Author: Language Commons at UVA

This post come from Language Commons Assistant & Researcher Tessa Short, who is a graduate student at the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education. She has been studying Japanese throughout the course of her undergraduate career and studies English and second language acquisition pedagogy at the Curry school.

Are you interested in learning Japanese and familiarizing yourself with Japanese culture? Do you already have some experience with Japanese, but you’re looking for a meaningful, fun context to bring to your language learning? Try using Japanese manga (comics) and anime (animated video) to supplement your language studies!

Manga and anime introduce Japanese language learners to a wealth of content easily missed in traditional classes while reinforcing the skills that build into your reading and listening comprehension. Broadly, what makes studying Japanese through manga and anime meaningful is that you encounter new Japanese grammar patterns, phrases, and words in the meaningful context of the manga’s art, characters, storyline, and more. You have to learn the Japanese in order to make sense of the manga, and at the same time, the manga helps you make sense of the new Japanese.

So, what can you expect to see in manga and anime?

Here are a few specific benefits of using manga and anime for language study:

 

ONOMATOPOEIA

One element of Japanese that is uniquely emphasized in manga is onomatopoeia (onomatope in Japanese), or sound words that add oompfh to the actions on the page. Flipping through a typical manga, you can see several onomatopoeia peppered through, especially in panels with a lot of action. According to tofugu, there are five different categories of Japanese onomatopoeia: giseigo (vocalizations of living things), gisongo (non-vocalized sounds, animate and inanimate), gitaigo (“communicate conditions or states”), giyougo (communicate actions), and gijougo (communicate emotions). As you may have noticed, only the first two categories, giseigo and gisongo, correlate directly with what native English speakers consider to be onomatopoeia. The other three, which tofugu terms “ideophones,” communicate through sound something that is typically silent; for instance, the gitaigo “kirakira” is an ideophone that communicates the state of being “shiney”(FluentU)– this example can be seen throughout the popular anime LoveLive!.  Tofugu warns that ideophones, because they break with what many native English speakers consider to be onomatopoeia, can be especially challenging– all the better to tackle through Japanese manga and anime! Refer to the hyperlinked Tofugu article for an excellent explanation of Japanese onomatopoeia and examples of each category.

This final panel from Ore Monogatari features an example of Japanese onomatope

Photo credit: http://jtalkonline.com/how-to-use-manga-to-study-japanese/

 

CASUAL LANGUAGE

Many Japanese learners feel that they are missing out on studying casual Japanese spoken by friends and family. Anime and manga are great ways to familiarize yourself with less formal language that you don’t always see in Japanese courses. Of course, you could just study such casual language with language learning apps like Memrise, but using anime and manga to familiarize yourself with such language has an added advantage: meaningful context. Because you see this new casual language in the context of the anime or manga characters’ daily interactions, what you hear and learn is more meaningful, easier to comprehend, and more readily recalled because your brain is already hard at work making sense of the casual language in context of those daily interactions. Anime provide an excellent platform for listening comprehension practice with casual speech, forcing your ear to parse out what grammar, phrases, etc. make the casual speech meaningful, while manga provide a similar degree of practice in reading comprehension of casual speech.

Japanese Talk Online gives an example of a particular colloquial Japanese grammar. Japanese Talk Online also published lists of anime and manga useful for Japanese learners.

 

 

An example of colloquial speech from the manga Bleach

Photo credit: http://jtalkonline.com/how-to-use-manga-to-study-japanese/

 

CULTURE

In addition to all the previous benefits, manga and anime are also great ways to get to know different cultural norms of Japan! Some Japanese manga and anime feature illustrations of and characters’ interactions with Japanese temples and festivals, as well as feature characters in traditional Japanese kimono or yukata. However, manga and anime go beyond this in terms of the culture they are able to communicate, as many also feature phrases or manners that are esoteric and unique to Japanese culture. For instance, often Japanese manga and anime will feature characters saying ittekimasu (“I will go and then come back”) when leaving their homes, which is a cultural norm of Japan to say when you are leaving home. There are also some manga and anime which more clearly address the culture unique to Japan. Shinpaideshou recommends Oguri Saori’s Daarin wa Gaikokujin (My Husband is a Foreigner) as a manga that meaningfully presents readers with the cultural norms of Japan. Goodreads also has a list of manga depicting the history of Japan.

