The aim of this study is to show, through its focus on changes of impressions, mood, and emotion, how reading aloud storybooks in places of child-raising support has a psychological effect on participating mothers.

The participants in the study were 106 mother/child pairs (106 mothers) who participated in classes held at community centers within a city (total of 4 locations). In terms of the study procedures, a survey was conducted after establishing the following groups: a “read-aloud with children” group (mothers participate in group storytelling with their children), a “read-aloud without children” group (only the mothers participate in group storytelling), and a “solo-reading” group (mothers are given storybooks to read by themselves). Both before and after the reading activity, the SD method was employed to measure impressions towards the activity, and the survey was carried out using a shortened Japanese version of Profiles of Mood States (POMS), as an index of mood and emotion. Moreover, after completing the activity, a newly-developed questionnaire―The Read-aloud Participation Scale―was administered as an index of degree of involvement in the activity, and a factor analysis was conducted.

Based on Read-aloud Participation Scale scores, two groups were created; an “Involved group” (with above average scores) and an “Uninvolved group” (scores lower than average). An analysis of variance for the three factors of “participation state,” “activity context,” and “involved/uninvolved” indicated a main effect for “activity context” for all scales apart from the POMS “vigor” subscale. A main effect for “involved/uninvolved” was only observed for the “vigor” subscale, where post-hoc analysis indicated higher scores for the involved group. No main effects of “participation state” were observed on any of the POMS scales. Interactions were observed for “participation state” and “activity context” for a POMS subscale of “tension/anxiety” and a Total Mood Disturbance (TMD) score calculated by subtracting the vigor scale from the sum of negative subscales. Post-hoc analysis showed that “tension/anxiety” scores were significantly lower for the “read-aloud without children” and “solo-reading” groups, indicating a shift towards lower tension and anxiety. No significant increases or decreases were observed in the “tension/anxiety” scores for the “read-aloud with children” group.

These results indicate that mothers can experience changes in impressions, mood, and emotion through participating in read-aloud activities. Furthermore, with regard to the involved/uninvolved contrast, more involved mothers tended to be more active. Considering type of participation, the “read-aloud with children” group had higher “tension/anxiety” scores compared to both the “read-aloud without children” and the “solo-reading” groups. This suggests an effect on general mood stability. One reason for this effect may be that in the “read-aloud with children” group, where the mothers engaged in the activity together with their children, the mothers may be more concerned for or pay greater attention to those around them, due to participating with their children.

This study is based on research into the Read-aloud-Focusing-Sharing Method I (RFSM-I) (Kawano, 2011), and reexamines the method by adding a new feature for children at the elementary school level. The new lesson feature is called ‘Read-aloud-Focusing-Sharing Method II (RFSM-II)’ and consists of four steps for class activities at elementary schools. Step 1 is read-aloud for picture books where the teacher reads to the children in a face-to-face situation. Step 2 is ‘group-focusing’ where the children project their images from listening to the teacher read-aloud. In Step 2, groups consisting of 5 to 6 children make life-sized line-drawing of their mental images. Step 3 is ‘asking’, which is another form of group-focusing. In Step 3, children try to talk about the life-sized line-drawing in a form of internal speech. Step 4 is ‘sharing’ where the children share what they discovered in the projected images of others. In Step 4, the children attempt to name the life-sized line-drawings through talking together. This study investigated the incorporation of RFSM-II into the educational practices of children at the elementary school level.

The study examines two hypotheses. The first is that the group-focusing activities of RFSM-II would be more effective in comparison to the individually-based focus activity of RFSM-I. The second hypothesis is that the ‘asking’ and ‘naming’ activities, introduced as new features of RFSM-II, would be effective for elementary school lessons.

