This paper discusses how the developments of applied linguistics have affected the developments of English language teaching (ELT) materials. After giving a brief review of the history of applied linguistics and ELT in Japan, I will critically examine the discourses of ‘good’ and/or ‘politically correct’ ELT materials at different periods of time in relation to the following issues. 1. ELT materials as a window to the world. 2. Moral and cultural values represented in ELT materials 3. The issue of ‘authenticity’. Materials play an important role in learning a foreign language in classrooms. In secondary schools, authorized textbooks are the major source of information for the learners, whereas in universities, a wider range of materials, including but not limited to commercially available textbooks, are selected by each institution, or sometimes by each instructor. In either case, moral and cultural values represented in ELT materials play significant roles in learners’ beliefs about English. Therefore, teachers have to continuously assess what the learners can learn from the materials in the specific contexts of learning they are in, and more importantly how the teachers can optimize the effectiveness of the materials in their classrooms.

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The goal of this paper is to explore some of the main concerns that teachers might have about Extensive Reading (ER), which can range from teachers being concerned about the amount of time that ER may eat into the already crowded curriculum, lack of knowledge about ER, low student motivation to lack of resources or support from school leaders and administrators. We discuss each of the 10 concerns and offer suggestions on how teachers’ concerns about ER can be alleviated. We argue that unless we adequately address these concerns, the adoption rate of ER in schools may continue to be small. Even if it is adopted, the implementation may fall far below expectations, thus yielding minimal or no language learning benefits.

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This study developed a vocabulary size test for Japanese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) using the New JACET List of 8,000 Basic Words (VST-NJ8). Data from the vocabulary size tests were interpreted to assess, diagnose, and predict learners’ lexical proficiency. Yet, existing tests for Japanese EFL learners involve two critical issues regarding unrepresentative contents and inflated estimation of vocabulary size due to methodological restrictions. For these reasons, a large-scale item bank was created in Study 1 by sampling 800 target words and 2,400 distractors from the New JACET List of 8,000 Basic Words. The data from 2,155 test-takers were analyzed using the three-parameter logistic (3PL) model of the item response theory to obtain the invariant parameters of difficulty, discriminability, and pseudo-guessing probability for every item. In Study 2, an automatic test assembly was conducted in consideration of the number of items to be included, the distribution of parts of speech, and the test information functions estimated by the 3PL model. The item characteristics were argued for validation in terms of the content, substantive, structural, generalizability, and external aspects of construct validity. The administration, scoring, and interpretation methods of the VST-NJ8 are fully provided.

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While previous second language (L2) motivation research on group work has focused on an emergent leadership (Leeming, 2019; Yashima, Ikeda, & Nakahira, 2016), few studies have examined the effect of the presence or absence of a leader-role student or their leadership on group members’ motivation. Thus, this study investigated how L2 learners’ motivation and group work dynamics differ between an experimental group that includes a leader and a control group that does not, considering Complex Dynamic Systems Theory. A total of 90 Japanese university students participated in the study, and they worked in groups of three on a picture description task. Multiple data sources, such as audio-observation data, as well as various types of self-reported data, were utilized to elucidate the process of group work dynamics. The results showed that, throughout the activity, an upward trend in motivation was observed in both groups, whereas there was a distinct qualitative difference between them. Furthermore, while it was possible to activate group work by the assigned leader, equal participation could also enhance positive group dynamics, even in the absence of a leader. Finally, the implications of the findings are discussed in relation to the use of group work in the language classroom.

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This paper outlines a qualitative evaluation of a course developed to provide intercultural learning opportunities in a non-language major higher education (HE) context in Japan. The course was established as an intercultural educational option given goals in the institution to support the internationalisation of students. The evaluation of the course led to understanding of perspectives towards the course among the students who selected it, and outcomes relating to intercultural learning. From this understanding, the researchers identified ways to enhance the course design and, it was hoped, intercultural learning opportunities. The elective contentbased course aimed to develop awareness of diversity among English-speaking people, awareness of diversity in English language use in the world, and to support independent learning and reflective skills. The paper provides details of the course design and rationale, before presenting the research. Data were collected from 69 students from two sources: individual student reflections following each lesson; and individual evaluative end of course comments relating to the learning objectives. A content analysis using data-driven coding revealed that the course was meaningful for intercultural learning among these students. The research findings highlight the significance of providing intercultural education options in non-language major settings.

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This research focuses on the gap in the attitudes toward eTandem online international video chats between EFL learners and pre-service teachers. A total of 36 students preparing to become secondary school English teachers at a university in Tokyo, Japan, participated in online international video chats with 25 university students taking a Japanese language course in Melbourne, Australia. The data on the Japanese participants were collected through a questionnaire after the video chat and email comments after the reflection session held in class the following week. The statistical analysis shows a significant difference between the enjoyment they felt with the video chat exchanges and the willingness to adopt an international exchange in their future English teaching. They understood the importance of output opportunities and experiencing the excitement of successful communication in English, but they expressed concerns in their reflections about technical difficulties and managing an international exchange in their future English teaching. The results of this research point to the importance of training opportunities as well as technical and administrative support so that pre-service English teachers can be more willing to plan online international video chat exchanges in class and so give students the opportunities to communicate with peer students abroad.

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While recent WTC (Willingness to Communicate) research has focused on the situational nature of WTC, few studies have explored the key factors influencing young language learners’ situational L2 WTC in instructional settings. In response, this study aims to capture what stimulates or reduces these learners’ situational WTC as they engage in interactional tasks. The participants were eight junior high school students (aged 14–15). A series of task-based interactions was implemented over four months in a class of 33 students including the participants. Factors influencing WTC were captured through inductive analysis of data from videotaped conversations and stimulated recall interviews. Results revealed the integration of two contextual factors: (a) interlocutor factor (communication efforts, proficiency gap between learner and interlocutor, and relationship with interlocutor), and (b) task condition factor (topic, task difficulty, task goal, and self-selected task implementation). These factors either stimulated or hindered participants’ situational WTC. Moreover, novice learners’ WTC levels depended on whether or not they could manage situational constraints caused by task demand and higher proficiency in interlocutors.

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Comprehending text information and validating its consistency are two critical components of building a situation model of the text. Although first-language readers have been widely shown to simultaneously validate and comprehend texts, the relation between these two processes is unclear in second-language (L2) readers. We explored this relation in L2 readers, focusing on different situational dimensions (protagonist, temporality, and spatiality) of a story. Japanese university students read narratives containing a context sentence that was consistent or inconsistent with a later target sentence along one of the situational dimensions, while their eye movements were recorded. After reading, they completed a recall test assessing validation and comprehension. The participants were found to validate protagonist but not temporal and spatial consistency, as reflected in increased recall of inconsistencies in the protagonist texts. Conversely, their degree of comprehension was similar across dimensions, which did not show dimension (show dimension effects) effects on recall or eye-tracking measures in the consistent condition. Together, these results indicate the independence of validation from comprehension in L2 reading. The findings are discussed in terms of theoretical models of validation, and implications for researchers and educators are provided.

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