Welcome to our group project! Our group members are Myquel Zimmerman, Maggie Wallace, “L”, Lee Craig, and Jialiang Hu. We are really excited to bring you this project!
Our group figured out even in the same type of website there would be plenty of difference between two webpages. The reason for that is the website is targeting a different audience. Let’s see in this case. Our group chose to analyze the JAXA (Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency) website of space discovery and rockets and the World Horizon website that covers studying abroad in Japan.
JAXAのH３ロケット ||
http://www.rocket.jaxa.jp/rocket/h3/
。
NJ: (52) SJ: (69) FL: (12) English: (2)
NJ: (34) SJ: (93) FL: (17) Hybrid: (2)
http://www.rocket.jaxa.jp/rocket/h3/
——————————————————————————————-
JAXA Summary: JAXA or Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is Japan’s national space agency. Their current project is focused on their new H3 rocket which is designed to have lower expenses and increased ease of use for worldwide implementation. The first launch is slated to occur in fiscal year 2021. The primary goals of these rockets are to provide high flexibility in its price and production time for the various needs of customers, as well as higher reliability compared to competitors. These rockets will primarily be utilized for transporting satellites into orbit. Jaxa has a priority of the H3 rocket being used not just in Japan but globally as well for various commercial purposes.
First Website^^
_____________________________________________________
——————————————————————————————–
Second Website vv
海外学生向け日本留学エージェント
World Horizon
https://www.worldhorizon.co.jp/
NJ: (30) SJ: (43) FL: (2) English: (2)
NJ(77) SJ(77) FL(21) hy(2）
World Horizon Summary: World Horizon is a Japanese study abroad agency focused on exposing international students to Japanese culture. This page gives an introduction to their program and answers questions such as applying for Visas, homestay options, travel, and schooling. This program provides a wide arrange and freeform options for living conditions, employment options and location. The agency will act as a middle agent for all of your needs and provide most of your amenities and schooling, making the process much easier for foreigners. The page ends with explaining their 10 step enrollment process into the program and a short FAQ for general first questions.
————————————————————————————————–
- Examine the proportion of words in the vocabulary types for each text. Consider whether there is a connection between the vocabulary usage and the webpage’s general characteristics, such as its purposes and target audience.
The JAXA website contains a majority of Sino-Japanese words with a good amount of instances of loan words as well. The World Horizon website has a similar spread, however has about 15% more Native-Japanese words compared to the JAXA site. JAXA is communicating the uses and pros of the H3 rocket so it makes sense that their site is using very descriptive Sino-Japanese words that give an air of “official-ness” and a well informed feeling. Whereas the World Horizon site is trying to get international students into the Japanese culture so while there still is the air of “official-ness” just like JAXA, there’s a lower level of entry so to speak.
——————————————————————————-
- What sort of words are included in each vocabulary type? Do they convey particular types of meaning, nuance, or imagery?
A lot of the Sino-Japanese words used on the World Horizon website are related to education (入学試験, 日本語学校, and 入学手続) or immigration/travelling abroad (訪日, 入国管理局, and 留学). The foreign loanwords are almost all nouns, save for a few verbs such as サポートする and カバーする, of which the latter is being used in the same way it is used in English (using “to cover” to mean “go over/describe the subjects”). The foreign loanword nouns, on the other hand, are more interesting because it appears a lot of them are used specifically to evoke a certain nuance or imagery behind them. Particularly, the use of セカンドオピニオン and サードプレイス rather than Japanese equivalents seems to be for the purpose of making a memorable, concise slogan that seems trendy. This makes a lot of sense for a website focused on appealing to non-Japanese students as it may make it appear more relatable and understandable. The large amount of native-Japanese words that are relatively simple, for the most part, like simple verbs and conjunctions, both works to make the website look more Japanese while also being more accessible to international students.
