This study explores the connections between the content of L1 and L2 preparatory tutorials and that of mainstream classes during study tasks among Chinese learners of Japanese. Having lived in Japan around six months, the learners were enrolled in the third grade at a junior high school and were being given after-school lessons aimed at preparing them for their Japanese language arts class. The analysis found that the preparatory tutorial lessons and the mainstream classes did not repeat the same content in the same way. In the mainstream classes, the teacher set the study target and conducted lessons mainly in lecture style. On the other hand, the tutorial lessons were very interactive. During L1 tutorials, the L1 tutor facilitated students’ understanding by activating their previously acquired knowledge. In the L2 tutorials, tasks were chiefly set to collect basic information from textbooks passages. Thus, L1 and L2 preparatory tutorials serve as the foundation for Japanese language arts classes in the mainstream, to heighten students’ motivation to study, and to foster autonomous bilingual learners.