Rurouni Kenshin, a manga that also has an anime adaptation, is set in Meiji-era Japan.

Photo credit: https://honeysanime.com/top-10-historical-manga-best-recommendations/

 

Resources

https://comicsforum.org/2015/11/24/what-are-you-reading-approaches-and-reasons-for-looking-at-language-in-manga-by-giancarla-unser-schutz/

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/japanese/japanese-onomatopoeia/

https://guides.library.duke.edu/c.php?g=289280&p=1929235

http://jtalkonline.com/how-to-use-manga-to-study-japanese/

http://jtalkonline.com/manga/

https://www.kuleuven.be/ci/29/ci29manga.html

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260126381_Manga_as_a_linguistic_resource_for_learning

https://shinpaideshou.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/multimodal-literacies-and-using-mangaanime-in-the-classroom/

https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/japanese-onomatopoeia/

It’s the summer. You’re sitting on a comfy beach chair as the water’s waves catch a dancing reflection of the sun’s rays. Or, maybe you’re at a new internship, spending day in and day out organizing data and enjoying the office vending machine. What you might not be doing, however, is brushing up on all of that language learning you did over the past academic year!

While it’s certainly important that you spend some time relaxing this summer, it is equally important that you do not do yourself a disservice by losing your fluency in a foreign language. So, how do you combat this while enjoying your summer?

Consistent, regular, and *fun* practice– that’s how you keep your fluency from slumping. This means setting aside some part of your daily routine, whether it be five minutes or an hour. You might think of this as ‘language maintenance’–staying current and connected to your language learning, able to jump right back in when the fall semester rolls around.

So, what are some things you can do for that daily practice? Here are a few ideas:

 

• Keep a summer journal in your foreign language– write down every detail of that lovely trip on the beach so that you’ll never forget it! Or, if you’re stuck behind a desk all summer, make your journal aspirational, and write about all those exotic trips you’ll be taking next summer.

• Try out a new app (or ten!) The app market is inundated with helpful language learning apps like Memrise, Duolingo, and more; you should find one that works with your target language and learning style and use it each day for a few minutes!

• TV is your friend. You could also start watching a TV show in your foreign language as a way to practice listening and, with subtitles, reading comprehension. Netflix has a bunch of content in a variety of languages; Roku channels like Viki also have a lot of options!

• Be a (participant) observer! If you are in a city that has different language enclaves, try to visit them and get in-person practices speaking the language and seeing it used by native speakers. If you aren’t comfortable engaging in conversation yet, try just to listen, or observe how people interact, carry themselves, use gesture, etc. Those elements of language learning are seldom taught in the classroom!

• Finally, try to find a language partner to speak with regularly, like once or twice a week, over the summer– this could be a past classmate you had in your language course, or maybe even a native speaker in your town! Online tools like HelloTalk, iTalki, etc can connect you to tutors and teachers abroad if you don’t have local access!

 

This is far from an exhaustive list of ways you can maintain your language over the summer. Just remember: keep studying consistently, and keep it fun.

 

This post comes from Language Commons Assistant and guest author Dom Giovanniello, recent UVA grad. He spent the 2016-17 academic year studying Arabic in Amman, Jordan.

 

The beautiful thing about study abroad is that everything is an adventure.

Whether it’s taking a taxi, making a friend, or even just sitting down at a café, every mundane moment represents an exciting learning opportunity or challenge. To be sure, studying abroad can be exhausting, and you’ll inevitably long for the comforts and predictability of home, but you’ll also miss the constant excitement that being abroad provides.

When people talk about study abroad they tend to mention culture shock, maximizing your experience and learning the language. And while there is some discussion of returning home, no one really talks about how to maintain and build off of what you’ve learned once you do get back.

Last year, I spent two semesters studying Arabic in Amman, Jordan with CET Academic Programs. It’s been almost a year since I returned from Jordan, and although I’ll always have the memories I made there, maintaining the language skills I developed requires a lot of effort.

