Japanese learners of English

Studies of morpheme acquisition indicate that Japanese learners "acquire" possessive constructions earlier in the acquisition order than native speaker children. However, while the possessive may not present the same kind of problems as the article system, does for Japanese learners, this does not mean that it is not problematic. This paper gives a brief account of the s-genitive and then compares Japanese learner usage taken to native speaker data taken from the International Corpus Network of Asian Learners of English (ICNALE) corpus. The evidence from this corpus indicates that Japanese learners tend to overuse the s-genitive, in particular using it with inanimate and abstract possessor nouns in contexts where the native speakers do not use possessives. There was a tendency among Japanese learners to use the s-genitive in noun-phrases with generic reference, where native speakers used non-possessive noun compounds. The paper concludes with a caveat about the degree to which overall generalizations about Japanese students’ usage of the s-genitive can be made from this corpus alone, given the limited genres of the written texts in the corpus. In particular, the representation of instances of the possessive with generic reference in the corpus may be untypical of s-genitive use overall. The paper concludes with a call for further studies using learner corpora with a broader range of text types and topics.

Well-developed phonological awareness skills are central to the ultimate achievement of fluent alphabet-scripted literacy. This workshop at JALT 2019 focused on the benefits that can flow from short bursts of phonemic awareness activities in daily English classes. The workshop presented a sequence of non-print activities that have been designed to heighten learners’ auditory reception and oral production of the smallest units of sound in the English language. These sounds, or phonemes, may or may not be present in learners’ primary languages. A sharpened awareness of individual phonemes, and the ability to isolate and manipulate them, has the potential to ‘open up’ the sound elements of alphabetic written text to those biscriptal learners who may have previously relied on the visual memorization of spelling patterns. Phonemic insights into the alphabetic written code are especially important for learners from Chinese and Japanese scriptal backgrounds.

This was the authors undergraduate dissertation to the University of Central Lancashire and was submitted in 2017.

The vast majority of studies into video games in language-learning settings have focused on games designed for entertainment being adapted in a similar way to other authentic materials rather than games with an explicit goal of teaching language, those that have usually use smartphone apps or in-browser games.  This study uses a commercially available language learning game called Influent, as a metric for future study into video games designed with language learning.

The study asks two core research questions:
1. How effective is Influent at enabling learners to identify and retain English vocabulary?
2. Do the controls and mechanics of Influent facilitate an easy digital learning environment?

The research project involved eight Japanese learners taking a vocabulary test of ten nouns, and then finding said nouns within Influent, and finally taking the quiz one last time to assess our research questions. Quantitative and qualitative data was taken during the sessions, mostly drawn from the pre and post-game vocabulary tests and observations of the participants during their time playing the game. The study establishes that Influent does bolster vocabulary acquisition, and retention for at least a short-term period. In terms of Influent’s interface and mechanics, participants generally found the controls easy to grasp and play game but suffers from some issues with contextual clues and graphic design.

This study explores the attitudes, constraints and practices held by teachers of English as a foreign language (N=87) in implementing the Model Action Talk method (MAT method). In order to fill the gap in research to date concerning the advancement of effective approaches for young learners, this study posits that teacher beliefs and contextual factors may be related to the adoption of language instruction methods. Focusing on such attitudes as the theoretical framework, three research questions were posited concerning the beliefs that teachers hold about MAT and non-MAT methods (using statements related to foreign-language instructional methods), the impediments they face in implementing such methods, and how teachers use method-related techniques and activities in their classes.
The results from this mixed-methods study show that despite holding positive attitudes about the method, only certain Model Action Talk method activities were used in some classes. Additionally, the results of the ANOVA analysis revealed that teachers at junior and senior high schools have lower estimations of the method than those who teach at daycares/preschool, elementary, language/international, and at home. Furthermore, this study found that administration-related constraints had a significant impact on teachers’ implementation of the method. This study concludes by positing that impediments that teachers face in implementing the method are significant predictors as to their attitudes concerning implementation. These findings suggest that educational context needs to be re-examined in order for the MAT method and others methods to become more widely practiced in English-language classes.

