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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 10, No. 6

Publication Date: June 25, 2023

DOI:10.14738/assrj.106.14727.

Nunn, M. M. (2023). Instructional Activities and Study Strategies in Learning Less Commonly Taught Languages. Advances in Social

Sciences Research Journal, 10(6). 390-403.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

Instructional Activities and Study Strategies in Learning Less

Commonly Taught Languages

Masako M. Nunn

University of Redlands, Asian Studies, Japanese,

1200 E Colton Ave, Redlands, CA 92373

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effective instructional activities as

well as the effective study strategies for students to use related to their academic

performance in less commonly taught language, in the case of learning Japanese.

The sample was college students who studied Japanese from 2017 to 2018 at the

beginning level. Factor analysis was used to group items into meaningful factors.

Independent t tests were used to investigate correlations with Test Scores. The test

scores were gathered from the classroom tests (listening and written). Instructions

showed that Cooperative and Challenging Instructions revealed statistically

positive relation with Test Scores. Communicative Instruction did not show a

statistically positive relation with Test Scores. Learning strategies revealed

statistically positive relation with Cognitive Strategy, Memory Practice, Study Skills,

and Resource Management. Romaji (romanization of the Japanese written

language) Use showed negative correlation. The pedagogical implications were

presented. Further investigation was suggested using both quantitative and

qualitative approaches to together to investigate more in depth.

Keywords: Instructional activities, study strategies, Japanese language, less commonly

taught language, independent t tests, academic performance

INTRODUCTION

The instructional activities [1] and learning strategies [2] are important factors for students’

academic success, especially for less commonly taught languages (LCTL) for English speakers

where students are required to learn new writing systems and different grammar from their

first language, particularly Japanese, which is categorized as one of the most difficult languages

to learn by the Foreign Language Institute [3]. It’s essential to utilize the instructional activities

to lead them to their academic success. In addition, it is the instructors’ responsibility to advise

learners to use effective study strategies so that they can maximize their efforts. The purpose

of this study is to investigate effective instructional activities as well as advising the students to

use effective study strategies related to their academic performance in learning LCTL,

specifically Japanese. This study investigates the two following research questions in regard to

correlations with the students’ academic performance in the instructional activities and

learning strategies in learning Japanese:1) How are the instructions related to the students’

academic performance? 2) How do the different learning strategies correlate with their

academic performance?

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391

Nunn, M. M. (2023). Instructional Activities and Study Strategies in Learning Less Commonly Taught Languages. Advances in Social Sciences

Research Journal, 10(6). 390-403.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.106.14727

LITERATURE REVIEW

According to [4], communicative language teaching (CLT) is defined as follows:(1) Classroom

goals are focused on communicative competence; (2) Language techniques are designed to

engage learners in pragmatic, authentic, functional use of language for meaningful purposes;

(3) Fluency may have to take on more importance than accuracy in order to keep learners

meaningfully engaged in language use; (4) Students ultimately have to use the language

productively and receptively. Many studies [5,6] show effectiveness of students’ performance

of communicative approach in learning a foreign language. The study by [5] showed the

communicative approach is better than the traditional method in teaching English at the higher

secondary level in Pakistan. The study showed improvement of students’ communicative ability

as well as their motivation for learning using the experimental study with high school students.

However, several studies [7-12] showed that the communicative approach might not be

effective due to a cultural conflict such as Asian (e.g., China, Vietnam, Korea) and Middle Eastern

culture. Chang [7] conducted the study to compare the Grammar Translation Method and the

Communicative Approach in teaching English for college students in Taiwan using the

experimental study. The results showed that students performed better in the Grammar

Translation Method than the Communicative Approach. The Communicative Approach is more

concerned with fluency. Due to a cultural conflict, it may take a gradual step to shift the

traditional approach to the communicative approach that focuses on interactive activities,

therefore the mix of these approaches is suggested [7, 13].

