations which were truer to the Japanese original than the subtitled versions produced by professional companies. Rush also described the role of the fansubbing community as a whole, in which ‘even if a member of a fansubbing community isn’t producing new texts, he can still contribute something to the discussion’ (Rush, 2009: 7–8) surrounding the creation and assessment of the fansubs in progress. Rush’s study demonstrates the do-it-yourself attitude often seen in participatory media fandom, in which a member of the community can move from being a viewer of fansubs to being a creator of fansubs ‘by learning one of the skill sets needed in the production process’ (Rush, 2009: 8). Rush drew a parallel between these fansubbing sensibilities and the tendency of the internet to both value and foster collaboration. He explained that the various tasks involved in producing a fansubbed video were shared across members such that, ‘by combining their various talents, groups of users can collaborate to produce a text that could be beyond the skills of just one person’ (Rush, 2009: 8). Similarly, Lee’s (2011) case study of anime fansubbing presents another example of extensive collaboration in English fansubbing of Japanese anime, echoing Rush’s conclusion that friendship and community play important roles in fansubbers’ motivation. Although neither Rush nor Lee addressed the language learning experiences of the fansubbers, their observations of what language learners can accomplish by collaborating on an activity with others recall the notion of the ZPD. In addition, Rush’s study adds insight to our understanding of the role of community and collaboration in motivation for second language learning and use. Similarly, Lee’s descriptions of how members of online communities learned and improved their translation and editing skills through participation in the production of fansubs offer a clear example of how a ZPD can manifest in an online community. While the studies described thus far examined the phenomenon of fansubbing with attention to the communities and members, other studies have more directly considered what benefits online activities can offer language learners. For example, Black (2009) conducted a longitudinal ethnographic study to examine English language learners’ (ELLs) participation in an online fan fiction community. Black explained that in fan fiction, writers ‘extend storylines, create new narrative threads, develop romantic relationships between characters, and focus on the lives of undeveloped characters from various media’ (Black, 2009: 398). Her description accentuates a significant difference between fan fiction and fansubbing; fansubbing does not involve the creation of new storylines, while fan fiction does not require the technical tasks elemental to fansubbing. Black described both the fan fiction products as well as the interaction between the writers and readers of fan fiction, in particular examining how the ELLs described their proficiency with English and how they used (written) codeswitching within the fiction. We can draw on the notion of the ZPD to understand

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how fan fiction writers benefit from such interactions with readers in the fan fiction community. Through these activities, in addition to improvements in English, the ELLs enacted ‘cosmopolitan identities’ and were able to make connections to other fan fiction community members who were located in places around the world. Black found that her participants ‘creatively employed language and other representational resources to enact cosmopolitan identities, make trans-border social connections, collaborate with other youth, experiment with new genres and formats for composing, and challenge traditional author/reader and producer/consumer distinctions’ (Black, 2009: 423). Of particular relevance is Black’s description of how the language skills of the ELLs evolved both through their efforts in creating fan fiction as well as through participation in the fan fiction community and interaction with other members. Further, the participants in Black’s study made use of English as a lingua franca, and her examination of their online activities presents a good example of how the language skills of foreign language learners can change and improve outside of the context of a traditional classroom. The aforementioned studies shed light on the impact that online activities and online communities can have on foreign language students. The fi ndings demonstrate that online activities, whether they are primarily centered on the consumption of pop culture or whether they take more participatory forms, offer significant opportunities for increasing knowledge of language and developing language ability by making use of the ZPD as afforded within online communities of practice. As many researchers have stressed, if this potential is to be maximized, it is essential for instructors to actively seek to understand students’ online activities and create opportunities to incorporate students’ outside interests into classroom activities and foreign language curricula. At the same time, these studies are in a range of disparate fields and not all are concerned specifically with foreign language learning. Further, few studies have examined what connections, if any, students themselves make between their formal Japanese classroom learning and their participation in online communities. This study seeks to fi ll that gap by examining the online and classroom experiences of two JFL learners and considering their views about those experiences. The analysis of participants’ narratives was guided by the following questions: (1) What kinds of Japanese-related online communities did participants join and in what ways did they see themselves as members of those communities? (2) What kinds of online activities did participants engage in and in what ways, if any, did they perceive those activities as being beneficial to their Japanese language development? (3) How did participants depict the respective roles of classroom and online activities?

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The Study Participants

Participants in the present study were part of a larger study (detailed in Mori & Takeuchi, 2016) in which 15 Japanese language learners were interviewed about their Japanese learning experiences. Participants in the original study included Asian international students and American students who had completed third- or fourth-year level Japanese language classes at a large university in the American Midwest; their Japanese proficiencies ranged from intermediate to advanced. Most of the participants began formal study of Japanese at the university-level. All described various technologies they used to support their Japanese language learning (such as flashcard apps and other digital language tools). Many participants watched Japanese anime or television shows online, and some participants made use of social media or messaging and video chat services to interact with fi rst language speakers of Japanese. However, the two participants selected for examination in this study distinguished themselves from the others in that they explicitly described themselves as members of Japanese-related online communities. While other participants may indeed have been members of similar online communities, these two were the only participants who explicitly described themselves as such, and this distinction led to the choice to focus on them for this study. These participants, introduced here by their pseudonyms, were Bo, an international student from China, and David, an American student. (Although they attended the same university, they were not classmates.) Data

Semi-structured interviews with each participant were conducted by Mori for the original study. The interviews were conducted in either English or Japanese; interview language was chosen by individual participants.1 Audio recordings of the interviews were transcribed in full by Takeuchi. The interview was designed to be similar to a program exit interview and the same interview protocol was used for all participants. Based on participants’ answers, follow-up questions and additional topics were pursued freely such that all interviews included the topics as addressed by the interview protocol as well as those that emerged within individual interviews (cf. Block, 2000; Miller, 2011, 2012; Roulston, 2011). The interview protocol included questions about participants’ Japanese level, their reasons for studying Japanese, their Japanese language goals, and any Japanese-related communities and activities that they participated in within and beyond the classroom. In the interviews, Bo chose Japanese, while David chose English. (This author produced all of the translations of Bo’s interview.) Bo and David each provided extensive narratives regarding their participation in various

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communities. The primary data come from these interviews, and as such represent self-reports of the experiences of the participants. In addition, for this study, we also drew on accounts from teachers who taught these participants. The teachers’ accounts offered confirmation of details such as the participants’ Japanese ability and their descriptions of classroom activities such as project work. Methods

For this study, thematic and content analysis was conducted (Schreier, 2014; Willig, 2014). The goal of the analysis was to identify themes that emerged from the interviews. Participants’ similarities and differences were also examined. After considering the two participants as a whole (cf. Creswell, 2007; Erickson, 1992), they were then individually examined and each interview transcript was coded by hand, in particular making use of holistic coding (Saldaña, 2009, 2013) in order to examine longer portions of talk and complete stories. Examples of holistic codes include the following: Japanese online communities; memberships; pop culture; use of technology; impacts on classroom learning; and impacts on online activities. Coding was then used to make tables in Excel for comparison. In response to questions about non-classroom activities, the participants mentioned their use of technology in language learning, and they reported that a key motivator was their interest in Japanese pop culture and pop media, which they accessed online. The portions of interviews which addressed classroom versus non-classroom activities and online communities were then made the focus of analysis for this chapter. The analysis reveals that Bo and David differed in some crucial ways in terms of their language use in their online activities. In addition, they also differed in how they viewed the role of formal classroom instruction in their Japanese language development. At the same time, they shared some important similarities, most notably the fact that they each strongly identified with their respective online communities. Therefore, in this study, I focus on their narratives to examine how these two learners utilized online communities for their language learning, how they contributed to the communities and in what ways they benefited from them. Two Japanese Language Learners

Both Bo and David were highly motivated to learn Japanese because they were interested in Japanese pop culture products. Moreover, both majored in computer-related fields and had an affi nity with technology. Their personal interests in Japanese pop culture were realized by being highly active in online communities devoted to Japanese pop culture, in particular, Japanese computer games and anime. Bo’s Japanese abilities were largely the result of self-study and the Japanese language input he

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obtained through various online activities. Bo received formal classroom instruction after he had already developed his Japanese skills to a fairly high level. On the other hand, David had taken four years of university Japanese classes and developed his Japanese language abilities in the context of traditional classroom instruction. Although David had been an avid follower of various online groups devoted to Japanese pop culture, initially he was more of a consumer of online content than a contributor. After his Japanese language abilities advanced through formal classroom instruction, David began to participate in online communities in a greater capacity. The following discussion draws on their answers to interview questions to better understand their participation in online communities and consider how they each viewed the respective roles of classroom instruction and online activities in Japanese language development. (Comments in quotation marks represent interview excerpts.) Bo

Bo is a Chinese national who came to the USA as a high school student and then attended a large state university in the American Midwest, where he majored in computer engineering and completed a certificate in technical Japanese. 2 After graduating from the university, Bo planned to attend graduate school in Japan. Bo described his interest in Japanese language as arising from his interest in Japanese anime and games, which began in junior high school in China. Bo made it a point to describe his initial experiences of studying Japanese as ‘unconscious’, which he explained was a byproduct of watching anime and playing games in their original Japanese versions with Chinese subtitles. Bo described his online Japanese language activities as a hobby that he wanted to do so he engaged in it every chance he had. As a result of this intense interest, he spent several years from junior high school to high school engaging with Japanese language online for several hours a day. Often on days when he did not have to be in school, he reported that he spent eight hours a day engaged in Japanese activities online. He also mentioned that he took and passed the highest level (N1) of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) prior to receiving any formal Japanese language instruction. In these ways, Bo differed from the other participants in that his Japanese language skills were already advanced when he started Japanese courses at the university. His fi rst formal Japanese language class was a fourth year class, unlike David, who began his Japanese coursework with the first year class. Developing Japanese through participation in a fansub community

Bo’s interest in Japanese anime led him to join a fansub community even though he had not yet started studying Japanese formally. This community was actively involved in producing fan-generated Chinese subtitles for Japanese anime. Bo explained that he ‘admired and looked up to the

