The Importance of Critical Discourse Analysis in Everyday Life

With the widespread availability of the internet and various news sources, the role of discourse in people’s everyday lives seems more important than ever. However, this importance and its influence on people’s beliefs and opinions often go unnoticed. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) tries to explain how these phenomena work.

            According to van Dijk’s (1995) definition, CDA is an issue oriented, multidisciplinary approach to studying discourse. It mostly concerns how people see and understand the social world (Fairclough, 2013). This intriguing approach in Applied Linguistics first appeared in the 1970s, at the University of East Anglia where a group of linguists aimed to examine texts in relation with their contexts.

CDA’s main focus is how discourse is used to gain more power (political, for example) and observes the effect it has on social relations (Fairclough, 2013). CDA tries to explain whether good speakers can achieve more and have more influence on people and if so, how is that possible. Moreover, they say that just as actual weapons, this sort of power can be abused as well. Therefore, linguists concerned with CDA focus on social and political issues and study how discourse is used for the wrong reasons, for dominating groups of people, enforcing inequalities, or influencing others’ ideas. The most important topics influenced by discourse include gender inequality, media discourse, political discourse, and social issues, such as anti-Semitism, nationalism, or racism. (van Dijk, 2001).

It is somewhat alarming to see that powerful people might be able to use certain forms of discourse as a mean to control people’s minds. Also, if they manage to do so, they might have some control over their actions too, since these people are “more or less passive targets of text or talk” (van Dijk, 2001).

In one of his studies, Dutch scholar Teun van Dijk (1994) presents a very interesting example of how mind control via discourse works. He brings up racism against minorities as a social issue through which he introduces the problems of one-sided media representation. To begin with, very few minority journalists are hired and even if they are, they almost exclusively write about news concerning minorities. Moreover, minorities rarely appear in newspapers in news about other than violence, crime (often related to drugs), or racial conflict, with headlines highlighting words such as ‘police’ or ‘black’. Newspapers often use semantic techniques to distance themselves from minorities (e.g. referring to them as ‘these people’) and rarely quote them. This sort of representation and choice of topics can have a negative effect on how society sees these groups as pre-existent stereotypes can be strengthened or new ones created.

Another very important topic which concerns CDA is gender inequality. It can also be heavily influenced be media representation. In order to find a concrete example for that, it might be worth taking a closer look at the recent Steubenville rape case to which the media had an unexpected and quite surprising reaction. Although they did not openly take the two boys’ (who raped an unconscious girl at a party) side but they did start to lament their promising football careers. Several prestigious news sources (including the CNN and the Associated Press) highlighted that the boys were very talented football players with bright futures ahead of them which were now ruined, They also stressed that the victim was drunk at the time of the incident, maybe suggesting that she was responsible for the boys having to live the rest of their lives as registered sex offenders. (Culp-Ressler & Strasser, 2013)

What is relevant in the case from the point of view of CDA is how dangerous the influence of the media can be and how careful journalists should be when presenting such a sensitive topic. Ordinary people believe what they read (especially if it is the CNN or other trusted news site) and tend to agree with the opinions they find there. Therefore, social issues (like rape culture or victim blaming, as seen in the Steubenville case) will be made more difficult to overcome.

A seemingly less serious, but not less relevant example of unequal representation in the media is what everyday interviews with male actors look like in contrast with questions addressed to actresses. At a press conference for a box office hit, the male lead was asked about character development and character depth, while the female star of the film was asked about the diet she had to go on, in order to look good on the screen (DigitalSpy, 2012). This rather small excerpt exemplifies how deep-rooted these sort of sexual stereotypes are and how easily they can be supported by more or less everyday discourse.

In conclusion, people are surrounded by social issues such as the ones previously mentioned, and they rarely notice that the representation of those can be biased and even misleading. Critical Discourse Analysis tries to point out how discourse is used by powerful people (media sources, political leaders, or other authorities) to influence others’ opinions and shape them as they please. Its ultimate goal is understanding, exposing, and finally resisting social inequality (van Dijk, 2001).

