Update 08/28/2018

This journal has been edited for readability for publication on this site. Photos, charts, and tables, all painstakingly created by the authors and carefully posted by the editors of the TJJ have been removed. We apologize for this and appreciate your understanding. All of the documents are included in the PDF file which is available on the main page. Thank you and enjoy the Tokyo JALT Journal.

Best regards,

Matthew Kocourek

Incoming President

Tokyo JALT

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Dear JALT Tokyo Journal Readers, 

Welcome to the second issue of Tokyo JALT Journal. This issue opens with a groundbreaking five-part article by the Learner Development SIG which describes its outreach project in the aftermath of the Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami. The project is a unique and meaningful one, and makes for a powerful and emotional read. 

The remaining four articles can be divided into two thematic groups: Liz Yoshikawa and Lina Valdivia explore aspects of Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory from the Japanese English educational perspective, while Alan Harper and Josef Williamson run comparative studies of Japanese learners in different cultural contexts. 

Lina Valdivia describes the evolution of English education in Japan from the high school perspectives and argues for more transparency in assessment proceedings. She positions herself as ethnographer within the Japanese educational system, an observer who studies patterns and historical precedent and, mindful of Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory, puts forward some interesting ideas on why and what Japanese English education has become today.

With his article on motivational differences, Alan Harper compares two groups of Japanese students, one group in an EFL context and the other in an ESL one. His findings highlight the differences in both motivation and attitudes in English education for students of similar backgrounds in different educational surroundings.

In his article on turn-taking and consensus building behaviors, Josef Williamson compares two groups, one Japanese and one native English in a business English context. The tasks set were practical and highly relevant to the students’ actual experiences of English, therefore his findings show the importance of these two things to anyone teaching English, not just within the business world but also in the world of education. 

I am looking forward with great anticipation to receiving contributions for our third issue, with a publication goal of October/ November (deadline for articles: August 31, 2015). This means that there is plenty of time to put the thinking caps on, do a little research and write up a paper about your work! Remember, it all goes on the CV and your article could be the stepping-stone into a new job. Please find the details below:

1. Deadline: August 31, 2015

2. The style is a modified 6th edition of the Purdue University APA guidelines https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

I hope you enjoy this year's edition of Tokyo JALT Journal and I am looking forward to your future contributions. 

Your editor,  

Eucharia Donnery

Tokyo JALT Journal

1. Learner Development Outreach Translation Project for Tohoku

Sayuri Hasegawa, Andy Barfield, Ted O’Neill, Rob Moreau, and Mayumi Takizawa

2.  Considering Context: The Implementation of Visual Thinking Strategies [コンテクストの考察：ビジュアル・シンキング・ストラテジーの実施]

Elizabeth Yoshikawa

3. Globalization and English as a Foreign Language: Exploring Paths Towards Educational Change in Japan

Linamaria A. Valdivia 

4.  Effects of Teaching Pedagogies on Motivational Variables of Japanese English L2 Learners: A Comparative Study

Alan G. Harper

5.  L1 Pragmatic Transfer in English Meetings: An Analysis of Japanese Turn-Taking and Consensus-building Behaviors

Josef Williamson

1 Overview

The Learner Development (LD) SIG’s Tohoku Outreach activities were generously supported by the Tokyo JALT Chapter in March 2014. By way of thanks, through the following five short articles, we would like to share with you some of our work and reflections to do with such outreach activities. These articles focus on different dimensions to a translation project for a junior high school in Rikuzentakata, a small coastal city in Iwate that was one of the worst hit areas on March 11, 2011. The project involved over 50 teachers and students translating into English the junior high school children’s accounts, Looking Back on This Past Year after the Earthquake, of their 3.11 experiences that they wrote in March 2012, one year after the Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster. This landmark piece of work became an important part of the second LD SIG Tohoku Outreach Weekend, which all five of us took part in just before the third anniversary of 3.11 in March 2014.  The children’s accounts also helped us each appreciate better the extraordinary strength and courage of a particular community in Tohoku in experiencing and coping with 3.11 and its aftermath.

The LD SIG’s Tohoku Outreach activities have expanded from making targeted material and financial donations in 2011 and 2012 towards more specific activities carried out by groups of LD SIG members in 2013 and 2014. In March 2013, ten members of the LD SIG went to Tohoku as part of a new outreach initiative to learn about how different individuals and organizations in Tohoku hope to develop their communities in the future - and how LD SIG members may be able to contribute over the longer term. The 2013 group visited a range of groups and organizations (businesses, communities, NGOs, schools, and temporary housing) in Rikuzentakata (Iwate-ken) & Kesennuma and Sendai (Miyagi-ken), to listen to the stories of teachers, young people, community members and leaders, and seniors in Tohoku. Members of the SIG also did a workshop with Filipino teachers to learn about the lives of Filipino migrants in Tohoku and took part in a promotional event for a Social Enterprise English School (SEELS) established by the Filipino community after 3.11 in Sendai.

These links were further strengthened at the Learner Development 20th Anniversary Conference (LD20) in November 2013, with the participation of invited guest speakers from Tohoku. The Tohoku Forum at the LD20 conference showcased different projects that SIG members were engaged in and included initial discussions about the translation project. A short time later, in early December 2013, different LD SIG members met with a multi-university Tohoku Research Group at Hosei University in Tokyo and took part in a presentation forum in Tokyo in late December 2013 involving students from that research group, as well as Musashi-san, the local community leader in Rikuzentakata who spoke at LD20 with his daughter. Musashi-san is also chair of the Parent-Teacher Association at Kesen Junior High School and has been the key local contact for the members of the LD SIG Outreach group working together with some of their students on translating into English over 90 Junior High School children’s accounts of their 3.11 experiences that they wrote in March 2012 one year after the Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster.

In the following five inter-related short articles, we each look at that translation project from different angles. In the first contribution, Translation Project Coordinator Sayuri Hasegawa introduces the genesis of the project and presents some of the key issues that this work has involved. Following this, Andy Barfield and Ted O’Neill each explain how they worked together with some of their students on the translation project; they also share some of the insights that such teacher-learner collaboration and dialogue led to. Rob Moreau then continues by looking at how reading the children’s accounts and directly visiting the Rikuzentakata area in March 2014 strongly impressed upon him the value of engaging in such outreach activities. In the final contribution, Mayumi Takizawa takes an extended reflective look at what she learned from two children in particular in Rikuzentakata, exploring how their stories offer powerful examples of ‘near-peer role modeling’ (Murphey, 1996; Dörnyei & Murphey, 2003) and ‘diversity peering’ (Murphey, 2012).

References

2 Learning from Coordinating an LD SIG Outreach Translation Project

Sayuri Hasegawa

2-26 Second Year Girl: …Many people died in the disaster including those who had taken care of me and those who were younger than me. I want to make the best of every moment every day for them. I want to appreciate what had been taken for granted before and I want to remember all the experiences and keep sharing them with others. That is our responsibility, of those who have gone through the disaster…

The 2012 collection of accounts, Looking Back on This Past Year after the Earthquake, by the children of Kesen Junior High School (JHS), was distributed in Japanese to the families of the children, Rikuzentakata City Hall, and the local library. Through discussions with Musashi-san and with Learner Development members at different events in the past several months, we came to see the LD SIG Outreach Children’s Translation Project as a way of extending those children’s Japanese accounts to a wider audience of English readers and of supporting the children’s wishes for their memories to be protected and their voices heard.

2.1 Setting up a Shared Online System

The project started to get off the ground at the end of last year, 2013. Musashi-san handed the booklet of children’s accounts to Mayumi Takizawa in December 2013 at the multi-university Tohoku Research Group meeting. His one request was that we should ensure that the children’s identities be kept anonymous. We should make sure they were introduced by gender and year only, and that other names that may be in the accounts be referred to by the term of relationship with the writer.

We created a PDF file of the 140-page booklet for sharing online, as well as a ‘sign-up sheet’ for translators to enter their names beside each child account. This online system served as the basis of the collaborative translation project, making it possible to share and manage the translation process together amongst participants in different parts of Japan. It also served as a means to protect the privacy of the children, as only those who joined the Outreach translation team had direct access to the online file of the children’s accounts. Later, we would use the same system for each translator to upload their finished translation, to be shared by all involved.

2.2 Gathering Together the Translation Team

At the LD SIG local get-together in mid December 2013, Andy Barfield explained the project and showed the folder of stories. Different LD SIG members responded positively, deciding to join the Outreach group and to help in some way with the translation project. I then emailed the expanding group of LD SIG Outreach members to discuss various aspects involved in the process of translation, such as timing, children’s privacy, and who they might invite to translate the accounts with them. By January 2014, we had agreed on a bilingual confidentiality agreement specifying privacy requirements, and project members had also begun to ask their students about their interest in translating the accounts. Before the end of January, we had also emailed all 200+ LD SIG members and invited them to take part in the translation project, either individually or in collaboration with their students. The team of translators now came to 11 LD SIG members and 29 students. Additionally, four members of Elementary School Thematic English Education Movement (ESTEEM), one of JALT Domestic Partner organizations, and 12 students from Nagoya International School asked to join after hearing of the project. Each organization had a key contact with whom I coordinated the exchange of translations and other conditions such as formats and timing. This brought the total number of people involved at the translation stage to 56. With enough translators signed up to work on 92 Japanese accounts, we aimed to get all the translations completed within four weeks. Two LD members (Mathew Porter in Hiroshima & Caroline Ross in Tokyo) volunteered to work as editors. In addition to translating, they would help proofread and edit the English translations of the children's accounts.

