Participation in overseas programs has recently increased as an international strategy worldwide. However, Japan has been the exception, because the number of Japanese students studying abroad has decreased over the last decade. The Japanese government and universities began efforts to motivate Japanese students to gain international experience.…

This study investigated three look-up conditions for language learners to learn unknown target words and comprehend a reading passage when their attention is transferred away to an on-line dictionary. The research questions focused on how each look-up condition impacted the recall and recognition of word forms, word meanings, and passage…

This study explored the relation between second-language (L2) readers' memory for causal relations and their learning outcomes from expository text. Japanese students of English as a foreign language (EFL) with high and low L2 reading proficiency read an expository text. They completed a causal question and a problem-solving test as measures of…

This study explores the degree of language knowledge of Japanese living in Catalonia and their perceptions of the two particular languages used in this multilingual/bilingual society. The data on language proficiency was obtained via a questionnaire survey which was evaluated by the subjects themselves and analysed by means of correspondence…

This paper aims to establish that globalised social and linguistic changes have a more complicated impact on local behaviours and attitudes than is believed. Based on statistical analysis of nationally representative surveys in Japan, the paper presents evidence against the following two propositions: (1) globalisation increases local demand for…

This paper investigates the effect of using L1 translations versus L2 definitions on the learning and testing of L2 vocabulary recognition knowledge. For this study, 48 Japanese L2 learners of English studied 200 lexical items from the academic word list (AWL) over a 10-week period. To support their learning, the participants were provided with…

The following question has yet to be answered by researchers: when does anxiety have a systematic downward bias on foreign language (FL) reading test scores? The results of the correlation and regression analyses conducted in this study indicate that, at least in the case of university-level English learners in Japan, anxiety-induced bias occurs…

English-speaking learners of L2 Spanish who were taking part in a four-week study abroad program in Spain and Japanese-speaking learners of L2 English who were individually studying in year-long abroad experiences participated in the present study. Quantitative and qualitative data from language questionnaires and contact profiles along with…

English language learners seek strong speaking, reading, writing, and listening skills. When it comes to the last it is commonly assumed that if students have many opportunities to hear spoken English then that exposure will improve their ability to comprehend it. Unfortunately, this is often not the case since many second language learners do not…

This study adopts Oxford's (2017) definition of language learning strategies (LLS) framed by self-regulation theory and explores the longitudinal development in the use of three second language (L2) writing strategies (global planning, local planning, L1-to-L2 translation) by Japanese university students as it interacts with cognitive, affective,…

Learners of a foreign language (FL) typically have to learn to process sounds that do not exist in their first language (L1). As this is known to be difficult for adults, in particular, it is important for FL pedagogy to be informed by phonetic research. This study examined the role of FL learners' previous linguistic experience in the processing…

For many sociolinguists, the issue of shyness and hesitation phenomenon has been problematic for Japanese L1 and L2 speakers, particularly in gendered interactions. Over the past decade, more Japanese are shunning conversations, relationships, and isolating themselves, which is accelerating the demographic crisis in Japan. Thus, this paper focuses…

As online automatic speech recognition (ASR) engines become more accurate and more widely implemented with call software, it becomes important to evaluate the effectiveness and the accuracy of these recognition engines using authentic speech samples. This study investigates two of the most prominent cloud-based speech recognition engines--Apple's…

The present study investigated the effects of two types of core-image-based basic verb learning approaches: the learner-centered and the teacher-centered approaches. The learner-centered approach was an activity in which participants found semantic relationships among several definitions of each basic target verb through a picture-elucidated card…

The current project longitudinally investigated the extent to which first-year Japanese university students developed their second language (L2) oral ability in relation to increased input in foreign language classrooms. Their spontaneous speech was elicited at the beginning, middle and end of one academic year, and then judged by linguistically…