References

Culp-Ressler, T. & Strasser, A. (2013). How The Media Took Sides In The Steubenville Rape Case. ThinkProgress. Retrieved from http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/03/18/1732701/media-steubenville/

Digital Spy. (2012, April 20). The Avengers UK Press Conference in full. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBbSNnGmPfw

Fairclough, N. (2013). Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language. New York, USA: Routledge

van Dijk, T. A. (1994). Discourse and Inequality. Lenguas Modernas, 21, 19-37.

van Dijk, T. A.  (1995). Aims of Critical Discourse Analysis. Japanese Discourse, 1, 17-28

van Dijk, T. A. (2001). Critical Discourse Analysis. In Tannen, D., Schiffrin, D., & Hamilton, H.: Handbook of Discourse Analysis (pp. 352-371). Oxford, UK: Blackwell

'Through the Looking-Glass' - Catch a Glimpse of Aphasiology

Aphasia has been in the focus of neurolinguistics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics and a great number of other fields of research in the past decades. It is a term used for linguistic disorders caused by damage in a specific area of the brain where language is primarily affected (Crystal, 1980, p. 140). The vast range of research provides valuable information about the role of linguistic and communicative functions in the brain. Moreover, due to the enormous amount of studies new intervention techniques are emerging in order to help patients of dementia (Crystal, 1980, p. 149). Nevertheless, as a result of the remarkably divergent outcomes of different research programs, aphasiology is still a rather controversial field of study (Crystal, 1980, p. 142). The aim of this paper is to give insight to aphasiology by providing general information about the definition, classification and key research issues; in addition, about the importance of assessment and intervention.

            Regarding the definition of the term aphasia, two main approaches can be distinguished: the broad definition encompasses every kind of difficulty with the use of the linguistic functions of the brain, whether it is formulation, expression or association, along with the damage of other cognitive functions; for example, the damage of memory and attention. Although language is in the center, the affected behavioral patterns are considered to be a part of aphasia as well. The other approach is the specified approach: it defines aphasia merely in the field of linguistic pathology (Crystal, 1980, pp. 140-141).

Communication disorder caused by brain damage and characterized by complete or partial impairment of language comprehension, formulation and use…excludes disorders associated with primary sensory deficits, general mental deterioration, or psychiatric disorders (Crystal, 1980, p. 141).

The specified approach allows a solely linguistic analysis with the use of acknowledged categories of language: syntax, morphology, semantics, phonology and so on. Due to the wide range of results in the fieldwork of researchers, it is hard to tell which approach is better. It might be for the best to take linguistic impairments as the primary focus of study but not excluding disturbances of other cognitive functions (Crystal, 1980, pp. 141-142).

            Concerning the classification of aphasia, two main classification systems can be identified. The traditional categorization is based on the neuroanatomical site of the injury that caused the dementia. This model of language pathology differentiates between the places of injury and the movement of the nerve signals. Regarding the place of injury, researchers identify Broca’s aphasia (which is in the anterior part of the left side front vertical brain tissue) and Wernicke’s aphasia (which is in the posterior part of the left side front vertical brain tissue). With reference to the movement of the nerve signals, the traditional medical classification differentiates between motor aphasia and sensor aphasia (Cummings, 2008, p. 344). This is in close relation to the Broca’s and Wernicke’s differentiation, because in the case of the former, the disturbance is in the motor cortex, which is the primary area for all voluntary muscular movement; in the case of the latter, the injury is in the sensory cortex, which is primarily responsible for processing sensations from the body to the brain (Scovel, 2008, pp. 74-75). However, with the recognition of the importance of linguistic features, the traditional classification has been replaced with a new system that uses binary features to create broad categories of aphasia. The categories are the following: nonfluent-fluent, expressive-receptive, executive-evaluative, production-comprehension, motor-sensory and Broca’s-Wernicke’s. The broad system takes into consideration both the neurological and the linguistic point of view. It functions more as a scale, because rarely can a patient be categorized into one clear-cut end of the binary system. It is common to conclude that a patient is ‘predominantly something’, although according to a holistic view, aphasia is a mixed disorder (Crystal, 1980, pp. 142-143). Nevertheless, there are specific syndromes that can be identified in a small number of patients. Examples are pure word deafness and pure word blindness (Crystal, 1980, p. 148). In addition to the classification systems, there is one major diagnostic test that incorporates both the language-based and lesion-based model, which is the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination (Cummings, 2008, p. 345).

