This paper examines the characteristics of classroom communication in English classes presided over by an experienced teacher at a public junior high school. Each year level (first year to third year) was analyzed in terms of "mode" of communication (how the participants communicate) and "level" of communication (to whom the participants' conversation is directed to). As a result, the following observations became clear: (1) each year level uses mode and level differently; (2) as the year levels progress, the use of mode and level become more complex; and (3) the combination of the characteristic use of mode and level at each year level runs in parallel with the development of students and it leads to students becoming communicators who are conscious not only of what they say but when, where, to whom, and how they speak.

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This study aims to clarify the potential influence that the Japan Association for Physical Education might bring to Chinese students when their style of "group learning" is applied to Chinese physical education. The results are summarized into 5 points as follows. (1) High scores were generally observed on items of Students' Formative Evaluation of Classes by Takahashi et al. (2) The "Group Learning" class had a strong influence on 'Cooperation' and 'Learning Method'. (3) The "Group Learning" class put emphasis on student independence, therefore, and showed less involvement by teachers. (4) It is suggested that "Group Learning" cultivates the spirit of ambition, cooperation and student fellowship. (5) In the class called "Group Learning", 'Cooperation' could be seen in the responses for the categories of 'Students' and 'Material'. It has been made apparent that the class called "Group Learning" enables the cultivation of features of cooperation.

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According to a survey regarding death conducted with female university students: (1) 36% of the students responded that they had first become conscious of death (their own future death) in their "kindergarten or early elementary school years;" (2) that this consciousness was triggered by "the death of an animal or person close to themselves, such as a pet or a grandparent;" and (3) the majority of the students had felt "sad, pained, or lonely" to watch the loved one die. The following study and analysis was conducted to find out about the implementation of preparatory education concerning death in kindergarten and early elementary school curricula. First, five schools were chosen out of the elementary schools that opened up their moral instruction classes for research purposes, on the condition that they took up "life" as the main or sub-theme of the lesson. As a result of examining the teaching material used in the moral instruction lessons of the five schools under study, none of the schools was found to have taken up the topic of the death of the first person (oneself) or of a second person (parents, grandparents, etc.), raising the problem of insufficient education dealing with grief or pain accompanying death.

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This research focuses on concrete aspects of PISA-type reading literacy in the case of physical education (P.E.) classes. It focuses, in particular, on the endurance run, and what kinds of skills levels can be designated as regards PISA-type reading literacy in P.E. classes. The main findings of this research were as follows: (1) PISA-type reading literacy in P.E. classes could be divided into four main categories: psychological aspects; techniques; physiological aspects; observation of others. (2) Differences between men and women were found with regard to these four categories. The male students tended to emphasize 'techniques' more, and 'psychological aspects' less. On the other hand, female students focused more on 'psychological aspects' and 'observation of others'. Furthermore, in the data collection, male students wrote less comments than female students. (3) Based on concrete aspects of PISA-type reading literacy with regard to endurance running classes, I proposed a set of proficiency levels. In addition, after applying the students' reflection data to these proficiency levels, the following could be determined: the proficiency level of 'retrieving information' was shown to be level 3-4; the level of 'interpreting' was shown to be level 2; and the proficiency level of 'reflection and evaluation' was shown to be level 1-2. These results accord with similar findings in an investigation into PISA-type reading literacy in Japan carried out in 2000.

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The paper reports the results of a questionnaire study conducted in Finland in 2008 in order to capture the perceptions about English language learning among Finnish primary school pupils. In all, 322 pupils at five different primary schools participated in the study. The questionnaire consisted of 32 questions: the first two questions were sensitizing questions, the next twelve questions asked the pupils about why they were studying English, with a view to determining which type of motivation, instrumental and integrative, is more dominant among Finnish primary school pupils. The second set of twelve questions asked the pupils how they were enjoying their English lessons, and the final six questions inquired into the pupils' attitudes toward English language learning in general, focusing on the degree of development of learner autonomy. The obtained results were also compared to capture possible differences in perceptions in terms of the differences in the location of schools, gender, grade, and the choice of the first foreign language. Finally, an analysis was carried out among the results for the question items on the same questionnaire, which disclosed that learning English as a school subject does not necessarily induce disinterest in English.

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A movement away from the study of science has been a concern in Japan for a number of years. This research was conducted to determine the degrees of understanding of science among the students studying at a vocational college to be kindergarten or nursery teachers, who do not major in science. It was also conducted to clarify the problems which exist in compulsory science education. The research shows the results as follows. As regards the students' static knowledge, more than 60% of respondents could choose the correct answer for the question of "Direction of electrical current", "The organ not in the abdomen", and "The diurnal motion of the sun observed in Japan". However, in the case of problem-solving questions involving deeper thinking, the students could not solve questions related to matters such as the diurnal motion of the sun observed in the Southern Hemisphere. Moreover, basic concepts of science were rarely understood when answering such questions as calculations based on the theory of speed and the setting of control experiments. Scientific concepts based on modern science are within the understanding of the respondents. This result shows that science education in recent years has had a good effect on the construction of scientific concepts among students. However, it was also found in this survey that approximately 30% of students do not realize the connection between science and daily life. Therefore, it is necessary for science education to further promote the recognition of this connection.

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Recently, a school-based program was developed to prevent alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, which focused on teaching refusal skills. The purposes of this study were to examine the relationships among self-reported assertion, refusal efficacy, and role-playing tests on high school students' skill at refusing offers of tobacco and alcohol. In total 151 eighth-grade students (78 males and 73 females) took part in this study by completing the self-assessment questionnaires. From among them, 40 students were selected for role-playing assessments of refusal skills. The main correlation coefficients for the relationship between the self-assessment and role-playing tests were not significant. It was also found that the reliability of verbal measures of role-playing assessments of refusal skills was very high (intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) = 0.82-0.94).

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The aim of this paper is to investigate elementary and junior high school English teachers' attitude and awareness towards elementary school English activities, focusing on pupils' expected achievement levels and current problems concerning the implementation of English activities in elementary schools. A total of 128 elementary school teachers and 119 junior high school English teachers answered the questionnaires and the results were compared with each other. The main finding was that elementary school teachers expect their pupils to achieve higher levels than junior high school English teachers do. Concerning the problems with the implementation process, in addition to the five universal problems in primary English education stated by Edelenbos (1997), another problem was identified in the Japanese situation, which was teachers' misunderstanding of evaluation.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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