2.3 Presentation of Initial Translation to Musashi-san

By the time we met Musashi-san in early March 2014 on the second LD SIG Tohoku Outreach Weekend, we had preliminary translations for all 92 accounts, but there was still editing work to do and other decisions to make about how the final product would be organized. We discussed these questions with Musashi-san, who expressed his deep gratitude to all involved. Although we were unable to complete everything by the third anniversary of 3.11, we hope to deliver a final edited version in the near future.

*Photos and more available in the PDF version here*

When we returned from the outreach weekend, I shared online with the LD SIG translators a meeting report that recorded the details of the meeting with Musashi-san and some photos of our visit to the remains of Kesen JHS as the third anniversary of 3.11 approached (see Figures 1 and 2 above). Figure 1 looks down the coastal road to the school. The children and teachers ran up this road, and then took the narrow lane in Figure 2 to escape into the mountains to safety.  

2.4 Working Out How to Edit the Translations

The editing process provides many challenges, but it is moving along towards completion.  Many emails have been exchanged during the process of translation to discuss topics ranging from how to translate or not words in Japanese such as onigiri to the issue of standardization. How can translating the voices of 92 individuals by over 56 people be standardized? Should such a diversity of voices be standardized in any case? Perhaps the conventional rule for a translation project is that a single standard variety of English should be adhered to, but within this project many different users of English have worked together in small, localized interactions and collaborations. Would such diversity and collaborative learner development be best served by a single linguistic standard or not? Another complex issue that we are in the midst of dealing with is whether we may have the permission of the school authorities and parents to have the original Japanese included in the final publication to make the project fully bilingual. Two years have passed since the children wrote the accounts, and three years since 3.11. This translation project is for the children and their families, above all. We hope, too, that the finished English translations will be available on the web for different English reading communities and users, as well as for Japanese reading communities and users too, so that they can learn about the children’s experiences. That, I feel, would be a fitting way for the children’s memories to be protected and their voices heard.

3 Learning from Working on the Children’s Writing Together

Andy Barfield, Hitomi Sano and Sachiko Uchiyama

From the end of January 2014, I worked with two second-year university students, Hitomi and Sachiko, on the translation project. They each took five accounts by third-year children at the school, and together we developed a way of translating which was discussion-based. The translation project helped us become aware of different challenges in creating voice for young people in Rikuzentakata about their 3.11 experiences. It also led us to reflect on what we had learnt from the children.

With my limited reading ability in Japanese, Sachiko recorded all 10 accounts so I could listen to them and use the audio-recording. My goal was to listen a few times and then transcribe parts of each account that I could get or almost get, and work from those parts to the other less clear parts when I met later with the students. Hitomi and Sachiko each needed about an hour to make a translation of one account. I also needed an hour, separately before we met. We then took another hour to discuss things together and finalize things for one account, speeding up as we worked together more.

On reflection, it seems now that we were trying to find voices for the young teenagers in Rikuzentakata. At one point we noticed that one of the writers was rather more informal about expressing a feeling of happiness. I tried to imagine what a teenager would say in English, and I realised that all the slang expressions I was accessing were for my generation and out of date for a translation now in 2014. So we decided to look at an online slang dictionary, and in the end we got to something like "totally pumped". This seemed more or less appropriate, but was that the voice of a young person in English? Whose imagined identity was being voiced here?

A week or so after we had finished the translations, I met again with Hitomi and Sachiko to ask them what they had learnt from taking part in this translation project. Their responses revealed the profound effect that the translation work had had on them.

Sachiko: Some stories are really shocking, and they also contain their happiness, so that’s why I think these are real stories. I was really impressed by the stories. I could feel what the students were feeling when 3.11 happened and one year after 3.11, so this was a really good experience for me. I also found that in English the meaning of ‘ganbare’ is difficult to decide – there’s no fixed phrase, but it’s very important for the children because it shows how they repeatedly encouraged themselves and other people in challenging situations.

Hitomi: I’ve always done translating from English to Japanese, but this time I wasn’t sure if my version was correct or not, so that was difficult. I discussed my translations with Andy, and he sometimes said a different expression from my translation, and that was interesting for me because I didn’t know how to express the meaning by myself.

Sachiko: It was completely different from translations that I’ve done before. In Japanese education we usually translate from English to Japanese, and just translate from textbooks, so there is no real situation. That’s not interesting - there is no discussion about the meaning and about what the issue is, and what we think about that issue - this is the biggest difference with my previous translation experience, I think.

I then asked Hitomi and Sachiko what they had learnt about the children themselves.

Hitomi: The story-tellers are more positive and active than I thought they would be. They always said that they found a sense of gratitude and they could realise the importance of daily life. Although I don’t have any burden (‘higai’) in my life, I think I have to learn from their experiences. They lived without any electricity and water and used fire. I think these things are natural and ordinary for me, so I feel I should appreciate more what I have. They also talked about club activities. I did volleyball in JHS and SHS, so I also have to appreciate club activities and the people who support our activities – teachers, my parents, and so on. I hadn’t thought about that before.

3-6 Third-Year Boy: … With school starting, the happiest thing of all was that I could take part in club activities. Because of the disaster, I had been worrying about whether we could do club activities or not and I’d actually started to give up hope, so I was glad when we could do that. Although we were third-year students and didn’t have much time left at the school, we practiced and could take part in the last Junior High School Sports Competition. We lost both games we played, but I was happy because I took part in the games with the same team members I had been playing basketball together with for three years, and that was the best game of all ...

Sachiko: Some stories are very shocking, but the thing which impressed me the most is that each story has some kind of happy aspect – that really surprised me. I thought that every person in Tohoku had been suffering from 3.11 for two years or more, but most children got happiness from seeing their friends and starting school again – and doing sports – this is the core of their normal lives. They mention singing together and playing baseball with friends, so these are the sources of happiness for them. This is their strength, but also the sensitive or vulnerable point in their lives. To feel their real voice is the biggest point that I could get from doing these translations.

Hitomi: Since the disaster happened I didn’t do anything for people in the disaster-affected areas. Some of my friends went to Fukushima as volunteers and said, “You should go and see the situation because after one year the situation hasn’t changed.” I was scared by the fact the situation hadn’t changed, so this translating experience has been good for me, because it’s one opportunity to know about the experiences of local people in Tohoku. Actually, I want to go to Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate, but I haven’t taken yet time to volunteer and doing something for these areas. I will try to from now.

Sachiko: I feel the children are strong, but they require special support. They can recover from the shock that I could feel in their real stories, but some students are completely devastated by what happened in the earthquake. The most important kind of support is to make some places for the children to play and to see their friends, and also it’s important for them to have education with their friends and teachers that they know, because some students were not comfortable after 3.11 when schools started again. The children must all have their own opinions about 3.11 and reconstruction, so to think about their opinions and to discuss these in class and talk with others in their community is really important because the children will become adults and be the future generation in Tohoku.

4 Puzzling through Translation Difficulties Together Reveals Simple and Surprising Understandings of 3.11

Ted O’Neill

Working on this translation project with a small group of students was a productive learning experience for all of us. This task was an excellent way to put some of our classroom tools and practices to real use. As a group, we improved how we used technology, our appreciation for the craft of translation, and our knowledge of the experiences and feelings of young people in the tsunami-affected area.

I sent out one email message describing the project to two of my classes from last year and a few other students who I thought might be interested. Six replied, and we translated nine of the accounts. I started first by transcribing one handwritten account into a Japanese text file which I asked my students to proofread and correct for me. One student quickly and efficiently corrected all of my misreadings or missed characters in bright red text. The tables had certainly turned and everyone saw that I needed significant support in working with Japanese. So, it was time for everyone to begin.

Unlike Andy, Sachiko, and Hitomi who spent a significant amount of time discussing, we did all of our work online in text for practical reasons; classes were over and we were dispersed throughout Tokyo, Miyagi, Fukushima, Indonesia, and Boston. Working online was also an application of work from the previous school year. One of the six students had been in a year long paperless class with me–all content and work was on Google Docs and Drive. I also used these tools less intensively with two of the other translators in other classes.

The inexperienced users got started and had a few small problems but were supported by the examples of the more experienced users, direct answers to questions by email, and by asking friends. This last informed more people about the project- a good result I think. Soon, everyone was able to work together well.

Anna: I liked it because I can choose the time to do work. I could do it even in the early morning, late at night, anytime my concentration was good condition!

Kenta: I think Google Drive is good and powerful tool for school especially for writing, because many people can work at the same time in same files. We can easily help each other and also we can read others'.

Keisuke: It was as if I was doing my homework (joking). Since I have never used the system, I had mechanical problems at first, but friends told me how to do it and I gradually got used to it.

I created a sign-up sheet for each learner to select one passage. Later, some chose a second. One member of the group joined too late to get "her own" but still participated actively as an editor for the others. I then asked each translator to sign up as the first checker or editor and second editor for each passage. At first, this went slowly, and I was often the first commenter. However, the editing started to occur more organically. Rather than signing up, everyone just started reading, commenting on, and directly correcting each other’s work. This built over time until one of the later accounts had 33 comments from 4 learners and none directly from me until the final edit. The learners had engaged and made the tools and process their own because this was a project they all valued.

Anna: Because I always wish people in Tohoku well and I want to do whatever helps them.

Keisuke: I didn't have time or courage to go to Tohoku by myself, but still I would be happy to help the Tohoku people. If my skills would be any help, I thought that was great.

Trying to understand each account at a distance drew the learners closer to the experiences of people in Rikuzentakata. As Kenta was puzzling through a difficult passage in his hotel room in Boston we ran into something we just did not understand.