This paper examines the connection between Geert Hofstede’s theory of cultural dimensions, especially the dimension of ‘Masculinity’ (MAS) and how it relates to language teaching, focusing on the Japanese learner. We analyse Hofstede’s definition of the masculinity dimension and look at why the company ‘Hofstede Insights’ ranks Japanese culture as the highest in the world in terms of this dimension. We conclude with the implications for the L2 English instructor when teaching in Japan and adjusting classroom practice to account for this cultural dimension.

The Grammar Translation Method (GTM) has a long history but has widely fallen out of favour in recent times as a method of effective second language acquisition. This paper examines the origins and history of the GTM, its essential features and modern criticism of the method. Particular attention is given to the history and continuing use of the GTM in Japan and how it still sometimes informs pedagogy in Japan. We conclude by analysing why the GTN still retains a foothold in some L2 education contexts and speculate as to the future of its use.

The Japanese education system is often seen by those in the West as a beacon of excellence.  Often the images conjured up are those of elementary school children cleaning their classrooms and hallways, and a culture of solemn respect for teachers. However, despite the successes of the Japanese educational system, Japan has historically been viewed as a poster child for an industrialised nation that has been largely unsuccessful in English language education. This bibliographic essay will give a brief overview of the recent critical literature that examines Japanese second language (L2) English pedagogy.

This research study is an attempt at designing, developing, implementing, and assessing the quality of a blended course of English for general academic purposes targeting undergraduate Japanese students at Osaka University. The study has been conducted in several iterative stages as explicated below.Following Michael Allen's Basic Successive Approximation Model (SAM1), the researcher began with carrying out a thorough language needs analysis study to investigate the needs and difficulties of Japanese students as far as learning English at university classes and using it for communicative purposes was concerned. To this end, questionnaire data were collected from 278 Japanese undergraduate students enrolled at Osaka University. In order to further clarify the language needs and difficulties of Japanese learners, twelve instructors teaching Practical English courses were also interviewed. The findings of this stage indicate that students and instructors invariably underline the importance of improving learners' listening and speaking abilities alongside other skills in academia and at workplace so as to help promote the ultimate goal of internationalization and to nurture 21st Century global citizens.Continuing with the next stage, the researcher designed and developed a blended course of English for general academic purposes to replace the old course of “Practical English (e-learning)". Among the major differences of the old versus the new course are the use of a placement test, provision of content at three different levels of proficiency, integration of four language skills, inclusion of free speaking and writing tasks, focus on global themes, addition of a group project, and utilization of open educational resources resulting in the course being free of charge for students. The new course, titled Osaka University Global English Online (OUGEO), was hosted on the university learning management system,Blackboard Learn, locally known as CLE (Collaboration and Learning Environment). The entire course content, including syllabus and guidelines, weekly study materials, exercises, and assignments, were uploaded on CLE by March 2017.Osaka University Global English Online was subsequently implemented in the spring semester of 2017-2018 with 86 undergraduate students mainly from the Faculties of Law, Letters, and Economics. Similar to other face-to-face courses, OUGEO was also expanded over fifteen weeks, with the exception of having only five face-to-face classes. The remaining ten weeks were run online, during which the students were required to access the designated learning materials for each week on the learning management system and submit the related assignments. Regarding the face-to-face classes, the first session was allocated to orientation and getting the students familiar with the course, how to access the content, and where to submit their assignments as well as informing them of ways to contact the instructor and teaching assistants when need arose. The last session was also spent on giving the final exam, which was created on the learning management system and scored automatically. The second face-to-face class, however, was dedicated to training the students in doing poster presentations and overlaying videos on their posters using an augmented reality (AR) application called BlippAR.As a group term project, the students created posters on global themes and presented them during two face-to-face classes, with seven groups as presenters and seven others as listeners each time. This poster presentation carousel task required the listener groups to move from one poster station to the next in a circular fashion and to use the BlippAR app to view the AR content created by their classmates. The purpose of this user experience study was to analyze students' views toward the use of BlippAR in language classes and its usefulness. The students' responses to a user experience questionnaire indicated that the majority of the respondents found BlippAR an engaging tool for language learning, which made learning more interesting, yet many believed that the app per se did not contribute to improving their English skills.

