The Impact of a Communicative Reading Activity (CRA) on Student Ability to Read Authentic Japanese Communications

Abstract

The main goal of language learning is to achieve the ability to communicate by using the authentic target language (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, n.d.). Language is the main tool by which people communicate with others to get information, not only when speaking, but also when writing and reading. Even if the Communicative Approach, one of the most common teaching methods used to achieve these goals, is an effective way to teach a second language, its application has not yet been proven useful in creating reading activities for Japanese language classes. Though this study's purpose is to examine the efficiency of communicative-oriented reading activities, the researcher can also gain knowledge about which CRAs are useful for teaching the reading of Japanese. The results will show whether students can more easily reach their goal of communicating in the Japanese language by using Communicative Reading Activities (CRAs) or by only following the instructions of the textbook.