Globalization brings changes that sometimes force societies and individuals to reform their consciousness regarding other countries and their peoples; that is, they are expected to be interculturally competent. In this context, this article explores the role of foreign language education in Japan where English is the dominant foreign language, and other foreign languages have not gained popularity. Many English language educators at the college level believe that English language education is sufficient for Japanese university students. The author of this study conducted a survey among college English teachers regarding their perceptions about foreign language education in the current globalized society. The results of the survey yielded three research questions. (1) If a student has a good command of the English language, does he or she also have intercultural competence? (2) What problems may arise if English is the only foreign language taught in Japan? (3) What language education is appropriate in today’s globalized society? This paper answers these questions one by one and recommends plurilingualism in Japanese educational settings.

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Assessing the progression and outcomes of language learning, be it in the first or second (L2)/foreign language (FL), is a highly complex task, and implementing L2/FL integrated performance assessment in particular has proven to pose a considerable challenge on teachers, researchers and policy makers alike. Situated within the context of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) pedagogy in Japan, this paper provides a non-exhaustive overview of the issues and challenges surrounding English language assessment in the high school to tertiary education transition. It then reports on two studies piloting a new Computer-Based Testing (CBT) exam which involves the integrated use of four skills－listening, speaking, reading and writing. Preliminary findings obtained from two cohorts of first-year (n = 38) and second-year (n = 38) high-school students in Saga prefecture suggest that, whilst the current pilot studies warrant further work remedying some technical and practical issues, the new CBT exam could perhaps be implemented, in the not-so-distant future, as a supplement to or a substitute for the paper-based assessment format, as commonly employed in domestic university entrance examinations to date.

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This paper aims to explore factors related to the difficulty which Japanese EFL learners encounter in judging the grammaticality of English relative clauses. A Grammaticality Judgement Test (GJT) was administrated to 70 Japanese university students whose major was not English. The non-parametric test was employed to analyze the data. Some previous studies have suggested that acquisition or understanding of subject relative clauses (SR) is easier than that of object relative clauses (OR). The data from the GJT differed from that which was found in previous studies with regard to difficulty in judging the grammaticality of relative clauses. A statistically significant difference was found in the number of correct answers between SR and OR in the ungrammatical sentences. This result suggested that the grammaticality judgement of SR is more difficult than that of OR when an ungrammatical SR with no relative pronoun is given. It is argued that the participants could not find clues for recognizing the relative clause structure of the sentences and this makes grammaticality judgement more difficult. These findings imply that the presence of the relative pronoun plays a role as a trigger activating grammar knowledge regarding English relative clauses.

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The purpose of this study is to investigate the feasibility and problems of introducing digital textbooks, including the utilization of ICT (Information and Communication Technology), at primary and secondary levels in Japan. Hara (2015) previously explained and considered the process of introducing digital textbooks from the aspect of governmental and regional policies. In light of that result, firstly, trends in digital textbooks in Japan are reviewed. Secondly, Japanese schools that have already introduced digital textbooks are investigated and analyzed. Thirdly, Japan is compared and analyzed with Korea, which has a similar education system to Japan and has progressed the introduction of digital textbooks. This study focuses on Busan, Korea and Saga, Japan. Through these case analyses, introducing digital textbooks in Japan in the near future is considered.

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This paper discusses studentsʼ evaluations of the Global Active Program (G.A.P.) koza (course) which includes five-week preparatory workshops for a short study-abroad program from the perspective of active use of human resources both inside and outside of the university. This G.A.P. koza is one of the requirements for sophomore English students. Moreover, students are obligated to attend the G.A.P. koza before they leave for the three-week study-abroad program. The G.A.P. koza, composed of four workshops, involves skilled and experienced people, such as professional stage performers, foreign exchange students and instructors on TOEIC Listening and Reading, according to the purpose of each workshop. Twopart student questionnaires on the G.A.P. koza were collected and analyzed as data. The first part, a 5-scale assessment of the studentsʼ satisfaction level toward each workshop, is statistically processed. The second part, free responses to the four workshops, is qualitatively coded and labeled for analysis, based on a modified Grounded Theory Approach. The results indicate that students are satisfied with all four workshops in general and highly evaluate the unique characteristics of each workshop, which are enhanced by human resources both inside and outside of the institution.

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