In attempt to evaluate the course both internally and externally, two types of quality assessment were administered. First, the students enrolled in the course were asked to fill out an evaluation questionnaire toward the end of the semester, in which they reflected their opinions on the usefulness and pace of the course, quality of teaching, availability of support, and ease of navigation among others. They were also given an opportunity to share any qualitative comments they had through an open-ended question. Overall, most of the students agreed that the course helped them improve all their skills, in particular oral/aural skills, and that they were in general content with it and felt that the course met their language needs to a great extent. Nevertheless, there was a consensus regarding the existence of some technical difficulties, for instance in submitting speaking assignments online.With regard to external evaluation of the blended course, it was assessed using the Quality Matters Higher Education Course Design Rubric (Fifth Edition) both by the researcher first and later by a peer reviewer affiliated with Quality Matters. Some revisions were made during the self-review prior to getting the course peer reviewed. The first round of peer review yielded a score of 70 out of 99,resulting in failure to meet the Quality Matters standards of course design. Nonetheless, the course currently meets all the standards of the Higher Education Course Design Rubric upon amendment with a new score of 99/99. The researcher believes that there is still room for improving the course by rerunning it with several groups of students, getting it further refined and fine-tuned to the needs of Japanese learners as well as by solving the technical problems which occasionally occurred during the implementation phase.The current study bears significant implications for online/blended course designers and developers. It explicates examples of best practice and demonstrates potential pitfalls threatening the smooth flow of online language teaching and learning. It also has important implications for faculty development and strongly advocates the need to train faculty to design, develop, and evaluate their courses following mainstream standards while meeting students' needs and preparing them for living in the globalizing society of this century.

本論文はe-Learningシステムを用いたオンライン授業と対面授業を組み合わせたブレンド型授業の開発から評価までの実践研究をまとめたものであり，日本人大学生向けに英語を教育するためのコース開発においてデザイン過程から得られる知見と，開発した教授法を用いて実際に教育を実施して得られた知見に関する一連の研究を取りまとめたものである．本邦においては，従来のこのようなコース開発と評価が，開発者の個人的なアイディアや経験によりおこなわれ，完成された授業法についても体系的な評価もほとんど行われていないのに対して，本論文では広範な関連研究の調査に基づいて学習者のニーズ分析を行い，それに基づいてe-Learning教育法を開発し，本学学生向けの実際のブレンド型授業を実施している点が評価できる．本論文の主な成果としては，次の三点が認められる．

第1には，学習者，教育者に対してのニーズ分析を行い，学習者が自身の語学能力習得の必要性を，在学中の学習・研究という状況と，社会に出てからの職業的要求に場合分けして意識していること，英語４技能のうち，リスニングと，スピーキングの現状の達成度を他の技能より低く評価していることなどを明らかにした．同時に，学習者，教授者共にコミュニケーション能力の向上を重視しており，教育の国際化の方針とも一致しているが，これらが現状では十分に考慮されていないことなどを明らかにした．

第２には，設計された教材の中で，拡張現実（Augmented Reality）を用いた教材を学習者自らが作成する課題を実施することで，情報技術が学習者にどのような影響を与えるかを主に質問紙を用いて，質的および量的に分析している．その結果，対象となった学習者では，拡張現実を利用した教材を作成する技術的な困難性にも関わらず，課題に対する集中力と動機づけが増すことを明らかにし，このような最新の情報技術を教材に取り込むことの可能性を明らかにした．

第３には，学習者，教育者を調査対象としたニーズ分析に基づいて設計されたコースに対して，ルーブリックを用いた評価を実施し，定量的な評価結果を得ると同時に，評価に基づいた授業デザインの改良を実施している．このようなルーブリックを用いたe-Learning教材評価は本邦では例がなく，米国において開発された，Quality Matters™Higher Education Course DesignRubric (Fifth Edition)用いた．その結果，本論文でのデザイン手法で開発された授業法には，一定評価が得られ，わずかな修正で，適用したルーブリックを用いた評価基準を満たせることが明らかとなり，一連のデザイン手法の有効性を示すことができた．

