ISSN 2436-0325

外国語教育研究ジャーナル
JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

第1巻

2020 年 12 月

Vol.

1

December 2020

立教大学

外国語教育研究センター

Center for Foreign Language Education and Research, Rikkyo University

『外国語教育研究ジャーナル』創刊に寄せて
新多了（外国語教育研究センター・センター長）

2020 年 4 月、先進的な外国語教育・研究活動を担う機関として、立教大学外国語教育研究センター（Center
for Foreign Language Education and Research：FLER）が開設されました。FLER の研究活動の一つとして、『外国語教育研究ジャーナル』を発刊します。

FLER が開設された 2020 年 4 月は、新型コロナウイルス感染症拡大の時期と重なります。立教大学でも対面授業から全面的にオンラインに切り替わり、急遽オンラインに合わせた授業設計の変更を余儀なくされました。この急激な変化に象徴されるように、私たちはこれまでの方法を踏襲するだけでは正解が得られない、困難でチャレンジングな時代の只中にいます。こうした複雑で不確実性の高い時代の中で、この新しい組織が発展していくために何が必要でしょうか？

私は、「3 つの交流」がカギになると考えています。

1 つ目は、多様な分野間の交流です。外国語教育は「分野超越的」（transdisciplinary）なフィールドです。
学び始める年齢、興味、モチベーション、性格など、異なる様々な要因が複雑に絡み合い、私たちの外国語能力やアイデンティティの形成に影響を与えます。この難しい課題に取り組むには、多様な学問分野の知見を結集する必要があります。言語に関わる言語学、第二言語習得、文学はもちろん、人間の思考や行動を理解するためには、心理学、社会学、生物学、脳科学などの理解も求められます。

2 つ目は、多様な言語間の交流です。現代のグローバル社会において、英語はリンガフランカとして国際
コミュニケーションの重要な役割を担っています。しかし英語圏文化の考え方・価値観だけで、この複雑で不確実性の高い時代を生き抜くことは難しいでしょう。FLER には、英語の他にも、ドイツ語、フランス語、スペイン語、中国語、朝鮮語を担当する教員が所属しています。それぞれの言語には、固有の考え方、価値観、文化、歴史が含まれ、異なる言語との交流（translanguaging dialogue）は私たちの視野を広げ、人生を豊かにしてくれます。さらに、他言語との交流は、多様な人々が協働する現代社会に不可欠な、他者への尊厳と寛容性も育ててくれます。
最後は、理論と実践の交流です。グローバル化の進展と情報技術の発達とともに、外国語教育研究はこの十年の間に飛躍的な進化を遂げ、数多くの研究が発表されてきました。しかし、そうした研究成果は大学の外国語教育現場では十分に生かされておらず、教師と研究者の間にはまだ大きな溝が存在しています。両者の距離を縮めるために、大学の外国語教育を担う専門家には、研究者と教育実践者の 2 つの役割を同時に担うことが期待されます。研究活動で得た成果を授業で実践するサイクルを継続的に繰り返すことで、私たちは 2 つの世界の架け橋となることができます。この研究と教育の融合こそが、理想的な外国語学習環境の創
出につながるはずです。

FLER では、様々な専門性・言語・バックグラウンドを持つ教員が活発に交流し互いに刺激し合うことで、現代にふさわしい言語教育の「ニューノーマル」を創って行きます。私たちの日々の研究活動の成果として、これから数多くの野心的な研究がこのジャーナルから生まれ、教育活動の終わりなき改善に重要な貢献を果たしてくれることを期待します。

iForward
Ryo Nitta（Dean of the Center for Foreign Language Education and Research）

The Center for Foreign Language Education and Research (FLER) was founded at Rikkyo
University in April 2020 as an institution to carry out advanced educational practice and to conductcutting-edge research. We launched the Journal of Foreign Language Education and Research as oneof our important research activities.
The start of the new Center coincided with the global spread of COVID-19, which made us shift
to fully online teaching. As symbolically reflected in this shift, we are in the midst of difficult but
challenging times in which we cannot find solutions by simply following precedents. What can we doto develop the new Center in such a period of complexity and uncertainty? I believe that a key lies in‘three areas of interaction.’
The first area of interaction concerns that between different disciplines. Foreign language
education is a transdisciplinary field where one’s foreign language learning is full of complexity anddiversity; that is, various components—such as different starting ages of learning, different interests,
different magnitudes of motivation, and different personalities—dynamically interact and collectively
contribute to one’s foreign language competence and construction of identity. Not only various
language-related studies (e.g., linguistics, second language acquisition, and literature) but also areas
concerning human mind and behaviours (e.g., psychology, sociology, biology, and brain science) help
us understand the complex and dynamic nature of foreign language learning.
The second area of interaction is that between different languages. English is now recognised
as a lingua franca, playing a key role in international communication; however, solely Anglophonebased values and ways of thinking are still limited and are insufficient to solve a number of global
problems we are currently facing. FLER involves teachers of five other languages—German, French,
Spanish, Chinese, and Korean, each of which has its own thoughts, values, culture, and history. Theinteraction between different language professionals, or translanguaging dialogue, helps us expand
our perspectives and enrich our life. The interaction with other languages would also enhance respect
for other cultures and promote tolerance in the global community where diverse people are expected
to work collaboratively.
The final area of interaction is that between theory and practice. With rapid globalisationand progress of information technology, research on foreign language teaching and learning has
advanced and proliferated over the last decade; however, implementation of practice in the foreign
language classroom based on the findings obtained from the research side has been piecemeal andgradual, and there is still a large gap between teachers and researchers. To close this gap, foreign
language professionals are required to play two roles—practitioners and researchers—and to make aneffort to integrate the two sides of the same coin. Through continuous cycles of engaging in research
activities and putting the findings into practice in the classroom, we could serve as a bridge between
the two separate worlds. I believe our attempt to exercise researched pedagogy would contribute tocreating an ideal foreign language learning environment for students.
FLER is aiming to achieve this ‘new normal’ of foreign language teaching at university throughthree areas of interaction among professionals with diverse expertise, languages and backgrounds.
I hope that a number of ambitious research projects will be reported in this journal and make asignificant contribution to the lasting improvement of our foreign language teaching practice.

ii目次 / Table of Contents『外国語教育研究ジャーナル』創刊に寄せて・Forward................................................................................................................... 新多了・Ryo Nittai【研究論文・Research Articles】

The Degree of Improvement of a Japanese Learnerʼs Pronunciation of R-Colored Schwa (/ɚ/)
Over a 7-Week Period of Conversation Practice and Focused Exercise.......................................................................................................................... David Truxal

1

Goal Setting Through Personal Letter Writing.................................................................................................................... Devon Arthurson

17

The Effects of Time Pressure on Fluency, Complexity, and Accuracy: A Case Study........................................................................................................................... Paul Garside

31

Reconceptualizing CLIL From Transformative Pedagogy Perspective: Pilot Debate Study in English
Language Curriculum.................................................................................................... Ryo Nitta & Yuka Yamamoto

47

A Social-Material Approach to Teaching L2 Writing: Visual Analysis to Develop Rhetorical
Knowledge in L2 Writing................................................................................................................. Masakazu Mishima

63【研究報告・Research Briefs】

Computer-Mediated Asynchronous Discussions on the International Virtual Exchange................................................................................................................. Heather Woodward

81

Identifying Policy Puzzles for Discourse Analysis: The Vision of Education in the Promotion ofInternational Development................................................................................................................................ Ian Wash

89

A Critical Evaluation Towards Micro-Teaching With Suggestions for Future Improvements..........................................................................................................................Jason Murray97

The Relationship Between L1 Fluency and L2 Fluency Among Japanese Advanced Early Learnersof English....................................................................................................................... Miki Shrosbree 111
キム・チュイの『小川』に見られる言語習得と間文化性................................................................................................................................. 関 未玲 119【書評・Book Review】

Innovation in Language Teaching and Learning: The Case of Japan. Hayo Reinders, Stephen Ryan,
and Sachiko Nakamura (Eds.). Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. xii + 289 pp.
.......................................................................................................................... Tara McIlroy 125

投稿規定・Manuscript Submission Guidlines .................................................................................... 129
執筆者・Authors ............................................................................................................................... 134

【Research Article】

The Degree of Improvement of a Japanese Learnerʼs
Pronunciation of R-Colored Schwa (/ɚ/) Over a 7-Week
Period of Conversation Practice and Focused Exercise
David Truxal
Abstract
This paper describes a research study which focused on one specific aspect of English pronunciation for a Japaneselearner of English. First it will touch on modern pronunciation teaching especially as it concerns, or has conflicted
with, comprehensibility and intelligibility. Historically, emphasis has been put on pronouncing correct language
sounds whereas presently there is considerable emphasis on comprehensibility and intelligibility. Then it will give a
brief overview of spoken English and Japanese and the possible pronunciation pitfalls that a Japanese learner could
encounter. The participant and the procedures used to collect data will be described and the results of the study
will be given. The question posed by the study is will improvement of R-colored schwa (/ɚ/) of a Japanese learnerof English be achieved over a 7-week period of conversation practice and focused exercise. It was found that theaccuracy of /ɚ/ doubled from 18% to 36% between the initial and final diagnostic passages and that overall accurate
pronunciation of /ɚ/ in the free conversation sessions increased from 25% to 37%.
Keywords: pronunciation, second language (L2) learning, comprehensibility, intelligibility

Literature Review
Pronunciation, as important as it is in spoken communicative contexts, has been neglected in thesecond language (L2) classroom, often not even included in L2 learning environments, and has notbeen given nearly the same attention as other skills. This lack of pronunciation teaching “has resulted
in limited knowledge about how to integrate appropriate pronunciation instruction into second
language classrooms” (Derwing & Munro, 2005, p. 383). The neglect of pronunciation teaching isevident especially in Japan where historically, reading and writing instruction have received much
more emphasis than spoken instruction. For the Japanese learner who has mainly studied written
English in childhood and early adulthood, embarking on a more pronunciation-focused learning
program can be a daunting challenge with the fears of a heavy foreign accent and low intelligibility as
possible prohibitive factors.
In the past (before the 1960s), the achievement of native-like pronunciation was espoused
as the goal of pronunciation teaching. Recently however, many language researchers maintainthat improved intelligibility is the most important goal of pronunciation teaching. Instruction
should be focused on features that are most helpful for comprehensibility and intelligibility and“should deemphasize features that are relatively unhelpful” (Levis, 2005, p. 371). Jenkins (2001)
calls for “focusing pedagogic attention on those items which are essential in terms of intelligible
pronunciation” (p. 123). Derwing and Munro (2005) say that “improved intelligibility is generally
identified by pedagogical specialists as the most important outcome of pronunciation instruction”(p. 384). Achieving this goal, however, is complicated by the fact that there remains no clear anduniversal way of assessing increased intelligibility since there is not much agreement among
researchers on what specific aspects of pronunciation are most important for intelligibility.

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While it has been shown that accurate pronunciation teaching can improve L2 learners’ spoken
pronunciation, “it seems that a certain amount of English pronunciation cannot be learnt successfullyin classrooms, no matter how much time and effort is expended on the task by teachers and theirlearners” (Jenkins, 2001, p. 133). Often times, TESOL teachers are inadequately prepared to assess
their students’ phonological backgrounds and thus are not able to determine proper pronunciation
goals for their students. Inadequately prepared teachers can contribute negatively to their students’pronunciation goals by focusing too much on prominent characteristics of the accent regardless ofthe characteristics’ influence on intelligibility. Plus, these same teachers are often using instructional
materials that are elementary at best. Levis (1999), in reference to modern language teachingespecially concerning the subject of intonation, states that “teaching materials … continue to rely on
outdated and inaccurate descriptions of intonational forms and functions” (p. 37). Wong (1985) says
there is a “need for new instructional materials” (p. 232) adding that teachers “need textbooks that candemonstrate how stress and intonation operate in functional discourse” (p. 234). It is clear that until
more accurate ways for assessing intelligibility can be established and higher quality instructional
materials are made and consequently used in the classroom, L2 learners’ pronunciation goals will not
be achieved.
Concerning the role of foreign accent on intelligibility and comprehensibility, Munro andDerwing (1999) suggest that “accent itself does not necessarily act as a communicative barrier”(p. 285), as there has not been enough “empirical investigation of how the presence of a nonnative
accent affects intelligibility” (p. 285). As comprehensibility and intelligibility have been acceptedby many researchers as the most important goals of pronunciation instruction, “then the degree towhich a particular speaker’s speech is accented should be of minor concern” (Munro & Derwing,
1999, p. 305). Derwing and Munro (2005) say that what is needed is “more research to enhance ourknowledge of the nature of foreign accents and their effects on communication” (p. 379). The factthat many L2 learners want to reduce their accent is evident when one takes into consideration the
many studies that have shown that “native speaker listeners tend to downgrade nonnative speakers
simply because of foreign accent” (Munro & Derwing, 1999, p. 287). Since accent can be tied topersonal identity and social belonging, many times a foreign accent can serve as the focal point for“negative social evaluation and discrimination” (Derwing & Munro, 2005, p. 385). Improper use of
suprasegmental features of speech, even by nonnative speakers who have daily contact with native
speakers can cause nonnatives to be “misinterpreted as rude, abrupt, or disinterested” (Celce-Murcia,
Brinton, & Goodwin, 1996, p. 210). It would seem that “an understanding of accent is needed, not only
on the part of instructors and applied linguists, but also by the general public” (Derwing & Munro,
2005, p. 380).
Setting realistic goals that are both achievable and assessable should be the main objective
for both L2 teachers and learners. Teachers should not lead learners to believe that “they will
eventually achieve native pronunciation or to encourage them to expend time and energy working
toward a goal that they are unlikely to achieve” (Derwing & Munro, 2005, p. 384). Teachers need
to be better prepared to more adequately assess their students’ pronunciation needs and desires.
More communication and collaborative research between linguists and teachers are needed tomake L2 teaching more responsive to communicative needs. Research such as this will be able “tooffer to teachers and students in terms of helping them to set learning goals, identifying appropriate
pedagogical priorities for the classroom, and determining the most effective approaches to teaching”(Derwing & Munro, 2005, p. 379). It is time to move beyond traditional teaching practices using
methods other than mechanical drills and focus on the “musical aspects of pronunciation more than2THE DEGREE OF IMPROVEMENT OF A JAPANESE LEARNERʼS PRONUNCIATION OF R-COLORED SCHWA (/ɚ/)
OVER A 7-WEEK PERIOD OF CONVERSATION PRACTICE AND FOCUSED EXERCISE

sounds” (Celce-Murcia et al., 1996, p. 290).
Although there have been very few studies done of pronunciation teaching (Saito, 2007), theyshow that explicit phonetic instruction is effective. Derwing and Munro (2005) explain that just as
students learning certain grammar points benefit from recognizing their own pronunciations withthose of native speakers, “so students learning L2 pronunciation benefit from being explicitly taught
phonological form to help them notice the difference” (p. 388). Couper (2003), in an action research
report which integrated a pronunciation sub-syllabus into an overall syllabus into a post-intermediate
ESOL course, found support for the idea that “explicit systematic teaching of pronunciation can beeffective at the post-intermediate level” (p. 66). The results showed that “clear gains were made,and that learners believed both that teachers should teach pronunciation” (p. 53). Bradlow, Pisoni,
Akabane-Yamada, and Tohkura (1997) showed that when Japanese learners of English were taught
explicitly the phonetic difference between /r/ and /l/, their pronunciation of those sounds greatly
improved. As well, in a well-known study by Derwing, Munro, and Wiebe (1998), an experimentalgroup was given explicit phonetic instruction while the control group was not. Each group was
evaluated by both trained and untrained listeners before and after the experiment. The results clearly
indicated that learners’ pronunciation of the target language was improved by explicit phonetic
instruction.
The pronunciation problems for the learner in this study have not shown themselves to be
especially detrimental to overall intelligibility. However, there are certain pronunciation issues
that figure prominently in the learner’s speech and thus this study is an attempt to correct some ofthese aspects of the learner’s spoken English. The goal for the learner in this study is to improve
pronunciation in an area that has proved troublesome.
The main pronunciation issue for the learner in this study concerns the pronunciation of /ɚ/sounds, especially when occurring in word-medial or word-final position. It should be noted that thesound /ɝ/ will be considered the same as /ɚ/ for research purposes in this study. The learner is
not aiming for native-like pronunciation as an outcome to this study (nor in further spoken English
interaction) but is aware of the pronunciation problems in her speech and would like to take somesteps to correct them and become a more accurate English speaker. The specific /ɚ/ sound, when it
occurs in word-medial or word-final position, has thus been chosen as the primary focus for this study.
The learner did not specify another sound that she wanted to improve, so /ɚ/ will be the only soundstudied and focused on. The question then is: How much improvement in pronunciation of /ɚ/, ifany, can a motivated Japanese learner make in a 7-week period of conversation practice and focused
exercises? Recalling Derwing and Munro (2005), who state that pronunciation learners can benefit
from explicitly taught phonological form and based on the previous studies cited in this paper which
point to the notion that explicit pronunciation teaching is beneficial, it is hypothesized that small
improvement for this particular learner will be observed.

Over view of Spoken Japanese and English
Japanese learners of English are presented with numerous pronunciation challenges, consistingof both segmental (consonants and vowels) and suprasegmental (stress, rhythm, and intonation)
features. In this section, I will present a brief overview of the spoken Japanese language and how it
contrasts with the spoken English language. I will also attempt to discuss the potential pronunciation
problems facing Japanese learners of English.
Japanese learners of English are confronted with some major pronunciation challenges with3

外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 1 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 1）

some very common English consonants. The consonants /s/ vs. /ʃ/, /b/ vs. /v/, and /l/ vs. /r/, allpose considerable potential pronunciation problems for Japanese learners. When /s/ precedes a highfront vowel the native English listener may here a ‘sh’ sound from the Japanese speaker. Thus ‘sip’and ‘sea’ are often pronounced ‘ship’ and ‘she.’ Though Japanese has no /v/ sound, it does have a /b/sound and learners frequently substitute the two sounds, pronouncing ‘very’ instead of ‘berry’ and viceversa.
There is only one liquid sound in Japanese (/r/) which is pronounced somewhere between
the English /l/ and /r/. Both of these consonants are notoriously difficult for Japanese learners topronounce correctly. This may be because they are “formed with more movement of the speechorgans than are most other consonant sounds” (Prator & Robinett, 1985, p. 113). Japanese learners
often substitute /l/ and /r/sounds in context and often the native English listener hears the oppositeof the Japanese speaker’s intention. So when the Japanese speaker pronounces ‘late,’ the English
listener might hear ‘rate’ and vice versa. In word-final position, /l/ and /r/ are often times deleted,
therefore, an English listener might hear /ka/ when the Japanese speaker said ‘car.’
Another feature of spoken English that can be problematic for Japanese learners has to dowith syllable types. Japanese primarily has open syllable types whereby the syllable ends in avowel. English has open syllables but also has many closed syllable types which frequently include
consonants or consonant clusters in syllable final position. When a Japanese learner is confronted
with a consonant cluster, which does not exist in Japanese, there is a tendency to break up the cluster
by inserting a vowel. A word such as ‘try’ is pronounced as /toraɪ/. This insertion of an extra vowel
also takes place in words that have a word-final consonant making a word such as ‘much’ pronounced/mʌtʃi/.
Where English vowels are concerned, there exist numerous potential pronunciation problems
for Japanese learners. English most likely has more vowel sounds than Japanese: Japanese has a fivevowel system whereas English has at least 15 vowel sounds (Avery & Ehrlich, 1992, pp. 33–34). In
addition to the number of different vowels, Japanese does not have a distinction between tense and lax
vowels, so for example the vowel ‘a’ is pronounced one way whereas in English it can be pronounced
a number of different ways. Since English has a tense and lax distinction, the Japanese speaker’s
pronunciation of the vowel does not fit categorically in either distinction and thus is pronounced
somewhere between the two. For example, the word ‘hot,’ as uttered by many Japanese speakers is
not pronounced with either a distinctive ‘/o/’ or ‘/a/’ sound but somewhere in between the two.
The vowels /i/ vs. /ɪ/, /e/ vs. /ɛ/, and /u/ vs. /ʊ/ illustrate how misunderstandings can occur
when a distinction is not made between two different vowels: ‘Sleep’ becomes ‘slip,’ ‘late’ becomes ‘let,’and ‘pool’ becomes ‘pull.’ Three other vowels are particularly problematic, /æ/, /ʌ/, and /a/. These
three vowels are all made relatively low in the mouth wherein a five-vowel system has only one low
vowel (Avery & Ehrlich, 1992, p. 99). For Japanese learners, all of these vowels can be pronounced ina similar manner and often are substituted for each other: ‘Hot’ can sound like ‘hat,’ ‘hut,’ or ‘hot.’Suprasegmental features of English, such as stress, rhythm, and intonation are also substantiallydifferent from Japanese. Not only are these features “used to communicate meaning in the context of
discourse” (Hahn, 2004, p. 202), they play a “significant role in conversational management” (Levis,
1999, p. 59). The importance of accurate suprasegmental pronunciation cannot be understated as
Jenkins (2001) says, “it has been widely argued for some years now that segmental errors have arather less serious effect on intelligibility than do suprasegmental errors” (p. 135). These aspects ofspeech have often been overlooked in pronunciation classrooms and “should be a part of any second
language curriculum that purports to teach oral communicative competence, because they influence4THE DEGREE OF IMPROVEMENT OF A JAPANESE LEARNERʼS PRONUNCIATION OF R-COLORED SCHWA (/ɚ/)
OVER A 7-WEEK PERIOD OF CONVERSATION PRACTICE AND FOCUSED EXERCISE

communication in very real ways” (Wong, 1985, p. 228). Proper stress and intonation are vital for
intelligible speech, in many ways more vital than correct pronunciation of individual sounds, as often
times learners can pronounce English sounds correctly, but their speech doesn’t sound like English.
For students to develop fluent, natural English, proper pronunciation of these aspects is essential.
English is a stress-timed language, in which syllables occur at regular intervals. In a stress-timed
language, the amount of time it takes to say a sentence depends not on the total number of syllables,
but on the number of syllables that receive either major or minor stress. Japanese is a mora-timed
language (Warner & Arai, 2001). In a mora-timed language, similarly to a syllable-timed language, theamount of time required to say a sentence depends on the total number of morae in the sentence, noton the number of stresses. To properly pronounce English-like sentence stress rhythm, it is necessary
for the speaker to reduce vowels in the unstressed syllables. Japanese does not have a short, reduced
vowel equivalent to the English schwa and thus Japanese learners of English may have difficulty
comprehending this vowel reduction process and be unable to pronounce proper English rhythm.
English L2 learners who speak a mora or syllable-timed language will often assign equal weight toeach syllable in English sentences, regardless of whether the syllable is stressed or unstressed. Thiscan result in a very “staccato-like rhythm” (Avery & Ehrlich, 1992, p. 74) that can both greatly andnegatively affect the comprehensibility of the speakers’ English.
The two languages also differ in terms of how accents and stressed elements in a sentence aremarked. Japanese is a pitch accent language whereby the primary indicator of accent or stress is
pitch. In English, stressed syllables are marked primarily by length and loudness. Since stress in the
two languages is marked in significantly different ways, Japanese speakers may have difficulty bothpronouncing and perceiving the characteristic stress patterns of English. English intonation patterns
may also pose challenges for the Japanese learner as the pitch level of the learner’s voice may not riseor fall far enough with final rising-falling or final rising intonation. As intonation carries a great deal of
information and meaning in a sentence, this pitch discrepancy often results in misinterpretations by
the listener about the intent of the learners’ utterances. For example, if a learner’s voice does not fall
far enough in making a statement, an English listener may misinterpret the statement as a questionor assume that the learner has not finished speaking. It is also possible that the native listener might
misinterpret the nonnative speaker as rude, abrupt, or disinterested on the basis of the nonnative’s
voice not following the correct pitch.
It is clear that Japanese learners of English face considerable challenges in their desire for proper
pronunciation. By no means insurmountable, accurately pronouncing the different consonant andvowel sounds of English will require new articulatory training as well as a high level of motivation. It
must be accepted that some sounds may never be pronounced to the learner’s satisfaction. Extensive
exposure to native English speech as well as providing numerous contextual exercises will be crucial
for the learner to more fully comprehend the suprasegmental aspects of stress, intonation, andrhythm and more accurately pronounce the segmental aspects of consonants and vowels.

