This study is to discuss about the principles and importance of “the activity-based Japanese language education” which is for the beginners of Japanese language learners though exploring the actual process of how the teachers and learners develop dialogue. During its study of “the activity-based Japanese language education,” it critically examines respective approaches and methodologies of Mondouhou (a question and answer dialogue) by Kiichiro Yamaguchi, Naoe Naganuma, and Muneo Kimura. Indeed, the Practical Studies activity witnessed the process of each learners’ idea gradually emerging through repeated interactions while their vocabulary and sentence patterns increased. The study suggests the following points as important points for “the activity-based Japanese language education”: to deepen understanding of vocabulary and grammar through interactions without providing explicit grammatical explanation, to ensure the opportunity where the learner can talk freely without confining their conversion topics, and to provide constant question to help their thought deepened. In addition, it emphasises the importance of “the activity-based Japanese language education.”

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As the number of international students and their families in Japan increases and they access “public spaces,” communication challenges may arise. This paper takes one such space, the preschool, as its field and reports on the communicative challenges facing staff and foreign parents therein. We adopt the perspective of linguistic anthropology, which views language use as dynamic cultural practice inseparable from social context. In doing so, we will argue that the “language barrier” hindering communication between the preschool staff and foreign parents is in fact based in the preconception by both parties that mutual understanding is not possible. This conception is built and informed by language ideology that takes a common “language” such as English or Japanese to be indispensable for mutual understanding, as well as by the discrepancies arising between what each party wants the other to take away from their communication. As a first step toward solving these problems, we propose identifying the perceptions of language operating at the site and promoting opportunities for dialogue and mutual engagement that makes flexible use of available communication resources. In addition, we discuss the possibilities for transformation and collaborative reconstruction of the field specifically occasioned by researchers’ “entering” public spaces with such problems and responding to concerns voiced by members from within it.

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With the use of ICT (Information Communication Technology) tools enabling distance language learning in an interactive and synchronous Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), an increasing number of technology-supported courses based on autonomous language learning has been designed and delivered. Still, little attention has been paid to the learning process of individuals, let alone the ability which underlies the process, namely learner autonomy, the "ability to take charge of one's own learning” described by H. Holec. The article presents a thick description of the learning process in VLE based on a longitudinal study of a Japanese language learner and reports the development of learner autonomy. Analyzing the data based on the autonomous learning framework presented by P. Benson, the paper indicates that learner autonomy is stimulated by the role of VLE, the effect of the investigational intervention, and the emergent learner agency. The research suggests that education interpose will be considered in the stage of goal setting, critical reflection of plan implementation, self-evaluation of learning effects, as well as the maintenance of learning motivation to support autonomous distance learning.

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This study aimed to describe the process of how the author, who has a deaf sibling, overcame the difficulties of living and reinterpreting past experiences. Describing the siblings as participants in the process of overcoming their difficulties can reveal difficulties that had been thought to be difficult to understand. In order to do so, this study analyzed narratives describing the author’s relationship with his younger brother in the upper grades of elementary school and also those of interviews with parents and support staff at a childcare center. As a result, it became clear that the author had formed a dominant story in which he aimed to be and act as an older brother with a younger brother who could not hear. On the other hand, the narrative analysis showed that the dialogue with the parents and the instructor's narrative about his brother's disability prompted reinterpretation of sense-making in the present of his previous experience, thereby leading to self-transformation.

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The purpose of this study is to find out whether Japansese teachers of English feel the pressure of inferiority to native English speakers and feel that they should not make any mistakes while teaching in class, and to analyse how different their reactions are depending on their levels of confidence in their teaching and English language skills when they face those pressures, through the data from interviews. The correlation between those individual confidence levels and self-esteem, an important factor of teachers’ mental health, is also analyesd. After analysing the data from interviews, results suggest that they feel these pressures and react differently depending on their levels of confidence, and then support themselves through those reactions. While confidence in teaching skills is related to teachers’ self-esteem, no specific English language skills or knowledge seem to be related. Teachers who can make use of their English language skills or knowledge in which they are confident, along with their established teaching styles matched with the contents of the lessons and students’ needs in class, tend to maintain high self-esteem.

