Effects of in-country experience on the acquisition of oral communication skills in Japanese

This study aims to investigate the effects of in-country experience on oral communication skills in Japanese. Do students who have had in-country experience in Japan have a higher level of proficiency in any area of oral communication skills than those who have not? To what extent do students with in-country experience differ from those without in their acquisition of various areas of oral communication skills? The performance of subjects in the mid-year oral examination were used as data for this study and comparisons were made between those with and without in-country experience. We believe that linguistic competence alone is not sufficient for successful communication. The results of this study provide tentative evidence that in-country experience did have positive effects on the acquisition of oral communication skills. However, the relationship between the acquisition of more than one speech style and sociolinguistic competence also emerged as a complex issue.