The purpose of this study was to analyze international graduate students' study abroad experiences at a university in Japan. In this qualitative study, in-depth, semi-structured interviews (Seidman, I. (1998). "Interviewing as qualitative research: A guide for researchers in education and the social sciences" (2nd ed.). Teacher College…

Purpose: The study aims to explore the demographics, perceptions, and predictors of job satisfaction of Chinese/Korean faculty and American/British faculty at Japanese universities. Design/Approach/Methods: The data from a national survey of these faculty conducted in Japan was analyzed. Findings: The study suggests that Chinese/Korean faculty…

It is widely considered that native English speaking teachers (NESTs) are more suitable to teach nonnative students than nonnative English speaking teachers (NNESTs). When it comes to NNESTs in an EFL setting, most are local nationals (LNNESTs). However, it should be noted that there is also a group of NNESTs who are foreign nationals (FNNESTs).…

The Japanese government has recognized international students as the major force for internationalizing domestic universities and contributing to the domestic labor force. This study investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on graduate-level international students from Asian countries studying in Japan. Employing a phenomenological…

This study examined the results of a post-internship survey and a follow-up survey and interviews with 11 undergraduate students from the University of California in Davis, who worked as volunteers in a ten-week unpaid internship in Japan to examine their perceptions of the challenges and gains of working abroad. The results of the post-internship…

In this study, we examined the use of compliments, self-praise, and self-denigration, as exchanged among nonnative English users. This was part of participation in an online cross-cultural exchange project (Ibunka 2019), which involved learners from six countries (Algeria, Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, and the Netherlands). The aim of the…

English proficiency is valued in Japan for its facilitation of participation in the international community. However, average proficiency remains low despite strategic efforts of Japan's Ministry of Education. Based on research indicating that culture may impact learning, this quantitative study investigated the impact of culture on English…

The lack of exchange between international students and host nationals in Japan has long been a pressing issue, yet very little progress has been made to rectify this situation. In this study, we examined this issue by focusing on how international students in Japan perceive cultural contact with their host and home culture members during their…

This chapter describes an inquiry into how Japanese university students who have participated in study-abroad negotiate their identity on Social Networking Sites (SNSs) when interacting informally in English with non-Japanese interlocutors. SNSs provide a unique opportunity for English language learners to practise their skills in an informal…

This chapter examines practical issues regarding Virtual Exchanges (VEs) for educational purposes in the university context and covers language use, cultural differences, time management, teacher collaboration, technology-related issues, assessment, and context specific factors. It charts the establishment of three academic collaborations between…

Translingual practice is an emergent theoretical perspective which emphasizes the capacity and disposition for meaning-making across linguistic boundaries. Following on studies of globalized workplaces that have focused on lingua franca English, this article explores translingual practice as represented in interview and blog narratives recounted…

Higher education is becoming increasingly internationalized, and the use of English as a medium of instruction for academic content has become commonplace in countries where English is not the native language. However, concerns are growing that the trend toward English-medium instruction (EMI) has accelerated without sufficient thought to the…

This paper examines student-faculty communication by email and the lack of clear guidelines that leads to misuse of email in student-faculty interaction, whereby status-incongruent pragmatic markers are employed, resulting in impoliteness and inappropriateness. The main objective is to bridge the gap in research on other than requestive speech…

In this study, I explore the experiences of five Japanese returnees ("kikokushijo"). The participants recorded taped monologues or wrote narratives reflecting on their time spent living abroad and of returning to Japan. These retrospective life stories revealed four prominent themes of conflict: group orientation; bullying and…

This case study explores the learning experiences of three international students who were enrolled in an online master's program offered by a large university in Canada. The aim of the study was to understand the international students' experiences with, and perspectives on, the online learning environment. Findings indicate that previous…