This presentation will demonstrate new multimedia instructional materials that have been developed for intermediate and advanced Japanese learners and discuss how these materials can be incorporated into the organization of theme-based units, which enhance students' varying language skills and understanding of social cultural issues. These goals correspond to the suggestions made in the recent special issue of Japanese Language and Literature, "Sociocultural issues in teaching Japanese: Critical approaches" (Kubota, ed., 2003).
The existing materials for Japanese learners at intermediate or advanced levels tend to focus on reading comprehension. While they encourage pre- and post-reading oral interactive activities, or provide some scripted dialogs related to the topics covered in the readings, there are few opportunities for students to examine actual models of spoken discourse about these topics. To fill this gap, we have developed instructional materials based on video-recorded interactions among native speakers of Japanese, who discuss the topics often introduced in the existing Japanese textbooks (e.g., gift exchanges, educational systems, gender roles). The Japanese collaborators first read some texts extracted from these textbooks, and with that prompt, engaged in interactions either in an interview format or a conversational discussion format. The videotaped interactions were transcribed and selected segments were digitized and edited for creating instructional materials that include notes on vocabulary, grammar, culture, and spoken language.
These multimedia materials aim to assist students in 1) enhancing their listening comprehension skills; 2) promoting their understanding of differences between written and spoken languages; 3) exploring diverse experiences and perspectives held by Japanese, who are often considered homogeneous; 4) examining the use of honorifics, gendered speech styles, back-channels, etc. in actual interactions; 5) reflecting on their own speaking skills in comparison with what is shown in the video clips. The presentation of sample materials will be followed by the discussion of students' reactions.