As the number of non-native Japanese students continues to increase in Japan, we must develop better techniques to assist foreign-born students to learn Japanese. In the present study, a special morae listening test was administered to non-native Japanese students and native Japanese students in order to compare their perception characteristics. The results demonstrated that compared to Japanese students, it was more difficult for non-native Japanese students to perceive all special morae. Training for special morae perception was administered to non-native Japanese students, and changes to correct response rates before and after the training were ascertained. The results confirmed an increase of correct response rate for many special morae. It was clarified that visual presentation helps non-native Japanese students to understand special morae and form the concept of special morae perception. The results also suggest that there is a necessary process that non-native Japanese students must undertake before setting perceptual decision regions.

Key words: non-native Japanese students, special mora, perceptual categorization