            Regarding the fields of research, some aspects are paid special attention by researchers. First of all, concerning all four linguistic modalities – speaking, comprehension, reading, and writing –, the extent to which these are damaged is of main importance (Crystal, 1980, p. 146). There is a major distinction between complete loss of language abilities and partial loss, the former being called aphasia and the latter being called dysphasia. Although the complete loss is extremely rare, aphasia is the generally acknowledged term (Crystal, 1980, p. 141). Moreover, another issue is the extent to which the range of language use is affected. In different cases of aphasia different language use is typical; for example, the use of automatic, fixed phrases or serial sequences. Furthermore, the extent to which the notion of aphasia is applicable to children and adults is also of main concern of aphasiology (Crystal, 1980, p. 147). Surgical evidence from hemispherectomy proves that due to the neuroplasticity of the cerebra, children under ten years old can develop language in the right side of their brain; therefore, complete recovery from dissolution of language can be achieved. Nonetheless, the former finding does not exclude the possibility of dementia in children. The term developmental aphasia/dysphasia is used when children do not develop language ideally, although it is a question whether its use is appropriate, seeing that place aphasia means language loss (Crystal, 2008, p. 148).

            With reference to the assessment and the intervention of aphasia, great developments have taken place in the past decades. Due to the widely different nature of the language disorder, not only narrow linguistic impairments but also communicative troubles are examined. Although the traditional assessment mainly focused on linguistic deficits, by now a wide range of techniques has been developed to facilitate the diagnosis of aphasic patients. It is generally agreed that early diagnosis is an essential basis of later intervention, seeing that the treatment of the aphasic disorders focuses on specific linguistic impairments and put a great emphasis on the communicative effectiveness; therefore, the use of group therapy and conversational partners has emerged (Cummings, 2008, pp. 349-356).

            In conclusion, the aim of this paper was to introduce the general aspects of aphasiology: the definition, the classification, the main research issues, assessment and intervention. It is clear that aphasiology is a lot more complex field of study and it is yet an intensively developing area of research. Despite the large amount of fieldwork, there is still a great need for longitudinal studies. Nonetheless, research in aphasiology proved to be undeniably important for clinical as well as for theoretical reasons (Crystal, 1980, p. 149). The generally evolving study of dementia has a positive effect both in neurological studies, in linguistic pathology and in linguistic therapy.

References

Crystal, D. (1980). Introduction to language pathology. London: Edward Arnold.

Cummings, L. (2008). Clinical Linguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Scovel, T. (2008). Psycholinguistics. H. G. Widdowson (Ed.). USA: Oxford University Press.

English guide books from the perspective of Discourse Analysis

Guide books have a very specific role among informative materials: they have to give us information about and make us interested in visiting foreign places, far away lands, and countries quite different from our own. For these purposes I assume that guide books have a very specific discourse structure with fixed elements which work similarly in every English guide books. In my essay I will examine two guide books from the publisher Lonely Planet (Norway[1] and Switzerland[2]), and analyse the similarities and occasional differencies between their tactics in order to give us information about their topic and to encouredge the reader to visit these places. In the end I will sum up my finding is a final conslusion and I will provide ideas for further researches.

As a text, a guide book obviously falls into the written cathegory: the participants of the discourse are the author and the reader. The writer provides for us, the readers, information about a country or city, and we have no, or at least very little, tools to reply, ask, or start a communication with the author of the guide book. (The only possibility is writing an e-mail or a letter for the publisher, so they can forward it to the writer, or they may not.) The main goal of the author is to get us excited about the city or country, and to provide reliable and relevant information about the subject, since the guide book was written to popularize that particular country, plus usually tourists tend to bring guide books with themselves for their journeys, this is also one of the major purposes of such a text.

In order to provide rational information to the reader, guide books have to contain linking elements, different linguistic devices to ensure that the whole text is coherent and cohesive. Here is a short passage from Lonely Planet Norway:

Hemmed by a 'fjord' and kilometres of woodland, Norway's capital is an easy-going city with and eclectic architectural mix of old, new and just plain 1960s that is hard not to like. The perfect size for exploring on foot, the city boasts world-class museums, a lively nightlife and plenty of outdoor activities for the energetic.