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people who were actually making the subtitles’ and he described how he wanted to ‘contribute to the community’. He explained that, initially, his lack of Japanese ability meant that translating the Japanese dialogue was impossible. Instead, he compensated for his lack of Japanese language ability by performing technical tasks, such as integrating subtitles with the correct portion of the video. He said that these tasks became the impetus for him to learn hiragana and katakana, and at the same time, they helped him develop listening skills. For example, in order to place the subtitles correctly, he had to listen closely to identify what portion of the dialogue matched which section of the translations. 3 He also noted that because the tasks were repetitive, it allowed him to learn and remember the sounds and vocabulary words of Japanese. Through the fansub community and his activities with it, Bo’s Japanese developed in the absence of formal classroom instruction. It seems clear from Bo’s descriptions that he was able to take advantage of the support and scaffolding provided by other members of the online community. This created a ZPD which played a facilitative role in the development of his Japanese abilities. From an early stage, Bo’s interest in Japanese pop media combined with his admiration for the more linguistically advanced online community members. This resulted in a strong motivation both to participate in fansub production and also to improve his Japanese language skills so that he could participate in increasingly significant ways. As his Japanese language abilities developed, his participation in the community evolved and he took on other tasks that were not only technical but also Japaneserelated in nature. In Bo’s depictions, we can see an example of his movement within the online community from more peripheral to more central participation (cf. Lave & Wenger, 1991). Developing communicative competence through participation in online communities

As Bo’s Japanese ability developed further through participation in the fansub community, he gradually began to explore other online communities where the medium of interaction was Japanese, and the majority of members were first language (L1) speakers of Japanese. Bo described frequenting a website where some users engaged in livestreaming broadcasts and other users typed comments or responses. Bo watched these livestreams, which were broadcast by people whom he described as ‘average Japanese people killing time’. Initially, he only listened and watched, but over time he began to write comments and receive responses from the livestreamers. Through these interactions, he developed another online community made up of L1 Japanese speakers. Although Bo’s Japanese ability had developed a great deal through his online activities, in the interview, he reported being conscious of gaps in his linguistic knowledge and described his Japanese skills as being lopsided. Bo explained that this was because most of the Japanese language

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input he had received up to that point was based primarily on anime and games. In the community of livestreamers, however, he engaged in another set of important learning activities which fi lled in the gaps created by the previous anime-based language input. Bo described the voice actors that he heard in anime as speaking ‘properly’ and at a speed that was easy to follow. On the other hand, the livestreamers, who were ‘just average Japanese people’, spoke using abbreviations and contractions, leaving out some words or adding others. Here, Bo did not clarify whether he meant that the livestreamers used words he did not know or whether they used extra words to a degree he had not encountered in the more concise and standardized speech used in anime. It seems likely that he encountered both unknown words as well as simply a larger number of words, which may have contributed to his initial difficulty in understanding. Regardless, he reported that it was difficult to follow the speech of the livestreamers, and, in the beginning, he could either listen to their spoken commentary or he could read comments from other members that appeared (in Japanese) on the screen, but he could not do both. After about six months of this activity, he became better able to understand the livestreamers’ speech, and he began to be able to read the written commentary as well.4 It was at this point, he said, that he started to want to communicate more and he began to type comments for the livestreamers. Initially, he said, the Japanese comments he posted were ‘incoherent,’ with incorrect or sometimes what he called ‘English-style’ grammar. However, if his comments contained mistakes or were not understood, the livestreamers would provide feedback, either with the correct forms or by asking for clarification. Bo ultimately developed friendships with some of the livestreamers, which then led to conversing with them in real time. This offered Bo important opportunities for practice in spoken conversation. In these exchanges, Bo received a great deal of spontaneous Japanese-language instruction, and he felt that these activities, which he engaged in repeatedly, enabled him to develop the ability to ‘sense’ whether the Japanese he was using was correct or not. In Bo’s descriptions, we can see numerous ways that his online activities connected him to more experienced peers who provided crucial scaffolding that supported his Japanese language development. Although Bo did not describe this using terms like ZPD or communities of practice, his depictions show that he was aware of the ways in which his online communities benefited him. First, Bo pointed out that the linguistic input he received from anime consisted of ‘proper’ pronunciation and speed, or what might be described as idealized speech. However, he described the livestreaming speech as more variable (at times abbreviated or elaborated). It was more authentic speech in that it was unedited, unscripted and delivered by speakers who were not professional voice actors. In addition, by interacting with the livestreamers, Bo reported that he was able to receive feedback from native speakers on his Japanese production. As will be seen

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in the discussion of David below, these kinds of Japanese language interactions with native speakers and spontaneous corrective feedback are something that David did not experience in his online activities. Drawing on his linguistic background in English and Chinese

Bo’s activities with the fansub community and the livestreaming community offer a partial explanation of how he was able to develop an advanced level of Japanese in the absence of formal classroom instruction. Follow-up questions during the interview addressed additional factors in Bo’s background that also made positive contributions to his linguistic development. One point uncovered in the interview was the role that English language study played for Bo. Although Bo did not receive formal instruction in Japanese prior to joining advanced level Japanese courses at the American university, he did study English as a foreign language during elementary and junior high school in China. During the interview, Bo described his gratitude to a junior high school English teacher whose teaching method Bo found particularly helpful. Namely, the class required reading in English every day, and one main activity was working on breaking down sentences and thinking about the meaning. Bo found this to be a practical approach, and he said that it was similar to how he approached self-study of Japanese. Based on the influence of English instruction, Bo explained that when he needed to analyze Japanese grammar, he drew on his experiences of analyzing English grammar. Thus, although he had not received formal Japanese language instruction, he had received foreign language instruction, and he was able to call on the techniques developed in English as a foreign language classes and apply them to his Japanese linguistic pursuits. In addition to drawing on his experience learning English, Bo also described relying on his familiarity with Chinese characters to learn how to understand Japanese kanji and determine when the Japanese meaning diverged from the Chinese one. Bo explained that his knowledge of Chinese characters made it possible to guess at the meanings of Japanese vocabulary written in kanji. Bo made reference to the idea that, when learning a foreign language, it can be discouraging to feel like nothing can be understood. However, because he could draw on his knowledge of Chinese characters and guess at the meaning, this became a source of motivation. In addition, he was also able to bypass the need for learning how to write kanji, and he recognized that this was an important advantage. Views about classroom learning compared to online activities

Bo’s comments about the ways in which he benefited from the English instruction he received in China demonstrate that he recognized the important role classroom instruction can play, in particular in terms of showing students how to analyze linguistic structures. As for Japanese, Bo explained that he decided to enroll in advanced Japanese language courses

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at the American university to supplement the Japanese he had learned online and on his own. Although he also enrolled in the university’s technical Japanese courses (which were focused on Japanese used in fields such as engineering), he was dismissive of those courses, saying that they were ‘only’ translation courses. He contrasted these with the advanced Japanese language courses he took, which he described as ‘proper’ or comprehensive instruction. During this portion of the interview, the interviewer pointed out that since Bo had already passed JLPT N1 prior to beginning Japanese coursework at the American university, he did not really need to enroll in a Japanese course. However, Bo disagreed and noted that in fact, he did need what the courses offered him. For example, he explained that the Japanese he had studied up to that point consisted of a great deal of internet jargon and slang, and prior to taking the advanced class, he was not able to properly use honorific and polite expressions. Bo pointed out that he could read books in Japanese, particularly those that were in line with his hobby interests (such as reading about Japan’s warring states period), but he was not able to use what he called ‘proper’ (chanto shita) Japanese or have a conversation with a ‘normal’ (futsū no) Japanese person. He also used the word ‘lopsided’ (katayotta) to describe his language skills, and it was this awareness that led him to enroll in the advanced Japanese class at the university. By the time Bo began formal Japanese coursework, he had already learned a great deal through his online interests. What started out as an interest in anime grew into an interest in other areas, including Japanese history and various periods from Japan’s past, Shintoism, classical Japanese and Japanese literature. Although Bo was highly critical of what he described as ways in which his Japanese development was lopsided and incomplete, his Japanese teacher described how Bo brought a great deal of understanding about Japanese culture and a significant body of knowledge of various genres of Japanese language use (e.g. anime, classical Japanese, internet livestreaming) to his Japanese classes. This background knowledge made it possible for him to do project work during his Japanese classes through which he pursued his interest in these genres. This also allowed him to further build on the skills he had developed before participating in formal Japanese language courses. The project involved researching a topic, writing a paper about it and then presenting it to the class. Bo chose to examine Japanese attitudes toward death in various historical periods. The choice of topic came from Bo’s personal interests, thus he brought with him a great deal of knowledge of the subject, which was further expanded by the project. Thus, for Bo, online participation was a driving force behind his Japanese language development, while classroom instruction, which came late in his Japanese learning trajectory, provided a supplement to online activities. Nevertheless, Bo viewed classroom learning as contributing essential components to his Japanese skills which were previously lacking.

