Feature Article
Learner Motivation of University
Students in Non-credited
Conversation Sessions
Keiko Sakui
Kobe Shoin Women’s University
Jared Angel
Kobe Shoin Women’s University
The present study investigates learner motivation in a non-credited voluntary English
learning facility, called English Island (EI), at a Japanese university. By collecting
questionnaire data from 56 students as well as responses gained from four successful learners,
this study reports to what extent the students make use of EI, what encourages or hinders
them to go to EI, and in what ways the students perceive EI to be useful for their English
studies. The study discusses the results from the viewpoint of learner identity as well as apedagogical perspective on learner motivation in order to gain an understanding of learnermotivation in a context like EI, which is outside of a traditional classroom environment.
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Learner Motivation of..., OnCUE Journal, 6(2), pages 48-65

Very few people would disagree with the statement that motivation is one of
the most important ingredients for successful learning outcomes; consequently,
motivation has been extensively studied in education and psychology. The fieldof language teaching and learning is not an exception, and research has provided
a diverse range of explanations as to what constitutes motivation (Dörnyei,
2001b; Dörnyei & Schmidt, 2001). Among this wide range of definitions andtheories of motivation, a particularly relevant perspective for the current study isthat motivation can be viewed as an “investment” (Norton, 2000; Norton Peirce,
1995). Norton (2000) challenges the longstanding dichotomous distinction
between integrative and instrumental motivation (Gardner & Lambert, 1972),
arguing that learner investment is non-static, dynamic and pluralistic. Investment
in learning a language is based on a learner’s complex social history andaccompanies multiple desires, which are often ambivalent. When learners decide
to invest themselves in speaking a target language, they are not simply exchanging
words “but they are organizing and reorganizing a sense of who they are and how
they relate to the social world” (Norton, 2000, p. 11).
Extending the concept of identity further, Dörnyei and Ushioda (2009)
propose a possible self theory of motivation. This theory argues that learners have
two different senses of self, called ideal self and ought-to self, which can influence
their motivation positively. Ideal self refers to the state in which a learner possesses“the attributes that someone ideally would like to possess” and ought-to selfmeans “the attributes that one ought to possess” (p. 4).
In addition to these theoretically driven perspectives of motivation, someresearchers have attempted to explain motivation from a pedagogical viewpoint;
specifically, examining how teachers understand this complex construct (Dörnyei,
2001a; Williams & Burden, 1997). Williams and Burden (1997) suggest that
motivation consists of three stages: 1) having an initial interest, 2) transferring
the interest to learning behaviours, and 3) sustaining effort.
In particular, they argue that one of the most important aspects of motivationis the third stage, sustaining effort, “It is important to emphasise here that
motivation is more than simply arousing interest. It also involves sustaining thatinterest and investing time and energy into putting in the necessary effort to49

Sakui & Angel

achieve certain goals” (p. 121).
This notion is particularly applicable for language learning because attaininga certain level of proficiency requires a considerable amount of energy andtime, and it is vital for learners to sustain their motivation throughout theirlearning career. From this point of view, it will be worthwhile to study student
motivation outside of regular classrooms. The duration of classroom learning is
usually only 15 weeks a semester in a Japanese university context and provides ahighly structured learning environment for all students regardless of motivationand their incentives for taking a class, which can range from wanting to master
English, to fulfilling requirements for future job applications, to earning
credit requirements. In this paper, we will describe the motivation of Japanese
university students in an English speaking facility called English Island (EI). EI
offers convenience to the students in terms of location and schedule but is notcompulsory or accredited. A facility such as EI can be placed somewhere in the
middle of a continuum of different learning contexts; freer than compulsory
language classes so it requires more initiative from learners, but more constrained
and structured than self-study contexts because it is facilitated by a native speakerteacher. It also provides a casual learning environment, a place to meet othermotivated students, flexibility in topics discussed and the ability to attend asoften and for as long as students wish.
The study specifically tries to answer the following questions:
1. What factors encourage or inhibit students from using EI?
2. How do students view learning outside of the classroom?
3. What factors influence some students to regularly attend EI?

