Objective: The present study examined the moderating effect of coping flexibility on the association between the coping waiting patiently for interpersonal stressors and depression. Coping flexibility refers to devising and implementing suitable coping strategies according to the situation, coping was defined in this study as holding oneself back…

The curriculum evaluation described in this paper documents the efforts of a group of university faculty to implement Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) in two kinesiology-related courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The engaged students (n = 34) completed pre-post questionnaires measuring changes in intercultural…

We investigated the effects of social interaction and out-of-class study time on foreign language proficiency and use among two hundred students from a Japanese university who studied abroad for one month. Participants' use of English and English proficiency were measured before and after the programme. Interaction with people from other cultures…

This study aims to assess and examine secondary school teachers' perceptions of school climate and job satisfaction in five diverse countries: Japan, Korea, Finland, the United States of America (USA), and Australia. It explores the impact of school climate on teachers' job satisfaction, a pivotal factor influencing teacher retention, mobility,…

With an increase in interactions with non-human agents, understanding and forecasting the consequences of human interactions with them have become increasingly crucial. The present study focused on a subset of non-human agents known as virtual characters. To investigate whether people respond in the same way to a virtual character as they do to a…

Traditionally, the genealogy of Edo Confucianism, that is, Confucianism reinterpreted and reconstructed in the Tokugawa period, has been classified into the Chu-Hsi, Wang Yang-ming, Ancient, and Eclectic schools. These classifications are based on the most representative Confucian theories in the Tokugawa period and are useful for understanding…

International students in a Japanese university struggled with issues of loneliness, lack of belonging, and feelings of not mattering. These issues inhibited their ability to form friendships with domestic students. This study sought to investigate causes and find actionable solutions to international student social networking issues. Participants…

Some people believe that immersive virtual reality (VR) and, by extension, the metaverse, will become integral parts of daily life. There have also been suggestions that the metaverse could become a virtual world where language learners have alternate identities as second language (L2) speakers. Considering the potential implications of immersive…

This research study provides a case study of how the COVID-19 pandemic affected Japanese university students' views and attitudes on international topics and motivations for living and working abroad. During the pandemic, digital information, including social media, played a prominent role in how these students interacted and kept up with the…

While perennial in the research landscape, empirical work investigating second language (L2) study emotions has proliferated in the past ten years (Dewaele, 2019). Nevertheless, this article argues there is space for more holistic yet detailed, social yet individual perspectives when conducting such research. As one avenue, the paper explores the…

The study reported in this article investigated the use of quest-based learning (QBL) in a gamified English as a foreign language (EFL) course at a Japanese university. A mixed methods research design was utilised to explore the effect purposely designed quests can have on EFL students' foreign language (FL) motivation. The study was conducted…

Background: The Personal Outcomes Scale is a measurement tool to examine quality of life among persons with intellectual disability. This paper addressed the validity and reliability of the Japanese version of the scale using both self-reports and reports of others. Method: Data were collected from 128 people with intellectual disability (90 men…

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the daily life and social relationships of pre-school children globally. While many studies have examined the impact of the pandemic on children, few have compared the home environment and children's social skills before and after the pandemic. To address this research gap, we used data from the Japan Child Care…

Background: People with intellectual/intellectual and physical disabilities frequently use day-service centres, an array of services that involve the provision of care and social activities during the daytime and offer homebound people with disabilities opportunities to live in their communities. While nurses working at day-service centres for…

International graduate students reluctantly partook in the distance learning with the closure of national borders with the outbreak of COVID-19. Different instructional modes (in-person, online, and hybrid) and timing of the online learning exposure would play a role in international students' academic achievement considering the expectations and…