Hayashi 2009 Foreign Language Annals

Foreign Language Annals vol. 42, No.
673
Student Preconceptions of
Japanese Language Learning in
1989 and 2004
Atsuko Hayashi
California State University, Long Beach
Abstract: This study compares student preconceptions and expectations of Japanese
language learning from studies conducted in 1989 and 2004. Over the years, student
interests and pedagogical approaches have changed. However, the changes do not reflect
on the student preconceptions and expectations. They still believe in traditional
approaches to language learning, and their instrumental motivation is still high. A total
of 374 undergraduate students studying Japanese in a four-year college participated in
this study. The participants responded to a questionnaire concerning the four areas
of language learning: (1) difficulty, (2) nature, (3) strategies, and (4) motivation.
In analyzing these findings, this study recommends that instructors impart the facts
about Japanese language learning to their students and assess whether their own
curriculums meet the students needs.
Key words: college-level language learning, questionnaire study, students expectations, students preconceptions
Language: Japanese
Students hold a variety of preconceptions and expectations about the language they are
learning. The instructor who understands student preconceptions and expectations can
assist them more effectively in achieving their goals and can evaluate the curriculum to
determine if it provides the training necessary to meet the students needs.
To be successful, learners must devote considerable time and energy to their
study, and they must study effectively. They need to be aware of the realities of
learning the target language, such as its difficulty and the time required to reach the
advanced level more quickly. They also need to be informed about the most effective way to learn a foreign language. To assist students to become successful, an
instructor must implement the curriculum with this in mind.
First, I discuss learners preconceptions and expectations about Japanese
language learning. Based on this discussion, I determine what facts the student must
know. Finally, I examine whether our curriculum provides effective ways of teaching.
Dr. Atsuko Hayashi received her PhD in Linguistics from the University of Oregon
in 2002. At the time of her death in 2007 she was an assistant professor of Japanese
in the Department of Asian and Asian American Studies at California State University, Long Beach. Before her appointment at CSULB, Dr. Hayashi taught as a lecturer
at the University of Oregon and the University of California, Santa Barbara.
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In adopting the questionnaire Beliefs

about Language Learning (Horwitz, 1988),
this study surveys and examines student
preconceptions and expectations in four areas: (1) difficulty of language learning, (2)
the nature of language learning, (3) learning
and communication strategies, and (4) motivation and expectation. The data on
preconceptions and expectations examined
here were collected in 1989 and 2004. The
second set of data was collected in 2004 because an interval of 15 years seems
adequate for identifying changes in Japanese
language education. From the perspective
of Japanese language pedagogy, these are
very different decades. The student populations differ, and the teaching methodology
has changed significantly in the intervening
years, including the adaptation of Standards
for Japanese Language Learning in many
programs. This study compares the two
sets of student responses to examine the influence of the different time periods. The
survey participants in both data sets were
native English speakers learning Japanese as
a foreign language at the same four-year state
university on the U.S. West Coast.
Before examining the students responses, however, I review previous findings
on the difficulty of Japanese, the characteristics of good language learners, and
research findings on motivation. In addition, I discuss the different factors relevant
to Japanese pedagogy in 1989 and 2004, as
this study compares data from two decades.
Difficulty of Japanese
The School of Language Studies of the Foreign Service Institute categorizes Japanese
as a Group Four language along with
Arabic, Chinese, and Korean. According to
the Institutes analysis (Omaggio, 1986),
native English speakers need an average of
1,320 hours to reach the advanced-level
speaking proficiency of the ACTFL guideline. It takes native English speakers
three times longer to reach the advancedlevel proficiency in Japanese than in the
Romance languages (Oh, 1996). In addi-
Winter 2009
tion, mastering the reading and writing of

Japanese requires significantly more time
because Japanese has a complicated writing
system. An educated user of the language
uses two phonetic syllabaries and about
2,000 Chinese characters.
Successful Language Learners

and Effective Second Language
Acquisition
Successful learners use language for communication and interaction (e.g., Ellis,
1994; Freed, 1995; Norton & Toohey, 2001;
Rubin, 1981). They do not hesitate to use
the language and take advantage of opportunities to communicate with it. In turn,
having the ability to communicate motivates them further to continue to study the
language. For them, foreign language learning is not merely gaining knowledge of
the language, but is also acquiring a tool to
communicate with its speakers. Because of
their strong desire to communicate, successful learners are willing to guess at the
meaning of unknown words and guess
accurately using context, even at the risk
of appearing foolish (Rubin, 1981). High
achievers focus on the meaning of single
words and rely less on translation into English (Mangubhai, 1991).
Research also suggests that interaction
and communication in the target language
lead to acquisition. Habit-forming training,
such as traditional drill practice, does not
help learners acquire the language. Learners must engage in a higher order of thinking, such as hypothesizing and analyzing,
for acquisition to occur (Lee & VanPatten,
2003).
Interactive contacts also bring a greater
gain in grammatical accuracy (Freed,
1995). When communication breaks down
due to an inaccurate use of grammar,
successful learners recognize their errors
and, therefore, learn the correct forms
and take care to be accurate. Successful
language learners pay attention to both
form and meaning (Mangubhai, 1991).
Foreign Language Annals vol. 42, No. 4
That is, the knowledge of grammar is necessary, but to acquire the language, learners
must apply the knowledge to communicate.
Research demonstrates that learners
language skills do not improve when they
do not need to communicate. For example,
most often in traditional language classroom settings, many learners fail to develop
functional oral proficiency, and proficiency
in reading and writing becomes higher than
speaking proficiency (Ellis, 1994). This can
be attributed to class time typically spent
working on isolated sentence structures
in a sequence prescribed by a textbook
(Long, 2000). In short, to acquire a
language, learners must actively use the
language to communicate.
The literature indicates that learners
must be engaged in interactive communication in the target language to develop
fluency. This raises several questions in
relation to classroom learners of Japanese:
Are the sampled students from both
time periods aware of the need to use the
language for communication and to take
advantage of every opportunity to use the
language? Do they do so?
675
the language. Gardner and Lamberts study

of learning French in Canada (1972) demonstrated that there is a correlation between integrative motivation and a learners
achievement. Learners who want to use the
language to communicate with its native
speakers achieve higher than learners who
do not. In addition, learners with integrative or instrumental motivation are most
likely to continue studying the language
beyond the required two years (Ramage,
1990). Hernandez (2006) not only supported the previous findings, but he also
found that classroom activities that enhance
integrative motivation lead to success in
the course. He recommended promoting
activities and assignments that provide
opportunities for students to interact in
the language communities, such as interviewing members of the target language
community.
The final section of this study investigates student motivations and the possible
differences in motivation that might be reflected in the 1989 and 2004 surveys.
1989 vs. 2004