これらの一連の研究は，体系だったオンライン教材の開発と評価に関して重要な知見を与えるもので，その学術的意義は大きいと考えられる．これらの成果は，それぞれ専門学術論文誌やトップカンファレンスに採録されている．また，一連の研究を通じて今後の情報技術を用いた教材開発プロセスに関しても大きな知見を得ることができている．

以上のように，本論文は今後さらに利活用が進むと期待されるブレンド型のe-Learning 授業の開発と進展に重要な成果を挙げた研究として，情報科学および言語教育学の進展に寄与するところが大きい．よって，本論文は博士（学術）の学位論文として価値のあるものと認める．

A 2017 study found that Japan ranks 37th out of 80 countries surveyed for English language proficiency, ranking 9th of the Asian countries surveyed and placing Japan in the ‘low’ English ability category. This bibliographic essay presents a brief overview of English language education in Japan focusing on the school, tertiary and private sectors. We conclude by looking at the critiques of each sector and ways outcomes for students may be improved.

University English entrance exams are commonplace in Japan and competition for entrance to high-ranking institutions is fierce. Given the high-stakes nature of such exams, high school leavers typically attend exam preparation courses at juku cram schools. Juku are part of the shadow education sector, which has a huge presence in the East Asian region but which has escaped the attention of language education researchers. Moreover, while the entrance exams have been summarily criticized, limited empirical research exists into the washback effect upon students' language learning. The present study constitutes a medium-scale investigation into the learning behaviour, experiences and language proficiency of 133 undergraduate students at a prestigious Japanese university, all of whom had attended juku prior to entering university. Survey and interview data clearly show a focus on reading, grammar, and test-taking techniques, and a complete lack of focus on speaking skills. The focus on receptive abilities is also reflected in language proficiency scores on IELTS Tests taken during the first year at university. Washback from the entrance exams on language learning is discussed within the context of juku cram schools in Japan.

Raising the English-speaking fluency of university graduates is a key concern. The ability to communicate in English serves as a gateway to global education and employment opportunities, at the same time, the English level of Japanese is one of the lowest in Asia. Self-efficacy, which is a person's confidence in their abilities to complete a specific task, may help in understanding why. It is formed through the interpretation of learning experiences and is a predictor of academic success. However, its role in EFL speaking in Japan remains under-researched. Consequently, in this study 15 university students were interviewed about their EFL speaking learning experiences at junior and senior high school in relation to sources of self-efficacy. Findings suggest a tendency for passive speaking mastery experiences, insufficient peer modelling and a strong preference from students for more communicative activities.

This case study describes the planning, implementation and evaluation of a two-year TBLT strand within an English major curriculum at a Japanese university. The project took place over a five-year period between 2001 and 2006 in a relatively challenging context for TBLT. The prevailing opinion was that learners did not have specific needs for English, necessitating general language instruction. With the purpose of providing more focused, goal-oriented instruction, the project incorporated a task-based needs analysis (Long, 2005) that triangulated information from employment records, interviews and a sequence of surveys to build a consensus on the critical L2 tasks faced by graduates (Lambert, 2010). This information fed into the design, implementation and evaluation a two-year TBLT program. The case study describes the project as input for TBLT projects in similar contexts.

Analysing second language learners (L2 learners) speech is a popular form of research in linguistics. This research observed speech errors made by Japanese learners of English currently studying at university. The research contained 6 participants, 4 female and 2 male, and involved interviewing each one of them, identifying between 2~4 grammatical inaccuracies and suggesting ways for them to improve upon them. They were then given a second interview a few weeks later to determine if any improvements were made. It was found that English articles and prepositions were a common problem for all participants, either inserting them where unnecessary or omitting them when required. The level of integration of these features within their speech suggested that they might be a result of fossilization (Selinker, 1972). The follow-up interviews showed that the participants were endeavouring to correct these mistakes. There were some good improvements, however, they found it difficult as the errors were so heavily embedded within their speech.

Japanese secondary school students (N=524) were surveyed to assess the correlational relationship between present English learning motivation and past learning narratives. An additional aim of the study was to determine whether past narratives should be operationalized into research questionnaires that utilize Zoltan Dornyei’s (2005) future oriented L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS). The results revealed a positive correlational relationship (r=.66) between past learning narratives and the motivational criterion measure, but the recommendation that past learning narrative question items should be incorporated into the present formulation of the L2MSS could not be corroborated with the data.

