Professional Reading

Lessons in Language Learning: How I learned to Speak Japanese

by Greg Williams

One of the most rewarding outcomes, on a personal level, from studying towards a Diploma of TESSOL has been the ability to relate all of my new found knowledge on second language acquisition back to when I was living in Japan and trying to learn to speak Japanese.

Sixteen years ago, when I first arrived in Tokyo, I had no idea as to how anyone would learn a language other than to go to a language school and start by learning to say "This is a pen." As it turned out, the first set phrase I learnt was "Can I have two bottles of beer, please?" It was another six months before I learnt to ask for one bottle. Not that I was in a hurry to limit my alcohol consumption. Now I know that learning 'formulas' - fixed expressions is a developmental stage of learning a language, one that helps the language learner to develop fluency and to become an effective negotiator.

Since reading about formulas (Ellis, R. 2003), I have been noticing how the new learners of English in my class have quickly latched on to some expressions. Most are simple and necessary requests to make school life easy - "Give me." and "Can I go to toilet?" I tried at first to force them to use more correct English but now continually model acceptable phrases.

I arranged to have weekly Japanese lessons at a language school and diligently went along studying hard but not being any more successful while shopping or being understood while conversing in Japanese. I was teaching English all day and lived with 20 Australians. The only Japanese people I mixed with socially were my adult students who wanted to practise their English. It was no wonder I was feeling as if I was not making much progress. Well so I thought.

After four months of living and working in central Tokyo I got a job teaching at junior high schools on the outskirts of Tokyo. I was the only English speaking foreigner in town. A friend helped me find an apartment with a Japanese golf professional. I was thrown in at the deep end and I swam. Looking back, I realise that during the four month period where I had little opportunity to practise Japanese, I was internalising a lot of what I was hearing, reading and seeing. Then, once I had to communicate, I could make myself understood and usually came home from shopping with what I wanted. I was able to get along with my flatmate, make friends at work and at the gym I joined, partly for the novelty factor (it was considered trendy to have a foreign friend) but mostly because we could communicate.

After an enforced silent period I was able to move into a period of output. This period was marked by two of Merrill Swain's functions of output. I was fully aware of, and noticed, linguistic problems. I also produced output as a way of testing an hypothesis about linguistic well-formedness.

Learning and language development occur naturally as people participate in the sociocultural activities of their communities. After several years of studying part time, I took a year off to focus on work and socialising. I thought that I would be able to consolidate what I had learnt and put it into practice. Two features of this period were that my vocabulary continued to expand as did the speed with which I could communicate and respond to Japanese people, in Japanese. If conversation is "a connection that is sustained or sustainable and goes beyond chit-chit or chatter... an exchange of views, a dialogue" as Feldman proposed, then I began to converse in Japanese.

The negative effect of this period was that I was relying on simple sentence structures to make myself understood. Instead of extending my language by employing all of the grammar I had learnt, and could understand, I reverted back to more basic grammatical structures. When I was unable to understand, people would explain using easier vocabulary and, conversely, when I was unable to find the correct word I would draw on any means possible to get my point across - body language, acting, oral descriptions. This "negotiation of meaning" (Sorau, Gass & Selinker. 1994) refers to those instances in conversation in which participants need to interrupt the flow of the conversation in order for both parties to understand.

Upon reflection, I displayed many qualities of a good language learner as proposed by Naiman, Frohlich, Stern, and Todesco, in 1978, in the Good Language Learner. I took an "active approach to the task of language learning" by studying and creating opportunities to use Japanese. By expanding my vocabulary and using the language to get meaning across I recognised and exploited the systematic nature of language. I certainly used the language for communication and interaction, managed my own affective difficulties with language learning and monitored my language learning performance.

Most native speakers of Japanese tended to fall into four categories. There were some who spoke to me as if I was an imbecile, using baby talk and exaggerated gestures. Others, the majority thankfully, spoke correct Japanese but slowed it down to allow time for me to register everything that was being said. Another group spoke very correct Japanese at speed. The fourth and most frustrating group refused to believe that a foreigner could understand any Japanese and therefore only spoke to me in English which was generally less understandable than my Japanese. Since these experiences, I have been determined to treat English learners with respect, adjusting the speed at which I speak but maintaining correct grammar. I also encourage the other students in my class to treat English learners with respect.