Most visitors will find themselves struggling to choose betwen Oslo's numerous museums, which offer something for almost every taste: a face-to-face with the haunting image of Edvard Munch's The Scream at the National Gallery, a chance to stand in the shoes of an Olympic ski-jumper at the Holmenkellen Museum, or a window into history and culture at the unforgettable Viking Ship, Polarship Farm or Folk Museums on Bygdoy. And Oslo is certainly the cosmopolitan heart of Norway, with a rapidly growing café and bar culture, top-notch restaurants, and nightlife options ranging from the world-class opera and jazz to indie rock.[3]

In the introduction of Oslo's description the author declairs that what the text will further detail in the next few paragraphs. Words like 'easy-going city', 'eclectic architectural mix', 'world-class museums', and 'lively nightlife' immediately grab the attention of the reader. These colourful expressions rapidy raise the interest in the audiance; furthermore, they also provide a little sum up from the information the text will give us. If we were looking for something else, we can quickly search for the desired information in another passage.

In the next paragraph, the writer further details the cultural variety of the city: several examples ('National Gallery', 'Holmenkellen Museum', etc.) prove that the previous information about Oslo's world-class museums was relevant. It also helps to make the whole text a coherent reading for the audience. Later the lively nightlife of the city is also verified by the spreading cafés, bars, taverns of Oslo; the added details about the opera and music fortifies the previous assumptions about the capital's role as a cultural centrum of this region.

The two paragraphs are also co-ordinated from the perspective of the 'mixture of old and new' historical and cultural elements of Oslo. While the visitors can view Edvard Munch's modern painting, The Scream, lovers of the ancient times can visit the Viking Ship which provides traditional Scandinavian entertainment. Everyone will be amazed by the possibilities of Oslo, suggests the text. These techniques within the paragraphs make sure that the inquiry of the reader remains still and the text is cohesive and coherent.

Lonely Planet Switzerland guide book uses structurally similar approach in its introduction, this time for Zürich:

(…) Contemporary Zürich might still be home to the world's fourth biggest stock exchange and remain Switzerland's financial engine, but it's also (whisper it softly) surprisingly vibrant and trendy. Located on a picturesque river and lake whose water you can drink, easy to get around and a stranger to the hassled lifestyle that defines bigger cities, this affluent, fashion-conscious place enjoys the finest things in life. (…)[4]

Later the text further details the new, trendy features of Zürich which are in quite a contrast with its banker heritage. The beginning paragraph provides us a little summary about the rest of the introduction: 'vibrant and trendy', 'fashion-conscious', and 'easy to get around'. It immediately excites our attention; the reader cannot help to focus on the text. From the perpective of effectivness, guide books seem to work like any other journalist work: certain words and expressions have more effect on the audience then others.

In the next paragraph the contrast of the old banker tradition and the new lifestyle is further detailed: 'hundreds of new bars, restaurants and clubs' prove that it is really easy to get around the city's modern lifestyle. Interestingly this text about Zürich does not mention museums and cultural feats, although, Zürich is clearly devestating culturally as well. I have checked several other Lonely Planets too, and city introductions tend to start with cultural advices and tips, containing descriptions of famous and interesting museums and exhibitions. On the other hand, the compulsory mentioning of nightlife and various festivals appears here: clubs, bars, and street parties entertain the visitors every time during the year.

After examining several guide books from the Lonely Planet series, it seems that most of these English travel guides work with similar patterns (for at least the introduction of various cities around a country). The first paragraph usually serves as an intro for the further details of the cities: the standard topics here are the cultural variety of the city (mostly represented in contrast with the past) and the entertainment of the various bars, cafés, clubs. Several linking elements (the topic, the anaphoric-cataphoric linguistic device for instance) further support the coherence and cohesion of guide books.

To fullfill the main purposes of a guide book (grab attention and influence you in your holiday plans, provide relevant and trustworthy information about the cities) Lonely Planet's travel guide's use the techniques and tools mentioned previously. In my research I have also examined guide books from National Geography and Eyewitnesses, and I have concluded that they build their city introductions similarly. This topic could be further detailed with the comparison of Hungarian guide books and the English ones (preferably from the same publishers.) It is an interesting topic to research and deserves further research.

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[1] Ham., Butler., & Roddis. (2011). Lonely Planet Norway (Travel Guide). : Lonely Planet.

[2] Williams., Christiani., O'Brien., & Simonis. (2012). Lonely Planet Switzerland (Travel Guide). : Lonely Planet.

[3] Ham., Butler., & Roddis. (2011). Lonely Planet Norway (Travel Guide). : Lonely Planet. p. 88.

[4] Williams., Christiani., O'Brien., & Simonis. (2012). Lonely Planet Switzerland (Travel Guide). : Lonely Planet. p. 87.

