Contextualisation of CEFR and its application to the study of Japanese language and Japanese language teaching

Abstract

In 2001, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) began to be used to validate individuals' language abilities. It began as a European initiative but has grown to incorporate other languages, including Chinese, and many are calling for it to be adopted in Japan. Given that learning Japanese is a daunting idea for many foreigners, it would be beneficial to develop a form of the Japanese language that is easier to understand and can serve as a gateway to traditional Japanese. Professor Masaki Ono, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Japan, and his team are conducting research on the relationship between an easy-to-understand form of Japanese and the more traditional form. Ono believes the development of a more easily understood Japanese would enable foreigners to better communicate with Japanese citizens and also benefit Japanese society. The project was motivated by the positive potential social aspects and Ono's interest in the mechanisms and functions of verbal communication, which was sparked by his experience of 'semantic satiation' while practising Aikido in college. Another inspiration for the project was a comment from an international student at the University of Tsukuba who said that he was practising conversation in his Japanese class, but did not know how to use what he had learned in real life. The project seeks to address this disconnect between learning something 'properly' and 'academically' and applying it in practical settings by developing a Japanese that is easy to speak and easy to understand.