This study analyzed the evaluation perspectives regarding the peer response (PR) practices of teachers through a review of the literature on practical PR research. Papers in which the authors discussed PR practicesas teachers were extracted from the search results in the CiNii database and 68 articles by 44 different authors were analyzed. Although PR has been practiced in various educational institutions under a philosophy that emphasizes process and collaboration, many studies on practical research still analyze its effects on cognitive aspects, such as changes in composition and enhancement of self-revision skills. Among articles focused on social aspects, such as the PR process and the significance of collaboration, three papers presented clear views of practitioners about education, evaluated the PR practice primarily in relation to the willingness to write, the joy of expression, and the building of relationships among learners, and valued the interactions themselves. The significance of PR varies greatly depending on the practitioner. Future practical research on PR will require practitioners to describe the type and purpose of the PR practiced and to consciously describe theireducational perspective within the context of the specific practice.

This paper explores the possibilities and issues encountered in a teacher training course for Japanese as a Second Language (JSL), which aimed to produce JSL advisors who could encourage the development of language autonomy among JSL learners. The researchers interviewed four undergraduate students who took the course, and examined what those students learned and how they changed their perception about Japanese language advising by utilizing the Modified-Grounded Analysis (M-GTA) method. The results showed that they regarded theoretical knowledge such as autonomous learning, attentive listening, and rapport development as significant. On the other hand, they felt a conflict between the ideal for Japanese language advising based on that knowledge and the reality of Japanese language advising in practice; for example, they struggled with the dilemma between directly helping JSL learners and promoting their autonomous learning, and wanted a certain prescribed answer for advising since they had difficulties applying the theoretical knowledge mentioned above to their practice. Nonetheless, they became aware of their own autonomous learning and viewed JSL learning from a long-term perspective, encouraged by reflection on their own learning and through peer discussions throughout the course. Moreover, they developed the motivation to apply what they learned through the course to their daily lives.

This study researches the potential of long-distance classes using Skype, the smartphone application, for learning in the mother tongue in "the Inter-Development and Learning Model of Academic Learning, the First Language and the Second Language" (Okazaki 1997) as a method of learning support for language minority students. It is thought that learning support using the mother tongue promotes understanding of subjects taught in Japanese. However, it is difficult to acquire people who can provide support in the mother tongue. When we trialled this long-distance support that is available flexibly in both time and location, it turned out that study tasks of the support require students' high-level thinking operation which includes comprehension skills and expressing skills of their understanding. Therefore, it can be said that long-distance support over Skype provides more opportunities to acquire mother tongue study supporters, which encourages the students to learn with their mother tongue support.

Special educational curricula for foreign pupils who require Japanese language support in compulsory education schools in Japan were approved for implementation from April 1, 2014. Even though Japanese language instruction can be conducted in separate-session classes in elementary schools, they are also commonly used to help students catch up with ordinary classroom subjects. This paper aims to report on the practice of 10-minute free voluntary reading in separate-session classes for foreign pupils to ensure steady progress in learning Japanese.

The number of practices of free voluntary reading or extensive reading in a second language is large in the field of English education, but there have been few cases in the field of Japanese education. Therefore, a program of 10-minute free voluntary reading as in-class activity based on Matsui & Noro (2010) was carried out in three elementary schools in Aichi Prefecture.

The finding suggests that it is necessary to ensure time for activities specifically for Japanese language support, such as free voluntary reading, in separate-session classes. Also, it is important to determine the learning content after consultation between teachers in charge of teaching Japanese and homeroom teachers of the foreign pupils.

This paper reports on the potential and the significance of task-based language teaching (TBLT) in an elementary Japanese course with a grammatical syllabus. This paper examines the potential and the significance of TBLT by means of a student-based evaluation, as well as a response-based evaluation as proposed by Ellis (1997). The result shows that (1) Some students expressed negative opinions and anxieties when evaluation of their performance and their own beliefs about language learning did not align with TBLT; (2) the students were motivated toward active learning and content-based communication when performing the task in earnest; and (3) learners were focused on form in the content-based communication during a pair activity without teacher instruction.

This paper reports on a genre-based teaching of mimetics (onomatopoeic expressions) in the beginner-level Japanese language classroom. The frequency and role of mimetics vary from genre to genre;the use of mimetics is considered particularly effective in advertisements including TV commercials. The purpose of the session is to make beginner-level students aware of the role that mimetics play in a specific genre (i.e. advertisements/commercials) as well as the effect they create.Adopting a plurilingual approach (i.e. valuing and utilizing students'existing linguistic and cultural repertoire), 19 beginner-level students of Japanese with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds engaged in the translation of TV commercials. The data consist of the classroom recording, students'reflective journals, and a third-party's evaluation of students'English translation. The results show that students mobilized existing linguistic and cultural resources to compare languages and translate Japanese mimetics to English and other languages. Furthermore, students' reflections demonstrated that they considered not only the meanings and usage of specific mimetics used in the class, but also the role and effects of mimetics in TV commercials, suggesting students'heightened awareness of mimetics.