Strategies for learning Japanese

This article has been summarised from Mariko Kubota, Gary Peters and Alina Skoutarides, Do Students Learn Differently, and Does It Matter?, Japanese studies: Communities, cultures, critiques volume 4, New directions in Japanese linguistics, Monash Asia Institute, Clayton (2000) as well as Murat Hismanoglu, Language Learning Strategies in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching, The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. VI, No. 8, August 2000.Taxonomy of Language Learning Strategies.

There has been research done by several scholars to identify and classify strategies used to teach and to learn a foreign language. Some scholars identify not just strategies that directly contribute to language learning, but also indirect strategies (including metacognitive strategies to plan or manage the learning effort, affective strategies to increase confidence and decrease anxiety during the learning process, and communicative/social strategies that include gesturing, asking for repetition/clarification, etc.)

Direct strategies include:

• memorization (including creating mental linkages, use of images and sound, reviewing)
• cognitive (analysing, deducting, and reasoning)
• compensation (intelligent guessing, overcoming limitations through substitution etc.)

Various research on the effectiveness of learning strategies seem to suggest that successful learners:

1. use a variety of strategies in an orchestrated fashion (for example, linking cognitive and metacognitive strategies, linking specific strategies to specific skills such as listening, speaking, reading, writing)
2. use strategies that are effective to the individual (based on gender, cultural background, age, attitudes and beliefs)

The following strategies are listed in Do Students Learn Differently, and Does It Matter? (the specific strategies in italics are strategies that I employ personally when learning Japanse):

Repetition	'When I learn a new phrase, I repeat it until I know it by heart' 'When listening to tapes, I repeat out loud or to myself whatever is said on the tape.'
Resourcing	'In conversations with speakers of Japanese, I ask them for the meaning of words when I don't understand.' 'I try to improve my Japanese by reading, listening to and watching materials in Japanese.' 'I consult a dictionary to find out the small differences in the meaning of Japanese words.'
Note taking	'I keep vocabulary lists of new words I have learned.' 'When in class, or studying by myself, I keep clear, well organised notes.'
Keyword	'To learn a new word or expression in Japanese, I think of an English word that resembles it in some way.' 'When learning a Japanese word or expression, I think of an image that links it to an English word I know well.'
Elaboration	'As I listen to or read a new Japanese word or phrease, I relate it to others that I have already learned.'
Recombination	'When making Japanese sentences I use words, phrases and patterns that I have learned to construct expressions that are new to me.'
Contextualisation	'When looking at a Japanese word in a dictionary, I read all the sample sentences illustrating the various meanings of the word.' 'During class I ask teacher when or by whom a Japanese word or expression may be used.'
Translation	'When reading in Japanese, I stop to make comparisons between the structures of English and Japanese.' 'When speaking Japanese, I think of what I want to say without thinking first in my own language.' 'When speaking Japanese, I ask others for Japanese translations of words that I know in my own language.'
Imagery	'I try to relate new Japanese phrases to situations or English expressions I know well.' 'To remember a new Japanese word or expression, I link it in my memory to one that I know well.'
Deduction	'During a conversation in Japanese, I use the rules I have learned to help me understand what the other person is saying.'
Transfer	'I try to improve my understanding of Japanese by comparing new expressions with similar in my own language.' 'I learn new words in Japanese the same way that I learn to spell new words in English.'
Grouping	'When learning words, I group them into categories by meaning, sounds, etc.'
Inferencing	'When someone is speaking to me about unfamiliar topics in Japanese, I try to figure out the meaning by listening to key words, and looking at their expressions or gestures.' 'When doing a reading assignment in Japanese, I try to get the general meaning of a paragraph before I start looking up the meanings of new words.'
Auditory representation	'I learn a new Japanese word or expression by remembering its sound, or by linking it to another word or expression that sounds familiar.'
Advanced organiser	'I read the materials before attending class.'
Selective attention	'When reading, I scan the passage for key words.' 'When reading, I skim through the passage to get overall meaning.'
Revision	'When I study I concentrate on new work.' 'When I study I try to revise everything I learn.'
Self monitoring	'I try to check the correctness of my work myself.' 'I find the teacher's corrections useful.'
Self management	'I like to decide how and what to study.' 'I prefer to be told what to study by the teacher.'
Prioritisation	'I concentrate on areas of language which I like.' 'I concentrate on aspects of language in which I am weak.'
Problem identification	'I like the teacher to tell me why certain tasks have to be done.'
Delayed production	'I do not say anything in Japanese unless I feel sure I can do it correctly.'
Self evaluation	'I know how I am progressing even without test results to prove it.'

Data on 792 Japanese language students across 5 Melbourne universities suggest the top 5 strategies linked to high achievement are:

1. comparison (comparing new structures, phrases and vocabulary in Japanese with those in English)
2. linking (processing and remembering new Japanese words or phrases by linking them to others already learned or by grouping them together)
3. selecting and inferencing (scanning passages or listening for key words, trying to get the general meaning from the contexdt of the passage or the conversation)
4. resourcing (consulting a dictionary, looking at sample sentences, asking the explanation when speaking Japanese to find subtle differences in meaning)
5. self management (deciding how and what to study, checking the correctness of one's work oneself)

Interestingly, students who continued on to Year 2 tend to rely more on the following strategies (over those that chose to discontinue):

1. 'When speaking Japanese, I think of what I want to say without thinking first in my own language.'
2. 'When doing a reading assignment in Japanese, I try to get the general meaning of a paragraph before I start looking up the meanings of new words.'
3. 'During a conversation in Japanese, I use the rules I have learned to help me understand what the other person is saying.'

The data also seem to support the hypothesis that learning strategies change over time, with less reliance on repetition and more on comparison or resourcing type strategies.