Kobe JALT - Spring 2009 Newsletter

JALT KOBE NEWSLETTER
Vol. 1. No. 2 Summer 2009

Developing Strategic Competence: Circumlocution and Approximation
Shelley Chang, Sumikin-Intercom, Inc.

Background
Early on in the instructed L2 acquisition process, language learners are often
charged with the task of memorizing a couple thousand lexical items in the target
language. Though this may be enough to enable the learner to engage in rudimentary
interactions with speakers of the target language, these lexical items generally tend to be
high frequency words that often lack the precision necessary to express complicated
thoughts or ideas on a wide range of topics. Consequently, in the intermediate and
advanced stages of language learning, learners must actively work to expand their
vocabulary base in order to obtain functional mastery of the target language (Waring &
Nation, 1997).
The importance and benefits of possessing a large vocabulary base are not lost on
the Japanese. In a country where the rote memorization of vocabulary words appears to
be the norm for L2 learners, Japanese students are no strangers to flash cards and word
lists. Their troubles lie not in the refusal to memorize new words, but rather in an over-
dependency on hard-learned vocabulary. All too frequently, learners encounter a mental
block when they are unable to recall a specific word or expression, leaving them
speechless. This predicament is exacerbated when they simply do not have the time to
master the amount of vocabulary they need and do not possess the linguistic strategies
needed to repair the breakdown in communication. This article will describe one
approach to teaching communication strategies to intermediate-level English language
learners in a corporate setting.

Instructional Background
The learners are 4 native Japanese speakers between the ages of 28 and 42
learning English in an American corporation based in Japan. They have all received
English language instruction from junior high through university and have not studied
English upon graduating from university. Their level is assessed by in internal
proficiency measurement as being approximately equivalent to a score of 600 – 700 on
the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC). The learners are participating in a corporate English training program with a communicative approach to
language teaching.

Communication Strategies
Canale and Swain (1980; Canale, 1983) introduced the first comprehensive
theoretical framework of communicative competence for language pedagogy.  According
to their framework, in order for learners to be deemed communicatively competent in the
L2, they must display grammatical, sociolinguistic, discourse and strategic competence.
Specifically, strategic competence is defined as a �gmastery of verbal and non-verbal
communication strategies that may be called into action �c to compensate for
breakdowns in communication �c and enhance the effectiveness of communication�h
(Canale, 1983, pp. 10-11).  Faerch and Kasper (1983) classified communication strategies
into reductionist strategies and achievement strategies. Reductionist strategies (e.g.,
avoiding the topic, message abandonment) encourage learners to circumvent a
communication problem. On the other hand, achievement strategies (e.g. asking for help,
literal translation, circumlocution, approximation) enable learners to confront and
overcome communication problems. Being able to successfully deploy achievement
strategies helps students to prepare for spontaneous communication in the real world
(Dornyei & Thurrell, 1994).

The Activity
This activity emphasizes practicing 2 achievement strategies: circumlocution and
approximation. Circumlocution is the strategy that allows a learner to describe or
exemplify an object, action or idea without directly stating the target lexical item. For
example, if the target word was rose, the learner could say �ga red flower you give on
Valentine�fs Day.�h Approximation, on the other hand, is the strategy that allows a learner
to use an alternative term which has a similar meaning to the target lexical item. For
example, if the target word was �gknapsack�h a reasonable approximation could be �gbag�h
(Faerch & Kasper, 1983). Learners use circumlocution and approximation skills to elicit
words from the General Service List from their classmates. As the General Service List is
comprised of the 2000 most frequently used words in the English language, the likelihood
that the learners are familiar with the words is high.
The activity uses a format very similar to the commercial board game, Taboo.
Board games are an effective, low-anxiety, and fun way for language learners to learn
and practice communication strategies. Through board games, communicative language
learning is promoted through tasks, defined here as activities in which:
1. meaning is primary;
2. there is a communication problem of some type to solve;
3. the activity has some relationship to real-world activities;
4. task completion is usually required; and
5. task performance can be assessed in terms of the outcome (Skehan, 1998, p. 95).

