9. Schematic diagram use and languaging quality in learning Japanese polysemous particles ni and de

Abstract

Upon reviewing the data from a previous study (Masuda and Labarca forthcoming) on the effects of using a Cognitive Linguistics (CL) explanation and schematic diagrams to teach Japanese polysemous particles to college students, a tendency to longer-term retention was detected. In this chapter, we analyze student languaging (Swain et al. 2009) in audio-recorded protocols made while higher and lower pairs worked on activities. The relationship between pair level and type of languaging was found to be significant (p = <.05). Qualitative analyses indicate that there is a relationship between languaging quality and the pairs' ability to correctly identify and use particle functions. Progress, as measured in contextualized fill-in-the-blank exercises as well as in story writing, seems to be facilitated by higher-level languaging, e.g., proposing theory about particles used. Moreover, schematic diagrams seem to better support understanding of difficult grammatical concepts as well.

Schematic Diagrams in Second Language Learning of English Prepositions

“…Importantly these diagrams are attempts to represent aspects of embodied experience, most particularly meaningful spatial configurations between a focus entity and a ground element. CL-inspired instruction uses schematic diagrams as a mediational tool for helping L2 learners achieve targetlike conceptualization of spatial configurations (Masuda & Labarca, 2015;Morimoto & Loewen, 2007) and as a consequence develop a deeper understanding of the L2 structure/concept (Tyler, Huang, & Jan, 2018).…”

“…Another group of studies that used schematic representations in L2 instruction has consistently adopted the sociocultural approach to language learning (Lantolf, 2000). They focused on the L2 learning of English verb particles (Lee, 2016), French prepositions (Buescher & Strauss, 2015), German prepositions (Arnett & Deifel, 2015), and Japanese particles (Masuda & Labarca, 2015). In these studies, schematic diagrams created by cognitive linguists functioned as the most critical instructional materials that orient, structure, and scaffold the mental actions that led to semantic learning.…”

Pair-work dynamics

“…The learners in our study engaged in languaging to learn the Japanese locative particles ni/de, a concept regarded as difficult for Japanese-as-a-foreign-language (JFL) learners (e.g. Sakoda, 2001;Masuda and Labarca, 2015). Microgenetic analysis reveals not only how particular collaborative activities evolve in a given context but also allows us to glean how learning is achieved through interaction (Lantolf, 2000;Ganem-Gutiérrez, 2008).…”

“…How the quality of languaging affects learning has also been reported elsewhere. Masuda and Labarca (2015), for instance, discovered that there was a positive correlation between a pair's ability to identify and to use Japanese particle functions and their languaging quality (e.g. elaboration on choices of particles' function).…”

Book Reviews

“…Early work on cognitive approaches to languages teaching argued for the viability of the method and later articles focused on suggestions of how CL might be used in the classroom. In the last few years, there have been any number of empirically based classroom studies in a variety of languages showing that a cognitive approach is more effective for the construction under consideration than an approach that follows the textbook otherwise used in the classroom (e.g., Kanaplianik, ; Lysinger, ; Masuda & Labarca, ). This volume takes the next step and shows instructors how to prepare materials for their language classroom using a CL approach.…”