This study commences with statistical data analysis of Japanese adults’ self-assessment of their English reading comprehension and various explanatory variables. Data from the Japanese General Social Survey (JGSS) were analyzed in two stages. In the first stage, a series of bivariate analyses were conducted with demographic, socio-economic, and lifestyle-related indicators as independent variables and self-assessed reading comprehension in English as the dependent variable. In the second stage, several multivariate models were constructed to determine which model best accounts for the effects on the dependent variable. The variables in the category of lifestyle-related factors—which includes the degree of information technology (IT) utilization—surfaced as predictive of the variable on self-assessed reading comprehension in English for Japanese adults. Subsequent to the analyses, implications and possibilities of IT as a reading resource for Japanese adult learners of English are discussed.

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This study has two purposes. First, we examine the types of noticing by university students who are participating in Teaching Methods for Elementary English class as part of elementary school teaching course. Second, we attempt to investigate how our teaching materials for cultural comparison between Japanese and English helped those students develop their noticing. For these purposes, we conducted lessons using the materials and analyzed their description of language/cultural noticing based on three types: perceptive noticing, knowledge-based noticing, and context-based noticing. The results of the analysis tell us that students gradually experienced various noticing. In particular, some of them seemed to have become ready for spontaneous learning by completing the trials. We would like to suggest the effectiveness of providing these materials and show the possibility of contributing to the development of their teaching ability in the future.

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As the medical field becomes increasingly globalized, many medical departments and universities have sought better approaches to English for Medical Purposes (EMP) (Lodhi et al. 2018, Kayaoglu & Akabas 2016). In many medical contexts, word-for-word translations from Japanese to English simply do not work. In these cases especially, translation theory offers effective skills for transferring from one language to another for both translation and interpretation. (Baker 2009, 2011, Picken 1989). This study investigates the hypothesis that the fundamental difficulties in EMP are the same as those faced by professional translators and interpreters, and that the application of translation theory could effectively contribute to better medical explanations from Japanese doctors or medical students. To test this hypothesis, we applied Baker’s (2009, 2011) translation theory and compared the effectiveness of application-based learning (ABL) instruction and conventional memory-based learning (MBL) instruction under experimental conditions. ABL instruction was significantly more effective under the conditions of the experiment. Analysis of the subjects’ translations suggested three main reasons for poor translations: inappropriate word-for-word translation, unfamiliarity with common fixed medical expressions, and different thought processes applied to medical discussions in the two languages. These results suggest that the proposed ABL approach could be used in teaching to help overcome these problems.

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Victoria Chang (1970-), acclaimed Asian American poet, has been productive over the years. Here in this article, I would like to uncover the meanings of revisions regarding the lineation of one poem from Barbie Chang, “Barbie Chang’s Tears”, through comparing the detailed changes between two versions, at the same time placing emphasis on the unconventional formatted sonnets in the collection. I ultimately aim to emphasize socio-political connotations in the book which can be interpreted as a cutting edge for the questions of otherness, marginalization, and identity. By exploring the significance of the flow of her unpunctuated style, we will come to realize that Chang writes about ethnicity when the category of “Asian” is simultaneously included and excluded.

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Nursery rhyme has rich melody of English in it, and, over the centuries, it has enchanted not only children but also adults worldwide. It is also used in teaching English to young children in non-English-speaking countries. The same is true of Japan. Public interest in early childhood English education has rapidly increased lately and many English materials based on nursery rhymes or songs have been published. As a result of this growing interest in English education for young children, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has made English mandatory subjectfor the 5th and 6th grades in 2020. The purpose of this study is to introduce some nursery rhymes into early childhood English education in a Japanese kindergarten to draw their attention to the phoneme and suprasegmental phonology of English and raise more awareness of foreign cultures. In this study, three nursery rhymes will be taught to children and analyze their outputs to clarify nursery rhymes that promote young Japanese children to understand the phonological features of English language.

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The purpose of the present study is to explore how creativity can be encouraged and nourished in poetry writing in English and how it can be analyzed, assessed, and rated in students’ poetic works in Japanese High School EFL classrooms. The landscape of creativity research has ranged so widely that it is very difficult to pin down a certain field. In this study, from a linguistic and literary point of view, Geoffrey N. Leech’s ideas on creativity and poetic license are introduced, which further serve to rate creativity found in a student’s poem by a rubric based on them. Lastly, this research aims to exemplify poetry writing in Japanese High School EFL classrooms as a suitable teaching practice toward in-depth learning along with autonomous and dialogical learning as shown in the Course of Study as a part of the recent educational reform.

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The purpose of the present study is to explore English pronunciation teaching in elementary schools and teacher’s beliefs that are behind how and what elementary school teachers should teach about regarding English phonetic and phonological factors. In this study, the author observed 5th and 6th grade lessons taught by a teacher who had English teaching licenses for junior high school and senior high school and was proficient in English, and interviewed her to collect the data of her reflection on lessons. The analysis showed that (1) she focused on students expressing their thoughts and feelings, while stressing the importance of successful communication; (2) she especially valued phonological features such as rhythm and intonation based on her own experience as an ESL speaker, and (3) she tried to teach pronunciation implicitly because she thought an explicit way sometimes caused confusion in children and she wanted children to be aware of English sound features through listening and mimicking the ALT’s pronunciation as much as possible.

