Motivations-beliefs for learning and their relationship to instructional experiences are a poorly understood aspect of higher education. Notably, interest is an individual difference that both researchers and educators alike believe should be supported. However, this support is too often relegated to the craft of instruction. To be enhanced…

This policy analysis will explore the prevalence and purpose of compulsory practical English courses for students across all faculties in universities in Japan. Special attention will be given to English courses taught in two non-English major colleges within a large private Japanese university in Western Japan, which since their inception have…

In the field of second language (L2) research, there is a growing recognition of the vital need to explore the diversity of emotional experiences of learning. The current paper describes part of action research with two classes of Japanese first-grade university students (n = 47) in compulsory English as a foreign language (EFL) lessons.…

This project addressed the role of foreign language (FL) classes in a successful first-year student experience at one Japanese university. I assessed six dimensions of this experience: Match between high school FL classes and university FL classes, role of first-year FL course grades for academic progress, role of first-year FL classes in later…

The study focuses on the role of different theories when considered together in a foreign language other than English (LOTE) context. Specifically, the study examines (a) to what extent influential second language (L2) motivational theories, when integrated, explain motivation to learn LOTEs, and (b) how the powerful status of English in Japan…

In the 21st century it has become clear that more and more language-learning pedagogical materials have begun to shift to a digital mobile-access format and away from being a textbook and classroom based one. High quality language-learning podcasts can provide a cheap, beneficial and portable technology that allows learners the freedom to access…

In numerous Asian-Pacific tertiary contexts--students' chosen department not-with-standing-- second-language study is a requirement for both entry level and graduation. A practice by which Second Language motivation research could benefit from First Language procedures is to acknowledge instrumentality in such nonelective classes. Instrumental…

This report describes the processes, methods and results of using language software based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) in a tertiary level institute in Japan in order to facilitate the learning of low ability learners of English. None of the learners were English majors, all were between the ages of 18 and 20,…

This study examines the English language teaching (ELT) policies and measures taken under the United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) from 1945 to 1948, in an attempt to illuminate their implications on the current ELT in Korea. The study analyzes data derived from documents of the Korean and the U.S. governments, literature on…

In an article on English and national identity, Spring gives a historical survey of the role of English and its relation to Japanese national identity. Although English was discouraged during World War II, as it was considered the language of enemy, it was again "made an important academic language and in 1956 was included in entrance…

Public school students in Japan must take English as a required subject for three years in junior high school and for three more years in senior high school. In spite of the amount of classroom time invested, and in spite of the available learning support services, the foreign Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) system included, the English…