Now that the introduction of English as a regular school subject into the primary school curriculum is planned to take place in 2020, securing a sufficient number of teachers who can teach English at primary school has become a pressing issue. At the moment, the government is discussing two possible ways to tackle this urgent issue; recommending primary school teachers to acquire a teaching certificate to teach English as a subject and relocating lower secondary school English teachers to primary schools. Both ways seem feasible to a certain degree, but it cannot be denied that both are rather hasty preparations for emergency, not a solution to be sustained for decades. This paper proposes a third way to solve the issue, getting a hint from the teacher education system in Finland. It will propose revising the current teacher education system so that it may educate so-called generalists who can teach English as a subject not only at secondary school but also at primary school.

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The purpose of this article is to provide a theoretical framework for introducing literature circles in Japanese EFL classrooms. Literature circles in EFL are defined as small learner-led discussion groups whose members are involved in reading the same text, and who discuss events and personal experiences related to the text which they have read. To aid in conducting learner-centered group discussion in Japanese EFL classrooms, the characteristics and benefits of introducing literature circles are explored and practical teaching procedures are also examined. We discuss what characteristics literature circles share with those of cooperative learning, communicative language teaching, and task-based language teaching. The discussion also includes references to findings in second language acquisition research and examines what can be considered to be an appropriate approach. Literature circles offer rich interaction among learners which integrates the four language skills and helps learners develop not only communication abilities, but also skills that are crucial to developing as independent learners.

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The main purpose of this study is to examine (1) whether there is any noticeable difference in the vocabulary level of example sentences for English grammar instruction between textbooks based on the former course of study (CS) and those based on the present CS, and (2) whether there is any change in the results if the sentences are divided between those extracted from the main-lesson passages and those not. Various researches have been made on the vocabulary level of reading passages, but there have been few studies in terms of example sentences for English grammar instruction. In addition, it is expected that whether the sentences are extracted from the passages or not can affect the vocabulary level of the overall example sentences. Therefore, example sentences are collected from 48 textbooks based on the present and the former CS. Words in the sentences are classified into different vocabulary levels based on the latest version of JACET 8000. Residual analysis, χ2-test and Cramer V were mainly used as data analysis. The results implied (1) that the vocabulary level in the example sentences based on the present CS tends to be higher than those based on the former one, and (2) that the sentences not extracted from the reading passages affect the rise of the vocabulary level.

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The current study aims to investigate language learning strategies used in fast reading training. 158 second-grade students of a college of technology (KOSEN) received a nine-month training of fast reading. While students’ comprehension did not increase remarkably, the speed rate developed steadily. Before and after the training, students took GTEC tests as a pre- and a post-test. 30 highly-achieved and 30 under-achieved students were selected based on the GTEC scores and WPM and were asked to write strategies they used during the training sessions. Those self-reported strategies were classified based on Strategic Self-Regulation (S2R) Model (Oxford, 2011) and frequencies were counted. Although rich use of meta-strategies was expected, the most frequently reported strategies were in the areas of cognition, not in the area of metacognition. The result implicates that too much emphasis on fast reading might hinder students from developing meta-strategies.

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Since its publication in 2001, the Common European Framework of Reference for　Languages (CEFR) has had a great impact on English language education and testing not only in Europe but in many parts of the world. Based on the CEFR, CEFR-J has gradually been introduced into English education in Japan. Looking back on the past, there have been education reforms, particularly the development of ‘CAN-DO’ lists in secondary education and the Deregulation of University Act on July 1st,1991 in higher education. These education reforms finally seek to facilitate transition from content-based to competency-based education. The first purpose of this paper was to verify the correlation between Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKG), which indicates an index of readability, and the frequency distribution of CEFR-leveled vocabularies from A1 to C2. The second was to attempt to make supplementary teaching aids based on level-specific vocabularies listed on the CEFR. There was a strong negative correlation between the appearance frequency of A1 level words and FKG. There was also a strong positive correlation between the appearance frequency of B1, B2, C1 level words and FKG, respectively.

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This paper is a practical report on the effects of gradually introducing reading and writing activities into the curriculum for 3rd and 4th grade elementary school English classes. After one year of practice, the students have shown a highly motivated interest in reading and writing. Some tests of listening and writing the alphabet were also carried out before and after the practice. The results indicate that the students gained some skills of both alphabet reading and writing. Moreover, two years of practice allowed the students the possibility to adopt reading and writing tasks through active learning which appropriately enriched their learning experience.

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This paper reports on English writing lessons on a machine translation application. Currently, many students tend to use machine translation for completing their English writing assignments. It is difficult for them to revise the English composition output from machine translation engines due to their low proficiency level. Consequently, the completed assignments submitted by the students are sometimes difficult to understand or are unreadable. Students who belong to National Institute of Technology, Kagawa College, Takuma Campus (aged from 15 to 18 years old) are taught how to modify their original Japanese text so that machine translation engines can output more readable English translations. The use of machine translation reduced the students’ anxiety about writing in English, and consequently, their writing performance was qualitatively and quantitatively improved. The results of writing scores in GTEC tests support that this approach was to some extent effective.

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This paper presents a teaching material that focuses on local industry and its practical report in English classes.　The author created a teaching material concerning Tobe Town where the author used to work from 2013 to 2016. This was successful in increasing students’ interests in the local culture. However, more materials and practice will be needed to improve the expressions of their cultures.

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The purpose of this study is to clarify whether an online-software for practicing English pronunciation would be an effective tool for improving English learners’ pronunciation skills. Nineteen undergraduates took part in the study. While they were gaining knowledge about English phonology in class, they used an online-software called MyET as a self-learning tool for one month. Before and after using the software, they took a test called SPT to examine how their pronunciation skills changed. They also answered a questionnaire after using the software. The results are: 1) SPT scores of the participants went up significantly after using the software as a self-learning tool and 2) most participants felt more confident in their English pronunciation after using the software. Contrary to the author’s prediction, however, the participants with a 10-month study abroad experience were not necessarily superior to the other participants in their pronunciation skills.

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