Using Electronic Mail as a Medium for Foreign Language Study and Instruction

Ken R. Lunde University of Wisconsin-Madison ABSTRACT: This article describes how electronic mail can be used to send and receive foreign character sets, using the Japanese character set as an example. Electronic mail is fast, inexpensive, and can be stored, modified, and printed. This modern communication tool can be used to accelerate the traditional penpal process, and can act as a medium for instruction through correspondence courses. In addition, other computerized information, such as computer software and digitized speech can be sent using electronic mail. This opens many doors for future trends in computer-aided instruction (CAI). KEYWORDS: character sets, communication, electronic mail, foreign language instruction, foreign language study, the Japanese language Introduction Electronic mail is an efficient means of communicating at the local and international scale. While it is easy to send text which uses only the 94 printable American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) characters, character sets which use more than these 94 characters pose problems. This article illustrates how these problems have been solved for the Japanese character set which contains nearly 7,000 characters, and how this ability to send foreign character sets can be applied to foreign language study and instruction. This article has been divided into three parts to allow readers to skip over parts which are of less interest to them. Part I describes what electronic mail is and its advantages over other forms of communication; all readers are encouraged to read through this. Part 2 contains technical information for those who are interested in how Japanese is transmitted using electronic mail. Part 3 contains information on how electronic mail can be used for foreign language study and instruction, and examples of electronic mail in practical usage. 1. Electronic Mail Electronic mail is a modern way to communicate across campus or across the globe. It makes use of computer networks to relay messages to their

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respective destinations. This adds a fourth method of communication to the three listed below: Telephone Facsimile Conventional Mail There are three factors to consider when communicating: speed, cost, and ease of storage for future reference, modification, or printing. For the sake of this article, I will suppose that we are communicating with Japan. The first factor, speed, is found in facsimile and the telephone which communicate in real time. The next fastest method of communication is electronic mail. Electronic mail messages take anywhere from 30 minutes to six hours to travel from the United States to Japan. When sending electronic mail within the United States, the travel time is reduced to just a few minutes. The slowest method of communication is conventional mail which may take up to one week. The second factor, cost, is an important consideration. Electronic mail may be the cheapest method of communication depending on where you are and who you are. Telephone and facsimile are more expensive since a direct long-distance connection is required. Electronic mail, for example, is entirely subsidized by the university for faculty and staff at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but students are allowed to use only a pay-as-you-go electronic mail service. The third factor, ease of storage, is found only in electronic mail. Each character is stored electronically with its own unique electronic value, and thus can be inserted into word processing applications for storage, modification, and printing. A facsimile is a remote photocopy, so the unique electronic values for each individual character are not recoverable. There are other advantages as well. Just as text files can be sent using electronic mail, computer software (in encoded form) also can be sent. In fact, public domain software may be acquired by logging in to remote hosts using telnet (remote login) or file transfer protocol (ftp). In addition, there are also mailing lists which regularly broadcast information on electronic mail networks. 2. Technical Aspects 2.1. The Japanese Character Set The ASCII character set is a seven-bit character set. In other words, each character is represented by seven binary bits, each bit having two possible values, on or off. This gives us a maximum of 128 representable characters. However, only 94 of these 128 ASCII characters are printable (numerals, symbols, and the Alphabet). The rest are unprintable, and include control characters such as <CR> (carriage return), <LF> (line feed), etc. Each ASCII