Motivation
Studies have shown that motivation will
influence learners success in learning the
target language as well as in the length
of time they continue to study the language
(Gardner & Lambert, 1972; Hernandez,
2006; Oxford & Shearin, 1994; Ramage,
1990).
Learning motivation is most often categorized as integrative or instrumental motivation. Integrative motivation is defined as
a desire to interact with native speakers of
the target language and culture; instrumental motivation is identified as interest in
studying the target language in order to use
it to achieve a particular objective, such as
obtaining a good job (Gardner & Lambert,
1959).
A desire to use the language in the
future seems to be a strong motivation to do
well in a course and to continue the study of
This study compares learners questionnaire responses between 1989 and 2004;
thus, I also discuss the different teaching
methodologies, the student populations,
and the Japanese economy (which influences job opportunities for learners of
Japanese).
First, teaching methodologies have
changed since 1989. In terms of Japanese
pedagogy, 1989 was still the audiolingual
era for many institutions. In fact, at the
university where this study took place, students were required to memorize the short
dialogues in the textbook for each class,
using tapes to memorize the conversations
and then doing mechanical drills at home.
The textbooks they used for the first- and
second-year courses were grammar-based
and organized by sentence structures or
morphemes. Class time was spent in the
explanation of sentence structures and
speaking practice using the target sentence
676
structures. Some in the field strongly believed that learners should not learn the
writing system until they learned to speak
because it was a huge burden to also learn
the writing system. No written Japanese
was found in the textbooks, because the
dialogues were written in Romanization.
The writing system in this institution was
introduced gradually: the phonetic systems,
hiragana and katakana, in the first quarter
or semester, and kanji (Chinese characters)
afterward. The teaching emphasis was on
proficiency in spoken Japanese, relying on
Romanization to present the Japanese sentences. As a result, quite a few students
seemed to be negatively inclined toward
learning kanji even after they moved up to
the third-year level.
By 2004, a standard-based, proficiencyoriented teaching methodology had been
introduced in the field of Japanese pedagogy, replacing the grammar-based curriculum with one that was function-based.
In fact, the functionally based textbook
Yookoso (Tohsaku, 2004) was adopted at
the university where this study took place.
Yookoso does present grammar rules even
though the goal is not to master the grammatical rules but to be able to communicate
in Japanese in the appropriate social context. In addition, students are exposed to
the Japanese writing system at the onset.
The 2004 survey demonstrated that those
students did not seem to have a resistance
to the Japanese writing system and thus
read better.
Second, the student population is
different. The 1989 student population
consisted primarily of business majors
who were hoping for good job opportunities with their proficiency in Japanese.
At a time when the Japanese economy was
at its peak growth, foreigners in Japan had
many job opportunities, and Japanese
speakers were needed in the United States
as well. The student population in the
Japanese program at the university where
the study took place increased greatly. In
fact, U.S. colleges overall reported a 95%
increase of Japanese language learners
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between 1986 and 1990 (Brod & Bettina,

1992, n.p.).
More than a decade later, in 2004, the
situation had changed considerably. With
the drop in the Japanese economy after
1989, by 2004 there was a decline in the
number of job opportunities that required
proficiency in Japanese. Business majors
had disappeared from Japanese language
classrooms and were replaced by the anime
generation and Nintendos players.
Considering these changes, student expectations are likely to be different between
1989 and 2004. By 2004, learners might
have come to expect communication practice in their foreign language learning more
than dialogue memorization and the study
of grammar rules. In addition, because of
the decline in the Japanese economy, fewer
learners might expect to find good job opportunities.
The following is an analysis of student preconceptions and expectations as
revealed through the survey questionnaire
circulated among 374 students.
Methodology
This study adopted the questionnaire Beliefs about Language Learning (Horwitz,
1988) and had students respond to 18 questions in the four areas (see Appendix I). The
questionnaires were distributed to 374 undergraduate students at a four-year institution in November 1989 and January
2004. Participants of this comparative study
are represented in Table 1.
Survey data were analyzed using SPSSs
v. 13.0. An alpha level of .05 was set a priori
to determine statistical differences among
variables. The statistical tests used were
the independent sample t test, to assess
the difference between responses from
1989 and 2004, and ANOVA, to determine
differences in the mean scores among the
levels within each time period.
Results
Corresponding to the questionnaire, the
results were organized in these four areas:
677
TABLE 1
Students Sampled in Beliefs about Language Learning Questionnaire

