There is an absence of cross-cultural qualitative research exploring sociocultural factors affecting reading motivation. To address the gap, the present study adopted the Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model of human development to investigate factors impacting reading motivation across American and Japanese fourth grade students. Additionally, we…

This paper presents a comparative analysis of the linguistic landscapes (LL) of two distinct ethnic areas in Shin-Okubo, Japan: Koreatown and Islamic Street. By paying particular attention to the difference in the formation of the two immigrant communities, this study aims to better understand various functions of language on signage and their…

This study aims to develop a conceptual framework regarding practitioner knowledge and describe how one mathematics teacher generates her practitioner knowledge based on the framework. The characteristic of this framework is a combination of static and dynamic aspects of knowledge based on the teacher's perception and interpretation. The research…

The purpose of the study is to understand how Japanese women become social entrepreneurs. The challenges in fostering women's entrepreneurship include socio-cultural traditional views on women's roles and expectations and insufficient support systems. Despite such challenges, the rise of Japanese women as social entrepreneurs has been observed in…

The objective of this case study was to identify the role of finger gestures in learning mathematics informally during play, especially in sociocultural settings. A mathematical activity involving addition was qualitatively analyzed at a Japanese preschool. We explored how the process of subjectification and objectification contributed to a…

This study explores the identity positions that L2 English learners/users would take in case of hypothetical miscommunications. Based on positioning theory, at the time of L2 interaction, L2 learners assign themselves and others specific positions which are established through their learning experiences. It was hypothesized that their current…

In this quantitative study, we investigated the relationships between parenting and young learners' English learning--specifically parents' sociocultural influence on elementary school children's motivation--within the framework of self-determination theory (SDT). We surveyed 212 dyads of Japanese parents and their children (8-12 years old) and…

The development of a mind-reading ability, known as theory-of-mind (ToM), has been recognized as following a universal process, but the age at which the false-belief task is passed has been reported to have wide inter-group variabilities. Japanese children have been reported to acquire a false-belief understanding at a slightly older age than…

This article draws on the concept of the Production of Space (Lefebvre, 1991) to interpret the silence of one female international student from Japan in two semesters of study in a New Zealand Tertiary institution. Data from an English for Academic Purposes course and mainstream courses, and from various sources including video/audio recordings of…

In many countries in Asia and the Pacific, high-stakes examinations are the means for controlling access to better schools, higher education and greater life opportunities. Students are being educated in a world that is highly competitive, stressful and test-focused and the pressure to obtain high scores in tests and exams can come at the expense…

School and university classrooms remain the standard around the world for second language instruction. However, over the past 20 years various methods of language learning have permeated the educational landscape to include self-study textbooks, language learning software and online teachers. Some models are evidence based while others lack…

This article takes a sociocultural linguistic approach to code switching in investigating discursive functions of shifts between Standard Japanese and a regional dialect (Iwate Dialect) in women's activity-centered, naturally occurring interactions. The paper extends previous scholarship to a consideration of how shifts are used for discursive…

This study addresses children's Kyoiku (education) as it is explored by two kindergartens in Japan. It reports how the teachers, parents and children defined and experienced children's education and draws on the sociocultural concepts to understand their perspectives. Situated in the personal, educational, and sociocultural landscape of the…

This article updates the trends and developments of Japanese as a second language (JSL) research since Mori and Mori (2011) by reviewing nearly 200 selected empirical studies published in English or Japanese between 2010 and early 2019. The first section of this review examines the cognitive aspects of second language (L2) Japanese development,…

This article reports an analysis of the relationship between women's increased participation in higher education and other recent social changes over the last four decades. To date, women's increased involvement in higher education has been studied as either a force for or a consequence of other sociocultural changes. Drawing on data from key…