Work consulted:

• Matthiessen., McCarthy., Slade. Discourse Analysis. An introduction to Applied Linguistics. web. <http://theweekendstartshere.mixxt.at/networks/files/file.166250>

The limitations and problems of language and gender researches

Gender researches belong to the field of sociolinguistics which studies the relationship between language use and society. One can find several researches about language and gender but are these findings general facts? The purpose of this essay is to draw attention to the problems and limitations of language and gender researches. To represent problems and limitations, I chose a research from a publication called A gendernyelvészet horizontja. The selected research is Szóhasználati különbségek főiskolás lányok és fiúk között which was done by a student from the University of Pécs.

Community of Practice (CofP) is “a group whose joint engagement in some activity or enterprise is sufficiently intensive to give rise over time to a repertoire of shared practices” (Lave & Wenger, 1991, p. 2). A CofP can be a family, a choir, a gang or a friendship group, in this way it is not isolated, but shapes relationships among the participants and with the rest of the world. CofP influences gender researches in a way that it is difficult to separate the construction of gender from age, race and status. According to Eckert and Mcconnell-Ginet, the basic beginning in order to obtain valid generalizations is to examine a wide variety of local CofP. The difficulty of gender researches is that social practices construct not only gender, but other aspects such as social class or ethnicity as well. Therefore, gender should be examined in interaction with other social variables.

The aim of the research was to represent the differences of linguistics usage between men and women. The research was done in 2013. The date is important since the recent changes in society affected the use of language as well. It is believed that there are smaller differences between the linguistics usage of men and women. The purpose of the research was to prove the unisex trend in linguistics usage among young people nowadays.  

The selected technique was the questionnaire which was filled in by forty undergraduates. Half of the participants were males, the other half were females which provided a good deal of data. According to this parameter, the sample can be considered homogeneous which plays an important role in the evaluation. However, the participants were not well-chosen since all of them studied at the Budapest Business School. The consequence of the non-variety data-based research is the limited set of generalization because the findings do not necessarily apply to other undergraduates from different backgrounds. One of the dimensions of CofP is shared repertoire including specialized terminology and linguistics routine which became a part of their lives. That is why it is important to take community of practice into consideration.

The use of questionnaires is a common technique to obtain statistically analysable data. In this research, there were ten questions with several sub-questions. The role of the sub-questions is to make certain of the reliability of the answers, as well as to focus attention to the object of the research. However, by this technique, participants might get conscious of what researches wants to know by repeating the same questions in different forms. Let’s take the first question as an example. It is clear that the same question is asked several times to get to know how students react when the age and gender of the participants change.

The result of the research proved the researcher’s hypothesis: there are not significant differences between the linguistics usages of young people. The researcher also admitted that these finding cannot be generalised because the participants had similar sphere of interest. Furthermore, the number of participants and questions was bare. A questionnaire is a good technique to analyse a large number of data. The researcher should have taken advantage of this possibility which is not present at interviews for example.  Besides having more participants, the researches should have expanded the sphere of interests. The last question of the questionnaire is about the use of words of foreign extraction. The researcher confirms her results with the use of internet among young people. However, the result could have been different, if students of language major had been asked about it.

To obtain coherent explanations, researchers must pay attention to local practice. Broad surveys and collections are also indispensable. According to Bergvall, the most important message of CofP research is to prepare for variation and also question the findings. Researchers should be cautious about generalizations; it is suggested to look for counterexamples. However, CofP itself does not show where and what generalizations may be found. This type of studies does not stand alone; it is crucial to compare them with other findings to get into the direction of new generalizations.

References:

Spolsky, B. (1998).  Sociolinguistics Oxford: Oxford University Press. Chapter 1, pp.1-13.

Eckert, P. & Mcconnell-Ginet, S. (1999). New Generalizations and Explanations in Language and Gender Research. Language in Society, 28 (2), 185-201. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4168924

Bergvall, V. (1999). Toward a Comprehensive Theory of Language and Gender. Language in Society, 28 (2), 273-293. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4168929

Huszár, Á. (2013) A gendernyelvészet horintja. Pécsi Tudományegyetem Nyelvtudományi Doktori Iskola Retrieved from http://mek.oszk.hu/12100/12122/12122.pdf

