A Systematic Approach to Business Japanese by Masato KikuchiReview by: Yoshiko Saito-AbbottThe Modern Language Journal, Vol. 88, No. 3 (Autumn, 2004), pp. 479-480Published by: Wiley on behalf of the National Federation of Modern Language Teachers AssociationsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3588801 .

Accessed: 28/06/2014 11:59

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

Wiley and National Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations are collaborating with JSTOR todigitize, preserve and extend access to The Modern Language Journal.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 193.142.30.55 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 11:59:12 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Reviews

Sparks, Elke Schneider, and Leonore Ganschow, which offers useful practical ideas in spite of a dense jargon involving "a multisensory struc- tured language (MSL) approach [that] focuses on teaching the FL in a direct fashion and em-

phasizes skill development" (p. 64). Two chapters are based on recent disserta-

tions. Cindy Brantmeier's "The Effects of Pas- sage Content on Second Language Reading Comprehension by Gender across Instructional Levels" (chapter 8) concludes that gender-based comprehension of gendered texts tends to disap- pear at advanced levels. "Spanish Language Teachers' Beliefs and Practices about Reading in a Second Language" (chapter 5) by Terri Ann Gebel and Leslie L. Schrier is taken from Gebel's 2000 dissertation; Schrier was her dissertation di- rector. Gebel's conclusion that "the respondents to this survey . . . compromised their beliefs for one or more reasons to attend to the actual class- room environment" (p. 98) will not be surprising to most teachers.

Finally,John I. Liontas's "Reading Between the Lines: Detecting, Decoding, and Understanding Idioms in Second Languages" (chapter 9) is, at 41 pages, almost twice the average length of the other chapters; some 20 pages contain nothing but lists of idioms and dense statistical tables. Based on the author's dissertation and excessive in its use of jargon and abbreviations, the study concludes disappointingly: "The results ... show that... the observed differences [in idiom cate- gories, across and within the three languages] ... may be the product of chance" (p. 193).

The book is generally well edited; the only ob- vious error I caught was that table 4 in Carreira's chapter was repeated as an unnecessary table 5 (p. 253). There is no index, and one would have been helpful. The most general problem of this collection is the kind of literacy most of its au- thors assume in their readers. In a review of a sim- ilar collection in these pages some 17 years ago (MLJ, 70, 1986), I quoted disapprovingly one of the authors as saying "I assume that the reader has some knowledge of advanced statistics and the basics of multiple regression" (p. 295). Too many of the authors in this collection make the same assumptions (Liontas's study is an extreme, not an exception), overloading their texts with jargon, statistical tables, and abbreviations. Lan- guage teachers can learn from this text, but with such difficulty that few are likely to try.

BRUCE A. BEATIE Cleveland State University

Reviews

Sparks, Elke Schneider, and Leonore Ganschow, which offers useful practical ideas in spite of a dense jargon involving "a multisensory struc- tured language (MSL) approach [that] focuses on teaching the FL in a direct fashion and em-

phasizes skill development" (p. 64). Two chapters are based on recent disserta-

tions. Cindy Brantmeier's "The Effects of Pas- sage Content on Second Language Reading Comprehension by Gender across Instructional Levels" (chapter 8) concludes that gender-based comprehension of gendered texts tends to disap- pear at advanced levels. "Spanish Language Teachers' Beliefs and Practices about Reading in a Second Language" (chapter 5) by Terri Ann Gebel and Leslie L. Schrier is taken from Gebel's 2000 dissertation; Schrier was her dissertation di- rector. Gebel's conclusion that "the respondents to this survey . . . compromised their beliefs for one or more reasons to attend to the actual class- room environment" (p. 98) will not be surprising to most teachers.

Finally,John I. Liontas's "Reading Between the Lines: Detecting, Decoding, and Understanding Idioms in Second Languages" (chapter 9) is, at 41 pages, almost twice the average length of the other chapters; some 20 pages contain nothing but lists of idioms and dense statistical tables. Based on the author's dissertation and excessive in its use of jargon and abbreviations, the study concludes disappointingly: "The results ... show that... the observed differences [in idiom cate- gories, across and within the three languages] ... may be the product of chance" (p. 193).

