This paper discusses how to make in-class use of rubrics serving as teaching and learning tools based on the idea of assessment of learning. Six college students used task-specific rubrics revolving around three tasks for improving the performance of English activities by learners at elementary school. The students used the rubrics involving scoring as well as guiding for the learners’ work and self-assessment, where the students monitored themselves using the rubric and gave feedback to the learners. The students turned out to be successful in assessing themselves and obtaining some clues to teaching techniques through the feedback from the learners.

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This study investigated the effects of “framework of context” on teachers’ instruction and students’ writing performance in junior high school. “Framework of context” was designed to improve their awareness of situational context. Five teachers’ lessons were analyzed and interviews were conducted with them. Students’ writing in July and in October were compared to examine their changes. Results showed that the teachers’ awareness of the framework was evident. In addition, the various expressions that appeared in students’ writing in October were more diverse. However, the teachers did not fully understand the importance of the framework. These results suggest that “framework of context” worked well to improve the quality of English teachers’ instructions and students’ writing, but further research for improvement is needed.

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This paper reports on a teacher training seminar with a special focus on team teaching (TT) with ALTs. In a three-hour seminar (“Preparing HRTs & JTEs to team-teach effectively with ALTs”), the participants (i) discussed the situations and problems of TT, (ii) practiced useful expressions for TT, (iii) examined and revised a TT lesson planning sheet and a TT lesson reflection sheet proposed by the instructor, (iv) made a list of requests for ALTs, and (v) practiced small talk. The rationale and important characteristics of these main activities are described in detail, and the achievements and problems of the TT seminar are discussed on the basis of evaluation data from the participants. This case study is intended to encourage discussions about how to prepare in-service teachers to team-teach more effectively with ALTs.

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This study is a practical report on an attempt to provide opportunities to improve English pronunciation for Japanese secondary school students through intensive visiting workshops on demand at school. The workshops were held for two classes of the first-year students at a public six year integrated secondary school in Kansai area. The workshops were conducted just once at the end of a school year respectively for fifty minutes in each class. Since they were limited in time and opportunity, their focus was placed on hands-on learning in English pronunciation of English vowels and consonants (segmentals) and English prosodies (suprasegmentals) by introducing activities using familiar English words and songs for the students. During the workshops, the students were positively involved in their activities. The survey showed that after joining the workshops, the students were more highly motivated to improve their English pronunciation than before.

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The present study aims to examine the quality of proactive, interactive, and deep learning in junior high schools and to extract problems to hinder this learning. A questionnaire survey was conducted with seven English teachers. Results showed that 1) teachers viewed students’ positive attitude and interaction between students as important, 2) they considered the quality of deep learning in concrete, and 3) they felt the quality of students’ learning was improved. In addition, three problems were extracted: 1) imbalance of cognition, 2) imbalance of instructions, and 3) lack of knowledge about teaching methods. To solve these problems, improvement and continuity of teachers training programs are needed.

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