Participant
The learner in this study is 36 years old and is a full-time homemaker and mother for her two
young children. She is from Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan and currently resides in north Tokyo with her
husband and two children. She studied English in junior high school and high school like many
children her age and got very high marks in her English classes. She was very interested in English
and hoped to continue her studies after high school. Unfortunately, she did not continue studying

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外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 1 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 1）

English after high school as she became too busy with work. However, at the age of 21 she went tostudy English in the United States for 3 weeks. She lived with a family in the San Francisco area andenjoyed the experience immensely. This experience opened her eyes to American English culture
and motivated her to continue studying again. When she returned to Japan, she met an American ayear later, then moved to the United States and married. Before returning to Japan, she lived withher husband in the United States for a little more than 5 years and during that time was intensively
immersed in American English culture.
The learner feels that although her English has improved dramatically since she first started
studying, there have been many situations in which she would have liked to have spoken with more
confidence and have been more fully understood. She made many friends of different cultures (e.g.,
Mexican, Korean, Chinese, and Macedonian) in the United States and for the most part spoke English
solely for the majority of her time there. She enjoyed the interactions with people of different cultures
and was interested in the fact that these people had to speak English as a L2 to each other since it was
the common language. She noted the differences in the way the various nonnative speakers spoke
American English as well as the ways native speakers spoke American English. She used English
with her husband and in-laws, at work, and when going about activities in her daily life. She worked
in the restaurant industry for almost 3 years and because of the experiences in her employment, she
encountered on a daily basis a variety of situations in which her blossoming English was tested.
She is very interested in determining exactly what kinds of English pronunciation problems she
has, as well as what grammatical mistakes she often makes (though that is not within the scope of
this paper). She is aware that her pronunciation is not always as accurate as she would like, but at thesame time knows that she is comprehended with little effort in her interactions with native speakers.
She holds no lofty goals with her pronunciation improvement in this study but nevertheless is very
motivated in becoming a more intelligible English speaker and is looking forward to this project with
an open mind and a keen interest.

Procedures of Data Collection
The data collected in this study was obtained from two different sources. The first source, adiagnostic passage excerpted from Prator and Robinett (1985), was performed in the initial treatment
session to determine the learner’s pronunciation problems. This diagnostic passage was transcribedand data regarding the learner’s pronunciation problems were collected and analyzed by the author.
The passage was administered once again, in the final treatment session, to determine the learner’s
pronunciation improvement for the specific phoneme that is being investigated. The second sourcefor data collection was free conversation. Each treatment session contained free conversation
between the learner and the interviewer. The conversational dialogue in each treatment session wastranscribed and the resulting data were collected and analyzed by the author.

6

THE DEGREE OF IMPROVEMENT OF A JAPANESE LEARNERʼS PRONUNCIATION OF R-COLORED SCHWA (/ɚ/)
OVER A 7-WEEK PERIOD OF CONVERSATION PRACTICE AND FOCUSED EXERCISEOver view and Description of Sessions
Week

What was covered

Exercises performed

Purpose1

15-min free conversation;
5-min diagnostic passage

Diagnostic passage from Prator &Robinett (1985)

To determine learner’s difficulties

2

15-min free conversation;
15-min practice

Pronunciation of vowels using mirror;
pronunciation practice of words withdifferent vowel sounds

Reassess learner difficulties;
reconfirm initial assessments

3

15-min free conversation;
15-min practice

Listen & repeat practice with /ɚ/ words;
cloze dictation with /ɚ/ words

Raise awareness of /ɚ/ sounds
especially in word final position4

15-min free conversation;
15-min practice

Practice with sentences with different
vowel sounds (Prator & Robinett,
Ch. 12, pp. 145–146); /a/ and /ə/ vs. /ɚ/minimal pairs

Assess overall competency ofvowel pronunciation; focus on
difference between /a/, /ə/, and /ɚ/sounds5

15-min free conversation;
15-min practiceReading passage excerpted from Prator& Robinett, p. 120 with questions; listen& repeat with /ɚ/ word list and sentences(Prator & Robinett, p. 142)

Listen and repeat exercise worked
on words in isolation; reading
passage worked on words incontext

6

15-min free conversation;
15-min practiceReading passage from Shepherd, 2003,
pp. 26–27; listen & repeat and spelling
test with /ɚ/ words

Assess the improvement ofcontextual /ɚ/ sounds; focus onproper pronunciation of /ɚ/ sounds

7

15-min free conversation;
5-min diagnostic passage

Initial diagnostic passage from Prator &Robinett

To determine how far the learnerhas progressed

Analysis of Diagnostic Passage and Free Conversation in Session 1
The diagnostic passage was taken from Prator and Robinett (1985, pp. x–xi). The passage
consisted of 11 relatively short sentences describing the experiences of a student abroad, specificallyof a student living in the United States. There was no vocabulary that could have been considered
too difficult for the learner, although there were numerous examples of words featuring sounds
commonly mispronounced by Japanese learners. The instructions given to the learner were the same
given by Prator and Robinett: She was to read the passage at normal speed and not to focus overly on
pronunciation. The aim for the reading was to sound as natural as possible.
The passage revealed that the learner has many pronunciation problems. However, these
problems do not largely affect intelligibility, and none are too severe as to render her speech
incomprehensible in any way. Though there were many instances of pronunciation errors, there wereno clear patterns of pronunciation errors, neither with segmental features nor with suprasegmental
features. Consonantal pronunciation problems included substitution, and deletion of final consonants.
With these problems considered, consonants do not seem to be a major problem facing the learner.
The learner exhibited many pronunciation errors involving vowels whereby many improper
vowel substitutions were made. Some of these substitutions included: /i/ and /e/ for /ɪ/; /a/ for/o/, /æ/, and /ɚ/; /o/ and /ʌ/ for /ɔ/; and /a/ and /o/ for /ʌ/. There was a tendency to delete the/r/ when it occurred after a vowel (e.g., /er/) and substitute it with a vowel. For example, first was
pronounced /fast/. This type of vocalization substitution error occurred most frequently of all the
pronunciation errors, occurring six times in the passage. Insertion of an extra schwa occurred twice;once after a final consonant in a polysyllabic word (‘United’) and once in word-medial position in a7

外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 1 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 1）

polysyllabic word (‘advantage’).
The learner did not have many suprasegmental errors and the errors that occurred did not
greatly affect intelligibility. Incorrect stress occurred but the meaning of both the word and thesentence were not affected. Intonational errors occurred but not with the frequency that would
warrant special attention in this study. The learner’s rhythm was slightly slow, as she was a bit tired,but overall it was at a normal speed and could be comprehended with little effort.
Free conversation with this learner revealed pronunciation errors that were consistent with theerrors that occurred in the diagnostic passage. There were few consonantal errors and those that
occurred had little negative impact on intelligibility. The conversation confirmed that the learner has
difficulty with accurate pronunciation of vowels and has a tendency to substitute an improper vowel,e.g., /æ/ for /a/, or replace a vowel for a consonant, e.g., /ə/ for /r/. This latter error occurred mostoften in words where /r/ follows a vowel, occurring numerous times in conversation. Though there
is not a significant effect on intelligibility with these vowel errors, the learner is concerned by thesepronunciation problems and is hopeful that in further sessions they can be corrected. One other errorthat occurred (twice) was the insertion of /ə/ at the end of a polysyllabic word and once at the end of amonosyllabic word. Two errors occurred at the end of ‘United,’ the same place that the error occurredin the diagnostic passage. Again, though not too much of a hindrance on intelligibility, the learner isaware of her mispronunciation and is eager to make improvement.
The treatment proposed for the learner in this study will consist of the improvement ofpronunciation involving /ɚ/ sounds in word-medial and word-final positions. This sound has beenchosen as it was the pronunciation error that occurred with the most frequency. Again, it should
be noted that the sound /ɝ/ will be considered the same as /ɚ/; though they differ in stress, they
are practically the same sound. From the initial assessment it has been determined that the learnerrecognizes the sound adequately, but it is with the specific pronunciation of the sound that needs
focused instruction to achieve improvement.
A variety of different exercises and activities are proposed to aid in the learner’s progress andassessment will be determined throughout the treatment sessions. Listen and repeat exercises,
minimal pairs with sentences, cloze dictation, spelling tests, contextual exercises, and reading
passages will be designed with the aim of improving the proper pronunciation of /ɚ/ sounds. The
learner is by no means unintelligible with respect to these sounds, but the desire for more accurate
pronunciation is quite strong. Free conversation in each treatment session will also be conducted toassess the ability of /ɚ/ pronunciation in natural context. Free conversation dialogues, as well as boththe initial and final diagnostic passages, will be partially transcribed and analyzed by the author todetermine the level of the student’s improvement.

Results
In order to investigate how the learner’s pronunciation of the /ɚ/ sound changed over the 7-weekperiod, a diagnostic reading passage was conducted in the initial and final session to measure thechange of accurate pronunciation of /ɚ/. The learner’s performance in free conversation was also
monitored during the 7-week treatment period.
Figure 1 shows the accuracy percentage of correct /ɚ/ pronunciation in the diagnostic reading
passages from the initial session, to the final session. A comparison of the two diagnostic passages
showed that correct pronunciation of /ɚ/ rose from 18% to 36%. While these are rather low accuracy
percentages, they do represent a significant increase in accuracy over the treatment period.

8

THE DEGREE OF IMPROVEMENT OF A JAPANESE LEARNERʼS PRONUNCIATION OF R-COLORED SCHWA (/ɚ/)
OVER A 7-WEEK PERIOD OF CONVERSATION PRACTICE AND FOCUSED EXERCISE

Accuracy percentage

40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

InitialFinal
Sessions

Figure 1. Accuracy percentage of /ɚ/ in initial and final diagnostic passages

As stated above, the learner’s performance in free conversation in each session was monitored
over the 7-week treatment period. There were six free conversation sessions during the 7-week period
and one reading passage (Session 6). The reading passage will be considered as a free conversation
session as its data were transcribed and analyzed the same as the data in the free conversation
sessions.
Figure 2 shows the accuracy percentage in free conversation for the correct pronunciation of /ɚ/during the 7-week treatment period. The chart illustrates that the learner’s accurate pronunciationof /ɚ/ is quite erratic with a big decrease in accurate pronunciation shown in Session 4 with acorresponding rise in Session 5. Overall accurate pronunciation in free conversation was 37%, slightly
higher than the 36% accurate pronunciation in the final diagnostic reading.

Accuracy percentage

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Sessions
Figure 2. Accuracy percentage for correct /ɚ/ pronunciation in free conversation sessions

Table 1 gives examples of the devices used to pronounce /ɚ/ in the two diagnostic reading
passages. Three types of devices were used: accurate pronunciation, vocalization, and final consonant
deletion.

9

外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 1 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 1）

Table 1
Devices Used to Pronounce /ɚ/ in Diagnostic Passages
ExampleDevices/ə.nə.ðɚ/

Accurate pronunciation of /ɚ//fast/

Vocalization/mæ.nə/Final consonant deletion

Table 2 illustrates the frequency of the devices used to pronounce /ɚ/ in the two diagnostic
reading passages. Vocalization occurred nine times, final consonant deletion occurred seven times,
while accurate pronunciation occurred six times.
Table 2Frequency of Devices Used to Pronounce /ɚ/ in Diagnostic Passages/ɚ/Device frequency (# of occasions)

Diagnostic passages

Accurate pronunciation

Vocalization

Final consonant deletion

Initial

2

6

3

Final

4

3

4

All

6

9

7

Table 3 shows the frequency percentage for each device used to pronounce /ɚ/ in the two
diagnostic passages. Vocalization occurred with the greatest frequency at 41% while accurate
pronunciation occurred with the least frequency at 27%. Final consonant deletion’s frequency
percentage was 32%.
Table 3
Device Frequency Percentage of /ɚ/ in Diagnostic Passages/ɚ/Device frequency percentage (%)

Diagnostic passages

Accurate pronunciation

Vocalization

Final consonant deletion

Initial

18

55

27

Final

36

27

37

All

27

41

32

Table 4 gives the examples of the devices used to pronounce /ɚ/ in free conversation. The
same types of devices used in the diagnostic passages were used in free conversation: accurate
pronunciation, vocalization, and final consonant deletion.
Table 4
Devices Used to Pronounce /ɚ/ in Free Conversation
ExampleDevices/pɪk.tʃɚz/

Accurate pronunciation of /ɚ//ən.də.stænd/Vocalization/ri.mɛm.bə/

Final consonant deletion

10THE DEGREE OF IMPROVEMENT OF A JAPANESE LEARNERʼS PRONUNCIATION OF R-COLORED SCHWA (/ɚ/)
OVER A 7-WEEK PERIOD OF CONVERSATION PRACTICE AND FOCUSED EXERCISE

Table 5 illustrates the frequency of the devices used to pronounce /ɚ/ in free conversation. The
device used to pronounce /ɚ/ with the greatest frequency was vocalization which occurred 33 times
in all sessions. Accurate pronunciation occurred 31 times and final consonant deletion occurred withthe least frequency, occurring 20 times. Vocalization did not occur in Session 6.
Table 5Frequency of Devices Used to Pronounce /ɚ/ in Free Conversation/ɚ/Sessions

Device frequency (# of occasions)
Accurate pronunciation

Vocalization

Final consonant deletion

1

4

9

3

2

4

4

2

3

4

4

1

4

2

9

4

5

9

6

2

6

6

0

6

7

2

1

2

All

31

33

20

Table 6 shows the frequency percentage for each device used to pronounce /ɚ/. Vocalization
occurred with the greatest frequency at 39% while final consonant deletion occurred with the least
frequency at 24%. Accurate pronunciation frequency was 37%. Vocalization did not occur in Session 6.
Table 6
Device Frequency Percentage of /ɚ/ in Free Conversation/ɚ/Sessions

Device frequency percentage (%)
Accurate pronunciation

Vocalization

Final consonant deletion

1

25

56

19

2

40

40

20

3

44

44

12

4

13

60

27

5

53

35

12

6

50

0

50

7

40

20

40

All

37

39

24

Figure 3 shows the frequency percentage of all devices used to pronounce / ɚ / in freeconversation. There is a gap in vocalization between Sessions 5 and 7 as it did not occur in Session
6. The patterns for the devices are all somewhat erratic as there are no consistent patterns ofpronunciation. The figure shows that the learner makes considerably more pronunciation errors due
to vocalization processes than final consonant deletion processes.

11Percentage

外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 1 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 1）

65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

Accurate pronunciation
Vocalization
Final consonant deletion

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Sessions
Figure 3. Device frequency percentage of /ɚ/ in free conversation

Discussion
The initial research question, whether a motivated Japanese learner could improve her
pronunciation of / ɚ /over a 7-week period of conversation practice and focused exercise was
supported by the data. There was marked improvement with the target phoneme in the diagnostic
passages over the treatment period, the results of which can be seen in Figure 1.
The pronunciation errors and lack of pronunciation improvement in free conversation over
the treatment period suggest that the learner’s errors were due to the phonological make-up of her
native language, Japanese. R-colored schwa is a rather complex sound, a combination of two sounds,
schwa and /r/, incorporating characteristics of both. It is the /r/ sound which gave the learner themost difficulty and this is understandable as it does not exist in Japanese the same way as in North
American English; i.e., the Japanese pronunciation of /r/ is pronounced somewhere between the
North American /r/ and /l/. This difficulty in pronunciation might result from a place of articulation
error in that the tongue is not in the correct position to accurately pronounce the sound. This would
seem to indicate that more articulatory training, which would focus on correct tongue positioning, isnecessary and would be of great benefit.
The learner in this study began studying English at the onset of puberty and did not begin
speaking English with any frequency until after puberty. This could partially explain why more
improvement was not shown as this age is considered late onset (Ioup, 2008) and is right on theborder of the critical period of being able to acquire native-like L2 sounds. So important is the age at
which a L2 learner begins acquiring a L2 that Ioup (2008) says “the onset age of L2 remained the mostimportant predictor of degree of foreign accent in the assessment of child and adult onset learners” (p.
46).
The difficulty for the learner trying to master the pronunciation /ɚ/ is visible in the overall
progress of pronunciation of /ɚ/. Figure 1 shows that the learner improved her pronunciation in the
diagnostic passages, while Figure 2 shows that the learner’s improvement in free conversation was
nonconclusive. As the diagnostic passages are more controlled and thus more formal in style than freeconversation, Major’s (1987) view that learners often achieve accurate speech in more formal styles
than in running speech, was corroborated.
It should be noted that in some English dialects, British English for example, the vocalization

12

THE DEGREE OF IMPROVEMENT OF A JAPANESE LEARNERʼS PRONUNCIATION OF R-COLORED SCHWA (/ɚ/)
OVER A 7-WEEK PERIOD OF CONVERSATION PRACTICE AND FOCUSED EXERCISE(in word-medial positions) or final consonant deletion (in word-final positions) processes usedby the learner to pronounce /ɚ/, are perfectly acceptable. Therefore, ‘understand’ pronounced/əndəstænd/, and ‘number’ pronounced /nʌmbə/, are perfectly acceptable in RP. However, theresearcher’s accent does not feature these elements and the focus of this study is on the pronunciationof North American English sounds. The learner has had limited exposure to non-North American
English accents suggesting that the L1 was influencing her pronunciation in that Japanese syllables
do not end with the consonant /r/, and always (with the exception of those ending in /n/) conclude
with a vowel.
Minimal pairs listen and repeat exercises were most effective in fostering the correct
pronunciation for the target phoneme for the learner in this study. The learner concentrated on these
forms and was usually able (more than 50% of the time) to pronounce the correct sound. Vocalizationand final consonant deletion processes were still used, but not as often as in free conversation. As
the learner put these minimal pairs into sentences and spoke them more contextually, her accuracy
decreased, and vocalization and final consonant deletion processes increased. This would again
suggest that the learner is consistent with Major (1987) that learners tend to pronounce accuratesounds in more formal settings/styles than in running speech.
There are numerous limitations of this study but possible the greatest is the duration: Perhaps
in a longer study, for example 6 months or a full year, the results would have shown greater
improvement or oppositely they might have shown less gains than the gains shown in this study. The
learner in the study was motivated and a fairly fluent speaker, pronouncing often troublesome (forJapanese learners) phonetic forms (such as /b/, /v/, /sh/, and /l/) with little difficulty. For learners
who are not as motivated or as fluent in speaking, a different type of study, or different exercises,
would have to be used. Another limitation also involves time and was the time spent in each session.
Most sessions consisted of 15 min of conversation and 15 min of practice. This was mainly due to thelearner being a busy mother. Doubling the amount of time to 30 min each of conversation and practicemight have caused more or less favorable results. A further limitation of this study was my relativelack of experience in conducting a study such as this. As this was my first study of this type, there
surely are points that were overlooked and others that were not even realized.
Further studies would provide excellent opportunities for the learner to continue to improve
her pronunciation and become a more accurate speaker. The next study could focus specificallyon the consonant /r/ sound. As this study was concerned /ɚ/, it is logical to concentrate further
work specifically on /r/ as overall improvement with pronunciation of /r/ would correspond to
overall pronunciation improvement with /ɚ/. Though the learner did not show considerable trouble
accurately pronouncing /r/, it is the researcher’s opinion that the sound could be pronounced moreclearly, thus warranting special attention to it. Exercises in the next study would be similar to thoseused here, with some new exercises included as well. As the learner’s fluency is quite high andbecause she enjoys music, songs with lyrics containing the target sound would be included to enliven
some of the sessions.
In conclusion, this study was an attempt to see if pronunciation improvement could be made in a
motivated Japanese learner over a 7-week period of conversation practice and focused exercise. The
phoneme chosen for study was /ɚ/ as it proved to be the most troublesome sound after diagnostic
tests were performed and analyzed. The goal of the study was to foster more accurate and intelligible
pronunciation on the part of the learner, but by no means was an attempt to achieve a native-likeaccent. A variety of exercises and activities were performed that focused on the target phoneme andfree conversation was held in each treatment session. The results of the diagnostic tests performed13外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 1 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 1）

showed an improvement in accuracy of /ɚ/ from 18% in the initial diagnostic to 36% in the final
diagnostic. This illustrates that a motivated learner can make pronunciation improvement during a
7-week period of conversation practice and focused exercise. The fact that improvement was madewould argue that pronunciation can and should be taught and practiced in L2 classrooms and should
be considered a skill as essential as reading or writing. By becoming more aware of the phoneme andthe processes involved in making pronunciation errors, the learner is on the right track in becoming
a more accurate and intelligible English speaker and stands to benefit even more from continued
practice and hard work.

References
Avery, P., & Ehrlich, S. (1992). Teaching American English pronunciation. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Bradlow, A., Pisoni, D., Akabane-Yamada, R., & Tohkura, Y. (1997). Training Japanese listeners to
identify English /r/ and /l/. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 101, 2299–2310.
Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D., & Goodwin, J. (1996). Teaching pronunciation: A reference for teachersof English to speakers of other languages. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Couper, G. (2003, December). The value of an explicit pronunciation syllabus in ESOL teaching.
Prospect, 8(3), 53–70.
Derwing, T., & Munro, M. (2005). Second language accent and pronunciation teaching: A researchbased approach. TESOL Quarterly, 39, 379–397.
Derwing, T., Munro, M., & Wiebe, G. (1998). Evidence in favor of a broad framework for pronunciation
instruction. Language Learning, 48(3), 393–410.
Hahn, L. D. (2004). Primary stress and intelligibility: Research to motivate the teaching ofsuprasegmentals. TESOL Quarterly, 38(2), 201–223.
Ioup, G. (2008). Exploring the role of age in the acquisition of a second language phonology. In J.
H. Edwards & M. A. Zampini (Eds.), Phonology and second language acquisition (pp. 41–57).
Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Jenkins, J. (2001). The phonology of English as an international language. New York: Oxford.
Levis, J. M. (1999). Intonation in theory and practice, revisited. TESOL Quarterly, 33, 37–65.
Levis, J. M. (2005). Changing contexts and shifting paradigms in teaching pronunciation. TESOL
Quarterly, 39, 369–377.
Major, R. (1987). A model for interlanguage phonology. In G. Ioup & S. Weinberger (Eds.),
Interlanguage phonology (pp. 101–123). New York: Newbury House.
Munro, M., & Derwing, T. (1999). Foreign accent, comprehensibility, and intelligibility in the speechof second language learners. In J. Leather (Ed.), Phonological issues in language learning (pp.
285–310). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Prator, C. H., & Robinett, B. W. (1985). Manual of American English pronunciation (4th ed.). New
York: CBS College Publishing.
Saito, K. (2007, December). The influence of explicit phonetic instruction on pronunciation teachingin EFL settings: The case of English vowels and Japanese learners of English. The Linguistics
Journal, 3(3), 16–40.
Shepherd, J. (2003). A Christmas story. New York: Broadway Books.
Warner, N., & Arai, T. (2001). Japanese mora-timing: A review. Phonetica, 58, 1–25.
Wong, R. (1985). Does pronunciation teaching have a place in the communicative classroom? In D.

