Globalization and Japanese Phonetic Education

Abstract

Pronunciation is one of the most important skills for effective oral communication and also one of the most difficult skills to master for Japanese learners. Technology these days provides rapidly expanding audio and video resources, pronunciation software and internet capabilities and can facilitate pronunciation training. This article introduces some current approaches to computer assisted pronunciation training (CAPT) used as a tool in Japanese language education as well as reviewing the ways in which CAPT for improving Japanese pronunciation can be enhanced. Some limitations of different tools have also been pointed out, offering some directions for future research.