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

Discusses the cultural, ontological, and epistemological principles on which knowledge is organized in Japanese culture. Topics discussed include public knowledge and corporate knowledge; cognition, including field dependent knowledge and group dependent knowledge; communication and image oriented knowledge; memory; and patterns of…

Comments on the articles presented in this issue devoted to the Japanese perspectives on conceptual change. Discusses the overall conveyed message: The human cognitive system is a thematically organized knowledge base with agentive causality as the main mechanism for explain phenomena and analogy as the main mechanism for promoting conceptual…

Comments on the articles presented in this issue devoted to the Japanese perspectives on conceptual change. Suggests that different approaches to knowledge acquisition and conceptual change should be carefully examined in light of their implications for the teaching of science. Discusses critically the issues advanced from the Japanese…

The author shares his own experiences in the design of culturally appropriate human resources development programs in Asia. He discusses the differences in cognitive models of causation: Japanese cognition and western cognition. (CT)

Proposes causal field theory as a model of causal reasoning. Suggests that anomaly detection through comparison with natural events triggers causal reasoning. This anomaly is interpreted in terms of agency; therefore, natural phenomena can be understood through an appeal to agency. The mechanism proposed never changes with development, whereas…

Examines the role of social interaction as a facilitator of learning in general and conceptual change in particular. Three conditions are proposed as necessary for social interaction to facilitate knowledge construction--horizontal information, comparable domain knowledge, and availability of cognitive tools. Suggests that these conditions assure…

Pragmatic and semantic problem solving are examined as processes that enhance acquisition of mathematical knowledge. It is suggested that development of mathematical cognition involves restructuring and that math teachers can help restructure children's knowledge systems by providing them with situations in which semantic and pragmatic problem…

Proposes analogy as the central mechanism of knowledge acquisition in formal domains. Discusses experimental data on preschoolers' knowledge of one-to-one correspondence and college students' understanding of force decomposition. Suggests that a knowledge base domain is a thematically organized knowledge structure and that thematic relations in a…

The United States-Japan Cooperative Science Program was initiated for the purpose of conducting research and exchanging ideas for the improvement of science education. A seminar was held in Honolulu in 1986 to discuss efforts and future directions of this cooperative program. This paper reviews the outcomes of the seminar in three areas. These…

Describes an approach to needs and syllabus design that is illustrated by way of pedagogic elements comprising the learning environment of second-year Japanese college students, doctors in training, who read, discuss, and write in response to medical case studies accessed and mediated through the Internet. (Author/VWL)