Current Perspectives and Future Directions in Foreign Language Teaching and Learning FOSTERING BETTER ORAL JAPANESE VIA E-LEARNING

For autonomous learners of Japanese language, especially for the overseas’ residents, speaking is the most difficult skill to develop when learning through Internet or e-Learning. To overcome this difficulty, the authors develop an e-Learning courseware which includes modules encouraging learners to speak out-loud, giving confidence on pronunciation and keeping their motivation high. In the courseware, the pronunciation module provides information how a native speaker produces sounds difficult for most learners of Japanese by presenting the close-up views of the mouth in stereo image. When watched with spectacles with red and blue cellophane paper, the stereo image clip delivers three-dimensional view and facilitates learners to recognize how to pronounce the sound. The record-and-submit module encourages learners to speak out-loud, as learners get feedback for their oral work from the instructors via e-mail or bulletin board. As the evaluation of the modules and the system is still undergoing, the design concept of the courseware is discussed in the paper.