（別刷）

Who is Responsible for Students’ Learning?

太田有希

生涯学習研究― 聖徳大学生涯学習研究所紀要 ―第 16 号

別冊2018 年 3 月

Who is Responsible for Students’Learning?
Yuki Ota

要旨
学びというのは人にとって生涯必要であるスキルである。近年，日本では 2020 年の東京
オリンピックの影響も受け，グローバル化が進み，英語学習が必修になっている。文部科
学省では英語力を上げるため，小学校の中学年から外国語活動として，児童が英語に慣れ親しむため，授業が行われる。小学校で受けた英語の授業は中学校・高等学校で行う授業と異なるため，英語に対する苦手意識が生まれ，生徒から離れない。英語をなぜ学ぶのか，自分で決めた理由や目的がなく，生徒は英語を学び続け，大学生や社会人になっても英語恐怖症になったりする。本研究では，女子大学生にアンケート調査を行い，英語学習者としての目的や英語学習に対する姿勢を研究した。

キーワード
英語学習，生涯学習，グローバル化の影響，学習目標

Abstract
Many English language learners in Japan are known for having a strong dislike
towards the subject. The lack of unawareness in the Ministry of Education leaves school
students pressured and stressed to cram more information than they can process. Thesestudents continue having their strong resistance towards English language for as long as
they are educated. Many universities require students to continue studying English andso students are given more stress. One of the biggest reason as to why this is the case isbecause students cannot imagine themselves using the English language in the future.
Often times students cannot relate to the target culture and do not feel the need torelate, resulting in lack of purpose for studying the language. Without a strong purpose,students will not participate in class and will not feel responsible for their learning. In
this research, 322 students in a Japanese women’s university were asked to participate
in an anonymous survey. This survey aimed to learn more about the current stance inuniversity students towards their learning.

Keywords
EFL, Japanese university, purpose, ideal L2-selfLearning is a lifelong activity. With the right learningare trying to acquire, must have a purpose or goal.

habits, learners are able to acquire knowledge andWithout a solid goal, learners will not be open to theeventually become a skill that will only be beneficial in so

information begin presented or taught and therefore will

many life settings. Every learner, regardless of what they

not be able to retain the information in the long run.

— 15 —

Yuki Ota

Currently in Japan, the Ministry of Education is pushing241）．

towards introducing students to English language

In this study, university students were asked toeducation from a young age. The term teachers andparticipate in an anonymous survey that aimed to find out

lawmakers often use is“global-ka”, which means toif students had a purpose of studying English and how

become global or international（Ministry or Education,responsible they are towards their own learning. This

Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Website, 2017）．

research would be relevant as this general knowledge

Japanese nationals currently enrolled in college or

could apply to other learning settings as well.

university would have had at least seven years of Englishlanguage education exposure. In a perfect world, seven

Research Questions and Hypotheses

years of English language education would be enough toThis study aimed to find the answers to two researchcarry out native-like conversations and comprehend a film

questions:in English without running Japanese subtitles. In reality,1.

Do the students have a purpose in studying English

though, students are unable to perform due to theand are they putting effort in trying to achieve theircramming of information by junior high school and highpurpose?
2.

school teachers. Likewise, teachers, especially in publicHow much do students actually feel responsible for
their own learning?

schools, are required to teach an enormous number ofsubjects they do not feel comfortable in. The pressure on

If students have a clear goal and or purpose in studying

both the students and the teachers has negatively

the English language, students would be activelyinfluenced the way English language education isparticipating in class, putting effort in acquiring theperceived by the learners in school settings. It is only

foreign language. If students do not have a reason tonatural for students to start disliking and rejecting

study, this will likely affect their learning habits and notEnglish as a subject.

put their effort in learning. Students may rely on theAnother common characteristic that is seen frequently

teacher and think that teachers have a higher

in Asian contexts（where countries study English as a

responsibility in their acquisition. This study hypothesized

foreign language, not as a second language） is thethat more than half of the students will be studying

learner’s inability to construct an image of an‘ideal L2-

English for no other reason other than to pass theirself’,（L2-self refers to the second language learner

