An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese by Akira Miura; Naomi Hanaoka McGloinReview by: Noriko FujiiThe Journal of the Association of Teachers of Japanese, Vol. 29, No. 1 (Apr., 1995), pp. 45-49Published by: American Association of Teachers of JapaneseStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/489412 .

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JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS OF JAPANESE I 45

AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO INTERMEDIATE JAPANESE, by Akira Miura and Naomi Hanaoka McGloin. Tokyo: The Japan Times, 1994. Pp. x + 373. Y3399. With two 50-minute cassette tapes, Y3914.

Reviewed by Noriko Fujii

Since there is a shortage of up-to-date Japanese language textbooks in terms of both content and approach at the intermediate level or above for American students, this book is an especially welcome addition to Japanese language education. The textbook is for students who have acquired basic levels of the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), have learned essential grammar, and have a working knowledge of 100

kanji. As the title indicates, it aims at developing students' four skills in an

integrated way and at the same time deepening their understanding of

Japanese culture and society. At the University of Wisconsin, where this book was created, it is used for students who have completed 240 hours of instruction during their first-year courses (first and second year courses meet for 8 hours a week). Because one lesson is set up to be covered in 2 weeks

(16 hours), all 15 lessons may be completed during the second-year course. Since many of the programs in the United States have first and second year courses which meet only for 4 or 5 hours a week, it would take longer to finish the book if it were used in those programs.

Each lesson is organized around a topic, and linguistic functions to be studied are indicated on the title page of each lesson. For example, Lesson 1 has Shookai 'Introduction' as the topic and Hajimete hito ni au 'Meeting people for the first time' as the function, and Lesson 5, Daigaku de 'At a

university' as the topic and Shitsumonsuru 'Asking questions' and Adobaisu o motomeru/ataeru 'Getting/giving advice' as the functions. Each lesson includes three dialogues (four dialogues in Lesson 3) and two readings (one for intensive reading and one for speed reading, except Lesson 15, which has two texts for intensive reading) which form the core. In addition, there are culture notes, vocabulary lists for the dialogues and the intensive readings, kanji lists, grammar notes, grammar exercises, unyoo renshuu

(communicative exercises), and a listening comprehension exercise. At the end of each lesson a proverb or haiku is provided. In the unyoo renshuu

section, there is a writing exercise, such as writing a letter or composition, in addition to the speaking exercises, which appear in the form of role plays, brainstorming, etc. Students are given practice opportunities in the

development of the four skills in relation to a particular topic and function,

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46 1 VOLUME 29, NUMBER 1

thus offering instruction in an integrated approach. Many studies support pragmatic whole-language approaches and suggest that they are essential for successful application of FL knowledge in the real world (e.g., Swaffer and Bacon 1993). The inclusion of listening exercises and task-oriented communicative exercises in the unyoo renshuu is a significant progress from

many of the currently available textbooks of this level as such practices have not been given enough attention.

The book is prepared with care and thoughtful consideration. Language in both the dialogues and reading materials is natural. Variations in speech levels, style, and vocabulary according to the speaker's gender, the

relationship between the speakers, and the settings are appropriately shown. In general, aizuchi are inserted appropriately for a natural flow of language exchange. There are, however, a few places in which expressions are rather

abrupt without aizuchi, and there are a few cases where a speaker talks for a

long time with the listener giving no aizuchi (e.g., Lesson 15, Dialogue 3). Reading materials are interesting and provide significant cultural information on customs of everyday life (e.g., the importance of carrying a handkerchief in Japan) and Japanese people's behavior. The reading materials for the last five lessons (Lessons 11-15) are authentic and very interesting. Other authentic materials are used to make the learning more realistic. For example, in Lesson ten a time table of the bullet train is

provided to be used with exercises. The explanations in the grammar are concise and are suitable for the students' level. Both teachers and students will find the explanation and example sentences clear and useful. Also, the indication of the location where the item appears in the dialogues or reading text is helpful. Grammar notes are followed by exercises. Although not all the items in the grammar notes are dealt with in the grammar exercise section, this section certainly makes the teachers' work easier. Grammar exercises take several forms, such as answering questions using particular patterns and filling in blanks using patterns in question. Many of these exercises are given in the context of short dialogue exchanges, and students are required to come up with expressions appropriate to the context. There are no simple mechanical drills such as substitution.

Also, care is given in the treatment of new words and kanji. Pitch

patterns are indicated for each word in the vocabulary list. As for kanji, the authors take a position of introducing vocabulary and kanji which are useful and appropriate in context rather than trying to introduce all of the kyooiku kanji or a particular number of kanji, which may result in awkward

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JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS OF JAPANESE I 47

sentences.kanji to be learned for reading knowledge are differentiated from those to be learned for both reading and writing knowledge. This distinction is realistic, and all in all I agree with their selection in both

categories. Basic radicals (with their Japanese names) are also introduced in this book.