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Literary materials are generally considered grammatically difficult. Unfortunately, a variety of grammatical items in literary materials are under-specified at the moment, which makes it difficult for Japanese teachers of English to plan teaching practice using these materials. Consequently, teachers often avoid using literary materials in class. This research examines grammatical items included in literary materials in authorized high school textbooks for English Communication I, II, and III and discusses what grammatical items teachers are likely to meet when teaching with literary materials. The textbook analysis shows that these materials include a variety of grammatical items which generally fall outside the scope of high school English language teaching in Japan: these include grammatical items related to narrative structures, somewhat archaic items, and items which may contradict what Japanese learners of English have been taught in class (they often reflect current grammar changes). Similar studies with different texts need repeating to make literary materials more accessible for teachers.

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This study investigated the attributes and abilities Japanese parents of elementary school students expect of elementary school teacher as English language instruction increased to twice a week in the upper grades of elementary schools in Japan from the 2020 academic year. The results showed that parents’ (n = 611, 52.5% females) primary expectation involved proper pronunciation. The ability to pronounce properly and to communicate with ALTs was especially important for female parents. Additionally, items related to personality aptitude－such as “cheerful” and “positive attitude” as well as teaching aptitude, such as “willingness to cooperate with other teachers”－were also rated relatively high. If the needs of parents are to be respected, training protocols for elementary school English teachers should be revised to emphasize these qualities and abilities in the future. It is noteworthy that the overall mean value of the scores for “Level 1 of the English Proficiency Test, TOEFL 550, TOEIC 730 or higher” was the lowest among 34 items. This suggests that parents are less concerned with English proficiency than pronunciation, which may reduce the anxiety and burden on elementary school teachers who are not confident in their English skills. Based on these results, it is expected that an effective training system will be developed in the future.

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Online education has gained in importance during the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide including Japan. However, a lack of preparation time urged all educators a sudden shift from the conventional face-to-face instruction to the online instruction without sufficient faculty training and technical support. This paper reports how a Japanese language instructor at a public university has developed a hybrid online course, implementing lessons that she learned from her experiences of the Language Online Project (LOL) for French and Spanish in the U.S. This paper summarizes basics of the LOL model and its research outcomes, discussing how these findings were applied in developing a Japanese language course for international students in Japan. Based on experiences of initial implementations and revisions, this paper examinesthe applicability of the U.S.-based LOL’s hybrid model of the online instruction in Japan, re-assuring the importance of teaching strategies.

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The purpose of this present study is an analysis of lecture which demonstrates how the knowledge of English language history contributes to English education at the university level. The focus of the lecture uses the movie Romeo + Juliet (1996) in which characters speak Early Modern English. First, in class, students were asked to write down a series of questions about English that they have wondered over the years since they began studying English. They were then asked to point out the differences between Early Modern English and Modern English, utilizing the movie script from Romeo + Juliet. I was able to make convincing explanations in terms of English language history in the following comparisons in the English literature class in early November: 1. Why is the pronoun “I” always capitalized? 2. Why is “went” the past tense of “go” though those words are not related at all? 3. Why are English spelling and pronunciation different? 4. Why do we add “-s” to verbs when the subject is the third person singular? 5. Negative constructions in Early Modern English 6. What is the difference between “you” and “thou” in Early Modern English? Students’ comments after the lecture demonstrated that learning English language history stimulated their curiosity and deepened their understanding of English.

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The purpose of the present note is how to combine cognitive characteristics and the insight of literary works and studies, not how to discuss literary material itself in the classroom. To use language with deeper thinking, students should use English with a real feeling. To do so, their activities are to be developed by considering hints from the gap of cognitive characteristics. As the result of these activities, some students calmly work on the classroom activitiesthat they would give up in the usual teaching style. Here it is emphasized that the students should be encouraged to be more independent than usual.

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The purpose of the present study is to clarify the effects of music workshops blending appreciation and expression on children’s attitudes toward music. It employed 785 elementary school pupils and 5 teachers as the participants. The 785 pupils took part in music workshops organized by 6 artists including the first author. After the workshops, they answered a questionnaire consisting of 5 questions about the workshops they had joined. The five teachers were chosen for a one-on-one semi-structured interview consisting of 4 questions with the first author. They were asked how their pupils had changed by joining the workshops. The analysis of the questionnaire data suggests that music workshops blending appreciation and expression were accepted by the participants favorably. The analysis of the semi-structured interview data suggests that the participants came to show a positive attitude toward music after joining the workshops. Based on the results, it is then discussed that the 6 artists played a role as a teaching artist and provided entry pointsfor the participants. It is finally argued that the entry points provided by the artists led the 785 participants to feel familiar with music and encouraged them to take part in the workshops positively.

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