Materials:
A stack of cards each labeled with the first 1000 words of the General Service
List which can be obtained at the following website:
http://www.workbase.org.nz/Resource.aspx?ID=624.

Procedure:
1. The instructor should pre-teach phrases that can be used to aid them in
circumlocution and approximation. These can include phrases like �git is bigger
than�c�h, �git is similar to�c�h, �git is like�c�h, �gwe do this when�c�h, �git is the
opposite of..�h
2. Learners are then divided into two teams.
3. The instructor gives one card to a learner, and the learner needs to elicit the word
on the card from his teammates without stating the word listed on the card. Allow
the teammates to ask questions. If the teammates cannot guess the word within the
allotted amount of time, the other team has a chance to guess and earn a point.
4. After one team has completed a turn, the instructor gives a card to the other team.
This activity can also be played in a one-on-one context where the instructor is the
person guessing the target word. A variation can be used to promote speaking fluency
where a team can gain more points by correctly guessing more than one card per turn
(each turn�fs length then becomes determined by a timer).

Conclusion
Although the target word in this game is contrived (in authentic interaction,
learners would not know the target word/expression in English), the task itself is very
realistic. It is impossible for learners to learn and recall every word in the English
language, and inevitably in conversation they will stumble upon a vocabulary item they
are unfamiliar with. Equipping students with the ability to face such a communication
challenge head on and be understood without turning to the dictionary is a key
component in developing a communicatively competent language learner.
Canale, M. (1983).  From communicative competence to communicative language
pedagogy. In J.C. Richards & R.W. Schmidt (Eds.), Language and
communication (pp. 2-27). Harlow, England: Longman.
Canale, M., & Swain, M. (1980). Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to
second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics, 1, 1-47.
Dörnyei, Z., & Thurrell, S. (1994). Teaching conversational skills intensively: Course
content and rationale. ELT Journal, 48, 40-49.
Faerch, F., & Kasper, G. (1983). Strategies in interlanguage communication. Harlow:
Longman.
Skehan, P. (1998).  A cognitive approach to language learning. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Waring, R. & Nation, I.S.P. (1997) Vocabulary size, text coverage, and word lists. In N.
Schmitt & M. McCarthy (Eds.), Vocabulary: Description, acquisition and
pedagogy (pp. 6-19). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Teaching to Write in Deductive Style
Sonia Sonoko Strain
Himeji Dokkyo University

Teaching to write paragraphs and essays, let alone research papers, in deductive style
EAP (English for Academic Purposes) writing is not an easy endeavor, especially in this
country, where students are generally accustomed to inductive writing styles.  My
students often find deductive logical organization uncomfortable to deal with.  They seem
to perceive the style as unsophisticated on the grounds that the writer is not able to keep
what he/she really wants to say till the end, dropping hints carefully along the way.
However, awareness of the deductive logical organization of information that academic
English requires is essential for EAP learners.  In this article, I would like to share with
JALT Kobe members how I introduce the concept of deductive style in my first-year
EAP Seminar (Nyumon Enshu).  To illustrate, consider the step-by-step procedure below.

Step 1:  Two paragraphs on the same topic, hospitals in Japan, are presented to the
students.  Paragraph A is written in inductive style and Paragraph B in deductive style.
Both were written for contrasting purposes and so the two paragraphs intentionally cover
the same points about recent hospitals.

Paragraph A
Aren�ft nurses and clerks kind and friendly to patients?  Friendliness means a lot to
lonely elderly people who live alone, but personnel are not the only factor in major
hospitals that elderly people appreciate.  Facilities are another.  For example,
elderly people like good mild air conditioning that is suitable for them.  They also
are grateful for a shop that has basic everyday commodities so that they can easily
shop there rather than at a fancy, busy stores on the streets.  A waiting room with
nice chairs, a big television, many magazine, and other patients to chat with makes
them feel more comfortable there than at home alone. Also a very important factor
for the elderly is reasonable medical fees.  Thus, elderly people will go to hospitals
that do their best to make them feel comfortable and welcome on a daily basis, even
for the minor problems that come with age; and they don�ft mind spending a lot of
time waiting there.  In short, for many elderly people, a hospital is no longer a
dreaded place you rush to when you have to because you are very sick.  Instead, it
is like a senior day-care center.

