What Japanese Language Teachers Should Be Aware of Kana
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ABSTRACT American Students’ Interests in the Japanese Language: What Japanese Language Teachers Should be Aware Of Kana Abe, M.A. Mentor: David W. Schlueter, Ph.D. This thesis illustrates that the relationship between American students’ interests’ in Japanese culture and the Japanese language. The result of the thesis demonstrated that the majority of the college students are interested in Japanese popular culture upon their decisions to take a foreign language class. Particularly, video games are more prevalent than anime and manga among American college students. However, through Japanese language courses, they often expand their interests in other aspects of Japanese culture. The role of teacher is significantly important in order to raise students’ awareness to other aspects of culture. American Students' Interests in the Japanese Language: What Japanese Language Teachers Should be Aware Of by Kana Abe, B.A. A Thesis Department of Communication Studies ___________________________________ David W. Schlueter, Ph.D., Chairperson Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Baylor University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Approved by the Thesis Committee ___________________________________ David W. Schlueter, Ph.D., Chairperson ___________________________________ Jeff D. Bass, Ph.D. ___________________________________ Clark Baker, Ph.D. Accepted by the Graduate School August 2009 ___________________________________ J. Larry Lyon, Ph.D., Dean Page bearing signatures is kept on file in the Graduate School. Copyright © 2009 by Kana Abe All rights reserved TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Table ............................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ............................................................................................................ vii Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................... viii Chapter One: An Introduction and Review of the Literature ....................................... 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 1 Review of the Literature and Research Questions.................................................... 4 Japanese Language and Culture in the United States ............................................ 4 Japanese Culture and Its Attractions to Americans ............................................... 8 Other Cultural Attractions ................................................................................... 13 Media Influence .................................................................................................. 14 Media Influence and Anime and Manga as Forms of Media ................................ 14 Transnationalism ................................................................................................. 19 Chapter Two: Methods and Materials ......................................................................... 23 Participants ............................................................................................................. 23 Procedure and Design ............................................................................................. 23 Chapter Three: Results ............................................................................................... 25 RQ1: Are Anime, Manga, and/or Video Games the Primary Reasons that Americans Take Japanese Language Classes in College? ............................... 25 RQ2: Do Students Enrolled in a Japanese Language Class Relate Its Language to Its Culture? ................................................................................................. 26 RQ3: What Do Students Learn about Japanese Culture by Enrolling in Japanese Language Courses?........................................................................... 28 iii RQ4: In What Ways Does Taking a Japanese Language Class Deepen and/or Change a Student’s Interest in Its Language or Culture? .................................. 31 RQ5: What Types of Sources Influence Students to Become Interested in Japan? ......................................................................................................... 32 RQ6: What Percentages of Students Watch Anime or Fansub Anime? Do Students Prefer to Anime Over Other Forms of Media? ................................... 34 RQ7: Do Students Talk with Other Students As Well As Friends about Japanese Culture or Participate in Online Discussions about Japan and Japanese Culture?............................................................................................ 36 Chapter Four: Discussion ............................................................................................ 37 RQ1: Are Anime, Manga, and/or Video Games the Primary Reasons that Americans Take Japanese Language Classes in College? ............................... 37 RQ2: Do Students Enrolled in a Japanese Language Class Relate Its Language to Its Culture? ................................................................................................. 40 RQ3: What Do Students Learn about Japanese Culture by Enrolling in Japanese Language Courses?........................................................................... 41 RQ4: In What Ways Does Taking a Japanese Language Class Deepen and/or Change a Student’s Interest in Its Language or Culture? .................................. 42 RQ5: What Types of Sources Influence Students to Become Interested in Japan? ......................................................................................................... 42 RQ6: What Percentages of Students Watch Anime or Fansub Anime? Do Students Prefer to Anime Over Other Forms of Media? ................................... 43 RQ7: Do Students Talk with Other Students As Well As Friends about Japanese Culture or Participate in Online Discussions about Japan and Japanese Culture?............................................................................................ 44 Limitation of Research ............................................................................................ 46 Conclusion.............................................................................................................. 46 Appendices ................................................................................................................. 47 Appendix A: Survey for the Relationship between Japanese Popular Culture, Japanese Language, and Media ............................................................................... 48 iv Appendix B: Figures ............................................................................................... 56 References .................................................................................................................. 62 v LIST OF TABLE Table 1: Reasons for Studying Japanese...................................................................... 27 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: How Participants Had Interests in Japanese Culture ..................................... 26 Figure 2: Number of Participants Who Felt Japanese Class Had Deepened Their Knowledge on Japan...................................................................................... 31 Figure 3: Aspects of Japanese Culture that Participants Strengthened Their Knowledge through Japanese Language Courses .................................................... 32 Figure 4: Uses of the Internet to Access Japanese Culture ........................................... 33 Figure 5: Media Preference to Access Japanese Culture .............................................. 33 Figure B.1: Participants’ Classification of Japanese Culture ........................................ 56 Figure B.2: Anime Consumption ................................................................................ 57 Figure B.3: Fansub Anime Consumption .................................................................... 57 Figure B.4: Manga Consumption ................................................................................ 58 Figure B.5: Video Games Consumption ...................................................................... 58 Figure B.6: TV Drama Series Consumption ................................................................ 59 Figure B.7: Books Consumption ................................................................................. 59 Figure B.8: Media Preference ..................................................................................... 60 Figure B.9: Topics Participants Talk during Breaks with Other Classmates ................ 60 Figure B.10: Frequency with Talking about Japan to Acquaintances Outside of Japanese Class .................................................................................................... 61 Figure B.11: Frequency with Talking about Japan Online ........................................... 61 vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank all of the professors who supported me to complete this thesis. Dr. Schlueter helped me create a questionnaire and edit this thesis. Dr. Carbonara and Dr. Korpi gave advice about anime, manga, and video games in the United States. Dr. Rogers provided me with some perspectives of educational approach. I especially would like to show my appreciation to my supervisor, Ms. Yuko Prefume, who helped me access to Japanese language education. She provided me with many opportunities to practice my method of teaching in