Date of Award

3-2010

Thesis Type

Masters

Document Type

Dissertation

Divisions

Faculty of Languages and Linguistics

Department

Department of English Language

Institution

Universiti Malaya

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore the differences between the thinking processes of proficient learners and less proficient learners of Japanese language while watching Japanese videos.  This study examines facilitating and distracting factors which impact the learners’ understanding of the video content. Data of think aloud protocols, verbal summaries and semi-structured interviews were collected from four proficient learners and four less proficient learners while watching two kinds of videos; i.e., a Japanese animation “Doraemon” and a Japanese drama “Nodame Cantabile”. Analyses of listening strategies revealed that both proficient and less proficient learners used a lot of visual elements to understand the content of the videos. However, proficient learners used more meta-cognitive strategies to reflect their understanding of the videos. Analyses of distracting factors revealed that there are six factors that distract learners’ understanding of videos and they are related to unknown words and phrases, grammatical difficulties, long utterances, fast speech rate, unclear pronunciation and distracting visuals. On the other hand, key words, tone of voice, visual nonlinguistic elements and visual linguistic elements helped learners comprehend the video content.

Initial

khm

Additional Information

Dissertation (M.A.) – Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya, 2010.

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