A Study of Japanese University Students' Language Portraits

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26370706
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Foreign language education
• Research Institution: Daito Bunka University
• Principal Investigator: HIMETA Mariko 大東文化大学, 外国語学部, 教授 (50318698)
• Research Collaborator: OKUBO Naru 大東文化大学, 文学部, 非常勤講師
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 言語バイオグラフィ / 留学 / 移動 / 異文化間能力 / 評価 / フランス語 / アイデンティティ / 複言語

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We discussed Japanese university students' perceptions of their linguistic resources through their language portraits -- self-portraits representing the subject's relationship with languages. While not having much experience practicing the languages that they learned, their sense of self drawn on their language portrait was limited to being a learner rather than a social agent. However, after studying abroad, they expressed new values in their languages and plural identities, which could be considered as a development toward plurilingual and intercultural competence. In participating in the language portrait activity, students are invited to realize their own value of languages that reflects their experience of otherness. Also it helps their teacher to recognize development that can be difficult to evaluate by referring to the traditional objectives of language learning.

Free Research Field

外国語教育