The book is generally well edited; the only ob- vious error I caught was that table 4 in Carreira's chapter was repeated as an unnecessary table 5 (p. 253). There is no index, and one would have been helpful. The most general problem of this collection is the kind of literacy most of its au- thors assume in their readers. In a review of a sim- ilar collection in these pages some 17 years ago (MLJ, 70, 1986), I quoted disapprovingly one of the authors as saying "I assume that the reader has some knowledge of advanced statistics and the basics of multiple regression" (p. 295). Too many of the authors in this collection make the same assumptions (Liontas's study is an extreme, not an exception), overloading their texts with jargon, statistical tables, and abbreviations. Lan- guage teachers can learn from this text, but with such difficulty that few are likely to try.

BRUCE A. BEATIE Cleveland State University

479 479

JAPANESE JAPANESE

KIKUCHI, MASATO. A Systematic Approach to Business Japanese. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2002. Pp. xx, 307. $65.00, paper. ISBN 0-7618-2370-0.

BusinessJapanese is an essential area ofJapanese instruction, given the demand from students who intend to use Japanese in their careers in such ways as living and working in Japan or work- ing with Japanese companies outside of Japan. Teachers ofJapanese have been looking for suit- able teaching resources for their Business Japa- nese or Professional Japanese language courses. This book is designed for the hypothetical U.S. college graduate who is going to work in Japan. It is arranged thematically to follow the progres- sive sequence of a new arrival's experience of liv- ing and working in Japan. The book is targeted at intermediate-level students who have com- pleted 1 year of college-level Japanese.

This book's introductory section includes a summary of materials covered in most first-year Japanese programs and then offers 11 practical chapters: "Job Interview," "Business Introduc- tion," "Telephone," "Reports," "At the Bank," "Work after Work," "Appointments," "Describing a Company," "Describing Products," "Negoti- ating Prices," and "Concluding Negotiations." Each chapter consists of three to seven conversa- tions, which are followed by kanji introduction, vocabulary, and grammar explanations. At the end of each chapter, there are exercises for gram- mar utilization, reading and writing, communica- tion, and listening comprehension.

Each chapter starts with a section entitled "Priming," which sets the stage by providing back- ground information to facilitate understanding of the chapter's conversations. It includes socio- logical factors that contextualize language style and communication. The conversations in each chapter follow the primary focus of the chapter. Each conversation includes three or four ex- changes and is of manageable length for teaching and learning. Each line of conversation is num- bered and corresponding translations are pro- vided. The author also identifies the kanji used in the conversation and provides vocabulary and structural explanations. The author has taken care to provide realistic dialogues so that all con- versations are authentic in nature. Each conver- sation has approximately three to five kanji. In the same cases, extra kanji not in the conversation

KIKUCHI, MASATO. A Systematic Approach to Business Japanese. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2002. Pp. xx, 307. $65.00, paper. ISBN 0-7618-2370-0.

BusinessJapanese is an essential area ofJapanese instruction, given the demand from students who intend to use Japanese in their careers in such ways as living and working in Japan or work- ing with Japanese companies outside of Japan. Teachers ofJapanese have been looking for suit- able teaching resources for their Business Japa- nese or Professional Japanese language courses. This book is designed for the hypothetical U.S. college graduate who is going to work in Japan. It is arranged thematically to follow the progres- sive sequence of a new arrival's experience of liv- ing and working in Japan. The book is targeted at intermediate-level students who have com- pleted 1 year of college-level Japanese.

This book's introductory section includes a summary of materials covered in most first-year Japanese programs and then offers 11 practical chapters: "Job Interview," "Business Introduc- tion," "Telephone," "Reports," "At the Bank," "Work after Work," "Appointments," "Describing a Company," "Describing Products," "Negoti- ating Prices," and "Concluding Negotiations." Each chapter consists of three to seven conversa- tions, which are followed by kanji introduction, vocabulary, and grammar explanations. At the end of each chapter, there are exercises for gram- mar utilization, reading and writing, communica- tion, and listening comprehension.

