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A Study on Students’ Reasons for Choosing the Japanese Major and Preferred Learning Styles : Based on the Results of Research on the First and Second Year Students at a Four-year University in South Korea

  • The Japanese Language Association of Korea
  • Abbr : JLAK
  • 2019, (60), pp.35-52
  • DOI : 10.14817/jlak.2019.60.35
  • Publisher : The Japanese Language Association Of Korea
  • Research Area : Humanities > Japanese Language and Literature
  • Received : April 2, 2019
  • Accepted : May 10, 2019
  • Published : June 20, 2019

kim hyon ju 1 Kudo, Eriko 2

1한밭대학교
2한국방송통신대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to examine (1) Japanese major students’ specific reasons for choosing the Japanese language as their major and (2) learning styles that were preferred by learners majoring in the language, and investigate Japanese major students’ needs, whereby promote the qualitative enhancement of Japanese language education. It conducted a survey that incorporated a four-stage criterion for the students’ reasons for choosing this major (40 questions, Cronbach’s α: 0.944)and preferred learning styles (30 questions, Cronbach’s α: 0.753) on 45 first and second year students majoring in the Japanese language at Hanbat National University, which is a four-year national university. The completed surveys were then divided into “Atehamaranai (あてはまらない)” and “Atehamaru (あてはまる)” according to responses, and analyzed by using a chi-squared test in order to observe differences between the two responses in distribution. According to the results, the reasons for the students’ selection of the Japanese language as their major included interest in Japanese and Japan and interest in the Japanese people’s ways of thinking and life. The desire to understand the content of television dramas, animation, prose fiction, and magazines, traveling in Japan, or communicating with the Japanese people by learning Japanese were cited as well. A perception of Japanese as a tool for selecting an occupation and expressing oneself socially was also presented. As for learning styles, the students preferred solitary learning or individual guidance to pair or group learning. They also preferred teachers who were fluent in both Japanese and Korean.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.