Holmes, J. & Meyerhoff, M. (1999). The Community of Practice: Theories and Methodologies in Language and Gender Research. Language in Society, 28 (2), 173-183. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/4168923?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=The&searchText=Community&searchText=of&searchText=Practice:&searchText=Theories&searchText=and&searchText=methodologies&searchText=in&searchText=language&searchText=and&searchText=gender&searchText=research&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DThe%2BCommunity%2Bof%2BPractice%253A%2BTheories%2Band%2Bmethodologies%2Bin%2Blanguage%2Band%2Bgender%2Bresearch%26amp%3Bacc%3Don%26amp%3Bwc%3Don%26amp%3Bfc%3Doff

Recent Debates on Learning Styles

Lilla Tóth

ELTE University

Learning style instruments have been widely used in education, but nowadays there are more and more debates even on its existence.  This paper provides a systematic and critical overview of the validity of learning styles. It will discuss whether teachers should consider individual students' learning styles when teaching, examine research on learning styles, explaining what people mean by learning styles, and note why the notion of learning styles has had such enduring popularity despite the lack of supporting evidence.

To start my discussion, it is necessary to briefly describe the styles themselves, to be clear about the fundamentals. There are several taxonomies of learning styles: Cognitive learning styles: field-independent/field-dependent, analytical/global, inductive/deductive reflective/impulsive, sequential/random, concrete/abstract; Sensory learning styles: auditory, kinesthetic, visual, tactile, group/individual; Personality learning styles: introverted/ extraverted, tolerance/ intolerance of ambiguity ( Ehrman, 1996).The learning-styles view has acquired great influence within the education field, from kindergarten to graduate school.

Learning style theory has been used to provide pedagogical advice, for concept building and research. The theory is direct, outspoken and has substantial face validity. On the other hand, some educational researchers argue that there are no distinct learning styles. Furthermore, there are debates on the fact that learning styles could be even detrimental. The opponents against learning style usage throw spotlight on numerous exceptions. On the other hand they are more like criticisms of the way that learning styles are misused rather than a criticism of the theory itself. (Freedman & Stumpf, 1980)

Firstly, if it is assumed that learning styles exist, then the teachers should teach in the style that a student prefers to learn. Teachers who exert to convey learning opportunities that focus singularly on the one preferred “style” will disadvantage their students because learning is a comprehensive activity of the brain that depends on interconnectivity between the different modules of perception.  Over-emphasis by teachers on a distinct learning style might actually reduce rather than increase the learners’ positive development in learning. On the other hand, it could have positive effects on teaching. If teachers try to find methods for different types of people, it means that their classroom activity will be various, which will be more interesting, so making it easier to learn. (Greenfield, 2007)

Secondly, if it is assumed that matching learning styles with teaching methods is working, both teachers and learners have to face the fact that teaching style changing is impossible. Its simple explanation is that it would mean as much effort to do either for teachers or for students, that they just cannot manage this. Teaching everybody differently in one classroom is impossible. David Glenn argue this; he supposes that it works, because there is plenty of schemas nowadays for the different styles, so teachers do not have to create any new content, only support them. (Glenn, 2009)

To summarize these ideas, the best way for teaching is the assimilation with the actual content which is not always equal with the assimilation with the learners’ style preference. For example, if the subject is geography and the task is teaching the shapes of the countries then it should be taught in a visual style, even if it is known that the student is an aural learner. (Lafferty & Burley, 2009)

Furthermore, even if a learner knows about his learning style, and does use it, it does not mean that he will be better at learning. Learning styles could be used as a subterfuge by some learners who will blame their unsuccessfulness in learning to their teachers’ failure to support teaching methods that do not match their learning style. (Pashler, McDaniel, Rohrer, Bjork, 2009)    

Learning styles are dependent on so many things that it is irresponsible to state their existence. One solution could be to suggest that each individual has many diverse styles, maybe one suitable for each different topic. Consequently, what is more likely learning is more to do with the memory. The more indexes the learners have, the more deeply they have thought about the subject. In this case learning styles could be a supporting method, but only if it is used in various manners. (Lafferty & Burley, 2009)

References

Clark, D. (2009, 26 March).Professor pans 'learning style' teaching. Retrieved from http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com/2007/08/professor-pans-learning-style-teaching_12.html

 Ehrman, M. E. (1996). Understanding Second Language Learning Difficulties. Arlington, Virginia: SAGE Publications.