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One other aspect that stands out in Bo’s interview is how he depicted his relationships with online friends versus those with people he met in his Japanese classes. Bo created close connections with people he met online, often fellow anime and fansub enthusiasts who were fellow ChineseJapanese bilinguals. It is also notable that he developed friendships with some of the Japanese livestreamers as well. In comparison, he did not make close connections with the classmates in his Japanese language courses. This may be because in the classroom environment at the university, he was joining a fourth year class with a group who, for many students, had been studying Japanese together since their fi rst year on campus. Although he ultimately studied with that group for two semesters, Bo did not have the same experiences and sense of community that other students shared. In comparison, his online connections were built up over a number of years through various projects and activities. In this way, we can see Bo’s online activities as taking place within online communities characterized by shared values and shared goals (cf. Thorne, 2009; Wenger, 1998). Conversely, the classroom environment, in which he participated for a much shorter time, did not provide him with the same richness of interaction and connection. Thus, for Bo, online activities were an essential source of linguistic input and training, as well as a realm in which he made connections and friendships with others who shared his passion for Japanese pop culture. The classroom, on the other hand, offered supplementary instruction and gave him the opportunity to develop a more well-rounded set of linguistic abilities with the addition of more formal registers, but did not offer the community that he was able to fi nd and cultivate online. David

David, an American, majored in computer science and completed four years’ worth of Japanese language courses as well as a certificate in professional Japanese. 5 Although David and Bo shared some commonalities, they also differed in key ways. For example, at the time of the interview, Bo had visited Japan twice and was planning to pursue graduate study in Japan. David, on the other hand, had never been to Japan and had no immediate plans to go there. Instead, David planned to stay in the USA after graduation and work for a large computer fi rm. Unlike Bo, David had not studied Japanese on his own prior to enrolling in a beginning level course at the university. David became interested in Japanese because of his interest in computer games and Japanese authors and, as he explained, he desired to study something that was ‘completely different from English and Spanish’. Although David had not yet taken the JLPT, he was a dedicated student and consistently received A grades in his Japanese courses. In his online activities, David sought out communities that were devoted to discussions about game strategy (for computer and online games) and

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issues that arise in conjunction with localization when games are translated from Japanese to English.6 Notably, while both Bo and David were interested in translation, Bo was involved as a creator while David was only involved as a consumer. Developing cultural appreciation through online activities

David’s online communities revolved around community members’ shared interest in Japanese-language games; however, the lingua franca was English, not Japanese. For example, David followed a fan group that was involved in translating a famous Japanese game, where online discussion centered around the linguistic and cultural issues encountered during the translation work. David enthusiastically described the fan group’s efforts to ‘reverse engineer’ the game and the various localization issues they grappled with in the process. David found their discussion ‘always very fascinating to follow.’ However, unlike Bo, David initially did not make any efforts to become involved in or contribute to the fan group, nor did he see his online activities as a direct source for learning Japanese grammar or vocabulary. Instead, he described the many ways in which he learned about Japanese language and culture through his online activities. Nevertheless, David enjoyed those activities a great deal and felt they were beneficial to his overall understanding of the Japanese language. David also acknowledged that his pursuit of Japanese language learning outside of Japanese class was ‘a little more passive’ than many of his classmates. At the same time, he highlighted other ways that he benefited from his online activities. For example, David described making online friends from around the world, with whom he shared his love of Japanese language learning and enjoyed discussions (conducted in English) about the Japanese authors and Japanese games that were his passion. When asked what he learned from his online activities, David again explained that his activities online did not result in learning discrete items such as vocabulary words or grammar points. Instead, David discussed the challenges of translation and localization when going from Japanese to English. He explained that his activities online often involved reading or participating in discussions about the cultural and linguistic distance between Japanese and English and examining how fan groups accounted for the ‘cultural norms’ and ‘cultural jokes’ that need to be conveyed in the translations. David was keenly aware of the difficulty of the task of making Japan understandable and accessible to Westerners, and he enjoyed talking and reading about how this task was handled by those involved in producing translated and localized versions of Japanese pop media and games. David also described learning about these issues as adding an important component to traditional study based on vocabulary and grammar learning. Throughout the interview, David displayed his view of the benefit of online discussions in English, emphasizing that he learned cultural information and other facets of Japanese which enriched

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his overall understanding despite the fact that the interactions were not taking place in Japanese. Views about classroom learning compared to online activities

When the interview questions turned to the topic of how formal classroom instruction and non-classroom learning might be compared, David was very clear in crediting formal classroom instruction as the source of the majority of his knowledge of Japanese. He explained that what he learned through his Japanese coursework formed a base upon which he was able to build. This then enabled him to engage in the online discussions and other activities that centered around examining Japanese language and translation issues. Unlike Bo, who participated in the fansub community even before his Japanese language skills developed, David explained that he felt he was not able to participate in online communities until he had ‘already spent a few years learning the basics in a classroom environment’. David described an online community that he had been involved with for five or six years; however, he said it was not until he had completed several semesters of Japanese coursework at the university that he felt his Japanese knowledge was sufficient to allow him to participate in the discussions as an active member. Although David’s descriptions of his online activities are quite different from Bo’s, we can see ways in which David’s participation evolved from being a more peripheral member to a more central one. What is difficult to ascertain is whether or to what degree his following the online communities as a consumer facilitated his gradual evolution into a more active participant. It seems likely that the knowledge he gained by reading the discussions of others played a significant role in making it possible for him to become a more active contributor later. However, when he described his shift to becoming a contributor, David credits only classroom instruction. David’s comments demonstrate his belief that classroom instruction is a necessary component of language learning and that if there is to be an order to learning, for him at least, formal, classroom-based learning is a necessary prerequisite for informal learning and should be undertaken before other activities. David’s belief that he could not even participate in English-language discussions about Japanese until he achieved a certain level of Japanese proficiency contrasts starkly with Bo’s approach, which was to participate in whatever capacity he could from the beginning of his association with the online community. While Bo found ways to participate in his online community even as a novice member, and through that participation increased his Japanese use over time, David’s online activities were initially passive (i.e. reading) and only later did he begin participating in discussions, which were about Japanese in English. Thus, David’s comments show that he felt grammar and vocabulary learning were best undertaken in a formal classroom environment, while informal interactions online were sources of information that could enrich one’s overall understanding

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of the language and culture. Ultimately, David, like Bo, was able to achieve a high level of Japanese language ability.7 In addition, like Bo, David incorporated interests he developed online and outside of the classroom into project work in his advanced Japanese classes. These classroom projects included translating a Japanese mystery story into English (notably, the choice of story was based on the advice of an online friend) and researching the background of a Japanese computer game. Because David was a fan of a Japanese detective game, he chose a topic related to the Japanese legal system and its newly introduced jury system. His experience playing the game in Japanese gave him an advantage in that he already knew much of the relevant vocabulary he would need for the project. Through the project work, he was then able to deepen his understanding of the topic, and his knowledge of the vocabulary needed to discuss it. David developed some friendships with people he met online, describing them as being ‘from all over the world’, for example the friend mentioned above was from Europe. These friends were sources of ideas and information for David, and he clearly valued them. However, unlike Bo, David’s online friendships were forged through English-language interactions, and he did not meet or befriend Japanese native speakers online. At the same time, David formed close connections with his Japanese language classmates, which he described as a ‘tight-knit community’. David, unlike Bo, began his Japanese coursework at the beginning level and studied with approximately the same group of classmates over multiple semesters, which is likely to have contributed to the strong relationships he developed with them. Conclusion

By comparing the interview responses from Bo and David, we can develop a picture of their online communities and activities that allows us to examine how they contributed to those communities and how they each benefited from being members of those communities. We can also consider how each viewed the respective roles that classroom and nonclassroom activities played in their Japanese language development. While it may seem obvious how these two participants differ, the following discussion highlights key similarities and argues that both types of online communities described in this study can be beneficial for learners and function as communities of practice, creating zones of proximal development where learning can occur. In particular, for both Bo and David, their online communities shared many of the core elements of community (Thorne, 2009) or community of practice (Wenger, 1998), including shared practices and pursuits, shared values and interpersonally meaningful relationships with other members. In addition, the actual content of the online activities served as a kind of source material from which they then drew upon for classroom activities.

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Further, both Bo and David experienced a change in their participation over time, as they became more competent and were able to do more in their respective communities. Bo’s online activities, both with the fansub community and the livestreamers, can be understood as taking place within a ZPD (e.g. Thorne, 2009; Vygotsky, 1978) in that support from other members allowed him to progressively expand his participation from peripheral to active. The ways in which Bo used Japanese online evolved by drawing on the support from other members and repeating similar activities numerous times. This segued into opportunities for real-time spoken conversations which ultimately played an important role in improving his Japanese language abilities. David, on the other hand, described being a passive, peripheral participant for many years, only reading about accounts of how other members approached issues of translation and localization. As his Japanese ability and knowledge developed through classroom learning, David gradually began to participate more actively in online discussions where he had previously been only a consumer. David attributed his increasing participation to his increased Japanese abilities. We also may speculate that years of reading online discussions was an additional factor in his ability to become a more active participant and contributor. When we view Bo’s online activities through the lens of the ZPD, it is clear that his online activities provided him with scaffolding upon which his Japanese language skills were built. Although David did not use Japanese in his online activities, it can be argued that his online activities were similarly a source of learning and a zone within which he was able to access and benefit from the knowledge of more experienced members. As he gained confidence in his own knowledge, David increased his active participation online and he incorporated online learning into classroom activities which were conducted in Japanese. The most obvious way that Bo and David differ is in how they viewed the respective roles of online and classroom activities. For Bo, online activities were both the initial realm and the primary source of his Japanese language learning. He then applied techniques learned in English classes to his study of Japanese and later augmented that by enrolling in university Japanese classes. As such, for Bo, we see that online activities were significant sources of Japanese development, while classroom activities were supplemental. David, on the other hand, acquired almost all of his Japanese language knowledge and ability in the context of formal classroom instruction. Online activities then offered him opportunities to learn about cultural issues related to translation and to consider the cultural and linguistic distance of the two languages. Thus, classroom instruction was the primary source, and a necessary prerequisite, of David’s Japanese language learning, while online activities were supplemental in that they offered him a chance to enrich his understanding of Japanese language and culture.