14

THE DEGREE OF IMPROVEMENT OF A JAPANESE LEARNERʼS PRONUNCIATION OF R-COLORED SCHWA (/ɚ/)
OVER A 7-WEEK PERIOD OF CONVERSATION PRACTICE AND FOCUSED EXERCISE

Tannen & J. Alatis (Eds.), Georgetown University roundtable on language and linguistics (pp.
226–236). Washington DC: Georgetown University Press.

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外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 1 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 1）

Appendix
Obligator y Occasion Word Lists
Table A1 contains words from each device used to pronounce /ɚ/ during free conversation in each of
the practice sessions.
Table A1
SessionAccurate pronunciation

Vocalization

1*

anotherbetteranswers
first
offered1

culturespictures (2x)culture2

accessories
picture3

culturallearns (2x)

Final consonant deletion
mannersure

power

naturesnorthernunderstand (7x)remember

were (2x)groceries
popularcurry (4x)sure (2x)Americanthrillerbetterthrillers

first
understanding

understand (2x) sure4

billiard

third

Americancurling (2x)perfect
person’s

circlefigurepersonunderstand5

curling
third
serve

figuregirl (2x)weathercurlinglearnerunderstanding

first
after (2x)understand (2x)6closerpearl
teachercornertarantula
Weather’s

after
rubberpaper (3x)silver7*

Americanweather

Beverly7

answers
culturalbetteroffered

first*Initial/final diagnostic passage

16

learns (2x)measuresure (2x)number(nothing)

rememberwereanotherpowermannersure【Research Article】

Goal Setting Through Personal Letter Writing
Devon Arthurson
Abstract
Having students determine their own goals in language learning can foster learner autonomy and potentially increase
learner motivation. Goal setting through personal letter writing is an activity which can allow learners to be more
conscious of their aspirations and reflect on their goals. The process of writing letters about goals will be discussed.
The activity consisted of students writing one letter about their goals, both related and unrelated to the class, tothemselves at the beginning of the semester. In mid-term, the students reread their first letter and then wrote asecond letter about their goals. Though the instructor kept the students’ letters for safe keeping, she did not readthem and provided no feedback about their goals. This led to uncertainty about the activity and its success. The study
gathered data from three classes of university students who participated in the activity, specifically about the level ofdifficulty of individual goal setting, how often the letters should be reviewed, the type of they goals set, and advicefor others students about determining goals. The strengths and limitations of study as well as potential applicationsof the activity will be presented.
Keywords: goal setting, letter writing, learner autonomy, student motivation

Introduction
This paper will introduce letter writing as a way to improve students’ motivation and foster
learner autonomy in their English language learning by having them set goals that they determine.
The process of using letter writing in EFL lessons will be explored. By allowing students to decide
their own goals, it seems that this could also increase their sense of autonomy. The activity and datacollected from the students will be presented. In addition, the strengths and limitations of the study
will be discussed. Potential applications of goal setting through letter writing will also be shared.

Literature Review
There did not appear to be any published material about using personal letter writing to set goals
in a language-learning context. As a result, focus was given to learner autonomy and goal setting.
Learner autonomy is important because students need to have a sense of control in their language
learning (Benson, 2011). Goal setting is an approach to foster learner autonomy in the classroom(Benson, 2011; Little, 2016). Ryan and Deci (2000) write that if individuals see value in an activity, theyalso have motivation to do that activity (p. 69). Students who are actively invested in their learning
have motivation even when challenges occur (Little, 2016, para. 4). It appears that if learners feelinvested in their goals, they will also be motivated to achieve these goals.
As students have opportunities to determine their own learning goals, they can possibly bemore aware of the way they accomplish those goals. Chamot (2004) writes “Learning strategies are
the conscious thoughts and actions that learners take in order to achieve a learning goal” (p. 14).
The strategies are typically unobservable; however, the actions that meet the goals are observable(Chamot, 2004, p. 15). If the student has their own personal learning goal, over the course of reaching17

外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 1 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 1）

that goal they will develop their learning strategies. It is possible that the more opportunities thelearners have to set their own learning goals, the more awareness of their learning strategies thatthey will have, potentially increasing their autonomy in their learning. This could further lead to thesuccessful completion of their goals because of their increased awareness of how they learn and inturn how they learn successfully.
Setting goals is important for learners. Providing them with opportunities to determine their own
goals can increase their motivation as they learn. However, if students continually fail at their goals,
that may negatively affect their learning. In Locke’s (1996) words, “Commitment to goals is mostcritical when goals are specific and difficult” (p. 119). If students set their own goals, their level ofcommitment will likely be higher than if their instructor dictates the goals. For effective goal setting,progress of the goal through feedback is necessary (Locke, 1996, p. 120). There needs to be somemethod of measurement to help students view their progress or to make adjustments if needed after
the original goal has been set.

Goal Setting Through Letter Writing
Instead of using goal-setting activity created by the instructor for the learners, it seemed that
implementing a more personalized activity may increase learner autonomy and motivation. Based onan activity of students self-reflecting on the term through letter writing, I decided to have some of myclasses use letter writing to goal set as a potential way to foster learner autonomy and increase theirmotivation as well as possibly self-reflect throughout the term.
Over the 14-week semester, students wrote two, confidential letters to themselves. The first letter
was written at the end of the first class. Guided by the literature about learner autonomy, goal setting,motivation, and goal measurement, the following suggestions were used to guide students in thewriting process:1. Your goals for this class, semester, university, club activities, part-time jobs, personal life, etc.
2. Tell yourself anything that you think will motivate you to do these goals.
3.	Create questions about what you have written that you will answer in the middle and the endof term to check in with yourself.
Students completed their letter, sealed it in an envelope and gave it to the instructor forsafekeeping. After 7 weeks or nearly 2 months later, at mid-term, the letters were returned. The
students reread their goals and wrote a new letter to themselves, put both the previous and new letterin the envelope which was then resealed and returned it to the instructor. Then at the final lesson orafter 14 weeks since the first letter, students were given back their two letters in the envelope. Though
it is uncertain if this occurred, the instructor hoped that rereading the letters at two specified times
would provide students with an opportunity for self-reflection. If the students had kept the letters andcontinually reviewed their letters, that self-reflection process might not occur.
Due to the confidential aspect of the activity, the instructor could not read the students’ goals,
give suggestions about the goals, provide feedback or ask if the goals were accomplished. This led
to an uncertainty about the level of difficulty in goals setting and thus the activity. In addition, there
was also an interest in the methods that students discovered during the process that might aid otherstudents in determining goals and ways to evaluate these goals. As a result, the students’ opinions andadvice could benefit the effectiveness of similar activities in future classes. The research project was
created to explore these areas.

18

GOAL SETTING THROUGH PERSONAL LETTER WRITING

Methodology
Participants
The study gathered data from 83 surveys distributed at the middle and end of term during one
semester from three different EFL classes at a Liberal Arts university in Tokyo. The first class wasa mandatory English presentation class for first-year intercultural communication. Most of the 21
students were returnees and had TOEIC scores of over 700. The second was an elective cross-culturalcommunications class for 15 second- to fourth-year students from various faculties. The third was anelective English discussion and meeting class also for second- to fourth-year students from various
faculties totaling eight students. Most of the students in the two elective classes had lower English
proficiencies than the first-year students. Though the first-year class was mandatory, those students
were similarly motivated as compared with the students from the two elective classes. All the classes
met twice a week for 100-min lessons. Due to the frequency of the classes, the English level and the
motivation of the students, these three classes seemed ideal to not only use goal setting through letter
writing but to also provide their opinions about the activity.

Instruments
The instruments used to collect data were written surveys. The two surveys were distributed forin-class completion. Both surveys contained questions to gather quantitative and qualitative data fromthe participants. Survey 1 was distributed in Week 7 or mid-term. Survey 2 was distributed in Week 14
or at the end of term.

Results
Survey 1
All classes were given Survey 1 in the mid-term or on the 14th class of the semester to a totalof 42 students. Please see Appendix A for this survey. The survey consisted of statements about (a)the benefits of letter writing and the improvement of their English skills, (b) the level of difficulty forstudents deciding their own goals, (c) the difference between the goals in the first and second letter,and (d) the usefulness of reviewing the letter in mid-semester. All of the questions also had an optional
prompt for the students to write the reasons for their choices in either English or Japanese, in addition
to Likert-scale or numeric choices. Only three responses were written in Japanese and were latertranslated into English by the author.

19

外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 1 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 1）

Statement 1: Setting my own goals in a letter is helpful for improving my English skills.
42 Students
30

20

10

0

A Strongly Agree

B AgreeC Disagree

D Strongly Disagree

Figure 1. Participants’ responses to Statement 1

The majority of the students, 37 out of 42, agreed or strongly agreed with the effectiveness ofgoal setting through letter writing. Four of the students who selected “strongly agree” in responseto Statement 1, also responded to the optional writing prompt of “Because.” Many of their answers
contained “motivate/motivation” or “achieve.” Of those who selected “agree,” nine wrote responses
with “remember/remind” and “understand/know” related to their goals as well as “motivated/
motivation.” For those who selected disagree, the three written responses were either related toforgetting the letter’s goals or already having goals before the class. Below is a selection of student
responses:• If I had no goals, I took classes with no motivation.
•	Some of the goals that I set in a letter, I kind of forgot till I open[ed] it, but I set small goals which
are just for a semester so I could accomplish some of them. I’m really satisfied with it.
Statement 2: Deciding my own goals is difficult to do.
42 Students
25

20

15

10

5

0

A Strongly Agree

B AgreeFigure 2. Participants’ responses to Statement 2

20

C Disagree

D Strongly Disagree

GOAL SETTING THROUGH PERSONAL LETTER WRITING

In response to the above statement, 24 students disagreed and 1 strongly disagreed, while
18 agreed. The three students who agreed and responded to the optional prompt shared theiruncertainty about how to measure their goals or a lack of confidence about whether their goals wereappropriate. However, the majority of students that chose “disagree” expressed ease due to previously
having set goals or already having goals before the class, resulting in a sense of self- awareness andmotivation. Providing suggestions in the first lesson may have also reduced the level of difficulty forsome learners. The following is a selection of student responses:•	Personally, I do personal analysis often at my additional activity so that it is not difficult to set a
goal [be]cause I know what is not enough or needed in my current situation.
•	
I had my own goal before I took this class, and that motivated myself if I hadn’t set it.
•	
The teacher gave us some of the idea[s] for the goals so it was not that difficult for me to decide
the goals for me.
Statement 3: It is better for the teacher to set my goals.
41 Students (1 did not submit answer)
20

15

10

5

0

A Strongly Agree

B AgreeC Disagree

D Strongly Disagree

Figure 3. Participants’ responses to Statement 3

There were 21 students who provided a positive response versus 20 students who gave a negative
response. Of the 21 who agreed and provided a written response, their answers were that the teacher
has a better awareness of the students’ abilities and therefore the students’ goals. Consequently,
the instructor could then plan classes that will more effectively help students reach these goals. The
written responses from the 20 students who either disagreed or strongly disagreed were related tothe importance of the individual determining their own goals and not an outside party due to theuniqueness of each individual. The following is a selection of student responses:• [You c]an know the level of yourself.
• I don’t want [the] teacher to do that.
•	
We all seem [to be] having different goals so I would think one of us think[s] of each[’s] own goals
by ourselves [would] be better.
• Because dreams’ goals are different for each person. (Translated from Japanese)21

外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 1 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 1）

Statement 4: The number of goals that I set for myself in my first letter was:
42 Students
25

20

15

10

5

0

A 1–2 goals

B 3–4 goals

C 5 or more goals

Figure 4. Participants’ responses to Statement 4

The students’ responses were that three to four goals was the number most commonly set for theactivity as 25 of the 42 students wrote that number. Again students had the option of sharing examplesof their goals. Most of the students shared that many of their goals were related to improving theirEnglish skills through achieving a higher score of 750 or 800 on TOEIC tests, increasing their
vocabulary such a one new word a day, and using the class’ target language. However, some goals
shared were related to their part-time jobs, university club activities, and saving money. A few also
wrote that their goals were to enjoy life or to try traveling alone.
Statement 5: Reading the letter again in the mid-term lesson helped me to think about
my goals.
42 Students
25

20

15

10

5

0

A Strongly Agree

B AgreeC Disagree

D Strongly Disagree

Figure 5. Participants’ responses to Statement 5

The majority of students, 41, either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement confirming thebenefits of reviewing the letter with only 1 disagreeing. The written responses given by the students
expressed that rereading the letter helped them “remember” the goals which had been “forgotten.”
Furthermore, reviewing their goals caused them to be more motivated. A selection of their answers is
below:

22

GOAL SETTING THROUGH PERSONAL LETTER WRITING• I could remember my goals clearly.
• I can remember what my goals are again and it’s good for me to motivate myself.
• Clarifying the goals is very useful to motivate oneself.
Statement 6: The goals that I set for myself in the second letter were:
41 Students
20

15

10

5

0

A 100% the same

B about 80%
the same

C about 60%
the same

D 50% or lessthe same

Figure 6. Participants’ responses to Statement 6

This statement was to determine if a change in their goals from the beginning to the middle ofterm occurred. Three students reported that their goals remained unchanged. One of those students
responded that their goal was 100% the same because they had not taken the TOEIC test. “About 80%
the same” was given by 19 students and “about 60% the same” was given by 15 students. For these twogroups of students, their written responses were related to a limited amount of change in their abilities
or ways of thinking. Although one student felt their goals had become more specific and needed to be
improved upon. A selection of their responses is below:••••

Since almost all goals weren’t achieved yet, I want to see how it will be in a couple more months.
The way to think[ing] changed a little.
The goals become more specific ones.
Because I achieve[d] some goals. So I put the goals in [a] higher level.

Survey 2
Survey 2 given at the end of term, focused on (a) how often the letters should be reviewed, (b) thetypes of goals the students had made, and (c) their advice to other students for successful goal setting.
Survey 2 is in Appendix B. The construction of Survey 2 was slightly different from Survey 1 with agreater emphasis on qualitative data. The first two questions contained numeric selections. Three ofthe four questions also had an optional prompt for the students to write the reasons for their choices.
Students were again instructed that responses in either English or Japanese were acceptable. In thissurvey, all of their written responses were in English. The data from the survey is below.

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外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 1 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 1）

Question 1: How often should the letters be reviewed to help you remember your goals?
41 Students
25

20

15

10

5

0

A every few months

B once a month

C twice a month

D once a week

E every class

Figure 7. Participants’ responses to Question 1

In the research project the letters were reviewed after 6 weeks or almost after a few months.
Over half of the students, 22 out of 42, answered that every few months was appropriate. Their written
responses were because that amount of time was sufficient to achieve their goals as well as being anadequate time to help them remember the goals. A selection of their responses is below:• Because it takes a lot of time to achieve the goal.
• [G]oals don’t change soon. So “A” [every few months] is enough.
• I don’t forget within [a] month, but maybe I forget in [a] few month[s] after.
In the written responses from the 15 students who selected “once a month,” they answered thisperiod of time was appropriate to help them remember because after 6 weeks some had forgotten
their goals. A selection of their responses is below:•	Because reviewing the letter once a month would be helpful to evaluate regularly and remind
myself [of my] goals for this course all the time.
• Today, I opened my letter, actually I forgot my goal. So, once a month is appropriate I thought.
• I think once a month is enough to remember your goals.
For the options “twice a month” and “once a week,” both were answered by two students
respectively. Also each option had only one written response, as it appeared that anything more than
one a month may be too frequent. For “once a week,” the student wrote:
One term is about three months, which is so short. So if we review [the] letter once a week, we cantry to improve based on reflection.

24

GOAL SETTING THROUGH PERSONAL LETTER WRITING

Question 2: Did you make any goals in your letter that were not connected to the class?
41 SURVEYS BUT MULTIPLE ANSWERS PER SURVEY, WITH 1 UNANSWEREDA Club / Circle activities

B Part-time job / Volunteering

D Life after University

C Relationships

E Other

12
10
8
6
4
2
0

Figure 8. Participants’ responses to Question 2

Only five students responded that they made goals that were solely related to the class. There
were 12 students that made goals about part-time jobs or volunteering, 9 that made goals about theirrelationships, 10 that made goals about life after university, and 11 made goals related to other areas.
This means that 25% of the students made goals in the category of “Other.” However, only one student
specified what the goal was and wrote “GPA, TOEFL and IELTS.”
For Question 3 and 4, the responses did not have a numeric selection and only had an optional
written prompt. Here is the third question: “Question 3: What kind of advice do you have for otherstudents about writing goal-setting letters? For example, what goals or questions would be helpful?
Please write them below. Optional.” Over 30 students of the 41 students wrote answers. Many shared
the types of goals they had written which could be categorized into academics, lifestyles, part-timejobs, and English study. Fourteen of their responses contained the words “specific,” “realistic” and/or“concrete.” A selection of their responses is below:•	
We should write specific goals. It would be good that when we review the letter, we can judge how
we achieve this goal.
• Setting concrete goals. So that it’s easy for us to judge if I could complete the goals.
• When you set your goals, it’s better to set numerical goals because it’s easy to be aware of your goals.
• I think setting a very specific objective is helpful. ex) to take over 100 on [the] TOEFL ibt.
Many wrote about the importance of setting challenging yet achievable goals, ones that can beaccomplished in a specified time. Some also reported that small goals would be preferable to help
maintain motivation. A selection of their responses is below:• To set goals that can be done would be helpful for setting goals.
• First, you have to think [of] big goals, and next you have to make short goals related to big goals.
•	
Certainly, just writing goal-setting is good. However, writing how to achieve is more effective in
addition to writing goal-setting.
•	It’ll be helpful to make goals we sincerely want to achieve. We sometimes need to make efforts
vainly. Efforts need purpose which are so firm and never fail.

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外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 1 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 1）

The final question of the survey is “Question 4: If you would like to share some goals or questions
you used in your letters, please write them here. Optional.” Of the 41 students, 23 shared what theywrote in their letters. Most of their responses were related to this English class and other classes
currently studied. Four responses contained goals related to finances, employment and exercise. A
selection of their responses follows:•	
To deepen the understanding of particular global issues: Gender and sustainability through thiscourse. To do my best on all the assignments.
•	
One of my goal[s] in this class we ‘use various phrases and vocabulary.’ In every lesson, I tried touse many phrases, so I could achieve this goal.
• Be positive and active in class.
•	Can you brush up your vocab skill? Do you have confidence when you express your idea more than
before?

Strengths and Limitations
The strengths and limitations of the study will be discussed. The data provided answers to thelevel of difficulty of goals setting as well as advice about how to set and achieve the goals. First,
students provided their opinions about the difficulty of determining their own goals. Of the 42
students surveyed, 25 answered that this was not difficult. It seems that these students had awarenessof their abilities and the agency to set their own goals. Thus, goal setting gave them more autonomy
in their decisions. Second, most students provided insight in how to effectively accomplish their goals,
specifically suggestions about using concrete and detailed goals, preferably smaller versus larger
goals. Students were also given autonomy to decide any goals they determined as appropriate thoughsome suggestions were presented in the first lesson. Students were also expected to evaluate how
successfully they could complete their goals. Reviewing the first and second letter could also haveaided with self-reflection as students had opportunity to view the progress, or perhaps lack of the
progress, of their goals.
There are limitations as the number of participants sampled, only 41 to 42, and the time which
was only one semester. The students were also highly motivated and most seemed to take the activity
and give feedback about it quite seriously. If other participants were involved, results might be quite
different. Other limitations are connected to the structure of the activity which may have influenced
the data. Other than suggestions given in the first lesson about possible goals they could use anda brief overview of the activity, no support was given to the students by the instructor. If students
lack experience in goal setting or confidence assessing their abilities and an understanding of their
aspirations, the activity could be very challenging and potentially meaningless. Explicitly connecting
goals to the class syllabus could have made the activity more meaningful to those learners who may
have struggled with how to set relevant goals. The students in this study were highly motivated andquite proficient, so this activity may not work for those students who do not see the value in theirstudies due to mandatory classes or having negative feelings about the subject.
The instructor kept the letters, so students could not freely access the letters to remember or
confirm their goals. Feedback that shows progress is beneficial when goal setting (Locke, 1996, p.
119). Though the students were told to create questions that would help them with determining the
progression of their goals, no other ways to measure their progress were given. When the activity isused again, more explicit examples of goals, especially ones connected to the course and the ways to26

GOAL SETTING THROUGH PERSONAL LETTER WRITING

measure the success of the students’ goals will be suggested. Furthermore, students will be given theoption to keep their letters instead of having the instructor keep them.

Potential Applications
This section will offer suggestions for potential ways this activity in English classes with learners
who have varying levels of proficiencies in different educational settings. If the learners have a lower
proficiency in English, providing samples of goals and a letter will assist with the activity. Providing
prompts for feedback could also be given at the beginning, middle and final stages of the activity.
For instance, breaking the goal into smaller goals, such as a certain date each smaller goal needs tobe achieved by. Or perhaps using a timeline that is often reviewed and possibly revised throughout
the term could also be useful. Letter-writing structure and grammar such as future tense, could also
be incorporated into the activity. If the activity is less confidential, the instructor or even peers could
provide feedback about the letters.

Conclusion
Using personal goal setting through letter writing can provide students with more autonomy
in their learning as students determine their own goals instead of the instructor setting them. In
addition, this activity could as well as possibly provide learners with more motivation to achieve
their goals. This is because the students have selected goals that should be meaningful to them. The
participants in this study provided feedback about the difficulty of the activity and gave advice about
what types of goals are ideal. Goal setting and learner autonomy through personal letter writing in anarea for further exploration in ESL and EFL lessons.