朝になり唯一の食べ物だったものが津波で流されてきたさんまで、僕はそんなことを気にせず、どんどん食べていきました。

In the morning, all we had to eat was the sanma left behind by the disaster and I ate a lot of them. I did not care the fact that I was eating sanma from the tsunami.

In checking the English translation, I was having trouble understanding this. I asked Kenta to explain and he replied:

Actually, I am confused too. Here Japanese sentences said that "the tsunami brought the sanma", if we catch the meanings naturally. It does not make sense for me and it seems that there are some Japanese errors. But, also we have to make sure that the earthquake was so "special" that we cannot imagine what happened. I mean it could had happened...

So, I took this passage back to the whole group of LD translators for help. And, we learned something that really affected Kenta strongly, and all of the other members of our group as well.

Sayuri replied with the background information we needed, "According to 遠野まごころネット [Tono Magokoro Net] , a volunteer group, there was a fish factory that was hit by the tsunami and 800 tons of fish including sanma were spread all over."

This made clear to Kenta, myself, and everyone that "we cannot imagine what happened." The seemingly impossible became not just possible, but normal for people in Rikuzentakata. Making the trip to study the area made this one particular image of the devastating experience real as we drove past the rebuilt fish processing plant and walked the hillsides where that child had scavenged the sanma three years before. None of this understanding would have taken place without the challenge of translating these accounts.

5 A Potent Reminder of 3.11: My Experiences with the Translation Project through a Visit to Rikuzentakata

Rob Moreau 

On March 7-9th 2014 five members of the Learner Development SIG Tohoku Outreach group returned to revisit Kesennuma and Rikuzentakata. Part of this trip was to reconnect with the people who the SIG had first met one year before and who were directly connected with the Kesen Chugaku translation project. I was unique amongst the group as I was not involved in the translation effort, having only recently joined the Outreach group. In this account I would like to reflect on how the experiences I had visiting Rikuzentakata and hearing first-hand accounts helped to make this Translation Project come alive for me and underline the value of developing and maintaining personal relationships with people in the Tohoku area.

On our first approach to Rikuzentakata, one of the first landmarks that we passed was the Kesen Junior High School, with the lone “Miracle Pine” visible in the background. This was the spot where so many of the children’s accounts had originated. I was struck by how close the school was to the sea. Recalling the first lines of many children’s accounts of their experiences of March 11, such as sitting in the gymnasium, or practicing the school song for the graduation ceremony, created a profoundly moving juxtaposition for me as I looked out onto the hollowed out shell of the school, three years after it had been destroyed in an instant, a mere 35 minutes or so after the initial quake. I tried to imagine how the students could have escaped from such a place.

On the Saturday, as part of our tour with our English-speaking guide, Konno-san, we stopped at Kesen Junior High School and retraced the steps that the students had taken in order to escape from the tsunami. It was a powerful experience to follow their steps. In retrospect we knew how much time they had to escape, but at the time it must have been absolutely frightening as the aftershocks continued one after another, including seven that were at least as powerful as the earthquake that hit Christchurch, New Zealand less than one month before (The Telegraph, 2011). Konno-San told us the people of Rikuzentakata had no idea of the enormity of the tsunami that was to hit until the last minute either. Given the school's proximity to the sea, it was fortuitous that the children had practiced earthquake drills regularly, including one just 2 days before 3.11.

Walking along the muddy path up towards the high ground where the students of Kesen Junior High School moved to safety made real for me the scale of the situation the students faced and the time they had in which to flee. Of course for the children, as reflected in their writings, it wasn't the preparation and readiness that formed the most poignant memories but the fear and uncertainty.

2-18 Second-Year Girl: … “This isn’t any ordinary earthquake. The ground is still shaking even though I’m outside. I’ve never experienced one like this before.” These were the thoughts that constantly floated about in my head. The aftershocks continued. I was so scared that I couldn’t even think straight. I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard the words “Massive tsunami warning” followed by someone shouting “Get to higher ground!” I ran as quickly as I could, my face white with fear. As long as the aftershocks continued, I simply could not gather my thoughts and calm myself

down. As I looked upon Takata Matsubara, I saw the wave recede far more than I had ever seen. Then it was pushing straight in my direction, accompanied by an ear shattering roar. The only words I could muster were “I’m scared.”

Children at other schools had similar escapes as those who fled from Kesen Junior High School. One of these schools was the Kesen Elementary School where we had stopped on our tour and had the opportunity to hear a first-hand account from a girl who was a pupil there when the tsunami struck. Gazing across to the hills behind the foundations and the rubble where the school had stood was a powerful moment as our student guide recounted the route that she and the others had taken to be reunited with their families. In the translated accounts we also hear time and again how the students didn’t know if their parents were alive or not. It must have seemed like a lifetime traversing over the hills to get to the community center on the other side that day.

1-15 first year student: … We evacuated to the playground still wearing our indoor shoes. About thirty minutes later, a member of the local fire brigade shouted, “The tsunami is over the bridge!” We ran up the mountain behind our school. Students in the lower years were crying, worrying about their families. I held back my tears. The first place I sheltered in was the home of a second-grade student. Aftershocks were coming all the time. I will never forget this disaster for as long as I live.

Being able to visit these areas where the children had run from the tsunami was a profoundly moving experience. Standing on the very route the students took while fleeing the deadly tsunami of March 11 and trying to imagine the scale of what was happening on that day helped to lift the words the students of Kesen Junior High School had written and helped to create a heightened sense of the reality of the situations written about in the accounts. The experience also helped to give me a deeper connection to the translation project and served to remind me of the value of the outreach trips and maintaining the bonds that the group has developed through this project.

Reference

6 Near-peer Role Modeling and Diversity Peering for Autonomy

Mayumi Takizawa

In March 2013, on the first Learner Development SIG Outreach Weekend to Tohoku members of the LD group, including myself, met with three female students from Kesen Junior High School (JHS) in Rikuzentakata. Quite unexpectedly we got to know about several episodes in their lives that were connected with their English learning histories and development. I became especially interested in the stories of two of the children, Kana and Yumi, who had contributed their reflective accounts to the school booklet. Taking a new look at the episodes this time, I have realized that “near-peer role modeling” (Murphey, 1996; Dörnyei & Murphey, 2003) and “diversity peering” (Murphey, 2012) seem to characterize their processes of becoming autonomous learners as well as English users. Murphey and Arao (2001, p.1) define near-peer role models (NPRMs) as “people who are near to ‘us’ in several ways: age, ethnicity, gender, interests, past or present experiences, and also in proximity and in frequency of social contact” and “whom the learners may respect and admire” (Dörnyei & Murphey, 2003, p.128). Murphey and Falout (2012) claim that learners may realize a sense of autonomy by "teaching and learning from both their in-class friends and other-class counterparts, learning to learn through interacting with near peer role models”. On the other hand, Murphey (2012) also emphasizes the potential of “diversity peering, which is the bringing of diverse people, who are quite different from us, into our realms of imagination and modeling them, such that they become our peers (even if only imaginary)" (p.8). He argues that young learners may do “diversity peering” more readily than adults, and are "adaptable and flexible in this regard” (p.8). In what follows, I would like to introduce different significant episodes from Kana and Yumi’s language learning histories of English since 3.11, in order to explore how near-peer role modeling and diversity peering may promote autonomous language learning and use.

The East Japan Great Earthquake occurred when Kana was in the 6th grade at Osabe Elementary School and Yumi was in the 1st grade at Kesen Junior High School (JHS). While Osabe Elementary School was on high ground away from the coast, Kesen JHS was washed away. Both of their families were deeply affected by tsunami, and Kana and Yumi started to live in temporary housing units in Rikuzentakata. One year after 3.11, Kana and Yumi wrote reflective accounts about what had happened to them when the earthquake had struck. Kana wrote:

We waited in the cracked school playground for people to come and pick us up. When nearly everyone had been met, I suddenly thought about grandma and grandpa: Were they ok? Or were they trapped beneath some toppled over furniture? Is that why they hadn’t come to pick me up yet? I never want to experience the same terror as I did then ever again in my life.

Yumi focused on learning from the tragedy:

I look back now and the memories of the disaster are all harsh and painful. There was nothing positive about the disaster. But I’ve learned so many things and with support of so many people, I’m alive now. I’m feeling full of gratitude. And I don’t want to just erase the painful memories of the disaster. I want to face them and work through them and turn them around into something positive. I don’t think I can’t give anything back to all the people who supported me. Instead, I want to live each and every day with a smile.

In early 2012, Yumi and Kana had been invited to the Czech Republic and to Germany respectively with other students as a support for children in the disaster-affected area. When we first met in March 2013, Yumi especially seemed impressed with this experience and told us about how happy she had been to finally communicate with her host sister. Although Kana didn’t talk about her visit to Germany much at that time, this year in March she looked back on that episode as an important first experience for her in using English by communicating with her host family and other people. This had motivated her to learn English harder afterwards too.

When I met Kana again in March 2014, she told me that it had been very helpful for her to study English often with Yumi soon after she had entered Kesen Junior High School. Yumi had been really good at English and had showed Kana how to study at home, especially to review the lessons at school and to practice repeatedly what the teacher had already taught her in class or what she had already understood, so that she would be able to understand more difficult lessons later. Kana had followed her peer’s advice undoubtedly because she already knew Yumi was a good English learner and trusted her as a good model. That was how Kana started her own autonomous English learning, and she often came to learn and follow what Yumi had experienced afterward.