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This article is about the life story of Ms. Xu, a Chinese woman who came to Japan as a technical intern trainee and participated in a Community-based Japanese language class. Based on her narrative, we analyze how Ms. Xu coped with difficulties in her life as a technical intern trainee, how her boundaries and values were altered in this process, and what it meant for her life as a technical intern trainee to participate in the Community-based Japanese language class. It was found that through her life as a technical intern trainee. Ms. Xu’s childish and selfish self transformed into an “adult” self who understood differences in values from others while working toward the same goal. In addition, Ms. Xu was actively involved in addressing issues that arose in the workplace. This process can be characterized as learning of horizontal dimension that sought to change the divided workplace. It was found in this context that Ms. Xu’s effort to cross the border between the Community-based Japanese language class and the workplace supported her life as a technical intern trainee in ways that allowed her to relate to others “as a person” and supported her learning of horizontal dimension to change the workplace.

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Recently, “new type of Japanese language learners” who learn Japanese language on SNS (Social Networking Services) has come to draw attention. However, there are no studies that have focused on learning supporters of “new type of Japanese language learners.” In this study, focusing on a community on Facebook in which “new type of Japanese language learners” and learning supporters participate, the author surveyed how learning supporters recognize “community” and “position of learning supporter” by analyzing their metaphor. The result shows that the supporters were conscious of the following two points regarding other learning supporters in the community: (1) improvement of technical and knowledge aspects, and new educational views, (2) ambiguous relationship with learning supporters. As a conclusion, to build the relationships with the learning supporter in online learning community, I would like to state that the following three points are necessary; (1) Finding the theme of “What is ...” related to Japanese language education through activities in online community, (2) Comparing with the conventional community that considers the theme of “what is ...... ,” (3) Exchanging the awareness obtained through (1) and (2) with other learning supporters on the online community.

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On September 3, 2019, when autumn had already begun in Belgium, five Japanese language teachers from different first languages and institutions met at the University of Leuven in Belgium to discuss each other's work and the professionalism of Japanese language teachers. They talked about the CEFR, which has become a common understanding of language education in Belgium, the differences between the Japanese and Belgian contexts and as well as the ways of acknowledgement the CEFR and its practical implementation in the classroom. In order to realize these practices, it is important for Japanese language teachers to have various repartories of teaching as well as a philosophy of language education. The discussion was about two and a half hours long, and this paper is edited to fit it within the paper width.

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This survey aimed at exploring how learners of English, Japanese and Korean make sense of language learning. To elicit learners’ inner voice, visual and written descriptive data were collected to investigate what is expressed in different ways brings different outcomes. As a result, the visual data was characterized by the following features: it expresses abstraction, learners’ narratives, emotions depicted by facial expressions with color tones, and it interprets a certain phenomenon. On the other hand, the written data was characterized by the following features: it expresses concreteness and the influence of social discourse, it logically expressed emotions and multiple phenomena were represented. Based on these results, the potentials of visual data as a new method for learner research shall be discussed.

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Dialogical Meetings (Kenkyu Shukai) of the Association for Language and Cultural Education have been held a total of seven times in Japan and overseas (as of May 2020) with the following key concepts in mind: (1) a dialogue-oriented gathering and (2) a variety of shapes. In addition, by organizing pre- and post-events for each meeting, we have attempted to continue the discussion. Why did we decide to hold Dialogical Meetings with these concepts? In this paper, I review the third to seventh Dialogical Meetings in which I participated as the chairman and report on our aims and activities. Finally, I discuss how to maximize the attractiveness of conferences and symposia as a space for networking among participants.

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