Strategy Instruction for Japanese Students

This material has been developed by Yukiko Abe Hatasa (yukiko-hatasa@uiowa.edu) and Kumi Sato at the University of Iowa. Professor Hatasa received a LCTL project minigrant to develop and share this material.

Instructional Modules
This material consists of a set of instructional modules which focus on strategy instruction for intermediate/advanced students of Japanese. The instructional modules are organized in terms of skills and knowledge and is independent of any particular textbooks. Most of the instructions are written in Japanese, and depending on the level and specific textbooks used, the instructor may wish to modify vocabulary items and phrases.

The material is based on the publication Strategies-Based Instruction: A Teacher-Training Manual, by Susan J. Weaver and Andrew D. Cohen. The sample lessons and suggestion in the manual are for European languages, and this project adapts these lessons and suggestions for Japanese instruction.

Copyright permission has been generously granted by Harry Reinert (for the ELSIE material) and Rebecca Oxford (for the SILL material), the copyright holders for the English Language material that has been adapted.

Student Requirements
This material is designed for students who:

have completed two hundred or more hours of instruction in Japanese.
have been introduced to basic survival level functions, structures, hiragana/katakana, and three hundred or more kanji but are unable to create an extended discourse with ease.
posess intermediate mid to advanced-level proficiency in the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Guideline.

Terms of Use
Teachers can use this material for non-commercial purposes. If you wish to modify anything, please contact Yukiko Abe Hatasa, and the other copyright holders. If you use these materials, Yukiko Abe Hatasa would like to hear from you.

Chapter Title and Sections

Files require Adobe Acrobat Reader

Cover and Contents

Part A: Raising awareness for strategy use

Brainstorming, using the Japanese and English version of SILL and Vocabulary Introduction
SILL based awareness activity
Factors affecting language learning
Good language learners
Language learning style, using ELSIE (in English and Japanese) and goal setting

Part B: Vocabulary and learning strategies