If we use words from Freirean thought, we can find "indigenous Freirean thought" in each country. This paper discussed critical education theory's maturing process during Japan's modernization process and analyzed the conditions for creating an alternative community, based on an emancipatory learning practice. In East Asian countries,…

If you are reading this, as a child, you probably went to school to learn. However, as we enter adulthood, we do a great deal of learning informally after we have completed compulsory and formal schooling. Although early theories of learning fell under the quantitative paradigm, new qualitative and social theories of learning have now been…

Children all over the world learn language, yet the contexts in which they do so vary substantially. This variation needs to be systematically quantified to build robust and generalizable theories of language acquisition. We compared communicative interactions between parents and their 2-year-old children (N = 99 families) during mealtime across…

This book critiques dominant discourses and debates pertaining to cultural identity, set against the current backdrop of growing social stratification and unequal access to quality education. It addresses current discourses concerning globalisation, ideologies and the state, as well as approaches to constructing national, ethnic and religious…

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…

This study empirically compares two often-utilized motivation theories in L2 studies: self-determination theory and the L2 motivational self system. It also examines the relationships among their motivational constructs, learners' intended L2 learning effort, and L2 proficiency. While a number of studies have utilized these models in order to…

This paper examined whether a younger starting age of formal instruction on a foreign language is beneficial in expanding circle countries. An experimental study was designed to examine to what extent the five varieties of English language teachers are intelligible to Japanese- (JSLs) and Korean-speaking language learners (KSLs), who have…

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, universities in Japan had been slow to transition from paper-based to digital methods and materials. In addition, the most applicable theories for teaching and learning languages with digital technologies had not been considered deeply by many university teachers, and their beliefs about these theories had not been…

This paper argues that a teacher should and can be not only the organizer of a lesson as well as participant in a dialogue who has the equal right with pupils vis-à-vis the truth of the learning material in order to make lessons dialogic. To analyze such a teacher's way of being in the lesson, the concept of a triadic relationship among pupils,…

This paper examines a remarkable artifact of international business education, a four-book business Chinese language series published in Shanghai from 1916 to 1933 by a Japanese business school. Language-centered business education, they concluded, could break Japanese dependence on intermediaries and provide a significant competitive advantage…

The field of self-access language learning (SALL), which is an established way of supporting language learners outside the classroom through the provision of resources and spaces, spans more than five decades and is currently in a phase that Mynard (2019a) refers to as the 'basic psychological needs and wellbeing' phase. This is a turning point in…

Background: Interest in the use of learning theory to inform sport and physical-education pedagogy over the past decade beyond games and team sports has been limited. Purpose: Following on from recent interest within the literature in Eastern philosophic traditions, this article draws on the Japanese concept of "mushin" and complex…

This book clarifies the fundamental difference between North America-based instrumental motivation and Korea (and East Asia)-specific competitive motivation by which the EFL learners' excessive competition to be admitted to famous universities and to be hired at a large-scale conglomerate is the main source of L2 motivation. It enables readers to…

English proficiency is valued in Japan for its facilitation of participation in the international community. However, average proficiency remains low despite strategic efforts of Japan's Ministry of Education. Based on research indicating that culture may impact learning, this quantitative study investigated the impact of culture on English…

This paper examined how the interdisciplinary field of volunteer motivation and creativity research helps improve our understanding of social issues. This research focused on the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred on March 11, 2011, and discussed how volunteer motivations support volunteer activities, positive youth…