Methods
In this section, we will describe EI and the research context, the roles of the authors
in this study, and the questionnaire and case study data collection procedures.
English Island
As most readers probably know, the problems Japanese students face in learning
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Learner Motivation of..., OnCUE Journal, 6(2), pages 48-65

English include a lack of opportunities to practice conversation skills, inhibitions
about speaking up in class, and fear of making mistakes (Harumi, 2011; Sakui& Cowie, 2008). One method that Kobe Shoin Women’s University, where theauthors work, has used to address these issues is to provide students with theopportunity to converse with native English-speaking (NES) teachers in a casual
atmosphere outside of class in a place called EI. It is located in the center of campus
and has large windows on two sides so passersby can easily see inside. It has its own
small room with a round table, posters of English-speaking countries, picturesof Shoin students studying abroad, and some English magazines including Teen
Vogue and Reader’s Digest. Sessions are open to all students regardless of major or
status, i.e., full-time or auditing, and no reservations are needed. English Islandis advertised in campus brochures, during the entrance ceremony for first-year
students and in fliers posted throughout campus. All first-year English majors
also take a tour of EI and are encouraged by their teachers to attend. The sessions
are held during second period, lunch and third period, 10:40-12:10, 12:10-13:10,
and 13:10-14:40, respectively. One of seven NES teachers from four countries(one from Canada, one from the Philippines, two from the UK, and three fromthe US) is scheduled to cover each session, in which they supervise and converse
with students.
The ability of the participating students ranges from false beginner to fluent,and the number of students from one to twelve, with an average of three tofour. Conversation topics can cover anything from weekend plans to childhood
experiences to current topics in the news. In addition to offering students
extra chances to practice their English skills and overcome their inhibitions,
EI provides them with invaluable cultural experiences and encourages them toactively communicate with people from other countries. Although in recent
years it has become common to provide such learning opportunities outside of
the classroom in the form of self-access centers and language exchange settings, it
was quite an innovative and novel idea to have such a facility at the time that EI
was initially set up about 20 years ago.
Table 1 shows the total number of students who visited EI as well as theaverage student number per session each month from April to July, 2011. The
51

Sakui & Angel

attendance for each slot varies from zero to seven, averaging just below 3.6
students per session over the four-month period.
Table 1
Total Student Attendance and Average Attendance per Session in EI
Month (2011)

Total

Average Per
Session

April

203

3.9

May

186

3.3

June

223

3.3

July

207

3.8

These average numbers do not vary dramatically from month to month,which shows a consistent and sustained level of attendance by students as awhole. Unfortunately we do not have the data to show exactly what percentageof these students repeatedly made use of the facility or how many students visited
EI only once. The average enrollment each year of English majors is 130. What
percentage of attending students are English majors cannot be known exactly, but
the consensus among EI instructors is that the majority of participating students
are English majors.
Roles of the Authors
Let us next describe the roles of the authors of the current paper concerning
EI. The first author (Keiko) is a full-time Japanese teacher of English at Kobe
Shoin and helps to handle EI administrative tasks. These include interviewing
prospective NES teachers, helping to decide EI scheduling, and keeping track ofstudent attendance at EI. The second author ( Jared) is a native English speaker
who teaches English classes at Kobe Shoin as well as supervising one EI session
every week. These different roles give us different perspectives on EI as a complex
mix of inside and outside participants. We are both “insiders” because we teachEnglish classes and we are very familiar with our students. On the other hand,
Keiko does not attend EI and usually views it from an administrative perspective,
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Learner Motivation of..., OnCUE Journal, 6(2), pages 48-65

which gives her an “outsider” perspective. Jared’s weekly conversations withstudents in EI give him an “insider” perspective. The current paper amalgamatesthis complexity by taking advantage of teacher insider and outsider positioning
in this report on student perspectives of EI.
Data collection: Questionnaire and case studies
In order to answer the three research questions, two types of data were collected.
First, questionnaires were distributed to 56 English major students to find out
their perceptions of EI. The questionnaires asked students to what extent theyknow about EI, how often they visit, and how they perceive learning in andbeyond the classroom. The questionnaires were administered in Japanese to theauthors’ first- and second-year students during credited class time.
In order to obtain more insights into the effects of EI on language learning,
we decided to collate case studies of English Island learners. Jared first asked eightstudents who had not participated in the original questionnaire but who had
regularly attended his EI sessions within the last three years to write about theirexperiences in detail by answering ten questions in English. The ten questions
ranged from “Why do you attend EI” to “What are your overall impressions andfeelings about EI?” Students were allowed to answer in English or Japanese, touse as many words as they felt necessary and had the option to skip questions. The
eight students were selected because Jared perceived that they had made frequent
use of EI and had made considerable improvements in their English proficiency.
Of the eight students that were approached, six volunteered to participate. Fromthese six, we selected the four students that wrote the most comprehensive answers
to the ten questions to be our case studies. After receiving their responses, Keikoasked three additional questions in Japanese.