This paper describes the differences between English and Japanese sound systems from an articulatory setting perspective, especially in terms of their vowel systems and rhythm. It also includes some suggestions on how to teach English pronunciation to Japanese learners of English, taking such differences into consideration.

This paper aims to assess Japanese English learners’ attitudes towards their own pronunciation and the influence of studying abroad on their attitudes as focusing on a fact that many diverse types of English accents exist around the world. This study investigated the attitudes of 161 Japanese university students in a Japanese university towards their English pronunciation through a self-evaluation questionnaire. The participants were separated into four groups: non-study abroad, short-term, middle-term, and long-term study abroad. The results demonstrated the negative perception to their own pronunciation and revealed a strong approval to native-like pronunciation. In terms of studying abroad, the long-term study abroad group showed more confidence in their own pronunciation than the non-study abroad one, yet there were few significant differences between other groups. The results would come from successful communication experiences and the emotional factor influenced by the strong belief to be like native English speakers. This paper will explain the necessity of positive awareness to Japanese English as an English variant amongst the English learners.

This study reports on using fluency awareness to develop speaking ability for Japanese students over a one-year course in communicative English. Past studies on fluency and speaking rate are reviewed and classroom practices designed to promote fluency are explained. A simple test with scores that are easily calculated and understood by students for generating fluency scores is described. This test can be used by speaking teachers for a rough estimate of fluency in low-stakes classroom assessments. The statistical analyses done for this study found that students showed substantial progress in their fluency in terms of words per minute over the course of a year. In the decade that I have spent teaching Japanese college students English as a second language, I have consistently found that students at the college level lack fluency in speaking English. Many times when I have read these same students' writing samples I have understood that their proficiency in English is not nearly as bad as their speaking ability made it seem; students do gain an intermediate-level facility with reading and writing English from their studies in secondary school. In teaching first-year English at the university level, therefore, one of my goals has been to improve students' ability to feel confident in using the knowledge they already possess in order to speak more fluently. This paper will report on tasks that I implemented at Fukuoka Jo Gakuin University in the 2015 school year that appear to have helped students push themselves to speak more quickly and thus sound more fluent in English. The students who are described in this study are freshman majoring in English who should have an inherently high level of motivation, but I would characterize their speaking ability as beginner or low-intermediate. In this study I will be focusing on fluency as a measurable quality of the speech sample, which Lennon (1990) called fluency in the narrow sense and which Segalowitz (2010) called utterance fluency. Being more fluent in this sense means speaking quickly but also having fewer pauses and false starts, and having pauses in appropriate places (Al-Sibai, 2004; Chambers, 1997). How can fluency be increased? One influential idea in the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) is that because of humans' cognitive abilities, there must be a trade-off between the fluency, accuracy, and complexity of utterances of non-native speakers of languages (Skehan & Foster, 2008; Wang & Skehan, 2009). For example, if the speaker is bringing attention to the task of speaking without making any grammatical mistakes (thus focusing on accuracy), their fluency may decrease as they attempt to consciously monitor their utterances. Of course, this trade-off is not always necessary; for example, for speakers for whom most grammatical structures have become proceduralized and automatic, the trade-off between accuracy and fluency would not need to occur (DeKeyser, 2007). Another way to increase the attentional resources would be to repeat a task. Research on the interaction of fluency, accuracy and complexity has found that if language learners have time to plan what they are going to say (Yuan & Ellis, 2003) or are repeating a task (Bygate, 2001) this can free up more attentional resources and fluency on the task improves. Improved fluency, of course, is a desirable characteristic. A number of studies have found that students are perceived as more fluent speakers in general when they use a faster speech rate and have fewer pauses

Oral presentations are a common form of summative assessment in tertiary level English as a Foreign Language (EFL) syllabi. There will be an array of teaching and learning elements to be considered by a teacher in their set-up and execution of an ICT-based oral presentation activity that goes beyond having students stand in front of a class group and talk about a subject. Teaching effective oral presentation skills to university-level learners requires an understanding of how to maximize learning opportunities to persuasively convey a message orally and visually to an audience.