Paragraph B
Hospitals are becoming a second home for lonely elderly people.  A hospital is, of
course, a place where they can go to have their health problems taken care of.  For
those who live alone, it is a place where nurses and clerks, many of them young and
female, treat them gently and lend a friendly hand in every way possible.  In
addition, recent hospitals have comfortable waiting rooms with air conditioning,
television to watch, and magazines to read.  In those waiting rooms, people with
similar physical conditions can chat with each other, which is especially good for
elderly people who don�ft have anybody who listens to their problems at home.
Moreover, hospitals are not just rooms and patients; they also offer all kinds of
facilities – cafeteria, shops lobbies, clean toilets, etc.  Also, medical fees are kept
low for elderly people, reflecting the Japanese culture of respecting the elderly and
rewarding those who have worked in the society for so long.  Therefore, it is no
wonder that all major hospitals are full of elderly people very single day of the year.
Hospitals are more than a place to go to have their sickness treated.

Step 2:  After shadow reading the two paragraphs in chorus led by the teacher, the
students silently read the paragraphs again on their own and take notes.  (Students were
trained how to take notes at the beginning of the semester, using/inventing symbols and
abbreviations.) The notes students take here are to help them examine the structure of the
two paragraphs in Step 3.

Step 3:  A few minutes are given for the students to compare notes in pairs and to discuss
how these two paragraphs explain the reason why there are smiles of elderly people at
many Japanese hospitals these days.  This is an important step in a student-centered class.

Step 4:  Next, the teacher writes her own notes on the white board (See below.), for
Paragraph A and Paragraph B separately.  Students compared teacher�fs notes with their
own notes and continue discussing in pairs to confirm how organization of the two
paragraphs contrasts.

Suggested notes:  Inductive                                Suggested notes:  Deductive
1. ___ friendly ___ ___                                            hos. _ 2nd  home
2. __ air-con.,  _                                                       ___ 1.  __:  kind
3. __ __,  _TV,  _,  __                                                ___ 2.  _:  air-con.,  TV,  _,  __
4. fees:  _for _                                                          ___ ____ _,  _, ___,  _
___hos. _ day-care cen.                                         _ ____fees :  _ for _
                                                       Concl.  =  restatement

Step5:  Students in pairs discuss which paragraph they felt more comfortable reading.  In
other words, they discuss which paragraph was easier for them to follow or sounded like
a paragraph they would write._(Every year most of my students choose inductive style as
a more sophisticated style that is suitable for academic writing.)  Then the teacher usually
surprises the students by pointing out that in EAP, students are expected to follow
deductive logical organization.  It is noted that the deductive style Paragraph B has �ga
clear statement of purpose as its initial sentence, and following sentences develop or
expand �c this statement of purpose�h (Hinds, 1990:91).

Step 6:  Students again in pairs try to figure out why the deductive style is the preferable
style in EAP writing.  Some opinions are solicited by the teacher and the students are
allowed to speak in Japanese for this task.

Step 7:  This is the last but not least important step – the rational.  Students are guided to
consider the following:  If readers cannot tell what the writing is about, how can they
decide whether to read or not to read, or know whether to just browse through or to read
carefully?  This then becomes the introduction to the rationale that follows. The teacher
explains that as students and researchers generally hope not to waste time when they are
looking for information, it is kinder to let them know at the beginning what the topic of
the passage will be (what the writing will be about) and what the focus of the topic will
be (what about the topic the writing focuses on).  At any rate, the teacher takes time to
explain the two different styles of organizing ideas until the students seem convinced that
deductive style might be better fitted for academic purposes.
When my students seem ready to learn how to write in deductive style, the EAP class
proceeds step-by-step to explorer deductive paragraph writing, e.g., what a good topic
sentence is, what good supporting sentences are and different ways of writing a
conclusion.  (For more information, how students of EAP could be guided first to write
academic paragraphs and eventually a research paper, please refer to Strain, S.S., (2006).
A Friendly Approach to English for Academic Purposes. Tokyo: Shohakusha. ISBN4-
7754-0118-1)

Reference:
Hinds, J. (1990).  Inductive, deductive, quasi-inductive: Expository writings in Japanese,
Korean, Chinese, and Thai.  In U. Connor and A. M. Johns (Eds.), Coherence in writing
(pp.87-109).  Alexandria, VA_TESOL.

