Enhancing communication and cultural understanding among JFL learners

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Enhancing communication and cultural
understanding among JFL learners

• Hideko Shimizu
• University of Colorado at Boulder
• Victoria Muehleisen
• Waseda University

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Overview

• Purpose of the study
• Review of literature
• Curriculum for the current collaborative
  cyberspace project
• Research method
• Pre-and post-questionnaire results
• Descriptive statistics
• Qualitative results
• Examples of weblog writings
• Examples of student-generated video clips

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• Waseda University

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The Purpose of the Study

• Explore how a cyber-community can serve as a
  dynamic vehicle for communication, language
  learning, and critical thinking about the
  Japanese culture through reading, the use of web
  logs and student-generated videos among learners
  in the U.S.

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Networked Computer Use for Language Cultural
Learning

• Research is now entering its second decade.
• Early studies tended to focus on quantifiable and
  easily measured aspects (e.g., Kern, 1995
  Sullivan Pratt, 1996 Warschauer,1996a).
• Linguistic features (Chun,1994 Herring,1996)
• Motivational patterns (Beauvois,1992
  Meunier,1998)

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A Second Stage of Online Language Research

• Sociocognitive perspective
• (Warschauer Kern, 2000)
• Context, interaction, and multimedia
• More recent research
• Long-distance collaboration project
• Focus beyond language learning to an emphasis of
  culture (i.e., intercultural competence, cultural
  learning, cultural literacy).

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Intercultural Learning

• Learners view their own culture in dynamic
  relation to another cultural perspective (e.g.,
  Cononelos Oliva,1993 Cummins Sayers,1995
  Warschauer,1995).
• Cross-cultural understanding did not
  automatically result from online
  communication(Fischer,1998 Kern,2000).
• Critical thinking for cultural learning
  (Kubota,1999)

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Current Uses of Blogs

• 1. Individual pursuits
• 2. Business endeavors
• 3. Educational uses
• (Ducate Lomicka, 2006)

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Blogs in Foreign Language Pedagogy

• Ferdig Trammell (2004) described some benefits
  of blogs
• 1. Students can become subject matter experts
• 2. Student interest and ownership in learning is
  increased.
• 3. Students become active participants in a
  community
• 4. Blogging opens the doors for a multitude of
  diverse perspectives.
• Blogging may foster critical thinking(Oravec
  ,2002).

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Use of Student-Generated Video

• Enhancement of intrinsic motivation
• Student-produced video is a powerfully motivating
  medium and can be used as the focus for projects
  with diverse pedagogical aims (Gardner, 1995).

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Pedagogy

• Multimedia computer assisted language learning
• Web-based platform for collaborative
  cross-cultural exploration (Furstenberg, 2003)
• Collaborative learning with people around the
  world without going abroad

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Curriculum for the Current Collaborative
Cyberspace Project

• Requirements
• Complete a questionnaire about the exchange
  project at the beginning and end of the semester.
• Read The Material Child by Mary White.

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Requirements continued

• Make your own individual blog, with an
  introduction in both Japanese and English.
• Read the class blog regularly.

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Requirements continued

• 5. Post at least one blog message per week. Some
  weeks, you will have to post a short comment to
  the class blog. The short comments should be
  bilingual (first Japanese and then English) or in
  Japanese only.
• 6. Complete four homework assignments, one for
  each Chapter that we read. These will be short
  essays (300 ji or more,) written in Japanese and
  posted the final to your individual blog.

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Requirements continued

• 7.With a group, make a video or a PowerPoint
  presentation about life for teenagers in the U.S.
  today. The finished video should be 5 to 15
  minutes long. The PowerPoint presentation should
  have at least 25 slides (of as many as 75) and
  must include pictures. Speak in Japanese and (in
  English)
• 8. You can post more than the required
  assignments to your individual blog.

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Research Methods

• 1. Examine the students products
• a) Weblogs and comments posted on the weblog
• b) Student-generated video clips
• 2. Pre-and post questionnaire
• a) Attitude toward the Web-log project
• b) Cultural understanding of Japanese and
  American youth
• c) Attitude toward creation of video

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Description of the participants

• 36 students enrolled in the third year-advanced
  Japanese language in the U.S.
• 24 students enrolled in the First Year Seminar
  class at the School of International Liberal
  Studies in Japan.

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Pre-questionnaire

• Responses 20
• Students who have been to Japan5
• How they knew about Japanese culture
• Anime, travel books, friends, class, internet,
  movies
• Asked about their images of Japan

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Images of Japanese Schools Students

• Study hard to enter high schools and colleges,
  but it is easier in college
• Serious, polite, and wear uniforms
• They are similar to American students
• Highly intelligent

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Image of Materialism of Teenagers in Japan

• Similar to the U.S.
• Love to go shopping
• They have been raised on technology and
  materialism.
• They like to have fashionable clothing and fancy
  cell phones.

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Images of Friendship

• Similar to the U.S.
• It is important to keep company with a friend who
  is interesting.

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Images of Japanese Families

• More friction between adults teens
• Tradition respect, group-mind
• Very structured, role and obligations of each
  member are emphasized.

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Images of Japanese Families continued

• Children were allowed to get away with a lot.
  Family ties are close.(Observation during
  home-stay)
• Father works all day. Mother stays home.
• Small house
• Very respectful children

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Images of Sexuality among Youth

• They are more formal than in the U.S.
• It was traditional for marriages to be arranged ,
  but not now.
• There is a bit of taboo surrounding women. Women
  are still seen as housewives, and as submissive.

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Post-questionnaire Responses

• Responses 20
• 1) Attitude toward the web log project 11
  questions
• 2) Cultural understanding of Japanese
• family, school, materialism, friendship,
  and sexuality
• 3) Attitude toward the creation of the video 8
  questions.

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Results
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School and Student Life

• I was surprised about just how much more
  schooling the Japanese have to take as well as
  how their college years seem easier than college
  in America.
• Previously I thought grades and entrance exams
  dominated school life, but most Waseda students
  mentioned clubs and sports more than test.

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School and Student Life continued

• There definitely seems to be a lot of pressure
  put on Japanese students to study extremely hard
  and perform well, they seem to be more
  disciplined than American students.
• The additional information about Japanese school
  rules uniforms, plus how strict the schools can
  be.

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Family

• Kids are allowed leniency from chores in order to
  do school work.
• I did not know how the absent father and
  education mother roles were so prominent.
• The discussion entries of students were basically
  what I expected. Some of the comments added to my
  blog by Japanese students surprised me.

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Family continued

• The presentation on family was pretty much how I
  had pictured it in my head. There was nothing
  new in this segment.
• It was interesting how it was okay for Japanese
  youth to still be able to live with their parents
  when they become adults.
• Interesting to see the similar nuclear values.

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Materialism

• Similar to U.S. but more emphasized due to
  group culture
• Brand names and images seem to be very
  prominent in Japan, about the same as here
  especially among the younger generation

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Friendship

• I expected more group-oriented than America,
  which is true, but its almost like a club, and
  ones personality in the friend-group could be
  totally different from when they are alone.

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Friendship continued

• They party is a much more controlled setting than
  we do. U.S. parties are usually with those that
  are under age. In Japan, they seemed much more
  in control of themselves.
• Seemed to be almost exactly the same

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Sexuality

• Sex is more accepted in Japan, in some ways.
• Did not know it was so taboo to show PDA! That
  its more acceptable to take a lover than to have
  a public relationship.
• Even though sex is a taboo thing to discuss in
  Japan there is no hiding that they are
  participating. They just dont like talking
  about it.