Results
The results of the questionnaire will be reported below with a few brief commentsof explanation and reflection. These then lead into the results of the case studies
followed by a discussion section which, will try to draw together the implications
53

Sakui & Angelof the two sets of results.
Questionnaire results
Q1. Have you been to EI? YES/NO
Out of 56 students, 15 students answered that they have been to EI and theremaining 41 students have not.
Q2. If YES to question 1, do you now or have you attended regularly?
Out of the 15 students who have been to EI, the following numbers show thatthey do not attend very often: 10 students attended once; 3 students attended
twice; and 2 students attended three times or more.
These numbers are surprisingly low from an administrative perspective. It isthought that through the brochures, fliers and entrance ceremony that EI is well
advertised, especially among English major students who also take a tour of the
EI room.
Q3. If NO to question 1, do you want to go and what are the reasons you havenot been?
Out of the 41 students who have never been to EI, quite a large number ofstudents (34) reported that they would be interested in visiting EI but had notbeen able to do so. About 80% of the students listed lack of time as a reason for
not attending EI. Other less frequently reported reasons are that students do not
feel confident talking only in English, and that they cannot find a strong enoughreason or initial trigger to actually visit EI.
Q4. Do you think studying English only in classrooms will ensure good abilities?
Why or why not?
This question aims to find out whether these students think studying English
in a classroom is enough to improve their English or whether they need to go
beyond the classroom to pursue some other types of learning, such as in EI. A
total of 46 out of 56 students responded that learning only in a classroom is
not enough. Only four students thought that classroom learning (including54

Learner Motivation of..., OnCUE Journal, 6(2), pages 48-65

homework) would be enough to ensure the level of English proficiency that theywant to attain. The remaining six students did not respond to this question.
Our next section focuses on why some learners move from a state ofapparent initial motivation to actually exhibiting motivated and persevering
behaviors. In order to gain some insights from more successful learners
who have made it to these second and third stages of the Williams and
Burden (1997) motivation model, we now turn to our four case studies.
Results of case studies
While each of the four case study participants have varying levels of English, they
all believe that EI has been a great benefit to their English abilities. The names
included are pseudonyms. Emi answered all questions in English and the otherthree students answered in a mix of English and Japanese. The first author has
translated the Japanese answers into English.
The first student, Mayu, was an English major and graduated in March of
2011. She regularly attended EI for all four years of her university study. As a firstyear student, she spoke virtually no English and her listening was very poor. By thetime she graduated, she was conversationally fluent, which she partly attributes
to EI. She claims that more than improving her practical skills, like grammar
and structure, EI gave her the confidence and opportunity to communicate withnative speakers in a relaxed environment. Jared remembers the first time Mayu
attended one of his sessions. Her hands were visibly shaking and she could only
nod her head when he asked how she was. She gradually gained confidence toa level where she entered several English speech contests and volunteered as alanguage partner for exchange students studying Japanese. At the time of writing,she is engaged in a year-long working holiday in New Zealand, somethingwhich would have petrified her four years previously. In terms of making that
motivational jump from Williams and Burden’s (1997) stage one (having an
initial interest) to stage two (transferring the interest to learning behaviours), she
describes why she attended EI for the first time:
I saw other students talking to a native speaking teacher and wondered how
55Sakui & Angelit was possible. One day I wrote in my diary, “Ms. A talked to Mr. B for 30
minutes one to one. How is it possible!?!” Because I had never talked to anative speaker to that extent, the incident stayed very clearly in my memory.
The senior students who could talk English fluently at EI looked so cool!
They were not only fluent in English but they were friendly and nice, giving
me information on various things like which classes they recommended andwhich events were taking place.
I thought it is a waste not to take advantage of this opportunity [at EI].
Also it was really fun to be able to feel that I was gradually learning new
expressions and vocabulary words. ( Japanese response)
Our second student, Yumi, is currently a fourth-year English major. She has
already been hired by an international trading company for a position in which
she will need to use English on a daily basis. Yumi is a very outgoing and friendly
person who actively participates in regular classes. Her response shows that she
wants to improve her English as well aspiring to be like other students who are
more fluent in English, “I wanted to improve my English. Also, I thought the girls
who were talking in English were so cool! I envied them and wanted to be likethem” (English response).
Similarly, our third student, Satomi, showed interest in improving her
English, and she also commented on the influence of friends that made her go to
EI. She is currently a second-year English major. As she does not have a plan to
go abroad to improve her English, she thought attending EI sessions was a goodalternative to going abroad in order to study English. She further commented
that EI has boosted her confidence a great deal and has helped her perform betterin class. She says that her speaking tests have become surprisingly easy. In response
to why she attended EI for the first time, she writes:
I thought that it wasn’t good that my major is English and I couldn’t speak
English fluently. And, I have friends who have gone to foreign countries tostudy abroad. I wanted to be like them. But, I didn’t have a plan to go to
English Island until a friend asked me to go with her. I attended the first time56

