Research HighlightsAiming for Systematization in Specialized Japanese Language EducationProf. Minori MurataDivision of Japanese Pedagogy, Department of Japanese LiteratureApr. 1, 2019
Japanese language education at university requires international students learning Japanese to gain, in a relatively short period of time, the proficiency to read and write academic articles in order to do research in their field of specialization. Learning Japanese as a foreign language is quite different from the language acquisition process of a native Japanese speaker, so in order for language learners to gain a near-native level of reading comprehension and writing ability, it is important that they are not only motivated but also that there is a systematic and efficient methodology that aids in Japanese language education for academic and specialized research purposes. With these big goals for education in mind, I am conducting basic research regarding reading comprehension and essay writing, both of which are important in Japanese language education for research purposes.
I have two primary research interests. The first is to use econometrics to analyze linguistic indicators that contribute to genre classification in order to find specific features within essay writing and identify them as such. Some of the indicators proven to be effective using multivariate analysis are compound verbs (second verbs) and compound particles such as particle equivalent phrases and conjunctive particles.
My other research interest has to do with Chinese loanword terminology. For students outside of the Sinosphere—the cultural sphere of regions that use Chinese characters—learning the terminology in their field of specialization can be an arduous process. When we look at the linguistic constructs of Chinese loanword vocabulary, both of specialized terminology and otherwise, we realize that there is a regularity to their patterns of primarily two-character constructs as well as three- and four-character compounds. The three- and four-character phrases in the field of economics, for example, are generally comprised of combinations of a few common two-character bases.
These research findings provide the basic data needed to develop a curriculum that improves the efficiency of specialized terminology acquisition for Japanese language learners outside the Sinosphere. In closing, I would like to say that I aim to apply my research findings in a practical educational setting by building a systematic pedagogy for specialized Japanese language education.
