The effect of community-building strategies on students in learning beginning Japanese at the postsecondary level in the United States

Recent anxiety research in second language education has revealed adverse effects of anxiety on language learning. Consequently, researchers have begun highlighting the significance of a supportive classroom environment in reducing anxiety. Viewing a classroom community as a goal of the instruction, the present study attempted to create a community in two sections of beginning Japanese at a community college in the Midwest and explored: (1) the effect of such effort on student affect (sense of community, anxiety, motivation, and risk-taking ability); and (2) the type of classroom environment created through the effort. Participants were the instructor who taught the two sections and his students (8 from the day section and 18 from the evening section). The two sections received identical content instruction. The community-building strategies consisted of: the use of base groups in cooperative learning and other activities; the use of pair work outside the groups; a group project; and asking students for their input on instruction. The research was conducted for 12 weeks during an entire fall quarter.; To obtain a comprehensive understanding of classroom life, quantitative and qualitative research methods were combined. As participant-observer, the researcher observed every class, collected data, occasionally assisted students, and worked closely with the instructor in lesson planning and grading. For the quantitative part of the study, a questionnaire was administered as a pre- and post-test to assess student affective variables. Scores of two speaking tests and course grades were also collected. For the qualitative part, the following data were collected: video-taped student interactions, student journals, student interviews, and instructor's journal and interviews.; The results suggest that the community-building strategies were useful in creating a supportive environment where students felt: a stronger cohesion; a more personalized relationship with the instructor; and higher levels of involvement and innovativeness of instruction. The strategies were also useful in creating a sense of security and comfort among students, which alleviated student anxiety and promoted risk-taking ability. Finally, the strategies seemed to indirectly promote student motivation by enhancing student enjoyment of the class.