(Horwitz, 1988)
1989
Sample 5 251 students
2004
Sample 5 123 students
1st-year
141
25
2nd-year
59
37
3rd-year
38
32
4th- and 5th-year
13
29
Language Level
(1) difficulty of Japanese, (2) nature of language learning, (3) learning and communication strategies, and (4) motivation and
expectation. Despite the fact that the teaching methodology has changed and the
student population is different, most of the
results did not show significant differences
between the responses from 1989 and 2004.
Japanese was considered to be equally difficult in both 1989 and 2004. Very few students (less than 5%) in either time period
thought of it as an easy language, t(365) 5
1.394, p 5 .164 (two-tailed). Japanese was
considered to be difficult or very difficult by
76% of the students in 1989 and by 67% in
2004, as seen in Table 2. Although less than
5% of the students in 1989 and 2004
thought it an easy language, none thought
of it as a very easy language. The first-year
groups from 1989 and 2004 were the most
optimistic of all.
When considering speaking/listening
and reading/writing, learners considered
them to be equally difficult in 1989 and
2004, t(372) 5 1.539, p 5 .125 (twotailed). In each time period, the difference
lay between the fourth- and fifth-year-level
learners and others, F(3,370) 5 3.966,
p 5 .008. In 1989, the fourth- and fifth-year
students thought it was easier to read
and write than the other groups thought.
However, among the groups in 2004, sig-
nificantly more of the fourth- and fifth-year

students thought that it was easier to speak/
listen to Japanese than to read/write it (see
Table 3).
In examining student expectations of
the time it would take to become fluent in
Japanese, the researcher found no significant difference between their expectations,
t(357) 5 1.846, p 5 .066 (two-tailed). The
most common response (i.e., 40%) in 1989
was that it would take 3 to 5 years to become fluent if one were to spend one hour
each day studying Japanese, but in 2004,
students responded that it would take 5 to
10 years, as seen in Table 4. A total of 20%
of students from both groups believed that
one cannot learn Japanese in one hour a
day. For both time frames, the most pessimistic groups were the fourth- and fifthyear students, and the most optimistic were
the first-year students. In fact, the first-year
students expected significantly less time to
reach fluency compared with other groups
in each time period, F(3,355), po.001.
This result correlated with their assessment
of the difficulty of Japanese.
Although students expected that it
would take a relatively long time to learn to
speak Japanese, students from both time
periods were equally optimistic about their
future success in learning, t(369) 5 0.628,
p 5 .53 (two-tailed). It is interesting to note
that more than half the second-year and
fourth- and fifth-year learners believed that
it would take 5 to 10 years to become fluent,
24.4
23.1
34.2
37.3
26
2nd
3rd
415th
Total
22.2
21.4
26.7
25.7
12.5
53
12
12
17
12
130
18
29
77
45.3
42.9
40
48.6
50
52
46.2
47.4
49.2
55
33
51
36
28.2
28.6
30
22.9
33.3
2004 Survey
20.4
15.4
18.4
10.2
25.7
1989 Survey
How Difficult Is Japanese?
Mean 5 0.812, SD 5 0.075

Notes: A 5 very difficult, B 5 difficult, C 5 medium difficulty, D 5 easy, E 5 very easy
1st
16.4
Mean 5 3.98, SD 5 0.760
61
Total
13
3rd
22
2nd
415th
23
1st
TABLE 2
4.3
7.1
3.3
2.9
4.2
3.2
15.4
3.4
2.9
117
28
30
35
24
250
13
38
59
140
Total
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
678
Winter 2009
35
2nd
3rd
415th
Total
13.9
23.2
13.2
15.3
12.8
2nd
3rd
415th
Total
7.3
9.4
13.5
32
11
10
26.1
10.3
34.4
27
32
24.3
23.1
18.4
30.5
23.4
27
65
11
46
22.0
13.8
21.9
18.9
36
2004 Survey
25.9
23.1
13.2
18.6
32.6
1989 Survey
36
12
10
53
12
11
29
29.3
41.4
31.3
24.3
20
21.1
7.7
31.6
18.6
20.6
19
10
37
10
15
Mean 5 2.80, SD 5 1.199

Notes: A 5 strongly agree, B 5 agree, C 5 neither agree nor disagree, D 5 disagree, E 5 strongly disagree
1st
61
18
33
15.4
34.5
3.13
16.2
14.7
23.1
23.7
16.9
10.6
It Is Easier to Read and Write This Language Than to Speak and Understand It
Mean 5 3.02, SD 5 1.268
18
1st
TABLE 3
123
29
32
37
25
251
13
38
59
141
Total
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100

679
2nd
3rd
415th
Total
1.2
1.7
1.4
2nd
3rd
415th
Total
0.8
3.7
27
23
6.8
6.7
24
11.2
6.9
16.6
33
11
95
15
16
59
28
18.5
30
30.6
32
2004 Survey
39.4
38.5
48.4
27.6
42.4
1989 Survey
49
14
20
58
10
13
31
41.5
51.9
26.7
55.6
28
24.1
30.8
32.3
22.4
22.3
Mean 5 2.21, SD 5 .904

Notes: A 5 less than a year, B 5 12 years, C 5 35 years, D 5 510 years, E 5 one cannot
1st
Mean 5 2.41, SD 5 1.013
1st
27
11
58
24
24
22.9
25.9
36.7
13.9
16
24.1
30.8
19.4
41.4
17.3
118
27
30
36
25
241
13
31
58
139
Total
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
If Someone Spent One Hour a Day Learning Japanese, How Long Would it Take Him or Her to Become Fluent
TABLE 4
680
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681
TABLE 5
I Believe That I Will Ultimately Learn to Speak This Language Very Well
A
Total
1989 Survey
1st
32
22.9
68
48.6
40
28.6
140
100
2nd
14
23.7
23
39.0
17
28.8
8.5
59
100
3rd
16
42. 1
14
36.8
13.2
7.9
38
100
30.8
38.5
15.4
15.4
13
100
66
26.4
110
64
25.6
10
250
100
415th
Total
44
2004 Survey
1st
12.5
12
50
33.3
4.2
24
100
2nd
11
30.6
14
38.9
25
5.6
36
100
3rd
12
37.5
18.8
12
37.5
6.3
32
100
415th
10
34.5
10
34.5
24.1
6.9
29
100
Total
36 29.8
42 34.7 36 29.8
5
4.1 2 1.7 121 100
Notes: A 5 strongly agree, B 5 agree, C 5 neither agree nor disagree, D 5 disagree,
E 5 strongly disagree
but that almost 70% of each group of learners ultimately learned to speak Japanese
(Table 5).
Nature of Language Learning