Yumi's Experiences

On March 2, 2013, during the LD SIG’s first Tohoku Outreach visit to Rikuzentakata, Yumi gave us the English speech in Yahagi Community Centre. Her speech is shown below.

Learn from an Easter Egg

Do you know where the Czech Republic is? You may say “No.” To tell the truth, I didn’t exactly know where it was. I also didn’t know what language they spoke before I went there. I was invited to the Czech Republic as a part of a program there as support of the earthquake disaster last March for ten days. When I was in the Czech Republic I stayed with a Czech family for one day. The host mother was Japanese. Asako was their daughter. She is one year younger than me. I cannot speak Czech, and she cannot speak Japanese, either. At first, we couldn’t talk about anything because we were very nervous. So she thought and thought. After that she decided to make an Easter egg for me. Even though she didn’t know me very well, she tried hard to make an Easter egg for me. It was pink and very cute. Her mother told me that she had made it to bring me good luck. I didn’t know her language but I could understand how she felt. When she gave me the egg, I was very happy and smiled. That smile helped break the ice between us. Finally, little by little we started speaking to each other in English. It wasn’t perfect English but we could understand each other and we became good friends after that. From then on, I tried to speak English and smile whenever I could. Before I went to the Czech Republic, I was really selfish. Before the trip, my future dream was just to be involved in or do some sort of international work. Through this trip, I learned two things. The first thing I learned was that smiling makes people happy. Body language is very important when communicating with others especially when they don’t speak your language. The second and equally important thing is to speak English. Your English doesn’t have to be perfect but you have to try to speak English to make communication possible. If you don’t try, your English won’t improve and you won’t be able to communicate with others. Since I returned to Japan, my way of thinking has changed and my future dream has changed as well. Since the disaster that occurred on March 11, I’ve been supported by a lot of people. So I want to help people in need someday. There are people in need all over the world and if everyone tried a little, we can make their lives better. Finally, I want to become a cabin attendant in the future. This way I can meet and greet many people with a big smile and hopefully make their journey a little better. If we try hard, we can change the world for the better.”

Kana’s father later told us that the experience of giving her speech to us must have helped Yumi become more confident of her English learning and motivated to be a better learner as well as English user. A month after giving the speech to us, Yumi entered the Study Abroad Department, Morioka Chuo High School. She had decided to make her dream come true even though the school is very far from Rikuzentakata. Then, in February this year, Yumi left to go and study for a year at a school in Adelaide, Australia, which was reported in the local newspaper.

Kana’s Experiences

In June 2012, after being asked by the people in Craig, Alaska, two American pilots visited Kesen JHS to return a basketball that had drifted across the Pacific Ocean after 3.11 from Kana’s school to Craig. That was how the students of Kana’s school and the school in Craig started to correspond with each other. This exchange also led children in Alaska to learn more about earthquakes as well as Japan because they sometimes occur there too. These episodes were introduced and broadcast on NHK BS, as “海を渡る震災漂流物 ～ umi wo wataru shinsai hyouryubutsu ” (Disaster objects drifting across the ocean) for the second anniversary of 3.11 just after the Learner Development SIG’s first Tohoku Outreach in March, 2013.

Kana had exchanged letters in English with an elementary school girl called Alicia in Alaska. In the NHK program, Kana mentioned that she could forget everything negative when she read Alicia’s letter and wrote a response about their common favourite idol Justin Bieber or other fun things she did. Yet, Alicia later reported how scared she had been when a 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit Craig in January, 2013 and she had wanted to know from Kana what she should do to protect herself (see Figure 3 below). Kana had felt a little perplexed and said that she needed some more time to talk about the earthquake to other people, but would like to do it someday and wrote about her favourite volleyball player Kimura Saori instead in her letter at that time.

*Photos and more available in the full pdf version*

In September 2013, Kana participated in the preliminary round of the Takamado-no miya’s Cup All-Japan Junior High School English Speech Contest in Iwate Prefecture as a representative of Kesen JHS, as Yumi had done the previous year. In her English speech she talked about her dream of becoming a care worker and a local English-speaking tour guide in Rikuzentakata. The next month, Kana gave her speech again at her school festival, and then in November 2013 she took part in the Tohoku Forum at the Learner Development SIG's 20th Anniversary Conference as a guest speaker with her father at Gakushuin University. This time she gave her speech as part of her father's conference presentation.

In the winter of 2014, Kana studied English harder with volunteers and other students at a study room called “manabi-no heya” and with a home tutor after school to prepare for her high school entrance exam. Just two days after the exam, on March 8 and 9, the second Learner Development SIG Tohoku Outreach Weekend took place, and we visited Rikuzentakata. Kana joined our study tour with her friend Sachi to show us around their different tsunami-affected places in Rikuzentakata. On March 12, 2014 Kana, Sachi and other students, who had all contributed their accounts to the school booklet when they were in the 1st grade, graduated from Kesen JHS (see Figure 4 below). And the next day, they all successfully passed their entrance exams and started their new high school lives in April.

*Photos and more available in the full PDF version*

As these episodes show, the 3.11 disaster brought Yumi and Kana different intense experiences even in their English learning and use, which seems to be related to the two kinds of peer modeling – ‘near-peer modeling’ and ‘diversity peering’. For example, Yumi had shared her thoughts and behaviors on their recovery from the disaster as Kana’s good near-peer role model. That seemed to stimulate Kana to learn more from Yumi as Murphey (2012) mentioned that near-peer role modeling provides the learner with positive strategies, beliefs, and behaviors. Because of the disaster, they were unexpectedly put into a situation where they actually needed to communicate with overseas children through doing homestays or correspondence. These experiences took them out of their daily lives in the affected area. Through this mixing and diversity peering, Yumi and Kana also actually had some challenges in communicating with their overseas peers. Yet, such experiences also seemed to stimulate them and lead them to become conscious of being English users, and later to become more autonomous learners. Although the post 3.11 reconstruction situation in Rikuzentakata is still extremely difficult and complicated, I really hope that these two young people’s English learning and use will be richer and happier for their hometown and their own future dreams.

References

Abstract

Globalization is defined as an opening to westernization of countries (Burbules & Torres, 2000; Odora Hoppers, 2000). Globalization has sprung upon us the knowledge economy, and with it, the demand for people who possess creative problem solving capabilities, critical thinking skills, and the ability to communicate with others their opinions and ideas (Wang et al., 2011). In response, Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) continues to revise its Language-in-Education Policy (Yoshida, 2013b). Mandating that effective methods to cultivate a Japanese citizenry with communicative ability in English be implemented, English language education is now becoming a priority within mainstream education in Japan.

As in the American context, pedagogical innovation that prioritizes higher-order thinking skills is becoming more necessary. Therefore, reform of teacher education to prepare a workforce with such abilities is quickly becoming even more imperative (Darling-Hammond, 2010; Spring, 1998). This is not only the case in America and Japan, but globally.

This paper provides a literature review and background of the English language education context in Japan and discusses the prominent issues within this context. This is followed by suggested paths towards educational change. I am not an expert here because I am not Japanese, but as an ethnographer, these are observations I have made over the years in my teaching career living and working in Japan. The recommendations specifically address English language education in Expanding Circle countries (Kachru, 1997), in particular the teaching of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) within Japan.

1 Introduction

The impact of globalization has lead to new challenges to educational systems worldwide (Zhao, 2010). The shrinking of distances by way of modern transportation, the spread of information technology, and global competition with a “dash of nationalism” (Bremmer, 2014, p.104) are changing educational systems of nations intensely competing for economic success and advancement (Stromquist & Monkman, 2000). Globalization has influenced migration and the proliferation of English as an International Language (EIL), which now gives students greater access to diversified social and educational contexts (McKay & Bokhorst-Heng, 2008). Globalization is affecting education through Language-in-Education Policy (LEP) policy revisions that are revamping the way teachers and educators do their work. This is wielding enormous pressure towards change.

In order to meet the demands of this challenging new global economic system, the following questions arise: what are the critical changes necessary for Japan? How can teachers succeed in achieving the goals set forth by MEXT? Specifically regarding teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) in Japan, what are effective methods for fostering people with communicative abilities in English in the classroom?

When discussing the influence of globalization on EFL, two viewpoints will be contrasted: 1) the economic-imperative perspective, and 2) the critical-resistant perspective. This paper takes the economic-imperative perspective when comparing effects of globalization, the goals of LEP and the new national curriculum. A critical-resistant view of globalization is taken when discussing the historical context of EFL in Japan.

The economic-imperative perspective is based upon the notion that all nations are competing in the new global economy, and in order to stay competitive, must be able to continuously produce and innovate new products and services for the worldwide market (Spring, 1998; Zhao, 2010). The critical resistant perspective views the trend of globalization as based on global capitalism, a world vastly becoming polarized between the haves versus the have-nots, and the routinization of western hegemony (Burbules & Torres, 2000; Odora Hoppers, 2000).

2 Globalization

2.1 Globalization and Japan

Japan has been a fiercely competitive economic power, with Tokyo recently chosen as host for the 2020 Olympics, the pressure to have communicative competency in English has intensified. Although changes and reforms to the educational system, specifically regarding foreign language education, have been implemented systematically, the goals proclaimed have had unduly minimal success. This paper discusses the core influences and common themes within the body of literature regarding teaching EFL in Japan, and gives recommendations towards educational change from the ethnographic perspective of a non-Japanese educator working in the Japanese EFL educational system.      

