This book explores alternative approaches to foreign language education in a context which is traditionally dominated by English-only approaches, and widely viewed as highly monolingual. It examines the grassroots classroom practices of teachers and their assistants involved in plurilingual education in the first longitudinal research of its type…

This study examines L2 speakers' accent attitudes in relation to their linguistic profile and current practices, recruiting 107 multilingual postgraduate students of 34 different nationalities enrolled in leading research universities in Japan. The participants completed a survey regarding their perceptions of different English varieties in…

In this critical essay, Yumi Matsumoto uses the concept of English as a lingua franca to understand multilinguals' communicative practices and to support an alternative understanding of English language use among international students in US university classrooms. The essay draws on two examples of university classroom interactions involving…

Many universities in non-English speaking countries have been adopting English as a medium of instruction to internationalize their education. We set out to compare the language policies of a Finnish and a Japanese university using the lens of language ideology -- a set of normative beliefs about the social dimension of language. Data were…

This report proposes a number of tasks which help learners become more aware of how their feelings are moulded in their L1 and notice crosslinguistic similarities and differences between their L1 and a target language. The proposed tasks are motivated by findings in the crosslinguistic influence literature and a study that investigated Japanese…

The utilization of English-medium Instruction (EMI) has become increasingly prevalent in Japanese higher education as a means of promoting internationalisation. International students who come to study in Japan are likely to encounter unforeseen multilingual situations where they are forced to learn the local language. This study employed a…

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is a popular teaching approach that is being enthusiastically adopted across Japan (Ikeda, M. 2019. "CLIL in Comparison with PPP: A Revolution in ELT by Competency-Based Language Education." In "Innovation in Language Teaching and Learning: The Case of Japan," edited by H.…

This is the first edited volume dedicated to both teachers and learners of second/foreign language (L2) pragmatics. It comprises a collection of studies that explore how teachers background and practices, and individual learners differences contribute to the teaching and learning of L2 pragmatics. Also included are chapters that present…

With the internationalisation of higher education, many universities in non-English-speaking countries have started offering English-medium instruction (EMI) courses. In Asia, in addition to the challenges caused by instructors and local students not being L1 speakers of English, the recent study-abroad trend has added more complexity to…

While there has been a surge of publication on L2 motivation studies, not much has been investigated regarding motivation to learn languages other than English. As a longitudinal interview study, the present study investigated two cases of Japanese university students focusing on the development of ideal L2/L3 self and ideal multilingual self. The…

Developing intercultural awareness among participants is an objective of many short-term study abroad (SA) programmes. However, such programmes often focus on essentialist 'target' national culture learning. Moreover, simplistic evaluation of intercultural development risks the decontextualisation of personally meaningful learning in experiences…

The notion of English as a multilingua franca (EMF) positions English within multilingualism, and EMF awareness prepares students to communicate effectively in this multilingual world of mobility. The present paper explores how, if ever, EMF-aware pedagogic intervention influences Japanese students' perceptions of their communicative practices,…

The current study examines how Japanese and international care workers at a geriatric healthcare facility in Japan manage one of the most fundamental elements of handover interactions -- person reference and recognition to identify a particular care receiver and discuss their specific conditions and needs. By using Conversation analysis (CA) as a…

This study utilises comparative case studies of three Japanese third-culture kids (TCKs) living in Singapore aged 16, each from a different school type (international school, Japanese school, and local Singapore school). It explores if the home language, language used in school, language used in social circles, and language of media consumed of…

This study examines the role of agency in a young trilingual child's language choice in interaction with her Mandarin-speaking grandparents. The child was born in Japan to a Chinese mother and a Japanese father. English is used as a lingua franca in the family. The study demonstrates how the child asserts her agency to negotiate the decisions and…