The Development of elementary Japanese reading materials related to geography of Japan by making use of Multimedia

• Project/Area Number: 07808030
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Japanese language education
• Research Institution: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
• Principal Investigator: FUJIMURA Tomoko Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Japanese Language Center for International students, Associate Professor, 留学生日本語教育センター, 助教授 (20229040)
• Project Period (FY): 1995 – 1996
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 1996)
• Budget Amount: ¥2,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,200,000); Fiscal Year 1996: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000); Fiscal Year 1995: ¥1,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000)
• Keywords: Japanese language educaton / CAI / Japanese reading materials for elementary leaners / geography of Japan / analysis of foreign textbooks / 初級日本語 / 日本事情 / 読解 / 教材開発

Research Abstract

I developed computerized elementary Japanese reading materials related to the geography of Japan. The goal of these materials is to prepare Japanese learners to read technical books written In Japanese and ultimately study as an undergraduate or graduate student at a Japanese university. These materials use patterns studied at the elementary level and aim to raise learners' ability to read highly technical materials.
The present materials were created to meet the need of elementary learners for more technical reading materials than can help bridge the gap between elementary textbooks which emphasize conversation and intermediate level textbooks with emphasize reading. There is a tendency to focus on everyday topics at the elementary level due to limitations on the vocabulary and patterns that can be used. Although this may be true with abstract subjects such as history and politics, the present materials, which focus on geography, get beyond this problem by using visual materials such a s maps, graphs, and pictures to aid text comprehension. The present materials can be used by Japanese learners who have completed 90 hours of study elementary Japanese.
These self-study materials employ multimedia and consist of 1) the main text, 2) visual information to aid text comprehension, 3) a dictionary which contains vocabulary beyond the elementary level in order to broaden the content, and 4) information about pronunciation for students who have difficulty reading characters.
In developing these teaching materials, I collected foreign textbooks of geography, translated them into Japanese, and analyzed what kind of knowledge about Japan the learners had already acquired. As a result of the analysis of the contents of these textbooks, it was found that they had a different understanding of Japan in some points from the description in the textbooks published in Japan and the Japanese people's understanding. It was also found that they were interested in the reason for the high economic growth. Taking these into consideration, I selected the items for the materials.