The video of a model class of pronunciation teaching

Now, I would like to consider the video "Hatsuon no shidoo" (=pronunciation teaching) which shows several model class activities where teachers are giving pronundation instruction in three different Japanese language teaching institutes in Japan. Some are classes m ainly focused on pronunciation, and in other cases, pronunciation was taught as a part of the class activity. It would be useful to know when exactly this video was made, in order to check if the style of the class activity is contemporary. Unfortunately, the video carries no date; according to the NACSIS database, the video was made in the 1980s, but the exact year is not given.

The institutes presented were 1) Kokusai Kirisuto-lq^oo Daigaku (Imemational Christian University), 2) Tokyo Nihongo Gakkoo, Gengo Bunka Kenkyuujo Fuzoku, and 3) Todcai Daigaku Ryuugakusei Kyooiku Centre. All together, 6 lessons are shown, with the institutes in the order 1)2)3) 1)2)3).

1) Kokusai Kirisuto-kyoo Daigaku, Teacher Nakamura Taeko

Number of students: 23 (English speaking country) Level: beginners (Intensive Japanese)

Pronunciation practice during the introduction of Hiragana', practice pronouncing Hiraganas*

The teacher puts the Hiragana cards *ta' 'chi' tsu' 'te' to' one after another on the blackboard, as she makes the students repeat after her.

2) Gengo Bunka Koilgmyo Fuzoku, Tokyo Nihongo Gakkoo Teacher Mori Hiroko

Number of students: 7 (Europe, Asia) Level: beginners 2/3 (315th hour/lesson)

'Sokuon' (geminate) pronunciation practice in a rather advanced beginners level

The teacher introduces the words 'gakkoo', tûRwn', using fingers to count the mora rhythm, and shows that the second mwa fix>m the beginning is without sound. The teacher then introduces 'zasshi'. Although the second mora of this word is also spelled with small 'tsu', it is not an absence of sound but a fricative. The teacher demonstrates and makes the students repeat The teacher e?q)lains the difierence between the geminate "kk' 'pp' (stops) and 'ss' fricatives.

The students first practice by listening to a sample pronunciation from the teacher, then practise reading fiom a textbook. In both kinds of practice, the mora rhythm is counted on the fingers. Speed of repetition is changed from slow to 6st. The teacher tells the students that even if you speed up, still there is one mora absence of voicing.

3) Toukai Daigaku Ryuugakusei Kyooiku Centre Teacher: Bizen Tooru

Number of students: 15 (South East Asia) Level: beginner (3rd month)

The class is not specifically for teaching pronunciation. 5 to 10

minutes pronunciation practice Qkuchinarashi') was conducted at the beginning of eveiy class.

The teacher makes the students repeat the words 'utsu uttsun', Trata katta', 'oto, otto', 'machi macchi', 'utsu utssu utsun' etc. One of the students says 'utsunn' instead of 'uttsun'. (Correction takes the form ‘No. It's not.... It i s '. When the error persists, the teacher exaggerates the geminate by lengthening the hold phase ( ^ u t twice as long). First the students repeat all together, then individual students

repeat Most of them manage to repeat correctly on their own, but a couple (rf students make consistent errors.

4) Kokusai Kiiisuto-lgroo daigaku Teacher Kawamura Yoshiko

Number of students: 23 (from English speaking countries) Level: beginners

This is a ’Hiragana’ class, using the textbook. The teacher reads aloud the vocabulary, and gives instmction about pitch rise and pitch 611.

The difference of the pitch accent pattern between the words ’ishi* (stone) and ’ushi’ (cow) is indicated on the blackboard, by adding a particle ’ni’ after each word. Thqr are both lo w -h i^ but when ’ni’ follows each word, the pitch goes down in the former one and stays high in the latter. The pitch accent mark is drawn on the blackboard as well.

Also, the teacher uses her arm moving high and low, to indicate the pitch height

The difference between Englidi stress accent and Japanese pitch accent is explained. The teacher demonstrates what it sounds like if Japanese words are read with English stress accent instead of pitdi accent. All the instmction and the explanation is in English.

5) Gengo Bunka Kenkyuujo Fuzoku Tokyo Nihongo Gakkoo Teacher Mori Hiroko

Number of the students: 7 (Europe, Asia) Level: beginners 2/3 (315th hour/class)

The teacher makes the students read vocabulary items and sentences aloud, and focuses on pronunciation correction and reading

practice.

Sentences to repeat were; ’Osatpo wa doko ni arimasu ka’. (Where is sugar?) 'todana no naka ni arimasu’ (It’s in the cupboard) Division into spoken phrases is considered

Todananonakani / arimasu - correct Todanano / nakaniarimasu - not acceptable Todanano / nakani / arimasu - not acceptable

The teacher says that the latter two ways of breaking the sentence are not good, because the meaning is not clear. The main method is to make the students repeat the teacher’s pronunciation.

The teacher corrects the pitch accent of 'ano iremono’ individually. The teacher points out that it is not easy to read correctly fi’om the texAook, compared with repeating after the teacher’s exançle. In order to correct pitch accent, the teacher is using arm movement to show the height of the pitch. She also uses magnets on the white board to show the relative pitdi height of each pliable.

6) Kokusai Kirisuto-l^oo Daigaku Teacher Watanabe Kumiko

Number of the students: 23 (&om English speaking countries) Level: beginners

Pronunciation pactice language lab. The class is the Intensive Japanese Class; they have one language lab class for each lesson.

Individual students practise the drill fix>m tape. The teacher keeps monitcxing than individually. From time to time, the teacher will call students individually through the language lab facility, practise the drill or conversation with him/her, and make corrections. In the video, it is said that this language lab is

m ainly focused on pronunciation practice. However, thae is no point when the teacha is seen

correcting pronunciatioiL

Summary:

It seems the video is meant to give teachers a rough idea of how the pronunciaticm teadiing can be conducted in various class situations. It shows that there are various points to be focused upon, and various ^ ro a c h e s that can be taken Some of them are simple repetitiœ afla the teacha, the others involve the teacher's ability to present examples of an error or imitate common errors made by students. Some of the sessions take place in language lab, or others consist of 5 to 10 minutes pronunciation at the beginning of every class almost like a physical warm-up exercise. As it was pointed out in the results of the questionnaire, these pronunciation practice sessions take place mostly in the begirmer's classes, often with the introduction of Hiragana syllabary, or basic vocabulary. This video analysis shows that there are various ways of conducting prommdation teaching, but to conduct it effectively requires the individual teacher to have knowledge of the pronunciation of both native and tai^get language, ability to pronounce correctly by him/herself, ability to point out the exact problem of the learner, and sometimes even imitate them. So, even if on the surface the pronunciatitm teaching activities presented here look simple and sometimes quite spontaneous, quite a lot of background knowledge and skill is required in the teacher.