Learner Motivation of..., OnCUE Journal, 6(2), pages 48-65

with her. ( Japanese response)
Our fourth student, Emi, is an auditor. She does not recall exactly how shelearned about EI, but believes it was through the fliers and walking by the EI
room. She is in her 50s and is a part-time English teacher at a local junior highschool. Her initial motivation to attend was that she wanted to improve her
speaking and listening abilities in order to become a better teacher. While her
major at university was English, she had taken 20 years off from work in order toraise a family. The first time she attended EI, she was scared that because she wasolder she was not going to be accepted by the other students. However, the otherstudents have really taken to Emi and even refer to her as Emi-san instead of using
her family name, which delights her. Emi’s English is quite good, but she claims
EI has really helped her improve and has given her greater confidence whentalking to native English speakers. She also values the opportunity of learning
about the daily lives of people in English-speaking countries. She attends EI one
to three times a week. She writes in English about the experience of attending forthe first time:
I did not have any idea who are at EI and what they talk there, so I was nervous
before I went. But I heard anybody could go, so someone like me—a middleaged woman—could go. At first I thought I would go and check things out
so I pushed myself a bit for the first time I went. Summoning up the courage
and opened the door, everyone (a teacher and five or six students) all looked
at me. I said “Can I join you?” then the teacher smiled and said “of course!”
and the students smiled and nodded at me. That was the moment when I felt
it is really okay for me to come here.
I had thought that they would discuss a particular topic but it turned outthat we had a chit chat on various topics. Everyone was speaking in English
and enjoying it. Some of them were fluent and some of them were trying very
hard. The atmosphere was a lot more relaxed than what I had anticipated andI thought as long as I listen to what teachers say, it would be useful. That is
why I decided to continue.
57

Sakui & AngelFor her response as to how often she attended EI, Mayu writes that she went
to EI twice a week on average, but she also commented that her motivation
fluctuated and that this influenced her attendance. When she felt confident, she
attended as often as five times a week. When her confidence waned, she would
not go.
Yumi, and Satomi go to EI almost every day during lunch. Emi attends one
to three times a week.
Mayu gives an extended response as to how she believes EI to be useful,
written in Japanese and translated below.
We study grammar and vocabulary in class but we do not have any chances topractice speaking. We do not think in English. In contrast, the main language
at EI is English so we start to think in English, which is very practical. But mybase for my English is classes. I learned 65% in classrooms, 25% EI and theremaining 5% through English learning books, TV, radios. I think it is very
effective to be able to speak in EI what we have learned in class ( Japanese
response).
Emi further reports that she should take advantage of different types oflearning opportunities both in the classes she audits and at EI. She claims that
EI is a good place to practice speaking and listening, but EI is not suitable forher neither to improve her writing skills nor to learn about advanced English
grammar in a systematic way:
It is a bit difficult to single out this is what I learned today but by keeping
going to EI, we can improve our listening and speaking skills gradually. It isa small group and it has a relaxed atmosphere. It is difficult to improve theseskills in Japan, so EI offers valuable experiences to us. It is possible to be able
to attain well balanced English abilities by taking advantages of both classroom learning and learning at EI.

