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Japanese vocabulary development in and beyond study abroad: the timing of the year abroad in a language degree curriculum

2013; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 45; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/09571736.2013.786119

1753-2167

Barbara Pizziconi,

Second Language Acquisition and Learning

AbstractThis article reports the results of a study of vocabulary development by learners of Japanese during a year abroad in Japan. The particular feature of this study is that it compares the performance of two cohorts, studying at the same UK university and in degrees in Japanese in which the period of study abroad (SA) is undertaken at different points of the degree – in Year 2 and Year 3 respectively. Their performance is compared at three points in time: before and after the period of SA, and one year after return. The group going to Japan at a lower proficiency level (i.e. SA in Year 2) appears to benefit more in terms of absolute gains, although the two groups appear to perform rather similarly when their potential gains (i.e. gains against the test's ceiling) are considered. The two groups' gains in the year following the SA are considerably smaller than during the period abroad but are remarkably similar to each other; however, these gains take place at different instructional levels. The implications for the timing of periods of SA are discussed. AcknowledgementsWhile the standpoint expressed here and any inaccuracies are only my own, I am indebted to many colleagues: Nozomi Yamaguchi and Kyoko Yoo for inputting data; Benedetta Bassetti for the statistical analysis; Kazumi Tanaka, Miwako Kashiwagi and Misako Kanehisa for precious comments on the students' experience; Dan Dewey for perceptive and generous feedback, as well as to the enthusiastic students who patiently endured yet another battery of tests on top of all the rest. The study was partly funded by a SOAS-UCL CETL grant.NotesNotes: * The higher number indicates the weekly contact hours (over 22 weeks) for the absolute beginners pathway, the lower number that for false beginners.The advanced course includes essays, summaries, oral presentationTextbooks:SFJ = Situational Functional Japanese (Tsukuba Language Group)MN = Minna no Nihongo (3A Network)CN = Chūkyuu no Nihongo (the Japan Times)NACN = New Approach Chūjōkyuu Nihongo (Gobun Kenkyuusha)1. A Japan Foundation report of 2007 indicates that half of 32 UK institutions surveyed (and all of the major institutions offering degrees in Japanese) demand a compulsory period of residence abroad, in most cases one full academic year. The report is available at http://www.jfjssurvey.org.uk/archive2007/survey/index.html. The four largest programmes (Leeds, Oxford Brooks, Sheffield, SOAS) sent over 600 students in the four years between 2008 and 2011.2. There were nine different host institutions for the SA2 cohort and 16 for SA3.3. Japanese script is represented through three different systems: a logographic system (kanji) generally carrying the semantic or phonetic value of a lexeme, and two syllabaries: hiragana, normally used for indigenous words (including particles, inflections and other grammatical information) and katakana, normally used for words of foreign origin. Japanese can be written using only the syllabaries, but only kanji can disambiguate homonymy and kana are required in any ordinary texts for non-novices. Knowledge of kanji effectively constrains knowledge of lexicon: it affects learners' ability to read a word that they may know phonetically. Due to the nature of the research instrument, 'vocabulary' in this study therefore includes kanji competence.4. The JLPT test, available since 1984, is administered by the Japan Foundation. The version of the test used here (predating the 2010 revision) had three sections: Writing–Vocabulary, Listening and Reading–Grammar. Level 2 is normally reached after 600 hours' study (after completion of an intermediate course), Level 3 after 300 hours (after an elementary course) and Level 4 after 150 hours (corresponding to the first half of an elementary course). Further details of the 1984–2009 version are available at: http://ebookbrowse.com/jlpt-guidelines-2009-pdf-d295930361 (retrieved 23.02.2013).5. The breakdown of vocabulary levels mentioned here can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Language_Proficiency_Test (as retrieved at 23.2.2013). The vocabulary for Levels 4 and 3 is derived from a survey of 11 Japanese language textbooks for beginners and other resources on the use of Japanese in instructional contexts, while the vocabulary for Levels 2 and 1 is based on a range of sources from JSL textbooks, Japanese junior and senior high school vocabulary surveys, newspapers, magazines and other surveys of usage among educated speakers (cf. Kokusai Koryū Kikin and Nihon Kokusai Kyōiku Kyōkai 2002). The official vocabulary lists are available at: http://www.thbz.org/kanjimots/jlpt.php36. An anonymous reviewer suggested that vocabulary previously known only receptively may be, during SA, activated for productive use. Indeed, this may well be the case, but as the test cannot distinguish the two, no conclusions can be drawn on the latter.7. The internal validity of the levels was confirmed by the fact that in both cohorts the percentage of correct responses decreased as the level increased.8. For both cohorts, this is a reduced sample compared to the pre-SA and post-SA tests, as not all students took the test one year after return. Although the means shown in Table 3 (SA2 N = 17 and SA3 N = 10) and Table 5 (SA2: N = 8 and SA3: N = 8) are slightly different, the percentages of growth are very similar.9. Under the 'old' curriculum (i.e. SA2), students only took one discipline-based unit prior to SA as opposed to four in the new curriculum (SA3).