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While the roles of online and classroom activities differed for Bo and David, one key similarity is that the motivations that propelled their Japanese language learning were found in online communities and fostered through self-initiated online activities. It is notable that these two participants were not Japanese language majors while in university, and yet they spent a significant amount of non-classroom time engaging in Japaneselanguage related pastimes. In addition, while their assessments of the roles of classroom versus online activities differed, both were able to articulate benefits derived from participation in online communities. Further, both took advantage of classroom project work to incorporate their interests into the classroom, making classroom content more personally relevant (cf. Fukunaga, 2006; Thorne, 2009). In this way, regardless of whether online or classroom activities were primary, we can see that their online experiences enriched their classroom study, and vice versa, their classroom study added important components to their beyond-class activities. For Japanese language educators, as Fukunaga (2006) argued, this is a clear implication of the importance for teachers to discover why their students are pursuing Japanese language learning. Such knowledge can then be called upon to better include student interests in classroom content, especially but not only in more advanced classes. Because the fourth year classes included a project component, Bo and David were each able to incorporate their outside-of-class interests into their classroom activities and choose topics of personal relevance for their projects. Further, although a consideration of the impact of their projects on other classmates is beyond the scope of this study, we can imagine that, through project activities, classmates exposed each other to new information and ideas, expanding the possibilities for how students can take their Japanese interests beyond the classroom. Similarly, Bo’s and David’s teachers were impressed by their topics, papers, and presentations, and viewed the quality of each project as being in large part due to their respective extracurricular interests and activities, further supporting a positive assessment of the extracurricular activities of both of these participants. Researchers have found that participation in online activities is a source of motivation (e.g. Thorne & Black, 2007) and that even beginners draw on Japanese media in their Japanese learning pursuits (e.g. Ohara, 2011). As such, JFL teachers need to consider how to more consistently incorporate students’ pop culture interests and online activities. Even in beginning classes, tailoring projects and activities to students’ levels can ensure that even beginners are encouraged to incorporate their in-class and beyond-class activities. Including such project work in all levels of instruction would be beneficial in at least three ways. First, it would allow students to engage with more personalized content while being able to call upon their teacher’s guidance to increase language learning. This would, in turn, encourage those students to make more explicit connections between classroom and non-classroom activities. Second, it would expose

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other students in the class to a wider range of Japanese language and cultural topics. Third, it would position students as additional resources for each other in discovering and accessing new Japan-related information. This would benefit teachers as well, because although teachers may be the ‘language experts’, students are often the ‘experts’ in terms of Japanese pop culture. Teachers may not be able to keep up with constantly emerging digital and pop media content, thus, incorporating project work and other activities to allow students to share their interests in class would be a resource for both students and teachers. Lastly, given David’s experience, it must also be argued that not only activities conducted in Japanese are of value. It might be tempting to downplay the contribution of David’s online activities in English and to assume that David benefited less than Bo did. However, it could be argued that such a conclusion is mistaken – indeed, David’s experiences demonstrate the value in activities that lead Japanese language learners to engage repeatedly and enthusiastically with topics related to Japanese language and culture. In closing, as Thorne and Black (2009) argue, online identities and activities are becoming increasingly real for language learners. As such, it is imperative that Japanese language educators assist students in developing their class-external interests so that students can more fully participate in communities beyond the classroom, increasing the chances that they will be successful in taking Japanese beyond the classroom. Acknowledgment

I am grateful to Dr Junko Mori for making available the data set used in this study and for many discussions as I developed my analysis. Any errors or shortcoming in the work are solely my responsibility. Notes (1) Participants were given the choice of either English or Japanese for the interview. The choice of interview language should not be assumed to correspond to a participant’s Japanese ability. Rather, a complex set of factors (beyond the scope of this study) are likely to have contributed. In particular, the interviewer was a native speaker of Japanese, and while the American students could choose to conduct the interview in their native language, the Asian international students had to choose between two second languages (English or Japanese) since the interviewer was unable to speak their native languages. (2) To receive this certificate, students take a selection of courses that includes Japanese language courses and courses focused on translating Japanese texts related to computer science and engineering. (3) It is likely that Bo’s understanding of Chinese characters helped him complete some of these tasks even without knowing the Japanese vocabulary; however, during this part of the interview, he did not make the connection between Chinese characters and the subtitling task, and instead focused on his efforts to learn hiragana and katakana, for which his knowledge of Chinese characters would be of little benefit.

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(4) It is worth noting here that Bo’s literacy in Chinese, and his ability to read Chinese characters, likely gave him an advantage in dealing with the Japanese kanji he encountered on the screen during the livestream broadcasts. During this point of the interview, however, he did not make this connection. (5) This certificate program focuses on communication in professional contexts to help students prepare for careers in which Japanese is used. (6) Localization refers to how a product (here, a computer game) is adapted to customize it for a country and/or language other than the one in which it was originally released. The term highlights the fact that linguistic translation alone is insufficient to account for cultural differences. (See O’Hagan & Mangiron, 2013, for an in-depth discussion of game localization.) (7) This statement is based on a combination of reports from David’s Japanese teachers and his consistently high grades across multiple Japanese courses.

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Thorne, S.L. (2009) ‘Community’, semiotic flows, and mediated contribution to activity. Language Teaching 42, 81–94. Thorne, S.L. and Black, R.W. (2007) Language and literacy development in computermediated contexts and communities. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 27, 133–160. Thorne, S.L., Black, R.W. and Sykes, J.M. (2009) Second language use, socialization, and learning in internet interest communities and online gaming. The Modern Language Journal 93 (s1), 802–821. Vygotsky, L.S. (1978) Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Mental Process. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Wenger, E. (1998) Community of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Willig, C. (2014) Interpretation and analysis. In U. Flick (ed.) The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Data Analysis (pp. 136–151). London: Sage Publications.

Epilogue Erica Zimmerman and Abigail McMeekin

As it has been over a decade since Nagata (2002) and Nakajima (2002), this volume provides a timely glimpse into the recent focus and trends for Japanese computer-assisted language learning (CALL). The contributing authors all consider technology to be a fundamental and essential tool in the modern Japanese L2 classroom and have endeavored to provide various perspectives on language learning and teaching of Japanese fostered by technology. The chapters have all, in some way or another, found that technology can improve or has the potential to improve current pedagogical methods and learning outcomes. Examining the volume in its entirety, we discovered five important themes that emerge. These themes are cultural learning, identity construction, supplemental/bridging activities, computer-assisted feedback and learner use of language through technology. Culture is a difficult component to incorporate in L2 instruction. Four of the chapters, however, illustrate how culture can be made a main or peripheral focus through the use of technology and/or motivate students to engage in more language learning. Humor in the L2 classroom is the focus of Yamada et al.’s (Chapter 6) study on rakugo, who maintain that teaching culture is essential to understanding humor and improving pragmatic competence. While not specifically focused on culture, McMeekin (Chapter 3) and Shintaku’s (Chapter 10) studies show how learning culture can be a byproduct of the online activities gleaned either through handouts that direct learners to learn about culture (Shintaku: learning about nabe) or through in-class discussions (McMeekin: learning about cultural use of words such as shirubaa – elderly). In addition, Takeuchi’s (Chapter 12) study also shows that students’ interest in cultural phenomena such as pop culture can be a driving force for motivating learning outside of the classroom, but also stresses that these cultural interests can be harnessed to facilitate learning within the L2 classroom context. Learner identity and the role it plays in developing intercultural competence is another important topic explored in two of the studies in this volume (Takamiya and Aida Niendorf: Chapter 5, and Takeuchi: Chapter 12). Takamiya and Aida Niendorf’s study provides an excellent example of how learners can be guided to towards critical thinking and expression in the target language by addressing difficult topics such as 336

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identity and the construction of one’s self. Takeuchi’s work does not specifically examine the identity construction of the learners, but her study describes the learners’ perception of their situated selves within the online communities they choose to interact with (i.e. community of practice – Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998). The learners tell the trajectory of their online identities and resultant activities and how participating in online communities has affected their language learning. As a third party observer, Takeuchi then shows the influence of these online identities and activities on the students’ classroom activities and projects. Studies in this volume also show the importance of using supplemental materials and bridging activities in conjunction with online tools. These materials play an essential role in scaffolding learning, particularly when adopting vernacular games (Shintaku: Chapter 10), using authentic websites (McMeekin: Chapter 3), engaging in tasks for synchronous communication (Akiyama: Chapter 4) and even when learning pronunciation (Yonemoto et al.: Chapter 8). All of these studies discuss how careful planning of activities around the use of the technology is essential for scaffolding learning both in and out of the L2 classroom. While Yamazaki (Chapter 9) did not examine the effectiveness of supplemental materials or bridging activities per se, her study uses teacher-designed tasks that scaffold the learning process during interactive exchanges in a 3D virtual world environment. The importance of feedback type, something that has received attention in the broader field of second language acquisition (SLA), was addressed in this volume in terms of how technology can improve or augment feedback delivery. Langton’s (Chapter 2) study examined the effectiveness of feedback on writing via a screencast delivery system. Her qualitative analysis and fi ndings corroborate fi ndings from other studies showing that there is no clear-cut answer as to whether screencasting is more effective than text-based feedback. Nevertheless, she maintains that screencasting may be beneficial for certain types of learners. Yamada et al. (Chapter 6) (rakugo) and Yonemoto et al. (Chapter 8) (pronunciation) both use online programs to provide instant feedback to learners in a private, online environment. Both argue that such feedback is invaluable in providing learners with the necessary information to improve their language skills. Their studies show that online tools provide effective and timely feedback for elements of language learning that are difficult to teach in the L2 classroom. Yonemoto et al.’s study, however, takes the notion of feedback a step further by showing that while private, online feedback is useful, pairing this with interactive activities in the classroom (social constructivist approach) can be an important part of the learning process. How technology can help learners understand their own language use as well as provide scholars and researchers with tools to microanalyze learner language use is another area that was addressed in this volume. Komori et al. (Chapter 7) show that an online corpus program has the potential to be a valuable resource for researchers and scholars to analyze

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and compare learner and native speaker language use in social interaction. The resulting analysis can then be extended to benefit teachers and learners by creating learning materials for L2 classrooms that are based on actual language use. Zimmerman’s (Chapter 11) study examines the flip side of the coin with learners analyzing their own language production as a result of mentoring through distance learning. She fi nds that not only does this self-analysis have the potential to raise the learners’ awareness about their language production in social interaction, but that also technological advances in areas like distance learning allow instructors to be mentors from afar, guiding learners to improve on study abroad experiences. These two chapters ultimately show that while understanding learners’ language use in actual social interaction is important, it is equally important to reflect on that use and/or use it to create resources to improve teaching materials. In sum, the chapters in this volume add to our understanding of how technology affects language learning across a variety of digital contexts using different pedagogical approaches. While collectively a myriad of fi ndings are presented (too many to summarize here), salient in our review was that the chapters offered a better understanding of how technology could be used to promote cultural learning and identity construction, provide effective and timely feedback as well as scaffold learning through supplementary materials, and how technology provides the tools and resources for both researchers and learners to understand and learn from analyzing learner language use. At the very least, the chapters presented here give us a glimpse of what the field looks like at the present moment, but also forecast the future trajectory of Japanese CALL. The next section thus explores four future areas for Japanese CALL that have been, up to this point, more actively examined in the wider field of CALL, but that Japanese L2 researchers, scholars, and teachers alike would benefit from increasing their attention toward: (1) (2) (3) (4)

Focus on language learning as a social practice. Ecological CALL. Demonstration of learning outcomes. Moving towards MALL.