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character consists of one byte. Table I illustrates the 94 printable ASCII characters1 !"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNO PQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|}~ Table 1: The 94 Printable ASCII Characters The Japanese character set, established in 1983 by Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS), contains 6,877 standard characters; 6,353 Kanji (Chinese characters) in two levels (level one: 2,965 Kanji arranged by pronunciation; level two: 3,388 Kanji arranged by radical), 86 Katakana (a native-Japanese syllabary), 83 Hiragana (another native-Japanese syllabary), 10 numerals, 52 English characters, 147 symbols, 66 Russian characters, 48 Greek characters, and 32 line elements (for making charts). The Japanese have developed a scheme which allows one to transmit their character set by electronic means, such as electronic mail. The Japanese have encoded their 6,877 standard characters using a matrix made up of a row and a column each of which contain the 94 printable ASCII characters. Thus, each Japanese character consists of two bytes. 2.2. Electronic Transmission of the Japanese Character Set The Japanese have developed what are known as Kanji-In and Kanji-Out escape sequences; the reason why Kanji-In and Kanji-Out are called escape sequences will become apparent in the following paragraph. The Kanji-In escape sequence commands Japanese terminals to begin to treat two ASCII characters as one Japanese character. This means that two bytes represent a single character. The Kanji-Out escape sequence, on the other hand, commands Japanese terminals to return to the normal ASCII mode, namely that one byte represents one character. Using two seven-bit bytes to represent one character creates a matrix in which the first byte is the row, and the second byte is the column. As mentioned above, JIS only uses the 94 printable ASCII characters in this coding scheme; this allows a maximum of 8,836 characters to be represented which can clearly handle the 6,877 standard Japanese characters. The remaining 1,959 spaces are used for user-defined or corporation specific characters. How does a Japanese terminal know when to perform Kanji-In and KanjiOut escape sequences? The answer lies in one of the 34 unprintable ASCII characters. The combination of the unprintable ASCII character <ESC> (escape) and other printable ASCII characters is considered a valid Kanji-In or Kanji-Out escape sequence. There is only one two-byte seven-bit Japanese code (I call this the raw Japanese code), but there are several valid Kanji-In and Kanji-Out escape

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sequences'. The most commonly used code is called New-JIS, and its Kanji-In and Kanji-Out escape sequences are <ESC>$B and <ESC>(B, respectively. Table 2 illustrates how a typical Japanese sentence is handled using the NEW-JIS code. The sample text is first shown using Japanese characters, in raw form, then with underlined escape sequences, and finally with each Japanese character aligned vertically with its two corresponding ASCII characters. This Japanese text also has English text inserted; observe how the Kanji-In and KanjiOut escape sequences make this possible.

This part of my article briefly explained how the Japanese character set is handled electronically. While it is by no means a complete description, it does give the basic technical information necessary for understanding how electronic coding systems for character sets work. At the end of this article is a bibliography which includes three publications by JIS. These will provide fuller information, and are available in both Japanese and English. 3. Examples of Applications and Practical Usage 3.1. Applications in Foreign Language Study and Instruction Readers of the CALICO Journal are aware that CAI software and video tapes are currently being used to improve foreign language study and instruction. Now I will describe how electronic mail communication technology can be applied to foreign language study and instruction. One traditional method used by foreign language students to improve their abilities in their target language is that of obtaining penpals. All correspondence with these penpals is usually done by conventional mail, and consequently much time elapses between letters. Perhaps only three letters are exchanged per semester. Electronic mail accelerates this process considerably. For example, in a time span of only two months I have received eight electronic mail letters from one of my Japanese penpals. Electronic mail correspondence has many benefits: the chances that mail will cross are reduced, and students get