This small-scale qualitative study aimed at identifying factors and the extent of their influence upon the learning experiences of first year Japanese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) undergraduate students in a group work oriented oral presentation using English as the language of communication. Research findings were obtained from students through their participation in written self-reflection and a semi-structured focus group interview. This study found that informal self- and peer assessment influenced oral presentation learning experiences for participants. In relation to group work, participants identified the main influences of group work on their learning experiences resulting from: learning experiences in connection with other group members and other groups, the value of prior experiences of presenting; and teacher support. Additionally, participants felt that working in a group could provide support and reduced performance pressure; and that observing other student groups was beneficial to individual learning.

Interactional repair usually involves one or two primary participants, meaning that either the speaker of a trouble source attempts to deal with it on his or her own or else a recipient initiates the repair and sometimes provides a candidate solution. However, occasionally a third person may also become involved in a form of repair that has been called ‘brokering’. Such brokers mediate the talk, providing the primary recipient with assistance in dealing with the trouble, particularly in cases where the recipient is an L2 speaker. Brokering therefore momentarily reconstitutes the participant constellation and invokes relevant identity categories and epistemic hierarchies. Adopting a Conversation Analytic approach, I build on this line of inquiry by examining a collection of cases in which a novice speaker of English appeals to a third person for brokering, highlighting sequential, embodied and epistemic features of the talk in both successful and aborted bids for brokering. The data are taken from a corpus of multi-party dinner table talk video-recorded in a homestay context.

This study examines the production of English first-person singular pronoun “I” by native speakers and Japanese learners in writing academic essays. Many previous studies as Hyland (2002) and Ishikawa (2009, 2012) mention that Japanese learners tend to overuse “I” such as “I think” in writing; however, it has not yet been suggested exactly when and why they overuse the pronoun. Therefore, the current study will show the function of “I” by the learners showing the difference from the native speakers in order to identify the timing and the reason for the overuse.
    The pronoun was extracted from the English Essays of Australian and Japanese College Students (EEAJ, a tentative name, now available as the Corpus of Multilingual Opinion Essays by College Students) (Okugiri, Komori, and Ijuin 2015) that includes native English speakers’ and Japanese learners’ opinion essays. The results showed that, among 51 Japanese learners and 78 native speakers, the frequency of “I” was much higher than the native speakers (295 times for the learners and 150 for the native speakers in total), and most learners (92.2%) produced the pronoun while only half of the native speakers (53.8%) used it. In addition, the frequency of the use was 6.27 times per learner and 3.57 times per native speaker. The results suggest that the learners produce “I” when they state their main argument showing their strong stance; meanwhile, the native speakers use it to mention their personal belief or to show supporting evidence or background information relating to their main argument. This finding reveals the difference in the use of objectivity between the learners and native speakers in academic writings.

Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety is an educational phenomenon that has gained growing attention among researchers over the past three decades. It is a form of anxiety that can be debilitating and arises from various sources. This research examined foreign language classroom-based anxiety experiences of two adult Japanese English language learners; looking at the experiences of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety: in both secondary and tertiary education settings; and in English language learning environments that the participants experienced in both Japan and the United States of America. Furthermore, this research investigated the effects of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety on learning outcomes and oral performance. Findings from this study into the effects of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety on learning outcomes and oral performance of participants indicated that sociocultural factors; learner motivation; self-efficacy; and the perceptions that learners have of their classroom learning environments influence learning outcomes and oral performance in the classroom. Findings indicated that anxiety in foreign language classroom learning experiences can be linked with oral performance.

This article presents preliminary results from research funded by a 2012 JALT research grant (for details, McLean, 2012). Research on the vocabulary size of Japanese students is limited. Shillaw (1995), and Barrow, Nakanishi & Nishino (1999) suggest that the vocabulary size of non-English major Japanese university students is around 2,300 words. In these studies vocabulary knowledge was assessed over a limited range of word families, with students completing self-checking familiarity surveys. However, this approach may have measured the word forms students recalled being exposed to, or their ability to discern real English words from nonsense words, rather than measuring receptive reading vocabulary knowledge.