This section focuses on a discussion of what
foreign language learning means to students.
Traditionally, foreign language learning was
considered to be learning grammar and
translation. Practicing with tapes or repeating after a tape was encouraged.
Knowing the grammar rules and vocabulary of the target language is certainly
important, but linguistic knowledge and
vocabulary alone do not automatically
enable learners to communicate in that language. Although fewer students in 2004
seemed to think that learning a foreign
language requires learning quite a number
of grammatical rules, the results were not
significantly different from the responses
from the grammar-based teaching era,
t(370) 5 0.773, p 5 .440 (two-tailed). Over-
all, little more than 25% of the students in

1989 and fewer than 20% in 2004 agreed
that learning a foreign language consists of
learning many grammatical rules (Table 6).
However, in both 1989 and 2004, fewer than
half the students disagreed with that, although about 30% of respondents in 2004
were not sure whether that was true or not.
In terms of translating from English,
responses from 1989 and 2004 were not
significantly different, t(368) 5 0.124,
p 5 .902 (two-tailed). When comparing
level groups in 1989, however, the researcher found that the third-year group
disagreed significantly more than the firstor fourth- and fifth-year groups with the
statement that learning a foreign language is
mostly a matter of translating from English,
F(3,366) 5 2.383, p 5 .69.
Approximately 13% of the students
from the 1989 survey and 17% of the students from the 2004 survey were unsure
about translation from English being the
way to learn Japanese (Table 7). Learning a
682
Winter 2009
TABLE 6
Learning a Foreign Language Is Mostly a Matter of Learning a Lot of

Grammar Rules
A
Total
1989 Survey
1st
2.8
28
19.9
47
33.3
53
37.6
6.4
141
100
2nd
17
28.8
15.3
21
35.6
12
20.3
59
100
3rd
15
39.5
10
26.3
18.4
15.8
38
100
415th
23.1
30.8
30.8
15.4
13
100
Total
1.6
63
25.1
70
27.9
85
33.86
29
11.6
251
100
2004 Survey
1st
11
44
11
44
25
100
2nd
22.2
12
33.3
13
36.1
8.3
36
100
3rd
19.4
11
35.5
29.0
16.1
31
100
415th
3.4
20.7
20.7
13
44.8
10.3
29
100
Total
2 1.7 21 17.4 40 33.1 46 38.0
12
9.9 121 100
foreign language is certainly not a matter of

translating from English. Needless to say,
there are many elements of communication
one simply cannot translate from English
to Japanese and vice versa. Understanding
the culture behind the language plays
an important role in acquiring proficiency
in the target language. Significantly more
students in 2004 seemed to believe that it
was necessary to know the culture behind
the language, t(370) 5 2.47, p 5 .014F
60% in 1989 and 80% in 2004. However,
about 20% in 1989 and 15% in 2004 still
questioned the necessity of knowing the
culture, as can be seen in Table 8.
Concerning repetition and practice,
because of the audiolingual approach,
in 1989 most students (77%) naturally
believed that it was important to repeat
and practice, as shown in Table 9. The responses from 2004 were not significantly
different, t(340) 5 0.304, p 5 .761 (twotailed). This could mean that those 2004
students who agreed with the statement

despite the fact that they were trained using
a different approach compared to those in
1989 might be agreeing with the practice
portion of the statement rather than the
repetition part.
Significantly more students agreed with
the importance of practicing with tapes in
1989 than in 2004, t(370) 5 4.173, po.001
(see Table 10). Although the survey asked
whether it was important to practice with
the tapes, by 2004 tapes had been replaced
by CDs or online recording materials.
Those students who practiced with other
means of recorded materials might not have
agreed with the statement, Practice with
tapes. The response from 2004 could have
been similar to that of 1989 had it been
phrased differently, to include CDs or other
recorded materials, but I cannot confirm
this possibility.
Students both in 1989 and 2004
seemed to understand that learning a for-
683
TABLE 7
Learning a Foreign Language Is Mostly a Matter of Translating From English

A
Total
1989 Survey
1st
1.4
10
7.1
19
13.6
72
51.4
37
26.4
140
100
2nd
6.8
13.6
28
47.5
19
32.2
59
100
3rd
2.6
15
39.5
20
52.6
38
100
415th
7.6
23.1
38.5
30.8
13
100
Total
1.2
15
32
12.8
120
5.26
48
80
32
250
100
2004 Survey
1st
12
14
56
28
25
100
2nd
2.9
17.1
20
57.1
22.9
35
100
3rd
3.2
16.1
18
58.1
22.6
31
100
415th
6.9
20.7
12
41.4
31
29
100
Total
0 0
5 4.2 20 16.7
64 53.3 31 25.8 120 100
eign language consists of more than translation, and that the culture behind the
language is important. Quite a few students
did not deny that foreign language learning
consists of the study of grammatical rules,
and they perceived repeating and practicing, as well as practicing with the tapes, as
important.
Learning and Communication

