This paper describes a mixed methods study of Japanese first-year tertiary learners' attitudes to English language learning models. It outlines the results from a survey comprised of a verbal guise test (measuring respondents' attitudes to both linguistic and personality features) and vocabulary elicitation, which was administered to 87…

The present study aimed to evaluate the quantitative and qualitative effectiveness of an undergraduate course entitled, 'What is disability?' Specifically, we measured changes in perceptions of Japanese freshmen towards people with disabilities (PWDs) using the Disability Social Work scale, and what they learned from the course. In total, 18…

Universities use merit-based scholarships as a recruitment tool to attract and enrol academically talented students. Various literature concludes scholarships can have an overall positive impact on the enrolment yield of new students. This article provides an analysis of the merit-based scholarship programme for new students at a Japan-based…

Purpose: As UN's sustainable development goals (SDGs) are integrated across Asia-Pacific Higher Education Institutes (HEIs), the purpose of this descriptive and exploratory study is to investigate undergraduates' own self-stated commitment to the SDGs and their perceived feasibility by the 2030 target. Design/methodology/approach: A…

Purpose: This study was conducted to understand students' achievements in learning and to improve the overall curriculum of the first-year experience course. Design/methodology/approach: In this study, a series of questionnaire-based surveys were conducted on students enrolled in the Introductory Seminar for Policy Science, a mandatory first-year…

This study investigated to what extent the scores of two English tests are correlated to each other, namely, the English test of the "Common Test for University Admissions" (Common Test, henceforth) in Japan and the "TOEIC Bridge", a commercially available English test developed by "Educational Testing Service" (ETS)…

This study aims to analyse how Japanese first-year university students' writing anxiety in academic writing classes changed over nine months. A total of 102 Japanese first-year university students participated in an academic writing class. Two assessors evaluated the students' compositions, using the same writing assessment rubric. The students…

English education in Japan has traditionally focused on grammar over communication, and the country has struggled to compete internationally in terms of English proficiency scores. As the country works toward the internationalization of higher education, improving English education is an important issue. One potential solution is the use of topics…

Self-efficacy has emerged as a popular construct in second language research, especially in the frontline and practitioner-researcher spaces. A troubling trend in the relevant literature is that self-efficacy is often measured in a general or global manner. Such research ignores the fact that self-efficacy is a smaller context-driven construct…

In the ongoing pandemic context, short-term study abroad opportunities remain limited for many students. As a result, there has been a need for universities to develop educational innovations for home context learning to meet institutional intercultural learning aims. The purpose of this action research paper is to outline how a small-scale…

Life skills (LS) training programs help individuals develop their mental health and stress-related attitudes. This study aims to build a versatile physical education program (PEP) to promote LS and examine its effectiveness. The subjects were first-year Japanese university students. We conducted the LS survey in April (pre-semester) and August…

Motivations-beliefs for learning and their relationship to instructional experiences are a poorly understood aspect of higher education. Notably, interest is an individual difference that both researchers and educators alike believe should be supported. However, this support is too often relegated to the craft of instruction. To be enhanced…

The purpose of this research is to present how university students' Test of English for International Communication Institutional Program (TOEIC IP) scores change after taking a 20-minute English extensive reading class during one semester. The research question was, "Is there a significant difference between the TOEIC IP scores from a…

Secondary English education in Japan, despite widespread policy reform, has been identified as a context in which problems with learner motivation are commonplace and persistent. Numerous quantitative studies have highlighted student dissatisfaction with a range of pedagogical factors including a disproportionate focus on rote memorization for…

The COVID-19 pandemic and remote lessons changed extensive reading (ER) implementation because online libraries became the only way for educators to continue ER assignments. Online libraries with audio narration make audio-assisted reading easily available to L2 learners. Research on audio-assisted extensive reading has shown that there are…