Direct use of corpora in Japanese language education : implementing DDL at the upper-intermediate level

Pappalardo, Giuseppe (author)

Large-scale corpora offer access to authentic language and represent a valuable resource for Japanese language education. In current practice, they are mostly used indirectly by instructors, while direct learner engagement with corpora (data-driven learning, DDL) remains relatively limited in Japanese courses, partly due to time constraints and the complexity of corpus tools. This article reports on a four-year project conducted at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. The course integrated direct corpus consultation through NINJAL corpora accessed via Chūnagon, with the dual aim of supporting language development and fostering research-oriented skills for working with Japanese primary sources. The study provides a qualitative evaluation based on students’ corpus-based presentation projects and anonymous student comments, highlighting both perceived benefits and critical issues, thus offering practical insights into the feasibility of DDL in Japanese language education.

• Language: English
• Keywords: data-driven learning (DDL), Japanese language education, corpus literacy, NINJAL corpora, graduate-level language teaching
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 91-111
• Numbering: Vol. 16, no. 2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-190489
• ISSN on article: 2232-3317
• DOI: 10.4312/ala.16.2.91-111
• Publication date in RUL: 04.11.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Acta linguistica asiatica
• Publisher: Založba Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 2232-3317
• COBISS.SI-ID: 255902464

Licences

• License: CC BY-SA 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
• Description: This Creative Commons license is very similar to the regular Attribution license, but requires the release of all derivative works under this same license.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Neposredna uporaba korpusov pri poučevanju japonščine : uvajanje DDL na višji srednji ravni

Abstract

Obsežni jezikovni korpusi omogočajo dostop do dejanskega jezika in predstavljajo pomemben vir pri poučevanju japonščine. V obstoječi praksi jih učitelji večinoma uporabljajo posredno, medtem ko je neposredno delo študentov s korpusi (podatkovno vodeno učenje, DDL) pri pouku japonščine še vedno razmeroma redko, deloma zaradi časovnih omejitev in zahtevnosti korpusnih orodij. Članek predstavlja štiriletni projekt, izveden na Univerzi Ca’ Foscari v Benetkah. V okviru predmeta je bilo neposredno delo s korpusi NINJAL prek sistema Chūnagon vključeno z dvojnim ciljem: podpreti razvoj jezikovnih kompetenc ter spodbujati raziskovalno usmerjene spretnosti pri delu z japonskimi primarnimi viri. Študija prinaša kvalitativno evalvacijo, ki temelji na študentskih predstavitvenih projektih, zasnovanih na korpusnih analizah, in anonimnih komentarjih študentov. Rezultati osvetljujejo tako zaznane prednosti kot tudi ključne izzive pristopa ter ponujajo praktični vpogled v izvedljivost podatkovno vodenega učenja pri poučevanju japonščine.

• Keywords: podatkovno vodeno učenje, DDL, izobraževanje na področju japonščine, korpusna pismenost, korpusi NINJAL, poučevanje japonščine na podiplomski ravni