Going from being immersed in a foreign culture and constantly speaking another language every day to sitting in class was a huge struggle for me. I found classroom language learning unstimulating and unsatisfying, and I realized that my goals had completely changed. I’ve never wanted to be a professor or specialize in literature, and after using colloquial Arabic in everyday life, studying Arabic in class left me wanting. That’s not to say that UVA’s program isn’t good (it’s fantastic), it’s just that I missed the excitement of studying abroad. At the same time, I found that some of my other classes on the Middle East weren’t as satisfying either. No matter how good the professor and how engaging the material, a classroom can’t compare to the real thing.  

In many ways, it’s been incredibly frustrating – dedicating a year to studying a language and then not being able to use it in the way that I want and had grown used to. I’ve had to find new ways to keep my language skills from declining and to experience the same excitement that I always felt studying Arabic. That being said, I wouldn’t trade my study abroad experience for anything. I made so many new friends, learned a ton – not only about Jordan, but also about myself and my own culture – and grew as a person. Studying abroad opened up so many doors for me, both academically and career-wise, and it gave me a newfound appreciation for everything that I have. It inspired me to pursue a law degree. I hope to use that, along with my Arabic skills, to positively impact U.S. foreign policy and to help restore the United States’ reputation and moral standing. And although it may be over (at least for now), and my Arabic may be getting rusty, the impact of my study abroad experience will never end.

This guest post comes from Joanne Britland, a Ph.D. candidate of Spanish in the UVa Department of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. As Project Manager for the Foreign Language Learning ePortfolio Project (FLLeP), she helped coordinate the ePortfolio Peer Consultant (ePPC) program from 2015-2017. She is also a graduate teaching instructor and currently teaches Spanish 3300 (Spanish Texts and Interpretation).

 

Teaching and learning foreign languages are great passions of mine. I’ve taught Spanish, Portuguese, and English in the United States, Spain, and Brazil in positions at the university, high school, and elementary school levels. Through these experiences, I’ve realized the importance of integrating technology into the classroom and enjoy discovering innovative ways to do so. At the University of Virginia, I’ve had unique opportunities to combine technology with foreign language learning through using ePortfolios in my Spanish courses and by working as Project Manager for the Foreign Language Learning ePortfolio Project group (FLLeP), led by Emily Scida, Karen James, and Yitna Firdyiwek.

ePortfolios in UVA Language Programs: a massive undertaking

Serving as Project Manager has been an exciting role because as a member of the team, I’ve witnessed first-hand the logistics and inner-workings of implementing an ePortfolio program at such a large institution. This execution was no small task; the foreign language ePortfolio project at UVa encompasses 7 foreign language programs in beginning, intermediate, and advanced intermediate language courses (about 95 sections per semester). It involves 60 foreign language faculty and 3,500 students each semester!

Peers as Mentors: the ePortfolio Peer Consultant Program

With so many instructors and students utilizing ePortfolios, technical issues were inevitable, which is why the project leaders designed the ePortfolio Peer Consultant (ePPC) model. At the outset of the program, these consultants were students who had previously taken a foreign language course using ePortfolios in the project’s pilot year. They worked as peer mentors to provide technology support for students enrolled in courses integrating ePortfolios. The ePPC program has since evolved and expanded and now includes students from other disciplines outside of the foreign language departments. The consultants do incredible work mentoring and supporting their peers and instructors. They help with technical issues regarding the ePortfolio platforms, make class visits to introduce ePortfolios to students, and provide office hours for assistance. Furthermore, they are responsible for implementing FolioFest, an event held at the end of each semester for students to showcase their ePortfolios to the university community.

Grad Student Research into Teaching and Learning: everyone benefits!

The ePPC program is truly groundbreaking, and the consultants contribute to the success of the overall foreign language ePortfolio program. However, the benefits are not limited to the students they assist; the program also positively impacts the ePortfolio consultants. For this reason, I decided to explore some of the advantages of the ePPC design beyond providing technology and troubleshooting assistance. More specifically, I wanted to find out how some of the learner-centered goals of ePortfolios in the classroom are also achieved through the ePPC program. This led me to create my own study outside of my work in Hispanic languages and literatures.

