A Survey for Developing a Synthetic System of Supporting Language Skills on Technical Japanese for Asian area Students and the Evaluation analysis

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The primary objective of this research project has been to explore the possibilities of distance education programs of Japanese language instruction, targeting in particular Asian countries, in order to assist science and technology students from overseas.Firstly, we focused on surveying the current situations in China, Malaysia and Thailand regarding their infrastructures, teaching materials, and their specific educational needs. These surveys revealed that there are serious deficiencies in terms of the levels of infrastructure and instructional materials available for learners and teachers. Specifically, we found that Japanese language learners from non-Chinese character countries have considerable difficulties with understanding Chinese character words when they try to read scientific papers in their special fields despite their expert knowledge for the content. Accordingly, we have developed (a) a textbook, entitled 'Motto Yasashii Kagaku-gijutsu Nihongo' (Introduction to Technical … More Japanese), edited especially for overseas students from non-Chinese character countries studying in science and engineering fields. The textbook was used as the instructional material for a distance education program, which provided extremely valuable feedback.(b) We have also modified the reading support system called 'Asunaro' which is being used by Japanese language learners in order to considerably enhance its usability.(c) Since discovering that overseas students frequently have problems in writing Japanese, particularly when seeking to make contact with research laboratories and institutions within Japan, We have been developing a Japanese writing support system called Natusme, which assists learners in their writing by offering appropriate expressions to convey their ideas and intentions. Although the system is not yet complete, we have already received very positive feedback indicating that the system can be extremely useful. In summary, the surveys conducted as part of this research project have cleary highlighted the serious needs for more appropriate educational materials and systems for distance education programs for Japanese language learning, and the surveys are helping to guide our ongoing development of Japanese learning support systems. Less