English courses. The study hypothesized that there willidentity）（Miyahara, 2014; Apple & Da Silva, 2017）．

be few students who are studying English for personal

Miyahara（2014）argued that if learners can construct anpurposes. With that being said, students will not put in

identity of their future selves as using the L2, learners

effort in trying to achieve acquisition because

will feel a stronger sense of motivation and desire to

extrinsically motivated students will not see the need andacquire the second（or target）language. In order towill depend on the teacher for students’ ability toconstruct an ideal L2-self, learners must feel that they cancomprehend the material being taught. In other words,

connect and relate to the target language and its cultures

students may not feel a sense of responsibility towards

associated with it.

their learning.

Moreover, King（2014, p. 234）characterized that theJapanese societal and cultural norms and expectations

Methodology

play an important role in shaping learner’s anxiety.

Participants

Because reserved and silent behaviors are not seen

For this study, 322 university students enrolled in anegatively but praised upon, these traits get carried overwomen’s university in Japan answered the questionnaire.

to their learning environments and almost reinforcing

These students were from five different departments

students to avoid or minimize the opportunities of（Nutrition, Social Welfare, Psychology, Education, andwanting to stand out or speak out in public（King, p.

Nursing）．To find out if there were any trends and or— 16 —Who is Responsible for Students’Learning?

differences in their responses, students from first to

20 questions were printed on both sides of an A4 paper

fourth year were asked to take part in the survey.

and estimated five to ten minutes to complete. Five

Majority of the students were Japanese nationals with aquestions were extracted for this study:
1.

What is your purpose in studying English?

Furthermore, following the nationwide trend of“hate”

2.

Do you actively participate during English class?

towards English, the students in this university showed

3.

Do you put effort in studying English?

disinterest and hate towards learning the English

4.

Do you think learning English is your own

couple of non-Japanese students.

responsibility?

language.
5.

Settings

What do you think your level of responsibility is toyour teacher（you : teacher）?

In this private Japanese university, students are
required to take general English courses regardless of

Questions 1 and 5 were open ended questions andtheir field of study. The number of English class credits

questions 2, 3, and 4 were closed ended, yes or no

required for graduation varies among departments andquestions. Question 3 aimed to find out whether students

students can choose to take more general English classes

were taking time outside the classrooms to review andor other foreign language classes. If the students pass, orprepare for English classes. Question 5 aimed for students

get a high score in an approved English proficiency

to write the ratio of their individual responsibility asexaminations（such as STEP EIKEN, TOEIC, TOEFL,

learners to their English language teacher’s responsibility

IELTS, and the like），their English credits are waivered.

in their learning.

Even with such incentive, however, only a handful ofResults and Discussion

students at the university were eligible.
The general English classes are year-long courses withQuestion 1: What is your purpose in studying English?

about 20 to 30 students per teacher. In the first two

The responses were all categorized into five categories:

semesters of English, students review the basic grammar

to pass the English course, to be able to communicate tolearnt from junior high and high school. In addition, theEnglish speakers, to learn because English is an importantfirst two semesters aim to solidify the student’sskill for the future, to study or work abroad, and no

foundations of English knowledge. In the third and fourth

reason. Of the five purposes, three suggests that students

semesters of English, students study reading skills andwere intrinsically driven to study English. Graph 1A

gain reading comprehension skills. The fifth and sixth, are（refer to Appendix）shows the distribution of responses.

elective among some departments, students explore

12% of the students responded they had no reason tovarious writing styles. In the final semesters of English,

study English. While one third of the student responded

students are challenged with activities that encourage

with“to pass the English course”. Graph 1B（refer tocommunication among themselves using English.

Appendix） shows the distribution of departments.

For this study, students enrolled in compulsory classes
were asked to participate in the survey.

