Instructional Needs of College-Level Learners of Japanese as a Heritage Language

Performance-Based Analyses

Bibliographic Data

ID19524351
AuthorsSachiko Matsunaga (0000-0003-0077-6266, California State University Los Angeles, corresponding author)
Year2003
Volume1
Issue1
Pages44-57
Publication date2003-10-30
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHeritage Language Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1550-7076 • E-ISSN: 1550-7076
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.46538/hlj.1.1.4
OpenAlexW2189537722
LanguageEN
Citations received7

This paper reports a study comparing the reading performances (i.e., comprehension and speed in reading Japanese texts) and oral skills of intermediate and advanced learners of Japanese at an American university. The study assessed the performance of 14 heritage learners, who spoke Japanese at home and/or went to a Japanese school in the U.S., against that of 11 Chinese learners with extensive knowledge of kanji (Chinese characters used to write Japanese) in their first language (L1), and 14 non- heritage learners without such knowledge in their L1s. As anticipated, the heritage learners were found to have high oral proficiency. Their weakness, however, was not underdeveloped reading proficiency, as anticipated, but insufficient knowledge of kanji. The paper discusses the importance of recognizing the instructional needs of heritage learners studying a language that uses kanji in writing, and suggests some pedagogical methods to satisfy their needs

Chinese characters · Comprehension · Heritage language · Kanji · Linguistics · Mathematics education · Pedagogy · Reading comprehension · Computer Science · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Multilingual Education and Policy · Psychology · Artificial Intelligence

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