Content-Based Instruction:What is the role of CBI for high school

students who learn Japanese as a heritage language (JHL) ?

Masako NunnCSU-Channel IslandsMasakoN@aol.com

Heritage Language (HL) Learners

Definition (Valdez, 1997, p.13)

The degree of proficiency level of HL learners varies widely from novice level to advanced level: HL students have been referred to as native speakers, quasi-native speakers, residual speakers, bilingual speakers, and home-background speakers.

Importance of HL Learners

UCLA Steering Committee reported (2000)

the potential value of heritage languages as a

resource of the nation.

Therefore, it is essential to make use of the language skills of the nation’s immigrants and their bilingual children (Morrison, 2001).

 

Challenge for Teachers at Saturday Japanese Language Schools

1. Extra work for students2. Conflict with regular school activities or sports

activities3. Does not relate directly to students’ academic

performance. 4. Whose desire is it to attend Sat. school?

Parents’ Desire! -> lack of motivation4 out of 6 informants – parents’ desire1 informant- my own desire

Content-Based Instruction

Critical factors: (Grave & Stoller, 1997)

1. Motivation: effort and persistence

high effort and working for a longer time on difficult material (Pintrich & Schunk, 1996)

2. Positive attributions: effort > luck & ability

3. Interest: preference for certain topics or themes (different from curiosity)

Research on CBI

Motivation and interest

-> learning is occurring.

Challenging informational activities

-> effort

Student success

Previous Research Evidence

Motivation

New learning and the performance of previously learned skills, strategies, and behaviors (Pintrich & Schunk, 1996).

Theoretical Frames

1. i plus one (Krashen, 1982, 1985)We acquire language by input that is a little beyond our current level of competence (Krashen & Terrell, 1983, p.32)

2. Optimal experience (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, 1993)

Theoretical Frames

3. Brinton, et al (1989) and Stlyker & Leaver (1999)3-1. Students’ learning experience should be

taken into account.3-2. To teach language for eventual use3-3. To use relevant information/content in order

to motivate learners3-4. To meet students’ appropriate needs in

affective and cognitive domain

Research Questions

1. What theories of a CBI emerge in Japanese language for Japanese heritage language (JHL) learners?

2. What is the role of CBI in affective domain for this particular sample?

Methodology

Qualitative method using triangulation for reliability and validity

1. Interview

2. Observation

3. Written survey

Coding system simplified the data.

Participants

• 6 JHL learners between the ages of 13 and 17

• 4 students whose both parents speak Japanese as a first language

• 2 students whose one parent speak Japanese as a first language

• They all plan to continue to study.

Participants

Purpose of learningcredit: 5 out of 6 informantsfuture career: 4 out of 6 informantsspeak with relatives: 5 out of 6 informants

Number of visits to Japan1 time, 4 times, 5 times, 6 times, 7 times, and 10 timesTwo students have an experience attending Japanese school during summer.

Reading Materials

Reading Materials : Past and Present of Japan

1. Ninja

2. Edo Period

3. Japanese and Its Writing

4. Japanese Vending Machine

5. Japanese High school Survey

6. Exchange Program

Result

Key Words:

1. Relevance, new information, and visual aids -> Interest

2. Challenge & level of difficulty ->

i plus one and optimal experience

3. Academic and non-academic purposes ->

Purposes of learning

Relevance

1. Relevance in age, language and cultural backgrounds enhances students’ interests. All informants showed the great interest in Japanese High School Survey (age relevance)Exchange Program (relevance to visit to Japan)Lengthy and heated discussion:-> motivation (Brinton et al., 1989)

They learned new information and compared it with previous knowledge about high school students.

Interest

2. Interesting topics - > generate situational interests (certain types of themes or specific content) motivation

Ninja > Japanese and Its Writing

Ninja -More assertive in discussion

Informant L: “ I would like to learn Japanese history, however, it depends on the topics.”

Role of Visual Aids

Visual aids (e.g. over-head projector) enhances validity of CBI.

Good FL/L2 teachers use visual aids to implement CBI in their curriculum (Krashen, 1987).

Informant H:

“I would like to learn History besides the Japanese language with some visual aids: pictures, videos, etc.”

