The increase of Indian IT engineers (IEs) employed by Japanese IT companies during the past decade has undoubtedly in turn raised the necessity of Indian Bridge Resources (IBRs) who can play the important role of facilitators between IEs and Japanese co-workers (JCWs). Even though the IBRs possess a high level of Japanese language proficiency, they face many communication problems while carrying out their duties. In this paper it is intended to illustrate the communication framework utilized during IT projects in Japanese companies, and bring to light the communication competence required by IBRs, by focusing on interview surveys carried out on IBRs, IEs and JCWs. By analyzing the problems that occur during communication among these three groups, it was identified that IBRs faced difficulty in obtaining information from IEs which JCWs require for "vision sharing". Such a situation can arise due to the IEs' lack of knowledge about JCWs' communication practices. In this case, IBRs are required to try to mediate and make both IEs and JCWs understand the advantages of the practices of each, and manage the two opinions so that they can work harmoniously to optimize and ensure the best outcome of the project.

This article examines the process of classroom interaction in a Japanese as a second language writing course. Over 15 weeks, whole class discussions and students' writing products were analyzed using the "univocal" and "dialogic" functions of Wertsch's framework, which is based on Lotman's original concept. The results show that when the dialogic function was dominant in classroom interaction, students clarified their meanings by responding to others. However, when the univocal function, which focuses on conveying accurate information, was dominant, students demonstrated a tendency to obey authority; that is, they imitated the way that teachers or specialists spoke, losing sight of what they themselves really wanted to say. In the latter case, students often felt frustrated because they could not clarify their ideas and thoughts and thus could not express what they had intended. However, they incorrectly attributed this feeling to a lack of Japanese proficiency on their own part. To resolve this issue, students should be encouraged to think carefully about what they really want to say and to construct new meanings by interacting with others. In other words, they should establish new relationships with others by resolving value conflicts so that they can discover their own voice and the words to convey it.

Speak Everywhere (SE) is a web-based system with which learners can practice speaking skills individually and take oral exams from any internet-connected environment. This article discusses the process of designing a speaking-oriented course which integrates the use of SE. The benefits of tightly integrating SE into the curriculum were found to be as follows:

1) It became possible to conduct foundational oral practice outside of the classroom, which both increased learner opportunities for oral practice and allowed the classroom time thus spared to be used for more communicative activities;

2) by conducting oral exams using SE in addition to face-to-face exams, precious classroom time was saved and the frequency of oral assessments was increased;

3) learners were able to practice individually and take their oral exams in more comfortable settings;

4) many learners evaluated SE positively.

Starting from the question of what autonomous learning is, we produced this practice report after examining and analyzing our practice in Kanji class lessons. In an analysis focused on the locus of decision-making and changes in teachers' views of learning, it turned out that, whereas in early stages of class it was teachers who designed and led the learning process, the learners came to make decisions to adopt learning methods and contents which suit themselves in response to changes of learning activity. Through observation of the learning process our interest has shifted to learner-directed learning, and we have gradually come to respect it. Through this analysis, we conclude that teachers, as supporters of autonomous learning, are required: 1) to understand what autonomous learning is; 2) to learn from learners' learning process; and 3) to design a cooperative learning environment that helps learners to direct themselves.