This paper explored students' experiences in an international virtual student mobility (VSM) program at a Japanese national university implemented in collaboration with partner universities in the Asia Pacific region and Europe. Through students' narratives, the study discerned how students perceive "mobility" and the concept of…

This paper examines how fleeting experiences exert a disproportionately powerful effect on the language learning motivation and behavior of university students. A thematic analysis of interview data is used to show how "significant incidents" have two principal consequences. The first, "anagnorisis," is an immediate, revelatory…

Recently, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has produced several internationalisation policies to develop their notion of "guroubaru-jinzai" (global human resources). However, a lack of clear direction regarding theories and approaches about how to achieve these initiatives has created a…

Online students use highly emotional language to describe their experiences, indicating that learners do feel a great deal online. This paper draws on Wetherell's exploration of affective practice to theorise learners' responses to the pedagogical and technological online environment. Findings of a research project that focused on two cohorts of…

This essay is about the experiences, feelings, and thoughts of a Japanese teacher before and after an article appeared in a nationwide newspaper, "Asahi Shinbun". Here he discusses the reactions of administrators and students as well as his efforts in working with students in writing and producing a play about a lesbian high school…

A researcher undertook a study of her own second language learning progress, focusing on development of pragmatic competence in Japanese and the relationship between language and social identity while living and working in Japan. The study addressed three areas: the formal instructional context of studying Japanese in Japan; the influence of the…

Excerpts from interviews with 30 Asian high school students concerning their acculturation to the American classroom are presented and discussed. The students had been in the United States for no more than 2 years, and were here for a variety of reasons, including extended visits with relatives to temporary appointments of their parents to U.S.…