The relationship between concepts of 'native-speakerism', English language education and their effects on local stakeholders are continually evolving. As such, this paper critically analysed native-speakerist ideologies in the Japanese EFL teaching context with the aim of illustrating the complicated nature of native-speakerism as it currently…

The contemporary literature regarding dialogic classroom interaction has primarily focused on the meaning-making attributes of dialogue while acknowledging but otherwise providing less emphasis to the social dimensions of the learning community and the dialogic resources that students bring to the classroom. As a result, this paper explores the…

In this study, 118 native speakers of Japanese watched 48 separate video clips in which a teacher provided recasts on phonological or lexical errors to students in Portuguese, a language with which the participants were unfamiliar. In the video clips, six recast characteristics were manipulated: length, segmentation (segmented/whole), prosodic…

This study investigated the relationship between a metaphor-based approach to teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) and involvement of the brain's right hemisphere. Specifically, it examined learners' understanding of three levels of sureness associated with different expressions in English -- those that are "certain,"…

This study examines the role of explicit instruction in article semantics to L2 learners of English. Two types of generic sentences, expressed by different articles, were tested over time. An instruction group (n = 21), a control group (n = 16) and a native English speaker control group (n = 9) participated in the study. The instruction group…

Teacher identity has recently emerged as an important site of research, with studies focusing on various aspects of social identities. In this study, we employ a poststructuralist intersectionality framework to teacher identity using a duoethnographic approach as a research method. This involved using narratives to explore our professional…

This study investigated the effects of High Variability Phonetic Training (HVPT) on beginner level English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Japanese learners' perceptions and productions of the English fricatives /f/, /v/ and /?/. With the use of the computer program 'English Accent Coach' (EAC, Thomson, 2017), two groups of participants were engaged…

This longitudinal study examined whether and to what extent the production of voice onset time (VOT) for /p/, /t/, and /k/ in English was improved in second language (L2) learners by enrolment in a content-based instruction (CBI) program at a Japanese university. Measures of VOTs were elicited at the beginning, middle, and end of the academic year…

There is a common belief that one could quickly improve their second language proficiency once they reside in the country where the target language is spoken, because they have opportunities to use it constantly in an immersion environment. However, scholars have argued that it may be up to the individual student whether she could effectively…

Although world Englishes and various teaching practices in English as an international language (EIL) have been recommended for English language curricula, the effectiveness of including a variety of Englishes in such curricula has not been fully examined. This small-scale study investigated the effectiveness of exposure to world Englishes among…

In this article, we describe and evaluate an innovative pedagogical task designed to raise awareness of Global Englishes and to challenge standard language ideology in an English language classroom. The task encouraged the learning and debate of the controversial Speak Good English Movement, which campaigns for Singaporeans to use a…

This study examined the impact of video-based conversational interaction on the longitudinal development (one academic semester) of second language production by college-level Japanese English-as-a-foreign-language learners. Students in the experimental group engaged in weekly dyadic conversation exchanges with native speakers in the United States…

The field of L2 pragmatics demonstrates the effect of instructional intervention on the development of L2 learners' pragmatic competence. Nevertheless, effective instruction requires knowledge of pragmatic performances of L2 learners in naturally occurring conversations, in comparison to those of the target community speakers. This study, using a…

This study analyzes the conversational styles of two dyads who engaged in a semester-long, video-mediated telecollaboration between Japan and America. While one dyad expressed the greatest satisfaction and developed the autonomy to continue the project beyond the curricular requirement, the other dyad expressed the greatest frustration, requiring…

The present study investigated the effects of instruction on the use of the definite article "the" by Japanese learners of English by implementing two instructional treatments that varied in the extent to which they emphasized identifiability and accessibility. One instructional treatment, referred to as the traditional (TR) treatment,…