Under pressure from emerging global economics, society, and institutions of higher education towards educational reform (Goto-Butler, 2007), MEXT has revised the Foreign Language Course of Study (here after CoS), in 2008 and was enacted in 2011 (Yoshida, 2009). The goal of the revised CoS is not only to produce Japanese citizenry with communicative abilities in English, but also to encourage Japanese youth towards embrace of internationalization (Fujita-Round & Maher, 2008). Internationalization pertains to nationalities, borders, and international relations between nations; whereas globalization pertains to a global economic integration into what is known as the global economy. The two terms are often confused, and for the purposes of this paper both terms will be referenced.

To take a closer look at the effects from pressures to internationalize, the contrast between the goals of the MEXT and the current state of language education in Japan, requires careful analysis of historical and pedagogical issues past and present within the EFL context.

2.2 Globalization and English Education in Japan

Globalization has created vigorous competition in the workplace known as the knowledge economy. According to an economic imperative perspective on globalization, the need for the skills of creative problem-solving are fast becoming absolutely necessary for success in the world of global competition (Wang et al, 2011). Thus the need for new pedagogical innovation along with the preparation of teachers to equip a workforce with these skills necessary to rise-up to par has become paramount (Darling-Hammond, 2010). Indeed, an article from the Economist, Coming to an Office Near You (2014), the ominous approach of new technological advances is putting today's jobs into danger of obseletion, therefore “schools themselves need to be changed, to foster the creativity that humans will need to set them apart from computers”, calling for “less rote-learning” (the traditional Confucianist modal of education) and more critical thinking.

According to literature on effective teaching practice in an era of globalization, new pedagogical concepts should include the teaching of cooperation, teamwork, and leadership (Stromquist, 2002) and a “willingness and ability to understand different cultures” (Longview Foundation, 2008). These crucial skills along with changes in teacher practices are currently being called for by the LEP revisions in Japan.

Additionally, the reformation of assessment policy is also necessary as assessment, in other words the entrance exams to university, have been the gatekeepers of higher education and upward mobility in society (Sasaki, 2008). English language assessment practices at schools in Japan, are affected by numerous influences including political, economic, demographic, and paradigm shifts in educational practices. How Japan will be able to compete in the global economy depends on cultivating Japanese citizens with communicative abilities in English, embracing internationalization, and reform of current educational practices.

3 Historical Background of EFL in Japan  

A critical resistant perspective on globalization is needed to understand the discussion on the influence of historical background and EFL in Japan. Research on LED policy history suggests that EFL in Japan was originally used to promote nationalist ideologies in resistance to western imperialism. In Japan, globalization and internationalization (kokusaika) have been perceived as a form of Americanization (Kubota, 1998a). According to Kubota in resistance to internationalization, or Americanization, the spread of English Language Teaching (ELT) has by and large caused a nationalistic fostering of Japaneseness (nihonjinron). This is described as a theory about the uniqueness of Japanese identity (Befu, 2001; Hashimoto, 2000; Kubota, 1998a; Okuno, 2007). As mentioned earlier, one of the effects of globalization has been the rising demand to cultivate citizens with more communicative abilities (Stromquist, 2002). In Japan, this pressure to globalize is felt as pressure to acquire English.  

When Japan entered the modernization process in the Meiji era, the acquisition of English was promoted in the spirit of wakon yousai (Japanese spirit with western knowledge) as a means to obtain the knowledge of the west in the emerging world of globalization (Hashimoto, 2009). Then during WWII, from 1941 to 1945, English was banned as it was the ‘language of the enemy’ (tekiseigo). However, just after the war ended, and under American Occupation, the push to learn English resurfaced again (Torikai, 2005).

The rise of globalization gave way to the belief among both educators and policy makers that emphasis on teaching EFL would bring English-language imperialism to Japan (Kanno, 2007; Kubota, 1998a), and consequently the Anglicization of the Japanese language with the increasing use of ‘loanwords’, katakana words derived from foreign languages, but mostly English (Hashimoto, 2009; Kanno, 2007; Kubota, 1998a; Torikai, 2005).

On the other hand, historically there were numerous advocates for the adoption of English as an official national language starting with 19th century Minister of Education, Arinori Mori, a politician between 1947-50 called, Gakudo Ozaki (Kubota, 1998a), and Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi in 2000 (Hashimoto, 2009; Kanno, 2007). The adoption of English as an official language, however, was firmly opposed. Therefore, the acceptance and promotion of teaching EFL in Japan has been built upon two contradictory forces 1) nationalistic ideologies sprung from resistance to linguistic imperialism and 2) the pressing need to become a more global society.

4 Effects of Kokusaika and Nihonjinron on Language in-education Policy

Kubota (2002) summarizes the discourses of kokusaika and nihonjinron as nationalist ideologies affirming the distinct identity of the Japanese, or rather ‘uniqueness’ of Japanese culture as a way of preventing identity loss amidst the fostering of English (Kubota, 1998a). Thus, cultural preservation by cultivating Japanese citizens to be able to communicate the importance and uniqueness of Japanese tradition, to the world, became the raison d’etre for EFL; and in this way, Japan could not only resist the hegemony of western power but also accommodate globalization. In addition, by imposing a specific Japanese identity upon all Japanese citizens, regardless of their ethnicity, allowed nationalist discourse to simply ignore the fact that Japan is a heterogeneous multilingual society (Kubota, 1998; Kubota & McKay, 2009; Kanno, 2007). Hence, the historical context gives the impression that English, the contemporary global lingua franca, a means of economic success, as in accordance with the economic imperative perspective, was all fine and good as long as promotion of Japanese culture was at the heart.

Hashimoto (2000) raises the point that the nationalist values of nihonjinron, were thought to be in direct contrast to freedom of expression. There were some contradictions in the 2003 CoS between what was called for by MEXT regarding the characteristics of speaking English, and nationalist ideological views of what were considered the characteristics of Japanese people. Lo Castro (1991) argues that traditional Japanese education has purposefully sought to exclude students from adopting foreign ways of thinking, by occupying them with translation, and rote-memorization of facts. MEXT, in accordance with the goals of the governing Liberal Democratic Party at the time, published two official documents titled, Developing a Strategic Plan to Cultivate ‘Japanese with English Abilities’, and, Action Plan to Cultivate ‘Japanese with English Abilities’, (Hashimoto, 2009). This new focus on fostering communicative ability in English heralded the push towards “internationalization”, which meant that more and more Japanese universities have been under pressure to “internationalize”. Thus, the calls from government and higher education systems for reform of EFL education in Japan were ringing loud and clear, and have led to the revision of the new CoS, effective from April 2011.

5 Revisions to the Foreign Language Course of Study

From April 2011 – 2013, the new MEXT guidelines mandated that fifth and sixth graders at the elementary school level were to receive exposure to foreign languages (predominantly English), and a variety of intercultural communicative practices through language “activities” to develop basic listening and speaking skills in English (MEXT, 2011a). At the junior high school level, development of all four macro-skills commence, with a focus on using foreign language for self-expression. Teachers begin grammar instruction at this level, however here the guidelines specifically call for a focus on usage instead of the memorization of prescriptive rules, or translation (MEXT, 2011b).

At the senior high school level, a revised curriculum featuring mandatory English courses with the aim of developing integrated communication skills, fostering critical thinking skills for example debating and giving presentations, has commenced as of 2013. The most significant change, however, is that in principle, all English language courses are to be taught in English (MEXT, 2010).

Simultaneously, instructors currently are being encouraged to foster learner-centered instruction, thereby meeting the students’ needs and/or interests, rather than the traditional model of teacher-centered instruction. Furthermore, teachers are expected to incorporate multimedia resources such as Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and e-learning, as well as state-of-the-art teaching practices such as cooperative learning (MEXT, 2010, 2011a, 2011b). This leads to the discussion of the core influence of current classroom practices and teacher beliefs.

6 Current Classroom Practices 

Globalization has lead to the worldwide trend of LEP reforms common in expanding-circle countries where English is learned as a foreign language (EFL) (Kachru, 1990, 1997) as opposed to English as a Second Language (ESL), with western pedagogies imported to the foreign language classroom (Goto-Butler, 2005; Liddicoat, 2004; Liu & Xu, 2011; Riley, 2008; Yoon, 2004). However, even though reforms have been set down by MEXT, what teachers are actually doing in their classrooms may be significantly different from what these reforms are calling for. The core influence on classroom practices can be boiled down to what the individual teacher believes is best for the students, based on his/her own language learning experiences. As mentioned earlier, Borg (2003) argues that one of the most significant influences on student learning is what the teacher actually does according to what they “know, believe and think” (p.81). It is evident in research that teacher beliefs play a very significant influence in TEFL by their role in the implementation of pedagogy. Lo Bianco (2010) argues that pedagogy, more so than policy, has direct influence on ideological discourses, identity, and communicative skills. Policy makers must realize that the implementation of pedagogy within what teachers, “know, believe and think” has fundamentally the greatest impact on classroom practices (Borg, 2003; Nishino, 2008).

MEXT is currently calling for more communicative abilities in English, however teaching practices, in particular yakudoku, a form of grammar-translation, have generally remained unchanged (Gorsuch, 1998; Goto-Butler, 2005; Hino, 1998; Kanno, 2007; Kikuchi; 2009; Nishino & Watanabe, 2008; Riley, 2008; Underwood, 2012). Despite the LEP revisions suggesting that English courses should be taught as “integrated skills” courses, incorporating all four macro-skills of listening, reading, speaking, and writing, more often than not these classes become just another grammar-translation teacher-led English course. In this scenario, students are passive learners and too often go through their English courses without ever getting a chance to actually use the language (Goto-Butler, 2005; Kanno, 2007; Nishino & Watanabe, 2008; Riley, 2008; Yoshida, 2008, 2009, 2013a, 2013b).