Strategies
As mentioned previously, effective language
learners (1) are eager to communicate,
(2) are not afraid of making errors, (3) attend
to overall meaning instead of single word,
and (4) are willing and accurate guessers.
In terms of making errors, students
from 1989 and 2004 did not respond any
differently in a sense of statistical significance, t(349) 5 1.799, p 5 .73 (twotailed). However, difference in the total
number of responses was observed. Seventy-seven percent and 83% of the total
number of students in 1989 and 2004, respectively, disagreed with this statement.
One should not say anything in the foreign
language until s/he can say it correctly,
as in Table 11. Among the 1989 student
groups, however, the fourth- and fifth-year
groups disagreed with the statement significantly more than the first-year group.
With respect to guessing the definition
of unknown words, there was an increase
in the acceptance of guessing between the
1989 and 2004 groups, t(370) 5 3.774,
po.001. In 1989, only 50% of the students thought it was acceptable to guess
at the meaning of an unknown word, but
in 2004, 75% thought that guessing was
acceptable. This is a possible effect of new
methodology or the newly adapted textbook, which is based on a more contemporary approach. Still, more than 25% in
1989 and 20% in 2004 were unsure, as
shown in Table 12.
Are students eager to use Japanese
when given the opportunity? The students
35
Total
1st
2nd
3rd
415th
20.7
25.8
14.3
13.9
23.1
19
13
19
13
117
14
65.5
41.9
54.3
52
46.4
46.2
36.8
46.7
43
10
27
10.3
19.4
17.1
16
2004 Survey
17.1
15.8
16.7
19.1
1989 Survey
45
29
3.5
12.9
14.3
24
17.9
15.4
13.2
15
20.6
12
4.8
15.4
10.5
1.7
3.6
415th
23.7
28
48.9
Total
21
17.5
64
53.3
19
15.8
16
13.3
0
Notes: A 5 strongly agree, B 5 agree, C 5 neither agree nor disagree, D 5 disagree, E 5 strongly disagree
3rd
20
69
12
2nd
7.8
It Is Necessary to Know the Foreign Culture in Order to Speak the Language
11
1st
TABLE 8
120
29
31
35
25
252
13
38
60
141
Total
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
684
Winter 2009
685
TABLE 9
It Is Important to Repeat and Practice a Lot

A
Total
111
100
1989 Survey
1st
67
60.4
42
37.8
1.8
2nd
36
62.1
19
32.8
1.7
3.5
58
100
3rd
26
68.4
12
31.6
38
100
38.5
53.9
7.7
13
100
134
60.9
80
36.4
1.4
1.4
220
100
415th
Total
2004 Survey
1st
11
44
2nd
28
77.8
3rd
17
415th
14
13
52
25
100
22.2
36
100
53.1
12
37.5
9.4
32
100
48.3
14
48.3
3.5
29
100
Total
70 57.4 47 38.5 5 4.1 0
0 0 0
122
100
sampled were learning Japanese as a foreign

language, without much of an opportunity
to use it. Were they taking advantage of
every opportunity they had to speak
Japanese? Significantly fewer students in
2004 than those in 1989 agreed that, if they
heard someone speaking Japanese, they
would take advantage of the opportunity to
practice speaking Japanese, t(362)5 2.267,
p 5 .024. Fewer than half the students in
1989 were not sure if they would approach
a Japanese speaker to practice, and almost
half in 2004 would be reluctant to do that,
several commenting that it was rude. A
greater percentage of students in 2004 simply would not approach Japanese speakers
to practice Japanese, as shown in Table 13.
While students thought it acceptable to
make errors, they did not seem inclined to
use every opportunity to practice Japanese
in 1989 and even less so in 2004. An increase was shown in 2004 in the acceptance
of guessing.
Motivations and Expectations

This final section discusses student responses to why students learn Japanese.
Potential job opportunities were a big motivation in 1989, as there were certainly
more jobs that required Japanese proficiency in 1989, as discussed above. The
instrumental motivation was still high in
2004, even after the Japanese economy had
declined from its peak growth and business
majors had disappeared from Japanese
courses.
In the students expectation for future
opportunities to use Japanese, the responses from both time periods were not
significantly different, t(369) 5 0.195, p 5
.846. Overall, almost 85% of students in
both 1989 and 2004 believed that they
would have opportunities to use Japanese.
Although first-year students and fourthyear students in 2004 seemed to have held
a stronger conviction than their counterparts in 1989 (Table 14), the differences
686
Winter 2009
TABLE 10
It Is Important to Practice With the Tapes

A
Total
141
100
1989 Survey
1st
54
38.3
56
39.7
22
15.6
3.5
2.8
2nd
19
32.2
26
44.1
11
18.6
5.1
59
100
3rd
14
36.8
15
39.5
15.8
5.3
2.6
38
100
23.1
61.5
15.4
13
100
90
35.9
105
41.8
41
16.3
10
4.0
2.0
251
100
415th
Total
2004 Survey
1st
12
48
2nd
12
33.3
11
30.6
3rd
19.4
14
415th
10.3
10
36
25
100
11
30.6
5.6
36
100
45.2
16.1
19.3
31
100
34.5
10
34.5
13.8
6.9
29
100
Total
23 19.0
47 38.8 35 28.9 14 11.6 2 1.7 121 100
among groups were not significant,

F(3,367) 5 .748, p 5 .524.
The expectation for job opportunities was not significantly different either,
t(368) 5 0.112, p 5 .911. Students from
the 1989 survey and a high percentage of
students from 2004 still expected job opportunities: 75% in 1989 and 72% in 2004,
as seen in Table 15. There were no significant differences among groups in each time
period, F(3,366) 5 1.221, p 5 .302.
Job opportunities still seemed to be an
important motivation, but in 2004 getting
to know the speakers of the target language
seemed to be an even greater motivation:
75% in 1989 and 85% in 2004, as shown in
Table 16. However, the differences were not
significant, t(371) 5 1.679, p 5 .094.
In sum, these data showed that students expected to take many years to
become fluent in Japanese, although they
were highly optimistic about their eventual success. Traditional foreign language
learning through memorizing grammar
rules along with practice and repetition

still seemed to be a popular preconception.
Students seemed to believe that it was acceptable to make errors while learning a
foreign language, but they did not seem to
be motivated to use Japanese. In terms of
motivating reasons to learn Japanese, both
instrumental and integrative motivation
were still high.
Discussion
Japanese learners preconceptions and expectations did not seem to reflect on the
changes in the field of foreign language
teaching. It would be helpful for students
to become more successful learners if some
of their expectations and preconceptions
were altered. This perhaps could be done
simply by informing them of the facts
and by evaluating what instructors teach
and how they teach it. This study does not
assess exactly how students learn or how
classes are conducted; rather, it assesses
687
TABLE 11
You Should Not Say Anything in the Foreign Language Until You Can Say
it Correctly
A
Total
1989 Survey
1st
2.8
4.3
23
16.3
63
44.7
45
31.9
141
100
2nd
10.5
5.3
21.1
7.9
21
55.3
38
100
3rd
7.9
5.26
11
29.0
22
57.9
38
100
415th
7.7
61.6
30.8
13
100
Total
3.5
12
5.2
33
14.3
85
37.0
92
40
230
100
24
25
100
2004 Survey
1st
16
15
60
2nd
2.9
11.4
13
37.1
17
48.6
35
100
3rd
3.1
18.8
13
40.6
12
37.5
32
100
415th
13.8
31.0
16
55.2
29
100
Total
0
0
2 1.7 18 14.9
50 41.3 51 42.1 121 100
their preconceptions and expectations. Yet

