Principal speaker
Dr Kumiko Katayama
Students' use of English in the Japanese language classroom during collaborative group work - A sociocultural investigation
Dr Kumiko Katayama (Griffith University) will discuss the shift in language classroom dynamics from a teacher-centered approach to a student-centered classroom where there are more autonomous learning opportunities. Students require smooth communication amongst themselves in order to succeed, however there is little understanding of the role of English and the benefits or problems of English in terms of language learning, and there is no detailed investigation on the use of English as a lingua franca in group work.
Dr Katayama will discuss a study that was carried out over 10 weeks during a semester-long Japanese course. The study examined the use of English as a medium for communication while learners collaborate. The study focuses on how English is deployed by learners to address linguistic as well as cultural aspects of Japanese. It also focuses on how English facilitates the group work itself and how it is deployed to effectively coordinate and manage the production of the task in Japanese.
Download a copy of the abstract (PDF 42k)