References
Benson, P. (2011). Teaching and researching autonomy (2nd ed.). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
Chamot, A. U. (2004). Issues in language learning strategy research and teaching. Electronic Journalof Foreign Language Teaching, 1(1), 14–26. Retrieved May 10, 2020, from https://e-flt.nus.edu.
sg/v1n12004/chamot.pdf
Little, D. (2016). Learner autonomy and second/foreign language learning. LLAS Centre for Languages,
Linguistics and Area Studies. Retrieved May 10, 2020, from https://www.llas.ac.uk/resources/
gpg/1409
Locke, E. A. (1996). Motivation through conscious goal setting. Applied & Preventive Psychology, 5,
117–124. Retrieved May 10, 2020, from https://www.sehity.com/uploads/4/2/2/4/42243697/
locke_-_1996_-_motivation_through_conscious_goal_setting.pdf
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation,social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. Retrieved August 9,
2020, from https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/2000_RyanDeci_SDT.pdf

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外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 1 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 1）

Appendix A
Goal-Setting Letter Sur vey
1 Setting my own goals in a letter is helpful for improving my English skills.
A Strongly Agree B Agree
Optional Because… (Comment):

C Disagree

D Strongly Disagree

2 Deciding my own goals is difficult to do.
A Strongly Agree B Agree
Optional Because… (Comment):

C Disagree

D Strongly Disagree

3 It is better for the teacher to set my goals.
A Strongly Agree B Agree
Optional Because… (Comment):

C Disagree

D Strongly Disagree

4 The number of goals that I set for myself in my first letter was:
A 1–2 goals
B 3–4 goals C 5 or more goals
Optional Example of the goals… (Comment):

5 Reading the letter again in the mid-term lesson helped me to think about my goals.
A Strongly Agree B Agree
Optional Because… (Comment):

C Disagree

D Strongly Disagree

6 The goals that I sent for myself in the second letter were:
A 100% the same
B about 80% the same
Optional Because… (Comment):

28

C about 60% the same

D 50% or less the same

GOAL SETTING THROUGH PERSONAL LETTER WRITING

Appendix B
Goal-Setting Letter Sur vey 2
1 How often should the letters be reviewed to help you remember your goals?
A every few months
B once a month
Optional Because… (Comment):

C twice a month

D once a week

E every class

2 Did you make any goals in your letter that were not connected to the class?
A Yes
		 What were the goals about?
		 A Club / Circle activities
		 D Life after University
B No

B Part-time job / Volunteering
E Other

C Relationships

3 	What kind of advice do you have for other students about writing goal-setting letters? For example,
what goals or questions would be helpful? Please write them below:
Optional:

4 If you would like to share some goals or questions you used in your letters, please write them here:
Optional:

29

【Research Article】

The Effects of Time Pressure on Fluency, Complexity,
and Accuracy: A Case Study
Paul Garside
Abstract
Many learners express the desire to be able to speak more fluently. Accordingly, fluency development in L2 learning
has attracted growing interest in recent years. One pedagogical activity that has been claimed to promote fluency
development is the 4/3/2 activity, whereby learners repeat a monologue under increasing time pressure. In thiscase study, with one advanced learner, a reduced-time (4/3/2) condition was compared with a consistent-time(3/3/3) condition. Output was analyzed in terms of fluency, syntactic and lexical complexity, and syntactic accuracy.
Results showed that repeating a monologue in a reduced-time condition does indeed drive short-term fluency gains,particularly in terms of rate of speech, over and above those produced in a straightforward consistent-time condition.
Measures of lexical (but not syntactic) complexity and syntactic accuracy offered limited support for the Tradeoff Hypothesis and the claim that the push to speak faster leads to a loss of control over other aspects of speech
production.
Keywords: fluency, complexity, accuracy, 4/3/2 activity

Introduction
The ability to speak fluently is the goal of many language learners; that is, the desire to express
their ideas smoothly and relatively quickly. However, fluency often remains elusive, especially in
EFL contexts such as Japan, in which opportunities to use the target language are limited. Within
the formal Japanese education system, less emphasis is placed on the development of fluency than
receptive skills, partly due to washback effects of the university entrance exams. As a result, many
students lack spoken fluency upon entering university, a fact that they are often all too aware of. One
pedagogical activity that has been claimed to promote fluency development is the 4/3/2 activity,
whereby learners repeat a monologue under increasing time pressure. This activity creates ideal
conditions for promoting fluency because, with the need for content generation removed beyond thefirst iteration, the speaker can focus simply on delivering the content at a faster rate (Nation, 1989).
Therefore, the 4/3/2 activity can shed light not only on the nature of fluency development but also on
the relationship between fluency and the concomitant aspects of speech production; namely, syntactic
accuracy as well as syntactic and lexical complexity.
The current study aims to investigate the effects of this activity by analyzing the output of asingle advanced learner of English. Specifically, the results of a reduced-time condition (4/3/2) werecompared with those of a consistent-time condition (3/3/3). The output was then analyzed in terms ofcomplexity, accuracy, and fluency.

Literature Review
Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency
L2 speech production has traditionally been divided into the three main elements of complexity,31

外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 1 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 1）

accuracy, and fluency (CAF) for the purposes of analysis. Fluency can be further sub-divided into thefollowing three components: rate of speech; breakdown fluency, which refers to the number, duration,and placement of pauses; and repair, which refers to the number of false starts, repetitions, and selfcorrections made by a speaker (Tavakoli & Skehan, 2005). Accuracy simply refers to the presenceor absence of syntactic errors in an utterance. In terms of complexity, CAF research has traditionallyprioritized syntactic complexity, although Skehan (2009) has emphasized the need to include an
additional measure of lexical complexity to provide a fuller account of L2 speech production.
In his influential Trade-off Hypothesis, Skehan (2009) has claimed that limitations in theattentional capacity and working memory of L2 learners cause these three aspects of speech
production to compete with each other for attentional resources. Specifically, he has maintainedthat increased fluency can be accompanied by either an increase in accuracy or complexity but notordinarily by both (Skehan, 2009). In other words, a fundamental tension exists between form on
the one hand and fluency on the other. This idea makes intuitive sense, given that increasing timepressure is bound to reduce cognitive processing time and opportunities for online planning. As alanguage instructor, I believe it also underlines the need for a balanced curriculum, in which sufficientattention is paid to each element of the CAF framework. For example, an overemphasis on fluency canlead to fossilized mistakes if learners are not provided with form-focused corrections and encouraged
to reflect on the accuracy of their usage (e.g., Schmidt, 1983). Conversely, a preoccupation withgrammatical accuracy can severely hinder fluent output, while also causing learners to avoid some of
the more complex features found in well-developed speech, such as relative clauses.
Aspects of the Trade-off Hypothesis, and its claim that complexity, accuracy, and fluency arenecessarily in competition have been challenged, chiefly by Robinson (2005) and his Cognition
Hypothesis. Whereas Skehan (2009) has stated that, due to limitations in attentional resources andworking memory, an increase in task complexity negatively impacts upon all elements of production(CAF), Robinson has claimed that an increase in task complexity can actually facilitate increases incomplexity and accuracy, although not fluency. According to Robinson, this is because increasing
cognitive demands encourage learners to try to access the more sophisticated linguistic resources
required to carry out such tasks successfully. This effort drives learner development as control isgained over the forms and concepts utilized for the task. Crucially, more complex tasks also promoteinteraction among learners leading to the negotiation of meaning, in which participants pool theirresources in an attempt to complete the task. Robinson has also asserted that individual differencesplay a key role in this dynamic, claiming that learners with higher IQ, aptitude, and working memory
actually perform less fluently in more complex tasks because of the greater effort they expend toaccess higher level linguistic resources.
Skehan (2009) responded to this challenge by re-examining some of his earlier studies using
a more fine-grained methodology, which included addressing the issue of pause counts within
the subcategory of hesitation phenomena. By doing so he was able to make some interestingobservations, especially relating to the differences between the timing of native (NS) and non-native
speaker (NNS) pauses. He noted that without pre-task planning both NSs and NNSs pause at clauseend boundaries; in fact, NSs actually pause more at this point, seemingly regarding it as the naturalplace for pausing during online planning, or in other words while thinking about what to say next. The
main insight, however, is that NNSs pause far more mid-clause, which is what causes speaking turns
to lack smoothness. Skehan has suggested that this kind of pause represents a true dysfluency and iscaused by NNSs lacking rapid access to the necessary linguistic knowledge. This finding implies thatthe timing, rather than simply the number or duration of pauses, is important. It also suggests that32

THE EFFECTS OF TIME PRESSURE ON FLUENCY, COMPLEXITY, AND ACCURACY

fluency is a more nuanced issue than had previously been supposed.
Regarding lexical measures, Skehan (2009) found that more complex vocabulary correlated withmore complex syntax for NSs, although it had the opposite effect for NNSs, whose syntax became
both less complex and less accurate. He concluded that the extensive lexicons of NSs allow themto access vocabulary relatively effortlessly, which in turn allows parallel processing to continue
automatically. L2 learners, on the other hand, require greater effort to access items initially, and thento use them appropriately. This extra cognitive effort has a deleterious effect on both grammaticalaccuracy and fluency, which clearly demonstrates how trade-offs works in practice.

The 4/3/2 Activity
The 4/3/2 activity was designed as a fluency-building exercise, in which L2 learners are required
to repeat a monologue, as close to verbatim as possible, under conditions of increasing time pressure.
Repeating the same content within a reduced-time frame (first 4 min, then 3 min, then 2 min) creates
ideal conditions for promoting more fluent output because, with the need for content generation
removed between the second and third iterations, speakers can focus solely on delivering the content
at a faster rate (Nation, 1989).
In psycholinguistic terms, the positive effects of task repetition on fluency are related to theproceduralization, and eventual automatization, of linguistic knowledge (DeKeyser, 2007). Repeating
particular lexical and syntactic items has the effect of gradually embedding them in the learner’smind, in association with the function they are used to perform, making them easier to retrieve whencalled for under similar conditions in future (de Jong & Perfetti, 2011). This process helps to explain
the importance of formulaic speech for the development of fluency, as prefabricated phrases that areavailable for rapid use will naturally allow speakers to assemble units of discourse more quickly than if
each phrase has to be reassembled item by item (Wray, 2002). However, it is not clear to what extent,
or in what situations, fluency gains (or indeed gains in syntactic accuracy or complexity) made fromtask repetition transfer to new tasks, which suggests that repetition alone may not be sufficient for
acquisition to occur (Ellis, 2009).
Content repetition, and the way in which it promotes fluency development, relates to Levelt’s(1989) influential model of speech production. According to this model, speech production depends
on the interaction of three separate components: the conceptualizer, the formulator, and thearticulator. The content of an utterance is planned in the conceptualizer, therefore if the content
is unchanged during a future iteration then less planning time is required, thus facilitating more
rapid delivery via the articulator. In theory, greater resources are also made available for the precise
wording of the content, which could have additional benefits in terms of complexity and/or accuracy.
However, the extent to which these additional benefits are realized during more fluent output
represents the nub of the trade-off debate.
The 4/3/2 activity was popularized by Nation (1989), who, in a small-scale exploratory study,
found that significant fluency gains were made, especially between the first and third iterations ofrepeated monologues. The methodology has been much improved upon since, although findings
have followed a broadly similar pattern; namely, that increased time pressure promotes more fluent
output with, at best, mixed results for accuracy and complexity. For example, Thai and Boers (2016)
compared a reduced-time condition with a straightforward repeated task condition. The authors
drew on many of the concepts and procedures outlined in Skehan (2009), with complexity, accuracy,
and fluency operationalized in similar ways and with the same distinctions made between temporal33

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and hesitation phenomena, as well as between syntactic and lexical complexity. Their analysis waseven more fine-grained, as the output was presented in terms of both raw and trimmed speech (thelatter referring to syllables per minute once filled pauses, repeated syllables, and false starts havebeen excluded), with differential rate of speech measures calculated. A further difference in Thai andBoers’ (2016) study was the adoption of the 2,000 most frequent words of English as the threshold for
lexical sophistication (Laufer, 2005). However, the most important modification was the inclusion ofa constant-time comparison group, to be compared with the shrinking-time condition. This inclusion
allowed the authors to assess the differential effects of reducing the time for each talk as opposed
to straightforward task repetition. It was clear from their results that the reduced-time (in this case
3/2/1) condition produced a much higher rate of speech than the consistent-time (2/2/2) condition.
Accuracy and complexity were largely unchanged in the former condition, while it increased in thelatter condition, although sometimes only slightly. The authors claimed that these results support theTrade-off Hypothesis, although this is questionable as accuracy and complexity did not fall by much,
if at all, in the reduced-time condition. I believe it would be more legitimate to say that accuracy andcomplexity simply did not improve as much as in the consistent-time condition.

Research Questions
The aims of the current study are twofold: first, to identify the relationship between theapparently competing elements of complexity, accuracy, and fluency; and second, to identify theeffects of task repetition. Regarding the former, it is essential to measure all three CAF components
during several stages of a task to observe any changes that could indicate the shifting allocationof attentional resources. Regarding the latter, if it is indeed the case that repeating key lexical andsyntactic patterns under time pressure drives fluency development, as de Jong and Perfetti (2011)
have claimed, it needs to be ascertained that time pressure is an essential element of this process. In
other words, it needs to be ruled out that repeating those structures without time pressure leads tosimilar outcomes. It is, therefore, necessary to include both a reduced-time condition and a consistenttime condition, as was the case in Thai and Boers’ (2016) study. This is the approach followed here,with an additional focus on hearing the participant’s views about experiencing the two conditions. The
research questions to be investigated are as follows:
1. Does increased time pressure promote fluency beyond simple task repetition?
2. To what extent do fluency outcomes relate to outcomes in complexity?
3. To what extent do fluency outcomes relate to outcomes in syntactic accuracy?

Participant
The participant was a 43-year-old Japanese female called Yuri (pseudonym). She obtained
a TOEIC score of 880 in 2012. As any score above 800 is typically considered in the advanced
proficiency range, this clearly identifies her as an advanced-level learner of English. She also has a
TOEIC speaking score of 140. Like most recently educated Japanese people, Yuri studied English
formally throughout junior high and high school. She then continued for a further 2 years at juniorcollege. Some years ago, she spent a year each living and working in Australia and Canada, which
she attributes as the main reason for her high level of English. She has not had as much exposure to
English recently, however, and feels both her fluency and confidence have suffered as a result. My
own impression was that Yuri’s spoken production had remained relatively fluent, although there

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THE EFFECTS OF TIME PRESSURE ON FLUENCY, COMPLEXITY, AND ACCURACY

were persistent issues with grammatical accuracy.

Procedures
Topic selection is of vital importance when using the 4/3/2 activity. If a topic is either unfamiliaror too demanding (whether linguistically or conceptually), learners are unlikely to make significant
gains in fluency. Three topics were selected for the current study, in consultation with the participant,although only two were used. Having an extra topic meant that Yuri could not be sure which topic
would be used during the recorded sessions, and also discouraged her from preparing or thinking
about the topic in advance.
The reduced-time condition was conducted in the first session, with the topic being “Using
Tokyo’s transport system with a small child.” Two question prompts were provided to stimulate ideas
and to ensure that she would have sufficient material to talk about. They were: “What is it like using
Tokyo’s transport system with a small child?” and “How would you like to change it?” Yuri talked
about this topic initially for 4 min, then 3 min, then again for 2 min. Ideally, a different interlocutor
would be present for each iteration of the talk to alleviate any pressure on the speaker to modify thecontent in order to maintain the interest of the listener. However, having explained the purpose of
the activity, I was satisfied that Yuri was aware of the need to try and repeat her monologue using
the same words, and that it was unnecessary to embellish the content for the listener’s benefit. I thenasked Yuri about her feelings regarding the activity; for example, whether she had enjoyed it, felt anypressure to speak faster, or consciously tried to improve the linguistic aspects her of delivery.
The consistent-time condition was conducted 3 days later, with the topic this time being “The way
to raise a bilingual child.” The two question prompts were: “How can a family raise a bilingual child?”and “What are the advantages and disadvantages of raising a bilingual child?” Once again, Yuri spoke
three times but on this occasion each iteration was 3 min in duration to provide a comparison with the
reduced-time condition. The purpose of the comparison was to isolate the effects of increasing timepressure from the effects of simple task repetition, although the total amount of speaking time was thesame in both conditions (9 min in total). For both topics, Yuri was allowed only 2 min of thinking time
before the first iteration of the talk, which I felt was sufficient to access topic-related knowledge.
Finally, a native speaker of English was recorded speaking for 3 min on the bilingualism topic.
The purpose of this was simply to provide an approximate baseline figure with which to compare
the NNS subject’s performance. It has been suggested that some measures of fluency, especially
hesitations and false starts, do not vary across L2 proficiency levels, including even very high levels(Baker-Smemoe, Dewey, Bown, & Martinsen, 2014). It would be of interest, therefore, to ascertain
whether this even applies to NSs. If so, it would suggest that these features are less an indication of alearner’s stage of development than a reflection of individual speech characteristics.
All the monologues (seven in total) were recorded, then processed using PRAAT speech analysis
software (Boersma & Weenink, 2013), and finally transcribed. The aim during transcription was togive the reader as authentic an impression as possible, therefore all false starts and repetitions (allmarked with a hyphen) have been included, along with non-verbal fillers (in italics) and extended
pauses (marked with an ellipsis). These transcriptions appear in full in Appendices A and B.

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Measuring Fluency
Taking rate of speech first, this is commonly determined by calculating the mean number ofsyllables per minute. This raw measure can then be refined by removing all filled pauses, repetitions,and false starts, thus leaving only meaningful syllables and allowing the rate of trimmed speech to be
calculated (Lennon, 1990). Only the trimmed measure is considered here as pauses, repetitions, andfalse starts are counted under breakdown and repair fluency, so to additionally include them in therate of speech measure would give them undue prominence overall.
Breakdown fluency relates to the number, duration, and placement of pauses (whether silent or
containing non-verbal fillers such as er and um) during speech, while repair fluency is concerned with
the number of false starts and repetitions. Regarding breakdowns, it needs to be decided how long a
non-verbal gap is before it is counted as a pause; in other words, at what point a pause becomes a signof dysfluency. This cut-off point has varied among researchers from between 200–400 ms (de Jong &Perfetti, 2011). I have adopted the upper limit of 400 ms in this study as, after listening to samples oflearner speech, I believe that a pause of less than 400 ms does not usually indicate a dysfluency and isoften nothing more than a pause for breath.

Measuring Complexity
Syntactic complexity is commonly measured in terms of the mean number of clauses per analysisof speech (AS) unit, reflecting the fact that avoiding a string of short, simple sentences is an importantfeature of L2 development. One AS unit consists of a main clause and any related subordinate orcoordinate clauses. For example, “He lived in Tokyo when he was a child” consists of a main clause(“He lived in Tokyo”) and a subordinate clause (“when he was a child”). It can be problematic when
considering coordinate clauses in spoken production, however, as conjunctions such as and or but
are often followed by extended pauses that suggest the ensuing phrase is not part of the preceding
unit, but instead marks a fresh conceptual start. In this study, I have followed the recommendationof Foster, Tonkyn, and Wigglesworth (2000), who have stated that coordinated phrases should becounted as part of the same AS unit unless the initial phrase is marked by rising or falling intonationand followed by a pause of half a second or more. These conditions were satisfied in the following
example, “some stations I couldn’t find any staff and I was just struggling,” which I therefore counted
as two clauses within one AS unit.
For lexical complexity, I used the approach (originally proposed by Laufer, 2005) of using the
2,000 most frequently used words in English as a cut-off point, thus offering an indication of thelearner’s lexical sophistication. Tom Cobb’s Lexical Tutor website (Cobb, n.d.) was used to track any
changes in lexical sophistication between the various iterations of the monologues.

Measuring Syntactic Accuracy
The final aspect of speech production to be considered is accuracy, which is also the simplest
to define in relation to target language norms. In CAF research, accuracy is commonly determinedby calculating the ratio of error-free clauses to the total number of clauses, and that is the measure
utilized here. It should be borne in mind, however, that while accurate production can indicate control
over language, it can also result from the avoidance of more challenging structures (Thai & Boers,2016).

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Results and Discussion
Tables 1 and 2 show how the speech performance results changed over the three iterations ofboth the 4/3/2 and 3/3/3 activities. This includes the three fluency measures (trimmed speech rate,
number of pauses, and number of false starts and repetitions), the two complexity measures (clauses
per AS unit and lexical sophistication) and the accuracy measure (ratio of error-free clauses). With
only one participant, conditions for the use of parametric statistics are not satisfied; consequently, theuse of descriptive statistics is appropriate in this case (Turner, 2014). The percentage change measurerefers to differences between the first and third iterations only, in order to assess the overall effect of
the activity. Table 2 includes the additional results of the NS performance as a footnote.
Table 1
Speech Performance During 4/3/2 Activity

Trimmed speech rate
Pauses
False starts and repetitions
Clauses per AS unit
Lexical sophistication
Error-free clause ratio

4 min

3 min

2 min

% change118.25
20.25
6.50
2.08
2.02
0.68

131.00
16.33
8.00
2.35
1.94
0.37

148.00
21.00
7.00
2.67
1.60
0.48

25.16
3.70
7.14
28.34
-20.79-29.41

1st

2nd

3rd

% change

102.00
21.33
4.00
2.94
5.45
0.76

104.67
18.67
6.33
3.01
4.72
0.67

118.33
20.33
8.67
3.29
3.87
0.54

16.01
-4.69
116.75
11.90-28.99-28.95

Table 2
Speech Performance During 3/3/3 Activity

Trimmed speech rate
Pauses
False starts and repetitions
Clauses per AS unit
Lexical sophistication
Error-free clause ratio

Note. NS results: trimmed speech rate = 190.67; pauses = 13.33; false starts and repetitions = 6.33; clauses
per AS unit = 3.33; lexical sophistication = 7.23; error-free clause ratio = 0.97

Fluency
The first research question was: Does increased time pressure promote fluency beyond simple task
repetition? In terms of pauses (consisting of silences and non-verbal fillers), there was very littlechange in either version of the activity. Regarding false starts and repetitions, there was little changeover the 4/3/2 activity, although a substantial increase was observed during the last iteration of
the 3/3/3 activity. This could suggest that the participant had actually become less fluent, although
it is interesting that the NS participant produced exactly the same number of such dysfluencies(6.33 per 100 words) as in the second iteration of the participant’s talk. This finding suggests that,to some extent, false starts and repetitions is a normal aspect of spontaneous speech. It also offerssome support to the findings of Baker-Smemoe, Dewey, Bown, and Martinsen (2014), who claimed
that these kinds of dysfluencies do not tend to vary across proficiency levels. Judging by the NS
performance, the number of false starts and repetitions produced by this advanced learner falls within37

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a normal range in both activities and was actually surprisingly low during the first iteration of the
3/3/3 activity.
The most noteworthy result is in terms of rate of speech, emphasized by the fact that speechrate (along with mean length of run) has been found to be the best predictor of overall fluency(Kormos, 2006). As mentioned previously, only the trimmed rate (minus false starts and repetitions)was measured in this study, to avoid duplicating the impact of the dysfluencies, and the results forthis measure are quite stark. Some increase (16.01%) took place during the 3/3/3 activity, whichis perhaps to be expected given that the content was repeated, although a much bigger increase(25.16%) took place over the course of the 4/3/2 activity. These findings are firmly in line with those ofThai and Boers (2016) and suggest that time pressure did indeed push the participant to speak fasterand produce more content than straightforward task repetition alone.
A personal impression, based on my experience of teaching and listening to learners of English,
was that the 2-min talk from the 4/3/2 activity sounded considerably more fluent than any other talkduring either version of the activity. However, some comments from Yuri herself can shed some lighton how she experienced the activities. Talking specifically about the 4/3/2 activity, she described
how she felt able to speak progressively more smoothly with each iteration:
The first [time] ... I was thinking what I should say and try to find the words I use. But second
time, because I kind of remember what I said, my mind was quite clear. And the third time, I felt
it’s maybe more comfortable.
She also commented that she tried to reduce the number of filled pauses she made: “First time I felt
like er, er, er, like that. But second time I tried not to do that and tried to speak smoothly, and thirdtime more smoothly.” According to the data, she was not successful in reducing the number of suchpauses, but the fact that she was aware of the need to do so suggests that she was consciously trying
to improve her fluency.
Furthermore, when asked to directly compare the two activities, Yuri alluded to the morechallenging nature of the reduced-time condition, hinting that pushing herself to speak faster was
indeed what drove the fluency gains that were witnessed: “[The 4/3/2] one’s more challenging,so it’s like quite exciting ‘I have to say quickly, I have to say quickly’ but [the 3/3/3] one’s not sochallenging, just trying to remember what I said.”

Complexity
The second research question was: To what extent do fluency outcomes relate to outcomes incomplexity? Regarding syntactic complexity, the mean ratio of clauses per AS unit increased in both
the reduced-time and the consistent-time conditions. In the former, a gain of 28.34% (see Table 1)
was observed, while in the latter the gain was a more modest 11.90% (see Table 2). This might seem
surprising at first glance and runs counter to the findings of Thai and Boers (2016), who found little
evidence to suggest that increasing time pressure promotes syntactic complexity. However, closer
analysis of the data in this study offers an explanation for the gains in syntactic complexity. In the
4/3/2 activity there are several examples of concepts being repeated but with ideas that were initiallyseparated by distinct pauses, and therefore forming separate AS units, being compressed into one
longer unit consisting of multiple clauses. For example, this is one utterance taken from the 2-minversion: “Or erm they can have the telephone or like a button to call the staff somewhere near there

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so er for the- the people who have the baby car much easier to call the staff.” Contrast that with thecorresponding comment from the original 4-min version: “... and- and also if there- there is the ... theerm like ph- phone or ... like talking button at the station ... where you need the- you need help fromthe staff, it’s much easier I thought...” Not only does the 2-min version seem more fluent, with fewer
repetitions and extended pauses, but the ideas have been tightened into one clear unit of speech.
By contrast, in the first iteration the ideas, although related, appear to be in the process of being
formulated and are produced separately, with clear gaps between them. This supports the idea thatfluency is promoted, at least in part, by the chunking of smaller units of language into larger ones
(Kormos, 2006).
A different pattern was observed with regard to lexical sophistication, however. In the reducedtime condition the number of words beyond the 2,000 most frequently used in English decreased fromonly 2.02 per 100 in the 4-min version down to an even smaller 1.60 in the 2-min version (see Table 1).
A similar trend was observed in the consistent-time condition (see Table 2), although the raw number
was inflated slightly by the use of the word bilingual, which was given in the title and the question
prompts, and therefore easily accessible. Interestingly, the NS data was very similar to Yuri’s in termsof syntactic complexity, although far higher in terms of lexical sophistication, reflecting the muchbroader mental lexicon available to L1 speakers (Nation, 2013).

