The contemporary literature regarding dialogic classroom interaction has primarily focused on the meaning-making attributes of dialogue while acknowledging but otherwise providing less emphasis to the social dimensions of the learning community and the dialogic resources that students bring to the classroom. As a result, this paper explores the…

There are two important dimensions to successful second language learning: what goes on inside the classroom and what goes on outside of the classroom (Richards, 2015). This paper investigates smartphone use for online learning of English among Japanese university students using online surveys and semi-structured interviews. The investigation…

The current study longitudinally examined a crucial individual difference variable -- i.e. awareness (operationalized as explicit attention and articulatory knowledge) -- in adult second language (L2) speech learning in the context of 40 Japanese learners' English /[alveolar approximant]/ pronunciation development in an EFL classroom. The…

This study investigates how implicit and explicit learning and knowledge are associated, by focusing on the salience of target form--meaning connections. The participants were engaged in incidental learning of artificial determiner systems that included grammatical rules of [± plural] (a taught rule), [± actor] (a more salient hidden rule), and [±…

The current study examines how Japanese and international care workers at a geriatric healthcare facility in Japan manage one of the most fundamental elements of handover interactions -- person reference and recognition to identify a particular care receiver and discuss their specific conditions and needs. By using Conversation analysis (CA) as a…

The use of first languages (L1) in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom in Japanese universities is often a source of robust debate. In recent years, there has been an increase in counterarguments against the L2 monolingual EFL classroom and a strengthening of support for L1 usage. This study examines the views of students receiving…

Due to its accessibility and popularity, anime has been explored as a motivation for learning Japanese and as a pedagogical tool linking Japanese-as-a-foreign-language (JFL) literacy practices inside and outside of the classroom. However, JFL learners' actual practices in anime-mediated self-directed learning have not been fully investigated.…

This article, with the aim of identifying elements that constitute the characteristics of an academic space within comparative education, analyzes how comparative education has been discussed and practiced in Japan, based on a questionnaire completed by 264 members of the Japan Comparative Education Society and classification of articles published…

This study explores how Japanese EFL students engaged in translingual practices during a telecollaborative project that connected two college classrooms in the US and Japan. The project aimed at encouraging the students' creative uses of languages, promoting an appreciation for their multiple linguistic resources, and nurturing their sense of…

One of the challenges of developing assessments for young language learners is the shortage of evidence-based information about such assessments for languages other than English. In light of this situation, this paper discusses the development of an assessment for young languages learners in the context of Japanese as a second language (JSL). In…

The present study aims to verify the impact of dynamic aids on learning L2 prepositions in relation to individual learner variables. Situated within the cognitive linguistics (CL) framework and differing from previous research, the present study hypothesizes that dynamic (animated) aids are not equally effective for all learners; rather, their…

This study focuses on how elementary school students learn and think about the development and sustainability of Japanese traditional crafts through a CLIL lesson. The Japanese Course of Study (MEXT, 2017) emphasizes the importance of fostering regionalism and the development of Japanese traditional culture. This plays a significant role in global…

This article reports on a study that combined two strands of research: studies of incidental vocabulary learning and studies of the classroom lexical environment (in which vocabulary exposure is measured and the potential for learning estimated). The study looked at the orthographic lexical environment in a language classroom over a semester and…

Plagiarism in academic writing is known to be an issue of concern for educators, administrators, and students alike. Using self-reporting studies and plagiarism detection software, previous research has established that plagiarism in university-level academic writing is relatively common amongst the work of L1 and particularly L2 writers and that…

The utilization of English-medium Instruction (EMI) has become increasingly prevalent in Japanese higher education as a means of promoting internationalisation. International students who come to study in Japan are likely to encounter unforeseen multilingual situations where they are forced to learn the local language. This study employed a…