CONTACTS
Chapter President: Shirley Ando. kobejalt@gmail.com
Treasurer: Anthony Torbert.
Membership Chair: David Heywood.
Programme Chair: Brent Jones.
Publicity Chair: Stuart Cunningham. stuart71cunningham@yahoo.co.uk

Web Site: http://jalt.org/groups/kobe

Submissions to the Newsletter:
Stuart Cunningham – stuart71cunningham@yahoo.co.uk
Please include �gKobe JALT Newsletter�h in the subject field.

Call for Submissions to the Newsletter:
The Kobe JALT Newsletter is looking for submissions for the next newsletter in October.
Anyone wishing to submit an article, book review, web page review, a lesson plan that
worked, or a discussion piece, please contact the editor at:
stuart71cunningham@yahoo.co.uk
The deadline for submissions is September 26th, however preference will be given to
earlier submissions.

CALENDAR
Conferences (Japan only)
September 18-20. 15th IAICS International Conference on Cross-Cultural
Communication. International Communication and Collaboration Within and Across
Sociolinguistic Environments. Location: Kumamoto Gakuen U. Contact:
www.uri.edu/iaics/ or iaics2009@kumagaku.ac.jp

October 17-18. Third Annual Japan Writers Conference. Location: Doshisha
Woman�fs College. Contact: <japan-writersconference.org>
October 17-18. JALT CUE-SIG Conference: ESP/EAP- English for Global Living,
Working, and Studying. Location: Tezukayama University, Gakuenmae campus, Nara.
Contact: http://jaltcue-sig.org/node/75
October 24-25. ACE 2009: Asian Conference on Education: Local Problems, Global
Solutions? Location: The Ramada Hotel, Osaka. Contact: <ace.iafor.org/index.html>
November 21-23. JALT 2009:35th Annual International Conference on Language
Teaching and Learning: Learning Dialogue: An Active Mirror. Location: Granship
Shizuoka. Contact: <JALT.org/conference>

Call For Contributions
JACET SIG on ESP would like to call for contributions to the Annual Report of JACET
SIG on ESP Volume 11. The deadline for submissions is September 30th, 2009.
Type of manuscripts sought; an original research article or study article on ESP, a
review article on ESP texts, books, conferences, etc., a report on ESP-related meetings.
The publication fee is 5000 yen per manuscript and the author(s) will receive 3 free
copies and a PDF of the full issue.
Contact details: If you are interested please contact
Mari Hiraoka at hiraoka@nit.ac.jp
Maggie Lieb at Maggie@kic.meiji.ac.jp

