Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language for Interaction

This textbook is compiled based on the concept ofQ2: Isn’t it the case when one’s Japanese level is“Teaching Japanese as a foreign language (TJFL) for in-getting higher, one will naturally have more op-teraction” advocated by J. V. Neustupný.

portunities to interact in Japanese?

As the Japanese translation of the term interaction

From the standpoint of a foreigner, quite unexpect-“soogo sayoo” (lit. inter-action) suggests, the funda-edly, interaction with Japanese people is not necessarily

mental characteristic of interaction is that it is realized

held in Japanese even if he or she is good at the language.

through dealings with others. In the case of human in-

In an increasingly globalized world today, it is obvi-

teraction, participants usually work towards a goal and,ous that the Japanese language is not the only means forwithout damaging the personal relationship, attempt toforeigners to interact with Japanese. At the same time,achieve that goal by actively getting others involved

there are some Japanese who find it very difficult to com-through language and other channels. While this textbook

municate with foreigners, for instance, those who have ais grounded on this basic understanding regarding to thestrong stereotypical image of foreigners being someone

notion of interaction, its focus is further placed on “Japa-

who don’t speak Japanese, and those who see a great

nese interaction in contact situations”, which has been

distance between themselves and foreigners. For these

indicated to be difficult for Japanese learners.

reasons, it may be correct to say that the first hurdle out-

In mid-80s, the change of paradigm in the area ofside the classroom for many foreigners who are studying

foreign language teaching as evident in the emergence

Japanese is to find out how to make their Japanese friendsof communicative approach and learner-centred teaching

and acquaintances get along with them in Japanese.

has brought into the increase of conversation and com-

As explained so far, it is clear that living in Japan

munication based Japanese teaching materials. The inter-

does not necessarily guarantee a foreigner a Japaneseactional approach of TJFL surfaced along this trend andspeaking environment. If one is eager to meet new people

gradually started to attract attention in the beginning ofand to expand personal network, one will need to takethe 90s when the boom of Japanese learning hit its peak.

part in such encounters initiatively. Otherwise, one might

Let me introduce here a few basic ideas of this ap-end up with leaving the country getting little contact withproach.

local Japanese other than university staff or volunteers
after half-a-year or even a year’s stay in Japan.

Q1: What is TJFL for interaction?

It should be added that even if a Japanese speak-

The educational goal of TJFL with an emphasis oning situation between Japanese and foreigners somehow

interaction is set beyond the use of Japanese (e.g. fourcomes into existence, since the situation usually becomesskills). More specifically, with the focus placed on thea contact situation, the interaction there is by far chal-use of Japanese for the purpose of interaction, its ultimate

lenging and discouraging. Therefore, special training

goal is to raise individual learner’s consciousness to par-such as “TJFL for interaction” as targeted in this textbook

ticipate in contact situations with Japanese people and tobecomes necessary in order to bridge up the classroom

get them motivated to use Japanese in their everyday life.

and the reality.

Q3: What makes it difficult for interaction in contact

son of why a situation can be built up even though there

situations?

are language problems is that foreign factors do not al-

We should be reminded that the most salient feature

ways become an obstacle for interaction, they sometimesof contact situations is the existence of what is referred tobecome a bond for interaction. It is obvious that particu-

as “foreign factors” or “foreignness” in such situations.

larly in contact situation with a high degree of contacted-Foreign factors are often derived from the language usedness, Japanese native speakers tend to correct mistakes

by foreigners (so-called “interlanguage”) but some ofmore thoughtfully, or they just let it go and continue. Asthem are related to other aspects such as their physicalfor the learners, it is not uncommon that many of themappearances, non-verbal behaviour, or life style.

are prepared to muster up the courage and take up theThe more the awareness of foreign factors is raised,challenges while knowing that they may make mistakes.

the more awkwardness one would feel towards other par-In such cases, if the learners have acquired how to skil-ticipants in the contact situation (i.e. contactedness). As

fully ask for confirmation and clarification, it is quite

a result, unlike the interaction between fellow Japanesepossible to develop some kind of interaction with theirnative speakers, interaction in contact situations mayJapanese conversation partners.

change dramatically. The interaction between Japanese

One more point is that interaction with less Japaneseand learners in the elementary and intermediate levels

language problems does not necessarily get close to thatcan be regarded as a typical contact situation of strong

between native speakers. This is due to the existence

contactedness as the learners gradually become compe-of interaction peculiar to contact situations. In the casetent to use the language.