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more practice reading and composing text in their target language. One of the most difficult parts of foreign language study is developing motivation to learn the language. Students' motivation would most certainly increase if they knew that their penpals would read their letters in a matter of minutes or hours rather than days or even weeks. Depending on how ambitious one's penpal is, a reply may even come the very next day! There have been several instances when I have sent an electronic mail message to Japan in the evening (around 9:00 PM), and the next morning when I woke up (around 6:00 AM) there was a reply waiting for me. That's a 9-hour turn-around time! There are several issues which must be settled before such a program can be initiated. (1) Acquiring foreign language terminals. (2) Obtaining electronic mail addresses for potential penpals. (3) Educating students and teachers about how to use electronic mail and foreign language terminals. The first issue is a logistical matter. Foreign language departments or individuals can purchase terminals which display foreign languages. Dedicated terminals are, however, not always required since there is a wide variety of software which allows computers to emulate terminals, even foreign language terminals. This means that computers which foreign language departments or individuals already possess may be used as electronic mail terminals. The second issue has a variety of solutions. For starters, many universities throughout the United States have set up exchange programs with foreign universities, and an electronic mail penpal exchange program could enhance this relationship. Penpals and their electronic mail addresses can also be obtained by replying to articles posted in electronic mail news broadcasts. The most difficult foreign electronic mail address to obtain is the first one. After that they pile up fast! The third issue is educational in nature. Students and teachers must learn the fundamentals of word processing in their target languages, and learn how to use electronic mail. In the case of Japanese, the principles of Kana-to-Kanji Conversion must be learned. This can be accomplished through frequent tutorial sessions. Electronic mail also has the potential to be used for administering correspondence courses. Correspondence courses are traditionally sent to students using conventional mail, and are tailored for people who do not have the time to attend formal classes due to job conflicts. As with correspondence with penpals, electronic mail also accelerates this process. Correspondence courses which are administered by electronic mail are not limited to people living in one's own country, but could be administered on a global scale due to the speed of electronic mail.

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In the future we can expect digital technology to advance to the point where it will be possible to send audio tapes in digital format using electronic mail. This will mean that an entire correspondence course could be administered electronically, including its audio tapes! Digitized speech as used today requires a lot of memory, so such a process is not practical at this time. The biggest problem in initiating such programs as I have described is making teachers and students aware of this technology. Teachers must develop new ways to motivate students, and electronic mail as an instructional medium is a step in this direction. 3.2. Examples of Electronic Mail in Practical Use I use electronic mail on a daily basis for sending and receiving Japanese text. I am currently corresponding with three Japanese acquaintances, all of whom work for corporations in or around Tokyo. Although the reason I correspond with them is for the sake of obtaining useful information, my Japanese language skills have improved significantly as a side-effect of frequent correspondence. Imagine how much I could benefit if I concentrated my efforts on improving my Japanese! I simply like the idea that I can communicate with Japan hundreds of times faster and at a much lower cost than conventional mail. An example of a message which I received is shown in Table 3. There also exist information services which regularly transmit news' broadcasts through electronic mail mailing lists. I receive Japan UNIX Network (JUNET) News several times a day in Japanese. People in Japan post articles to JUNET News by using electronic mail. It is also possible for people in the United States to post articles to JUNET News. JUNET News has a wide variety of topics to which articles can be posted. These topics are called newsgroups, and a small sample of them are listed below: Newsgroup Description of Newsgroup Name fj.ai Artificial intelligence discussions fj.books Books of all genres, shapes, and sizes fi.comp.text Text processing issues and methods fj.followup Follow-ups to articles in net.general fj.general *Important* and timely announcements of interest to all fj.junet General discussion about JUNET itself fj.misc Various discussions when there are no groups to match fj.rec.animation Discussions about animated movies fj.rec.ham Discussions about ham radio fj.rec.idol General topics about idols (i.e., popular singers) fj.rec.misc Recreational/participant topics not covered elsewhere

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fj.soc.misc fj.sys.mac fj.sys.pc98

Socially-oriented topics not covered elsewhere Discussions about the Apple Macintosh & Lisa Discussions about NEC's PC-9800 series & other computers

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There is currently a total of 122 newsgroups available on JUNET News. The topics range from social to technical issues. Table 4 gives an example of a JUNET News article from one of the newsgroups given above.