The number of kanji in each lesson varies. In Lesson one, where the

largest number of kanji is introduced, there are fifty kanji for students to learn for both reading and writing knowledge and forty-three kanji for

reading only. In Lesson twelve, in which the fewest kanji are introduced, there are twenty-five kanji for both reading and writing and sixteen kanji for

reading only. There are 943 new kanji (a total of both categories) introduced

throughout the book. The authors, however, do not expect students to retain all of the kanji, stating that it is sufficient for students to learn several hundred from both categories combined.

There are two places where supplementary materials are necessary. Although the textbook is built upon topic, language function, culture and

grammar, I find attention to language functions rather weak. While the

mastery of grammatical items is well guided in the textbook through grammar notes and grammar exercises, the treatment of functional skills is not given the same kind of attention. One reflection of this is that functions and related expressions are not highlighted in the dialogues while new

grammatical items are. Also, there are not enough exercises to practice language functions. There are about five or six exercises in the unyoo renshuu section of each lesson, one of which is a writing exercise. The

remaining four exercises are those which relate either to the topic or the functions. Therefore, opportunities to practice functional skills are very limited. In Lesson ten, for example, there is only one exercise which deals with the task of "making reservations/buying tickets," which is the function of the lesson. Furthermore, it would be useful to have exercises in which students can learn a variety of expressions (including those in the dialogues) in dealing with a particular function in relation to different situations and human relationships before going to more extensive exercises such as role

plays. Teachers, therefore, would need to supplement these exercises in order to increase opportunities to practice communication.

Another area of concern is regarding the reading texts. As was mentioned earlier, the book provides materials for intensive reading, as well as those for speed reading. Speed reading is followed by short true/false

exercises, questions on content, etc., to check comprehension of the main

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48 I VOLUME 29, NUMBER 1

points. The authors suggest that speed reading should be assigned as homework and in class teachers should only check students' answers in the exercise section. I feel, however, speed reading should be dealt with in class at least for some time until students become used to skimming and

scanning. Although speed reading is an extremely important skill (in real life, we skim and scan all the time to get vital information from newspapers, magazines, etc.), it has not been given enough attention in Japanese language classrooms and as a consequence many learners do not fully develop the skill (Falsgraf et. al. 1993). Students at this level are not accustomed to speed reading and need to be trained to skim and scan a text. If they read at home, how can teachers monitor their success and progress in

speed reading? With respect to intensive reading, given the fact that students start this

book with a working knowledge of 100 kanji, and from Lesson 11 on are

reading authentic materials written for the Japanese educated public, it is

easy to imagine that readings soon become quite challenging. A considerable number of new words and kanji are introduced in the intensive reading materials, and therefore in several cases (e.g., Lesson 10, Lesson 11) students encounter new words and/or new kanji once in every three or four bunsetsu. This will certainly affect their comprehension process, and perhaps their

developing interest in reading in Japanese. The authors' treatment of the

readings is traditional - students are to read the material before class so that comprehension may be checked via questions and answers in class. However, because the reading texts seem challenging in terms of

expressions, vocabulary, grammar, and kanji for students entering the course with a basic background in Japanese, teachers may want to devise some interactive task-oriented activities to enhance students' global understanding of the text before they are made to read for detail. Activities which target the

learning and using of new vocabulary and kanji in the texts will also be

helpful. The cultural information dealt with is mostly factual, and in general is

free from any strong value judgment. There are some minor problems. In the speed reading of Lesson 14, students will not be able to answer the

questions regarding the text based on the information provided in the text.

Probably the authors' desire to provide cultural information goes too far ahead of actual information given in the text. There are a few places that I found to be culturally awkward or uncomfortable (e.g., I do not understand what is meant by the question on page 306: "[W]hich is more interesting,

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JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS OF JAPANESE I 49

American women or Japanese women?" Another example is the inflexible

image of Japanese mothers as they are portrayed in Lessons 4 and 8). Generally speaking, however, I feel that the book provides practical and useful cultural information.

With some creative supplementary activities, this textbook will be useful in developing students' Japanese skills as well as fostering a general interest in Japan. All in all, An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese is a big step forward from the currently existing traditional textbooks and a contribution towards the teaching of functional and communicative

Japanese.

REFERENCES

Falsgraf, Carl, Noriko Fujii, and Hiroko Kataoka. 1993. "English speakers in Japanese work environments: An Analysis of Japanese Language Functions and Needs." Journal of the Association of Teachers of apanese Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. 177-204.

Swaffar, Janet and Susan Bacon. 1993. "Reading and Listening Comprehension: Perspectives on Research and Implications for Practice." Alice Omaggio Hadley (ed.) Research in Language Learning, Lincolnwood, Illinois: National Textbook Company.

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