Interactional repair usually involves one or two primary participants, meaning that either the speaker of a trouble source attempts to deal with it on his or her own or else a recipient initiates the repair and sometimes provides a candidate solution. However, occasionally a third person may also become involved in a form of repair that has been called 'brokering'. Such brokers mediate the talk, providing the primary recipient with assistance in dealing with the trouble, particularly in cases where the recipient is an L2 speaker. Brokering therefore momentarily reconstitutes the participant constellation and invokes relevant identity categories and epistemic hierarchies. Adopting a Conversation Analytic approach, I build on this line of inquiry by examining a collection of cases in which a novice speaker of English appeals to a third person for brokering, highlighting sequential, embodied and epistemic features of the talk in both successful and aborted bids for brokering. T...

This study investigated Japanese EFL learners’ performance on tasks designed to assess accuracy in obligatory plural marking of countable nouns. A total of 210 students from two universities in Western Japan each completed an error recognition task, and two writing tasks that were devised to compare awareness of the need for plural marking on three different types of countable nouns: (i) English loanwords having no Japanese equivalent (e.g., バナナ (banana)—bananas); (ii) English loanwords that also have Japanese equivalents (e.g., さくらんぼ (sakuranbo)・チェリー (chierii)—cherries); and (iii) nouns that have only a Japanese form (e.g., 柿 (kaki)—persimmons). The results of the error recognition task indicated that learners were least able to identify plural omission errors on English loanwords having no Japanese equivalent. On the other hand, participants identified more plural omission errors on English loanwords that also have Japanese forms than on nouns that have only Japanese (i.e., no loanword) forms. However, on both the picture description and free writing tasks, a somewhat different pattern emerged. Japanese EFL learners produced the fewest plural endings on English loanwords having no Japanese alternative, but they produced the highest percentage of obligatory plural endings on nouns with Japanese-only forms. Accuracy of plural marking for nouns, which in Japanese have both an English loanword and a Japanese equivalent, fell between the other two categories. Possible implications for pedagogy are discussed as well as future avenues of research.

"This study investigates the frequency of English relative constructions in spoken and written language, explains the different inclinations from the discoursal point of view, and analyses the information status of the head and relative clause types. Samples of 735 relative constructions are extracted from spoken and written corpora. The study reveals the frequency of the head noun phrases and RC-type differing in the two different modes of language. The results show that the head types are likely dependent upon the presence or absence of kinetic information, visual referents, and deictic referents, and that the determining factor for the RC-type may be planning time. Through the exhibition of different prototypical patterns of English relative constructions between spoken and written language, discoursal properties are shown to play a crucial role in the production of English relative constructions. 本研究は、話し言葉と書き言葉における英語関係節構文の産出頻度を調査し、 その結果を談話的に分析するものである。話し言葉コーパスと書き言葉コー パスから合計735 の英語ネイティブスピーカーによる関係節構文を抽出し、 関係節構文の先行詞と関係節のタイプに着目した。その結果、話し言葉と書 き言葉では、産出が違うことがわかった。特に先行詞の違いについては、目 視による情報、また目視できる直示的な対象物の有無が、そして関係節のタ イプについては、プラニング時間の有無が、話し言葉と書き言葉での関係節 構文の違いにおける主要な要因であると推測される。以上の結果から、話し 言葉と書き言葉では、関係節をはじめとした構文の産出において違いが見ら れ、談話内での様々な要因がその産出に影響していると提言する。"

The ability to be able to emulate the pronunciation of a native speaker is a skill desired by many language learners. This research, the first part in a yearlong study, introduced several sound pairs of English pronunciation for practice to 6 Japanese second language (L2) learners of English, in the CEFR A2 band, currently studying at university level. They were divided into two groups, a group of 4 and a group of 2, were introduced to and practiced the sound pairs over the course of several weeks. There were a number of similarities in the resulting change, most notably with the "l/r" and "s/sh" sound pairs. Both groups showed an improvement in their English pronunciation. However, the pair group progressed at a slightly faster rate than the group of 2 despite all students receiving the same materials, contact time and support. The study concludes with the suggestion that teachers should allocate a small amount of time to focus on English pronunciation in their courses. The study will continue with the inclusion of another group.

