- Nihonzin no Koodoo Yoosiki, Hiroyuki Araki, Reviewed by Y. Takatori
- Basic English-Japanese Dictionary, Seiichi Makino, et al., Reviewed by N. Takeda
- How Languages are Learned, Patsy M. Lightbown, et al., Reviewed by M. Ishizuka
- Genki, Faculty at Kansai Gaidai U., Reviewed by Mamoru Hatakeyama
- Genki, (Follow up), Reviewed by N. Takeda
| 1 |
Title: Nihonzin no Koodoo Yoosiki (Behavioral Patterns of the Japanese)
Author: Hiroyuki Araki
Publisher: Kodansha (Kodansha Gendai Sinsyo #320)
Reviewer: Yuki Takatori |
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Have you ever wondered why many Japanese cannot answer a single question
without saying yappari, only to find yourself using the same magic word
just as frequently? And have you experienced unsettling feelings upon
seeing yappari translated as 'after all, all the same, as expected' in
Japanese-English dictionaries?
Or have you wondered what exactly ganbaru means? High school
seniors ganbaru to pass an entrance exam; athletes ganbaru to defeat
their opponents; businessmen ganbaru to boost sales; politicians ganbaru
to win in an election; and housewives ganbaru to make ends meet. In
other words, the whole nation never ceases to ganbaru! Yet, how many of
us have been successful in conveying the essence of this word to English
speakers?
If these questions have piqued your interest, then this book is for
you. The author asks what underlying principles govern such usages by
the Japanese. Once you ponder this question, however, you should
quickly realize that it has no simple answer and is much too broad to be
answered in any direct way, just as questions such as 'What is energy?'
or 'What is mass?' cannot be answered in a direct fashion. Therefore,
the author breaks down his large question into smaller, more manageable
ones and, in so doing, hopes to move closer to the big picture.
He begins with an enigmatic scene he witnessed in sightseeing bus.
The bus was taking a scenic route that was quite breathtaking to him;
however, everyone on board was completely oblivious to the scenery,
either reading tabloids or socializing with others, until the tour
conductor began instructing them to look to their right and left. It
was only then that they 'discovered' the beauty they were surrounded by
and let out cries of awe. After observing other similar incidents, the
author comes to the conclusion that taritu (dependency), or the lack of
ziritu (autonomy), influences the behavior of the Japanese people. When
viewed from the ziritu-taritu distinction, conduct that is seemingly
inexplicable suddenly begins to make sense. The lack of ziritu is
brought into clear relief when one considers how Westerners would behave
under the same circumstances.
Though this book is primarily about behavioral patterns of the
Japanese people, the author devotes a chapter to the Japanese language
(Chapter 5), focusing on words and phrases that defy simple translation:
the before mentioned yappari and ganbaru, as well as sasuga, doose, ?no
kuse ni, etc. He also makes clear the crucial differences between
kenage and 'admirable,' izi and 'pride,' and izirasii and 'pathetic.'
Surprisingly, he claims that the multiplicity of Japanese pronouns
(kimi, anata, omae, anta, etc.) can also be accounted for by the
ziritu-taritu dichotomy.
Non-Japanese readers will be able to connect the dots that hitherto
might have existed in isolation; Japanese readers will come to an
understanding of some of the 'code of laws,' that influences the
workings of their society and language, and that affects them in more
ways than they realize.
This book was written in 1973, and some things have changed since
then, so you may quibble with the author on some minor details, but not,
I think, on the main point of his argument. |
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| 2 |
Title: Basic English-Japanese Dictionary
Authors: Seiichi Makino, Seiichi Nakata, Mieko Oso and Wesley Jacobsen
Publisher: Kodansha International
ISBN: 4-7700-2628-5
Price: $45 (available at bookstores in Atlanta)
Reviewer: Takeda Noriko |
| |
This is a dictionary for both students and teachers of Japanese. The
authors have chosen about 4,500 English words as entries, which is
considered sufficient for speaking and writing in daily life. There are
four unique features on this dictionary according to the authors. I will
copy the features on page v in this dictionary.