of foreigners, many aspects of their foreignness remain

In this kind of contact situations, language problems

obvious even if they have achieved a higher level ofdue to the learners’ insufficient Japanese ability particu-competence in the target language. As far as the Japaneselarly attract people’s attention. May be because of this,society is concerned, stereotyped foreignness based on asome people may think that as long as such errors are re-foreigner’s appearance (e.g. a white person, a person ofmoved, interaction there will get close to that in situations

mixed racial background), personal name (e.g. written in

between Japanese native speakers (internal situations).

katakana or nonstandard kanji, uncommon pronuncia-However, it may sound paradoxical, but findings in previ-tion), nationality (e.g. a foreign passport holder, a Japa-

ous studies about contact situations so far have revealed

nese Korean, a foreigner of Japanese ancestry) may trig-

that it is possible to build up certain kind of Japanese

ger such peculiar interaction in the contact situation.

speaking situations even if there are significant JapaneseSome typical features of interaction in contact situa-

language problems. On the other hand, interaction withtions which involve Japanese learners in the elementaryless Japanese language problems does not necessarily get

and intermediate levels like the targets of this book mayclose to that between native speakers (cf. internal situa-include the followings.

tions).
Let me here give some examples regarding to these(1) Linguistic host (Japanese native speakers)

two points. The first one is the one that contact situations

For example, conscious or unconscious use of

can be built up in spite of rather significant language

foreigner talk triggered by their expectation and un-problems. Without this assumption, instructors in Japa-derstanding of the foreigners (e.g. simplification ofnese programmes will have to make their students wait

expressions, frequent use of questions, avoidance or

until they are promoted to the advanced level in order todominance of topics, over-evaluation of the foreign-interact with Japanese people in Japanese. The main rea-

er’s Japanese ability)(2) Linguistic guest (Japanese learners)

with the focus on conversation or communication, since

For example, conscious or unconscious use of

the educational goal is to teach conversation and com-

communication strategies triggered by expectation

munication itself, it does not matter if the situation con-and understanding of the Japanese (e.g. over-polite,

cerned is predetermined or even if it is not mentioned atword coinage, borrowing), transfer of native norms,

all. For instance, in the lesson of self-introduction, which

emotional reactions due to fatigue or shyness (e.g.

is dealt with in most textbooks, learners are instructed toavoidance)

learn how to do self-introduction in a given situation withgiven expressions such as “Hajimemashite XXX desu.

(3) Both parties

Doozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu”.

For example, over-reaction, or on the contrary,

Needless to say, learners do not introduce themselveslack of reaction, misunderstanding due to insufficientto every Japanese people they meet in real life. Under theor incorrect understanding of the other party (bias),

concept of TJFL for interaction, the situation to do self-

make exceptions when dealing with foreigners

introduction is not set in advance. Instead, more stress isplaced on drawing the learners’ attention to what the im-(4) Others

portant factors are when meeting Japanese people. This is

For example, different interpretation derived

because there are various kinds of interpretation regard-from diverse norms, lengthy negotiation (e.g. differ-

ing to the social significance of the language behaviour

ent way of understanding regarding to the pronuncia-

known as self-introduction. Should the situation be fixed

tion and meaning of an English expression that isin the textbook, some of the learners may wonder why

known to both parties), relinquishment of negotiation

they need to introduce themselves so often in Japan, andwhy everyone makes the same kind of speech in turn.

It is not difficult to image that when learners andIt has been pointed out that in recognition of the situ-

Japanese hosts who have little experience of contact situ-

ation concerned, a speaker will need to have linguistic

ations confront a contact situation, they may not be able

competence, as well as sociolinguistic and sociocultural

to respond immediately as there are far too many thingscompetence in order to achieve the goal of interaction byhappening out of their expectation. If they are willing toactively dealing with others. These three types of compe-

develop further interaction in contact situations, they willtence can be explained in the following way.

need to, instead of stepping back, take up the challengeof finding out how to understand and to overcome such

(1) Linguistic competenceinteraction. Unlike in classroom conversation drills andThe competence to understand and manipulaterole plays where learners can draw to an end when they

formal features of the language (e.g. meaning, pro-reach their limits, in real life interaction that is impos-

nunciation system, writing system, grammar) as wellsible. TJFL for interaction aims for sustainable contact

as to comprehend incoming speech based on suchsituations.

formal features.