Freedman R. D. & Stumpf S. A. (1980).Learning Style Theory: Less Than Meets the Eye. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/257119?uid=3738216&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21104179885593

Glenn, D. (2009, December 15). Matching Teaching Style to Learning Style May Not Help Students. Retrieved from https://chronicle.com/article/Matching-Teaching-Style-to/49497/

Lafferty, H. & Dr. Burley, K.S. (29 July 2007). Do Learning Styles Exist? Retrieved from http://learningstyles.webs.com/

Musa, A. (2009, Marc 21). Online Learning and Learning Styles Education in a Changing Environment 17^th-18^th September 2003.  Retrieved from www.ece.salford.ac.uk/proceedings/papers/am_03.rtf

Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D.& Bjork, R. (2009). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/257119?uid=3738216&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21103774800321

Problems of Japanese Language Testing

Problems of Japanese Language Testing

In my essay I will introduce the way the most widely accepted Japanese language exam, the JLPT works and how the exam is conducted. It is safe to say that the test satisfies every point a proficiency test should, but it lacks some basic points that should definitely be tested in order to accurately measure the language learners’ actual abilities in Japanese.

First, I will introduce just how popular the exam is. This is especially important, as the large amount of examinees strongly influences the way the exam is now conducted and how it could be improved. The second point of my essay is the introduction of question types in the test and how strongly each part is emphasized. This will show the contrast between the importance of each language skill being tested. Lastly, I will talk about what I think is good about the exam and what should be worked on.

The most widely accepted and accredited Japanese as a foreign language exam is the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test, 日本語能力試験, Nihongo nouryoku shiken), held twice annually, conducted jointly by the Japan Educational Exchanges and Services and the Japan Foundation. It was launched in 1984 and the number of examinees is increasingly growing. When it was launched the number of examinees was around 7000, but in 2011 around 611000 examinees took the exam worldwide. When it was first held, it offered four levels of examination (level 1, 2, 3, 4) but this system was expanded in 2010 to a five-level testing system (N1, N2, N3, N4, N5). In these systems test level 1 and N1 refer to the most advanced level, while 4 and N5 are the beginner level test. The new testing system allows a more detailed and precise way of testing, with a newly established intermediate level test (N3) (JLPT official website). The following chart shows the necessary knowledge for passing each level in the old system, as well as the new. This chart contains the number of words and kanji known, and information about the necessary listening comprehension knowledge. A more detailed chart can be found at the official JLPT website (https://jlpt.jp/e/about/comparison.html).

	Necessary knowledge to pass
N1	2000 kanji 10000 words high level grammar understanding a broad variety of topics both in written and oral communication listening test is at native speech speed
N2	1000 kanji 6000 words understanding a variety of general topics both in written and oral communication listening test is at near natural speed
N3	650 kanji 3750 words understanding written and oral materials about everyday topics understanding slightly difficult texts, such as newspaper headlines written in kanji listening test is at near natural speed
N4	300 kanji 1500 words limited level grammar understanding familiar everyday topics understanding daily life conversations spoken at a slow speed
N5	100 kanji 800 words basic elements of grammar understanding texts written in hiragana and katakana, and basic kanji understanding conversations occurring in everyday and classroom situations, spoken slowly

Even for those who are not familiar with Japanese language it is visible that the difference between each level is never extreme and the test progressively gets more and more difficult from the beginner level N5 till it reaches the proficient level N1.

Each level tests are divided into three main parts: kanji reading and vocabulary knowledge, grammar knowledge and reading comprehension, and finally listening comprehension. Levels N1 and N2 only consist of two parts, as the kanji reading and vocabulary comprehension section, and the section of reading comprehension and grammar knowledge are not separated.

The length of each section varies. At the beginner level (N5) the entire test takes 105 minutes, the most difficult level takes 170 minutes. The following chart shows the length of each test section, and the total length of the test. Between each section, there is an approximately 10–15 minutes long break.

N1	vocabulary+grammar+reading – 110 minutes listening – 60 minutes total: 170 minutes
N2	vocabulary+grammar+reading – 105 minutes listening – 50 minutes total: 155 minutes
N3	vocabulary – 30 minutes grammar+reading – 70 minutes listening – 40 minutes total: 140 minutes
N4	vocabulary – 30 minutes grammar+reading – 60 minutes listening – 35 minutes total: 125 minutes
N5	vocabulary – 25 minutes grammar+reading – 50 minutes listening – 30 minutes total: 105 minutes

These tests are quite long and tiring. Against this, Imai Shingo (2009) however, emphasizes that the J-CAT (Japanese Computer Adaptive Test) saves time and is just as effective in testing as the JLPT, as far as the skills being tested are concerned. Even the shortest JLPT test takes over 100 minutes, while the longest J-CAT test is 90 minutes long.