JAXA, not surprisingly, has a lot of Sino-Japanese words that are related to science or carry a very mechanical or technological nuance. Words like 試験機, 後継機, 射場整備期間 are far from common words and are certainly aimed towards an audience with a higher education, and definitely somewhat alienating and intimidating to novice-intermediate level Japanese learners. The foreign loanwords count is mostly made up of the work ロケット, sometimes connected to words like in ロケットブースタ or ロケットエンジン, which is extremely salient to the webpage, while others like アイデア and オンタイム give a specifically foreign or modern image. Overall, the website appears very advanced, sleek, and modern through its use of higher-level Sino-Japanese words and foreign loanwords.
——————————————————————
3) F.
It should be helpful to think about how Seaton (2010) discusses his analysis. He thinks
about the imagery (hermeneutic meaning) that the choice of words generates. What
sort of imagery do you think the general choice of vocabulary types in your texts (or
balance of vocabulary types) generates? (マイケル)
JAXA Page:
The JAXA page utilizes each type of written Japanese. Being a space company, which more often than not operate on the international stage, they present the image of foreignness by the use of katakana based Foreign Loan words (10%)(such as ロケット), while also catering to a younger audience by its use of Native Japanese (30%) (such as いかなるもの). There still remains a solid portion of Sino-Japanese (58%) which conveys specific meanings and the seriousness of the business conducted, which reaches an older and possibly more educated audience. JAXA does a great job of trying to extend its reach to its audience via language choice, catering to children, foreigners, and the working population all at once. Additionally, though a small portion, English is also present within the webpage through its use of naming the rocket (H3ロケット) and its clarification of certain aspects (such as High Cost Performance). My assumption is that this is also used to spark business interests from foreigners as the space industry is highly competitive and rapidly evolving.
World Horizon Page:
The World Horizon page is dedicated to learning about and participating in studying abroad. Immediately, you notice that the page is inviting and friendly but the text itself clearly is geared to a young but educated student population. This is presented through its use of mostly Sino-Japanese words (48%) but with the right amount of influence of Native Japanese words (45%) to capture the intrigue of the younger populace. However, the page interestingly lacks a large portion of Foreign Loan words (5%), which would’ve been expected given the industry and the target audience. I speculate that this is due to the expansive list of countries available for studying abroad and their lack of loan words within the language. Additionally, since World Horizon caters to the whole of Japan, there could be a substantial portion of that population that is unfamiliar with certain loan words or harbor certain perceptions about their use in the language. Further, Japanese parents often have a large hand in their children’s study abroad experience. Though the page is inviting for students, parents are clearly a large factor in the design of the page and the use of language in context. Given the language demographics (NJ, SJ, FL, etc.) used, the larger influence of Sino-Japanese can be attributed to the student population but also more importantly to the parents of those students who want a more specific description of what they’re getting into.
JAXA:
Native Japanese (30%): いかなる, もの, 行けない, なくして, 使った, 生まれている, すべての, 握っている, 打ち上げ, だけでは, これから, 担えない, した, やすさ, する, させれば, 作れる, はず, から, している, ように, として, されています, して, 打ち上げる, こと, という, その, ために, だけでなく, してもらう, あります
Sino-Japanese (58%): 輸送手段, 宇宙, 次々, 時代, 鍵, 輸送, 成功, 輸送, 日本, 利用者, 視点, 徹底, 追求, 技術, 集結, 世界, 年度, 種子島, 試験機, 号機, 予定, 次世代, 大型, 現在, 運用中, 後継機, 開発, 以降, 年間, 毎年, 機, 程度, 安定, 産業, 基盤, 維持, 運用, 目指, 政府, 衛星, 市場, 民間, 商業, 衛星, 受注, 不可欠, 世界中, 開発, 中, 衛星, 利用, 国内, 利用者, 注目, 必要
Foreign Loan (10%): アイデア、ロケット、リード、センター、サービス
English (1%): H-IIA, H3
World Horizon:
Native Japanese (45%): 私たち, そのため, ある, 変わる
Sino-Japanese (48%): 豊富, 情報量, 日本, 留学, 情報, 進学, 就職
Foreign Loan (5%): エージェント, マッチ, エリア