Q4: What would be important when teaching inter-(2) Sociolinguistic competence

action?

The competence to manipulate the language ap-

It is important to be aware of the fact that interaction

propriately according to the purpose of interaction

does not begin with the use of a language but rather begin(e.g. when, where, with whom, about what and how).

with the recognition of a speech situation. As for TJFL

(3) Sociocultural competence

actually participate in different situations without using

The competence to participate in a given situ-

the language. If we put it in another way, this also implies

ation and react with understanding of how the lan-that no matter how much Japanese language we teach,guage used there is interpreted by the society.

it would still be difficult for our students to play the role
as a participant unless we ensure them a thorough under-

The above-mentioned types of competence for inter-standing of the situation concerned. This may sound dis-action are essentially conceptual. Therefore, it would becouraging for experts in the areas of TJFL and linguistics

difficult to have them extracted or categorized in actual

but it is exactly what should be kept in mind if interaction

situations. For instance, in some interactional situations,is taken into consideration.

the type(s) of competence required can be uneven. Again,in some other cases, a particular type of competence may

Q5: The culture of “sassuru” (to read between thehave no part to play at all. Yet, there is no doubt thatlines) is often said to be difficult. How do learn-these concepts are useful in order to identify embedded

ers find it from their point of view?

problems in interaction.

Sassuru culture is difficult not only for westerners

Let me introduce here an episode that I heard frombut also for most learners from Asia. This is becausea Hong Kong family when they were traveling in Ja-

from their point of view, other than the surface meaning

pan. They happened to see a signboard written with theof words, the art of using Japanese such as to dare to say

character 湯 and they thought that it must be a restaurant

something explicitly or to leave something unsaid is hardwhere they can have soup. Upon entering the building,to understand.

somehow men and women were directed to different

The types of interaction that Japanese learners partic-rooms. While they were still working out what was hap-ularly find difficult are those using incomplete sentences

pening, they dashed out of the place in surprise whenand indirect expressions. In the case when a Japanese

they saw Japanese people inside walking around naked.

native speaker wants to convey the message of “moo so-

When I told this story to Japanese, I got responses

rosoro kaeranai to densha ni norenakunatte shimaimasu”

湯 ”, “they(I will miss the train if I don’t leave now), it is common

should have asked the staff”. However, when I asked thatthat he or she will omit the information starting fromfamily, they explained to me in a different way, saying, “itthe end of the sentence. Therefore, the host will have nois unthinkable in the first place that people will take off

problem to understand even though one just says “mootheir clothes and take a bath in the middle of the nowhere

sorosoro…” (well, I have to be…) or simply “moo…”

up in the mountain during such daytime period”. This(well…). In a similar situation, one might just say “kyooshows that what caused the communication breakdown

wa kuruma dewa nai node…” (I didn't come by car to-

was not necessarily the lack of linguistic competence (cf.

day...). Again, Japanese native speakers will understandknowing the meaning of the character in Japanese), or

what that person really wants to say. In order to interact

sociolinguistic competence (cf. knowing how to ask peo-

skilfully, it is thus important to read beyond the surfaceple), but rather sociocultural competence (cf. knowing

meaning of words and to develop an ability to detect thethe culture of hot spring).

important points that are omitted and hidden.

such as “they misunderstood the character

Let me also mention here that Japanese society is

Nevertheless, Japanese interaction based on sassuru

well-known for its high context culture. This meansculture sometimes works favourably for the learners. The

through conventional tacit understandings or “aun no

most thankful thing is that when Japanese people take up

kokyuu” (rhythmic breathing) in Japanese, people canthe role as the listener, they are willing to guess what thelearners are trying to say. This means that with the helpof the listener’s consideration, learners in the elementaryand intermediate levels should be able to enjoy interaction in Japanese even if they cannot express everything infull.
As a matter of course, TJFL for interaction cannot
guarantee learners a wider personal network. However,by motivating them to interact with Japanese people
through the Japanese language, we can expect that there
are more and more foreigners who want to deal withJapanese people and that would be a good thing for theJapanese society. I sincerely hope that this book can playa part in promoting it.
(Sau Kuen FAN)