Syntactic Accuracy
The third research question was: To what extent do fluency outcomes relate to outcomes in syntactic
accuracy? Just one measure was used for accuracy: the ratio of error-free clauses to the total numberof clauses produced. In this case there was a clear drop across both conditions. Accuracy fell by
29.41% in the reduced-time condition, although the 3-min iteration was actually the least accurate.
It is not clear why such a U-shaped tendency should be evident, although Yuri’s comment (above)
about finding the reduced-time condition more challenging could explain the large drop in accuracy
between the four and 3-min iterations.
The consistent-time condition saw a similar overall drop in accuracy of 28.95, albeit with a gradualdecline across the three iterations. A decrease in the former condition could be seen as consistent
with the Trade-off Hypothesis, although it is not clear why a drop should also occur during theconsistent-time condition, with no pressure to speak faster. These results differ from those of Thaiand Boers (2016), who found almost no difference in accuracy across the reduced-time condition and,in fact, a marked improvement across the consistent-time condition. The accuracy data in this study
should be interpreted with caution, however, as the errors that Yuri made tended to be very minor,
generally relating to articles or prepositions, and not of the sort that would cause comprehensiondifficulties for listeners. Additionally, it would be interesting to see what kinds of errors are madeby lower proficiency speakers during such an activity, and whether they are more disruptive tocomprehension.

Conclusion
The data presented here suggest that repeating a monologue in a reduced-time condition does
indeed drive fluency gains, at least in terms of rate of speech, over and above those produced in astraightforward consistent-time condition. Similar results have been found among learners of various
proficiency levels and L1s (e.g., Boers, 2014; Thai & Boers, 2016). In this case the findings applied to39

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an advanced-level learner who could already speak English relatively fluently. In pedagogical terms,
this finding implies that even advanced learners can benefit from fluency development activities. It
would, of course, be interesting to observe whether such gains are held over the longer term, as shortterm gains could simply be the result of priming effects (de Jong & Perfetti, 2011). A longitudinal
aspect was beyond the scope of the current study, although de Jong and Perfetti (2011) did reportthat 4/3/2 fluency gains were maintained on a delayed posttest, which they considered evidence ofproceduralization.
Lexical complexity and syntactic accuracy declined during the reduced-time condition, which
offers some support to the Trade-off Hypothesis and the claim that the push to speak faster leads to aloss of control over other aspects of speech production. However, the fact that this pattern extended
to the consistent-time condition was surprising, although Yuri’s comment that she saw this activity
as less of a challenge could suggest that she was less focused on improving her performance than in
the reduced-time condition. The speech rate gains were matched by gains in syntactic complexity,
however, and while this too might seem surprising, I believe it can be explained by chunking theories
of language, as individual clauses were formed into larger conceptual units (Kormos, 2006). If true,
this suggests a positive link could exist between fluency and syntactic complexity, as clauses that
initially seem distinct are tightened into one AS unit when the rate of speech increases.
As it involves only one advanced learner of English there are obvious limitations to the current
study and it would be beneficial to conduct further, longitudinal research with learners of otherproficiency levels. The use of independent raters to give subjective fluency ratings after each iteration
would also be of benefit, since the impression made on listeners is an important aspect of speech
production and one which cannot be captured by raw data alone. Nevertheless, this study contributes
to the growing body of research suggesting that repeated speech activities, incorporating an elementof time pressure, are a useful way of developing spoken fluency.

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Appendix A
4/3/2 Activity
Four-Minute Iteration
You know the- the um the Tokyo transportation system, the train system is really complicated andeven though I’ve been in Japan for years I need to see the maps to travel around Tokyo train ... and... I found it’s more difficult to travel around in Tokyo using the ... trains with a small baby, especiallywith a baby car ... cos erm ... some stations has- have lift but some stations don’t so especially when
you transfer from one station to the other stations, oh no, one- one- erm one line to the other line, er
sometimes you find the lift all the way to the- the other platform but sometimes you find a lift to justthe middle of the changing route, and then no lift after that and- and then sometimes you have to justgo up the stairs, and ... I found the difficulties couple of times and ... the new stations has- have more
new facilities of course, so it’s easier to travel around but sometimes you have to use the old stations as
well, and when- when I travelled before ... with those old stations, I had to ask the- the station staff tocarry the ... baby car with me, but some stations I couldn’t find any- any staff, and I was just struggling
and I- I couldn’t move from the er under the stairs and eventually some ... people offered me to help but
until get the- the help you can’t actually move, especially if you’re child- children sleeping in the baby
car it’s more difficult. And I- I thought if you er if they ... they have the notes say like to change to thisline you can use the lift until here or- or you can just say er they- they can just say no lift here like thatit’s- it’s much easier I thought and if you can get the information from int- maybe you can get in- getinformation from the internet but I- I don’t know how to check that, so it’s- it’s more- it’s complicated... and- and also if there- there is the ... the erm like ph- phone or ... like talking button at the station ...
where you need the- you need help from the staff it’s much easier I thought, cos otherwise you justhave to wait someone offer you to help. Of course it’s difficult to have erm make lifts all the stations
now cos er most of the stations are quite old but so- still at least they can- they could help us with using
the notes, I hope.

Three-Minute Iteration
You know the- the Tokyo’s the train system is really complicated. Even though I’ve been in Japan foryears I need to look at the map when I go somewhere around in Tokyo, cos from the me- metro to JRor er ... private line to metro so complicated. And I found more difficulties to travel around with a smallchild, especially with a baby car. When I tried to go out travel in Tokyo, um some point I couldn’t findthe lift, and ... um ... some- some station has- have lift all the way thro- all the way to the- the other line,
but some station don’t have the lift cos they’re- they’re old stations ... and some places have a lift until
the middle of the changing route ... and no lift after that, and just stairs or the escalators. I- I had to
wait for- I have to ask- I had to ask the staff to help me to carry the baby car go up the s- stairs before,
and then if- if I couldn’t find a staff I had to wait until someone’s help me ... and some ... I- I knowsome stations can’t have lift because they’re er really old stations, but I hope the- the station have thenotes to say you- you have the- you can use the lift from this line to this line, or er or you can ... use
the lift until here and after that no lift or li- something like that. Maybe you can check that information
through internet but I don’t know how to use- how to check that, so m- maybe it’s difficult for quite a
lot of people to find out information. A- Also erm if there is er the telephone or ... or bell to call the staff
er near the lift or near the stairs or escalators that’s much better because we can ask help- for help, but
i- if- if you can’t find anyone just- you just have to wait- stand there until y- someone offers you to help,

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THE EFFECTS OF TIME PRESSURE ON FLUENCY, COMPLEXITY, AND ACCURACY

especially your ch- child, children as- asleep in the baby car, really can’t do anything, just standing
there, um...

Two-Minute Iteration
You know the Tokyo’s er train system is really complicated. Even though I’ve been in Japan for years I
still need to look at the train map when I travel around in Tokyo. And I found more difficulties to travel
around Tokyo with a small child, especially with a bu- er baby car, cos um some station have lift fromone line to the other line, but some station don’t have the lift, or just- or have a lift from er the line- theplatform to the middle of the ch- um changing route, and then no lift after that. Sometimes you haveto use the stairs or escalators. And with- with a baby car you can’t- of- of course you can’t just go up ers- stairs by yourself. And I have to- I had to ask the train- er station staff to help me before. And if you
can’t find a staff you just have to wait there, and then someone might offer you to help. I hope the- thetrain station will have the notes saying er this station doesn’t have a lift from here to the- the other line
or like y- there is a lift until here but no lift after that, or like that. Or erm they can have the telephone
or like a button to call the staff somewhere near there so er for the- the people who have the baby car
much easier to call the staff. Otherwise you just have to wait standing and th- just stairs until someone
offers you. Especially the- if your child is...

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Appendix B
3/3/3 Activity
First Iteration
To raise a bilingual child, I think it’s- er, erm input is very important when they are early stage. Um, if
they ... hear a lot of language ... they get input and when they have the time becoming speaking theycan ... er they can use the words they already heard when they were younger. For example, I raise mychild as a bilingual, em ... I try to speak English to my daughter and ... my daughter speaks Japaneseand English now em, er what I tried to do was try to ... er speak English and also try to make her watch
English television. If there are subtitle in English I normally change to English, and then the- the very
important thing is er to make her think it’s natural to hear English, cos if I make her- if- if I make her
think she has to learn English she probably refuse it. And I think disadvantage of raising a ... childas a bilingual is when they were- when they are young they probably feel they’re different from theothers. For example, my daughter w- mi- will- might er will feel why she speaks English ... but not theothers cos she’s gonna go to the Japanese school. So I think er that stage probably will be a difficult
time but in the future bilingual will be the advantage of them- for them. They can communicate wither the people from many countries and there- there are more er, erm there are more jobs they can get
and ... I think erm there- there- they can see more things if they are bilingual erm.

Second Iteration
To raise a bilingual child, I think it’s er important to input the language to the child when they werereally ... early stage. For example, I have a daughter and I try to raise her a bilingual in er English andJapanese bilingual and then I try to input her a lot of ... English when they were little- er w- when she
was little and I tr- um ... I tried to make her watch English TVs and then I tried to speak English to
her at home. So now she’s four and she can speak English and Japanese ... and also it’s very important
thing is erm make her think hearing English is natural thing ... and er w- whenever there are theprogram er s- English and Japanese I usually change to English subtitles er so sub- English and ... um... the- I think the disadvantage of erm being a bilingual is when they were young they probably feelthey’re different from the others. For example, my daughter might feel w- why I’m speaking English
but not the others ... but then when they become older it will be- the bilingual will be the advantage
because er they can ... sp- er they can er make- they can speak to the- the people from many countries
and there are more job- jobs erm using English and Japanese erm ... erm serm but to get to the stage it
might be- er she mi- the bilingual child might have a difficult to- difficult times ... erm ... but to- as I said
before it’s really important to make them feel it’s natural thing to ... speak ... English and Japanese athome or- or whenever so I- I- I’m trying to do that now.

Third Iteration
To raise a bilingual child, I think it’s very important to input the language to children when they wereyoung- ... young age and hearing a l- lot of lang- that language make them er speak naturally fasteras well. For example, I have a daughter and I raise my daughter as a bilingual English and Japanesebilingual and I- er when she was little I tried to input a lot of English using TV and als- by also I s- I tried
to speak English to her at home and ... I tried to er make her watch TV in English if they- the program
has English and Japanese I u- usually choose English but the important thing was er to make her think
the er he- hearing English is natural thing so once she he- hears the- hears Japanese she- she say w-

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THE EFFECTS OF TIME PRESSURE ON FLUENCY, COMPLEXITY, AND ACCURACY

why can’t I- can’t why watch in Japanese so I ... try to make her watch in English natural way. Erm I
think erm the disva- disadvantage of being a bilingual child is er maybe when they- when they wereyoung they probably have the- the feeling they’re different from the others and they might think er
why do I speak English but not the other- er but the other ones not speaking English and they- theywanna be the same as the others, so they might have the hard time when they were young stage butin the future when they’re getting- when they get older they- they think that’s the bi- bi- being bilingualis advantage cos they can er speak to many people from the other countries and also they can er, erm
they have more there- there are more jobs to apply for if they are bilingual so erm ... the- for parents
and for children maybe th- when children young it’s- it might have the difficult times but it’s erm it’s I
think it’s- it’s erm for the future it’s really good to be a bilingual.

45

【Research Article】

Reconceptualizing CLIL From Transformative Pedagogy
Perspective: Pilot Debate Study in English Language Curriculum
Ryo Nitta & Yuka Yamamoto
Abstract
This paper explores how Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) can be implemented in an English
language curriculum at a Japanese university by taking the perspective of transformative pedagogy. Drawing on
the 4C (Content, Communication, Cognition, and Culture) framework, we present a pilot debate class as one caseexample of a language-led course within our English language curriculum. Based on our understanding of CLIL
pedagogy and our preliminary analysis of collected data obtained from the debate class, we argue that CLIL can be
exercised in such a debate course as an integrated whole by closely interrelating the 4Cs, with Culture playing an
integrative role in the framework. In the above example, students were engaged in speaking English in appropriate
ways, thinking critically, presenting their ideas in a clear and persuasive manner, and taking the perspectives ofotherness. All these processes would contribute to transformative pedagogy through raising students’ awareness ofsocial complexities and transforming their identities.
Keywords: C
 LIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), debate, 4Cs (Content, Communication, Cognition, andCulture), second language acquisition (SLA), transformative pedagogy

Introduction
The aim of this paper is to explore how Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)
can be implemented in an English language curriculum at a university by taking the perspective oftransformative pedagogy. The authors of this paper spent their school years in the same period—the1980s and 90s—but in different sociocultural contexts and contrasting English learning experiences.
The first author, Ryo, went to a conventional secondary school in Japan where classes were given ina didactic manner with an emphasis on gaining a large amount of academic knowledge to prepare
for university entrance exams. In this form of traditional pedagogy, characterized by “transmissionof information and skills” (Cummins, 2004, p. 109), English teachers gave explicit instruction on
grammatical structures and reading practice “with little emphasis on internalization of meaningor active communicative/authentic use of the language” (Cummins, 2004, p. 109). The second
author, Yuka, went to an international school in Singapore where active student participation andcollaboration were emphasized. This form of instruction, called social-constructivist, primarily aims
to develop higher-order thinking skills through being engaged in projects and activities. In doingso, “[s]tudents’ prior knowledge is systematically activated, and they are encouraged to bring theirexperience or cognitive schemata to bear on solving problems” (Cummins, 2004, p. 110).
Although these two types of pedagogy are still dominant in many schools worldwide, anotherperspective, what Cummins (2004) calls transformative pedagogy, has emerged at the turn of the
21st century. This pedagogical perspective involves common characteristics of social-constructivist
instruction but with different orientations. That is, whereas the first two forms have been primarily
instructional-oriented, the focus of transformative pedagogy is on social and identity-investment
dimensions—enabling students to analyze and understand the social realities of their own lives andof their communities through collaborative critical inquiry (Cummins, 2004). Cummins (2004) argues

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that “[s]tudents discuss, and frequently act on, ways in which these realities might be transformed
through various forms of social action” (p. 111).
Although the importance of transformative pedagogy has been widely recognized (cf., ‘Key
Competences’ [OECD] and the ‘21st Century Skills’ [P21]), this perspective has not been fully
practiced in educational contexts. In our view, the ideals of transformative pedagogy could be more
usefully embedded in an English language curriculum by using an educational model, CLIL, inparticular exercising its 4C—Content, Communication, Cognition, and Culture—framework. In what
follows, we first define CLIL and discuss how content and language are organically integrated byusing the 4Cs. We then consider how the 4C framework can be implemented to an English language
curriculum at a university by illustrating a case example of a pilot debate class in our institution.

Theoretical BackgroundDefining CLIL
To conceptualize what is involved in CLIL pedagogy, we first consider a general widely accepted
definition by Coyle, Hood, and Marsh (2010):
Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is a dual-focused educational approach inwhich an additional language is used for the learning and teaching of both content and language.
(p. 1)As this definition states, CLIL regards the second language (L2) as an additional language in thatfirst language (L1) acquisition is prioritized and opportunities of their L2 use is very limited beyond
the classroom context. Differing from the other content-based instructions, such as immersion andEnglish medium instruction (EMI), CLIL aims not to replace the L1 but to enlarge students’ linguistic
repertoire of bi-multilinguals (Dalton-Puffer, 2017). This perspective can be compatible with the multicompetence view (Cook & Wei, 2016) in second language acquisition (SLA), assuming that the L1
always interacts with the L2 in mind, the L1 is a basis for self-regulation and learning, and L2 learning
is “in essence a project of becoming bi/multilingual, multicompetent, and transcultural” (Ortega,
2015, p. 108).
This definition also states that CLIL gives attention both to content and language, assumingthat varied forms of instruction can be designed as a continuum from the language-led to contentled poles. What ‘content’ means in CLIL depends on the learning context, ranging from traditional
school curriculums, such as geography and biology, to project-based curriculums involving certain
topics, such as the Olympic Games and global warming (Coyle et al., 2010). The more languageled form is termed ‘soft CLIL’ to describe the broad linguistic aims, while the more content-led,referred to as ‘hard CLIL,’ includes subject-based aims and objectives (Ball, Kelly, & Clegg, 2015).
What is particularly significant in this dual-focused orientation is that both language and content are“interwoven, even if the emphasis is greater on one or the other at a given time” (Coyle et al., 2010, p.
1). The integration of content and language is further discussed later in this paper.
Other significant characteristics of CLIL, though not explicitly stated in the above definition,
are flexibility and inclusiveness, as CLIL is often referred as an umbrella term. This attitude mightcome from its European origin—a group of pioneers advocated alternative terminology to accountfor pedagogies emerging from “diverse origins and varied purposes of different bilingual programs48

RECONCEPTUALIZING CLIL FROM TRANSFORMATIVE PEDAGOGY PERSPECTIVE

throughout Europe” (Coyle, 2007, p. 545). To construct a common framework incorporating the richand diverse political and sociolinguistic settings, CLIL takes a pragmatic and realist position by adopting
a wide range of different SLA theories and language teaching methodologies, so that teachers are able
to devise the optimal method of teaching in their own local contexts. Whereas this ‘transferability’(Coyle et al., 2010) is advantageous in that CLIL can be adaptable to a wide range of classroom context,
this flexible and inclusive orientation could also be regarded as a lack of coherence in CLIL pedagogy(Coyle, 2007), that is, there is a danger to obscure how CLIL differs from non-CLIL pedagogies.

Integrating Content and Language/Communication
As mentioned thus far, the general CLIL definition states its overall characteristics andorientations but also connotes its potential weakness. That is, because of its broad scope, it isless clear in what ways CLIL is distinguishable from the other language teaching methodologies.
Towards a more principled—theoretically rigorous and practically transparent—pedagogy, Coyle etal. (2010) proposed four components—Content (subject matter), Communication (language learningand using), Cognition (learning and thinking processes), and Culture (developing intercultural
understanding and global citizenship)—to construct a curriculum as an ‘integrated whole’ by making
these four components closely interrelated.
The first two Cs, Content and Communication (or language), are “more than just a combinationof two elements: real fusion asks for an understanding of the characteristics and interplay of both,and of the potential aims, processes and outcomes of the fused context” (de Graaff, 2016, p. xiii). The
importance of integrating content (or, more generally, meaning) and language/communication canbe supported by various theories proposed and elaborated in the area of SLA. First and foremost, CLIL
is content-driven, so the linguistic needs “will be generated from the specific needs of the particularsubjects taught” (Georgiou, 2012, p. 499). This ‘meaning-then-form’ principle has been emphasized
by focus on form—“an occasional shift of attention to linguistic code features—by the teacher and/or
one or more students—triggered by perceived problems with comprehension or production” (Long& Robinson, 1998, p. 23). Second, content matter could serve as comprehensible input (Krashen, 1985)
when engineered to adjust an optimal—just beyond their current L2 competence—level to learners.
Content matter also serves as context for authentic and meaningful communication, with a view todeveloping learners’ communicative competence through negotiation of meaning (Long, 1996). This
communicative necessity makes CLIL differ from other language teaching methodologies based on
traditional pedagogy; that is, CLIL learners are encouraged to “use L2 as they learn it rather thanspending years’ rehearsing in a language class for a possible opportunity to use L2 some time in the
future” (Georgiou, 2012, p. 496). Under such communicative condition, CLIL learners are expected tostretch their L2 competence by being engaged in various output functions such as noticing linguisticfeatures and metalinguistic awareness (Swain, 1995).
Based on our understanding of Content and Communication integration in CLIL pedagogy, it isuseful to refer to the scale of language and content proposed by van Lier in which learners are able
to develop their L2 in a stepwise manner over years of study according to the progress of their L2
proficiency (Figure 1). With this scale, learners’ opportunities to receive academic content matter are“systematically ‘phased in’ over time, with the number of hours of L2 content instruction increasing
with grade level” (Brinton & Snow, 2017, p. 11). Following the steps from more language-led (Point A)
to more content-led (Point B) courses, content and language aspects are increasingly integrated as awhole within individuals.

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Figure 1. van Lier’s scale of language and content (reprinted from Brinton & Snow, 2017, p. 8)

Integrating Cognition in English Language Curriculum
As stated above, CLIL pedagogy shares common characteristics with other language teaching
methodologies in terms of content-language integration. What makes CLIL distinguishable fromthese SLA-driven methodologies might be its explicit focus on learners’ cognitive development, thatis closely aligned with content and language learning. To consider “how to actively involve learners
to enable them to think through and articulate their own learning” (Coyle et al., 2010, p. 29), a usefulframework is Bloom’s (1956) revised taxonomy (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001). This model consistsof six cognitive and four knowledge dimensions; the linkage of thinking to knowledge construction
underlines the integration of content and cognition (Coyle et al., 2010; Figure 2). This taxonomy helps
teachers consider which cognitive processes and knowledge to focus on in their teaching.
Cognitive Dimensions

CreateEvaluate
Analyze
Apply
Understanding
RememberKnowledge Dimensions
Factual knowledge
Conceptual knowledge
Procedural knowledge
Metacognitive knowledge

50

Higher-Order
Thinking Skills (HOTS)

Lower-Order
Thinking Skills (LOTS)

RECONCEPTUALIZING CLIL FROM TRANSFORMATIVE PEDAGOGY PERSPECTIVE

Cognitive Dimensions
1. Remember

Recognizing, recalling

2. Understanding

Interpreting, exemplifying, classifying, summarizing, inferring, comparing,
explaining

3. Apply

Executing, implementing

4. Analyze

Differentiating, organizing, attributing

5. Evaluate

Checking, critiquing

6. Create

Generating, planning, producing

Knowledge Dimensions
A. Factual knowledge

Knowledge of terminology, knowledge of specific details and elements

B. Conceptual knowledge

Knowledge of classifications and categories, knowledge of principles andgeneralizations, knowledge of theories, models, and structures

C. Procedural knowledge

Knowledge of subject-specific skills and algorithms, knowledge of subject-specifictechniques and methods, knowledge of criteria for determining when to use
appropriate procedures

D. Metacognitive knowledge Strategic knowledge, knowledge about cognitive tasks, including appropriate
contextual and conditional knowledge, self-knowledge
Figure 2. Bloom’s revised taxonomy (based on Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001, pp. 29–31)

The integration of Content and Cognition is also inseparable from dimensions of language
or Communication. Conceptually and cognitively demanding content is likely to require complex
and advanced use of language, so it would be necessary to provide a “cognitively challenged yet
linguistically supported” (Coyle et al., 2010, p. 43) condition in the CLIL classroom. To clarify thelink between language and Cognition, it is useful to note the distinction between academic language
proficiency and conversational fluency (Cummins & Man, 2007); the former concerns “the ability
to interpret and produce increasingly complex written and oral language” (p. 801), and the latter
concerns “the ability to carry on a conversation in familiar face-to-face situations” (p. 799). Because“each dimension of proficiency follows different developmental paths among both first and second
language students” (Cummins & Man, 2007, p. 799), teachers and curriculum designers have toconsider how the dimensions of language proficiency (i.e., either academic, conversational, or both)are closely linked to lesson content. In courses on developing academic language proficiency, forexample, learners are required to understand linguistically and conceptually demanding texts anduse low-frequency academic vocabulary and complex structures, which are hardly used in everyday
conversation (Cummins & Man, 2007).
Although development of academic language proficiency is one significant objective in CLIL
pedagogy (Dalton-Puffer, 2007), it would also be necessary to offer opportunities to develop
conversational fluency because, in courses teaching academic subject matter (i.e., hard CLIL),
learners have very limited opportunities to practice communicating their ideas about what they arelearning. If the curriculum predominantly is academic oriented and “limits the opportunities forlearners to talk more informally, it risks reducing their opportunities for language practice” (Ball et al.,2015, p. 100). The necessity of conversational fluency could be acknowledged by social-constructivist
pedagogy, in which learners are likely to develop cognitive skills through active participation in theirown learning experiences and close collaboration with experts and peers (cf., Vygotsky’s concept ofzone of proximal development). In a language learning context, Watanabe and Swain (2007) reported
the benefit of collaborative work for L2 learning among different levels of proficiency based on theirobservation that social mediation comes not only from an expert but also from less proficient peers.

