This paper tries to clarify how meaning-focused output activities would influence Japanese English learners’ preferences for instructional language. Seventy-nine undergraduates were employed as the participants. Based on whether they were engaged in meaning-focused output activities, the authors put them into two groups: The Output (+) group and the Output (-) group. Both groups took an English course taught by one of the authors. Only the Output (+) group had opportunities to produce meaning-focused output. To clarify the participants’ preferences for instructional language, a questionnaire called Student Preferences for Instructional Language (SPIL) was employed. SPIL is a scale designed to measure student preferences for instructional language. The analysis of the data shows that the Output (+) group would like the teacher to use English more in class than the Output (-) group. The authors then argue that the readiness for teaching English in English gradually develops and that learners of English should be provided opportunities where they negotiate for meaning since when they are at a rudimental level.

This paper clarifies the following concepts that are mutually related: sensibility, understanding, reason (Kant, 2010), emotion, feeling/core-consciousness, extended consciousness, image, language (Damasio, 2011), sensitivity (Bohm, 2013), emotional attunement (Seikkula & Trimble, 2005), and autopoiesis (Luhmann, 1995). These concepts are systematically represented in a single figure. It then analyzes the actions of three distinguished teacher educators of English teachers, and concludes that each (1) has high sensitivity not only in sensibility but also in understanding and reason; (2) skillfully induces emotional attunement among learners; (3) assists the autopoiesis of communication among learners; and (4) regards learners’ unexpected development from the communication as their professional reward.

Making a presentation is a practical and highly effective method for learning a foreign language, in particular for raising students’ motivation (Fujita, Yamagata and Takenaka, 2009; Makino, 2003). This paper compared students who made presentations in English and Korean, and investigated, 1) changes in the students’ attitude and motivation, before and after making the presentation, and, 2) whether there were any differences between the students due to their previous experiences of studying that language. The results indicate that, depending on previous studying experiences, there are differences in the aspects of making a presentation which students consider to be difficult, but that making a presentation is motivational for all students, irrespective of their studying experiences.

In view of the recent concern with teaching English in English, this study conducted a quantitative analysis of junior high school students’ reception of the reading instruction in English and how they evaluated it. The lesson was constructed taking the following three points into consideration: (1) The MERRIER Approach for comprehensible input; (2) four skills integration; (3) guided reading tasks using the comprehension approach. After the class, the students completed a questionnaire involving self-evaluation, activity preferences for, and effectiveness of the lesson, and follow-up questions. It was found that the students had a favorable reception as a whole. The reception by the students at two proficiency levels and the correlation between each item of the questionnaire were also examined.

The purpose of the present study was to develop the English Learning Motivation Scale for Veterinary Nursing Students and examine its reliability and validity. In Survey 1, veterinary nursing students (N = 141) completed a questionnaire developed in a preliminary investigation. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that the scale comprised the following 4 factors containing 32 items: “general knowledge and training,” “practical use for veterinary medicine,” “life and study overseas,” and “passive sense of obligation.”The internal consistency of each factor was sufficiently high. In Survey 2, the test-retest reliability coefficients were examined and revealed to be appropriate. Furthermore, the construct validity was tested. The results suggested moderately high convergent and discriminant validity, in accordance with theoretical predictions.

The concept of meaning seems to be diminished in recent trends of TEFL in Japan. The diminishment is buttressed by the combination of objectivist semantics, objective tests, neo-liberalism and one-dimensional objectivism. Against the diminishment, this paper offers a new concept of meaning by introducing Integrated Information Theory by Tononi in neuroscience and supplementing it with the theory of meaning by Luhmann in theoretical sociology. In a sharp contract with objectivist semantics that regards meaning as an objectively describable, static, and determinate object, the new concept states that meaning is (1) a subjective experience on an objective physical mechanism; (2) experienced in unification of determinacy of actuality and indeterminacy of potentiality; and (3) a dynamic process. The paper also offers some practical implications.

This paper reports on a study that examined Japanese listeners’ difficulties in recognizing English function words in connected speech. Japanese first and second year university EFL students listened to short sentences of four to six words containing function words in connected speech and again in un-connected speech (citation form). Students transcribed the sentences and their errors were analyzed. Finding included, 1) students had considerably more difficulty transcribing connected speech than unconnected speech. 2) Function word pronouns beginning with the phoneme /h/ appear to be more difficult to perceive in connected speech. 3) Inadequate knowledge of how function words are modified in connected speech, little attention to sentence syntax, as well as a lack of phonological word knowledge are suggested as possible causes of difficulties in aural word recognition.

The present study examines the relationships between text comprehension measured by the ability to translate text into Japanese and the ability to write answers in English to English questions. It aims at finding an appropriate teaching process to connect text comprehension in Japanese with the basic skills of writing English sentences. Fourteen questions were classified into three types. Thirty-two Japanese high school learners were asked to translate more than one sentence into Japanese and write their answers in English to each question. It was found that the score of comprehending text in Japanese was significantly higher than the score of written answers in English to English questions in the question type requiring higher cognitive skills. It was suggested that cues inducing higher processing of the text should be given to students following translation.

Reading aloud is an essential element in English teaching in Japan. Its significance is shared widely, and there are an array of reading aloud activities practiced at all levels of schools from junior high schools to universities. These activities have been proved to be effective in enhancing students’ English abilities （e.g. Ikeda and Takeuchi, 2002）, where main focuses tend to be on phonological accuracy. On the other hand, several theatrical reading-aloud practices have been conducted to prove its influence on readers’ personal emotions. In those practices, while participants are engaged in the process of performing the text within a group, their experiences lead the participants to re-read the text, to interpret the text deeply, and eventually to enjoy and be satisfied by expressing themselves through reading-aloud.

With increasing work-related communicative demands for school teachers, it is imperative that universities provide prospective teachers with learning opportunities to successfully communicate in challenging situations. This paper reports a case study of introducing Tojisha Kenkyu, or a communal exploration by and for persons in challenging situations, to university students before their graduation with the English teacher’s license. Through the four sessions coupled with reflection on an electronic bulletin board, students (re)learned the importance of equality between speakers, self-exposure of negative points, a context with shared metacommunicative values, and reciprocity of communication.