the student responses can be used as examples, and one can consider the possible
direct or indirect causes of why students
formulate their particular ideas.
Many students seem to anticipate long years
of learning to become fluent in Japanese.
Although it has been reported that it takes
three times longer to achieve the advancedlevel proficiency in Japanese than in Romance languages (Oh, 1996), that does not
necessarily mean that it takes five to 10
years to become communicatively competent. As the results of the questionnaire
show, with the exception of the first-year
group, most of the students anticipated
a longer time than it actually requires to
become fluent in Japanese. The longer they
studied, the longer they assessed the time
required for fluency. Or it could be that the
ones with unreasonable expectations did

not survive in the program. If so, students
need to be informed at the beginning of
their study of the reasonable time required
to become proficient in Japanese.
Expecting that it will take five to 10
years to be fluent in Japanese can be discouraging or even overwhelming. Yet the
students were quite optimistic about their
success. It could be that they held high
instrumental and integrative motivations,
as previous studies have shown, since their
desire to use Japanese was strong enough to
continue their study for a long period of
time. On the other hand, it is remarkable to
see that a small percentage of students did
not believe that they would ultimately learn
to speak Japanese very well. It would be
helpful if instructors could offer periodic
counseling in the middle of the semester/
quarter to discuss student concerns and
give them some encouragement and advice.
688
Winter 2009
TABLE 12
It Is OK to Guess If You Do Not Know a Word in the Foreign Language

A
Total
1989 Survey
1st
16
11.4
50
35.7
43
30.7
24
17.1
140
100
2nd
5.1
30
50.8
12
20.3
13.6
10.2
59
100
3rd
12
31.6
10
26.3
23.7
13.2
5.3
38
100
23.1
23.1
38.5
7.7
7.7
13
100
34
13.6
93
37.2
69
27.6
38
15.2
16
6.4
250
100
415th
Total
Mean 5 3.36, SD 5 1.094

2004 Survey
1st
13
52
28
2nd
25
20
55.6
13.9
3rd
28.1
12
37.5
25
415th
17.2
17
58.6
24
19.7
62
50.8
25
Total
16
25
100
5.6
36
100
6.3
3.1
32
100
17.2
3.5
3.4
29
100
20.5
7.4
1.6
122
100
Mean 5 3.8, SD 5 0.899

The difficulty of speaking/listening and

reading/writing was overall perceived to be
equal in both groups. All the groups in the
1989 groups held the same perception, except for the fourth- and fifth-year group.
The groups from the 2004 survey seemed to
believe that it was easier to speak/understand Japanese than to read/write Japanese;
they believed that they must become more
proficient in speaking and listening than
did the students in 1989. They were more
likely to have more opportunities to practice speaking due to changes in curriculum
and teaching methodology. It is encouraging that a large number of students believed
that they would learn to speak Japanese
despite the large percentage of students
who did not think it is an easy language.
Nature of Language Learning

Students seemed to know that learning a foreign language was more than translating from
English. They also seemed to believe that it

was necessary to know the foreign culture in
order to speak the language, especially in
2004. Nonetheless, a small percentage (4.2%)
of students still did not deny that learning a
foreign language required the study of grammatical rules even in 2004.
Although a proficiency-oriented curriculum seems to have replaced the grammarbased curriculum in Japanese pedagogy,
learners still associate foreign language
learning with the study of grammar rules.
Students probably feel that they have learned something tangible when they study
grammar, and learning grammar and vocabulary is deeply embedded in their language
learning system. It is reasonable to assume that some students may come to
equate language learning solely with grammar learning. Although students must
know grammar as well as vocabulary, one
implication of this study is that the focus of
689
TABLE 13
If I Heard Someone Speak Japanese, I Would Go up to Them so That I Could

Practice Speaking the Language
A
Total
1989 Survey
1st
4.3
19
13.5
65
46.1
36
25.5
15
10.6
141
100
2nd
1.7
11
18.6
26
44.1
19
32.2
3.4
59
100
3rd
3.3
23.3
10
33.3
26.7
13.3
30
100
415th
7.7
7.7
38.5
38.5
7.7
13
100
Total
3.7
38
15.6
106
43.6
68
28.0
22
9.1
243
100
2004 Survey
1st
12
2nd
2.9
8.6
3rd
3.1
415th
3.4
36
11
44
25
100
12
34.3
18
51.4
2.9
35
100
12.5
14
43.8
28.1
12.5
32
100
3.5
15
51.7
10.3
29
100
31
Total
3 2.5 11
9.1
44 36.4 53 43.8 10
8.3 121 100
the curriculum should not just be grammar

and vocabulary. As the results showed, a
majority of the students expected to use the
language to interact with Japanese speakers
and wanted to obtain a good job. In order
to respond to the students expectations,
instructors can design the curriculum
around language functions, such as having
students talk about themselves and their
likes/dislikes, and learning to make plans.
Then students can learn to perform the
language functions through communicative
activities in the classroom. That way, the
students need to use language for communication will be met.
While a majority of students in the
2004 survey believed that it was important
to understand the culture behind the language, not everyone did. Instructors may
need to reexamine our curriculum and
determine whether or not to incorporate
sociolinguistic components into teaching.
To reach advanced proficiency, learners re-
quire a greater degree of sociolinguistic

competence. For instance, learners of Japanese seem to have difficulty in acquiring
interpretive skills to successfully communicate in Japanese. They often rely too
much on what is spoken, but they are unaware of messages sent to them through
body language and tones. Being able to understand unspoken messages is crucial to
becoming a successful user of the language.
A deeper integration of culture and language must be presented in the classroom.
Learning and Communication