Focus on Language Learning as a Social Practice

Despite the technical challenges that teachers, researchers and learners have faced when using technology for Japanese instruction, there is a trend toward the normalization of CALL (Bax, 2003, 2011) in Japanese L2 classrooms. In a re-evaluation of his argument of the normalization of CALL, Bax (2011) suggests a focus on learning and not the learner. He explains that we (researchers and instructors) should focus on learning by conducting a needs analysis of how the technology to be implemented will benefit

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learning of the target language. He further suggests that it is not just the incorporation of a new form of technology that is important per se, rather it is determining if the new technology will benefit learning (before full implementation and the use of monetary resources) and if so, how. Using a neo-Vygotskian approach (Mercer & Fisher, 1997; Rogoff, 1990; Wertsch, 1985) to understanding learning and learners, Bax recommends that teachers and researchers alike examine more social aspects of technology and language learning when we adopt and adapt technology for learning in and out of the language classroom. In particular, before we adopt technology in our classrooms, we need to remember that ‘learning and development are social rather than individualized processes, that learning and development are developed communicatively, and that understandings are constructed in culturally formed settings’ (Bax, 2011: 10). While only Takeuchi (Chapter 12) and Yonemoto et al. (Chapter 8) explicitly discussed using a sociocultural approach to language learning, other studies in this volume approach language learning as part of more extensive social and cultural processes (Akiyama: Chapter 4 , Takamiya and Aida Niendorf: Chapter 5, Yamazaki: Chapter 9 and Zimmerman: Chapter 11). Following Bax’s (2011) advice, future Japanese CALL studies would do well to consider the social aspects of technology use and how they affect language learning. Ecological CALL

As discussed in Chapter 1, Warschauer and Healey (1998) and Warschauer (2004) identify the different stages of CALL (behaviorist/ structural, communicative, integrative stages) including the more recent ‘ecological CALL’ (Blin, 2016; Chun, 2016; Lafford, 2009). Each stage offers a perspective, a point of departure from which we can examine the development of Japanese CALL. Generally speaking, as it is the most recently identified stage, ecological CALL studies in Japanese as a second language are rare. Nevertheless, in some of the chapters in this volume, we see glimpses of a shift toward trying to tease out how social, cultural, pragmatic and linguistic elements fit together by examining learners and learning as part of a larger, complex ecosystem. First, Takeuchi’s (Chapter 12) and Takamiya and Aida Niendorf’s (Chapter 5) studies both investigate social and linguistic aspects of online interaction within the context of a global world. The ability to interact online is crucial for learners of Japanese who now have access to native speaker and other non-native speaker audiences through various social media platforms such as Facebook and Snapchat. Moreover, as Takeuchi suggests, learners’ out-of-class activities in the target language impact their learning both in and out of class. As teachers and researchers, we need to be aware of the impact technology has not only on linguistic learning, but also on social aspects of language use such as identity construction. A focus on, for instance, identity, culture and intercultural

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competence means that we can no longer think of Japanese learners as just ‘language learners’ who are focused on achieving a linguistic outcome, but rather, as social beings with multiple identities shaped and reshaped by a myriad of factors in their environment. Two other studies in this volume that examine the interconnectedness of learners and the (digital) world around them are Yamazaki (Chapter 9) and Yonemoto et al. (Chapter 8). Yamazaki shows how interactions in the interactive 3D virtual world allow for opportunities for socialization into face-to-face (e.g. greetings) as well as digital language practices (e.g. digital laughter, teasing out kanji meanings with visuals). Yonemoto et al.’s social constructivist approach to pronunciation learning suggests a departure from the typical notion of learning pronunciation as a solitary, linguistic-oriented activity. By incorporating social interaction as a part of pronunciation learning, Yonemoto et al. stress the importance of combining both linguistic and social activities to target different dimensions of the learning process. Both of these studies demonstrate attention to a more globalized understanding of the learner as a whole. At this point in CALL for Japanese and other less-commonly-taught languages, there is a need to expand our focus and engage in research that considers the interconnectedness and interplay between various learning, learner, and technology use factors in the language learning process. This ecological approach to technology and language learning will undoubtedly require more researchers to combine theories, frameworks and models to investigate the complexities of language learning as technology shifts and changes. Demonstration of Learning Outcomes

While reviewing the history of CALL for Japanese and compiling this volume, we found the focus was still very much on the description of newly-created technology, practical aspects of implementation and qualitative analysis of student/teacher-reported learning outcomes or evaluations. There are, of course, studies that combine quantitative and/or more rigorous qualitative analysis to show actual learning outcomes, but they are in the minority. The current situation reflects, to a certain extent, the rapid growth in technology and an attempt to incorporate ever newer features (as they become available) that have the potential to expand learning opportunities. It also reflects the reality of small class sizes typical of Japanese courses which make it difficult to obtain significant quantitative results. This tendency to focus on the description and reported or potential learning outcomes has a place in the literature and functions as a way to disseminate information about new and more efficient ways of using technology. However, we echo Grgurović et al.’s (2013) suggestion that more rigorous studies are needed to provide a clearer picture of how technology affects learning and how intervening variables both linguistic (e.g.

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proficiency level) and social (e.g. identity) interact with technology use. In a survey of 350 CALL studies, Golonka et al. (2014: 88) reiterates this argument, noting that ‘in spite of the abundance of publications available on the topic of technology use in FL learning and teaching, the evidence that the technology has made a measurable impact on FL learning or teaching is quite limited.’ Reflecting the field of Japanese CALL in general, all of the studies in this volume showed pedagogical benefits of technology use for learning Japanese both in and out of the classroom, but not all found measurable learning outcomes. There is a critical need for Japanese CALL in general to move towards demonstrating measurable empirical or rigorously investigated qualitative learning outcomes that can be replicated in other studies. Moving Toward MALL

MALL or mobile assisted language learning is a rapidly expanding in the larger field of CALL (Chinnery, 2006; Jee, 2011). A little over 10 years ago, Chinnery (2006) warned of the challenges for MALL. Notwithstanding its benefits, MALL also poses related challenges. For instance, inherent in the portability of mobile media are reduced screen sizes, limited audiovisual quality, virtual keyboarding and one-fi nger data entry, and limited power. Further, their availability can be limited. (Chinnery, 2006: 13)

However, with technology companies creating phones with larger screen sizes, better audio, video and picture capabilities and apps that allow for the use of Japanese and other non-alphabet orthographies, these challenges are already being overcome. As a part of her discussion about the movement toward ecological CALL, Chun (2016) specifically calls for an examination of mobile and wearable devices, which include not only smartphones but devices such as ‘watches and glasses’ (Chun, 2016: 106). The shift in how we view and access the internet from a computer to various devices (smartphones, tablets, iPads, Apple Watch) is important for researchers and instructors to examine and discover in what capacity these devices are effective for learning. In our current classrooms, handheld devices are already replacing the need for computers in many ways. Learners engage with and create texts (e.g. blog entries) as well as create multimedia and multimodal entries (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) online from class. Beyond the classroom, learners are also able to access websites in the target language for finding out information about language use and cultural information. In addition, learners can easily interact with speakers of another language and use the target language in social media sites and communication apps (e.g. Line, Messenger). The larger question is whether these instances of mobile technology use are effective and under what circumstances.

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Researchers of Japanese are at the beginning stages of examining the pedagogical benefits of the use of mobile and wearable devices as found in a few presentations at the American Association of Teachers of Japanese conference in Toronto, Spring 2017 and Washington, DC, Spring 2018. Specifically, three presentations discussed the pedagogical implications of mobile devices: (1) innovative uses of smartphones and devices with ARIS1 (Augmented Reality Interactive Storytelling – an open source platform for creating games and tours and interactive stories – Hatasa, 2017); (2) the eff ectiveness of kana writing apps on iPhones and iPads (Sano & Shimoura, 2017); and (3) the use of smartphones and devices for formative assessment in large classrooms (Tokuda, 2017). More recently, Yamazaki and Yonemochi (2018a, 2018b) presented on the progress and challenges of developing an application for a smartphone using intelligent mobileassisted language learning (IMALL) to help support spoken language proficiency for language learners. Mirroring the trend to describe and introduce new technology and discuss practical implementation, these studies had not yet reached the point where they were analyzing actual learning outcomes. In the span of 5 to 10 years, we predict that researchers will have examined more mobile technology use and their effectiveness for learning Japanese. As computer use was first compared to more traditional methods (e.g. in-print readings), research on mobile devices will likely be compared to computer use, offering insight into how newer technologies make learning even more convenient. The challenge will be examining learning outcomes in terms of how, when, and where learning is occurring. Once the initial stages are completed, scholars of Japanese CALL will look forward to studies that enhance our understanding of the learning potential and outcomes of mobile devices. Final Thoughts

Through editing this volume, we found that there is still much left to do in order to increase both our understanding of how technology affects Japanese L2 learning as well as how Japanese CALL research has an impact on the overall field of CALL. Thus, we take this opportunity to suggest some changes or modifications in the way Japanese scholars conduct their research that would likely improve the field of Japanese CALL in general. First, replication of studies in Japanese CALL is limited and more follow-up studies are needed. That is, researchers would do well to follow up on initial studies that describe technology, its implementation, evaluation (by learners and teachers), and potential learning benefits with follow-up/replication studies that investigate and scrutinize initial fi ndings to verify projected learning effects. The ability to replicate studies in particular is made difficult due to certain circumstances. For instance, many studies we reviewed reported on author-created CALL programs

