The Use of Popular Cultural Products in Language Learning: A Case Study of Japanese Language Students in Malaysian Public Universities

Abstract

Language teaching and learning has become easier with the advent of the internet and the rapid pace of information technology. If in the 1990s, teachers or instructors still used face-to-face medium in language teaching, but little by little, the function of educators is declining in the classroom or lecture room. Some students have already learned this language and can communicate in Japanese by watching anime and reading manga. They have already gained the skills to listen and understand the meaning of some catchy vocabulary and phrases. When they take Japanese language courses at university, learning to recognize writing, pronunciation, grammar, and conversation become more accessible and more exciting. This paper aims to identify Japanese popular culture products that can be used for learning purposes. Two surveys distributed through Google Form were involved in this study, namely 2020 and 2021 and one hard copy survey in 2018. The findings show that in addition to anime and manga, students also use computer games, Seiyu and VTuber as Japanese language learning tools. The students can minimize conventional face-to-face learning hours with the teacher and use their own space and time without reducing learning Japanese.