Topics that shape the future
- Closer look at research results -

The COSMOS research project aims to contribute to the expansion of Japanese language support to realize a Japanese language education in which all children have equal opportunities to learn, by clarifying the characteristics of vocabulary found in Japanese textbooks approved by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and building and publishing databases and application-type teaching materials as educational resources that can be freely used by teachers and teaching material creators. What is needed to realize a multicultural society in which children whose native language is Japanese, returnee children, and foreign children can receive Japanese language education together, and no one is left behind, and can learn and grow richly? With the increasing number of returnee and foreign children, we wanted to overcome the difficulty of learning Japanese language subjects due to a lack of Japanese vocabulary, and to support an environment in which everyone can easily access the rich world of Japanese, so we started developing the online platform COSMOS. Our motto from the beginning was to cover research and development costs through research grants and other means, and to provide the platform free of charge to all returnee and foreign children who use it so that everyone can receive an equal education.

"COSMOS" has two main functions. The first is a database built by extracting all of the approximately 500,000 words that appear in elementary school Japanese textbooks approved by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, for teachers and parents who provide Japanese language support to JSL children. When teaching Japanese language, which is said to be difficult for JSL children and is considered the most important subject from the perspective of Japanese language learning, the app also publishes key points and data on what words and phrases are important to teach and how to teach them, along with the database.
The other is a function of application-type teaching materials for JSL children. Based on the above database, important words for each grade level can be learned through practice quizzes. The quizzes are posed according to grade level on meaning (synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, hypernyms, hyponyms, semantic groups, etc.), kanji (reading, okurigana, hyphens, four-character idioms, etc.), expressions (collocations, idiomatic expressions, onomatopoeia, classifiers, etc.), grammar (corresponding adverbs, humble language, honorific language, polite language, 'ra'-less words, etc.), and reading comprehension (sequence, description, etc.). After the user answers, the correct answer and explanation are displayed, and a score is displayed. If there is a word or phrase that the user does not understand after answering, the user can write a question, and other children, teachers, and supporters in Japan and overseas can write advice. In addition, there is a function that allows teachers at the institutions using the app to create their own questions, so it is possible to teach according to the level of understanding and progress of JSL children.

Through "COSMOS," we aim to realize the philosophy of "providing a learning environment in which no one is left behind," based on the SDGs' major goal of "quality education for all" and its intermediate goals of "ensuring that everyone can receive a fair, quality education free of charge and graduate from primary and secondary school," and "ensuring that everyone can read, write and do arithmetic."
Those who need Japanese language education are not only JSL children, but also a very diverse range of people, including international students, business people, diplomats, returnees from overseas, refugees, missionaries, and people who come to Japan using systems such as the Specified Skills Program and the Foreign Technical Intern Training Program. In order to build an environment where language minorities can live rich lives without being left behind, and can converse and collaborate with others on an equal footing, we would like to continue our research by expanding the target audience beyond JSL children. We would also like to reflect the knowledge gained from these studies in "COSMOS" and evolve it into a rich content that can be used all over the world.