When designing the project, I decided to focus on two specific goals: learner autonomy and digital literacy. The results of the study demonstrated that the program fosters these two skills for the ePortfolio consultants as well as the students they assist. I was able to present these findings at the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) National Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, and at the AAEEBL (Association for Authentic, Experiential, and Evidence-Based Learning) Southeast Regional Conference. It was rewarding to be able to engage with teachers and researchers from around the world and discuss exciting possibilities for using ePortfolios and technology in foreign language education. There is still much to be done in this area of research, and I am currently working on expanding the project to study how additional learner-centered goals are attained through the ePPC program.

_______________

We look forward to learning more about your research soon, Joanne! Thanks for this introduction to your work and the work of the ePPC program at UVA!

 

Reflection, self-awareness, and effective use of learning strategies are all recognized as important behaviors of successful language learners. Students in Mieko Kawai’s Japanese 2020 classes are developing these skills through their ePortfolio “J-Log” (Japanese Log).

In the J-Log, Japanese language students regularly react to three prompts: Shinakucha = (things I ‘have to do’), Shitai (things I ‘want to do’), and Souka! (‘Aha! moments’). These prompts encourage students to plan, document, and reflect on their learning process. As they increase their awareness of grammar, Japanese culture, and Kanji characters, learners are also developing metacognitive awareness, which helps them to self-regulate and stay motivated to make progress.

The idea for the J-Log came from Kawai’s Japanese colleague Tomoko Marshall, who introduced the log in spring 2017 in Japanese 2020 courses. Marshall notes that her goal in implementing the J-Log was to introduce an element of choice into the language learning experience, in order to encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning.

Mieko Kawai, who has incorporated the J-Log into an ePortfolio in her current 2020 courses, states:

The goal of the J-Log is to help students become more aware, self-directed, intentional learners.  Students articulate, in writing, their short-term and long-term goals in learning Japanese, connecting their own lives to the course work.  In the next step, they design their own small learning activities, and then self-assess after doing that self-planned activity.  

The J-Log in the ePortfolio helps my students develop metacognitive skills that help them realize who they are and how they learn, and how they can apply their learning in non-language contexts or other disciplines. Keeping their log, and reflecting, help them see patterns — when and how their learning comes to be successful (or unsuccessful) and meaningful, with visible evidence of growth.   

Student feedback indicates the importance of the J-Log to their learning and motivation. Izzy Burke, a 2^nd year studying Japanese Language & Literature and the Batten School’s B.A. in Leadership and Public Policy, says “language study requires a great deal of individual effort and creativity if you want to make progress, but sometimes it can be a challenge to stay motivated when you also have academic commitments and extracurriculars. The J-Log has given me a chance to pause my routine and reflect on my progress, mistakes, and future goals in learning Japanese.”

Students also reported finding value in the creative possibilities afforded by the ePortfolio, which is hosted by Digication. Caroline Barrington, a third Year English major and Japanese learner, notes, “The J-log has helped me think of some ‘out-of-the-box’ ideas for remembering certain aspects of Japanese; like how singing in Japanese helps me with pronunciation and speed of speech.” Izzy Burke notes “the format of the E-portfolios also gives me a chance to personalize my J-log. Recently I’ve been experimenting with a “vlog” style format, and have enjoyed it so much that I plan on keeping a video-journal to track my progress when I study abroad in Hakodate, Hokkaido this summer!”

Kawai notes a final benefit of the eportfolio J-Log: that students share ePortfolios with one another, making them a powerful tool for collaborative learning:

By commenting on each other’s posts, students have opportunities to read what others are doing, and organically learn from peers.  Those students who may not traditionally see themselves as successful language learners tend to bring great contributions to the learning community, by analyzing and synthesizing their learning, and giving supporting comments to others.  

The opportunities for reflection, creativity, and collaboration, afforded by ePortfolios, help to create a community of self-aware learners who can drive, plan, and evaluate their learning. The role of ePortfolios in helping to organize, collect, reflect on, and assess learning activities was recently recognized as a “high impact practice” by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). Beyond the language learning context, ePortfolios are in use across the UVA College of Arts & Sciences, from Chemistry to Spanish. At the end of each semester, a FolioFest showcase event is held to celebrate excellence in ePortfolio learning in the College.

 

This guest post comes from UVA 3rd Year and Language Commons Assistant Angie Ocran:

Where on grounds can you go for a fun maker activity making “poop logs” with a side of coffee and pastries?

