The aim of this study is to verify the correlation between awareness of death and the experience of loss resulting from a death in the family, as well as the correlation between awareness of death and self-esteem of junior high school students. The findings of our study, based on questionnaire responses and the consideration on three research questions, show that the proportion of students who are aware of death is about the same, irrespective of their developmental age, that is, more than 80％ of all junior high school students surveyed have thought about death-regardless of their grade. In addition, it seems that the experience of loss, such as losing a pet or family member, has triggered these students to think about death. We can say that the awareness of death and the experience of loss are somewhat correlated. However, it is not always true to say“ children who have considered death tend to have high self-esteem.” We need to carry out further research in order to discover whether there is a correlation between awareness of death and selfesteem. Based on the result of this study, we can say that the experience of loss is a factor associated with the awareness of death of junior high school students.

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The aim of the study was to clarify how the characteristics of teachers who with the capabilities of ascertaining and understanding the educational content of syllabuses deliver effective physical education classes. A questionnaire survey concerning educational content was carried out with teachers of upper grade elementary school students. The questionnaire items were related to the educational content in the areas of ball sports (basketball) and track and field (hurdles). Comparisons were made between the teachers with high attitude scores and those with low attitude scores in order to determine the educational content to be grasped by teachers for improving students’ learning outcomes, as well as to determine the characteristics of teachers who understood the content. The results revealed that the teachers who improved their students’ learning outcomes (attitude scores) have clear educational content in their classes and exhibit a deeper understanding of each content item. Also, they were capable of linking together individual educational content items.

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The objectives of this research were as follows: first, to extract the respective training factors that affect teaching-ability factors and the formation of teaching ability among Japanese language teachers in junior high schools; second, to clarify the influence of the training on each of the identified teaching-ability factors. In order to achieve these objectives, a questionnaire survey was distributed to Japanese language teachers in 110 junior high schools within prefecture A, and a quantitative analysis was conducted of the responses received from 297 teachers. The results of the analysis revealed the following. First, five factors were identified as teaching-ability factors: basic knowledge, the ability to conceive units, the ability to conceive and deploy ideas in the class, the ability to understand and manage learners, and the ability to evaluate learning. Additionally, the following four training factors that affected the formation of teaching ability: training with colleagues, training outside of the school, independent and voluntary training, and organizational framework and climate. Second, for Japanese language teachers in junior high schools, training with colleagues positively affected the teaching-ability factors of basic knowledge, the ability to conceive units, the ability to conceive and deploy ideas in the class, the ability to understand and manage learners, and the ability to evaluate learning; while the training factor independent and voluntary training positively affected the teaching-ability factors of the ability to conceive units, the ability to conceive and deploy ideas in the class, and the ability to evaluate learning.

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In language arts education, connecting things by similarity is an example of a metaphor. However, making a connection using similarities is not only as a figure of speech rhetorical. Many researchers, including Kanji Hatano, have discussed the relationship between thinking and rhetoric. Thinking by the stacking of objective correctness that has supported the modern science is established by asking whether the compared items/ideas are identical or different. Similarity was a source of ambiguity in the origin of modern scientific thought. However, Aristotle et al. appreciate the potential of similarity, as it is being re-evaluated in the field of cognitive science and philosophy today. In this paper, making a connection is regarded as an important ability to address the “problems not be solved in a known manner”, to consider significance and ways of training in language arts.

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In elementary school home economics classes, a lesson to explain how to wear clothes comfortably must developed. The instructional contents for measuring the comfort of clothes should be made clear scientifically. It is important that pupils manage clothes with a viewpoint of Education for Sustainable Development. In this study, the authors developed an experiment to measure feeling of clothes on skin. It was established that the following characteristics are related to the comfort of clothes; microclimate in clothing, garment pressure and the feeling on skin. An inclined plane method was used to measure the coefficient of static friction for a variety of fabrics. The basic factor for the friction properties for the fabrics was clarified. The coefficient of static friction for clothes varied according to the characteristics of fibers, the form and thickness of the yarn, and the different forms of weaving. The results showed that the coefficient of static friction varied among pairs of the cloth tested. Finally, we tested wet clothes and found they had a larger coefficient of static friction than dry clothes. In addition, the friction where the cloth became fluffy were reduced by using a finishing agent after washing.

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This study presents features of learners’ Japanese pronunciation that are typically recognized by Russian and Japanese teachers, and their respective differences. A questionnaire survey was administered to 11 Japanese and 11 Russian teachers in Russian-speaking areas. The survey results revealed four characteristic features of Japanese pronunciation related to accent and intonation. One of the characteristics, pointed out by many Russian teachers, was“ stress toward the end of each phrase.” A comparison of the responses of the Russian and Japanese teachers showed that a greater number of Russian teachers pointed out characteristics such as“ stress on the penultimate syllable.” It was also observed that it is not easy for Japanese teachers to point out characteristics of Japanese pronunciation related to accent and intonation. On the basis of these findings, this paper discusses differences in pronunciation recognition between Japanese and Russian teachers. Additionally, the issue of applying these findings to phonics education is discussed in the context of cooperation between Japanese and Russian teachers.

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In this paper, I examined the assessment of students’ envisionment-building proposed by Judith Langer. She argued that ongoing assessment is an effective assessment for literature classes. The ongoing assessment is the way which teacher collects and analyzes the students’ works, and applies the analysis to make instructional judgments in literature classes. In doing so, teachers can assess students’ literary understanding and the activity of building envisionments. For these considerations, it is important to analyze those works through three perspectives (orientations toward meaning, stances, thinking strategies) in order to encourage students’ literary understanding, and to ensure students’ view about reading literature.

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The purpose of this survey is to reveal the views and requests for science lessons in elementary and lower secondary school in order to acquire fundamental data to discuss the agenda for smooth connection between the schools. The result of the questionnaire carried out for 6th graders and 8th graders said below. 1. At both elementary and lower secondary schools, problem solving has been conducted with careful guidance of teachers in consideration for feelings of the students. The difference is that, in elementary school, discussion in small groups and thinking alone is valued, whereas in lower secondary school, teachers’ support for the entrance exam, offer of new information, and teachers’ “wait” attitude is valued. 2. The eminent request for science lessons is that both of the students want to have experiments. Requests for developmental instruction by elementary students and for fun and stimulating by lower secondary students are observed. 3. Lower secondary students think the contents of learning are difficult, and they want to talk to classmates around them.

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