1. "Although it has the appearance of a regular English-Japanese
dictionary, this dictionary is actually a bilingual dictionary in the
sense that the index of basic Japanese words provided at the end allows it
to be used as a Japanese-English dictionary as well."
2. "Each entry in English is followed by a description of its basic
meaning and a set of Japanese words which fall within the range of meaning
of the English entry. Each of these Japanese words is in turn followed by
a description of its basic meaning, allowing one to see readily what the
crucial differences are in meaning between the English and Japanese
words."
3. "Unlike typical English-Japanese dictionaries intended for use by
native speakers of Japanese, the present dictionary provides numerous
example sentences written in both Japanese script and romanization."
4. "Noteworthy information on the grammatical behavior and correct usage
of Japanese words and of important differences between Japanese and
English are provided throughout the dictionary for the benefit of those
studying the Japanese language."
I would like to recommend this dictionary for my students at Emory this
year to see how well they utilize the dictionary to write compositions and
to read materials without a vocabulary list. Even though this is an
English-Japanese dictionary, a strong feature is the Japanese-English
index which covers the range of vocabulary used in reading materials up to
the third year of Japanese. As for the fourth year and above at Emory, we
need to rely on Nelson's Kanji Dictionary to read materials.
If you would like to examine this dictionary or other materials, please
stop by at my house in Lilburn. Since my baby hates to be strapped in her
car seat, I just stay home this summer. |
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| 3 |
Title: How Languages are Learned
Authors: Patsy M. Lightbown and Nina Spada
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0-19-437169-7
Price: $15.95 ($12.76 at Barnes & Nobles/www.bn.com)
Reviewer: Miho Ishizuka |
| |
This book is for the language teachers who like to know elements of language
acquisition theories and related current researches. It covers a little bit
of everything. The plain English makes one feel more comfortable reading
about language theories.
The authors start covering first language learning (the behaviorist, the
innatist, the interactionist), then assesses similarity of first and second
language learning in the light of language theories. They also talk about an
individual learner's characteristics such as their attitudes, aptitude, age,
difference of learning style and how those may affect learners' language
learning. Interpretation of learners' errors and characteristics of
learners' language are also presented as well as development sequences.
Myths of second language teaching are assessed and this subject closed the
last chapter.
One of the things that I like about this book is that the authors put a list
of further readings at the end of every chapter. If you want to know
particular topics further, the list helps one find further in depth reading.
I do not recommend this book if you are seeking any lesson plans and/or
classroom activities. However, it is good to know theories so that you
understand more in regards to dynamics in the classroom teaching a second
language. |
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| 4 |
Title: Genki
Authors: unknown (faculty at Kansai Gaidai University)
Publisher: Bonjinsha
ISBN: unknown
Price: unknown
Reviewer: Mamoru Hatakeyama at Emory University |
| |
Textbook review -Genki
Genki came out in 1999 and ever since it is rapidly gaining popularity in
North America. Developed by faculty at Kansai Gaidai University where a
multitude of study-abroad students from English speaking countries go every
semester, it is natural that their textbook serves well to the needs of
those students with English language background. The whole series include
the Textbooks (1&2), accompanying Workbooks, CD, and Teachers' Manual.
The textbook has 23 lessons (1-12 on book 1, 13-23 on book 2) and consists
of 2 parts: dialogue & grammar section and reading & writing section. The
dialogue and grammar sections flow from dialogue, vocabulary list, grammar
explanation, then to exercises. Genki adopts a grammar/function syllabus
which helps both teacher and students to have a clear focus on what task
they are to work on besides the grammar points.
Dialogues evolves around the story of a study-abroad student Mary who comes
to Japan and lives with a Japanese host family. Mary's Japanese boyfriend
Takeshi adds a soap opera element that hooks students just as so did the
interaction between Yan san and Okada san in legendary Yan and Japanese
People video series. This contextualization is helpful for students to
follow the dialogue. Through out the textbook there are many visual cues
including the adorable manga-like images of characters by a professional
illustrator which must be appealing to all students, even if they are not
anime fans. It must work positively to make class environment fun and
relaxed. The grammar explanation for pre-class reading is thorough and
formatted which shows the authors' high visual literacy (Cf. Moor and Dwyer,
1994). Each item is marked for importance from central to peripheral using
different fonts, different font sizes, brackets to name a few. Exercises
range from mechanical to more open-ended, personalize, contextualized
activities and can be adapted easily. Dialogue and grammar section has
Romaji through lesson 2, and from lesson 3 it shifts to regular kana-kanji
text with reading(rubi, hurigana). But in conjugation exercises up to lesson
18, everything is written in hiragana.