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From the social-constructivist perspective, teachers have to offer scaffolding to maintain an optimal“balance between cognitive challenge for learners and appropriate and decreasing support as learners
progress” (Coyle et al., 2010, p. 29).
To construct a balanced curriculum to develop both academic language proficiency andconversational fluency, it is useful to refer back to van Lier’s scale of language and content (Figure 1).
Learners are able to start from more language-led courses, in which practicing conversational fluency
is also emphasized, to more content-led courses to develop academic language proficiency as they
progress within the curriculum.

Integrating Culture in English Language Curriculum: Toward Transformative Pedagogy
Finally, we turn to the fourth ‘C’—how culture can be included or integrated into the English
curriculum. As a necessary step to cultural integration, we consider what is meant by culture in the
CLIL pedagogy. A narrower definition of culture is often taught in language classrooms as “the fourFs”—“food, fairs, folklore, and statistical facts” (Kramsch, 1991, p. 218). However, culture can be
more broadly regarded as “far more than a mere catalogue of rituals and beliefs” (Rosaldo, 1984,
cited in Hinkel, 1999, p. 1) but rather as “a thread which weaves its way throughout any topic ortheme” (Coyle et al., 2010, p. 54). In the CLIL context, understanding others and experiencing otherculture are an important part of self- or identity-construction because “culture determines the way weinterpret the world and … we use language to express this interpretation” (Coyle et al., 2010, p. 390).
By taking the perspective of otherness, “learners can have experiences which they could not have
had in a monolingual setting … [and] which are fundamental to a deeper understanding of global
citizenship” (Coyle et al., 2010, p. 390).
In relation to self-constructive roles of culture, it would be meaningful to refer to interculturalcompetence that combines “language skills with knowledge, skills and attitudes that help learners
become ‘intercultural citizens’” (Byram & Wagner, 2017, p. 141). Byram and Wagner (2017) further
argue that “intercultural competence makes learners able to engage in intercultural communication
to think and act critically and to negotiate the complexities of today’s world” (p. 141). This
conceptualization of intercultural competence implies the close connections between Content,Communication, and Cognition through Culture—learners will develop intercultural competencein the language classroom through understating other cultures (Content), communicating withothers (Communication), and learning critical thinking skills (Cognition), all of which contribute todeveloping competency to negotiate and solve complex social problems (Culture).
Focusing on intercultural competence in language classrooms can be associated with theobjective of transformative pedagogy, in which learners are encouraged to analyze and understandthe social realities of their own lives and of their communities through collaborative critical inquiry(Cummins, 2004). Cummins (2004) also argues that if the content of teaching is sufficiently
interesting and relevant to learners, then they are likely to invest their identity. This process ofidentity investment is indispensable for maintenance of cognitive and academic engagement andserves as an opportunity to make learners transform themselves and equip them with the ability tounderstand the social realities in critical manners.
As discussed thus far, and taking the perspective of transformative pedagogy, the concept ofintercultural competence involves the integrative roles of Culture within the 4C framework. As
illustrated in Figure 3, we reconceptualize the 4C framework; each C is not positioned side-byside, but Culture is given a superordinate role of integrating the other Cs. In other words, Content,

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RECONCEPTUALIZING CLIL FROM TRANSFORMATIVE PEDAGOGY PERSPECTIVE

CultureContent

Communication

Cognition

Figure 3. Reconceptualizing 4C framework

Communication, and Cognition are closely interrelated, being synthesized as an integrated whole by
Culture.

Implementing 4C-Based English Language Curriculum:
Case of Debate Course
Based on our understanding of CLIL pedagogy and reconceptualization of the 4C framework, we
designed and implemented a pilot English debate curriculum. In the following sections, we describe
the background of our CLIL curriculum then explain how the debate course is conceptualized andpracticed within this curriculum by referring to some of our data collected from participating students
and the instructor.

Background
Before explaining the debate course in some detail, we give the background about designing
the new English language program including the debate course because there was a strong need ofcurriculum reform that came both from in and outside the university at an institutional level.

Needs From Outside University
With the introduction of the new Course of Study Guidelines by the Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports and Technology (MEXT), from 2020, English will be shifting from a ‘foreign language
activity’ (gaikokugo katsudou) to an official subject for fifth and sixth grade students. They will bereceiving a total of 70 class hours per year (about two classes per week) as a subject and 35 hours(about once a week) as a ‘foreign language activity’ for third and fourth grades. In total, students will
be receiving 210 class hours during their elementary school years. Previously, students had received
English instructions for only a total of 70 hours during their ‘foreign language activity,’ which meansthat the number of English hours that students are exposed to has nearly tripled.
Due to the drastic changes in early education, there was a strong need of curriculum reform tomeet our prospective students’ needs in higher education. Students will likely be more exposed tocommunicative (productive) skills from early education, requiring cognitively more demanding tasks
at university level. To meet these demands, we decided to reform the first year mandatory English
curriculum by implementing a debate course and reducing the discussion class from two to one

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semester. The aims with this course are to understand the nature and structures of debate in English,
develop critical thinking skills by analyzing and formulating arguments on issues from multiple
perspectives, and learn how to respond to questions through the development of research skills.

Needs From Inside University
In addition to and along with the change in early education, there has been an increasing demand
to change the quality of English language teaching—for what content and how English should betaught—at higher education. In 2014, Rikkyo University was selected for government funding fromthe Top Global University Project (Type B: Global Traction Type). The fund was meant to financially
support universities to play a leading role in facilitating the global competitiveness of higher educationin Japan. The university was selected for its concept under the title “global liberal arts educationx leadership education x self-transformation.” This involves (a) curriculum reform, (b) student
consciousness reform, and (c) governance reform (Rikkyo, n.d.).
Part of this curriculum reform is to provide students an environment to develop their global
perspectives within and outside Japan. Students are given opportunities to go overseas such as via
summer programs and internship programs, and by 2024, the university expects 100% of students tohave overseas experience (Rikkyo, n.d.). While encouraging students to go overseas, the university
is also promoting internationalization on campuses and has set the goal to increase the number ofinternational students to 2,000 by 2024 (Rikkyo, n.d.).
To better prepare students to be sent overseas and accept more international students on
campus, there is an increasing number of courses offered in English by introducing more EMI
courses. To make the transition smoother from the English language program to their EMI courses
offered by each department, we decided to offer a CLIL program involving mandatory courses forfirst year and elective classes for second to fourth year students. The overall framework of English
curriculum reform largely follows van Lier’s scale of language and content (see Figure 1). The
English curriculum gradually shifts from language-led, general academic skills (i.e., discussion,presentation, reading, and writing skills) to content-led courses as their L2 proficiency progresses(i.e., CLIL courses). In the mandatory courses, English discussion is aimed at developing students’2nd–4th year
Elective courses

English Discussion
English Debate

EMI courses

Reading & Writing

CLIL courses
Humanities

Presentation

Social Science
Natural Sciencee-learning

Soft CLIL

Hard CLIL

Figure 4. Four-year curriculum framework (adapted from Rikkyo HP)

54

Global Citizens

English Placement Test (4 Skills)

1st year
Mandatory courses

RECONCEPTUALIZING CLIL FROM TRANSFORMATIVE PEDAGOGY PERSPECTIVE

conversational fluency as well as academic language proficiency. The CLIL courses for second andthird year students are categorized into mainly three fields: humanities, social science, and naturalscience. Figure 4 shows the vision of students learning during the four years of their degree program.

Theorizing Debate Course From 4C Framework
Although the first-year courses focus more on the language dimension, content is interwoven
within the entire curriculum. Thus, the underlining principle of CLIL pedagogy is also embedded indesigning the pilot debate course. This section explains how the four core Cs (Coyle, 2007; Coyle etal., 2010) are designed and organically integrated into the curriculum. As presented below, the 4Cs
are not mutually exclusive but closely interrelated and complement each other.

Content (Subject Matter)
Regarding content or subject matter in this debate course, a new theme was introduced to theclass every other week. This included academic themes such as education, environment, business,
technology, and gender (Figure 5). These were popular and relevant for university students
worldwide, which we believed would likely to promote debatable issues.
Content

Debate & Discussion Skills

1

Introduction to the course

Review discussion skills

2

Education 1

Introduction of debate skills
Stating propositions 1; Constructing arguments 1

3

Education 2

Refuting and rebutting 1

4

Environment 1

Taking notes while listening 1; Evaluating a debate 1

5

Environment 2
Debate 1

Review

6

Business 1

Stating propositions 2

7

Business 2

Constructing arguments 2

8Technology 1

Refuting and rebutting 2

9Technology 2
Debate 2

Review

10 Gender 1

Evaluating a debate 2

11 Gender 2
Preparing for the final debate

Review

12 Final Debate 1
13 Final Debate 2
14 Wrap up; Reflection
Figure 5. Pilot debate course syllabus

To help build their background knowledge of the theme, every week students were assigned
reading texts for homework. Figure 6 gives an example of reading texts about technology for
Weeks 8–9. The text included statistical data, facts, and examples related to the theme. Based on
the information, students were also assigned to come up with a list of possible propositions to be
used during the debate to be conducted the following week. By allowing students to generate thepropositions on their own, this ensured their involvement by working on the topic that they areinterested in pursuing in more depth.

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Data•	In 2018, 15% of enterprises used artificial intelligence (AI) and by 2019 it was expected to be 31% ofenterprises.
•	South Korea’s automotive industry has 2,435 industrial robots for every 10,000 employees.
•	By 2021, the AI healthcare market is projected to be at $6.6 billion. For the US healthcare economy, AI
could create $150 billion in annual savings by 2026.
•	3D printing is a technology that was created in 1984 but it has recently become more popular in healthcare.
In 2017, the healthcare 3D printing marketing was $578 million, and it is expected to increase.
• 	In 2018, the National Police Agency reported the number of accidents causing death by elderly drivers inJapan rose to 460 or was up 10% from 2017. The cause of 136 of the accidents was not using the brakeor steering wheel properly.
Facts / Examples•	AI technology is reducing the amount of time for administrative tasks in education, streamlining work inhealthcare and cutting overhead costs in manufacturing.
•	Convenience stores, such as 7-Eleven, are using self-checkout registers to deal with the shortage ofworkers. These registers can check the prices of the goods even without taking them out of the basket.
There are even some chains that are thinking about being completely automated with no human workers.
•	Japan, China, America, South Korea, and Germany are the world leaders in the industrial robot market.
•	3D printing could be used as an alternative for human transplants such as organs and personalized
prosthetics or limbs.
Figure 6. Example of debate reading assignment: Technology (Yamamoto, Arthurson, Beck, Fearn-Wannan,
Garside, Kita, Sturges, & Vaughan, 2020, p. 67)

The instructor’s role was to mainly guide the students through the research phase such as
facilitating them to discover elements of an issue that needed further attention. At each stage ofpreparation, the instructor tried to make students be the decision makers and made them share theirideas with the class to create new understanding of the content.
At the end of each official debate session, students reflected on their own performance by fillingout an online questionnaire in English. None of the responses were modified and adapted. The resultsof the student questionnaire revealed that students not only raised their linguistic competence andconfidence but also their awareness of the theme. One student reported that “the themes generated
my awareness of the current social issues” (Excerpt 1). Another student reported that “the debate
made me think about the topic deeply” (Excerpt 2).

Communication (Language Learning and Using)
Debate was used as a pedagogical tool for “learning to use language and using language to learn”(Coyle et al., 2010, p. 54). English was used to introduce the content of the themes as well as fostering
their communication, research, and critical thinking skills. During the first few weeks of class, theteacher introduced the following points:• The purpose of conducting a debate•	Technical terms (e.g., proposition, affirmative and negative teams, and rebuttal) related todebate• How to generate propositions•	How to give support for reasons using four types of evidence: example, common sense, expert
opinions, and statistics (Lubetsky, LeBeau, & Harrington, 2000)• Steps in formulating rebuttals• Outline on the structure and timeline for each debate (Figure 7)

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RECONCEPTUALIZING CLIL FROM TRANSFORMATIVE PEDAGOGY PERSPECTIVE

Affirmative Team (AT)

Negative Team (NT)Affirmative Speech (3 min)(Construct your arguments)
Cross Examination (2 min)(Ask questions for understanding)
Negative Speech (3 min)(Construct your arguments)
Cross Examination (2 min)(Ask questions for understanding)Preparation Time for Rebuttal
Negative Rebuttal (2 min)(Point out weaknesses)
Affirmative Rebuttal (2 min)(Point out weaknesses)
Negative Summary (2 min)(Summarize all of the arguments)
Affirmative Summary (2 min)(Summarize all of the arguments)
Figure 7. Sample debate structure

While preparing for the debate, students worked in groups or teams of two, and the teammembers were shuffled each week. This created a comfortable class atmosphere, and a cooperative
working relationship was built between partners. This collaborative learning environment enabled
the students to develop higher-level thinking, oral communication, and increase their understandingof diverse perspectives. This was also shown from the follow-up interview conducted at the end of thesemester (see Excerpts 3, 4, and 5).
Excerpt 3
Other students can support me and give new and effective ideas. My teammates tend to come up
with better rebuttal. That’s very helpful for me.
Excerpt 4
I could share the task and conduct the research more deeply.
Excerpt 5
Team is better we can hear about other people opinions and find out about other perspectives.
Then, I can make a more logical argument.
In terms of improving their communicative performance, after each official debate, selfassessment and peer-assessment for team members were incorporated to evaluate their own and theother team’s performance via participating in group discussion and writing reaction papers.

Cognition (Learning and Thinking Processes)
During the process of preparing and conducting the debate, students developed both higherorder as well as lower-order thinking skills originally categorized by Bloom (1956; Figure 2). The

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results of the student questionnaire conducted in the pilot debate classes also revealed that whilestudents prepared for the debate, students particularly fostered their higher-order thinking skills(HOTS): analyzing, evaluating, and creating (see Excerpts 6 and 7). For instance, when they searched
for sources to support their arguments, they analyzed and made critical judgements on whether
the sources were appropriate. They analyzed the articles and reviewed them to create their own
arguments and rebuttal. While preparing for a rebuttal, they had to make informed guesses on theiropponents’ arguments.
Excerpt 6
I first made an argument and then I researched for the evidence that supports them. After that,
I predicted what the opponent will say about my arguments at rebuttal. Then, I guessed theopponent’s argument and made a rebuttal about it.
Excerpt 7
1. Firstly, I searched for other people’s opinions on the Internet to come up with possible
arguments.
2. F rom the opinions that I gathered from the Internet, I tried to predict the oppositionarguments and from there, I made my own arguments.
3. After deciding my arguments, I looked for evidence that supported my thesis.
4. Lastly, I connected all the arguments and made sure it flows smoothly.
These findings are in line with other CLIL studies (e.g., Ball et al., 2015; Smith & Paterson, 1998). For
instance, in CLIL courses, students tend to cognitively make more effort as they become more awareof the gap between their cognitive levels and current linguistic levels (Ball et al., 2015). In turn, getting
involved into more cognitively challenging task leads to better language learning (Smith & Paterson,1998).

Culture (Developing Intercultural Understanding and Global Citizenship)Students were encouraged to search for information from within and outside Japan to state
their arguments and rebut their opponent team during the debate. By introducing a wider culturalcontext, the aim was to promote cultural awareness and broaden their perspectives. They had to
critically analyze within a wider global community. This gave them a chance “to become open-minded
and critical by reflecting on their ‘natural’ way of looking at others’ cultures and perhaps their own”
(Byram & Feng, 2004, p. 161).
In the class, students became particularly aware of the cultural differences and similarities ofother Asian countries (i.e., Singapore and China) through interaction with international students inclass. This led to in-depth understanding of cultural difference as well as themselves. The culturalelements that featured and helped students self-identify came mainly from ethnicity, gender, andsocio-economic status. This apparently became obvious, especially in gender-related themes (seeExcerpt 8 from instructor’s teaching diary). They recognized how certain issues are perceived
similarly and/or differently in other cultures.
Excerpt 8
One Japanese female student had a strong opinion against having male workers take childcare
leave. She believes they are not suitable for child raising biologically and expressed how her

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RECONCEPTUALIZING CLIL FROM TRANSFORMATIVE PEDAGOGY PERSPECTIVE

father never did housework with frustration. Her teammate, a Singaporean of Chinese origin
male student, tried to convince her that it is natural for fathers to carry out housework as well as
child raising in his country. He even suggested by having fathers take the childcare, it reduces
the stress of mothers.
Through examining and sharing the significance of culture, how cultural identities can impact
and shape individual identities was addressed. This also showed that language and culture are
inseparable in the learning process. As stated by Byram and Wagner (2017), students came “to value
language education as an education for developing their identity rather than as the learning of a codethat can only be used in some restricted environments” (p. 147). In other words, through learning
the target language, students are also acquiring the essential knowledge about the world at the sametime.

Discussion
Built on what we found in designing, conducting, and observing the debate class with ourpreliminary analysis of collected data, we now discuss how this debate course within the CLIL
framework can be understood from the perspective of transformative pedagogy. For this aim, it
would be beneficial to use Bernstein’s (1975) framework of visible (explicit) and invisible (implicit)
pedagogy. More specifically, Content and Communication are categorized into visible pedagogy
whereas, Cognition and Culture can be defined as invisible pedagogy. Our argument is that the pilot
debate class was balanced between these two distinctive forms. The differences between visible andinvisible pedagogies lie in how much there is teacher control in a classroom. In visible pedagogies, theteacher mostly controls and manages the structure of the lesson, and the information is transmitted
directly to the students. In the debate course, the course themes were provided by the teacher and therules for conducting the debate were explicitly taught by her. Students received continuous feedback
from their teacher on their performance based on the set rubric so that they would become aware ofwhat was missing to meet the criteria.
On the other hand, invisible pedagogies involve less overt instruction and students takeresponsibility in their own learning; as a result, learning takes place implicitly. In the debate course,
invisible pedagogy was emphasized and for the majority of the classroom time, students worked inpairs, groups, and teams in a collaborative learning environment. The teacher served as a facilitator inclass, arranging the team members, giving suggestions, and facilitating their discussion. As a team,they searched for information, organized their arguments, and prepared for the rebuttal. Throughpreparing for the debate, students were able to develop their critical thinking skills.
The aspects of invisible pedagogy were not clearly stated in the syllabus and course schedule(Figure 5) but played a significant part in students’ learning. The process of conducting a debate
also clearly involves transformative pedagogy (Cummins, 2004) in which students become awareof the social and political realities of their communities and engage in discussion on “how it may betransformed through various forms of social action” (Cummins, 2004, p. 111). In the debate course,
students generated the propositions within the framework of class-related theme. In a policy debate
proposition, debate was framed in a way to encourage affirmative advocacy of a significant change/transformation in a government policy. Students outlined the current issues, indicated the specificadvocacy and explained the reasons for adapting it. An example is a debate on the proposition, “Allmen should take paternity leave.” The affirmative side argued that even though the majority of59

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companies have childcare leave systems, in reality, only a small percentage of male workers actually
use the system. They then proposed that the government provide funding for male workers to takeleave. This in return, may increase the number of working mothers and have more fathers being
involved in child raising. Through such a debate process, students were engaged in reflecting on
their ideas, realizing another perspective, and negotiating the complexity of the issue. All theseprocesses—critical, sufficiently interesting, and relevant to students—would contribute to elaborating
their identities.

Conclusion
This paper was aimed at exploring the values and benefits of implementing CLIL in the English
language curriculum at a university from the perspective of transformative pedagogy. We explained
how the CLIL principles, especially the 4C framework, could be exercised in a university program
where students are expected to develop their L2 proficiency by taking more language-led toward more
content-led courses over the four-year period of study. We also presented our pilot debate course as
one case example of a language-led course where students were engaged in learning the underlying
4Cs through a series of debate processes.
As stated in the dual-focused characteristic of its definition, one key to exercising CLIL is theintegration of language and content, and this integration could be effectively achieved at curriculum
level by adopting van Lier’s scale of language and content. Even within language-led courses (i.e.,
mandatory courses for first year students in our curriculum) including debate, the content side needs
to be closely interwoven with language use. Another key to exercising CLIL is to construct individual
courses and the entire curriculum as an integrated whole by having the 4Cs be closely interrelated.
As presented in our debate course, all the 4Cs are closely interrelated and complement eachother. Academic language proficiency, for example, involves both Cognition and Communication
components. As shown in Excerpt 8, elaborating content matter (e.g., paternity leave) requires acertain degree of identity investment and transformation.
From the perspective of transformative pedagogy, it should be emphasized that the componentof Culture is given a prominent status—playing an integrative role of the 4C framework. That is,
students might come to a language learning classroom with the aim of simply gaining practicallanguage skills; however, in our curriculum they are engaged in performing English in appropriate
ways, thinking critically, presenting their ideas in clear and a persuasive manner, and taking theperspectives of otherness. All these processes would contribute to becoming more aware of social
complexities and transforming their identities. As rightly pointed out by Byram and Wagner (2017),
through CLIL, students are likely “to value language education as an education for developing theiridentity rather than as the learning of a code that can only be used in some restricted environments”(p. 147). Implementing CLIL is challenging but rewarding and transformative for both students
and teachers. This attempt provides an opportunity to consider how English language teaching canbe offered effectively—students not only advance in their language skills but also transform theiridentities and develop their multicultural competency needed in this rapidly changing society.

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【Research Article】

A Social-Material Approach to Teaching L2 Writing:Visual Analysis to Develop Rhetorical Knowledge in L2 Writing
Masakazu Mishima
Abstract
In this paper, I will propose a teaching approach to develop EFL writers’ knowledge of rhetorical situations, which canbe applied to (potentially) facilitate writing and/or any other modes of communication. The approach capitalizes onvisual analysis as a major activity. It is tightly intertwined with L1 rhetoric and composition research, which has madean extensive influence on L1/L2 writing instruction. It is also based upon a theory of social semiotics, and genre
approach being widely adopted in various research fields (e.g., applied linguistics, art, education, and visual designs).
The paper presents the results of an action research study, which examined L2 writers’ responses to a visual analysis
activity. It discusses the potential benefits of visual analysis as a means to facilitate L2 writing instruction in thecontext of higher education in Japan.
Keywords: L2 writing instruction, visual analysis, rhetorical situations, rhetorical genre theory perspective, social
semiotic approach

Introduction
As we attempt to communicate in any form, we are undoubtedly under the influence—notnecessarily drinking, however—from an indefinite number of factors. An act of communication
is not an act of a person isolated from the rest of the world but deeply situated within with its allcomplexities. Writing, for instance, does not merely start in the mind of the writer trapped in adark chamber with no light and sound. The proficient writer strategically uses available resourcesin the environment, including linguistic resources (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, and other stylistic/mechanical ‘visual notations’), to weave their thoughts into a text. Attributes of the writer—age,
gender, and identity, and social and cultural contexts of writing—purpose, power, audience, andgenre-specific conventions exert a powerful influence on the writer’s decision making in writing(Hyland, 2007). Furthermore, a medium of written communication (e.g., handwriting or typing),
which requires non-human objects (e.g., the pencil, paper, computer, and keyboard), is inseparably
linked to a writing activity and ultimately to the final written product. Communicating in writing isthen unequivocally a social act as many have contended over the years (Bitzer, 1968; Cooper, 1986;
Lewontin, Rose, & Kamin, 1984; Myers, 1985; Vatz, 1973). However, it is more than just social as it
inevitably includes common materiality—non-human objects which make an act of writing sociallyand materially bound, and so it can be shared.