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Learner Motivation of..., OnCUE Journal, 6(2), pages 48-65

Discussion
These students’ reports collectively raise three important issues: the relevanceof the social aspect of learner motivation; the importance of student awarenessof the learning process; and, the need to view motivation from a pedagogicalperspective. We will briefly discuss these three points below.
Let us first examine the social aspect of learner motivation. As Dörnyei(2001b) acknowledges, motivation research has increasingly recognized theimportance of the social aspect of motivation and the findings of this study also
support this claim that the social aspect has some impact on student motivation.
What is especially applicable to explain learner motivation in the current study
is learner identity (Norton, 2000; Norton Peirce, 1995), specifically the theoryof possible self (Dörnyei, 2005; Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2009). We could argue
that all four successful students decided to “invest” in speaking in EI (Norton,
2000). The reason why they kept participating in EI sessions was that they saw
symbolic representatives of what they wanted to be like in the future, that is, anideal self was represented by other competent students at EI. Both Mayu andYumi witnessed other students speaking English fluently at EI and how they were
nice, helpful and friendly; these students were “cool”. In this case, the ideal self is
not only a fluent English speaker, but also possesses desirable social behaviours.
We could argue that Mayu and Yumi thought that investing themselves in going
to EI and speaking with the teacher and other students was worthwhile because
it could bring them closer to an ideal self who encompass both language abilities
and positive social behaviours.
Similarly Emi has also invested herself in EI. In comparison to younger
learners such as Mayu and Yumi, however, Emi’s sense of self seems closer to an
ought-to self. She is a mature student with a good level of English and has a clear
idea of what she wants to accomplish for her English studies. Because of her age
and life experience differences she did not relate to other students as an ideal self
but she seemed to have a clear sense of her ought-to self by projecting an image ofwhat she wanted to achieve. In addition to having this ought-to self contributing
to the maintenance of her high level of motivation, a welcoming gesture by theteacher and other students gave her a sense that she was allowed to enter into a59

Sakui & Angel

new learning community.
The second theme emerging from the case studies is that the students clearly
have their own theories about learning English. All of them can articulate whattypes of learning are possible in the classroom and EI respectively. They specificallystate that the classroom is a good place where they can learn the structures oflanguage (reading, writing and grammar) and EI is a good place to transfer thatknowledge to practical applications for listening and speaking.
Lamb (2006) argues that self-management skills are an important attributefor learners to have, especially in a more autonomous learning context than aclassroom. He writes:
The aim is for learners to manage their own learning by planning what theywish to or need to achieve (both short- and long-term goals), making choicesfrom a range of learning activities and resources about how they are going toachieve this, and monitoring and evaluating their progress. (p. 97)
The case study participants reported in the current study were competent insetting their own learning goals in terms of deciding what exactly they wanted
to learn in EI, managing their learning, and adapting learning strategies to takeadvantage of different learning opportunities (the classroom and EI) that were
provided (Nicolaides, 2008). Since our data is limited in scope, we cannot
strongly claim that the successful learners reported on here went through thisprocess at all times, but we can argue, if only tentatively, that they can articulate
what types of learning they want or need and where they thought they could findthem.
The final point this current study raises is that of a pedagogical perspectiveon the motivation process. Specifically, how we can interpret our results to reflect
the three stages of motivation outlined by Williams and Burden (1997). The
questionnaire results from 56 English major students suggest that many of themdo show initial motivation. They reported the importance of studying English
beyond their regular classes and that the casual environment of EI offers them an
opportunity to improve their speaking skills. This awareness seems to represent
60Learner Motivation of..., OnCUE Journal, 6(2), pages 48-65

what Yashima (2009) calls “international posture” (p. 144). By this she meansthat Japanese students recognize the importance of English and have a willingness
to go overseas and interact with English speaking people. However, having thisawareness does not seem to be sufficient enough to move many students from thefirst stage to the second or third stages of motivation.
Based on our study, the percentage of learners who move from the first to
the second stage is very small, and there are probably even fewer in the third
stage (sustaining effort). Indeed, students in the first and second year have manyrequired classes and their schedule is tight; therefore, it is understandable thatthey report that even though they wish to visit EI they do not have enough time
to do so. On the other hand, however, this is the precise reason why the university
places NES teachers in EI during lunchtime in addition to regular class period
times, so that students can make use of a non-class period for furthering theirEnglish skills even within the constraints of their tight schedules.
Some research shows that it is common for many learners to report having
initial motivation, but what makes a difference is whether they transfer thattype of motivation to actual behaviour. In their study on teacher perspectives oflearner motivation, Cowie and Sakui (2011) found that teachers reported thiskind of verbally espoused motivation as “false motivation” by which they meanthat students express their motivation verbally but do not necessarily transfer thatto motivational behaviours. This aspect of motivation is something that we canprobably all relate to in our personal lives, such as wishing to diet but failing tocontrol our eating, or announcing that we will stop a bad habit such as smoking
but failing to do so.
Then what are the factors that move these few learners from the first stage tothe second? We could say that a key factor is overcoming some sort of barrier andbreaking out of their comfort zone of “just wanting to get better”. The participants
who continued to go to EI all had some initial struggle and anxiety about going
to EI. One factor that pushed these students to keep going was for them to focus
on the positive side of learning outcomes. For example, even though Mayu’s
hands were visibly shaking from nerves when attending for the first time, she
continued to attend because she found it fun to learn new English expressions.
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Sakui & Angel