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not made available to the academic community at large, preventing replication of studies and verification of learning outcomes. Unfortunately, sharing of resources amongst fellow researchers or instructors is not the norm. At the very least, offering the use of these programs to researchers who seek to replicate studies would help substantiate fi ndings as well as broaden the scope of these studies to include different variables (e.g. proficiency levels, learners with different L1s). A step above this would be making these CALL programs available as Open Educational Resources, which would not only allow researchers to replicate studies freely but also, on the whole, improve teacher and learner access to CALL tools and programs. Second, we would like to suggest that authors endeavor to make their fi ndings more generalizable to the broader field of CALL. That is not to say that fi ndings up to this point have not contributed or been ignored, rather that studies often fail to draw conclusions that are applicable to CALL in general, often causing readers to dismiss findings as specific to Japanese. Third, to make Japanese CALL studies more noticeable and available in the broader field of CALL, scholars should endeavor to publish more in international journals and not only in ‘language specific or national journals’ (Sauro, 2016: 6). Frequently, impressive studies that offer important fi ndings get overlooked because they are published in journals that are not as available or visible to international audiences. As a last note, in the past, the ingenuity of our researchers and teachers was out of necessity in an effort to keep up with the rest of the field due to technological disadvantages. Now, with several technological hurdles behind us and promising uses of technology (Web 3.0) on the horizon, we look forward to normalization of CALL and for future Japanese CALL/ MALL studies to provide a greater understanding of technology use, pedagogical approaches, and learning outcomes. Moreover, we fully expect that the next edited volume of Japanese CALL will offer more studies with measurable outcomes on learning through social interaction, the effective use of mobile devices, as well as more of a focus on aspects of ecological CALL. Note (1) The website for this is located at http://tell.cla.purdue.edu/hatasa/aris/.

References Bax, S. (2003) CALL – Past, present, and future. Systems 31 (1), 13–18. Bax, S. (2011) Normalisation revisited: The eff ective use of technology. International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching 1 (2), 1–5. Blin, F. (2016) Towards an ‘ecological’ CALL theory. In F. Farr and L. Murray (eds) The Routledge Handbook of Language Learning and Technology (pp. 39–54). New York: Routledge.

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Chinnery, G.M. (2006) Emerging technologies. Going to the MALL: Mobile Assisted Language Learning. Language Learning & Technology 10 (1), 9–16. Chun, D.M. (2016) The role of technology in SLA research. Language Learning & Technology 20 (2), 98–115. Golonka, E.M., Bowles, A.R., Frank, V.M., Richardson, D.L. and Freynik, S. (2014) Technologies for foreign language learning: A review of technology types and their effectiveness. Computer Assisted Language Learning 27 (1), 70–105. Grgurović, M., Chapelle, C.A. and Shelley, M.C. (2013) A meta-analysis of effectiveness studies on computer technology-supported language learning. ReCALL 25 (2), 165–198. Hatasa, K. (2017) ARIS kontentsu no jissen to hyoka – shokyuu, chuukyuu, jokyuu kara ichirei zutsu [Execution and evaluation of three ARIS contents]. Paper presentation at the meeting of the American Association of Japanese Language Teachers, Toronto, Canada. Jee, M. (2011) Web 2.0 technology meets Mobile Assisted Language Learning. IALLT Journal of Language Learning Technologies 41 (1), 161–175. Lafford, B. (2009) Toward an ecological CALL: Update to Garrett (1991). The Modern Language Journal 93, 673–696. Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991) Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. New York: Cambridge University Press. Mercer, N. and Fisher, E. (1997) The importance of talk. In R. Wegerif and P. Scrimshaw (eds) Computers and Talk in the Primary Classroom (pp. 13–21). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Nagata, N. (ed.) (2002) Special issue on Asian languages and technology. CALICO Journal 19 (3), 497–599. Nakajima, K. (ed.) (2002) Learning Japanese in the Network Society. Calgary, Canada: University of Calgary Press. Rogoff, B. (1990) Apprenticeship in Thinking, Cognitive Development in Social Context. New York: Oxford University Press. Sano, R. and Shimoura, S. (2017) Kana gakushuu apuri ‘bimoji’ o tsukatta jissen houkoku [Exploring the use of a kana writing app in the classroom]. Paper presentation at the meeting of the American Association of Japanese Language Teachers, Toronto, Canada. Sauro, S. (2016) Does CALL have an English problem?. Language Learning & Technology 20 (3), 1–8. Tokuda, J. (2017) Gakushu iyoku o takameru keiseiteki to kyoka to wa: tekunorojii o riyou shita daikibo na kyoushitsu de no hyoka katsudou no jissenrei [Motivating students with formative assessments: Technology implementation in large classroom settings]. Paper presentation at the meeting of the American Association of Japanese Language Teachers, Toronto, Canada. Warschauer, M. (2004) Technological change and the future of CALL. In S. Fotos and C. Browne (eds) New Perspectives on CALL for Second Language Classrooms (pp. 15–26). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Warschauer, M. and Healey, D. (1998) Computers and language learning: An overview. Language Teaching 31 (2), 57–71. Wenger, E. (1998) Community of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wertsch, J.V. (1985) Vygotsky and Social Formation of Mind. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Yamazaki, K. and Yonemochi, Y. (2018a) Developing an intelligent mobile-assisted language learning (IMALL) application: Progress and challenges. Paper presentation at the meeting of the American Association of Japanese Language Teachers, Washington, DC. Yamazaki, K. and Yonemochi, Y. (2018b) Exploring the potentialities of a newly developed intelligent mobile-assisted language learning application. Paper presentation at the meeting of EUROCALL, University of Jyväskylä, Finland.

Index

Note: Page numbers in italics indicate figures and tables. 3D virtual worlds, 17, 228–249 research limitations, 249 research methodology, 232–236 research questions, 231 social interactions, 229–231 active and collaborative interactions, 236–238, 248 context-specific communication skills, 244–247 negotiation for meaning (NfM), 238–244 Abraham, L.B., 63 Active Worlds, 231 Adair-Hauck, B., 235 Adobe® Connect ™, 122 Aida Niendorf, M., 113 Akahori, K., 51–52 Akamatsu, N., 255 Akiyama, Y., 94, 98 Alderson, J.C., 67, 69, 81 Allport, G., 114 Alvira, R., 34, 35, 52–53 ambiguous expressions, 172, 178–181, 185–186, 199–200 collocations, 196–198 frequency of use, 193 sentence-final ellipsis with, 193–196 anime, 311–312, 315, 316–317, 320, 321, 323, 326 Apple, 5, 6 Arnold, N., 34, 53, 62, 72 Asian LCTLs, 4–5 Asis, M.I., 33, 34 asynchronous learning, 283–285 data analysis, 290–291 distance learning course, 288–290

research participants and setting, 287–288 research questions, 286–287 students’ observations, 291–305 students’ reflections, 285–286 suggestions for future courses, 305–307 Atkinson, D., 229 audio feedback, 33–34 see also screencasting autoethnography, 211–212 avatars, 227, 236 Balanced Contemporary Corpus of Written Japanese (BCCWJ), 173 Ballou, K., 230 Barry, Dave, 149, 167 Basharina, O.K., 113, 116 Bax, S., 338–339 Beaton, A., 93, 96 Beglar, D., 72 behaviorist/structural CALL, 8 Bell, N., 150, 152, 155 Belz, J.A., 91, 111, 112, 125 Bergmann, J., 207–208, 218 Bitchner, J., 32 Black, R.W., 316, 317–318 Blin, F., 10 blogging, 14, 117–118, 121–122, 125, 139 reflections about identity, 126–132, 135–137 Bourdieu, P., 116 breakout rooms, Adobe® Connect™, 122 bridging activities, 63, 67 Burden, R.L., 207 Bushnell, C., 152 Byram, M., 112, 113–114 345

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CALICO Journal, 7 Canto, S., 229 Chapelle, C., 153 Chen, H., 116 Chikamatsu, N., 255 Chinese, 5 Chinnery, G.M., 341 chotto (a little bit), 172, 178–181, 185–186, 199–200 collocations, 196–198 frequency of use, 193 sentence-final ellipsis with, 193–196 Chun, D.M., 2–3, 11, 66, 114, 341 Church, K., 185 classroom learning v. online activities, 324–326, 328–329 Coady, J., 72 Co-Chu, 15–16, 171, 201 ambiguous expression chotto, 172, 178–181, 185–186, 199–200 collocations, 196–198 frequency of use, 193 sentence-final ellipsis with, 193–196 research data, 182 research methodology, 185–186 research participants, 181 research questions, 181 research terminology, 182–183 software features, 183–185 subsidiary verbs iku and kuru, 172, 174–178, 185, 198–199 pragmatic use, 189–193 quantitative analysis, 186 verb collocations and conjugations, 186–189 Coiro, J., 70 collaborative interactions, 230, 236–238, 248 collaborative online learning see telecollaboration collocation analysis, 173 commonly taught languages (CTLs), 3, 7, 11, 14 communication computer-assisted language learning (CALL), 235–236 computer-assisted learning of communication (CALC), 233 computer-mediated communication (CMC), 7, 9, 10, 14, 17, 18, 228, 230–231

communication skills, 244–247 communicative CALL, 8–9 communicative language teaching (CLT), 8 communities of practice, 312–314, 323, 329 computer input systems, 5–7 computer-assisted language learning (CALL), 2–3 behaviorist/structural, 8 communication, 235–236 communicative, 8–9 computer input systems, 5–7 design and creation, 14–17 ecological, 10–11, 339–340, 341 integrative, 9–10 interactionist perspective, 153 language learning as a social practice, 338–339 learning outcomes, 340–341 mobile assisted language learning (MALL), 341–342 progression, 7–11 structural, 8 suggestions for improvement, 342–343 see also Co-Chu; eNunciate!; rakugo CALL program computer-assisted learning of communication (CALC), 233, 235–236 computer-mediated communication (CMC), 10, 230–231 confidence, 70–71, 79–80, 215, 216 contact theory, 114–115 context-specific communication skills, 244–247 conversations-for-learning, 289, 292, 294–297, 299–301 Cope, B., 261 Cornillie, F., 257 corpus analysis software see Co-Chu corpus research, 171, 172–174 corrective feedback (CF), 12, 31–32 advantages and disadvantages of screencasting, 52–53 error codes and classifications, 57–58 future directions, 54–56 impact on error correction rates, 34, 41, 44–47, 48–49, 50–51 participant questionnaire, 58–59 research methodology, 35–40

