Native Japanese Speakers needed!
I'm doing an honors project for my Second Lanugage Acquisition class that involves interviewing Japanese learners of English. It's due next Monday and I'm having trouble getting the few Japanese people on campus to meet with me. So, I'm resorting to Livejournal. If there are any native Japanese speakers out there who have learned or are currently learning English, I need your help! The focus of the interview is to find out what sort of issues Japanese NSs have learning English. (I'm pretty sure that I actually asked something similar in this community last semester, but I couldn't find the entry.)
My project is pretty broad, as I'm really just curious as to what sort of difficulties Japanese NSs tend to have with English. Please be very specific, feel free to answer as indepthly as you want, and include anything extra you feel is necessary (as there are probably important things that I've forgotten, and my questions are not laid out very well to begin with). You don't have to answer in the exact format listed below, but try to hit upon each of the points. Thanks!
Age:
Length of exposure to English:
Age you began to learn English:
Other L2s:
Where/why you learned English (classroom, study abroad, required for school, for work, interest, etc.):
If you were required to take classes in school, why did you continue?
If you could pick one, what would you consider the BIGGEST problem (grammar, meaning, usage, memorization, socio-cultural, listening, speaking, etc.) you had/have?
Please elaborate.
If your biggest problem changed over time (initially it was ___, then it was ____, now it's ___ ) please elaborate on that, as well.
Specific problems with:
1. the language itself
- grammar:
- phonetics/sounds (l/r, th):
- understanding/usage:
2. affectively
- cultural norms:
- motivation/will:
- self-esteem/anxiety:
What sort of strategies did you use, if any, to improve your English?
What helped you the most in your learning? (class, friends, immersion, independent study, etc.)
If you learned English in Japan, how has coming to the U.S. (or other English-speaking country) helped you?
Can you think of a particular scenario in which you had a major language issue?
(Probably x-posted.)
My project is pretty broad, as I'm really just curious as to what sort of difficulties Japanese NSs tend to have with English. Please be very specific, feel free to answer as indepthly as you want, and include anything extra you feel is necessary (as there are probably important things that I've forgotten, and my questions are not laid out very well to begin with). You don't have to answer in the exact format listed below, but try to hit upon each of the points. Thanks!
Age:
Length of exposure to English:
Age you began to learn English:
Other L2s:
Where/why you learned English (classroom, study abroad, required for school, for work, interest, etc.):
If you were required to take classes in school, why did you continue?
If you could pick one, what would you consider the BIGGEST problem (grammar, meaning, usage, memorization, socio-cultural, listening, speaking, etc.) you had/have?
Please elaborate.
If your biggest problem changed over time (initially it was ___, then it was ____, now it's ___ ) please elaborate on that, as well.
Specific problems with:
1. the language itself
- grammar:
- phonetics/sounds (l/r, th):
- understanding/usage:
2. affectively
- cultural norms:
- motivation/will:
- self-esteem/anxiety:
What sort of strategies did you use, if any, to improve your English?
What helped you the most in your learning? (class, friends, immersion, independent study, etc.)
If you learned English in Japan, how has coming to the U.S. (or other English-speaking country) helped you?
Can you think of a particular scenario in which you had a major language issue?
(Probably x-posted.)