After four years of teaching at junior high schools, I scored a dream job but not without a ninety minute job interview in Japanese. For the first ten minutes I was a nervous wreck. The interviewers were two very stoic Japanese businessmen asking about my life in Japan. They asked about my accommodation, jobs, education and sport. I mentioned that I had no shower at home and had to go to the gym to get clean. After ten minutes they asked about the gym and I said that I worked out four times a week. The obvious assumption was made - I only shower four times a week (which was not true but I was too astounded to explain). I thought that there was no way I would get the job, relaxed totally and spent eighty minutes conversing freely with the men.

The dream job was working on a luxury cruise ship as the translator and cruise director. A small part of the job description included eating with the passengers and keeping the conversation flowing. The interviewers were impressed with the way the conversation flowed for eighty minutes, most of the time we were laughing. I got the job. The point of this anecdote is that being relaxed helped my Japanese.

It is this relaxed, comfortable atmosphere that I strive to develop within the classroom.

The only reservation the interviewers had about taking me on was that I spoke rather rough Japanese since I had practised with friends. Speaking to male friends in Japanese is very different to speaking with women or conversing with 'honourable guests'. I took a month long intensive course in polite Japanese. It was hard work but secured me the job. I never became fluent in polite Japanese and it was to the amusement of many passengers when I mixed up the levels of politeness and instead of putting myself down, I put them, or the captain, down. It was never deliberate and most people took it in good humour when I made mistakes. As an aside, most of the passengers were wealthy, influential people who were 'sucked up to' everyday. Many of them enjoyed conversing with me at the level of a friend.

Two events signified to me that I was making significant progress with learning Japanese. The first was that I began to dream in Japanese. I clearly remember waking up on several occasions with vivid memories of dreams I had had in Japanese. It was very energising.

The other event which had an impact was smaller but equally as memorable. One day the ship had arrived in port and I walked down to the international telephones. During the ten minute walk I was preparing to tell my mother all the things I had done and seen on the trip to Shanghai, Beijing and the Great Wall of China. It wasn't until I was dialling that it occurred to me that I had been planning the whole conversation in Japanese. I was so used to thinking in the language that it had taken over my subconscious.

How does this transfer into classroom practice? McLaughlin (1992) states teachers "should expect that learning a second language is as difficult for a child in their class as it is for the teachers as adults." He goes on to suggest that children are "likely to be more shy before their peers than are more mature adults." As a learner I am aware of how difficult it was to learn a second language. At times I felt isolated and stupid. It is a challenge to make the classroom setting non-threatening and welcoming so the students will feel comfortable to practise and experiment in English. I need to help the learners to develop memory techniques and other strategies to assist them in acquiring vocabulary and learning grammatical rules.

After nine years of living in Japan I returned to New Zealand and have since forged a new life. I loved the time I spent in Japan and was determined to continue a relationship with the country. Situations change and even with the best intentions it is hard to maintain a connection with things Japanese, especially the language. I rarely have the opportunity to converse in Japanese and feel that I am losing my ability. However, I was at a Japanese restaurant recently and the waitress and I conversed for quite some time. The language came back and except for some grammatical errors and a few gaps in the vocabulary I was able to impress my fellow diners, and myself, and ordered "two bottles of beer, please?" Maybe one day I will be able to continue studying Japanese - but not until after I finish my Diploma of TESSOL.

References

Dornyei, Z. & Thurrell, S. (1994). ELT Journal Volume 48/1 January 1994. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Ellis, R. (2003). Second Language Acquisition. Oxford, UK:Oxford University Press.

Feldman, A. (1999). The role of conversation in collaborative action research. Educational Action Research Vol. 7 no. 1.

McLaughlin, B. (1992). Myths and Misconceptions about second language learning: What every teacher needs to unlearn. Retrieved March 2004.

Norton, B. & Toohey, K. (2001). Changing perspectives on Good Language Learners. TESOL Quarterly 35:2, 307-322.

Sorau, A. Gass, S. & Selinker, L. (1994). Second language Learning Data Analysis. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Swain, M. (1995). Three functions of output in second language learning. pp125-144 in Cook, G. & Seidlhoffer, B. (1995). Principles and Practice in Applied Linguistics. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.