This was particularly highlighted in a presentation given by director of the Center for Language Education and Research at Sophia University, Kensaku Yoshida (2013), at The Japan Association of College English Teachers (JACET) conference at Kyoto University. Yoshida reported on a qualitative study done by a research company on 793 university students. In particular, the study found that 55.9% of the students felt their English education in high school was not useful (Sanno Institute of Management, 2013). An even more disturbing fact was that the percentage of students willing to study or work abroad has been declining since 2008 (Yoshida, 2008, 2009, 2013a, 2013b). In light of calls for educational change, perhaps what policy-makers fail to realize is that what actually happens in the classroom cannot be predicted nor determined by policy alone.

7 English Education in Japan

7.1 Transformation of Teacher Practices

In order to produce positive change within EFL in Japan, the re-culturing of schools, teachers, and teaching conditions is necessary to accommodate communicative language practices called for by the latest CoS (Underwood, Myskow, & Hattori, 2012). Furthermore, Liu & Xu (2011) suggest that transformation of teacher identity must go hand-in-hand with implementation of new pedagogy. Transformation includes the negotiation of new and imported methods among local teachers, teacher leaders, schools and boards of education at grass-roots, as opposed to a mere top-down imposition of policy. In other words, utilizing teacher training and development to work towards a culturally-integrated pedagogy while respecting identity. In this way, effective integration of teaching practice can be accomplished from both top-down and bottom-up.

In their article on competing teaching pedagogies in the ‘new work order’, Liu & Xu (2011) explain that foreign practices are often resisted in EFL contexts as traditional pedagogy is defined as being teacher-centered, whereas liberal pedagogy as learner-centered.

Research in the field has suggested that in order to transform teaching practices, teacher identities must be reconstructed both personally and institutionally (Liu & Xu, 2011). Teacher identity is reconstructed personally in the sense of thinking outside the parameters of one’s experience, and institutionally by stepping out of the prescribed tradition of teaching. This study provides insight on merging imported pedagogies with local practices. It stresses the importance of respecting teacher identity and teacher agency when implementing imported practices.  

6.2 Pre- and In-service Teacher Training

Until recently Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) were mostly literature majors with hardly any practical knowledge in ELT pedagogy (Goto-Butler, 2005; Nagatomo, 2011; Nishino & Watanabe, 2008; Sakui, 2004). Having learned English in much the same manner, the majority of JTEs have been generally taught to teach literature analysis and not English for communicative or academic purposes. In addition, very little teaching practice is received during the training period (Cook, 2009; Nagatomo, 2011; Nishino & Watanabe, 2008).

Only those who are motivated enough to incorporate new communicative practices in their classrooms participate in additional professional development. Despite learning new pedagogies, however, these teachers are often pressured by their peers to conform to traditional methods (Kikuchi, 2009). This pressure is described by certain researchers as a sociological condition resistant to change (Hino, 1988; Sato & Kleinsasser, 2004).

6.3 Preparation for Entrance Exams and Teacher Beliefs

Teachers most certainly have personal beliefs about what is important for students to learn, which is heavily underlined by the ritualized preparation for entrance exams into university. The heavy emphasis on yakudoku as a teaching practice is a wash-back effect justified as preparation for tests and has been perceived as the method for success on exams (Doyon, 2001; Glasgow, 2013; Kikuchi, 2009; Nishino & Watanabe, 2008; O’Donnell, 2005; Stewart, 2009). Centered on the practice of translating English grammar literally into Japanese (Hino, 1988; Gorsuch, 1998; Law, 1995; Riley, 2008), it does not facilitate communicative abilities as it is taught to be a one-way understanding of English in Japanese, to be understood in Japanese. The roots of this method stem back to the Meiji period, please refer to section on historical background of EFL in Japan. However, Gorsuch (1998) found that most university exams did not require students to translate. Thus, in reality, over-emphasis on yakudoku may be doing more harm than good.

A study done by Underwood (2010) comparing the National Center Test (NCT) with MEXT published textbooks revealed that the reading sections of the test demanded the student to be trained in reading strategy skills, such as speed-reading, and not just translation. In fact, he found that more and more exams are including long reading passages with a wide range of topics which demand that students be able to synthesize large bodies of text within a set time limit. Teachers may argue that not all entrance exams are the same, and there is some translation on certain university tests. However, analysis of the tests suggest that learners should not spend so much time memorizing unnecessary lexico-grammar and instead should focus on high frequency vocabulary enabling better comprehension of texts (Nation, 2001; Seki et al., 2011; Underwood, 2010, 2012; Underwood et al., 2012).

Even more worringly, a number of qualitative studies found that the extensive overuse of grammar-translation leads to demotivation for students who spend the majority of their years studying English in this manner (Doyon, 2001; Falout et.al. 2009; Kikuchi, 2006, 2009; Koga, 2010; Yoshida, 2008, 2009). The implications of these findings are that teachers dutifully implementing this method are not aware that too much grammar-translation, combined with the lack of practice in using the target language, may actually hinder the students’ success on the tests. This suggests that teacher practices might be the primary cause of decreasing numbers of students willing to study abroad, and diminishing motivation to continue the study of English.

7 Calls for Internationalization at University Level

This section briefly discusses the growing pressure from global competition upon higher education in Japan. Particularly at the university level, assessment policy has been criticized as becoming the LED policy by default (Menken, 2008; Shohamy, 2006). Riley (2008) takes a critical stance that the educational system in Japan, because of the presence of this assessment policy, has produced students who 'possess little to no critical thinking skills and lack creativity' after years of doing rote memorization for passing tests. Students lacking in critical thinking are becoming disadvantaged with rising global competition that fosters entrepreneurship. Thus the need to raise education to the new international standard is fastly becoming a priority in Japan (Doyon, 2001; Mori, 2002; Ninomiya, Knight, & Watanabe, 2009).

7.1 Recommendations

7.1.1 Towards Learner-centered Pedagogy

According to Tomlinson (2000) differentiated (learner-centered) instruction is generally defined as the development of curriculum that provides alternative ways to learn, process, construct and understand ideas for all students effectively within a classroom, regardless of differences in ability. Therefore, self-expression is a consistent focus in differentiated methodology.

The concept of cooperative learning has been investigated in second language assessment as a way to direct learning through peer-to-peer socialization and interaction (Cotterall, 1990; Dornyei & Malderrez, 1997; Forman & Cazden, 1998; Koga, 2010; Shaaban & Ghaith, 2005; Soto-Gordon, 2010; Watanabe, 2008). Learning through interaction is a Vygotskian socio-cultural theory of education, which dictates that social interaction leads to the development of the individuals' abilities in problem-solving, memory, and higher-order thinking processes (Forman & Cazden, 1998). Not only does it facilitate critical thinking, but also bridges the gap between learner ability, increases learner motivation, and promotes autonomous learning.

How can teachers create a more cooperative learning classroom environment? Hedge (2000) suggests that ‘interaction in small groups, provides a basis for language acquisition’ (p.62). Teamwork required for the completion of a project brings an additional dimension of cooperative learning, which benefits learners with more opportunities to learn from each other.

In the typical teacher-centered class, student differences in abilities are generally ignored (Falout et al., 2009), and this causes a portion of learners into either frustration or demotivation (Koga 2010; Joyce & McMillan, 2010; Falout et al., 2009). However, cooperative learning methods such as learner-centeredness can lessen the ability gap, as learners are encouraged to learn from each other. In this manner group work positively influences the affective environment within the classroom among learners, leading to increased intrinsic motivation (Koga 2010; Dornyei & Malderez, 1997; Forman & Cazden, 1998; Shaaban & Ghaith, 2005).

7.1.2 Motivation

Studies conducted by Gardner (2001) on second language acquisition and integrative motivation found that highly motivated learners, regardless of age and ability, achieve high results. Much research to date has mentioned the connection between group work, a positive affective classroom climate with an increase in student motivation. Motivation is enhanced within group cohesiveness and thus benefits all learners participating (Dornyei & Murphey, 2003; Tanaka, 2007). In teacher-centered classes, intimacy is discouraged among students and teachers, because it takes up too much class time (Dornyei & Malderez, 1997; Long & Porter, 1985). Therefore, a classroom bereft of interaction, stands to benefit enormously from the facilitation of cooperative group activities, because it inherently motivates learners. Motivation becomes more instrinsic, as students engage fully in their task while simultaneously immersed in the L2. According to Romano (1995), “Intellect enables emotion; emotion intensifies intellect.” And for him, the use of differentiated instruction allowing students the freedom to be expressive creators of language and SLA becomes a meaningful process.

7.1.3 Arts and Literacy

O’Day (2001) argues that language arts help English as a second language (ESL) students build literacy in their L2. In this study of an after school program with a first grade reading class, she created scaffolded plays from which her students then continued and developed their own plays. The results showed that these scaffolded plays were always unique and constantly evolving. Also, students found other reasons to read and write in the creation of the play for instance in peer-reading, learning about dialogue, sequencing events, and developing narrative a plot. Through using arts literacy, there is a lot of hands-on speaking, reading and writing involved. The students become immersed in their projects, so much so they forget they are actually applying new grammar structures and trying out new vocabulary unconsciously. They become involved in a creative process that cultivates their individual abilities within SLA (Beckman, 2008).

