Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book is designed to optimize the real-life encounters available to a language learner in a study abroad context, and to direct into a fuller understanding of and participation in their life in the target culture. It refines and solidifies existing communication skills by executing real-life tasks in the target culture, and one can expand their understanding of how natives accomplish communicative goals by observing and analyzing naturally occurring interactions among native speakers. The book is also designed to facilitate and advance one's real-life participation in the target culture by means of Field Performance tasks and Performance Watch reports. It then explores social interactions on the edge of expanding knowledge and guides through a process by which these tasks become comprehensible, performable, and increasingly automatic. The book intends for individuals who are already able to use some Japanese language.