Utilization of Information Media to Improve Japanese Listening skills

Abstract

This study is motivated by the increasing number of students, as well as the great interest of students to participate in the Internship program in Japan. Efforts are made to accelerate the improvement of first year students in Japanese language skills in knowledge of vocabulary, knowledge of grammar, as well as understanding information obtained through the use of information media in listening learning given through independent assignments. By worksheets linked to the LMS, students are free to open and work on it until the specified time. The information media were sourced from news with themes that are randomly selected. The method used is qualitative descriptive, focusing on the description of how the implementation of independent assignments in listening learning is able to increase knowledge of vocabulary (nouns), knowledge and understanding of grammar, understanding the content of the theme given, as well as student responses in the learning. The research results show that the rise and fall of vocabulary acquisition ability (nouns) between tasks 1 until 8, based on student responses, depends on the range of difficulty of the theme being listened to, and whether or not the vocabulary has been used in the classroom. Verb changes such as the forms ~mashita, ~dekimasu, ~shite imasu have been studied. We found that the difficulty is in the knowledge of verbs that have not been learned, although the important information contained in the material mostly can be well conveyed.