Each chapter starts with a section entitled "Priming," which sets the stage by providing back- ground information to facilitate understanding of the chapter's conversations. It includes socio- logical factors that contextualize language style and communication. The conversations in each chapter follow the primary focus of the chapter. Each conversation includes three or four ex- changes and is of manageable length for teaching and learning. Each line of conversation is num- bered and corresponding translations are pro- vided. The author also identifies the kanji used in the conversation and provides vocabulary and structural explanations. The author has taken care to provide realistic dialogues so that all con- versations are authentic in nature. Each conver- sation has approximately three to five kanji. In the same cases, extra kanji not in the conversation

This content downloaded from 193.142.30.55 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 11:59:12 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

480 480

are shown; the author's intention here is not clear.

The detailed "Explanation of Structure" sec- tions, written in English, are a good reference for learners. Effective use of tables and graphics makes these sections comprehensive and help- ful. Cultural information relevant to linguistic functions in working environments is spread throughout the text. In addition, cultural notes are presented in footnotes where appropriate. Explanations of Japanese-specific documents and forms, such as the biographic summary form and personal disclosure form, are explained in detail and are connected to the professional lan-

guage style students need to learn. Exercises for grammar, reading, writing, and

listening are provided at the end of each chap- ter. The grammar utilization sections, related to the structures introduced in the chapter, are well

organized and are designed to develop accurate

usage of grammar. Many of the tasks are com-

pleting sentences, filling in blanks, and writing responses to questions. Although pictures in some exercises are effective for teaching, com-

plementary communicative tasks to learn the structures would be helpful. Also helpful would be a cross-referencing system to indicate connec- tions between exercises and the corresponding grammatical explanations.

Reading and writing exercises are useful and

practical. For example, chapter 1 includes the standard resume form used in Japan, and tasks in

chapter 3 ask the student to write a message on a

Japanese form pad. Yet, reading and writing ex- ercises can be further developed to increase overall communicative competency. Communi- cative exercises in this book are very structure oriented. Although these types of activities are

necessary to develop accuracy, activities to de-

velop overall communicative competence would also be desirable. No author can include every- thing in a textbook, and teachers must incorpo- rate communicative activities when appropriate. Dialogues for listening activities are available from the Web site (http://mkikuchi.faculty. gatech.edu/japn3692/SABJ-resources.html), along with other resources.

In summary, this book is a well thought-out text to prepare intermediate students to function in aJapanese business environment, but it would

help teachers and learners if outcomes or goals were provided for each chapter. The author states at the beginning that the book is designed "to build a good grammatical foundation, ac-

quire business terminology, refine discourse

style, and increase sensitivity to corporate culture in Japan" (p. ix). Although communicative com-

are shown; the author's intention here is not clear.

The detailed "Explanation of Structure" sec- tions, written in English, are a good reference for learners. Effective use of tables and graphics makes these sections comprehensive and help- ful. Cultural information relevant to linguistic functions in working environments is spread throughout the text. In addition, cultural notes are presented in footnotes where appropriate. Explanations of Japanese-specific documents and forms, such as the biographic summary form and personal disclosure form, are explained in detail and are connected to the professional lan-

guage style students need to learn. Exercises for grammar, reading, writing, and

listening are provided at the end of each chap- ter. The grammar utilization sections, related to the structures introduced in the chapter, are well

organized and are designed to develop accurate

usage of grammar. Many of the tasks are com-

pleting sentences, filling in blanks, and writing responses to questions. Although pictures in some exercises are effective for teaching, com-

plementary communicative tasks to learn the structures would be helpful. Also helpful would be a cross-referencing system to indicate connec- tions between exercises and the corresponding grammatical explanations.

Reading and writing exercises are useful and

practical. For example, chapter 1 includes the standard resume form used in Japan, and tasks in

chapter 3 ask the student to write a message on a

Japanese form pad. Yet, reading and writing ex- ercises can be further developed to increase overall communicative competency. Communi- cative exercises in this book are very structure oriented. Although these types of activities are

necessary to develop accuracy, activities to de-

velop overall communicative competence would also be desirable. No author can include every- thing in a textbook, and teachers must incorpo- rate communicative activities when appropriate. Dialogues for listening activities are available from the Web site (http://mkikuchi.faculty. gatech.edu/japn3692/SABJ-resources.html), along with other resources.