Although the nihonjinron discourse argues that the increasing hegemony of the English language will have negative effects on the Japanese identity, some scholars have suggested the opposite to also be true. This paper investigates the potential for both positive and/or negative impacts of English education in Japan by analysing the attitudes and perspectives of 97 Japanese tertiary-level EFL students towards the study of English on Japan’s national and cultural identity. The findings suggest that support for the theories of the nihonjinron discourse are not as strong amongst the younger generation in Japan as what they once were. Participants identified the Japanese language as a constituent element of national identity, and it is therefore suggested that removing Japanese from the EFL classroom entirely, as has been advocated for in foreign language policies, may actually develop negative ideologies towards the study of English in general. The findings suggest the need to build a positive relationship between the English language as a support for Japanese identity if we are to see an improvement in Japanese students’ attitudes towards, and development of, EFL on the whole.

The ability to be able to emulate the pronunciation of a native speaker is a skill desired by many language learners. This research, the first part in a yearlong study, introduced several sound pairs of English pronunciation for practice to6Japanese second language (L2) learners of English, in the CEFR A2band, currently studying at university level. They were divided into two groups, a group of4and a group of2, were introduced to and practiced the sound pairs over the course of several weeks. There were a number of similarities in the resulting change, most notably with the “l/r” and “s/sh” sound pairs. Both groups showed an improvement in their English pronunciation. However, the pair group progressed at a slightly faster rate than the group of4despite all students receiving the same materials, contact time and support. The study concludes with the suggestion that teachers should allocate a small amount of time to focus on English pronunciation in their courses. The study will cont...

This paper examines the frequency of animacy status of the head noun phrases modified by relative clauses in spoken and written English among Japanese learners and native English speakers. Samples of relative clauses are extracted from a spoken and a written corpora, and the results indicated differences in the animacy status of the head noun phrases between the learners and native speakers depending on the learner’s proficiency and between the spoken and written mode. The overall results revealed that animacy status affects the production of English relative constructions among both Japanese learners and native English speakers, which suggests that semantic properties play a crucial role in the acquisition of relative clause constructions. Moreover, this study finds that more advanced learners become better at producing relative clauses because they are a syntactically complex construction, but the learners depend heavily on relative clauses to introduce animate referents into the discourse as a communication strategy.

This paper investigates whether Data-Driven Learning (DDL), a form of language learning using corpora and concordance software, can be used effectively with Japanese false beginners.  Despite the effort put into helping learners to become accustomed to this form of language learning, it was found that DDL was able to foster modest improvements in the learners' writing proficiency.

This study investigates the frequency of English relative constructions in spoken and
written language, explains the different inclinations from the discoursal point of
view, and analyses the information status of the head and relative clause types.
Samples of 735 relative constructions are extracted from spoken and written corpora.
The study reveals the frequency of the head noun phrases and RC-type differing in
the two different modes of language. The results show that the head types are likely
dependent upon the presence or absence of kinetic information, visual referents, and
deictic referents, and that the determining factor for the RC-type may be planning
time. Through the exhibition of different prototypical patterns of English relative
constructions between spoken and written language, discoursal properties are shown
to play a crucial role in the production of English relative constructions.
本研究は、話し言葉と書き言葉における英語関係節構文の産出頻度を調査し、
その結果を談話的に分析するものである。話し言葉コーパスと書き言葉コー
パスから合計735 の英語ネイティブスピーカーによる関係節構文を抽出し、
関係節構文の先行詞と関係節のタイプに着目した。その結果、話し言葉と書
き言葉では、産出が違うことがわかった。特に先行詞の違いについては、目
視による情報、また目視できる直示的な対象物の有無が、そして関係節のタ
イプについては、プラニング時間の有無が、話し言葉と書き言葉での関係節
構文の違いにおける主要な要因であると推測される。以上の結果から、話し
言葉と書き言葉では、関係節をはじめとした構文の産出において違いが見ら
れ、談話内での様々な要因がその産出に影響していると提言する。