Reading Japanese Short Stories: An IntermediateAdvanced Course

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Reading Japanese Short Stories An
Intermediate/Advanced Course

• ???????????????

Mutsuko Endo Hudson Michigan State University lt
endo_at_msu.edu gt lt http//www.msu.edu/endo gt
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Outline of presentation

• Introduction
• The course
• 2.1. Objectives
• 2.2. Main materials
• 2.3. Main features
• 2.4. Students
• Results of an end-of-the-term questionnaire
• 3.1. Self-evaluation re. improvements/changes
• 3.2. Course evaluations
• 3.3. Material evaluations
• 3.4. Implications of the results
• The National Standards
• Concluding remarks

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1. Introduction
Students' reading skills can be promoted in a
variety of ways, especially at the
intermediate/advanced level. The present paper
reports on an elective course titled Japanese
Short Stories, which adopted an 'innovative'
(at least for me) method. The class was offered
in fall 2004, with 15 students enrolled (all
undergraduate), and meeting once a week for 2
hours for 15 weeks. (cf. handout) The main
emphases of the course were on the discovery of
the joy of reading in Japanese and the
acquisition of reading strategies. Such a
course has a great potential for fulfilling many
of the aims promoted in the National Standards.
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2. The course2.1. Objectives

• To discover the joy of reading Japanese.
• To learn reading strategies, thereby being able
  to read faster and more accurately.
• To learn expressions and kanji 'Chinese
  characters' that frequently appear in each genre.
• To learn commonly-used giongo/gitaigo mimetics,
  proverbs and idioms.
• To learn Japanese ways of thinking and expressing
  ideas through reading.
• To overcome the 'fear' of the Japanese Language
  Proficiency Test (esp. Level 2) ??????

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2.2. Main materials (1)
1. collection of short stories and other
materials (cf. handout)

• All the stories were authentic, and no help was
  provided on vocabulary, kanji, grammar, etc.
• EXCEPTION??????(?????), accompanied by an
  English translation. This story contains many
  unusual words, but serves as a good review of ??
  'honorifics' and also as an example of a piece of
  literature.

2. self-study book on mimetics
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• Students were tested on each chapter (4-5 mimetic
  words) at the beginning of each class. (cf.
  handout)

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2.2. Main materials (2)
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2.3. Main features (1)

• Many and a wide variety of reading and other
  materials were used.
• 2. A variety of topics were discussed in Japanese
  in pairs and as a whole class.
• 3. To promote enjoyment of reading, a fun,
  non-threatening atmosphere was maintained.
• 4. As a semester-end project, students, in 5
  groups of 3, wrote their own tanpen 'short
  stories', and presented it to the class.

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2.3. Main features (2)

• Materials used

• folktales
• 'sci-fis'
• novellas
• essays
• mysteries (translated from English originals)
• jokes
• messages ('I miss you')
• songs

• Descriptions about various anime stories taken
  from a magazine
• Japanese Language Proficiency Test questions
• proverbs and idioms
• mystery video (as an end of the semester
  'reward'!)

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2.3. Main features (3)
2. Topics discussed

• comparisons to stories in students' native
  languages
• predictions of the outcome of the story. The last
  pages of several stories (????) were deliberately
  omitted from students' copies.
• solutions to mysteries (????). Each story comes
  with a question and an answer, the latter of
  which was omitted in students' copies

• content and moral of the story ? lots of drawings
  on the board
• personal reactions
• reading strategies
• discourse structure
• cultural assumptions Nihon jijou 'Japanese
  affairs events'
• language related Qs

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2.3. Main features (4)
3. Fun, non-threatening atmosphere

• No memorization of vocab, kanji, or grammar was
  required.
• Students were told not to feel as though they
  needed to know every single word to 'read'.
• Students were responsible for looking up words
  and kanji of the assigned part of the materials
  only.
• In class, a student read aloud his/her assigned
  part, while others listened and followed.
• If others did not understand key words or
  sentences, the student in charge must explain.
  (The instructor stepped in when necessary.)

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2.3. Main features (5)
3. Fun, non-threatening atmosphere (continued)

• Everyone had to listen to each other carefully in
  order to understand the whole story and be
  successful when his/her turn came.
• This 'collaborative' format was adopted not to
  overburden students, and also to read as many
  stories as possible.
• ALTERNATIVE Everyone prepares the same part ?
• can read just 1-3 pages each class, instead of
  5-8 pages
• Mid-term and final exams Students were tested on
  a new authentic story, but were allowed to
  consult dictionaries. The questions were of the
  multiple choice types only.

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2.3. Main features (6)
4. Students' tanpen 'short stories'
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2.3. Main features (7)
4. Students' tanpen 'short stories' (continued)

• Students voted on the 'Best Deliver Award' (?
  Group C member) and the 'Best Content Award' (?
  C)
• ?????1???????????1???????
• The tanpen counted as 10 of the student grade.
• It is a good idea to have students present their
  work in class. That way they try harder to write
  a good story.