An Interview with Steven Herder of MASH Collaboration
JALT: You talk about MASH in the July edition of TLT. For those teachers who have not
yet seen a copy, what is MASH?
Steven Herder: MASH (Meet, Ask, Share & Help) began as a small Skype study group
in 2006 for distance-learning students on the University of Birmingham's MA TEFL
program. Originally, four of us - Mark de Boer, Kirsten, Anthony and I decided to study
together once a week online. Right off the bat it was all about "Meeting others, Asking
questions, Sharing ideas & Helping one another" in order to get the most we could from
the exciting learning opportunity that was our MA. Truth be told, we also had a fair
amount of angst we were happy to exchange at the looming prospect of having to write
36,000 - 40,000 words in essays and a dissertation. So the idea of "shared joy" or "misery
loves company" also came into play in those early stages.
A year later in 2007, we had Joshua, Aki, Paul and Philip Shigeo Brown also heavily
involved in various MASH activities. We held a series of one-day events around Japan
focusing on improving 20-minute presentations by collaborating online before the events
and by including "feedback circles" to presenters during the events. We saw great
improvements in presentations: in better visual representation, in clarity of the message
and in confidence by presenters. Collaborative feedback both before and after a
presentation certainly works.
Now, we might call ourselves a community of like-minded EFL professionals who want
to learn more by doing more, as we support one another in our various endeavors. Our
core collaborators include Mark de Boer, Philip Shigeo Brown, Gregory Sholdt, Theron
Muller and myself. Additionally, we have another dozen or so very close colleagues that
get involved on an ad hoc basis, or whenever they have time or are smitten with a
particular project - Joe, Colin, John, Michi, Joanne, Chris, Jason, Michael, Matthew,
Marcos and Kishiko immediately come to mind. To date, we have held 6 one-day events
in Osaka, Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Kyoto and at the national JALT conference over the
past two years. We have also collaborated with Curtis Kelly, Kyoto JALT, and
Nakasendo 2009. Furthermore, we are currently running an online stats course,
Introduction to Quantitative Research Methods, and collaborating on a book called
Innovating teaching in context: Asia through the MASH website (http://www.mash-
collaboration-efl.com/). This year we were also invited to collaborate with David Paul on
ELT News. We have a column on professional development that introduces MASH
Names, Faces and Ideas and Learner's Voices.
JALT: How can MASH help teachers regarding their personal development?
SH: MASH is simply a venue (albeit it a pretty cool one) within which to grow and learn
as an EFL professional. As I said in The Language Teacher, I believe that being a teacher
means, at its core, a never-ending commitment to learning. There are so many ways to
learn, but for many of us, learning by doing or learning by doing things together is a
highly effective approach. Collaboration adds just the right amount of tension to get lots
done. While most of us struggle trying to get through our never-ending to do lists each
day, it is invariably easier to let ourselves down rather than letting others down.
Sometimes I tell myself, "Oh, I'll get round to it tomorrow", I rarely say that to my
cohorts when I know that they are depending on me and me on them in order to get where
we all want to go. So, I take advantage of this pressure to do things and do them done
well because colleagues who I respect are counting on me. MASH offers ELT educators
at every stage of their professional development an array of meaningful opportunities: 1)
connecting with like-minded EFL educators, 2) exploring classroom research, 3)
publishing academic work, 4) improving presentations and 5) building networks. There is
only one secret to the success of MASH; we all share a commitment to each other�fs
growth.
JALT: How does a teacher actually go about getting involved in MASH?
SH: Make the decision to improve yourself. Take the first step of letting someone know.
Be yourself throughout... If you would like to "know more" or "get more" in your
professional life, you can get involved in MASH or any other professional organization
for that matter. Simply getting involved is the key. If you like the sounds of MASH,
please contact us and let us know what you're all about. We always have room for more
people who want to improve themselves and the EFL context in which we live. In fact,
the deeper you, the better it gets. Here are 5 ideas to get involved in MASH:
    * Go to the MASH website and sign up (membership free, at present)
http://www.mash-collaboration-efl.com/
    * Send us a message introducing yourself and telling us where you are in your own
professional development, and what you are looking for.
    * Write your own Names, Faces and Ideas column for ELT News and send it to Steven
Herder
    * Come out to a MASH event. You'll need to give us your Email address so we can let
you know what's coming up.
    * Join JALT. Most MASH members are also involved in JALT.
JALT: A lot of teachers find their schedules can suddenly and unexpectedly become
quite hectic. What degree of commitment does MASH expect?
SH: Believe me, we understand busy. Therefore, we only ask you to be upfront and direct
concerning what you can and cannot do. We have built up a great degree of trust among
our members that has come step by step over time. We make a great effort to be
professional and respectful: we meet our deadlines, show up on time, respond quickly,
offer honest feedback, and apologize when we screw up. Many of us met for the first time
online and not in person until months later. So we just try to follow the Golden Rule of
treating others like you want to be treated. It's a pretty simple concept but like any good
things in life, it takes work.
JALT: Where do you see MASH going in the future?
SH: MASH will go wherever the members take it. Personally, I know that in a very short
time, I have made a few special friends for life. I know we'll be collaborating 20 or 30
years from now, even if we aren't as spry and nimble as we are today. With well over 150
people having now joined or participated in a MASH event or collaborative project, our
network continues to grow - organically, creatively and flexibly - as it uses the idea of
synergy (combined power) to further professional development through collaboration.
Each new member brings a unique set of skills, interests and experiences to the table.
Everyone has the potential to take MASH in a new direction. Again, personally, I would
like to develop MASH publishing, offer more useful MASH online courses, and develop
stronger connections with Japanese teachers of English (JTEs). As an EFL professional in
Japan, I would be tremendously satisfied if I could help in any small way to have a
greater impact on students beyond my own classes. I think a lot of us are willing to make
efforts to improve not only ourselves, but also the learning experience for Japanese
learners of English in all contexts.
JALT: If a teacher has read this and is thinking of participating in MASH, what should
they do next?
SH: First, think about what you want in your own professional development. Then think
about what you have to offer in time, energy and ideas or even simply think about areas
that you would like to develop in a collaborative environment. Think about what you'd
like to get from becoming involved in MASH, then go back to question 3 and choose
something that you can do well. Another option is to write down your thoughts and
reactions to this interview and send me a message at mailto:steven.herder@gmail.com

