A Study on Integrated Approaches for Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language -Project Work-

摘要

A "project work" program was introduced in Japanese Language Course III (an intermediate level course) in 1993 at the University of the Ryukyus. Project work differs from other methodologies in that it is a learner-centered communicative approach. The purpose of the project work is to develop the learner's communicative performance and language skills. The goals of project work as a group activity are (1) to collect information about a theme that learners have an interest in, (2) to use Japanese as a tool for discussion, (3) to write questionnaires and reports, and to communicate with Japanese students in doing the research, and (4) to make a presentation about the results of the research. This paper discusses the significance of project work, the design of our specific procedures, the students' evaluation of the program, and some practical classroom considerations. This study suggests the successful continuation of this new approach to foreign language learning.