Corpus- and Needs-Based Development of Task-Based Teaching Materials for International Students

2024 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22K13147
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 02090:Japanese language education-related
• Research Institution: Hiroshima University
• Principal Investigator: Koguchi Yukiko 広島大学, 人間社会科学研究科(教), 准教授 (70758268)
• Project Period (FY): 2022-04-01 – 2025-03-31
• Keywords: タスク / TBLT / ニーズ / コーパス / 話題

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In task-based language instruction, it is essential to design topics and tasks that align with learners’ needs and real-life situations. This study conducted a needs analysis and corpus-based investigation with international students, leading to the development and implementation of a topic list and task-based teaching materials. The findings revealed that (1) “travel,” “food,” and “dreams/future plans” were selected as preferred topics by the learners; (2) teachers can utilize topic-specific Japanese corpora such as J-TOCC and the Topic-Specific Japanese Vocabulary List to prioritize vocabulary and develop task materials grounded in authentic conversational examples; and (3) while task materials based on real-life examples enhanced learners’ motivation, various factors such as the use of AI and difficulties in navigating cultural differences were also found to influence task performance.

Free Research Field

日本語教育学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

（１）タスクベース型の言語指導を行うには「話題」と「タスク」が不可欠であるが，現行の日本語教材では「タスク」内で提示される語彙・文法が実際の言語運用に依拠するものではない。本研究では、ニーズと話題と実際の言語運用の三者を関連づけたタスク教材開発の事例を示した。
（２）タスクベースの言語指導は、これまでどのようなタスクデザインが言語習得を促進しやすいかという研究が多数なされてきた。一方で、本研究では、学習者が遭遇するタスクや困難に感じるタスクには多様な社会的文化的要因が絡んでおり、今後の教材作成においてはこうした側面も考慮した教材を作成する必要性があることを新たな視点を明らかにした。