Kobe JALT Upcoming Event
On Sunday, September 27th, in conjunction with The Hobgoblin, Kobe JALT will be
sponsoring a pub quiz at The Hobgoblin. The quiz itself will start at 8pm. If you are
interested in entering a team for the quiz then just turn up on the night with your team.
The maximum size for a team is four people. Each team is asked to pay an entrance fee of
2000 yen. There will be prizes. If you have any queries then e-mail the Kobe JALT
Publicity Officer:
stuart71cunningham@yahoo.co.uk

For those of you not familiar with the concept of pub quizzes, which are extremely
popular in The UK, then look at the link below;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pub_quiz

For anyone who does not know The Hobgoblin, next to Sannomiya JR Station, then look
at the link below:
http://www.hobgoblin.jp/Kobe/tabid/121/language/en-GB/Default.aspx


Lexical Non-Correspondence between Japanese and English.
John Campbell-Larsen
Editors note:the original article had the japanese script for all Japanese words however
this may cause some problemsand so underlined gaps signify where the original article
contained the Japanese script.

There are many aspects to the relationship between the lexicons of any two given
languages. Some words may have a one to one correspondence with a word in the other
language, for example �edog�f in English corresponds with �eHund�f in German. Other words
may be covered by a number of words in the comparison language, for example �eashi�f in
Japanese is covered by the words �efoot�f and �eleg�f in English. Still other words have no
real equivalent term in the comparison language, for example �eGenkan�f in Japanese has
no precise match in English, and most native English speakers resident in Japan readily
adopt the Japanese word into their active English usage to describe the place where one
removes shoes before entering a house.
The areas of full, partial and non-correspondence between the lexicons of any two
languages vary widely depending on which two languages are being compared and words
in the target language which are problematical for one group of learners because of non-
correspondence, may present no real cognitive difficulty for another group of learners
because the word happens to correspond conceptually with a word in their own language.
Many English language textbooks are designed for the international market and/or mixed
L2 speaker classes and therefore cannot address this aspect of vocabulary in any practical
way, due to the specifics of each language�fs relationship with English.
Below are some examples of non-correspondence between Japanese and English,
featuring some common areas of difficulty for Japanese students of English. A full survey
of the differences is not attempted, nor a deep examination of the underlying concepts.
Rather, it is proposed that awareness of the kinds of differences that exist may help
teachers identify the reasons for student difficulty in vocabulary acquisition and usage.
Wear (be clad in)
A clear example of lexical non-correspondence can be seen in the relationship between
the English verb �ewear�f and its Japanese equivalents. In English, the verb �ewear�f covers
all types of clothing and also extends to jewelry and accessories, hats, makeup and so on.
In Japanese, the verb used to describe someone being clad in an item of clothing varies
according to the item of clothing in question.

