2001 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Research on Distance Education using the Internet for International Students studying Japanese
| Project/Area Number |
11800016
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Special Purposes
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Research Institution | Nagoya University |
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Principal Investigator |
RICHARD Harrison Nagoya Univ. Education Center for International Students, Assoc Professer, 留学生センター, 助教授 (70314052)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KANDA Toshiko Nagoya Univ. Education Center for International Students, Assoc Professer, 留学生センター, 助教授 (30252290)
MURAKAMI Kyouko Nagoya Univ. Education Center for International Students, Professer, 留学生センター, 教授 (00210005)
OZAKI Akito Nagoya Univ. Education Center for International Students, Professer, 留学生センター, 教授 (60119659)
SAITA Izumi Tohoku Univ. Graduate School of Letters, Professer, 文学研究科, 教授
OHONO Yutaka Nagoya Univ. Education Center for International Students, Assoc Professer, 留学生センター, 助教授 (40271407)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1999 – 2001
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| Keywords | Education for International Students / Educational Technology / Virtual Reality / Japanese Language Education / Distance Learning |
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| Research Abstract |
Outline of the Report
The driving vision behind this project, which we named JEWELS(Japanese-language Education Worldwide Electronic Learning System), wasthe idea of building a place in cyberspace where learners of Japanese asa foreign language, residing outside Japan, could learn Japanese throughsocial and constructive interaction with native speakers of Japaneseresiding in Japan. Within this overall vision, the maior aim of the project was to look athow the latest technology, namely 3-D multi-user chat virtualenvironments, could be and might be used to deliver Japanese throughdistance education over the Internet, looking particularly at whether ornot it could increase the motivation of overseas learners towardslearning Japanese prior to visiting Japan.
Phase 1 of the project lasted from November 1999 until March 2000. During this time the 3-D multi-user chat virtual environment wascreated, based on the metaphor of a virtual Nagoya University campus.
Several overseas universities were vi
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sited to ascertain the needs of both learners and teachers, and two universities, Melbourne Universityin Australia and Manchester University in the United Kingdom were chosenas collaborators in the project, due to the matching of their needs totrain students for sending to Japan, and the technical infrastructurethat they have at their disposal, particularly high-grade Internetconnectivity and access to computers capable of handling Japanese fonts.
Phase 2 of the project ran from April 2000 until October 2001 and sawthe implementation of JEWELS at both Melbourne and Manchester. Studentsof Japanese at these two institutions used the 3-D multi-user chatvirtual environment to chat with native speakers of Japanese in Japan (students from Nagoya Universlty, Nanzan University and other volunteersfrom Tokyo and Osaka) in real-time. The content of the chat was based ondifferent topics that were decided by instructors in the overseasinstitutions. Data was collected from the students at both institutionsabout their experiences using JEWELS and their motivation towardslearning of Japanese as a foreign language prior to coming to Japan. Less
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