Students from the Nutrition and Social Welfare
departments were the two highest departments, possibly

Survey Questions

because students will not be required to use English in

A survey was distributed to students during their

their future workplaces. Students studying Education andgeneral English classes in the beginning of the first

Nursing will likely be required to use English in theirsemester（April to May 2017）．The survey contained

future workplaces, therefore students were studying

both closed and open questions and they were written in

English with and for a purpose that will most likely be

Japanese to ensure comprehension and to avoid

beneficial.

misunderstanding or unanswered surveys. Instructions,

Question 2 : Do you actively participate during English

meanings, and comments were given in Japanese andclass?

questions from the students were answered accordingly.

— 17 —

Table 1 shows the distribution of yes and no responses

Yuki Otaby department．88% of the respondents marked“yes”．

that the teachers are responsible for their learning. None

Similar to the results in Question 1, a relative highof the respondents from the Education department wrote

number of students that marked“no”to this question“no”．This could be because these students are studying

were students from the Nutrition, Social Welfare, andto become educators themselves, therefore the students

Psychology departments. 12% of the Nutrition andknow that the teachers should not be held fullyPsychology students that participated in the study

responsible for the students’ comprehension andresponded they do not actively participate in class andacquisition of the subject.

1 6 % o f t h e s t u de n t s w e r e i n t h e So c i a l W e lf a r e

Question 5 : What do you think your level of responsibility

department. Only 2% of the student respondents from theis to your teacher（you : teacher）?

Nursing and Education departments said“no”．The set ofThis question asked how responsible the students

responses from Question 2 is correlational to the results

should be in their learning to how responsible theyobtained from Question 1. The student’s willingness toperceive their teacher should be. The results wereparticipate in class will reflect on whether the student has

categorized into 6 groups, as shown in Table 3 and ina purpose for studying English.

Graph 2 in Appendix. 13% of the respondents wrote that

Table 1
Response distribution to Question 2 : Do you actively
participate in class? (n =322)

the teachers were more responsible for the student’sYesNoNursing
n=39381Educationn=3534
1Nutrition
n=104
91
13Psychology
n=41365Social Welfare
n=10386
17learning. Students in the Nutrition, Psychology, and Social
Welfare departments wrote that teachers are more
responsible for the student’s learning. This could inferthat those students rely heavily to the teachers to provide
them with knowledge and without much effort, acquire

Question 3 : Do you put effort in studying English?
Although in the previous question, 88% of the students

the English language. Very few of the students from

responded that they actively participate in class, only 14%

these departments wrote that students themselves areof the students put effort in studying English（refer tohighly responsible for their own learning. Moreover, in theTable 2）．86% of the students do not put effort inprevious questions, the students in these departments

spending time outside their classrooms reviewing andshowed that they were not intrinsically motivated andpreparing for English class. Again, following the trends

that they did not have a strong purpose for studying

from the previous questions, Nutrition and Social Welfare

English other than to pass the course. In contrast,departments marked the lowest with 9% and 12%

students in the Nursing and the Education departments

respectively. One in three students in the Nursing

wrote that students were highly responsible for their own

department responded in putting effort outside thelearning.

classrooms. The overall figures across departments wereTable 3
Response distribution to Question 5: What do you think
your level of responsibility is to your teacher (you :teacher)?

very low, which could mean that students may not betaking English classes seriously compared to othercompulsory classes.
Table 2
Response distribution to Question 3 : Do you put effort
in studying English? (n =322)
YesNoNursing
n=39
1326

Education
n=35
1025

Nutrition
n=104
3101

Psychology
n=41
734

Social Welfare
n=103
1390

Nursing Education Nutrition Psychology Social Welfare Total
n=38
n=34
n=100
n=41
n=100
n=313
Less than 50%
33166113950%
10721
9166360%
5695174270%
41320826
7180%
7226
72163
More than 90%
9386935

In the first research question,“Do the students have aQuestion 4 : Do you think learning English is your own

purpose in studying English and are they putting effort inresponsibility?

trying to achieve their purpose?”, close to 30% of the97% of the students responded that learning English is

students’purpose seemed like an extension of their

their own responsibility. 3% of the students responded

junior high school and high school purpose of passing.

— 18 —