Strategies
Although this study does not give a clear indication of whether students have the characteristics of good learners, their responses
may reveal their learning approaches. Good
language learners have been defined as
(1) eager to communicate, (2) not afraid to
make errors, (3) attentive to the overall
690
Winter 2009
TABLE 14
If I Learn to Speak Japanese Very Well, I Will Have Many Opportunities

to Use It
A
Total
140
100
1989 Survey
1st
55
39.3
59
42.1
24
17.1
1.4
2nd
24
40.7
28
47.5
3.4
6.8
1.7
59
100
3rd
23
60.5
11
29.0
5.3
5.3
38
100
46.2
30.8
15.4
7.7
13
100
108
43.2
102
40.8
28
11.2
10
0.8
250
100
415th
Total
2004 Survey
1st
32
15
60
25
100
2nd
11
30.6
20
55.6
13.9
36
100
3rd
16
51.6
22.6
19.4
6.5
31
100
415th
10
34.5
15
51.7
13.8
29
100
Total
45 37.2
57 47.1 17 14
2
1.7 0 0
121 100
meaning instead of single words, and (4)

willing and accurate guessers.
While students seem to believe that it is
acceptable to make errors in communicating in a foreign language, they do not seem
to be eager to maximize their use of Japanese when given the opportunity. Are they
too shy, or afraid of speaking Japanese outside of class? Several students commented
in personal communication that it is rude to
approach a Japanese speaker to practice
speaking. Or it could be that they are not
comfortable or confident speaking Japanese
with native speakers. Do students communicate in Japanese with each other in class?
Are instructors patient enough to use Japanese to communicate with them as much as
possible even in the beginning level? Instructors must begin providing ample
opportunities for speaking practice at the
beginning level and continue habitually.
More students in 2004 thought it acceptable to guess the meaning of unknown
words. As mentioned above, 1989 was the

tail end of the audiolingual era and grammar-based teaching approach. Grammatical
rules were explained in class, and students
memorized new vocabulary words and
model conversations. The grammar rules
and vocabulary items used in class were
limited to previously introduced items.
There were very few opportunities for students to communicate and almost no
opportunities to derive the meaning of unknown words from context. However, even
in 2004, 20% of students still were not sure
if it was acceptable to guess, and with additional years of study, the data remained the
same. It is probable that they did not know
how to extract the meaning of an unknown
word from its context. Class activities could
more actively address this skill. Authentic
materials, such as tourist brochures, can
be used when the topic of the lesson is
traveling, for example. While it is improbable that students will be familiar with all
691
TABLE 15
If I Learn to Speak Japanese Very Well, It Will Help Me Get a Good Job
A
Total
1989 Survey
1st
47
33.3
55
39.0
29
20.6
5.7
1.4
141
100
2nd
22
37.3
25
42.4
15.3
1.7
3.4
59
100
3rd
18
50
10
27.8
16.7
5.6
36
100
415th
Total
38.5
30.8
15.4
7.7
7.7
13
100
92
40.0
94
37.8
46
18.5
12
4.8
2.0
249
100
2004 Survey
1st
24
10
40
2nd
10
27.8
14
38.9
3rd
15
48.4
415th
10
34.5
13
32
25
100
10
27.8
5.6
36
100
29.0
19.4
3.2
31
100
44.8
20.7
29
100
Total
41 33.9 46 38.0 30 24.8
3 2.5 1 0.8
121
100
the words in a brochure, they can guess the

meanings of new vocabulary words because
they have an idea of what kind of information a travel brochure contains. Since students are expecting to use the language for
communication, authentic materials that
are culturally rich in nature will more readily engage their interest. Similarly, students
should learn to rely on the meaning of a
kanji (Chinese character) or the meaning
of the radical of a kanji. Very often, one can
guess a meaning of unknown kanji when he
or she knows the meaning of its radical
using the context as a clue. These would
be valuable skills and strategies to develop
in class and maintain after completing
language study.

Instrumental motivation was high in 1989
and still remained high in 2004. Although
the Japanese economy is not as good as it
was in the 1980s, a large number of stu-
dents still believe in job opportunities.

Surprisingly, the results of the 2004 survey
did not vary much from 1989 even though
in reality there may not be as many job
opportunities. This result may reflect an
overall high motivation to learn Japanese
rather than one type of motivation (i.e., instrumental or integrative), as evidenced by
high scores in both years.
This study indicates that in 2004 students still expected to use Japanese for
communication and wanted to get to know
its speakers better. A classroom with students who are already motivated to learn
the language to communicate with native
speakers creates an ideal situation where
effective learning only requires language
functions to meet their needs. Grammar
and vocabulary must also be learned, but if
the class provides nothing further, highly
motivated students may lose their interest
in learning Japanese.
This study reveals that students are
motivated to learn Japanese despite their
692
Winter 2009
TABLE 16
I Would Like to Learn Japanese so I Can Get to Know Its Speakers Better
A
Total
1989 Survey
1st
35
24.8
63
44.7
34
24.1
3.5
2.8
141
100
2nd
24
40.7
23
39.0
11
18.6
1.7
59
100
3rd
24
63.2
21.1
10.5
2.6
2.6
38
100
30.8
53.9
7.7
13
100
87
34.7
101
40.2
50
2.4
2.8
251
100
415th
Total
7.69
19.9
2004 Survey
1st
20
15
60
12
25
100
2nd
12
33.3
20
55.6
11.1
36
100
3rd
15
46.9
11
34.4
15.6
3.1
32
100
415th
12
41.4
13
44.8
13.8
29
100
Total
44 36.1
59 48.4 16 13.1
3 2.5 0 0
122 100
realization that it will take a long time to

