Studied beliefs about language learning of Japanese university learners of English. Sought to validate a questionnaire developed for the Japanese context on a variety of beliefs; investigate the value of interview data to complement and explain questionnaire data; and describe beliefs about language learning and determine how those beliefs are…

Describes how in one English language teaching project in Japan, students studied English in a way that increased their ability to participate in their community, both presently and in the future. Searching out a range of information resources from their own context and on the Internet and connecting them with their daily life, they experienced…

Examines the effects of learning words grouped in semantic sets, using Japanese words paired with artificial words. A principal finding was that there was a main effect against learning semantically related words at the same time. The article concludes that presenting students with wordlists of new words in semantic clusters, rather than in…

Clarifies the nature of second-language (L2) self-instruction involving the use of self-instructional broadcast materials, with particular reference to Japan, where such materials are widely used. Analysis of responses to an open-ended questionnaire administered to 138 university students reveals benefits and problems associated with this mode of…

Investigates the performance of students from different language backgrounds, using data from a computer-adaptive Japanese grammar test developed as a placement tool. Findings indicate item difficulties to be quite different for each group of candidates and imply that when candidates are from a different background from that of the trial…