This study compares the literacy and numeracy proficiencies of higher education (HE) degree holders in 21 OECD countries based on primary analysis of the national data sets collected via the OECD's Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) 2012 study. The differences in the graduates' average literacy and numeracy…

Given the perceived imbalance in resource allocation and the recognized disparities in degree completion rates across academic disciplines in Japan's higher education system, this study explores the perceptions and experiences of graduate students through a comparison between graduate students in Humanities and Social Sciences and those in…

Although the Japanese reflexive "zibun" can be bound both locally and across clause boundaries, the third-person pronoun "kare" cannot take a local antecedent. These are properties that children need to learn about their language, but we show that the direct evidence of the binding possibilities of "zibun" is sparse…

Low-proficient L2 readers, especially, struggle for literal understanding of the text and for appropriately using reading strategy (RS). We examined whether and how the development of L2- English reading comprehension skills is associated with the frequency and kinds of L2 RS use. Fifty Japanese learners of English completed a reading…

This study compares two marketing-focused short-term study programs in Asia (India and Japan) and highlights reasons as to why students perceive that they learn more in one country than the other. Research to date has sparsely assessed the impact of study abroad programs on students' perceived growth. The existing literature has rarely focused on…

Emotion plays important roles in learning, memory, and other cognitive processes; it does so not only in the form of "macro-level emotion" (e.g., salient affective states and self-reportable motivational currents) but also in the form of "micro-level emotion" (e.g., subtle feelings and linguistic attributes that are usually…

This study explores the role of an online pre-sessional program in preparing students to matriculate into an English-medium bachelor's program at a Japanese university. The study covers two program sessions, the first of which consisted primarily of international students, and the second comprised mainly of graduates of Japanese high schools. To…

One of the institutional challenges of taking in large numbers of international graduate students is supporting their academic literacy skills. To accommodate a large population of international students, Japanese universities offer various services to support their academic studies and life-related issues, such as hiring international student…

Writing groups have been implemented in higher education institutions in the US, UK and Australia as a means of supporting a writer's productivity (e.g., journal articles or book chapters) as well as developing their soft academic skills (e.g., collegiality). However, writing groups are seldom discussed in the Japanese context. Therefore, this…

The academic profession contributes to shaping the capacity and identity of higher education systems. In East and Southeast Asia, there is a need for further discussion on the regional identity characteristics of the academic profession to account for its multiple origins and national and international dimensions. Data from two large-scale…

The present study discusses the findings from a survey of BA students in their 3rd year or higher, as well as MA degree program students, regarding their perception of Western corporate culture and internationalisation in relation to their foreign language major. The students surveyed (n = 445) belong to one of 24 different foreign language…

The National Center Test is a test that high school graduates take in order to be matriculated into the majority of universities in Japan. Its English section (NCT), though, is scheduled to be replaced by commercially available private English tests of four skills (reading, listening, speaking, writing) due to the fact that NCT currently measures…

The purpose of this study was to describe and explain Asian international doctoral students' sojourn experiences into Adapted Physical Education (APE) programs at two universities. The participants were six doctoral students from Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. This case study was conceptualized within sojourner theory (Siu, 1952). The data…

Much research has been completed that focused on the role of drafting strategies in first language (L1) writing, but its role in second language (L2) writing is missing. The present study investigated the impact of outlining and free writing strategies on L2 academic writing in terms of overall quality, as well as more specifically in terms of…

This article seeks to make sense of the seeming contradiction that the number of degrees awarded annually and the attainment rate of the adult population in the US have both grown, even as the country has fallen behind many global competitors on the latter indicator. Two reports issued in 2012---one by the Pew Research Center, the other by the…