These positive sides of learning are seeing an ideal self in other students, being
welcomed to the learning community, setting clear goals and recognizing theirprogress. We all know that learning is generally an arduous and stoic process
whether you do it alone or in a class. But having some type of positive experienceor a drive or a goal, either in the form of an ideal or ought-to self mentioned
above, or a sense of belonging, could override the negative aspects of learning.
By focusing on her goal of wanting to be able to speak like her friends who had
traveled abroad, Satomi overcame her initial lack of interest in EI as she states, “I
couldn’t talk when I’d gone to EI first, so it wasn’t interesting for me…” (English
response)
These findings offer some practical suggestions for teachers who are involvedin a learning context like EI. They can first make sure to lower the anxiety thresholdto encourage learners to visit EI by creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere.
Teachers of course can create such an atmosphere by themselves but they can also
foster a sense of a warm community in collaboration with other students. This
study implies that learners identify with other students as ideal selves, which canbe an empowering and motivating reason for learners to keep studying English.
Exploring different ways to make the most use of these role models might beworthwhile for teachers to pursue. For example, we can encourage role models toshare the process of how they have learned English with other students in casualand formal settings. In this case, it is helpful that potential role models present
themselves in a friendly and competent manner; it is also educational for themto have a chance to share how they have learned, both in good times and bad
times, in order to show that the learning process is not linear and that studentsmonitoring and managing their own progress is an important aspect of language
learning.

Conclusion
The present paper reports on a study of learner motivation situated in a casualconversation environment on campus at Kobe Shoin Women’s University. The
report suggests that a large percentage of students have motivation in which they62

Learner Motivation of..., OnCUE Journal, 6(2), pages 48-65

state that they want to improve their English, and in order to do so, a facility such
as EI is a useful place to visit; but a relatively small percentage of students actually
go to EI to improve their English there. These few students overcame their initial
anxiety, lack of confidence and lower ability levels in order to improve theirEnglish communication skills. Several factors seem to have played a crucial rolein helping them to overcome these barriers to taking part. One of them is thesocial aspect of a positive experience such as seeing another student as an example
of an ideal-self or feeling a sense of community and the other is a strong sense ofgoals and determination backed up by good self-management techniques. It will
be useful for students to be explicitly aware that these factors could help themovercome the inevitable obstacles that they will face in their learning careers.
An obvious caveat of this study is that it is a small-scale research project
and that it is not extensive in terms of the short duration of data collection andlimited types of data. It would be useful to interview more students who go to EI
regularly in order to investigate what else, in addition to the factors mentioned
above, can contribute to continue studying English at a place like EI. Also, it will
be insightful to interview students who have never been to EI or stopped goingafter a few times in order to gain more insights to see what is preventing themattending. Further research studies, especially longitudinal ones, will shed lighton students’ motivation processes, which can help teachers understand how to
encourage students to take advantage of learning environments such as EI.

Acknowledgement
The authors wish to thank two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful anduseful comments.

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Keiko Sakui teaches English and teacher-trainer courses at Kobe Shoin Women’s
University. Her research topics include teacher beliefs about learner motivationand classroom management. Her recent most interests are e-learning in language
education in different cultural contexts and educational leadership and managementfrom feminist perspectives. ksakui2005@yahoo.co.jp
Jared Angel is the author of the novel, Betraying the God of Light, with two morenovels to be released in 2013. He has been teaching EFL and culture in Japan for
13 years, including six at Kobe Shoin Women’s University. fallenjangel@mac.com

Received: August 28, 2011
Accepted: September 17, 201265