Aka (2019) conducted an year-long large-scale study demonstrating that Japanese high school students who undertook extensive reading performed better than a control group who undertook grammatical instruction. Those showing the greatest gains were those of lower and intermediate proficiency. The students' achievement was measured in terms of…

This article reports on a teacher-talk training course for Japanese primary school teachers, who are preparing to teach "communicative English" for the first time. The article argues that teacher-talk training is important for communicative classes with young students because most of the input and interaction is by default teacher…

This article presents an interview with Professor Kenji Ohtomo who retired in March 2006 from the post of Dean, College of Applied International Studies, Tokiwa University, Mito, in Japan. Professor Ohtomo is currently a Professor Emeritus at the University of Tsukuba and Honorary President of the Japan Language Testing Association, of which he…

This article argues for the crucial role of alignment in second language acquisition, as conceptualized from a broadly sociocognitive perspective. By "alignment," we mean the complex processes through which human beings effect coordinated interaction, both with other human beings and (usually human-engineered) environments, situations,…

In an article on English and national identity, Spring gives a historical survey of the role of English and its relation to Japanese national identity. Although English was discouraged during World War II, as it was considered the language of enemy, it was again "made an important academic language and in 1956 was included in entrance…

Discusses Japan's Ministry of Education's plan to raise the number of foreign students studying in the university system up to 100,000 by the year 2000. Barriers to the program include insufficient technical training and mastery of the Japanese language. (MDH)

Presents BANZAI, a new intelligent language tutor program that is designed to develop learners' grammatical and sentence production skills in Japanese as well as to instill cultural knowledge about Japan. Illustrates actual lesson plans and sample exercises provided by BANZAI. (Author/VWL)

"Taiguu hyoogen," which refers to expressions chosen to express levels of politeness and formality in Japanese, is described as a requirement for socialization and a key component in language teaching. Pedagogical implications are discussed. (Contains 17 references.) (LB)

Delineates the process of how a Web site called the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) was created to meet the language learning needs of a group of learners at a graduate school in Japan. The focus of discussion is on factors that influenced the design and evolution of the VLE site. (Author/VWL)

Reports on the visit to Japan of a 60-year-old man who had last been there over 40 years ago. Relates several amusing anecdotes about language fluency and Japanese customs, mostly based on the changes a language undergoes in the passage of many years and the importance of an up-to-date vocabulary. (NKA)

Studied beliefs about language learning of Japanese university learners of English. Sought to validate a questionnaire developed for the Japanese context on a variety of beliefs; investigate the value of interview data to complement and explain questionnaire data; and describe beliefs about language learning and determine how those beliefs are…

Discusses an activity developed to encourage beginning graduate students studying English as a Second or Other Language (ESOL) and second language acquisition in a teacher training program in Paraguay to reflect on what happened in their tutoring groups and to apply this knowledge to the classroom context. Another activity focuses on whole-class…

Continues the discussion of critical approaches to culture through comments on an earlier article by Kubota (v33 n1 Spr 1999). Raises questions about Kubota's discussion of the need for critical multiculturalism, and Kubota responds. (Author/VWL)

Recent studies by the Management and Coordination Agency of the Japanese government and the Japan Overseas Educational Services (JOES) reveal that Japanese students returning from overseas want to retain their foreign language, and that a majority undertake various maintenance activities. Maintenance classes are widely adopted. Research indicates…

Describes a shock language activity exercise that gives mainstream students a realistic taste of the challenges faced by their English language learning peers and a greater respect for linguistic and cultural differences. The activity transforms the typical U.S. classroom into a typical Japanese classroom. (Author/VWL)