One of the strongest points of the JLPT tests is that it focuses very strongly on testing the examinee’s knowledge of kanji, without which it is impossible to understand any sort of written text in Japanese. For each level, there are multiple books containing the exact number of kanji and their compounds, as well as the necessary vocabulary, and the grammar. According to Cerezo (2008) it is necessary to inform the students, in this case, examinees about what exactly the content of the exam is and how they will proceed on the day of the examination. This is also covered, as all students who sign up for the test are given an information sheet about the examination, in which the necessary information is provided both in English and Japanese. Based on personal experience, compared to other language exams I have taken, the JLPT is the most precisely conducted one I have ever encountered, although it is very strict.

Probably the most obvious downside of the JLPT is the fact that there is no oral examination or composition test, which is necessary for testing the actual knowledge of a student. This is probably one of the points that could and should be improved, even though it would cost a great deal of money. The listening comprehension task concentrates on whether the examinee clearly understands the social position of each speaker (as this is strongly indicated in Japanese speech) but there is no actual test to measure whether the speaker can apply this knowledge directly in their speech. Bachman (1991) considers writing texts and speaking a part of communicative competence and agrees that oral exams are necessary in order to be able to accurately measure an examinee’s knowledge. Bachman also states that language tests that don’t actually test the student’s communicative competence are outdated, and should be replaced with the ones that measure a broader range of language abilities, such as the knowledge of cohesion, or sociolinguistic appropriateness. This factor, however, is only tested in the listening part of the exam. The J-CAT, too, obviously, lacks this part, as it only contains kanji and vocabulary knowledge, grammar, reading comprehension, and listening comprehension sections (Imai, 2009).

What has to be considered in connection with problem of the lack of oral exam is the amount of examinees and the number of exams. Since this exam is only held twice a year, as it was mentioned earlier, and the number of students taking it is extremely high, it would be difficult to test speaking, too. If the number of exams per year was higher, though, maybe the number of examinees taking each exam would be less, and this way it would be easier to have oral exams, too. The number of oral exam takers would decrease by only admitting those to the speaking test who have passed the written examination.

Secondly, the testing of the examinee’s kanji knowledge should and could be improved. The current test contains tasks in which the examinee has to choose the appropriate kanji for a given reading from a group of similar looking kanji. This could be improved by the method Spolsky (1968) offers for vocabulary testing. With this method the examinee would be required to select which one of a group of definitions is appropriate for the meaning of the given kanji. The kanji testing used now is very confusing, as sometimes the difference between two kanji is just one stroke only, and this becomes even more confusing with 4 possible answers and the general stress the examinee feels during the test. This can result in showing an inaccurate picture of the students’ actually kanji knowledge.

Students are given enough information about what to expect in the exam and how to prepare for it, as both the language courses and most Japanese language books are JLPT centered nowadays. As it is an international exam and the tasks are the same in every country, it provides an accurate picture of the knowledge of different students around the world. While JLPT is a highly approved test, and it does give a more or less accurate picture of a student’s Japanese knowledge, it lacks the part that would focus on the student’s actual skill to use the language.

Increasing the number of annual exams could probably improve the test greatly, as the number of students taking each exam might decrease and the local Japanese teachers working at each country’s office of the Japan Foundation could even correct the compositions or test the examinee’s speaking knowledge.

References

Bachman, L. F. (1991). What Does Language Testing Have to Offer? TESOL Quarterly, 25 (4), 671 –704.

Cerezo, L. (2008). Principles of Language Test Design [PDF document]. Retrieved from: https://webs.um.es/lourdesc/miwiki/lib/exe/fetch.php?id=units&cache=cache&media=tecnicas_unit_4.pdf

Imai, S. (2009). J-CAT(Japanese computerized adaptive test)の得点とCan-doスコアの関連づけ. ヨーロッパ日本語教育, 14, 140–147.

Japanese Language Proficiency Test Official Homepage. https://www.jlpt.jp/e/index.html

Spolsky, B. (1968). Language Testing: The Problem of Validation. TESOL Quarterly, 2 (2), 88–94.