There are essentially two screening techniques for identifying children with developmental dyslexia (DD): either teacher assessment or STRAW: Screening Test of Reading And Writing for Japanese Primary School Children. Some studies indicate that children are more likely to be identified has having DD when assessed by teacher assessments than when assessed by STRAW (Kabutomori & Takeda, 2008; Yaguchi, Kotaka, & Fukuda, 2010). Within the present study, we define children suspected of having DD based only on teacher assessments as a “peripheral DD group” and examine their verbal abilities. The participants were elementary school children at first, third, and fifth grades. They were classified into three groups: a “normal group” having above standard values for both assessments, a “peripheral DD group” having below standard values only according to teacher assessments, and a “DD group” being below standards for both assessments. To investigate the verbal abilities of the participants, three tests were conducted; namely, the SCTAW (Standardized Comprehension Test of Abstract Words) as a vocabulary test, the Kyouken-shiki Reading-Test involving a grammar test, and a comprehension test. The results of a 3×3 (grade×group) ANOVA revealed that performances for the peripheral DD group were as high as the performances of the normal group on both the vocabulary test and the comprehension test. However, on the grammar test, the scores for the peripheral DD group were similar to those of the DD group and were significantly lower than the normal group. These results suggest that the children in the peripheral DD group require support in developing their grammatical abilities.

This study investigates the influence of writers' executive function capacities on the processes of translating their ideas as part of creating written compositions. In contrast to previous studies, where participants composed used ballpoint pens in order to limit rewriting, the participants within the present study composed used mechanical pencils and erasers to encourage rewriting. Participants with high scores on a reading-span test produced fewer sentences through associative and automatic processes than those with lower scores. This finding indicates that writers with superior executive functions are more capable of translating their ideas into text and refrain from producing excessive sentences.

This study examines the effects of goal-achievement support on reducing My-side bias when writing argumentative essays. High school students (N=93) wrote argumentative essays under two different conditions; (1) Control condition: students were given the goals of generating more counterarguments and rebuttals, and (2) Experimental condition: where in addition to those goals, students were instructed to write like a journalist as a form of goal-achievement support. The finding that students in the experimental condition generated more rebuttals than those in the control condition suggests that the goal-achievement support reduced My-side bias. Moreover, significant interactions were also observed in terms of student expectations and values towards writing, such that the goal-achievement support had less influence on the generation of counterarguments and rebuttals in students with high expectations towards their own writing skills, while, in contrast, it had stronger effects on reducing My-side bias in students with high intrinsic interest in the value of writing.

The purpose of this study is to examine “Famous Stories”―one of the most circulated pieces of literature from the Meiji period until the present day―by analyzing both the chronological events surrounding its appearance in Japan and its role. Written by James Baldwin, the book includes fifty tales describing episodes from history and legend. The Japanese public came to know of it after it was reprinted and published by Hikoichiro Sakurai in 1901.

This study utilizes four methods: first, it sheds light on its historical background and considering the historical and cultural factors surrounding the text's appearance; second, it compares the text to the original and reveals some differences; third, it reflects on its relations to other textbooks; and fourth, it identifies its embedded characteristics as discerned from discourse within magazines.

These methods reveal that the text sought to capture the attention of the modern West within a period when English studies were divided into either English language education and English language research.