In summary, this book is a well thought-out text to prepare intermediate students to function in aJapanese business environment, but it would

help teachers and learners if outcomes or goals were provided for each chapter. The author states at the beginning that the book is designed "to build a good grammatical foundation, ac-

quire business terminology, refine discourse

style, and increase sensitivity to corporate culture in Japan" (p. ix). Although communicative com-

The Modern Language Journal 88 (2004)

ponents to develop overall proficiency would

strengthen the book, it is already a useful text- book and a welcome contribution to our field. It could be improved with technological support such as authentic materials or resources on a bundled CD-ROM to enhance reading and writ-

ing exercises and cultural business information.

YOSHIKO SAITO-ABBOTT

California State University, Monterey Bay

The Modern Language Journal 88 (2004)

ponents to develop overall proficiency would

strengthen the book, it is already a useful text- book and a welcome contribution to our field. It could be improved with technological support such as authentic materials or resources on a bundled CD-ROM to enhance reading and writ-

ing exercises and cultural business information.

YOSHIKO SAITO-ABBOTT

California State University, Monterey Bay

NAKAJIMA, KAZUKO. (Ed.). Learning Japanese in the Network Society. Calgary, Canada: University of Calgary Press, 2002. Pp. xix, 204. $39.95, cloth. ISBN: 1-55238-070-X.

NAKAJIMA, KAZUKO. (Ed.). Learning Japanese in the Network Society. Calgary, Canada: University of Calgary Press, 2002. Pp. xix, 204. $39.95, cloth. ISBN: 1-55238-070-X.

LearningJapanese in the Network Society is a compila- tion of nine articles based on presentations at the Second International Conference on Computer Technology and Japanese Language Education, held in 1999. The articles are grouped into four

parts: (a) "Language Learning in the Network So-

ciety," (b) "Database-Supported Language Edu- cation," (c) "Learner Autonomy and Academic

Language Learning," and (d) "Collaboration and

Copyright." Five of the articles are authored by re- searchers inJapan and the other four by research- ers in North America. The editor's decision to strike a balance in authorship is a welcome fea- ture of this book, given that learner populations in Japan and outside Japan are different in their

proficiency levels and learning objectives. In ad-

dition, studies conducted inJapan are not always well reported to English-speaking audiences. The studies reported in this book can provide valuable data to second language acquisition (SLA) re- searchers in general, particularly to those who are interested in the application of technology to sec- ond language (L2) instruction.

The conference was supported by the Com-

puter Assisted System of Teaching and Learning/ Japanese (CASTEL/J) research group. The

CASTEL/J project, formed in 1987 with financial

support from the Japanese government, aims to

develop different kinds of databases to be shared

by researchers and practitioners. Their databases include seven electronic dictionaries (e.g., kanji dictionary, word dictionary, example dictionary) and a large number of electronic texts (e.g., Gendai Shinsho Series, Blueback Series, Japanese language textbooks, government white papers, movie scenarios). A compilation of the databases has been released on CD-ROM.

Chapter 1 by Akahori defines current society

LearningJapanese in the Network Society is a compila- tion of nine articles based on presentations at the Second International Conference on Computer Technology and Japanese Language Education, held in 1999. The articles are grouped into four

parts: (a) "Language Learning in the Network So-

ciety," (b) "Database-Supported Language Edu- cation," (c) "Learner Autonomy and Academic

Language Learning," and (d) "Collaboration and

Copyright." Five of the articles are authored by re- searchers inJapan and the other four by research- ers in North America. The editor's decision to strike a balance in authorship is a welcome fea- ture of this book, given that learner populations in Japan and outside Japan are different in their

proficiency levels and learning objectives. In ad-

dition, studies conducted inJapan are not always well reported to English-speaking audiences. The studies reported in this book can provide valuable data to second language acquisition (SLA) re- searchers in general, particularly to those who are interested in the application of technology to sec- ond language (L2) instruction.

The conference was supported by the Com-

puter Assisted System of Teaching and Learning/ Japanese (CASTEL/J) research group. The

CASTEL/J project, formed in 1987 with financial

support from the Japanese government, aims to

develop different kinds of databases to be shared

by researchers and practitioners. Their databases include seven electronic dictionaries (e.g., kanji dictionary, word dictionary, example dictionary) and a large number of electronic texts (e.g., Gendai Shinsho Series, Blueback Series, Japanese language textbooks, government white papers, movie scenarios). A compilation of the databases has been released on CD-ROM.

Chapter 1 by Akahori defines current society

This content downloaded from 193.142.30.55 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 11:59:12 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions