Analyzing the Reading Comprehension Processes in Japanese Language Learners and Creating Appropriate Materials

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The element of reading comprehension in Japanese language learning involves a highly complicated process, and, accordingly, much about the key factors that contribute to successful reading comprehension still remains to be elucidated. In reading comprehension, top-down and bottom-up processes occur simultaneously, in tandem, and function in a complementary manner.Between 2004 and 2006, we conducted research on the automatic processing of linguistic elements, including reading comprehension, and the process analysis in which learners manage meaning as part of reading comprehension. We analyzed "vocabulary" and the knowledge of the meaning of words, which has a tremendous influence on reading comprehension. We created materials to increase "vocabulary" and then analyzed the effectiveness of the materials.1) We created materials designed for vocabulary building through reading and improved upon them. Our reading comprehension training materials were used with 142 students (2005 and 2006 s … More chool years). The results of a survey conducted during the 2005 school year (71 students) showed that 90% of the students found the materials and the instruction in this reading comprehension class useful. The usefulness of materials, in particular, was often cited in the "comments" section of the survey.2) After practicing with exercises that connected words with related meaning and linguistic elements, we analyzed the ability of our learners to make these connections among words. We observed the tendencies illustrated below. When performing the following processes, due to lack of knowledge about vocabulary, these students were unable to accurately attach meaning to sentences.・The process of conjecture with words having similar meaning to vocabulary that has already been learned, yielded the following type of error:Example: Target word =「戒めて」meaning "warning" or "cautioning," with learners incorrectly connecting the word to mean→「平気で」"calmly" confusing the meaning of the word.・The process of using the same kanji of a previously learned word to connect to the target word yielded the following type of error:Example: Target word =「昨夜」"last night", with learners incorrectly connecting the word to mean→「夕焼け」"sunset" confusing the meaning of the word.We also used an eye camera to analyze the reading processes of learners when dealing with unknown words, phrases and truncated areas (places with ellipsis) in passages. The first time learners encountered a new word, a long time was spent in processing the meaning, but from the second time on, they spent approximately one third of the time processing when they encountered the same word. Additionally, we analyzed the reading comprehension times and the comprehension levels of the learners and learned that when ellipsis occurred in a passage, there were instances where the omission made reading time longer and other occasions when it did not. It is our conjecture that this difference has to do with the learner's level of vocabulary sophistication and comprehension level (level of ability to control reading). Less