Another example of building L2 literacy through the arts can be seen in Shen’s (2009) investigation on the reading-writing connection in EFL college learners. She employed a variety of differentiated methods such as: explicit instruction of text structures, story elements, reflective reading journals and creative writing. After analysis of the results, Shen concluded that EFL learners had not only progressed in individual literacy, but also critical thinking and personal growth. Similar in context to that of Shen, Kubota (1998b) also did a study utilizing reflective writing with Japanese university students. This leads to further discussion on the effectiveness of differentiated instruction in addressing the learning needs of heterogenenous classes, critical thinking and personal growth. Most importantly, differentiated instruction effectively reinforces the L2 being learned in a manner that is natural and motivating.

Through these activities as the learner becomes more autonomous in his/her learning, and less dependent on teacher input, each learner can then have the freedom to progress as far as s/he can which is effective for a typical heterogeneous level EFL class.

7.2 Professional Development of Teachers

In educational systems of EFL, particularly in countries where English is the compulsory foreign language and teachers of English are mostly nonnative speakers of English, maintaining a standard of proficiency is essential (Andrews, 2007; Kamhi-Stein, 2004; Nakata, 2010). Previously, the minimum score on TOEFL required of Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) in Japan to obtain teaching certification was 550. However, the bar has been raised and now JTEs must achieve a score of 780 for TOEIC or the pre-first level on the EIKEN STEP test. In the past, statistics published by the MEXT concluded that less than 50% of secondary school teachers in Japan have met this requirement (MEXT, 2006). Mandating JTEs to acquire the minimum benchmark, or attain higher education such as a masters degree in English language teaching, rather than degrees in English literature, may amend the problem of low proficiency among teachers and also demand more subject training and knowledge, improving the chances of effective teaching practice.

Improving the quality of teacher training programs in Japan has become a much needed change (Amaki, 2008; Jimbo, Hisamura & Yoffe, 2009; Kizuka, 2006; Willis, 2011). Incorporating current language teaching practices and learner centered pedagogies, adding relevant coursework, including self-reflective practices in teacher training, would allow for transformation of entrenched teacher beliefs to happen. In addition, issues with teachers’ confidence in their abilities to put new theoretical coursework into practice such as an integrated skills approach could be addressed.

8 Assessment Policy Reform and Adoption of Transparency

Issues with widespread exclusion of intercultural communicative components from university entrance exams, and more importantly, general low-test validity and reliability have been criticized by scholars as the cause of negative wash-back effects upon education and society (Seargeant, 2008). In response to this, recently the Japanese government has been entertaining the idea to establish the TOEFL test as the standard assessment policy, replacing the current National Center Test for University Admissions (Hongo, 2013). One recommendation suggests establishing an official board of test specialists, whose sole purpose would be to uphold a professional standard of assessment, collaborating with universities nationally to maintain entrance exam validity standards (Murphey, Kato, & Fukuda, 2010). This would give power to a select group of assessment professionals who would be responsible for maintaining that tests meet a certain degree of validity and reliability. By implementing formal test analysis to their own tests, universities can diminish the impact of negative washback effect upon secondary school education.

Researchers have concluded that until reform of the entrance examination happens, current conditions are unlikely to change. Murphey et al. (2010) suggest one way towards reform of this system is to mandate assessment policy to include high school records, extracurricular activities, and other achievements for admission, instead of the current procedure relying exclusively on a test score. Simply by upholding and maintaining standards of transparency of assessment would significantly improve the teaching and learning conditions of English language education in Japan.

Recently, a new exam has been created by Sophia University's Center for Language Education Research, headed by Kensaku Yoshida (2013a) called the Test of English for Academic Purposes (TEAP) exam. Working in tandem with both Japan's longstanding English language test developer the Test in Practical English Proficiency (EIKEN), and the University of Bedfordshire (CRELLA), it is the first test for university admissions purposes that tests all four macro-skills of English. Utilizing standardized can-do criteria and transparent specifications, the goal of the TEAP exam is to improve the quality of assessment approaches on university admissions, and to have a positive impact on EFL education in Japan. Piloted in 2014, the TEAP is the first university exam to adhere to an international benchmark standard, as it assesses language ability according to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). It is the first university entrance exam in Japan to include a speaking component.

This is revolutionary considering the entrenched historical dominance of a default assessment policy, and the longstanding existence of impractical items testing discrete and random grammar knowledge. Indeed, the TEAP exam is a very positive indication of a step towards reform and these types of four-skills tests, if adopted by universities nationwide, will most certainly push EFL education closer towards the goal of fostering Japanese citizens with communicative ability in English.

9 Conclusion

The body of literature on the core influences on EFL education in Japan strongly indicates the following:

• past historical context suggests that English language education has been a part of the nationalist agenda, and taking a form of resistance to internationalization, a theme entrenched in the history of Japan's modernization.

• globalization defined by the emergence of a global economy, has brought pressures to develop communicative ability in English, and the demand to foster individuals with the skills necessary to compete internationally.

This has resulted in the current revisions to the LEP. However, as previously discussed, in order for successful implementation of these policy revisions, teacher practices must be transformed. Here, CoPs are essential and powerful avenues through which teacher beliefs can be renegotiated together in a collaborative effort, along with a new integrated pedagogy.

Finally, in order for examinations and tests not to become the default policy as Shohamy (2006) describes, making efforts towards transparency of assessment on the same level as with standardized language benchmarks is necessary. Here in Japan, step by step assessment policy reform is being addressed, and once entrance examinations are held to a higher standard of quality and transparency, other factors towards educational change may fall into place. Now is the critical time to do so, as Japan struggles to keep pace with and gain ground in the rise of the global economy.

References

Abstract

This study serves as a pilot for a PhD dissertation study examining Japanese university English L2 students in different learning environments, their perceived future self-concept as English speakers, how their self-concept is affected by teaching pedagogies and the relation to language learning motivation in the classroom. This study compares Japanese English as foreign language (EFL) university students studying at Tokai University in Hiratsuka Japan and Japanese English as a second language (ESL) university aged students studying at three private English language institutes in Canada. The main focus of the study is to examine differences and similarities between the two groups in the way teaching pedagogies used in the classroom affect motivational variables such as attitude and international posture and generate data for future L2 motivation research in the classroom.

1 Introduction

English as second language (ESL) students studying abroad experience firsthand the culture of English speaking countries and the opportunity to communicate with native English language speakers on a daily basis. English as a foreign language (EFL) students studying in their home country in various classroom environments have limited exposure to the culture of English speaking countries and limited opportunity to communicate with native English language speakers. It has been argued that due to close proximity to the target language (TL) and the TL community ESL students may have stronger motivation and more positive attitudes toward studying English L2 than EFL students who study in their home country. Gardner (1985) refers to this type of motivation as integrative stating that it is an important predictor of how much effort (motivational intensity) the second language (L2) learner will exert. More recently Yashima (2002) introduced the concept of international posture which contends that attitudes influence motivation, that in turn influences achievement. Attitudes are not directed at the L2 community as suggested by Gardner but directed toward intercultural communication, international jobs or activities and foreign affairs. She links students’ international posture with how much students are willing to communicate (WTC) in the L2 and contends that international posture as a latent variable affects WTC, which in turn affects motivation and proficiency in English.

This study examines the relationship between teaching pedagogies, defined as teaching materials and learning activities, used in the classroom and motivational variables such as attitude and international posture of Japanese English L2 students. The study explores the following research questions:

1. What are the differences or similarities between Japanese EFL and ESL students’ opinions of teaching pedagogies used in the classroom and attitudes toward studying English as L2?

1. In what way do Japanese EFL and ESL student opinions of teaching pedagogies correlate with motivational variables such as attitudes and international posture?

For the purposes of this study motivation is defined as favorable attitudes that include effort, desire and positive attitudes toward learning an L2 (Gardner, 1985). The study provides a pilot for future research of Japanese EFL and Japanese ESL students and how their imagined future English L2-self-concept, defined as their perception of self and identity, can be influenced by the teacher through teaching pedagogies in the classroom. The intention of this pilot study and related future research is to give some ideas to teachers with regard to how they might influence   English L2 student motivation, specifically Japanese English L2 students, by accessing their imagined future English L2 self-concept through a variety of teaching pedagogies.

2 Background

For close to five decades L2 motivational research has been based primarily within the framework of the integrative orientation theory first introduced by Gardner and Lambert (1959). A majority of research conducted on L2 motivation in the 1990s and 2000’s has centered on the socio-educational model developed by Gardner (1985) this model contends that integrative orientation is an important predictor of how much effort (motivational intensity) the L2 learner will exert. Integrative orientation is defined as positive attitudes toward the TL community, towards learning the language and the desire to learn the L2 in order to contact and/or identify with members of the TL community. Over the last decade Gardner’s socio-educational concept of integrative orientation has come under increased scrutiny and has been questioned with respect to learning English L2 for students in many countries including Japan. In a country such as Japan where English L2 students have little or no contact with English speakers (either native or L2 English) students may lack the experience with the TL community to form an attitude for or against it (Dörnyei, 1990). Integrative orientation for learning English L2 does not adequately explain reasons for studying English as an L2 especially for students who are studying English L2 in their home country (Ushioda, 2011; 2013). Due to the ever increasing globalization of English students studying English L2 in their home countries may have difficulty identifying with one specific English language community (U.S., UK, Canada etc.) (Ushioda, 2013).  Individual differences exist in the interest level or attitude toward what English symbolizes, this inclination is defined as international posture and includes interests in overseas travel for study or work, international affairs and being prepared to interact with intercultural individuals (Yashima, 2002). International posture is a construct relating mainly to EFL students studying in their home country due to limited opportunities to interact face to face with native English speakers (Yashima, 2013). In this study the concept of international posture is also applied to Japanese ESL students studying abroad in order to make a direct comparison with Japanese EFL students regarding motivational variables such as overseas travel for study or work, international affairs and being prepared to interact with intercultural individuals. The researcher believes variables identified in international posture can be relevant to ESL students even if they may more easily identify with one specific English language community due to close proximity. It is the contention of this study that variables identified in international posture may be indicators of possible ways English L2 students see their identity as English speakers in the future or see themselves using English in the future.

