This qualitative, case-study research explores the English language learning history of a Japanese pre-service teacher by analysing five English-language poems and a self-reflective essay regarding her experiences of learning the target language. The methodology chosen in this study was a poetic inquiry through which the investigator reconstructed…

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…

This study investigated how students' self-reported individual differences predicted second language (L2) spoken discussion task output, an objective behavioral outcome, in the Japanese university English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. Although numerous psychological theories are used as a rationale for task-based language teaching (TBLT),…

This study employed a mixed-methods approach to explore the attitudes of second language (L2) learners and L2 teachers toward the use of learners' first language (L1) in L2 classrooms. Interview data were collected from Japanese college students (n = 91) and their English teachers (n = 9) to identify salient themes related to the reasons for…

This study looked at how practically ASR-based interactive video assignments can be integrated into EFL classrooms for additional out-of-class speaking practice, and what effects it will have on students. We created an ASR-based interactive video assignment using Google Scripts and gave it to students as a homework assignment between lessons in…

One way that language educators can extend a role-play is by adding a complication to encourage the learner say more. This study uses multimodal conversation analysis to explore such obstacles to progressivity among Japanese learners of English at an experiential language learning facility. We first examine an interactional practice in which the…

The purpose of this study was to identify the causes of speaking anxiety in highly anxious students, of which their teachers might not have been aware, and solutions to alleviate the problem. Sixteen students from a Japanese language-oriented university participated in an interview survey. The participants' anxiety levels were measured using a…

The aims of the present study are two-fold. The first aim is to reveal the cultural and linguistic issues that need to be considered in the development of curricular content and sequencing for teaching mathematical proof in secondary schools in Japan. The second aim is to elaborate an epistemological perspective that may allow us to understand…

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 paper reports on teacher research which explored the practicality and potential of World Englishes (WE)-informed pedagogy in the Japanese secondary education context. Based on qualitative data from written reflections and post-unit individual interviews with seven high school students in Japan, this paper presents students' perceptions of the…

Visualizing oneself joining imagined communities of target language (TL) use represents a potent motivation for language study. Given that rationales for the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme include fostering internationalization, a student-centered classroom, and communicative skills, teaching to promote learners envisioning themselves…

The present study examined whether oral interactive (pair) rehearsals and individual rehearsals promote second language (L2) learners' communication ability. The participants were 60 first-year students from two required English classes at a national university in Japan. One class was designated as 'the compulsory rehearsal' group (CR, n=28); the…

Increasing linguistic and cultural diversity has led to an increased need for plurilingual pedagogy in the language classroom. This study expands the scope of the existing literature on plurilingual pedagogy in a different context: a Japanese language classroom at an English-medium instruction (EMI) university in Japan. It focuses on students'…

Japanese college students' akogare (meaning "longing") for an idealized West has conventionally been researched and discussed under the assumption that the West is synonymous with Anglophone countries and that an encounter with the West is categorically an international experience. The present study provides new insights by exploring…

This study investigated the effects of explicit and implicit discourse marker (DM) instruction on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' speech. Two different teaching methods were used over seven weeks of online English classes at a university in Japan. Participants were split into two groups, and in the first week, a pre-test comprising…