| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
SUGAWARA Kensuke University of the Sacred Heart, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Professor, 教授 (20196702)
SASAKI Michiko Obirin University, Graduate School, Professor, 大学院, 教授 (80178665)
BIZEN Toru Senshu University, School of Literature, Associate Professor, 文学部, 助教授 (30208897)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,400,000)
Fiscal Year 2005: ¥900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥1,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000)
Fiscal Year 2003: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000)
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| Research Abstract |
This study intends to clarify what is called "common sense" and the diversity which exist behind each Japanese word, and to contribute to the teaching of Japanese as a foreign language. The research method is to use a word association survey. Thirty Japanese words were chosen to induce Japanese association responses in a written form. Also, the words were put into the native languages of respondents to see the influence of native word association on that of Japanese association. The respondents were Japanese native speakers (Japanese college students) and Japanese learners of 8 different areas (college students of the U.S.A., Egypt, Italy, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Brazil, England) The data is shown on a web site, which URL is http://adelieland.com/rensou/rensou.htm
In addition to the association survey, we conducted an empathy test, which is to see whether respondents can understand and have empathy with the association of others that are completely different from their own.
Three-yea
… More
r survey showed that learners of the Japanese language acquire not only linguistic knowledge of the Japanese language, but also cultural background behind the language, in other words, form socio-cultural knowledge about Japan.
As a result of the three-year survey, we temporarily conclude that there is a considerable degree of commonness among cultural elements in word meanings, whether the languages are different or not. The conclusion is based on the fact that we found much commonness among the associations of native and non-native speakers of the Japanese language. And, yet, when the associations of both parties are different, learners tend to feel the difficulty in analogizing the difference of phenomena, or real world. That can lead to communication breakdowns. The existence of difference in the association among some word groups would be a useful information for learners of a second language. That will develop the students' awareness of their own cultural literacy (intercultural competence toward other cultures). Also, we propose to emphasize an approach to emphasize the process of acquiring cultural knowledge through experiences in the teaching of the Japanese language. Less
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