English Writing Education in Japan
In Japanese English language writing education at the secondary school level, the major contents
and skills to be taught have been geared toward developing grammar and vocabulary knowledge
since the introduction of the Grammar Translation (GT) method (Morita, 2017). The GT method usedin teaching English primarily focuses on understanding the grammatical structure of the language,
and by its extension, it is often coupled with a simple sentence writing and/or translation task63

外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 1 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 1）(English to Japanese or vice versa). Accordingly, many secondary school students are rarely exposed
to essay writing, whether it is paragraph-level writing or beyond. In contrast, once students enter
universities, the types of writing which they are expected to learn presents a sudden paradigm shift
and a significant challenge—the shift from writing to learn grammar and vocabulary for various highstake exams (e.g., university entrance exams) to writing to communicate to an academic audience.
Although MEXT’s English education reforms are currently underway (see Nitta & Yamamotoin this volume, for an overview), many Japanese university students, if not all, can be seen as‘underprepared’ to take on the kinds of writing tasks often required at higher education. In orderto ease the burden on Japanese English learners as they make their way into writing in and to an
academic community, providing a concrete conceptual framework for written communication (i.e., therhetorical situation) may well be highly valuable.
In this paper, I will propose a teaching approach to ESL/EFL writing based upon the premisethat writing is a social-material practice. In particular, the approach aims to develop English language
learners’ understanding of rhetorical situations via visual analysis. In an attempt to introduce theteaching approach, the current paper first provides an overview of the importance of understanding
rhetorical situations in written communication. Then, it moves to discuss a major theoreticalframework derived from two different theories—social semiotic approach (SSA) and rhetorical genre
theory—which underpins the proposition. Finally, it presents the teaching approach and explores
its potential benefits along with an example of classroom activity and relevant data from an action
research study conducted in a writing class at a Midwestern university in the US.

An Overview: The Rhetorical Situation
The Greek word ‘rhetoric’ is as old as 2,000 years. While the meaning of the word has gone
through a radical transformation, it originally meant ‘strategies to persuade’ as Aristotle proclaimed(Kennedy, 1991). In the fields of L1 composition and rhetoric, and later in L2 writing, the concept ofrhetoric underwent a close scrutinization, and now it is a well-established framework of reference,
particularly in relation to understanding what it means to write (Johns, 1990).
In writing, rhetorical situations are often considered an essential domain of knowledge in order tolay a solid conceptual and perceptual ground for novice writers to engage in effective writing practice(Ferris & Hedgcock, 2004). The term ‘rhetorical situation’ was first introduced in the late 1960s by
Lloyd Bitzer, a philosopher, and scholar. Bitzer (1968) views that the writer (or in his word, ‘rector’)is fundamentally constrained by a variety of situational factors, and he developed a framework to
overview the nature of such constraints. In contemporary rhetoric and writing studies, the frameworkhas been influenced by Aristotle’s original proposition of rhetoric, and it is widely understood as
containing five major elements1—the purpose, audience, stance, genre, and medium (see Bullock,
Goggin, & Weinberg, 20192 for more details on the elements). However, we (the writer) are notnecessarily aware of these elements if not formally taught. We may assume that there is freedom ofspeech or of writing (at least in some parts of the world), but whenever we write to communicate,
we become inescapably social (hence, constrained) especially if we wish to convey the message
1 These elements have been variously defined and introduced in the process of ongoing debate/discussion, and additional
elements may be included or some elements may be removed depending on how one defines the rhetorical situation (see,Johns, 2011).
2 In order to avoid overly scholastic discussions on the notion of the rhetorical situation, I intentionally refer here to a widely
circulated composition textbook which incorporates the rhetorical situation as a central pedagogical framework.

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as effectively as possible to the assumed audience. The concept of the rhetorical situation denotes
writing as a social act, and it helps us effectively participate in the act by guiding us with essential
landmarks throughout our composing processes.

Social Semiotic Approach
The SSA is a theory of social meaning-making in communication wherein sings (i.e., images) andtexts are inseparably linked to one another. The theory stemmed from Halliday’s highly influential
theories of language as social semiotic and Systemic Functional Linguistics (Halliday, 1978; Halliday& Matthiessen, 2004). Halliday and Matthiessen (2004) argued that meaning-making in society
contains three essential metafunctions—the ideational, interpersonal, and textual. The theories
were later extended to visual mode of communication by Kress and van Leeuwen (2001, 2006) byhighlighting that visuals or images can communicate ideologies and discourses as much as a verbal
or written mode of communication.
A formal theorization of meaning-making potentials ascribed to images was further developed towhat Jewitt (2009) referred to as a ‘multiplicity of communication modes,’ which includes a numberof socially and bodily shaped modes of communication such as gesture, movement, and even music(i.e., social semiotic resources). Suffice it to say that one major contribution of the SSA is its broader
conceptualization of meaning-making in communication, which is not limited to texts or speech.
The second important tenet of the SSA is ‘social context.’ In the SSA, a social context is viewed asa box of tools wherein communicators use available semiotic resources for meaning-making. What is
to be noted is that a social context does not necessarily confine the ways in which people use semiotic
resources, and the shape of the box itself and tools within maintain potentiality for transformation, asa society and its practice may change over a period of time. Accordingly, Jewitt (2009), for instance,
argued that social semiotic practices are dynamic open systems rather than static and closed.
The third and fourth tenets of the SSA—‘the motivated sign’ and ‘interest’—focus on thesignifier/communicator who, with their own interests, beliefs, and values, decides how to use
semiotic resources for a specific communicative purpose within the perceived conventions of a social
context (Kress, 1993). A similar concept to these tenets is the notion of ‘agency,’ which has been
receiving significant attention in applied linguistics and other related fields. According to Emirbayer
and Mische (1998), agency is defined as:a temporally embedded process of social engagement, informed by the past (in its habitual
aspect), but also oriented toward the future (as a capacity to imagine alternative possibilities)
and toward the present (as a capacity to contextualize past habits and future projects within thecontingencies of the moment). (p. 963)
In summation, the most notable contribution of the SSA is its extensive conceptualization of what
communication is and how it is conducted. It includes not only conventional written (i.e., textual) andspoken (i.e., verbal) modes of communication, but also additional modes of communication via visual
images and/or other non-human objects, which provide an important theoretical ground for researchand teaching practice in increasingly multimodal society.

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Rhetorical Genre Theory
Another important theoretical ground for the to-be proposed approach to teaching L2 writing is
the rhetorical genre theory, which has been widely adopted for research and education (e.g., Johns,
2002; Macbeth, 2010; Tardy, 2009). Hyland (2007) succinctly defined the genre as “abstract, sociallyrecognized ways of using language” (p. 149). Genre theories are not a uniform theory, as there are atleast three different schools of genre theory: English for Specific Purposes (ESP), Sydney School, andRhetorical Genre Studies (RGS) (see Hyon, 1996, for discussions of the three different schools andtheir orientations). While the notion of genre holds multitudes of perspectives, one common groundfor most genre theorists is that they view the genre as a social practice. This view is comparable to
the SSA. In relation to writing practice, the genre theories can illuminate our understanding of what
it means to be skilled at writing. And in relation to teaching writing, it demystifies our (often) overly
simplified understanding of what it means to teach writing—it is certainly not only about teaching
linguistic norms and/or conventions.
In relation to the point above, one of the most pervasive and perhaps neglected issues in teaching
L2 writing at higher education in Japan is the questionable assumption that there is a uniform
agreement to and practice of academic writing regardless of disciplinary differences. The notion ofgenre, however, challenges the reductionist approach to teaching writing, as one of its essential tenets
postulates writing as a form of socially specific communication practice; it is situated in the context
where writing happens (Tardy, 2012).
Genre theory also has an important implication for L2 writing development or, more precisely,
what constitutes writing ability. Tardy (2012), for example, offers one of the most explicit discussions
on the essential components of writing ability from a perspective of genre theory. According to her,writing ability consists of four major domains of genre knowledge: (a) rhetorical knowledge, (b)subject-matter knowledge, (c) formal knowledge, and (d) process knowledge (see Figure 1). She
further describes what each of the domains represents as follows:
A multidimensional model of genre knowledge must include at least a knowledge of theprocesses of carrying out the genre (process knowledge), the content or subject-matter of thegenre (subject-matter knowledge), the rhetorical dynamics at play (rhetorical knowledge), andthe conventional discursive and linguistic forms (formal knowledge). (Tardy, 2009 as cited in
Tardy, 2012, p. 168)
Rhetorical
Knowledge

FormalKnowledge

Writing
Expertise

SubjectMatter
Knowledge

Process
Knowledge

Figure 1. Writing expertise from a genre perspective. Adapted from Tardy (2012, p. 169).

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In relation to the overview of the rhetorical situation presented earlier, what I would like to highlighthere again is that the writing expertise encapsulates the rhetorical knowledge as an important domainof knowledge for effective written communication.

Teaching the Rhetorical Situation via Visual Analysis
In this section, I will propose an approach to teaching rhetorical situations to novice L2 writers inan accessible and potentially engaging manner. The approach uses visual analysis as a major activity
through which students are expected to learn five different elements of the rhetorical situation to laya solid foundation to engage in effective L2 writing practice. The section also discusses how the twotheories—the SSA and genre—are relevant to the approach as its pedagogical rationale.

Visual Analysis Activity to Develop Rhetorical Knowledge
Visual analysis is widely practiced in multimodal discourse studies, which attempt to analyze
and interpret how text and image are integratively used to communicate an intended message (e.g.,
Dreyfus, Hood, & Stenglin, 2011; Ventola & Guijarro, 2009). Studies conducted from a perspective of
the SSA examines, for instance, a product advertisement, by describing both the visual and textual
elements present in the advertisement while paying attention to the specific cultural and social context
in which the subject of the research is situated (Wong, 2018).
The SSA’s basic theoretical tenet functions as a bridge between text and image relationships.
However, the analytical approach used in the SSA does not necessarily contain explicit rhetoricalanalysis. This is where the rhetorical genre theory becomes important, as the goal of the visual
analysis in L2 writing classrooms aims to develop L2 writers’ rhetorical knowledge; the SSA provides atheoretical backdrop to highlight visual-text connectivity, and the rhetorical genre theory provides ananalytical framework to interpret visual and/or textual materials. These two independent yet related
theories of communication together provide the theoretical rationale for the use of visual analysis toenhance L2 writers’ rhetorical knowledge, which feeds into their L2 writing activity.

Visual Analysis Activity in L2 Writing Classrooms
In rhetorical genre analysis, researchers often use predetermined elements of the rhetoricalsituation as an analytical framework to interpret a text and/or image. As a potential classroom activity,
students can examine different types/genres of visual images from the perspectives of five rhetoricalsituations—the purpose, audience, stance, genre, and medium. As a practical example, Table 1 below
provides concise definitions of each of the five rhetorical elements and guiding questions to conduct
a rhetorical analysis of any visual/textual material. After students are introduced to the basic conceptof the rhetorical situation and its elements, they can start searching for an image, whether it is digitalor printed. Then, they can proceed to analyze the image by using the guiding questions.
In order to further describe the activity, see below for an advertisement for a popular fast-foodfranchise (Figure 2), and let us consider how each of the guiding questions above can help analyze therhetorical situations of the advertisement.
The first rhetorical situation is the purpose. In this advertisement, the primary purpose is topromote the McDonald’s new delivery service (i.e., McDelivery). Since it is about food delivery
service, the expected audience—the second rhetorical situation—is most likely hungry customers.
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Table 1
List of Rhetorical Situations and Guiding Questions for Rhetorical Analysis
RhetoricalSituations

Definition

Guiding Questions

PurposeWhat authors aim to achieve with the visual/textual materia

What is the intended communicative purpose of
the visual/textual material?

Audience

The intended audience of the visual/textual
material

Who is the intended audience of the visual/textual material?

StancePosition of authors in relation to audience,
topic, and situational context

How do authors position themselves in relation
to audience, topic, and situational context?
How do these three elements affect the way inwhich authors communicate?

Genre

Generally accepted form and category ofcommunication to a specific audience/
community

What is the genre of the visual/textual material?

MediumPlatforms in which visual/textual materials
are delivered to the audience (e.g., email)How is the visual/textual material delivered tothe audience?

All of the above

The collective impact of the five rhetoricalsituations upon how authors attempt tocommunicate their intended message

How do all five components of the rhetoricalsituation collectively affect the way in which theintended message is communicated?

The third rhetorical situation is the stance. A stance is determined by the interrelations
between the author, topic, situational context, and audience. In the center of the image, you can see
McDonald’s signature nuggets stacked up with a small plastic cup of ketchup—notice one of thenuggets in the front is sliced in half to show that your familiar nugget is ready for your mouth. To
slightly left in the image is another signature product—McFries, and behind the nuggets is a large
paper bag with three logos—McDelivery and its two associated delivery companies: Uber Eats andDoorDash. Finally, the right to the center is a cup of soda.
This fairly straightforward description of the image above can tell us that the topic is about
McDonald’s products, which can be delivered to you. In addition, since rhetorical stance is about
taking a position to develop an argument to persuade an assumed audience to agree with the position,
the stance, in this case, is to persuade the audience (i.e., customers) to use McDelivery service andorder food.
As for the situational context, it can be analyzed from both the audience’s and rector’s situations.
Although the image itself does not provide any meaningful indicator of the situation, on the same

Figure 2. A popular fast-food restaurant delivery service advertisement. Reprinted from
McDonald’s, 2020, https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us.html. Copyright [2017–2020]
by McDonald’s. Reprinted with permission.

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website from which the image was retrieved, there was a statement in regard to the ravaging
COVID-19 situation. From the statement, it is possible to infer that the new delivery service isadvertised in response to the lockdown order being implemented across the nation to contain the
wildly spreading epidemic, which serves as a shared social pretext for both the rector and audiences.
Onto the fourth rhetorical situation, the genre of the image is a commercial product andservice advertisement. One major convention of the genre is to promote a product or service so that
customers purchase it. To signify the aspect of the genre, communicators in this genre often highlightthe potential benefits of their product for the audience. In the example presented above, notice thestatement on the right-hand side of the image, which states, “Get all your McDonalds’ favorites
delivered right to your doorstep …” This is one potential benefit of the service—you can receive your“favorites” without ever leaving your home.
The last rhetorical situation is medium. The advertisement above is delivered through a digital
medium—the internet. Every single element of the website—the layout, images, and texts, has
to be integratively used to communicate to an intended audience. The choice of medium places
certain restrictions/constraints on communicators and audiences. For instance, web designing isfundamentally different from designing a physical commercial advertisement (e.g., flyer and poster)
without any digital tools. From color scheme to use of images, choice of font types to layout, it is
far less (physically) restricted; as far as the platform allows, you can use an indefinite number ofcolors, text styles, images, and layouts. However, from the audience’s standpoint, platforms they
use to access the website may differ significantly—they may access the website via smartphones,
iPhones, PCs, laptops and/or tablets with a variety of specifications (e.g., screen size and resolution).
Under such conditions, communicating to audiences on different platforms may become a cause ofconcern—the communicator needs to ensure the original website’s integrity when it reaches the eyesof different audiences so that the intended message is faithfully communicated to them.
As briefly demonstrated above, a visual analysis from a perspective of rhetorical situations
provides us with a systematic means to explore the roles of images and texts in communication,and their intended message (i.e., co-constructed meaning). However, it is important to note thata rhetorical analysis does not always yield the same result—there is a possibility for alternate
explanations and interpretations. The visual analysis exercise then is not about finding definitive
answers but seeking potential ones with the available information. Such analytical activity can help
students to engage deeply with the communicator in the process of critically analyzing an object tounderstand how an image and/or text co-constructs potential meaning. This particular analytical lens
can then be adopted to understand various genres of written texts (e.g., academic essays) with which
we, as instructors, often need to help students become familiar. Furthermore, students can use thesame analytical lens to better manage their writing with clear directions in regard to what to consider
when writing to communicate.
As a summative task of the visual analysis activity, students can share the results in various
formats. For example, you may direct your students to give an individual presentation or conduct agroup discussion to share their findings.
Table 2 below summarizes a possible step-by-step flow of the visual analysis activity and its
associated tasks.

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Table 2The Visual Analysis Activity: Possible Activity Flow
Activity Step

Task Descriptions

Step 1Introduction to the rhetorical situation: it can be done as a reading task, discussion, brief lecture,or all of the above. Explain/Demonstrate how to conduct a rhetorical analysis of visual materials.

Step 2Visual analysis preparation: Assign students to find any visual materials on the web or in the field(e.g., stations, restaurants, and stores). Print out if the material is from the web or take a photo if thematerial is from the field.

Step 3Visual analysis: Direct students to analyze the material in terms of five rhetorical situations:purpose, audience, stance, genre, and medium.

Step 4

Post visual analysis: Give a short presentation, write a brief report/reflection, and/or hold adiscussion to share the results of visual analysis.

Voices From Students: Visual Analysis in Action
I conducted an action research study in a freshman ESL composition classroom at a Midwestern
university in the US. The purpose of the research was two-fold: one was to examine my own
feedback practice, and another was to understand students’ perceptions of a visual analysis activity
in developing their rhetorical knowledge and writing skills. As for the former, the results havealready been reported in the form of a research brief (see Mishima, 2013). The following presents
the previously unpublished results from the latter portion of the study, which examined students’
responses to a visual analysis activity in relation to their rhetorical knowledge and writing skill
development.

MethodParticipants
Data were collected from a total of 15 students—14 Chinese and one Indian—in a freshman
ESL composition class. In one class session, the researcher explained the purpose of the study to allstudents and asked for voluntary participation. All 15 students signed a consent form and participatedin the study.

Study Context
The freshman ESL composition class required students to attend two 90-min lessons every weekduring the entire course of the semester. One lesson period was reserved for regular classroom
sessions, and the other was for individual writing conference sessions at which each student
discussed their writing with the instructor.
In the 1st week, all of my students were introduced to the concept of the rhetorical situation. In
addition, as an ice-breaking activity, they were assigned to create and present a slideshow with theirpersonal photos to introduce themselves to the class. In the following week, students presented theirslideshows and conducted a rhetorical analysis of their visual products. After the analysis, they weredirected to write a short report using the guiding questions presented earlier in Table 1.

Data Collection
In the 3rd week of the individual writing conference session, the researcher conducted a semi-70

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structured interview with each of the 15 study participants. The primary purpose of the session was
to discuss their first writing assignment—personal narrative essay writing. For research purposes,
however, the researcher asked the following two questions at the beginning of each writing
conference session:a.	What do you think about the concept of the rhetorical situation? Do you think it helps you
write better?
b.	Is the rhetorical analysis you did of your slideshow helpful in writing your personal narrative
essay in any way?
With the permission and consent from all 15 students, the entire conversations during the conference
sessions were voice-recorded. Each interview lasted for 5–7 min—a total recording time of 89 min.

Data Analysis
The researcher first screened the entire recorded conversations to identify any portion of thedata relevant to the concept of the rhetorical situation and visual analysis activity. After the initial
screening, a total of 63 min of recorded data were excluded from analysis, as they did not containany relevant information to the purpose of the study; the remaining 26 min of interview data weretranscribed and analyzed. In order to conduct a systematic analysis of the interview data, theresearcher used a form of qualitative thematic analysis proposed by Braun and Clarke (2006). The
thematic analysis contained six major analytical processes: 1. pattern identification, 2. initial coding, 3.
theme extraction, 4. theme refinement, 5. theme establishment, and 6. research narrative generation(see Braun & Clarke, 2006 for more information on the thematic analysis). In addition, throughout theanalytical processes, the researcher kept a reflexivity journal to keep a record of the analysis. Table 3
below provides a summary of the six phases of analysis and their descriptions.
Table 3
The Thematic Analysis Procedures
Phase

Procedures

1.	Pattern
Identification

The researcher repeatedly read the transcript to familiarize himself with the data and to findany notable patterns across participants’ responses.

2. Initial Coding

The researcher coded the transcript without any top-down categories.

3.	Theme
Extraction

The researcher repeatedly examined the coded transcript to extract overarching themes ofparticipants’ responses.

4.	Theme
Refinement

The researcher compared and contrasted the themes extracted against the participants’
responses. Any themes which show a weak linkage to participants’ responses were discardedor subsumed under comparatively more representative themes.

5.	Theme
Establishment

The researcher examined the refined themes in relation to the purpose of the study and thenformalized the descriptions of the themes.

6.	Research
Narrative
Generation

The researcher used the results of the thematic analysis and interview data to generate a
research narrative in relation to the purpose of the study.

As the results of the thematic analysis, two overarching themes and four sub-themes wereidentified as follows:71外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 1 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 1）

a. The rhetorical situation and L2 writing
I. A strategic approach to writing
II. Viewing writing beyond linguistic norms
III. Conflict with a prior learning experience and social pressureb. Visual analysis and L2 writing
VI. Blurred boundary: visual materials and written texts
Based on the identified themes above, the following section reports and discusses the results of thestudy with select excerpts from interview data.

Results and Discussion
The Rhetorical Situation and L2 Writing
One of the most recurrent themes emerged out of the interviews with my students centeredaround the relationship between the notion of the rhetorical situation and L2 writing.
A Strategic Approach to L2 Writing. One immediate pattern that I noticed in their response
was that since the introduction of the rhetorical situation, my students seemed to have developed astrategic approach to writing in English:
Excerpt 1
Researcher: What do you think about the concept of the rhetorical situation? Do you think it helps
you write better?
Student: Hmm…I think it does.
Researcher: How so?
Student: I didn’t know about the rhetorical situation before. When I write [in] English, I now
think about different things.
Researcher: What different things?
Student: I mean…there are different things like stance or purpose. I never thought about that
before.
Researcher: Ah, you mean the five elements of the rhetorical situation that I talked about lastweek?
Student: Yes, yes. Before I learned that, I was writing without thinking much. But now I think
about it before I begin to write.
Researcher: Does it help you write easier?
Student: Not really (chuckle). But it helps me to think more before I write and choose words
carefully. So I think it helps.
As many studies have previously reported (e.g., Lei, 2008), L2 writers use various strategies at thedifferent stages of their writing process. An interesting point to note in reference to the excerpt aboveis that the newly learned concept—the rhetorical situation—seemed to have led to the developmentof a new cognitive strategy—“think more before I begin to write.” This strategic approach to writing
was not aimlessly practiced but was tied to the rhetorical situation, as the student explicitly mentioned
the two of them—“stance” and “purpose.” Hence, it seems that the concept of the rhetorical situation
served as a cognitive framework for the student to premeditate before writing.

