Previous research has shown the potential advantages of the recast, although some problems have also been suggested (e.g., Ellis & Sheen, 2006; Loewen & Philp, 2006; Lyster, 1998a, 2007). Previous studies reported that recasts to learners' grammatical errors were more frequently provided than to any other error types, but that the success rate in grammatical recast, measured by learners' repair (correct reformulation of an error occurring after recasts), was the lowest (e.g., Kim & Han, 2007; Sato, 2009; Williams, 1999). However, the effectiveness of written recasts given to learners' writings has not yet been fully examined. In this study, grammatical structures were categorized as either early developmental (easy) or late developmental (difficult) referring to a previous study　(categorization A) and taking account of Japanese learners' developmental progression (categorization B), and then it was attempted to examine the effects of written recasts determined by grammatical difficulty. Twenty-five Japanese university students revised their texts following teacher feedback in the form of written recasts, and their repair was measured. Students also wrote a comment about how they felt on using written recasts in revising their first draft. The results showed that written recasts were effective for Japanese university students' text revision, irrespective of the degree of difficulty of grammatical features. The results are discussed in the light of the effects of written recasts.

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Incidental recasts are a type of corrective feedback referring to recasts provided in response to errors that occur incidentally (e.g., Loewen, 2005). There are two variables that affect incidental recasts that have largely been ignored in previous studies: a) the number of recasts provided, and b) whether the learner is an addressee or an auditor of the recast. For the first variable, it is natural to assume that the greater the number of recasts provided for a target feature, the more effective the feedback. As for the second variable, we would anticipate that recasts are more effective for the addressee than for an auditor. The present study was conducted to examine these hypotheses. Twenty-six ESL learners participated in a treatment — immediate posttest — delayed posttest design of study. Four grammatical features were chosen as target structures among all of the recasts provided during the implementation of a series of text-manipulation tasks that lasted two hours. These features were selected as target structures based on the total number of recasts provided on them. Two of the structures (major target structures) received a total of 39 recasts combined, whereas the other two (minor target structures) combined, received 11 recasts. The results show that the effectiveness of incidental recasts for minor target structures was negligible regardless of whether the students were addressees or auditors. In contrast, the incidental recasts for major target structures were effective only for the addressees, but not for the auditors. This effectiveness, however, disappeared at the delayed posttest. This study suggests the necessity to take into account the number of recasts provided as well as to analyze data according to addresses and auditors when investigating the effectiveness of incidental recasts.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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Recently, the importance of practical English and the art of nurturing students to develop sufficient skills to interact in English before they embark upon their careers have been generating nationwide interest. This prompted the Japanese government to declare a major reform in the high school English curriculums. As a result, the English pedagogy in Japanese high schools has started shifting its style to include a more frequent use of English by both teachers and students in class. This study aims to identify how a particular group of Japanese high school students feels about English classes conducted in English. A questionnaire survey was conducted involving tenth grade students concerning (1) the current condition of the students and their thoughts on their English skills, (2) their thoughts on the use of English by their nonnative teachers in class, and (3) their thoughts with respect to the effects of the teachers' model summary on their summary writing. The results indicated that the students were least confident about their listening skills and that they wanted to improve their speaking skills the most. Moreover, they generally seemed to have a positive attitude toward their teachers who used English in class. As for their summary writing, approximately 80% of the students responded that when they tackled the task themselves, they found their teachers' model summaries to be useful. The interpretation of the findings considers the amount of time that needs to be devoted in class for using the target language, and more broadly, how English classes should be conducted in English in the context of Japanese high schools.

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