In Japan, school teachers experience mental health issues, leading to absences or leave from their duties. While extended working hours significantly contribute to this problem, diminished self-esteem has emerged as the primary causal factor. Reduced self-esteem is frequently correlated with diminished self-efficacy across multiple facets of…

This study developed a Self-Regulated Second Language Self-Study Questionnaire that addresses the self-regulated learning (SRL) skills of learners of English as a foreign language in a self-study setting. Much attention has been paid to SRL in second language acquisition; however, contexts outside school have hardly been explored. To address this…

Self-efficacy is the belief in one's own ability to carry out a given task, and has been shown to be a powerful predictor of performance. Although researchers have considered self-efficacy within language learning, it remains a relatively underused and unexplored construct. This longitudinal mixed-method study set out to address this, by…

This preliminary study developed the concept map tool "BR-Map" using learning logs on eBook viewer, and investigated the relationships between self-regulated learning (SRL) awareness, learning behaviors (usage of BR-Map, and one-minute paper and report submission), and learning performance. Psychometric data and learning logs were…

This study investigated the relationship between gifted students' academic self-concept (ASC) and academic achievement (AC) in earth science with internationally representative high-school students from the third International Earth Science Olympiad (IESO) held in Taiwan in 2009. The results of regression analysis indicated that IESO students' ASC…

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between learners' self-regulated language learning and proficiency and to examine the differences in characteristics of self-regulated learning (SRL) between low- and high-proficiency learners. SRL is a learning process throughout setting goals, monitoring tasks, and reflecting on…

Literature from education, educational psychology and second language acquisition has consistently found that self-efficacy is a key factor leading to increased language learning success. Students with more self-efficacy are claimed to have higher motivation and to expend more effort in the learning process. On the other hand, those with less…

"Foreign language activities" (English) officially began in Japanese elementary schools in April 2011. Since that starting date, and despite insufficient knowledge and preparation, classroom teachers have been required to instruct in English. They also have been required to team-teach with native-English-speaking assistant language…

Objective: Leaving a portion of meals uneaten, known as plate waste, is a serious problem among children in Japan. Although children's confidence that they can completely finish meals is related to plate waste, the circumstances that influence this confidence are not known. This study examined situations in which low self-efficacy for finishing…

This study explores the internal structure of psychological attributes (i.e., motivation, belief and emotion) related to foreign language reading (FLR) (hereafter FLR attributes) and checks the utility of existing FLR attribute measurements for the specific learner group (i.e., Japanese university students studying English as their foreign…

In an attempt to explore the significance of a "willingness to communicate" (WTC) variable in second language (L2) acquisition, this article reports on a survey study that investigated 101 Japanese university English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' perceptions of textbook-assigned and self-selected discussion topics. Additionally,…

"Digital Native" and "Digital Immigrant" are terms, popularized by Prensky (2001), to describe those born either before, or in the digital era (i.e. after 1980). In recent years, this dichotomy has been used to raise awareness of differences in technology usage and what these differences may mean for education. The present…

Recent research has emphasised educating children about positive behaviours to overcome delinquency issues, but there is little clarification of what factors lead to positive behaviours. This study analyses factors that led to children's positive behaviours at a junior high school in Japan, which experienced a dramatic turnaround after…

Objective: To examine whether the combined use of a task-specific self-efficacy scale for oral health behaviour (SEOH) and an oral health questionnaire (OHQ) would be useful for evaluating subjects' behaviours and cognitions. Design: Questionnaires. Methods: One hundred and eighty-five students completed the SEOH and OHQ. The 30-item OHQ uses a…

Research on the L2 Motivational Self System has drawn considerable attention in Second Language Acquisition. Previous studies have discussed the system itself, its basic concepts and their relationships to such affective variables as anxiety in various L2 learning contexts. The findings of these studies suggest that (1) having a clearer image of…