Item(s)	Japanese verb	English Verb
Hat	Kaburu ___	Wear
Shirt, Jacket, Sweater etc	Kiru___	Wear
Glasses	Kakeru____	Wear
Necktie	Tsukeru_____	Wear
Trousers, Socks, shoes	Haku___	Wear

A native English speaker would have no particular reason to suspect that Japanese
requires variation of the verb depending on the item, and Japanese speakers have no
reason to suspect that the English verb �ewear�f covers all clothing items. To further
complicate the matter, Japanese grammar expresses the distinction between donning
clothing and being clad in something as an inflection of the verb in use. �eThe te iru form
of the verb can also express matter-of-factly a state of being that is the result of a
previous action.�f (Kamiya, 2005:110) In this case, whereas English distinguishes �eput on�f
from �ewear�f, Japanese inflects the appropriate verb; (kiru __-put on,/ kiteimasu______-is
wearing.) The potential for confusion in use of these verbs is self-evident and awareness
of the interrelationship can save valuable time and energy.

Get on/ get in etc.
Another case on lexical non-correspondence of high frequency items is the verbs
concerned with boarding vehicles and being transported. English differentiates between
boarding large vehicles which allow a measure of internal movement and entering
smaller vehicles that have more restricted movement and mounting other forms of
transport such as horses or bicycles. In this case, the English system is complex and
multi-faceted whereas the Japanese system is more straightforward lexically.

Sentence Object	English Verb	Japanese Verb
Train, Bus, Plane, Ship	Get on	_ Noru
Car, Boat, Elevator	Get in	_ Noru
Horse, Bicycle	Get on	_ Noru

 As with the case of �eput on�f and �ewear�f above, Japanese inflects the verb concerned to
show the onset of the action �e__�f (Noru) and the resultant state �e______�f (Noteimasu)
whereas English uses a different verb �eget on/in to express onset and �ebe on/in�f to express
resultant state. English further complicates the picture by utilizing other related verb
forms to express nuances of meaning encompassed by the Japanese verb �e__�f (Noru),
such as �ego by�f, �etake�f and �eride�f. The coverage of the verb �eget in�f also extends to non-
transport items such as �ebed�f and �ebath�f consistent with the �elimited scope for internal
movement�f concept, but these items certainly lie beyond the scope of the Japanese verb
__ (Noru).

Cooking, heating and burning.
The Japanese verb __(Yaku) covers a concept which can be broadly described as
�eapplying heat to bring about a change�f. Translating the word however, can be
problematical, because English subdivides this concept into a variety of different actions,
each with a distinct meaning. (See Yamashiki & Gunshi 1990 or ____________electronic
dictionary for a variety of translated terms.)

English Verb	Japanese Verb
Burn (Destroy or damage by fire - negative meaning)	__ Yaku
Bake (Cook (usually) in an oven with omni-directional convection heat)	__ Yaku
Roast (Cook (usually) in an oven with convection heat, often with oil)	__ Yaku
Grill (Cook with mono-directional radiation heat, typically naked flame)	__ Yaku
Tan (Change skin color by exposure to sun - positive meaning)	__ Yaku
Other cooking and heating verbs	__ Yaku

 Clearly, the cooking and heating concepts behind the English verbs �ebake�f, �egrill�f �eroast�f
are complex and nuanced and even native English speakers may not agree on which verb
is appropriate. Many readers may find themselves in disagreement with the definitions of
the verbs given above. It is therefore not surprising that Japanese student often have
difficulty expressing these concepts in English. It is not surprising that even such daily
activities as cooking are a source of confusion for Japanese students of English, and
indeed for their teachers.
It is a truism that native speakers of a language have proficiency that they cannot account
for metacognitively. Not only is it often difficult to perceive the concepts behind the
�eother�f language, it can be equally hard to appreciate the concepts inherent within one�fs
own language. Awareness of the kinds of non-correspondence that may exist cannot but
be of help to both teachers and students as they negotiate the interface between the two
languages in question.
References
Kamiya, T. (2005) Japanese Sentence Patterns for Effective Communication. Tokyo:
Kandosha
Makino, S. & Tsutsui, M. (1986) A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar. Tokyo: The
Japan Times.
Yamashiki, K & Gunshi, T. (Eds.) (1990) The New Anchor Japanese-English Dictionary.
Tokyo: Gakken.
_____________(Electronic Dictionary source text)

 
Editor
Stuart Cunningham

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