3 Methodology

3.1 Participants

Data collection occurred at three private language schools in Canada, two in Vancouver and one in Victoria in the summer of 2012 and at Tokai University Shonan campus in Hiratsuka Japan during the fall 2012 semester. Participant groups were randomly selected in naturally occurring groups and consisted of two content based EFL international studies program classes conducted at Tokai University and randomly selected classes conducted at the three private English language institutes in Canada. The total number of participants was 63; Japanese ESL students in Canada (n=41), Japanese EFL students in Japan (n=22). Both participant groups were small samples of Japanese university English L2 students studying in Japan and Canada but provide an adequate sample for the purposes of piloting the survey and examining the research questions of this pilot study.  Participants were divided into two groups; Japanese ESL students in Canada (ELI-Canada Group 1) and Japanese EFL students at Tokai University (Tokai-U Group 2).

3.2 Data Collection

Data collection was conducted in a quantitative cross sectional method using a survey containing 33 Likert scaled items indicating how often certain teaching pedagogies (teaching materials and learning activities) were used in the classroom and 36 Likert scaled items indicating students’ opinions on teaching materials, classroom activities used in the classroom and attitudes toward studying English in general (Appendix A). The survey was modeled after the Attitude Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) originally developed by Gardner (1958; 1960) and modified numerous times in subsequent studies (Gardner & Lambert, 1972; Gardner & Smythe, 1975; Gardner & Smythe, 1981). Qualitative data was also collected in the survey using two open ended questions to qualify the Likert scaled items (Appendix A). Surveys were distributed to the participants by their classroom instructor under the supervision of the researcher. Teaching pedagogies used in the classroom were divided into three groups according to participant response; teaching materials defined as anything that can be used to facilitate language learning  including course books, videos, graded readers, games, websites and printed materials (Tomlinson, 2012), tasked based learning activities defined as specific tasks in which participants experience free and meaningful use of the TL focusing primarily on meaning to achieve a specific outcome (Ellis, 2003; Skehan, 2003 & Willis, 1996) and structural functional learning activities defined as tasks that teach learners the forms of language and the meanings they embody (Widdowson, 1991). Tables 1 and 2 show a summary of the most common teaching materials and learning activities used in both participant groups as reported in the survey. 

*For tables and more, please download the PDF available here*

Table 1   ELI-Canada Group 1- Three language institutes in Canada (Vancouver (2) and Victoria (1) )

Table 2   Tokai-U Group 2- Two international studies classes at Tokai University Shonan Campus Hiratsuka Japan  

Participants’ Likert scale survey responses were calculated for average (mean) response using the formula application on Microsoft Excel 2010 and were grouped into four groups; teaching materials (TM) (Appendix A #1-7), tasked based learning activities (TBLA) (Appendix A #8-15), structural functional learning activities (SFLA) (Appendix A #16-23) and attitude toward/reasons for studying English (ATRFSE) (Appendix A #24-36) as shown in Chart 1.

Chart 1- The mean scores for responses in each category from both participant groups, higher scores indicate more positive responses.

A T-test was applied for each response category related to teaching pedagogies in order to determine significant differences or similarities in participants’ opinions of teaching materials, learning activities and attitudes toward and reasons for studying English.

Table 3 T-Test- A level of probability (p-value) lower than .05 indicates a significant difference between the two participant groups

Two open ended questions on the survey (Appendix A) were used for analysis; 1. Why are you taking this class? (Table 4 and Table 5)  2. What are your future goals? (Table 6 and Table 7). These questions were selected because responses to these questions can best represent variables related to imagined future self-concept as an English L2 speaker and international posture as outlined by Yashima (2002; 2013). The open ended questions were analyzed by organizing responses into categories related to international posture; immediate goals such as grades, tests and academic achievement or international goals such as overseas travel, study/work overseas and communication/culture  (Yashima 2002; 2013) with the purpose of identifying goals common in both participant groups. Participant responses were categorized into two main categories each consisting of three sub categories, the main ideas of each participant response (key words, key phrases etc.) was categorized and given a point value of either 1 or .05. A comparison between the two participant groups is made that identifies the goals which are prevalent in each group, illustrate how participants see themselves using English in the future and identify international posture variables of participants in both groups.

*For photos and more, please download the PDF available here*

4 Results

ELI Canada Group 1 participants had favorable opinions of both tasked based learning activities including pair and group work, debating exercises etc. and structural functional learning activities including textbook based activities (Table 1; Chart 1). Tokai U Group 2 expressed favorable opinions of teaching pedagogies such as tasked based learning activities that include interaction with classmates in a pair or group work format and student presentations (Table 2; Chart 1). ELI Canada Group 1 and Tokai U Group 2 differed slightly on reasons for taking the class, a majority of Group 1 participants indicate mainly integrative motivational reasons such as finding foreign friends and speaking face to face with English speakers (Table 4) while a majority of Group 2 participants indicate more instrumentally motivated reasons such as meeting academic requirements stating:” I am taking the class because I have to” or “it is a required course for my faculty” etc. (Table 5). Responses for future goals were similar in both participant groups emphasizing international goals over immediate goals particularly in the area of communication with foreigners and learning about foreign culture. A majority of participants from both groups indicate making foreign friends, talking to native English speakers and learning about foreign cultures as future goals (Table 6; Table 7 ). Results from the t-test (Table 3) indicate  there is no significant difference in overall survey responses between participants in the two groups, participants’ opinions of structural functional learning activities were the most different and attitudes toward and reasons for studying English were the least different.

5 Summary

The types of teaching materials and learning activities used in participant classes generated generally positive survey responses from both groups and are associated with positive attitudes among a majority of participants toward studying English (Chart 1). There was a significant difference in reasons for taking the class, Tokai U Group 1 participants expressed mainly immediate goals while ELI Group 2 participants expressed mainly international goals. Future goals produced similar responses as a majority of participants in both groups indicated international goals, particularly international-communication goals, as future objectives. Participants in both groups displayed high levels of international posture according to Yashima’s (2002, 2013) definition especially with respect to a willingness to communicate in English with native speakers. Results from this study indicate international posture correlates with positive attitudes toward teaching pedagogies used in the classroom to some degree for both of these specific participant groups. Teaching pedagogies used in participant classes may contribute to a stronger English L2 self-concept where participants envision themselves using English in an international setting in the future and the high level of international posture and generally positive attitudes toward teaching pedagogies displayed by both participant groups may indicate higher levels of motivation as defined by Gardner (1985). By implementing these particular teaching pedagogies in their classroom it seems teachers in both participant groups were able to assist students to some degree achieve higher levels of motivation for classroom activities.

6 Conclusion

The main goal of this study was to generate data  to be explored further in future research conducted by the researcher related to Japanese university English L2 students in different learning environments, their perceived future self-concept as English L2 speakers, how their self-concept is  affected by teaching pedagogies and the relation to language learning motivation in the classroom. The results of this study suggest the positive opinions of both Japanese EFL and ESL students toward certain teaching pedagogies and positive attitudes toward studying English L2 may be related to a higher level of international posture represented by the willingness to interact with foreigners using English which includes overseas travel, studying or working abroad. It can be suggested a stronger vision of English L2 goals provided by the classroom teacher through a variety of teaching pedagogies may enhance student motivation and increase participation in classroom activities. The results of this study are not entirely conclusive therefore the researcher will continue research in this area with Japanese ESL and Japanese EFL students that includes classroom observation, one on one or focus group interviews conducted in Japanese and translated to English and surveys in Japanese to ensure more accurate responses from participants. Future research will focus more on how student imagined future English L2-self-concept can be influenced by the teacher through teaching pedagogies to increase or at least maintain motivation to participate in classroom activities in the present. It is hoped that findings from this pilot study as well as future research can be used practically by English L2 teachers in the classroom to create a more enjoyable English L2 learning environment for their students.

Bio

Alan Harper is a Junior Associate Professor of English in the Foreign Language Centre at Tokai University Shonan campus Hiratsuka Japan. He is a doctoral candidate in the Doctor of Education program at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia. Mr. Harper’s dissertation research looks at teaching pedagogies, how they affect student’s future self-concept as English speakers and the relation to student motivation in the classroom. Mr. Harper is from Vancouver Canada and has lived in Asia for 14 years teaching English as a foreign language in S. Korea, Malaysia and Japan.

References

*For photos and more, please download the PDF available here*

Eucharia Donnery

Linamaria Valdivia

Shunsuke Kuwayama

Tokyo Chapter is looking for contributions from its members for the next issue of its chapter publication, the peer-reviewed Tokyo JALT Journal, or TJJ.

Articles include research, pedagogical, discussion, and magazine-style reports of chapter presenters and issues related to language teaching in Japan. Contents are not limited to English language classrooms alone. Contributions related to Japanese as a second language and other foreign language classrooms are especially encouraged. We are also willing to consider articles written in Japanese.

Please contact the editor for further information on Japanese language submissions: TokyoJALTEditor@gmail.com but for English language submissions check the TJJ Submissions Guidelines and the TJJ Call For Papers.

TJJ available for download here.