Challenge

i plus one -> appropriate challenge 1. Willing to challenge learning more kanji

without furigana (ruby characters)Ruby characters are used in the typography of languages, especially Japanese and Chinese. They are small characters placed above or to the side of an ideogram (kanji in the case of Japanese).

とうきょう Tokyo東京 　 東京

Challenge

i plus one -> challenge 2. All informants expressed a desire and necessity to be able to read articles without furigana even though it takes extra effort.Informant H: “I prefer the article without furigana, but it requires a lot of preparation.”

Challenge

i plus one -> Cognitive needs Students are aspired to learn Japanese by understanding slightly beyond their current level of proficiency.

The cognitive needs of the students should be appropriate to the proficiency level of the class. (Stryker & Leaver, 1997).

Purposes

Academic purpose:

1. To gain a credit test

2. Plan to continue to study in college

3. To use the Japanese language as a career

Non-Academic purpose:

To speak with their family and relatives

How does CBI contribute to JH students?

1. In the syllabus of CBI,the eventual uses of Japanese language learners are taken into account (Brinton, et al., 1989).

academic purpose credit test: 5 informants “Yes”future career: 3 informants “ Yes”

3 informants “Possible” non-academic purpose:

communicating with relatives: 5 informants

How does CBI contribute to JH students?

2. Optimal experience is essential. Unlike students who learn the Japanese language as a foreign language, JH students have more experiences in not only language contact and use but also cultural experience: therefore, it is essential to meet students’ unique language background (family language use, years of attending Japanese school & frequencies of visiting Japan)

How does CBI contribute to JH students?

3. Students’ interestage appropirate (e.g. teen culture and fashion), interesting topics (e.g., ninja), and their language and cultural experience (Japanese family life) in order to enhance students’ motivation

How does CBI contribute to JH students?

4. New InformationInformant L:Regarding Edo Period, Japanese Vending Machine,

and Japanese high school students’ survey,

“I learned a lot of about what there is in Japan. It’s expanding my horizon.”

How does CBI contribute to JH students?

5. Level of difficultyReferring the article with a lot of kanji, 5 informants

claimed, “I did not like it all since there are many new

kanji.”

Importance of appropriate level Importance of i plus one

How does CBI contribute to JH students?

6. Appropriate challenge:Students would like to challenge to learn more kanji and also kanji without furigana within their capacity (i plus one). -> i plus one -> motivation and positive

attributions (appropriate challenge leads to efforts).

Obstacles of CBI

1. Not easy to find appropriate articles to suit students’ interests and appropriate level.

2. Finding authentic materials is a difficult task due to time consuming

3. Teachers need appropriate training and experience to implement CBI.

Conclusion

CBI contributes to affective domain: appropriate challenging activities, students’ interests, and motivation; therefore, CBI can meet JH students’ needs linguistically and culturally in affective domain with appropriate curriculum and teachers’ pedagogical training.

Implications

1. Authentic materials1-1. One of solutions is to use textbooks that compile authentic materials such as “Authentic Japanese: Progressing from Intermediate to Advanced” by Kawata et al., and “Rapid Reading Japanese” by Mirua and Oka. 1-2. Through the internet, authentic articles can be found.

2. Teachers’ training is needed to implement CBI.

Limitation

Since the number of informants were 6 at one particular school, the data might not be generalized.

Future Research

• To investigate correlation between CBI and Japanese proficiency level since JHL students have a desire to continue to study, use it for their career, and for an immediate purpose, they all would like to obtain credit with grade, “A.”

Analytical Model

OHP

References

• Grave, W., & Stoller, F. L. (1997). Content-based instruction: Research foundations. In Snow & Brinton (eds.) The content-based lassroom. New York: Longman.

• Krashen, S. D., & Terrel,T. D. (1983). The natural approach. Englewood Cliffs, NY: Alemany Press.

• Pintrich, P. R., & Schunk, D. H. (1996). Motivation in education: Theory, research, and application. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

References

• Snow, A. M., & Bringon, M. D. (1988). Content-based language instruction: Investigating the effectiveness of the adjunct mode. Tesol Quarterly, 22(4), 553-574.

• Valdez, G. (1995). The teaching of minority languages as academic subjects: Pedagogical and theoretical challenges. The Modern Language Journal, 29, 299-328.