This study was conducted to examine whether there are any quantitative or qualitative differences between teacher and peer feedback given to student teachers’ teaching demonstrations in a Japanese university. Four student teachers performed teaching demonstrations, and their peers gave feedback by rating them and making comments in terms of five criteria: "Lesson Plan," "Teaching Techniques," "Teacher Talk," "Student and Teacher Interaction," and "Classroom Atmosphere." Similarly, four in-service teachers also gave feedback on the same student teachers’ video-recorded demonstrations. The results of the analysis revealed that: (1) compared with the peers, the in-service teachers evaluated the student teachers' demonstrations more critically, (2) especially on the "Teaching Techniques" criterion; (3) the in-service teachers’ comments were more concrete; (4) in the "Lesson Plan," "Teaching Techniques," "Teacher Talk," and "Student and Teacher Interaction" criteria, the teachers made more concrete comments, whereas except for "Teaching Techniques," the peers wrote more general comments; and (5) the in-service teachers identified problems in the pre-service teachers’ demonstrations more precisely and offered more specific solutions than the peers.

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This paper examines vocabulary learning strategies employed by underprepared college students majoring in engineering and their perception of strategy effectiveness. The students were divided into two classes and given the same weekly word quizzes. One class used a teacher-made handout to introduce new words and was not assigned any homework. The other class used a textbook and was assigned writing homework. The students in both classes were given a questionnaire and asked to identify which strategies they used and which strategies they thought were effective. The survey found that reviewing the handout and verbal repetition were employed the most in the class using the handouts. On the other hand, writing repetition was the most used strategy in the class which had been assigned homework. Regarding strategy effectiveness, approximately half of the students in the former class thought verbal repetition was effective while about 50% of those in the latter class found writing repetition helpful. The survey data suggest that the type of teaching material or homework can influence not only the choice of vocabulary learning strategy but also the perceived strategy effectiveness among students.

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Previous studies have explored the effectiveness of L2 vocabulary learning methods for novice learners. However, what vocabulary instruction develops L2 lexical knowledge of Japanese elementary school children beyond an oral and aural input is not adequately clear. The present study examined the efffects of L1 semantic knowledge of children (i.e., semantic relatedness) on L2 vocabulary learning through foreign language activities. In Activity 1 (Karuta game), 51 Japanese 5th-grade children learned the meanings of target words based on syntagmatic, paradigmatic, and unrelated conditions. The results suggested that the paradigmatic relation was most effective for word learning. Activity 2 (word combination game) was conducted to examine the effects of semantic relatedness on the acquisition of productive knowledge. The results were consistent with those of Activity 1, indicating that semantic relations facilitated the learning of various aspects of words. These findings suggest that using L1 semantic relatedness in L2 vocabulary learning promotes gains in lexical knowledge for Japanese elementary school children. Particularly, a paradigmatic relation affected the leaning outcomes, and the words were retained in mental lexicon based on semantic relatedness.

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The aim of this paper is to examine the use of a learner corpus and a corpus of native speakers in foreign or second language (L2) teaching and learning in Japan. It is revealed that learner corpora can function as a reference to identify and clarify difficult materials for a particular learner group, which is significant step for better language learning (Meunier, 2002, p. 125; Nesselhauf, 2004, p. 125-126). In this paper, two corpora are employed in language learning; the Japanese English as a Foreign Language Learner Corpus (JEFLL corpus) and the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). These corpora represent the language produced by native speakers and non-native speakers with a particular language background, respectively American first language (L1) speakers of English and Japanese learners of English. It is arguable that L2 teaching and learning with these corpora will allow learners to compare language patterns between native and non-native speakers of English. This paper proposes and discusses possible activities using the corpora. These concrete examples are provided to facilitate an understanding of the difficulties faced by Japanese learners of English in classroom practice; and additionally, demonstrate the efficacy of applying corpora to scaffold learning and pedagogic practice.

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This study aims to examine the effect of contextual constraint on the processing of polysemous words in Japanese EFL reading. A total of 44 Japanese university students read both strongly and weakly constraining sentences, that is, sentences that contained target polysemous words constrained to subordinate meanings unfamiliar to the participants. After reading each sentence, the students completed a lexical decision task, in which they classified two types of probe words (representing the dominant and subordinate meanings of the target words) as words or nonwords, as quickly as possible. The results showed that degree of contextual constraint influenced lexical decision latency. Specifically, in the weakly constraining sentences, the participants responded to the subordinate meanings of the target words more quickly than to their dominant meanings. In contrast, there were no significant differences in lexical decision latency between the two probe types in the strongly constraining sentences. Taken together, these findings suggest that the role of dominant meanings in the processing of unfamiliar subordinate meanings of polysemous words differs according to the strength of the contextual constraint.

