This paper compares direct measures of content knowledge for students studying Chemistry through English Medium Instruction (EMI) and Japanese Medium Instruction (JMI). It also examines a range of contextual differences between the two mediums of instruction. A total of 53 undergraduate students undertook pre-post course content tests at a…

Online eikaiwa, or English conversations via teleconferencing platforms, is a popular informal English learning avenue among Japanese nationals. Although online eikaiwa has received scholarly attention in recent years, only a few studies have investigated the current diversification efforts in the industry in terms of hiring teachers from various…

Although significant attention has been devoted to the notion of facework and its functions, facework among L2 speakers, whose cultural backgrounds and language proficiencies vary, has remained unexplored. The present study attempts to explore situations of intercultural communication in which facework is used as a way to remedy moments of…

Compared with other countries in Asia, Japan is far behind in terms of introducing and delivering bilingual education, let alone effective immersion programmes. In order to make its citizens more bilingual, Japan has been introducing innovative measures including the implementation of the teaching of English in elementary education and a new…

Discusses the minority Ainu people and language of northern Japan, focusing on the current locus of Ainu speakers and ethnic Ainu, the former extent of Ainu speech communities, publications on and in Ainu, and recent actions by the Ainu people to assert their linguistic and political rights in Japan. (168 references) (MDM)

This study is part of a larger investigation into Japanese students' use of English and friendship buildup inside and outside Canadian English as a second language (ESL) institutes. Both qualitative and quantitative data were garnered primarily from formal in-depth interviews with nine Japanese students and questionnaire surveys with 216 students.…

Discusses the role of the Chinese language and people in Japan, focusing on the historical impact of the Chinese language and culture on Japan, Chinese schools in Japan, and local Chinese immigrant communities. (20 references) (MDM)