become fluent. They seem to expect to devote the necessary time to become fluent in
Japanese. At the same time, some students
hold traditional ideas of language learning in
which only grammatical rules are necessary
and communicative practices do not matter.
To assist learners in achieving their
goals, instructors can realistically and explicitly inform them of the facts about
foreign language learning. Students need
to know the time required to achieve an
advanced level of proficiency and that they
must interact with other speakers, practicing the language to become proficient. The
class activities and assessments must be
consistent with the information given to
students about effective ways of learning
to speak the language. Since the students
integrative and instrumental motivations
are high, it should not be difficult to engage
them in true communication during class.
One cannot overemphasize the importance
of teaching Japanese as a tool for commu-
nication, including proficiency-oriented

curriculum, integration of cultural elements into language study, and teaching
strategies of learning and communication.
Many language instructors are aware of
the proficiency-oriented approach, including communication strategies. Further, it is
commonly recognized that interaction and
communication are important to learning
the foreign language, as well as the need to
know the culture to communicate effectively. These data show that not all learners
hold the preconceptions and expectations
of learning a foreign language through a
proficiency-oriented approach. Therefore,
as language instructors, we should stop and
reflect upon the most effective way to teach
learners with various understandings about
language learning and its process.
References
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Gardner, R. C., & Lambert, W. (1959). Motivational variables in second language acquisition. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 13,
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Gardner, R., & Lambert, W. (1972). Attitude
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McGraw-Hill.
APPENDIX I
Please choose the most appropriate answer for each question.
A 5 strongly agree
B 5 agree
C 5 neither agree nor disagree
D 5 disagree
The Difficulty of Language Learning
1. Some languages are easier to learn than others.
A B C D E
2. Japanese is: A) a very difficult language, B) a difficult language, C) a language of
medium difficulty, D) an easy language, E) a very easy language.
3. I believe that I will ultimately learn to speak this language very well.
A B C D E
4. If someone spent one hour a day learning Japanese, how long would it take him/her
to become fluent? A) less than a year, B) 12 years, C) 35 years, D) 510 years,
E) You cannot learn Japanese in one hour a day.
5. It is easier to read and write this language than to speak and understand it.
A B C D E
694
Winter 2009
The Nature of Language Learning

6. It is necessary to know the foreign culture in order to speak the language.
A B C D E
7. It is better to learn a foreign language in the foreign country.
A B C D E
8. Learning a foreign language is mostly a matter of learning a lot of grammar rules.
A B C D E
9. Learning a foreign language is different from learning other school subjects.
A B C D E
10. Learning a foreign language is mostly a matter of translating from English.
A B C D E
Learning and Communication Strategies
Learning Strategies
11. It is important to repeat and practice a lot.
A B C D E
12. It is important to practice with the tapes.
A B C D E
Communication Strategies
13. You should not say anything in the foreign language until you can say it correctly.
A B C D E
14. If I heard someone speak Japanese, I would go up to them so that I could practice
speaking the language.
A B C D E
15. It is OK to guess if you do not know a word in the foreign language.
A B C D E
16. If I get to speak this language very well, I will have many opportunities to use it.
A B C D E
17. If I learn to speak this language very well, it will help me get a good job.
A B C D E
18. I would like to learn this language so that I can get to know its speakers better.
A B C D E

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Foreign Language Annals vol. 42, No.

In adopting the questionnaire Beliefs

tion, mastering the reading and writing of

Successful Language Learners

Foreign Language Annals vol. 42, No. 4

the language. Gardner and Lamberts study

1989 vs. 2004

between 1986 and 1990 (Brod & Bettina,

Foreign Language Annals vol. 42, No. 4

Students Sampled in Beliefs about Language Learning Questionnaire

4th- and 5th-year

nificantly more of the fourth- and fifth-year

How Difficult Is Japanese?

Mean 5 0.812, SD 5 0.075

Mean 5 3.98, SD 5 0.760

Mean 5 2.80, SD 5 1.199

Mean 5 3.02, SD 5 1.268

Foreign Language Annals vol. 42, No. 4

Mean 5 2.21, SD 5 .904

Mean 5 2.41, SD 5 1.013

Foreign Language Annals vol. 42, No. 4

Nature of Language Learning

all, little more than 25% of the students in

Learning a Foreign Language Is Mostly a Matter of Learning a Lot of

foreign language is certainly not a matter of

students who agreed with the statement

Foreign Language Annals vol. 42, No. 4

Learning a Foreign Language Is Mostly a Matter of Translating From English

Learning and Communication

It Is Necessary to Know the Foreign Culture in Order to Speak the Language

Foreign Language Annals vol. 42, No. 4

It Is Important to Repeat and Practice a Lot

sampled were learning Japanese as a foreign

Motivations and Expectations

It Is Important to Practice With the Tapes

among groups were not significant,

rules along with practice and repetition

Foreign Language Annals vol. 42, No. 4

their preconceptions and expectations. Yet

ones with unreasonable expectations did

It Is OK to Guess If You Do Not Know a Word in the Foreign Language

Mean 5 3.36, SD 5 1.094

Mean 5 3.8, SD 5 0.899

The difficulty of speaking/listening and

Nature of Language Learning

English. They also seemed to believe that it

Foreign Language Annals vol. 42, No. 4

If I Heard Someone Speak Japanese, I Would Go up to Them so That I Could

the curriculum should not just be grammar

quire a greater degree of sociolinguistic

Learning and Communication

If I Learn to Speak Japanese Very Well, I Will Have Many Opportunities

meaning instead of single words, and (4)

words. As mentioned above, 1989 was the

Foreign Language Annals vol. 42, No. 4

the words in a brochure, they can guess the

Motivations and Expectations

dents still believe in job opportunities.

realization that it will take a long time to

nication, including proficiency-oriented

Foreign Language Annals vol. 42, No. 4

tions of higher education, Fall 1990. ADFL

Ellis, R. (1994). The study of second language

Freed, B. (1995). Second language acquisition in