We are expected to behave appropriately to suit social situations. One form of behavioral control is the selection of a linguistic register that is appropriate to the listener. Register selection errors can sometimes be interpreted as rude behavior and result in having a bad influence on the relationship with the listener and the evaluation by…

This article describes how American and Japanese kindergartners see play and what teachers can learn from them. The authors share their findings from analyzing photos and interviews from 44 American children in the southeastern United States and 55 Japanese children in the main island of Japan, all aged five to six years. In the study, children…

This 4-year case study used a photo-elicitation approach to language learning history research in an individual case study of an Indonesian student's experiences of communities of practice while studying abroad in Japan. The study showed how the student's opportunities for interaction in Japanese were at first limited by his peripheral…

Exposing pre-service teachers to international professional experiences through a short-term visiting programme serves to challenge their understandings of good quality practice through disturbing assumptions and expectations previously formed through experiences in their own country/culture. Much of the research in international study focuses on…

The purpose of the study was to examine Japanese and Korean kindergarteners' perspectives by asking them to photograph play and explain why their photos represent play (photo elicitation interviews). The participants consisted of 50 kindergarteners on Japan's main island and 50 kindergarteners in South Korea. Japanese and Korean kindergartners…

The purpose of the study was to examine American and Japanese kindergarteners' views of play. The participants consisted of 44 kindergarteners and their five teachers in the southeastern United States and 50 kindergarteners and their three teachers on Japan's main island. Both groups of children were asked to photograph their views of play and to…

A recently recovered cumulative recorder provides a missing link in the evolution of the cumulative recorder from a modified kymograph to a reliably operating, scientifically and commercially successful instrument. The recorder, the only physical evidence of such an early precommercial cumulative recorder yet found, was sent to Keio University in…

Ubiquitous Learning Log (ULL) is defined as a digital record of what you have learned in the daily life using ubiquitous technologies. This paper focuses on how to capture learning experiences in our daily life for vocabulary learning. In our previous works, we developed a system named SCROLL (System for Capturing and Reminding Of Learning Log) in…

This study examined differences in children's responses to their family photographs within a sample of Japanese 6-year-olds ("N"?=?44), exploring associations with their mothers' attachment status. The differences in children's photo reactions were captured by a 5-point continuous scale to rate how engaged children were and how…

The purpose of this study is to assess student response to teaching English for written communication in a Japanese university context by using students' own photographs instead of textbooks. Thirty Japanese college freshmen English majors of similar ability studying writing receive monthly assignments to use their own photographs to write about…

A Ubiquitous Learning Log (ULL) is defined as a digital record of what a learner has learned in daily life using ubiquitous computing technologies. In this paper, a project which developed a system called SCROLL (System for Capturing and Reusing Of Learning Log) is presented. The aim of developing SCROLL is to help learners record, organize,…

This study aims to establish if the same strong motivational power that using students' own photos as a stimulus for Japanese college students learning to write English indicated in the preceding study of the same title will be sustained in their follow-up course. The same thirty Japanese college freshmen English majors of similar ability studying…

Despite the stream of directives about improving students' English communicative ability from the Japanese Education Ministry since 2003 [1-4] significant development has remained elusive. One obstacle to communication (as an individual and a cooperative faculty) is the inflexible "one-size-fits-all" philosophy of commercial textbooks…

This article considers the impact of the increasing use of the visual mode in texts found in urban landscapes on two 3-year-olds' understanding of communication practices. The data discussed are taken from a study into a group of 3- to 6-year-olds' interaction with and emerging comprehension of the visual mode and its connection to writing in…

The objectives of the research reported in this article were to develop and evaluate an interdisciplinary primary school Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) curriculum as a collaboration among the subject areas of "kateika" (Japanese home economics), art, and music. In our curriculum, which focused on the improvement of…