This study re-evaluated the significance and challenges of an “Action Research Guide” (Action Research Project Team, 2001) published in 2001 by the Association for the Promotion of Japanese Language Education. The significance of the “action research” proposed in the guide was examined through interviews with five projects members and the project chair, Mr. Keisuke Maruyama, as well as Mr. Jiro Sato, President of the Association for the Promotion of Japanese Language Education, who helped establish the project. First, as a problem that arose when creating the guide, it was found that those involved in the study perceived a gap between the daily practices that teachers at Japanese language schools are engaged in and the research findings from academic studies in Japanese language education. Furthermore, Japanese language school teachers stated that they considered it necessary to demonstrate the social value of Japanese language education in Japanese language schools by being involved in research that aimed at solving the practical challenges they face by their own means. Finally, the question of how action research might best serve the needs of Japanese language education is examined by reconsidering the creation process of the “Action Research Guide” itself as action research by Japanese language schools.

This self-directed study examines the significance of Japanese sign language as a heritage language for the author, who is a child of deaf adults (CODA). This research is conducted using dialogical autoethnography; the author reflects on his own experience through a comparative dialogue with the experiences of a Chinese overseas student who is also a CODA. Findings show that the author and research participant grew up as third-culture kids, in that they were embedded in dominant spoken language that were different from their parents’ deaf culture. Moreover, their third-culture is influenced by the social identity they developed through social interaction while growing up as members of disabled families. They had hidden their third-culture because it was associated with the negative aspects of discrimination. In conclusion, to make third culture acceptable for them, it is necessary to proactively reconstruct their social identities as a child of deaf adults and accept the inheritance of Japanese sign language as their parents’ native language.

To clarify how teachers live with the reality of the politics of phonetic instruction and how they cope with and shift in repsonse the politics of phonetic teaching in elementary school English education, where the “native speaker orientation as an institution” has emerged, this study interviews two elementary school teachers and qualitatively analyzes their narratives about phonetic teaching. Langdridge’s Critical Narrative Analysis (CNA) was the method used. The results of the analyses showed that the teachers were concerned about their own English proficiency, but had positive feelings about their English classes. They were both supportive and skeptical of the idea of “native speaker orientation as an institution.” While there were differences in the situations in which the children were exposed to English (“they should be exposed to native English” and “they should be exposed to non-native English”), a common practice was found of letting the children speak English (“we do not require fluency in the English they speak”).

Recently, English Medium Programs (EMP) have increased due to the internationalization of universities, even in the humanities and social sciences. Most students of these English Medium Programs in Japan are multilingual speakers. This study investigates the language life evaluation of the parties via Personal Attitude Construct (PAC) analysis of one international student from the EMP of the Graduate School of Social Sciences and one returning student from the EMP of the Graduate School of Humanities. Results show that both are satisfied with their research life in English, but are more or less dissatisfied and have an oppressive attitude construct in aspects of their language life, such as interactions with Japanese students, part-time jobs, and job hunting. They felt that Japanese society was closed, hierarchical, and emphasized educational background, and both of them had high multilingual ability but could not fully demonstrate their abilities. In both cases, there was a relatively high emphasis on family, confirming the important function played by the mother tongue.

To date, there has been insufficient discussion about the career development processes of Japanese language teachers who have attained mid-career status after their early training and novice periods as well as mid-career training as a relearning opportunity. Using the Trajectory Equifinality Approach, this study looked at mid-career Japanese language teachers who enrolled in graduate school after gaining teaching experience in Japan and/or overseas and discusses the significance of their relearning experiences in graduate school. The results suggest that opinions expressed by other students during dialogue activities inspired mid-career Japanese teachers to take a relativized and objective look at their own views on education, and these experiences seemed to enlighten and motivate them to reflect on their teaching experiences. In addition, relearning in graduate school appeared to provide an opportunity for mid-career Japanese teachers to rethink their pedagogical problems and teaching experiences from their earlier training and novice periods via discussions with those from diverse backgrounds, leading them to develop and sustain more meta-level views of their teaching philosophy over time. These findings suggest that for mid-career Japanese teachers to relearn in graduate school, it is important to provide time and space for them to reflect on their teaching practice—including their failures and successes—and revise their views on education and teaching practice that were formed earlier in their careers.

This article is to explore a university communication class in which both international and domestic students participate and discuss topics in English, a second language for most of the participants. The topics discussed in this class are/can be sensitive ones; xenophobia, euthanasia, liberty of expression, plurilingual communication, gender, refugees, LGBTQ and misogyny. The purpose of this article is to offer a thick description of some classroom moments including intensive reflexivity and the participants’ emotional and relational processes, so that the readers can use it as a “resource” to face sensitive topics in their second/foreign language class. This article also discusses the teacher’s role when they are not a specialist of the topic itself but specialized in second/foreign language teaching.

Japanese language school managers play an important role in the operation of Japanese language schools. It is expected that their observations and events will have an effect on the educational field. Despite this, their position and contribution in Japanese language schools and Japanese language education has not been mentioned in Japanese language education research until now. Therefore, this study analyses the life story of the manager and their outlook on Japanese language schools and their influence. Specifically we look at the story of Ms. B, the owner of a Japanese language school, the formation the school, its transformation through dialogue with surrounding teachers, and decisions needed to succeed in the business; further, Ms. B described self-identification regarding her role. Then, based on those descriptions, we interpret how B’s outlook affected a series of management behaviors.