The Language Commons, of course!

On monday night, December 4th, the Language Commons held a Caga Tió (literally “poop log”) making session from 5-7pm and I was delighted to be a part of it.

Yes, I realize how ridiculous “poop logs” sound but to many Catalans, this is a normal Christmas Tradition. From what I learned at the event, Caga Tió is almost a Santa Claus equivalent in the region of Catalonia–the difference is that the log poops out the presents.

The log which usually has two wooden legs, a smiley face and a Catalan barretina(hat) is fed by kids and covered in a blanket until Christmas Eve when it is whacked until it “poops” out presents. Along with the whacking is a special song to encourage the log. After the whacking stops, the blanket is removed to reveal a variety of gifts.

Hush Hush: Parents replace the log every few days to pretend the log is growing from being fed. They also hide the gifts under the blanket before Caga Tió is whacked.

It was quite a sight as students painted faces on their logs, made barretinas with felt squares, and got their arts and crafts on. The festive atmosphere not only helped to de-stress, but also learn about the differences in cultural experience when it comes to the holidays!

Here are a few links to learn more about this tradition:

https://www.expatica.com/es/insider-views/Introducing-the-Caga-Tio_103571.html

Traveler’s perspective on Caga Tió and Caganer

Caga Tió Song

Author: Angelina A. Ocran

Several themes emerged from the 2017 American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Convention & Expo. Held in Nashville Nov 16-19 2017, the convention’s goal is “to provide a comprehensive professional development experience that will have an impact on language educators at all levels of teaching, and in turn help their students to succeed in their language learning process.”

Out of the diverse presentations, roundtables, and exhibits, a trend toward greater authenticity in language teaching and learning seemed to emerge. Sessions throughout the convention focused on ‘real-life’ language, making learning ‘real’ through study abroad and service learning, gaining intercultural competence through collaborations with native speakers, and use of authentic materials. Social justice, an authentically important topic to many learners and instructors alike, was the topic of several sessions. Of particular note was the large number of sessions highlighting the challenge of fostering authentic, meaningful learning for heritage language learners in courses that, by definition, tend to assume a language is ‘foreign’ to all its learners. With growing understanding of their unique and inimitable linguistic resources, the need to create authentic opportunities for heritage learners is on the minds of many.

 

Other exciting trends emerging from ACTFL 2017:

• Creation & Adoption of Open Educational Resources

The effort to develop open (ie free!) educational resources for language learning and teaching is in large part led by COERLL at the University of Texas in Austin. COERLL’s presentations at ACTFL highlighted the Foreign Languages & the Literary in the Everyday (FLLITE) project, with its goal of developing “an educational community of practice… for generating crowdsourced literacy materials for the L2 classroom.” FLLITE is but one example of efforts across the country to improve both the quality and the accessibility of language learning and teaching materials.

• Game- and Simulation-Based learning

Exceptional presentations and workshops by CASLS and other National Foreign Language Resource Centers highlighted the engagement, motivation, digital literacy, and social justice explorations that can result from gamification in the language learning process. Taking our understanding of gamification far beyond the ‘memory and matching’ games students might access via popular language learning apps, these presentations introduced thoughtful, complex gaming experiences that engaged students in interactive and self-reflective learning activities. The NFLRC at Hawai’i-Manoa highlighted unit-long simulations for advanced learners, encouraging development of sophisticated language and professional skills through a job search scenario that engaged learners with diverse interests.

• New Tools for Learners and Instructors 

Through pre-convention workshops, presentations, and product exhibits, practitioners and exhibitors shared new and emerging tools for supporting language learning in and beyond the classroom. Particularly well-represented were sessions that utilized (primarily cloud-based) tech tools in service of telecollaboration and online language learning. The most popular tools were undoubtedly the free, cloud-based technologies to support both learners and teachers, highlighted in various sessions, including the pre-convention workshop by Lara Lomicka (U. South Carolina) and Gillian Lord (U. Florida. Their exceptional list of tools to support presentational, interpretive, and interpersonal communication modes was much appreciated!

UVA was well-represented at ACTFL, with UVA presenters and participants representing the Chinese, French, Japanese, Spanish language programs!