Observers of the study, consisting of university teachers and charge teachers, generally supported the study hypotheses. Most of the children who participated in the study indicated that they had enjoyed the lesson on their reflection sheets. In terms of the percentages of children (N=126) checking the ‘enjoy’ box, 89% did so for Step 1 (read-aloud), 74% for Steps 2 and 3 (group-focusing), and 59% for Step 4 (sharing). Most of the children freely expressed their positive emotions on the reflection sheets, with comments such as ‘really enjoyed’. The results of a chi-squared test for the data also support the study hypotheses relating to reduced aggression in the children. The finding the most of the children expressed a sense of being comfortable with RFSM-II as confirmed both quantitatively and qualitatively.

Summarizing the study findings, two implications are identified. The first is that the read-aloud activity for picture books is able to make the complete educational package (read-aloud→group-focusing→sharing) more active and connective. More concretely, group-focusing facilitates the children in empathizing with their feelings after listening to the reading-aloud of a picture book, and asking and naming facilitate the integration of shared projected images. The second implication is that RFSM-II has the potential to be a teaching material that fosters group awareness and solidarity and creates a comfortable atmosphere for discovery within the classroom.

The purpose of this study is to explore in detail the process of ‘inner-dialogue mediated through writing as part of interacting with a text within a collaborative reading class. A case study of the ‘inner dialogue’ of students within a collaborative reading class was analyzed and examined based on Bakhtin's discussions of speech. The following two points were elucidated. (1) The ‘inner-dialogue’ process that is triggered by adopting other students' interpretations of the text is one in which students create a new chain of speech communication by reviewing utterances and the connections between them. (2) Interaction between interpretations of the text is a process in which students revisit the text via the connections between various utterances that incorporate the utterances of others. These findings indicate the importance of constructing a dialogical culture within the classroom and of securing learning activities that relate discussion processes to texts to the students' own understanding of texts, as well as designing lessons that consider the characteristics of various tools, such as writing materials and work sheets.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the structure of the curriculum and the thinking within Richard Paul's language arts education infused with critical thinking, from the perspective of a value concepts system for literary materials. The study proceeds as follows: First, the study extracts the main value concepts which are involved in literary works and into which learners inquire. Second, these value concepts are categorized. Third, four categories (personal society, general society, international society, and nonsocial individual) are analyzed and examined.

The results reveal that the structure of the curriculum is spiral in nature. The developmental stages of kindergarten and elementary school foster both attitudes for fair and autonomous thinking and the ability to derive new ideas from plural perspectives. During all stages, as the social scale is expanded and both social and emotional distortions are escalated, abilities of inquiry are gradually developed. The results also suggest that educational thinking is essentially about fostering the kinds of qualities necessary for constructing an international and democratic society. They include qualities to response to social contradictions, qualities essential in societies where diverse perspectives coexist, and qualities to escape from individually asocial situations. Thus, when one surveys the globalizing society, this study proposes a direction for language education in Japanese that is infused with critical thinking.

This study investigates the association between maternal disciplinary style and reading development through a longitudinal study. Twelve mother-child pairs were divided into two groups based on the mother's disciplinary style as determined by responses to a questionnaire. Mother-child interactions were videotaped when the children were under the age of 3 (Session 1: m=1 year 7 months, r=1 year 1 month to 2 years 3 months) and again three years later (Session 2: m=4 years 7 months, r=4 years 1 month to 5 years 3 months). The results are as follows. Firstly, initiative within the mother-child interactions varied according to the child's age, rather than reflecting maternal disciplinary style. With younger children, the mothers tended to use more labeling and questioning to extend conversations about the pictures and the stories. As the language skills of the children increased, the mothers became more engaged in reading the text. At the same time, “sharing” mothers were more respectful towards their child's autonomy. They emphatically accepted their child's verbal/nonverbal behavior, and these characteristics became more noticeable three years later. Sharing mothers enjoyed their child's spontaneous searching for picture books and their original ideas. Conversely, “authoritarian” mothers tended to respond more negatively, provide clarifications, or to consistently ignore their child's verbal/nonverbal behavior. Accordingly, this study serves to elucidate the impact of disciplinary style on reading development from a developmental perspective.