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Each JUNET News broadcast contains many articles. The poster's address is always included in the header of each article so that replies can be sent either directly to the poster or as an article to be posted in a future JUNET News broadcast. Although I am not using electronic mail to its fullest educational potential, I do notice a significant improvement in my abilities in reading and composing text in Japanese. Those who wish to use electronic mail strictly as a learning tool will, I am sure, experience marked improvement in their target language skills. I recently discovered that there is already a course which makes use of electronic mail to enhance foreign language study. This course is offered at the University of Toronto, Canada. This course, called Computer-Assisted Composition in Japanese and Chinese, while not devoted solely to correspondence using electronic mail, does give students much practice in composing text in their target language. The students studying Japanese are given the option to use electronic mail to correspond with their peers in Japan, namely students studying English at the University of Tokyo, to exchange ideas and information. The goals of this course are to motivate the students to use their target language creatively, to promote interaction in their target language, to enhance the cultural and intellectual component of foreign language study, and to improve the students' ability to read Chinese characters. The results were that the students displayed marked improvement in their character production, reading comprehension, and word processing skills in their target language. For further information regarding this course, please contact Professor Kazuko Nakajima, Department of East Asian Studies, University of Toronto, 130 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S IA5, Canada (BITNET: nakajima@utorepas). Conclusion The use of electronic mail for foreign language instruction does not, of course, replace formal classroom instruction, but instead complements it. Electronic mail is simply a modern communication tool which has the potential for use as an instructional or learning aid. Electronic mail communication can significantly improve students' reading and composition skills in their target language; spoken and listening comprehension skills can be improved in a classroom environment under the direct supervision of a native speaker who is qualified to teach, or in the foreign country itself. Teachers should carefully consider how to use electronic mail as an instructional tool. If penpal correspondence using electronic mail is to be used as a motivational tool, it may be best to leave it out of the classroom environment since any evaluation or grading by an instructor may deter students from freely communicating in their target language.

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It should be possible to apply what I have described in this article to other character sets, such as those for Chinese, Korean, Russian, etc. This article only gives a few ideas on how to make efficient use of electronic mail in foreign language instruction, using Japanese as an example. Interested parties should use the information presented here as a starting point from which to proceed in developing a method to handle their target language. There is much more detailed information about sending and receiving Japanese using electronic mail which, unfortunately, could not be included in this article. I welcome any questions or comments regarding this article, and any requests for further information. Acknowledgments I wish to thank Professor Edward Daub, Professor R. Byron Bird, Professor John Street, Professor Charles Read, Professor Peter Schreiber, and James Davis for offering suggestions to improve the manuscript for this article. I wish to give special thanks to Professor Donald Becker who patiently read through all drafts of this article, and offered numerous suggestions. Notes JIS has developed their own version of the ASCII character set which is called JIS-Roman. The seven-bit portions of these two character sets are identical except for three characters. Their eight-bit extensions do, however, differ significantly; the JIS-Roman eight-bit extension is used to hold Katakana. The three codes used for transmitting Japanese are called New-JIS (also called JIS), Old-JIS, and NEC Code (also called NEC Kanji). The difference between these three codes lies primarily in their Kanji-In and Kanji-Out escape sequences; the raw Japanese code remains the same. References Anderson, J. 1989. Campus-Supported Electronic Mail Service (Third Edition). Madison Academic Computing Center (MACC). Japanese Industrial Standards Committee. 1976 (reaffirmed in 1984 and 1989). JIS X 0201: Code for Information Interchange. Tokyo: Japanese Standards Association. Japanese Industrial Standards Committee. 1984. JIS X 0202: Code Extension Techniques for Use with the Code for Information Interchange. Tokyo: Japanese Standards Association. Japanese Industrial Standards Committee. 1983. JIS X 0208: Code of the Japanese Graphic Character Set for Information Interchange. Tokyo: Japanese Standards Association.
2 1

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Nakajima, Kazuko. 1988. The 1988 International Conference on Computer Processing of Chinese and Oriental Languages (Notes from a Panel Discussion). Author's Biodata Ken R. Lunde is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His interests include the Japanese language, Japanese word processing, electronic mail, computational linguistics, and experimental phonetics. Author's Address Ken R. Lunde Department of Linguistics 1168 Van Hise Hall University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, Wisconsin 53706 USA (608)262-4810 or (608)238-9681 ARPANET:klunde@vms.macc.wisc.edu BITNET: klunde@wiscmacc

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