Index

research participants, 36, 37 screencasting example, 39 student preferences, 40–43, 44–50, 51–52 text-based feedback example, 39 value of, 32–35 cosmopolitan identities, 318 cultural appreciation, 327–328 cultural competence, 151 see also humor; intercultural competence cultural learning game-mediated activities, 261, 272–273 pop culture, 315 study abroad, 285–286 web-based reading, 65–66, 78–79, 81 see also humor; intercultural competence; rakugo CALL program culture, 336 see also pop culture Curran, J., 34, 35 Cziko, G., 91 Davies, C.E., 152 Deardorff, D.K., 113, 114, 115 deHaan, J.W., 254–255, 257, 258, 266, 267, 268 Deneire, M., 152 Derwing, T.M., 204, 206, 212, 219 digital feedback see screencasting digital literacies, 60, 252–253 see also web-based reading digital reading, 13 see also web-based reading distance learning, 18, 283–285, 338 course requirements, 288–290 data analysis, 290–291 research participants and setting, 287–288 research questions, 286–287 students’ observations, 291–305 students’ reflections, 285–286 suggestions for future courses, 305–307 Dobler, E., 70 Dooly, M., 227, 229 Dubreil, S., 65–66, 119 Ducate, L., 34, 53

347

ecological CALL, 10–11, 339–340, 341 Edwards, K., 34, 35, 52 Ellis, N., 93, 96 Ellis, R., 92, 230 Elola, I., 34 Emrullah, Y.C., 113 encoding, 6 Ene, E., 33 English language study, 324 eNunciate! 16, 205, 209–211 data analysis, 212–213 data collection, 211 future directions, 222 pedagogical implications, 220–222 research methodology, 211–212 research participants and setting, 208–209 students’ perspectives, 214–216 teachers’ perspectives, 216–219 e-partnering, 92 Erickson, J.A., 114 error codes and classifications, 57–58 error correction rates, 34, 41, 44–47, 48–49, 50–51 eTandem, 14, 91, 92 interaction analysis, 97–98 interactional tasks, 95–96, 107–110 multimodality, 94–95, 98–100 and vocabulary learning, 100–102 and vocabulary type, 102–103 research limitations, 104–105 research participants, 95 vocabulary test data, 96–97 ethnography, 285–286 e-tutoring, 92 Everson, M., 64, 79 fan fiction, 316, 317–318 fansub communities, 321–322 fansubbing, 316–317 Farnciosi, S.J., 255 feedback see corrective feedback (CF) Ferris, D.R., 31, 32, 33, 35 flipped classroom, 207–208, 214, 216–218, 219, 220–221 focus on form (FonF), 92–93 interaction analysis, 97–98 interactional tasks, 95–96, 107–110 multimodality, 94–95, 98–100 effectiveness, 103 and vocabulary learning, 100–102

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Technology-Supported Learning In and Out of the Japanese Language Classroom

focus on form (FonF) (Continued) and vocabulary type, 102–103 research limitations, 104–105 research participants, 95 vocabulary test data, 96–97 font types, 255–256, 269 Foote, J.A., 207, 211 formal v. informal language, 245–247 Foster, P., 229, 230 Fraser, C., 68 Fuente, M.J., 93 Fukunaga, N., 311–312, 315, 331 Fuyu Shougun vs. Nabe Bugyou Game 1, 259–261 game-mediated activities, 253–254 challenges in the L2 context, 254–256 data analysis, 264 data collection, 263–264 future implications, 273–274 Nabe Game, 259–261 questionnaire, 280 research participants, 259 experience with in-game languages, 260 students’ perceptions, 256–257, 265–270 supplemental material, 257–259, 261–263, 270–273, 278–279 gaming, 17–18 see also 3D virtual worlds Generative Theory of Multimedia Learning (Mayer), 65 Gibbons, P., 103 Gick, B., 205, 206 giving-and-receiving verbs, 174 Glaser, B.G., 212 Godwin-Jones, R., 3, 61, 79 Golomka, E.M., 341 Goss, S., 205 Grabe, W., 70, 81 grammar, 173 see also subsidiary verbs Grant, S., 229 group activities, 215, 216–217 Guamán, L., 118 Guenette, D., 35, 51 Guth, S., 113, 117, 119 Guthrie, J., 72 Hanks, P., 185 Hannon, C., 6

Hardison, D.M., 205, 206 Harper, F., 35 Harrison, R., 10, 231 Hassall, T., 286 Hattie, J., 33 Hayano, D.M., 212 Healey, D., 7 Hegelheimer, V., 258 Helm, F., 91, 117, 119 Hitosugi, C., 256, 268 Hoffstaedter, P., 111 Homma, T., 179, 180, 182, 199–200 Horie, K., 180 Hotta, T., 180 Houghton, S.A., 112, 115, 116–117, 135 Hubbard, P., 257 humor, 15, 149–150, 151–153, 155, 159, 243 Hunt, A., 72 HyperCard, 8 hypertext glosses, 62, 63, 65 Ice, P., 33–34 identity, 115, 212 identity (re)construction, 116, 118, 119 identity construction, 14, 115, 336–337 and intercultural competence, 111–113, 116–140 learners’ initial reflections, 126–130 learners’ self-reflection and multiple facts of identity, 133–137 learners’ shifts in perception, 131–132 pedagogical suggestions, 139–140 research methodology, 119–125 telecollaboration, 117–119 see also cosmopolitan identities identity development, 115–117 Ikeda, K., 298 Ikegami, Y., 174 iku, 172, 174–178, 185, 198–199 pragmatic use, 189–193 quantitative analysis, 186 verb collocations and conjugations, 186–189 images, 99, 102, 103 IME (Input Method Editor), 5, 6 informal expressions see internet slang informal v. formal language, 245–247 instructor error, 53

Index

integrative CALL, 9–10 intelligent mobile-assisted language learning (IMALL), 342 interactionism, 229–230 interactionist theory, 153 interactions see social interactions intercultural competence, 113–115 and identity construction, 111–113, 116–140 learners’ initial reflections, 126–130 learners’ self-reflection and multiple facts of identity, 133–137 learners’ shifts in perception, 131–132 pedagogical suggestions, 139–140 research methodology, 119–125 telecollaboration, 117–119 see also humor Intercultural Dialogue Model (ID Model), 115, 117, 125 internet slang, 240, 243 Iori, I., 173 Ishihara, N., 153 Ishikawa, S., 171, 172 Itoh, R., 6 The Japan Foundation, 1, 311 Jenkins, H., 252, 254 Jenson, J., 252 jigsaw task, 92–93 Kalantzis, M., 261 kango, 64, 300 kanji learning / recall, 64–65, 74–78, 80–81 Kanokwan, L., 172, 178 Kasper, G., 289 Kearsley, G., 284 Kelly, G., 204 Kern, R., 252, 256 Kern, R.G., 114 Kiefer, M., 261 Kim, Y.Y., 112, 289 Kitade, K., 9–10, 11, 118 Kitajima, R., 9 kobanashi stories, 155–156, 158, 159 Koda, K., 67 Kohn, K., 111 Komori, S., 198, 200 Kondo, A., 174, 177, 198

349

Kono, T., 205, 211, 214 Korean, 5 Krashen, S., 73, 244 Kudo, T., 184 Kuriya, Y., 64, 79 kuru, 172, 174–178, 185, 198–199 pragmatic use, 189–193 quantitative analysis, 186 verb collocations and conjugations, 186–189 language proficiency, 51–52 language-related episodes (LREs), 92 multimodal coding scheme, 98–100, 98 multimodality effectiveness, 103 and vocabulary learning, 100–102 and vocabulary type, 102–103 Lantolf, J.P., 112, 229 Lapkin, S., 92 laughter, 152, 160 Lave, J., 207, 312, 313 learning outcomes, 340–341 Lee, H.K., 317 Lee, J., 171, 172 legitimate peripheral participation (LPP), 313 less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) Asian LCTLs, 4–5 digital literacy, 60–61 use of technology, 3, 5–7 Levy, M., 258 Li, J., 185 Li, K., 51–52 literacy, 252, 315 see also digital literacies; multiliteracies Little, D., 92 livestreaming, 322–323 Loewen, S., 92 Long, M.H., 71, 79, 80, 92, 229–230 Lotherington, H., 252 Luck, K., 62, 72, 79 Lunt, T., 34, 35 Luzón, M., 117–118 Macintosh, 8 Mackey, A., 92, 230 Maekawa, K., 173

350 Technology-Supported Learning In and Out of the Japanese Language Classroom

Masden, M., 178, 181 massively multiplayer online games (MMOG), 255 massively multiplayer online (MMO), 230–231 massively multiplayer online (MMO) role-playing games (MMORPGs), 228 Mathisen, P., 34, 35 Matsumoto, Y., 76 Matsuzaki, H., 206 Mayer, R.E., 34, 65 McGarrell, H., 34, 35, 52–53 McMeekin, A., 18, 285 McNally, B., 208 meaning negotiation see negotiation for meaning (NfM); negotiation of meaning Mediasite, 12, 38, 39, 45 Meet-Me, 233–234 active and collaborative interactions, 236–238, 248 context-specific communication skills, 244–247 negotiation for meaning (NfM), 238–244, 248 weekly game logs (WGLs), 235–236 Melchor-Couto, S., 229 message abundance, 103 Microsoft, 5, 6 Miller, M., 258 Minematsu, N., 206 Mizutani, N., 172, 174, 176, 177, 189–190, 192, 198 mobile assisted language learning (MALL), 341–342 Moore, M., 284 Mori, J., 116, 253 Mori, Y., 64, 79, 253 Moriya, M., 174 Morra, A.M., 33, 34 motivation, 61–62, 70, 76, 79–80, 257, 331 Müller-Hartmann, A., 123 multiliteracies, 252, 254 multimedia learning, 65 multimodality, 94–95, 98–100 and vocabulary learning, 100–102 Munro, M.J., 204, 212, 219 mutual information (MI) score, 184–185