Before the Communicative Approach, the Traditional approach was used often where the most

important concerns are reading and writing skills, then speaking and listening skills are

considered secondary. It is teacher-centered, and the main objective is to learn grammar rules

and vocabulary unlike the Cooperative Approach where group and pair work are utilized in

class activities. Cooperative learning refers to a classroom technique that fosters learner

interdependence as a route to cognitive and social development [14]. The researchers [15]

investigated the effectiveness of Cooperative Learning in English language classrooms using the

experimental study for undergraduates in Yemen. The findings showed a remarkable

development in the students’ speaking skills and attitudes after the introduction of cooperative

learning techniques.

Another approach investigated in this study is the Challenging approach focusing on three

areas: 1) i plus 1 with comprehensive input; 2) target only teaching or not; 3) students’

curiosity. Krashen’s input hypothesis [16] claims that “we acquire by understanding language

that contains structure beyond our current level of competence (i + 1) with the help of context

or extra-linguistic information. The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language

(May 2010) made a statement that target language (TL) use is necessary but not sufficient for

increasing one’s proficiency without providing comprehensive input using a variety of

strategies (Ohio Department of Education, 2014). Communicating successfully in the TL

depends not only on the nature of the task and the message that must be communicated, but

also on the teacher’s effective use of communication strategies. However, the study by Xie [17]

revealed that the TL only might not be effective for low proficiency of the TL with Chinese

college student learning English. The study by [17] showed the participants’ target language

(TL) use in various communicative contexts in and outside the classroom is ineffective even

with a high ratio of teacher talk with TL. The author concluded that one of the reasons was low

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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 10, Issue 6, June-2023

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

proficiency in TL besides study environment, limited resources and personality implying that

target only in the classroom might not be effective for all levels of the target language.

The third variable investigated in the Challenging Approach is curiosity. According to

Cambridge dictionary, curiosity means “an eager wish to know or learn about something”.

Curiosity is defined as “a basic instinct, an innate mechanism that enables intelligent species to

learn about and master new things in their environments, promoting survival, use of tools, and

ultimately technological advances” [18]. Several studies [19, 20] have shown that curiosity

is just as important as intelligence in determining how well students do in school

[21]. Ayşegül and Tulgar [19] investigated the effects of curiosity on the second language

learning process of foreign learners in Turkish. The results of the content analysis revealed that

curiosity contributed to the language knowledge and language development of the participants

in linguistic, social-cultural, and pragmatic knowledge.

The last approach investigated in instructional activities is the Innovative Approach which

includes computer-based tools (e.g., YouTube). Belyaeva, et al. [22] investigated the most

effective innovative tools in learning foreign languages and performed a comparison. As the

result of the study, they claimed that the most effective methods are discussion, Information

and Communications Technology (ICT) such as Internet, and round table after they interviewed

teachers. The use of ICT in the educational process allows the efficiency of the educational

process itself to be improved significantly and leads to new approaches and organizational

forms of educational work.

Learning strategy instruction would be most valuable for students who are not successful

learners, yet these are the students who may be least motivated to try new strategies [23].

Therefore, it is essential for educators to spend time developing student's study skills,

especially learning difficult foreign language (FL) like Japanese for English speakers. Learning

strategies can be recognized into cognitive, memory-related, compensatory, meta-cognitive,

affective, and social [24]. The cognitive strategy is a mental process and when learning, it helps

the selection of relevant information and rejection of irrelevant information. It relates to

recognizing, comprehending, organizing materials, summarizing, repeating, translating, using

formulas and patterns, problem-solving and interacting in the target language. In this study, the

factors of learning strategies are concerned with cognitive strategies, social strategies

(hereafter, group study since social strategies are used for cooperative and collaborative

learning for instructors), and target language use. Romaji (alphabetical spellings of Japanese)

Use was included since it is a controversial issue to investigate the effective time for Japanese

language learners to shift from Romaji Use (Roman characters) to target only (in this case,

Japanese) for Japanese language learners.

First, Pintrich [25] specified aspects of cognitive strategies in foreign language learning as

follows:

• Cognitive strategies involve the psychological mechanism of attention focusing, the

necessary and sufficient condition for encoding into memory. Therefore, basic cognitive

strategies include rehearsal (such as saying material aloud when reading, copying

material into a notebook, or underlining), elaboration (paraphrasing, summarizing,

note-taking), and organizational strategies (e.g., selecting the main idea from a text).