By considering the voluntary utterances of learners on the basis of agency from a sociocultural theory perspective, this study analyzed classroom discourse and discussed the factors that cause such utterances to occur. Specifically, it examined “agency” as the ability to act in a collaborative/co-constructive manner through intermediary means and grouped voluntary utterances into four categories . The categories were, namely, participatory, inquisitive, autonomous, and committed. Furthermore, a detailed analysis was conducted on the process by which each utterance was generated. The result revealed that learners perform voluntary utterances based on agency and, in the process, use contextual footholds, such as their utterances; teachers’ utterances; their turns; the wait time taken by teachers; revoicing by teachers; non-verbal information, such as gestures; and other fillers and misuses by learners during their utterances.

This study is an observation and analysis of the actual practices of the full on-demand lectures “Writing and Thinking” that were held in 2010 in which the author participated as a mentor. In the lectures, the students themselves chose themes and completed reports step by step. The lecturer in charge did not give direct guidance, and the students exchanged opinions online with other students and mentors. The reports and interview records of the two students who collaborated with this survey revealed that the learners autonomously updated their thoughts and expressions through scaffoldings by mentors and the exchanges of thoughts and expressions in the full on-demand lectures. This study suggests that for deepening language learning it is necessary to activate the circulation of thoughts and expressions through dialogue with others rather than simply aiming for “correctness.” And this suggestion is still important when considering the meaning of language learning today, ten years later, and also regardless of the lecture is face-to-face or online.

Practical language education using Haiku and Renku is currently active in both Japan and abroad. However, the literary theories that underpin these practices have not been sufficiently discussed. In this paper, the author will summarize the history of Za（Poetry meeting)-literature, beginning with Waka, Haiku, as well as Renku, and demonstrates that this is a unique aspect of Japanese literature that is the act of “doing” literature, or literary activity itself, as opposed to the Western concept of “literature.” To discuss this, the author first summarized the four characteristics of Za-literature: dialogicality, Improvisation, belongingness, and folksiness. Based on this, I focused on the educational aspect of Za-literature, demonstrating that the most important activity in Haiku and Renku education is the haiku meeting, which serves as a place for dialogue. The author then proposed that the literature of the theater, which combines literary and educational activities and expands across borders, be called “Activity-based” literature. “Activity-based” literature is a literary activity that connects with people through spoken words. In particular, “Renku,” a typical form of Za-literature, can be expected to be an activity that is oriented toward dynamic assessment, collaborative learning, and multicultural conviviality. This paper proposes a new perspective, activity-based literature, in which the literary activity is the language and culture education rather than the literary work itself.

This study aims to include the perspective of “bodies embedded in the context” into the discussion surrounding “form-meaning-use” dynamics and thereby expand the scope of “meaning” in L2 education research. It analyzes the interactions of performers using conversation analysis, especially multimodal analysis. Specifically, it focuses on the harmony or incongruity between their verbal and bodily expressions in an improvisational L2 speaking activity, in which body movement is an instrumental part of the task setting. L2 speaking in real-life interaction is a holistic activity involving bodily sensations and images, which cannot be fully represented by abstract linguistic symbols alone. The results show that the inauthenticity of words that do not harmonize with the body and context can be instantly detected by participants themselves. In contrast, when embodied words and the fictional space where they are embedded are simultaneously created, the performance becomes uplifting for both the performers and the audience, and a sense of play rather than training is shared. Based on the findings, this study argues for more comprehensive utilization of bodily sensations and imagination, which are abundant resources that every learner possesses.

There are attempts to use videos and music into foreign language classes to motivate learners. However, examples of using pictures and collages created by learners themselves to promote learning in foreign language classes are scant. In this article, some examples of using learners’ own drawings and collages as zines to promote learning in foreign language classes are introduced. Learners use zines as a way to express their short story. I shall discuss the possibility of using zines for foreign language learning.

In the forum of the Fifth Annual Conference of the Association for Language and Cultural Education, we the presenters reexamined the practice of “Contextualizing Self in Society” advocated by the Hirayama Ikuo Volunteer Center, Waseda University. This paper describes how we considered the practice of “Contextualizing Self in Society” and developed the practice following the forum. To open up the “personal” learning to society, we have conducted a multilayered reflection in two ways: the exchange of e-mails (reciprocal letters), and the description of each development related to the practice following the forum presentation based on this exchange of e-mails.

This paper reports the practice of streaming the 90-minute video that includes interviews with leaders and participants of the organizations that support foreign residents and provide intercultural exchange activities in Ibaraki prefecture at the extension program of the university. In order to reflect on this practice, a 108-minute video was produced. The video covers the process of creating and streaming the video, the clips of the video used at the extension course, and data of the questionnaire with participants and interviews with people who appeared in the video and person who is in charge at the Social Collaboration Center of the university. With the information, I reflect on this practice and discuss the possibilities and difficulties of streaming the interview data gathered in order to collect information at extension program and how we can overcome the difficulties.

This article is a review of the book Sangaku Renkei de Tsukuru Tabunka Kyōsei: Kashio to Musabi ga Dezain Suru Nihongo Kyōiku [“Building multicultural coexistence through industry-academia collaboration: Japanese language education designed by Casio and Musashino Art University”] (Kurosio Publishers, 2021) edited by Jumpei Miyo and Shinichi Yonetoku. The book summarizes an industry-academia collaborative project carried out over a period of three years by Casio Computer Company Limited (Casio) and Musashino Art University (MAU). This article provides an overview of the book and discusses its achievements and challenges. The discussion is from the perspective of a researcher specializing in Japanese language education who has conducted practical research on the educational scenarios in Japan and abroad. Through the series of projects it describes, this book presents new forms of industry-academia collaborations and new possibilities for implementing Japanese language education.