Providing students with the opportunity to study different cultures increases their global understanding and helps foster tolerance of cultural differences. In this lesson, grade 3-5 students read folk tales from Japan, Wales, and Africa and depict the stories visually for purposes of retelling. Students also research the countries and share a…

Describes how Japanese teachers present written language using the observations of 40 kindergarten and primary classrooms. Discusses the process in terms of classroom organization and instructional practices as well as the influences of the Japanese language and culture. Recommends effective aspects of this process and identifies those U.S.…

This workshop text encourages the use of literature in a student-centered curriculum of English as a second language (ESL). The first section discusses the role of the teacher in the student-centered approach and outlines the reasons for using English-language literature in the Japanese university ESL course. The second section emphasizes the…

It is sometimes difficult to motivate Japanese students to learn English because it is not connected with their everyday life or interests. One method found to be effective at the college level in Japan is to teach students about other cultures in English by preparing slide programs with narration, vocabulary lists, and exercises, supported by…

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL), introduces "Developing a New Course for Adult Learners," edited by Marguerite Ann Snow and Lia Kamhi-Stein. This volume in TESOL's Language Curriculum Development Series presents the stories of teachers, curriculum developers, and administrators from all over the world who…

Two key parallels exist between reading and writing, each with profound implications for the teaching of these skills, and which can be adapted for the situation in Japanese high schools, where reading and writing classes are separate. First, on a theoretical level, writing and reading are cognitively similar in that they are both active and…

Experiences in teaching a first-year reading course in the intensive English program at Kansai Gaidai Junior College (Japan) are discussed. In the period described, there were six classes of 16 students each. A proficiency-oriented approach incorporating a learner development component was adopted to facilitate the transition from traditional…

Fourteen conference papers on classroom techniques for second language teaching are presented, including: "Cooperative Learning at the Post-Secondary Level in Japan" (Steve McGuire, Patricia Thornton, David Kluge); "Shared Inquiry Fosters Critical Thinking Skills in EFL Students" (Carol Browning, Jerold Halvorsen, Denise…

Papers from an international conference on language teaching/learning are presented by topic and grouped under seven sections. An introductory section contains two papers on cultural diversity and world English. The second section, on teacher development, contains papers on these topics: teacher development and socialization; teachers' responses…