Other
Classroom practice included one of changing a
story written in feminine/gentle language into
that in masculine/blunt language, and vice
versa. ??????????(???)????????(???)
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2.4. Students (1) (cf. Handout)
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2.4. Students (2)
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3. Results of an end-of-the-semester
questionnaire 3.1. Self-evaluation re.
improvements/changes
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3.2. Course evaluations
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3.3. Material evaluation
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4. National Standards
Abbreviated emphases added COMMUNICATION
Communicate in Languages Other Than
English Standard 1.1 interactional
communication Standard 1.2 interpretive
communication Standard 1.3 presentational
communication CULTURES Gain Knowledge and
Understanding of Other Cultures Standard 2.1
rel. betw. the practices and perspectives of the
culture studied Standard 2.2 rel. between the
products and perspectives of the
cultures CONNECTIONS Connect with Other
Disciplines and Acquire Information Standard 3.1
knowledge of other disciplines through the
foreign language Standard 3.2 knowledge of
distinctive viewpoints only available through L2
C2 COMPARISONS Developing Insight into the
Nature of Language and Culture Standard 4.1 the
nature of language through comparisons of L2 and
L1 Standard 4.2 the concept of culture through
comparisons of C2 and C1 COMMUNITIES
Participate in Multilingual Communities at Home
around the World Standard 5.1 language use both
within and beyond the school setting. Standard
5.2 evidence of becoming life-long learners by
using the language for personal enjoyment and
enrichment
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4. Concluding remarks

• This type of course seems useful and worthwhile.
  At MSU, it will be alternated with another
  elective, special topics course 'Advanced Spoken
  Japanese', already in place.

2. Future classes will meet twice a week, instead
of once, and probably for 1 hour each, at least
at first, since a 2-credit course is easier for
students to take in addition to their regular
language and other courses.
3. From next time on, the enrollment will be
limited to students having completed at least the
3rd-year level.
4. More emphasis will be placed on how to look up
kanji speedily.
?
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APPENDIX I Comments 20a
20a. What did you like MOST about the course? A
We learned a lot w/o having lots of HW. The class
mixed different JPN-level students very
efficiently. B Learning new vocab, improving
listening comprehension. It was enjoyable because
the atmosphere of the class was light and fun. It
made it much easier to relax learn. C Being in
class preparing for class. D Writing the short
story was the most enjoyable thing we did I
think. I had a lot of fun writing it. E I
learned that I must persevere in order to be
successful in my studies. F Endo Senseis
enthusiastic teaching. The fact that she was
always lively made the class fun. H The stories!
the exam format! J It was a good way to keep up
my Japanese. K It was fun, and was a great
change to my other courses this semester. Even if
work was hard, it was not presented in a
difficult way. Did not stress me out. L The
professor was enthusiastic and it was always fun
to know that she would be happy to teach. N
Learning new grammar patterns and expressions. O
Reading short stories in Japanese that were more
challenging than Japanese language class
readings. (The readings for this class were more
fun and interesting, too.)
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APPENDIX II Comments 20b
20b. What did you like LEAST about the course,
and how would you change it/them? A Possibly
learn more gitaigo/giongo B I didnt like
meeting only once a week. I guess I would have
learned more if I had had more reinforcement
(i.e., having the class more than once a
week.) C finding a time to have a group meeting
that everyone can make. D How hard it was to
read the stories b/c Kinkos doing a bad job
copying it. E It was really hard to keep pace
with everyone. F The material was too hard. I
think students who have not yet completed JPN 301
302 should be screened before being allowed to
take this class. I It needs to meet more than
once a week. J It was too slow. I wouldnt
allow 3rd year students into the class anymore.
The materials seemed to be beyond their level
most of the time. K Reading in class was
rough. I enjoy reading, but since people are at
different levels, and not everyone prepared well,
reading was slow. Im not sure how this could be
fixed Maybe vocab lists for all people to study
so meanings can be understood more and people can
read faster. L I disliked how fast it went.
Meeting 2-3 times a week would be great, I
think. N unclear pring in the coursepack O The
pace was sometimes overwhelming. But that could
just be because class met for such a long time.
It was too much to take in. Maybe meeting twice a
week for short period of time.
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APPENDIX III Comments 20c
20c. Would you recommend this course to your
friend? ( ) Yes ( ) No Why or why not? A
Yes. B Yes. It was enjoyable and challenging.
Also, it helped me in my other Japanese related
classes. C Yes. D Yes. I sic was very
educational. E Yes. You learn so much! F Yes.
If they were pretty good at Japanese, yes.
Otherwise, the class is just frustrating. H
Yes. I Yes. It helps with reading
comprehension J Yes. It is a good way to keep up
some Japanese practice. K Yes. L Yes.
Professor Endo Hudson made the course fun! M No.
N Yes. O Yes. Even though it was fast
paced and kind of intense, the challenge was good
(for me at least) and the class was fun (the
readings were interesting.)
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APPENDIX IV Comments 20d
20d. What topics other than "Japanese Short
Stories" (this course) and "Advanced Spoken
Japanese" (using a TV drama offered FS 03 FS
02) would be good to offer? (e.g. "Read-ing and
watching videos about JPN news", "Preparation for
JPN Language Proficiency Test") A Preparation
for JPN Language Proficiency Test, Kanji class,
Business JPN class C All of the above would be
interesting and useful. D Japanese language
geared towards business and a course geared
toward classical Japanese like they offer at U of
M E Maybe in the next reading course, you could
have Haiku and other types of famous poems
written by famous poets. H Preparation for JPN
Language Proficiency Test for the oral
proficiency test prep. I Keigo J A practical
Japanese class teaching conversational skills for
use in a Japanese work place. K Menu reading!
Everyday things not taught in normal classes
would be fun. For example, its hard to read
menus at izakaya in Japan because the characters
are often not drawn clearly. Also its good to
know what different menu items are! Itd be fun!
L Preparation for JPN Language Proficiency Test