Reading & writing section deals with a wide range of (semi/quasi-)
authentic texts. Kanji is introduced 300 in total. In Reading and writing
section already-learned Kanjis are shown without reading.
Pre-reading task and post-reading task the main text.
Teachers' guide is full of resources. Additional resources for Genki can
also be found at www.genki-online.com. (Flash cards of Hiragana, Katakana,
Greetings, Lesson 1 Vocabulary. Kanji movie files linked to the files at
Gahoh (www3.wind.ne.jp/gahoh/index.htm))
What can be supplemented by teacher may include explicit cultural
explanation, learning strategy, homework exercises that are not translation
exercises, and model speaking of natural speed (a little faster than the
CD). Also although it is imperative for learners in Japan who are
continuously surrounded by casual speech to learn it, it may be more
practical to reduce integration of casual speech if the students learn
Japanese as a foreign language in U.S.
Overall Genki is certainly one of the best ever and worth consulting
whichever textbooks you actually use in class.
More information can be found on the Japanese Textbook Discussion Board
(http://www.japaneseteaching.org/projects/textbook/genki/)
- The text is very interactive and allows students to work in groups.
- The explanation and vocabulary lists are very helpful. The book does not use the older method of giving drills to explain the text but useful situations.
- The Kanji portion of the book is helpful. For the beginner classes the Kanji can be introduced without purchasing a second text. The outline of how to write and explanation of the kanji is very clear.
- I like the initial introduction of Romanization and translation in the earlier lessons and the transition to not having romanization in the later lessons. It encourages the student to learn to read in Japanese.
- I would like to see a method of getting CD's to the students at a much more reduced price. Also a more interactive CD.
Thanks for this opportunity to comment.
Peter Melyan
Unversity of Guam
http://www.japaneseteaching.org/projects/textbook/genki
GENKI is a new introductory Japanese textbook series developed by faculty at
Kansai Gaidai University. Lessons include dialogues, grammar explanations,
and many group- and pair- based exercises and activities in which students
work with drawings and realistic situations. This series is designed for
university level students, and advances at a fairly rapid rate, but at the
very least, the exercises and activities could be useful in the secondary
classroom.
344 pp, $37.50. Textbook II, Workbooks I & II, CD I & II, and Teacher's
Manual with English Translation, forthcoming.
Bonjinsha, Sasuga Japanese Bookstore
For more review on other textbooks, go to:
http://www.japaneseteaching.org/projects/textbook/ |
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| 5 |
Title: Genki (follow up)
Reviewer: Takeda Noriko at Emory University |
| |
Last spring, my former colleague, Mamoru Hatakeyama who
left for Columbia University to start a new position reviewed
the textbook "Genki." I would like to add our experiences
to follow up his review. I cannot conclude much because we
have been using the book about 7-8 weeks. However, if you
are thinking of changing textbooks for Fall 2002, it might
be interesting to you.
As Hatakeyama san said, the book is very user-friendly and
grammar explanations are compact and easy to understand.
There are good listening sections too. However, I am concerned
about the workbook accompanying Genki. The problem is too
many translation exercises and no particle exercises. Also,
we need to add extra reading materials. Genki's reading/writing
sections, which are separated from the speakin/grammar sections
are too easy for our students. Mostlikely, I need to make a
course packet for students' homework instead of using the workbook.
I understand that we need to make extra materials to make
any textbooks suitable for our students. This is our responsibility.
So far, I like Genki very much. The book's popularity is
very high this fall. In fact, no US institutions received Genki
on time to start the semester because of the high demand.
Big institutions like Unv. of Michiga, Duke, Univ. of Wisconsin-
Madison use Genki. Please take your time to examine the book. |
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