Is it a linguistic problem or a knowledge problem?: Test performances of Indonesian nurse- candidates in Japan Yukie Horiba*, Keiko Fukaya**, & Takashi, Saito* (*Kanda University of International Studies) (**St. Luke’s College of Nursing) EuroSLA20 at Reggio Emilia, Italy September 1-4, 2010
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Is it a linguistic problem or a knowledge problem?: Test performances of Indonesian nurse-candidates in Japan Yukie Horiba*, Keiko Fukaya**, & Takashi,
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Is it a linguistic problem or a
knowledge problem?: Test
performances of
Indonesian nurse-candidates in JapanYukie Horiba*, Keiko Fukaya**, & Takashi, Saito*
(*Kanda University of International Studies) (**St. Luke’s College of Nursing)
EuroSLA20 at Reggio Emilia, ItalySeptember 1-4, 2010
ProblemIn 2008 foreign nurses from Indonesia came to work in Japan for the first time with the condition they should pass the national exam within three years. In 2010, these Indonesians had a poor record (1.2% passing) in the National Examination (c.f., 90% passing for Japanese) in Japan. Why did they do so bad?
Is it a language problem or a knowledge problem?
Background1. Word recognition is important in reading.
Orthography affects the way of word processing. (Koda, 2005; Perfetti, Liu, & Tan, 2005)
2. L2 reading tends to be influenced by L1-based processing strategies. ( Grabe, 2009; Koda, 1996. 2005; Horiba, 2010)
c.f., Japanese is a SOV language and uses kana syllabaries and kanji/Chinese characters in writing. Indonesian is a SVO language and uses alphabets in writing.
AlphabetsKana syllabaries
graphemes -> phonemes -> meaning
Kanji / Chinese characters
graphemes -> phonemes -> meaning
graphemes -> meaning
3. L2 readers with low proficiency are slow in processing and poor in comprehension.
( Barry & Lazarte, 1998; Horiba, 1993, 1996; Lee & Schallert, 1997; Zwaan & Brown, 1996)
4. Content knowledge is necessary for successful text comprehension.
Total scores for group by test condition (16 pts. Mx)
Group nL2 time
extendedL2 readings
attached L1
M SD M SD M SD
L2 candidates 28 8.36 3.21 8.32 3.26 8.43 3.21
L1 nurses 10 - - 11.83 1.41
L1 students 10 - - 6.00 1.10
Results
General question scores for group by test condition (10 pts. Mx)
Group nL2 time
extendedL2 readings
attached L1
M SD M SD M SD
L2 candidates 28 5.36 1.83 4.68 1.81 5.36 1.81
L1 nurses 10 - - 7.43 1.01
L1 students 10 - - 3.47 .71
Situation question scores for group by test condition (6 pts. Mx)
Group n
L2: time extended
L2:readings attached
L1
M SD M SD M SD
L2 candidates 28 3.00 1.85 3.64 1.89 3.07 2.07
L1 nurses 10 - - 4.40 .64
L1 students 10 - - 2.53 .82
L2 candidates: Comparison between conditions
Type of question Results of Paired-t test
Total L2 readings attached ≦ L2 time extended ≦ L1
General L2 readings attached ≦ L2 time extended = L1
Situation L2 time extended ≦ L1 ≦ L2 reading attached
L2 candidates: Correlations between conditionsL2 time
extendedL2 readings
attachedL1
L2 time extended 1 - -
L2 readings attached .389* 1 -
L1 .408* .507** 1
* p < .05 ** p < .01
Comparisons between L2 candidates and L1 groups
Type of question
Results of Student-t test
Total L1 students < L2 candidates < L1 nurses
General L1 students < L2 candidates < L1 nurses
SituationL1 students ≦ L2 candidates < L1 nurses
L2 candidates (L2 readings attached)≦L1 nurses
Discussion1. L2 candidates did not score differently
- between the time extended and the phonological readings attached, nor
- between the L1 translation and the L2 conditions
=> Not clear why
2. Moderate reliable correlations were found between conditions.
=> Those who did well in one condition did well in the other conditions. Those who performed poorly in one condition did not do well in the other conditions.
3. Overall L2 candidates did not do as well as L1 nurses and outperformed L1 college students.
=> They have nursing knowledge and use it to overcome limitation of linguistic proficiency.
4. On situation questions, L2 candidates did not do better than L1 college students.
=> They have difficulty in understanding the situation described and/or applying nursing knowledge to situations.
Conclusion1. Indonesian candidates seem to have difficulty in
both linguistic knowledge and content knowledge.2. Their performances were correlated between test
conditions.3. Regarding type of questions, they have trouble
with situation questions which requires text comprehension and use of general knowledge (sociocultural and nursing).
Implications:1. Need to clarify their level of nursing knowledge2. Provide more opportunities to take the exam3. Use ‘natural’, simpler Japanese in the exam
Acknowledgement: This research was supported in part by grant-in-aid for scientific research C21520594 from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.
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