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The purpose of the current research is to identify how Sociocultural Theory has been constructed and recognized in the field of foreign language education research. The paper begins with an explanation of how the ideas of Vygotsky have been introduced into the area of Second Language Acquisition by Lantolf and others, and then moves on to describe how Wertsch interprets the essentials of Vygotskian psychology. Based on the three main topics identified by Wertsch it also discusses what has been studied within Sociocultural Theory, indicating its possibilities and limitations. Three recommendations are made: (1) research that focuses on the social context of participants is indispensable; (2) the application of the concept of “mediation” has great potential in shedding light on foreign language education practice and research in Japan; and (3) the genetic method can be used effectively for longitudinal studies. The paper concludes that even though the terminology and concepts in Sociocultural Theory are complicated for those who are not familiar with them, Sociocultural Theory enables us to advance both foreign language education research in Japan and mainstream Second Language Acquisition.

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This paper aims to examine if participating in a short-term study abroad programme would make an effect on its participants’ English proficiency and affective variables. Among the undergraduate/graduate students from Seikei University who took part in an English language programme at the University of Edinburgh, U.K. for 3 weeks, 19 students cooperated with pre/post surveys. Analysis is based on the data collected through CASEC (Computerized Assessment System for English Communication), questionnaires and follow-up interviews including speaking sessions. The result shows that after their studying-abroad experience (a) the participants’ English speaking proficiency becomes slightly improved and (b) that their self-evaluations on their English language abilities, especially on their productive skills, tend to become higher. It is also found (c) that they are likely to have more incentive for improving their English language skills and (d) that they become more active or less hesitated in expressing their thoughts and feelings, irrespective of their language choice. It is thus indicated that a short-term study abroad is effective in improving participants’ English language skills and changing their attitudes towards language learning as well as social interaction.

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This study aims at revealing how Japanese people’s needs to use English have changed in the late 2000s by statistically analyzing Japanese General Social Surveys. The analyses revealed that the number of Japanese users of English generally decreased from 2006 to 2010. In particular, significant decrease was found in the use of English in the workplace and the use of English for entertainment. This general decrease in 2010 was probably yielded by the global recession which started in 2008, because large and significant decrease in the number of the users was recognized in a specific type of workers on whom the global recession had a strong impact. These workers included (1) male workers in their 30s and 40s, (2) workers engaged in restaurant industries and transportation industries, and (3) those working for a middle-sized corporation (i.e. a corporation with 30-299 employees). The opportunities to use English among these types of workers were likely to be strongly influenced by decrease in the number of foreign visitors, trade slumps, and structural changes of international transactions, all of which have been caused by the global recession. Based on these findings, this paper discusses the necessities of critical examination of a variety of discourses articulated by business communities and the government, which mistakenly assume consistent increase in the needs to use English in current Japanese society.

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This paper analyzes the conversation structure used in the authorized textbooks and reveals how “Giving Nods” and “Repeating” play a role in turns. This paper makes both a quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis. First it surveys how often “Giving Nods” and “Repeating” are observed, and then it examines the characteristics of discourses including these elements. These are two of the examples raised as the means of “facilitating communication,” which MEXT (2008) shows in the “functions of language.” Most of the functions have been displayed in previous versions of Official Guidelines for School Teaching, but the distinctive feature in the 2008 version is that the function of “facilitating communication” is newly added. “Giving Nods” and “Repeating” are deeply related with listenership or turn-taking system, especially what Sacks, Schegloff and Jefferson (1974, p. 719) call “begin with a beginning.” It enables self-selectors to take a turn smoothly or to show an interest to the current speaker, or to give a “go ahead,” so the participants can facilitate their conversation. Comparing the authorized English textbooks used in 2006-2011 school years, this paper demonstrates discourses used in the textbooks since 2012 school year have been revised into more typical ones, which better reflect natural talk. It suggests the importance of focusing on “Giving Nods” and “Repeating” in the educational context.

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Literature circles are reading activities involving group discussion that have been conducted in many American elementary and middle schools. This paper discusses the results of an attempt to conduct the activities in English reading classes for Japanese university students, and to examine their effectiveness on the basis of (1) whether they allowed learners to interpret the theme of texts or feelings of characters in the texts, (2) whether they allowed learners to share their interpretations with fellow students, and (3) whether they were enjoyable learner-centered group activities. At the end of each class, for about 20 to 30 minutes, literature circles were conducted in four classes with 76 participants in total. At the end of the semester, they were administered a questionnaire. The responses showed positive implications for literature circles: they are effective and enjoyable group work activities that facilitate learners’ deep interpretation of textbooks and enable them to actively express their opinions.

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The study investigated changes in EFL students’ attitudes towards speech in English. A total of 112 college students participated in the study, changes in their attitudes were measured twice during a semester using a Can-Do list, and results showed students’ increasing positive attitudes towards their speech. At the end of the semester, a speech contest was held to examine whether students’ participation in the contest influenced their motivation. A questionnaire based on Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2002) was devised to measure students’ motivation and showed that 96 out of 116 participants thought participation in the contest influenced their motivation towards English speech. Results also demonstrated that there were significant correlations between students’ participation and three basic psychological needs, competence, autonomy, and relatedness, suggesting that teaching speech communication in EFL classrooms may have an effect on developing positive images towards speech in English.

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