Nabe Game, 259–261 data analysis, 264 data collection, 263–264 future implications, 273–274 questionnaire, 280 students’ perceptions, 265–270 supplemental material, 261–263, 270–273, 278–279 Nagata, N., 6 Nagy, W., 64 Nakajima, K., 6 Nakamata, N., 173 negotiation for meaning (NfM), 229–230, 238–244, 248 negotiation of meaning, 92, 93, 94, 98–100 Nelson, G., 118 New London Group, 252 Nihongo Kyooiku Gakkai, 204 Norton, B., 112, 116, 127, 137 O’Connor, S.E., 114 O’Dowd, R., 92, 112, 123 Ogawara, Y., 205, 211, 214 Ogiwara, T., 259 Ohta, A., 229, 230, 294–296, 314 Okamoto, S., 178 Okuno, T., 206 Olesova, L.A., 54 online chat, 10 see also text chat online communities, 18–19, 312–332 as communities of practice, 312–314 cultural appreciation, 327–328 data analysis, 320 data collection, 319–320 fansub communities, 321–322 livestreaming, 322–323 pop culture, 314–318 research participants, 319, 320–321, 326–327 research questions, 318 v. classroom learning, 324–326, 328–329, 330–331 online discussions, 14, 122–124, 125, 131, 133–135, 139 online games, 17–18 see also 3D virtual worlds; gamemediated activities

Index 351

Online Japanese Accent Dictionary (OJAD), 205, 206 online quizzes, 6–7, 96–97, 160–164 online reading see web-based reading Optimal Theory, 94 oral feedback see audio feedback; screencasting orthographic awareness, 255–256, 269 Oskoz, A., 34 Paesani, K., 253, 257 Paige, R.M., 304 Pavlenko, A., 112 Pérez-Gonzalez, L., 316 Peterson, J., 61, 63, 64, 65 Peterson, M., 228, 229, 230, 240, 243, 255, 256, 262, 267 Pica, T., 92, 93, 96, 230 Pillot-Loiseau, C., 206 Plass, J.L., 66 Pomerantz, A., 150, 155 pop culture, 311–312, 314–318, 331–332 data analysis, 320 data collection, 319–320 fansub communities, 321–322 research participants, 319, 320–321, 326–327 research questions, 318 post-study abroad courses, 306 pragmatic communication skills, 244–247 pragmatic competence, 151–152, 153, 189–193 proficiency level, 51–52 pronunciation, 16, 204 pronunciation education, 204–207 data analysis, 212–213 data collection, 211 eNunciate! website, 209–211 flipped classroom, 207–208 future directions, 222 pedagogical implications, 220–222 research methodology, 211–212 research participants and setting, 208–209 students’ perspectives, 214–216 teachers’ perspectives, 216–219 Prosody Tuner, 206 quizzes, 6–7, 96–97, 160–164

Radcliffe-Brown, A.R., 151 rakugo CALL program, 15, 150–151 design and development, 154–164 online quizzes, 160–164 video response function, 157–160 goals, 153 interactional analysis, 164–167 student survey, 170 students’ opinions on, 167 transcript symbols, 170 rakugo humor, 15, 149, 152–153, 155, 159 Rama, P., 255 Rama, P.S., 228 Ranalli, J., 258 reading, 9, 13 see also web-based reading Reed-Danahay, D., 212 reflection, 126–132, 135–137, 285–286, 293, 297 see also self-evaluation Reinhardt, J., 67, 253, 256, 257, 258, 268, 272 Roberts, C., 285–286 romaji, 5–6 Rush, A., 316–317 Sacks, H., 152 Sadler, R., 227, 229 Saito, S., 178 Salmon, G., 123 Sams, A., 207–208, 218 Sasagawa, Y., 178, 180–181 Savaş, P., 113 Saville-Troike, M., 65 scaffolding, 337 classroom pair work, 314 online communities, 322, 323, 330 virtual worlds, 229, 230, 242 web-based reading, 63, 67, 81 see also supplemental material Schenker, T., 113 Schmidt, R., 71, 80, 286 Schmitz, J.R., 152 Schroeder, R., 227, 228 screencasting, 12, 31–32 advantages and disadvantages, 52–54 example, 39 future directions, 54–56 impact on error correction, 34, 41, 44–47, 48–49, 50–51

352

Technology-Supported Learning In and Out of the Japanese Language Classroom

screencasting (Continued) participant questionnaire, 58–59 research methodology, 35–40 research participants, 36, 37 student preferences, 40–41, 42–43, 44–50, 51–52 value of, 34–35 Second Life, 228 self-evaluation, 221, 301–302, 303–304 see also reflection self-learning website see eNunciate! sentence-final ellipsis expressions, 193–196 Seror, J., 35, 51 sharing experience, 176–177, 192 Sheen, Y., 32–33 Shinada, J., 173 Shintaku, K., 258 Shively, R.L., 284 Shute, V.J., 33 Siegal, M., 285 situated learning, 207, 313 slang, 240, 243 Smith, B., 231 social constructivism, 207 social interactions, 229–231 active and collaborative interactions, 236–238, 248 context-specific communication skills, 244–247 negotiation for meaning (NfM), 238–244 social practice, language learning as, 338–339 sociocultural learning see cultural learning Souleyman, H.M., 73, 79 spoken language, 171–172 ambiguous expressions, 178–181 viewpoint-oriented expressions, 174–178 Squire, K., 253 stereotypes, 138 Strauss, A.L., 212 structural CALL, 8 study abroad, 283 data analysis, 290–291 distance learning course, 288–290 research participants and setting, 287–288 research questions, 286–287 students’ observations, 291–305

students’ reflections, 285–286 suggestions for future courses, 305–307 subsidiary verbs, 172, 174–178, 185, 198–199 pragmatic use, 189–193 quantitative analysis, 186 verb collocations and conjugations, 186–189 Sugihara, Y., 116 supplemental material, 257–259, 261–263, 270–273, 337 Susam-Saraeva, Ş., 316 Swain, M., 92 Sweller, J., 73, 80 Sykes, J.M., 231, 253, 256, 258, 268 Tabata-Sandom, M., 63, 74, 80 Taguchi, N., 150 Takahashi, E., 206 Takamiya, Y., 113 Tanno, K., 208, 218 Taylor, A., 61 technology see computer-assisted language learning (CALL) telecollaboration, 13–14, 91, 117–118 focus on form (FonF), 92–93 interaction analysis, 97–98 interactional tasks, 95–96, 107–110 multimodality, 94–95, 98–103 research limitations, 104–105 research participants, 95 vocabulary test data, 96–97 intercultural competence and identity construction, 112–113, 118–140 learners’ initial reflections, 126–130 learners’ self-reflection and multiple facts of identity, 133–137 learners’ shifts in perception, 131–132 pedagogical suggestions, 139–140 research methodology, 119–125 Temples, A.L., 118 text analysis software see Co-Chu text chat, 98–99, 102, 103 text-based feedback, 39, 42, 54 error correction rates, 50–51 and instructor error, 53 and proficiency, 51–52 student preferences, 44–47 v. screencast, 34–35

Index

Thomas, M., 258 Thorne, S.L., 67, 112, 230, 252, 272, 313–314, 316 time management, 220–221 Timperley, H., 33 Toda, T., 214 Tohsaku, Y., 112 Toyoda, E., 10, 64, 78, 231 transcription conventions, 310 transcripts, 305–306 Truscott, J., 32, 51 Tsutaeru Hatsuon, 205 ultrasound imaging, 206 Upton, T., 33 Urakami, F., 211, 214 Urbanczyk, S., 94 Ushioda, M., 111 UTF-8 unicode, 6 Van Beuningen, C.G., 32 video communication, 306–307 video games see 3D virtual worlds; game-mediated activities video recordings, 306 videoconferencing, 14, 118–119 viewpoint-oriented expressions, 172, 174–178 virtual worlds, 227 interactions in, 229–231 language learning in, 228–229 see also 3D virtual worlds vocabulary learning / recall, 254–255 interactional tasks, 95–96 jigsaw task, 92–93 meaning negotiation, 93 multimodality, 100–103, 103 vocabulary type, 93–94, 102–103 web-based reading, 62–63, 72–74, 80 vocabulary quizzes, 96–97 voice communication, 306–307 Vygotsky, L.S., 229, 314 wago, 300 Wake, K., 63, 74, 80 Ware, P., 92, 123 Warschauer, M., 7 Web 2.0, 9 web-based reading, 60–82 confidence, 70–71, 79–80 cultural learning, 65–66, 78–79, 81

353

kanji learning / recall, 64–65, 74–78, 80–81 motivation, 61–62, 70, 76, 79–80 prior knowledge, 70 reading task, 66–69, 86–88 vocabulary learning / recall, 62–63, 72–74, 80 webcam, 99–100, 102, 103 Weedon, C., 127 weekly game logs (WGLs), 235–236 Wei, N., 185 Wenger, E., 207, 312, 313 West, K.C., 118 Williams, M., 207 word class, 93, 103 World of Warcraft, 230 Worldscript, 5, 6 writing skills, 261 corrective feedback (CF), 12, 31–32 advantages and disadvantages of screencasting, 52–54 error codes and classifications, 57–58 future directions, 54–56 impact on error correction rates, 34, 41, 44–46, 48–49, 50–51 participant questionnaire, 58–59 research methodology, 35–40 research participants, 36, 37 screencasting example, 39 student preferences, 40–43, 44–50, 51–52 text-based feedback example, 39 value of, 32–35 writing systems, 4–6, 298 Yamada, E., 116–117 Yamakazi, K., 233, 235 Yamamoto, H., 174, 176, 177, 192 Yamauchi, H., 173 Yanguas, I., 92–93 Yonemoto, K., 205, 207 Yun, J., 62 Yuval-Davies, N., 115 Zaharna, R.S., 114 Zander, V., 257 Zheng, D., 253, 258 Zimmerman, E., 116, 117, 132, 285 zone of proximal development (ZPD), 314, 317–318, 322, 323, 330