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Viewing Writing Beyond Linguistic Norms. The learning of the rhetorical situation alternatedthe way that students view writing. As the vast majority of students in my class were from mainland
China, they mentioned how their view on writing changed from what they were taught back in China.
Consider the excerpt below—one Chinese student’s response during the interview:
Excerpt 2
Researcher: What do you think about the concept of the rhetorical situation? Do you think it helps
you write better?
Student: I don’t know if it helps, but I see writing in English differently now.
Researcher: Can you tell me more about it?
Student: Before coming to the US, English writing was all about grammar. I had to be always
accurate because I needed to write in good English. My teachers were telling me not to make any[grammatical] mistakes.
Researcher: Why did you have to be accurate?
Student: I was learning to write for exams.
Researcher: That’s not fun, was it?
Student: No. It was like Math, so I didn’t think it was something to enjoy.
Researcher: How do you see writing in English now?
Student: I see it now that it’s not just about grammar. I think about my purpose and audience.
Researcher: Does that change the way you write?
Student: I think so. I still care about grammar, but now I think more about what I want to say[write] and how I can best express myself to my audience.
Researcher: Who is your audience?
Student: You and my classmates, but I also think about others.
In Excerpt 2, the Chinese student explicitly mentioned about two elements of the rhetoricalsituation—purpose and audience. It appears that their view of what it means to write had radicallyshifted from “all about grammar” to what is more social with the consideration for the audience andpurpose of writing. That is, writing was no longer about being accurate for “exams,” and their focus
was on how to better express themselves in writing to the assumed audience. The student’s viewis a representative of writing as a social act—an important tenet of the rhetorical genre theory, as
presented earlier.
Conflict With a Prior Learning Experience and Current Social Pressure. Whilst
learning the rhetorical situation seemed to have influenced the students’ perspectives of writing
as demonstrated in Excerpt 1 and 2, a few students mentioned a tight grip on their belief thatgrammatical accuracy proceeds any other aspects of writing.
Excerpt 3
Researcher: What do you think about the concept of the rhetorical situation? Do you think it helps
you write better?
Student: I understand the concept, but I feel it’s hard to apply it to my writing. I’m used tofocusing on grammar, so that’s what I do.
Researcher: But don’t you think it’s important to consider, for example, your audience or purposeof writing?

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Student: I think they are important, but grammar is more important. So, in the end, I just can’t
help worrying about my grammar.
Researcher: Why do you feel that way?
Student: Because that’s how I learned English writing back in China. My teacher told me thatwriting in incorrect English would be embarrassing, and I think so, too. Now that I’m in the US,
I feel more strongly to be accurate in my writing.
Researcher: What makes you feel that way?
Student: Well, I heard from my friends [in other classes] some professors don’t even look at
poorly written papers.
Researcher: What do you mean by “poorly written papers”?
Student: I guess it’s just bad papers with many grammar problems.
Writing activity is socio-historically situated; prior writing experience affects the writer considerably(see Prior, 1998 for more discussion on writing history and its impact upon writing). Furthermore,
there is no escape from social pressure when writing (Rinnert & Kobayashi, 2009). In the case of
the student in Excerpt 3, learning of the rhetorical situation did not seem to affect the way they view
writing, which is contrastive to the examples in Excerpt 1 and 2. While the student claimed that they
understood the concept, their focus was still fixated on grammar—“grammar is more important.”
Also, they attributed the particular belief to the past learning experience in China, which was further
reinforced due to the social pressure that “some professors don’t even look at poorly written papers.”
The student also mentioned that the concept was “hard to apply.” If the student were to accept the
new notion and incorporate it into their writing, it would make their writing activity more complicatedsince consideration for various rhetorical situations demands an explicit awareness of the writer’s
choice in every aspect of their writing. Perhaps, the student may have perceived the elements of therhetorical situation as too abstract to guide their writing in a concrete manner. I suspect that thestudent may have decided to hold onto a comparatively more simplified view of writing—a good pieceof writing is free from grammatical errors, which provides a much more concrete pathway to writing,as your attention is dictated solely by grammatical accuracy.

Visual Analysis and L2 Writing
To help students develop their rhetorical knowledge, I assigned students to create a slideshow
with their personal photos. After they presented their slideshows, they conducted a rhetorical analysisof their visual product. During the interviews with my students, I attempted to explore if the visual
analysis affected their writing in any way. One pervasive theme of their response was an increasingly
blurred boundary between visual materials and written texts.
Blurred Boundary: Visual Materials and Written Texts. One of the most interestingoutcomes of the visual analysis, which my students reported, was that they began to see textual
materials as partly visual in relation to the formatting requirements of the writing assignment.
Excerpt 4
Researcher: Is the rhetorical analysis you did of your slideshow helpful in writing your personal
narrative essay in any way?
Student: Yeah, it is.
Researcher: Can you explain how it helps you?

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Student: Well, when you told us about the narrative essay [assignment requirements], I waswondering why I had to follow so many rules.
Researcher: What rules?
Student: It’s like you have to set your paper in this way that way.
Researcher: You mean like font type and font size?
Student: Yes. I mean, we are writing anyway, so I just wondered why it’s so important to make it
all generic.
Researcher: Ha Ha (genuine laughter). Now that you mention it, it’s true following the rules
makes it look all generic.
Student: But I think the visual analysis helped me to see writing is also visual. Like how you
format your paper. Like margins and line spacing and…um, font type, and stuff. It is about visuals.
Researcher: That’s a very interesting observation.
Student: So, after I realized that, I kind of understand why following those rules are important. I
mean…after I formatted my paper, it looked more professional.
The student candidly shared that they felt somewhat troubled with the rather tedious aspects of theassignment. In particular, there were very clear formatting requirements for the assignment following
the APA conventions—Times New Roman, 12-point font size, and double-spaced. However, thestudent’s qualm was solved (at least partially) through the visual analysis, which helped them see theimportance of the visual aspects of writing—“after I formatted my paper, it looked more professional.”
In a similar vein, one of my students’ responses indicated the connectivity between three of therhetorical situations—audience, medium, and format. Consider the excerpt below:
Excerpt 5
Student: I really liked the visual analysis activity. It was fun.
Researcher: Did you learn anything from it to help you write better?
Student: I think I learned that to think about your audience is really important. When I made myslideshow, I carefully picked my photos and organized them.
Researcher: Can you explain a little more about how you made your slideshow and how that’s
connected to your audience?
Student: Well, my audience was mostly my classmates, and because I was going to present
myself, I didn’t want to choose embarrassing photos.
Researcher: You said you carefully organized your photos. What do you mean by that?
Student: It’s about the layout like where to put my photos in each slide. I also paid attention to
how many photos to put in one slide. I wasn’t sure about the screen size and resolution [in theclassroom], I decided not to put too many photos in one slide, or they may get too small to see.
Ah, I thought about the order, too.
Researcher: I see. You mentioned that to think about your audience is important. Does thatawareness help you write better?
Student: Yes, totally. It’s not just about this class [ESL composition], but in my other classes,
professors give us very specific format requirements. I just needed to do what my professors tellme to do. So I wasn’t really thinking about why they all tell me to set up my paper to a specificformat. But now I see the point.
Researcher: What point?
Student: I think it’s about your audience, and the format requirements are there to make sure that75

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your paper is set up properly for your audience.
Researcher: Can you explain a bit more?
Student: I mean, like who decides the format? Um...I don’t know how to explain it. My English is
not good.
Researcher: No, your English is fine. Do you mean your audience decides the format?
Student: No, but I mean. It’s like localization.
Researcher: Localization?
Student: I noticed there are a lot of Chinese restaurants in the US. But many of them are notauthentic Chinese food. They made it so the locals would like it.
Researcher: You mean adapting it to the local taste? So you adapt your writing to your audience?
Student: Yes, you need to use the format normal to them [the audience]. So, it’s acceptable.
Researcher: Ah, I think I understand.
This particular student was highly conscious of their audience. When they did the visual analysis
activity, they carefully attended to the selection of photos to the layout for the audience’s sake.
Through which, they also saw the relevancy of the audience to various format requirements theyneeded to follow in writing papers in my and other classes. In addition, the audience awarenesswas not only tied to how to present their photos but also on what medium the slideshow was to bepresented. The student mentioned that they deliberately chose not to use too many photos in one
slide, as they did not know the screen size and resolution of the screen in the classroom. They were
fully aware of potential physical constraints brought by the media, which are, in this case, PowerPointand the projector screen in the classroom. The student’s response is demonstrative of their attention
to the connection between two different elements of the rhetorical situation—audience and medium.
What I thought particularly interesting was that they mentioned, “you need to use the format
normal to them.” This view is highly insightful, as it points to formatting conventions, whether it is
MLA, APA, or otherwise, are, in fact, a form of cultural practice (see Hyland, 2004). Although I am notcertain that they actually saw it as a cultural practice, they were clearly aware that they need to use theformat, which is considered “normal” or standard by a specific academic community (i.e., audience).
The activity seemed to have functioned as an outlet for them to realize the importance of audienceawareness and of the need to follow conventionalized format to communicate to a specific academic
audience in an “acceptable” manner.

Conclusion
This paper has proposed a visual analysis activity as an approach to facilitating L2 writers’rhetorical knowledge and thereby improving their L2 writing. From the perspectives of two
communication theories: the SSA and rhetorical genre theory, it has discussed the obscure boundary
between visual and written materials. It also argued that conducting a rhetorical analysis of visualmaterials potentially leads to the development of L2 writers’ rhetorical knowledge, which can betransferred over to their writing activity.
To explore the potential benefits of the visual analysis activity in L2 writing, the paper presented
the results of an action research study conducted in a university-level ESL composition classroom in
the US. The findings suggest that the visual analysis can be of an asset to L2 writers in developing
their rhetorical knowledge and subsequently helping their L2 writing. Through the visual analysis,
participants’ views of writing transformed substantially. For instance, participants began to view76

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writing as more of a social activity rather than a means to demonstrate their grammatical accuracy.
Some also mentioned the visual analysis of their slideshows helped them see why conforming toacademic writing conventions (i.e., format requirements) are necessary.
The visual analysis activity presented in this paper is certainly not a novel approach since asimilar analytical framework is often adopted in visual studies, as introduced earlier. In addition,although the number is scarce, some proposed the use of visual rhetoric to facilitate L1 composition
instruction (George, 2002; Hill, 2003; see also Hocks, 2003 for more information on Visual Rhetoric).
Also, related to the notion of genre, Yasuda (2011) examined the impact of genre-based tasks on
Japanese undergraduate writers’ genre awareness, linguistic knowledge and writing competence.
However, to the best of my knowledge, there is no existing research that has actively sought toexplore the potential application of visual analysis to facilitate L2 writing.
On the last note, the participants of the study were highly proficient in English compared to mostJapanese English learners at the university level. Hence, the applicability and effectiveness of the
proposed approach to the Japanese higher education context require further investigation. Future
research should explore if the proposed approach can be of any value to Japanese English learners indeveloping their L2 writing skills in a higher education context.

References
Bitzer, L. (1968). The rhetorical situation. Philosophy and Rhetoric, 1(1), 1–14.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in
Psychology, 3(2), 77–101.
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【Research Brief】

Computer-Mediated Asynchronous Discussions
on the International Virtual Exchange
Heather Woodward
Abstract
In Spring 2020, several Rikkyo University discussion lecturers incorporated computer-mediated asynchronous tasks
into their courses. The purpose of incorporating these tasks was to help students achieve the goals of the class: (a)increase their spoken fluency, (b) practice using formulaic discussion and communication phrases, and (c) generatecontent or ideas related to the topic of discussion. In the future, Rikkyo lecturers might wish to incorporate selfstudy discussion tasks in the International Virtual Exchange (IVE) Project. The exchange allows Japanese students
to discuss topics with university students from other countries. The forums are free, sponsored by a Japanese
government kaken grant, and monitored by lecturers whose classes are involved in IVE Project (Hagley & Cotter,2020). Previous students of the discussion class at Rikkyo University reported having difficulty fully formulating theirideas in English in the classroom, but they wished to engage with the international community. Incorporating suchtasks for out-of-class assignments might help students (a) achieve the course goals to a greater extent, (b) assist
in helping students more fully express their ideas in the face-to-face discussion class, and (c) attain some of theirinstrumental motivations for studying English. These reasons are explored in more detail and avenues for potential
research are discussed.
Keywords: CALL, asynchronous, task, computer-mediated, discussion

Introduction
The discussion class at Rikkyo University is required for all first-year students. The course isdesigned to (a) improve students’ spoken fluency, (b) build discussion skills (e.g., giving opinions,giving different viewpoints, and asking to join the discussion), and (c) increase communication skills(e.g., paraphrasing, asking for repetition, and checking comprehension). Pre-coronavirus pandemic,
the discussion class was flipped insofar as students prepared to discuss the topic by reading thepassage in the textbook. Students had weekly reading passages on relevant topics such as theglobalization of Japanese culture, learning a foreign language, or entering the workforce to build
content knowledge of the topic before class. However, in the 2020 Spring semester, administrators
moved all academic courses online due to the pandemic. As a result, many professors and lecturers
adapted, modified, and changed their courses to accommodate new online environment.
University courses utilized software such as Zoom or Google Hangouts to conduct 40- to 50min online lessons in lieu of the pre-pandemic 100-min face-to-face lessons as there were concerns
regarding students’ internet connectivity and bandwidth. To increase student discussion, lecturers
assigned self-study tasks such as participating in online discussion forums and chat rooms with
their classmates and writing online journals. Students were not only reading the weekly passage,
but also engaging with the topics in the textbook in computer-mediated asynchronous tasks with
their classmates. However, students from previous semesters have expressed a desire speak English
outside of the classroom and to use English to interact with the global community. They have also
stated that they felt that they could not fully express their ideas in the face-to-face discussions.
One opportunity to engage Japanese students in intercultural communication is through the81

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International Virtual Exchange (IVE) Project. Hagley, a research fellow at Hosei University, leads
the IVE Project (International Virtual Exchange Project [IVEProject], 2020). The IVE Project brings
students together from around the globe to participate in asynchronous online discussions. Lecturers
monitor student output in the forums and can assign grades according to students’ participation(IVEProject, 2020). Universities and colleges participating in the IVE Project are from many countries
including Colombia, Taiwan, Korea, Brazil, and more (IVEProject, 2020). Over 34 universities andcolleges in Japan have participated to date (IVEProject, 2020). Hagley stated that students involvedin the virtual exchange produce videos, post images, and even exchange recipes as a way to sharecultural information (E. Hagley, personal communication, September 17, 2020). These tasks might beparticularly useful for students in Rikkyo’s English discussion class as textbook units include living
abroad, the globalization of Japanese culture, foreign language learning, and foreign customs.
Affordances and limitations can be categorized according to psycho-social, linguistic, andtechnological domains; however, these domains overlap. Psycho-social benefits to incorporating IVE
Project include the potential effects of IVE Project on students’ second language (L2) motivation,international posturing, and Willingness to Communicate (WTC). Linguistic affordances andlimitations include effects of expanding pre-task planning on language proficiency and other aspects
of discussion performance. Technological affordances include developing greater technology skills
whereas technological limitations include a lack of online access or connectivity issues. Readersinterested in a discussion on the affordances and limitations of incorporating the IVE Project as selfstudy assignments in their English discussion classes might find the following research brief useful.

Discussion
Motivation of Japanese Students
Yashima (2000) posited that international posturing explains Japanese students’ attitude
regarding foreign language learning and the international community. International posturing
captures a propensity for Japanese students to relate themselves to the world community rather thanany one specific English-speaking country such as England or the US (Yashima, 2000). International
posturing consisted of four components: international friendship orientation, interest in international
vocation/activities, interest in foreign affairs, and intergroup approach-avoidance tendency (Yashima,2002). Japanese students with international posturing view themselves as linked to the global
community, have concerns for worldwide affairs, openness to different cultures, willingness to gooverseas, and hold a keenness to work together with foreign people (Yashima, 2009). She statedthat this concept of international posturing influences students’ motivations and that their motivationinfluences their English proficiency (Yashima, 2002). Yashima (2002) found that international
posturing directly tied to students’ WTC. Students who exhibit a WTC actively seek out opportunities
to communicate in their L2.
Hagley and Cotter (2019) conducted a survey on participants’ opinions after 8 weeks of using IVE
Project. In the survey, 79% Japanese participants (n = 594) felt that their L2 was more important after
IVE Project than before IVE Project and 77% of Japanese participants stated that they have greaterinterest in other countries because of IVE Project (Hagley & Cotter, 2019). Japanese participants (n= 264) stated that IVE Project provided “a sense of intercultural understanding” and 227 Japaneseparticipants stated that IVE Project provided “a sense of participating in the international community”(Hagley & Cotter, 2019). Only 31 Japanese participants stated that an increase of motivation was a82

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benefit from participating in IVE Project (Hagley & Cotter, 2019). From Hagley and Cotter’s (2019)study, the term ‘increased motivation’ was ambiguous. It might mean increased motivation to (a)study their L2, (b) communicate with foreigners, (c) learn about other cultures, and so on.
Hagley and Cotter (2019) investigated the common problems or complaints with using IVE
Project. Of the 594 Japanese participants surveyed, 257 participants experienced no complaints
or problems (Hagley & Cotter, 2019). Of the participants who reported problems or complaints,
technological issues were the most problematic (Hagley & Cotter, 2019). Japanese participants (n= 216) stated that they had system issues including uploading photos as well as other tech issues(Hagley & Cotter, 2019). The second major complaint was 51 participants were not satisfied by otherparticipants’ efforts (Hagley & Cotter, 2019). For example, the 51 Japanese participants felt thatinternational participants were not replying fast enough or that at times no one would reply to theircomment or question (Hagley & Cotter, 2019). Researchers suggested that this complaint might bea positive indication that participants wanted a greater number of exchanges and replies from theirpartners (Hagley & Cotter, 2019). It also underlined a shortcoming with asynchronous tasks in a
discussion forum. In synchronous discussions, the likelihood of long wait times and no replies would
be much lower.
In Hagley and Thomson’s (2017) survey, Japanese participants of IVE Project were also irritatedby the few replies and posts from Columbian students, who due to technological issues (e.g., internet
connectivity and lack of training on how to use the forum), were not participating as much as theJapanese and Taiwanese students (Hagley & Thomson, 2017). However, the researchers createdworkshops designed to help educate teachers on how to use the IVE Project so that when the teachers
teach their students how to use IVE Project, students might encounter less technical issues (Hagley& Cotter, 2020). In Hagley and Thomson’s study on IVE Project, students also stated that students felt
the exchange was time-consuming because they had to access the virtual exchange at least two times
a week to write comments and replies (Hagley & Thomson, 2017). In Hagley and Cotter’s (2019)study, only 11 participants wrote that IVE Project was time-consuming. Therefore, participants ingeneral do not report problems or complaints, but when they do, it most likely relates to technologicalissues or the effects of the forum’s asynchronous quality and not due to any negative socio-culturalexperiences that participants encountered.
A possible research study would be to conduct a pre-treatment survey and post-treatment
survey using a pre-existing survey to determine the extent to which participants’ exhibit Yashima’s(2002) attitude of international posturing comprising international friendship orientation, interest
in international vocation/activities, interest in foreign affairs, and intergroup approach-avoidance
tendency. One group of students would participate in IVE Project, but the other group would not,but would still participate in the surveys. Researchers should collect data on the amount of individual
participation in IVE Project to cross-examine whether participants with higher levels of international
posturing correlate to higher number of posts, log ins, and typed words. Additionally, an interesting
avenue would be to collect data on the amount of words participants contribute to in-class discussions
to figure out whether the amount they participate on the forum correlates to the amount they
participate in face-to-face discussions on the same topics.
An important aspect of the study would be participants’ view of IVE Project. In other words,
to what extent do participants believe that participating in IVE Project equates to participating in
the international community and to what extent does participating in the international community
equate to helping them achieve their goals (e.g., traveling, working for an international company,and making friends with foreigners). This survey should also include questions indicating the extent

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to which students feel motivated to increase their L2 proficiency (i.e., more specifically what aspectsof L2 students feel motivated to increase) as a result of either interacting with IVE Project (i.e.,
for treatment group) or hypothetically interacting with IVE Project (i.e., for non-treatment group).
Another avenue would also be to investigate the feelings that students experience when they have IVE
Project tech problems, slow responses by other participants, or no replies to their messages.
Adding a qualitative, longitudinal aspect to the study by asking participants to journal their
feelings about their experiences using IVE Project over the course of the 8 weeks would be helpful
in understanding participants’ thoughts during these experiences. For example, from the journal,
researchers should gather how many Japanese participants experienced no replies or long delays in
response times. Additionally, researchers might ask participants to reflect on reasons they believe
for receiving no replies as well as strategies that they employed to cope with it. Research might help
lecturers better understand ways in which they can help participants who do not receive as many
replies on IVE Project. Motivation is a dynamic, multifaceted, and complex construct (Dörnyei &Ushioda, 2013). Therefore, collecting different types of data over an extended period might provide
a deeper understanding of the effect of using IVE Project on students’ L2 motivation, WTC, andinternational posturing.

Pre-Task Planning Effects on Discussion
During in-class discussions, lecturers follow the stages of Present, Practice, and Produce (PPP).
In addition to PPP, there is an extra production stage (i.e., PPPP). Before the first and second
production stages, there is an opportunity for pre-task planning. Students have roughly 5–7 min toprepare their ideas about the discussion topics with their partner. By incorporating IVE Project as
out-of-class assignments, students have the opportunity to engage in an additional pre-task planningstage. Their engagement with IVE Project might have positive effects on their in-class discussion task
performance. Therefore, another research avenue would be the extent to which IVE Project might
increase L2 proficiency and in-class discussion performance thereby possibly helping students toachieve the course aim to a greater extent.
Following Levelt’s (1989) model of speech production, humans engaging in producing speech
first start by conceptualizing (i.e., idea generation), then formulating (i.e., lexical and grammaticalforms selection), and lastly articulating (i.e., vocal cords and mouth movements use). They monitor
their performance via their speech comprehension system to make conceptual, formulative, or
articulative adjustments (Levelt, 1989). Understanding the rationale behind pre-planning’s ability to
improve discussion performance starts with humans’ limited working memory (Ellis, 2009). Working
memory means human’s capacity for holding information in human consciousness actively as humans
engage in daily cognitive tasks (Carruthers, 2013). Limited working memory might cause students’difficulties in focusing on meaning and form simultaneously (Ellis, 2009). Pre-planning lessens theburdens of limited working memory, which helps students to recall linguistic resources that have notbeen made automatic (Ellis, 2009). Additionally, lessening the burden of limited working memory
might help students focus on other aspects of their L2 proficiency and task performance (Stroud,2019).
Ellis (2009) categorized different types of planning: rehearsal, strategic, and online. Rehearsal
pre-task planning is defined as performing the task to completion before doing the main task (Ellis,2009). Regarding rehearsal pre-task planning of spoken tasks, students engage in conceptualizing,
formulating, articulating, and monitoring. Strategic planning is defined as planning the content of84

COMPUTER-MEDIATED ASYNCHRONOUS DISCUSSIONS ON THE INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL EXCHANGE

what to say as well as how to say it, but not performing the task (Ellis, 2009). Strategic pre-planningfor spoken tasks includes conceptualizing, formulating, and monitoring, but not articulating. Students
can strategically plan for a discussion by writing key points and that would be categorized as strategic.
Online planning is defined as planning during and throughout the task (i.e., students are given
nearly an unlimited amount of time to complete the task so they can plan as much as they want). For
online planning, students have plenty of time to plan within the task so they might devote attentional
resources to conceptualizing, formulating, and monitoring stages (Yuan & Ellis, 2003).
The type of planning students undertake for IVE Project tasks is categorized as online planning.
They plan during and throughout the IVE Project task. In past discussion classes, students havecomplained that they cannot fully express their ideas during the face-to-face discussions. In termsof Levelt’s (1989) model, students have an idea of what they want to say, but they have difficulty
formulating their idea into English. They often add that they need more vocabulary and occasionally,
they state that they wished they could use more complex grammatical structures to express theirideas. On IVE Project, students have the ability to look up vocabulary words and translate using
applications or websites on the internet. Additionally, they have access to viewpoints of students inother countries if they need help thinking of different ideas.
Yet, IVE Project tasks can also be treated as pre-task planning (i.e., online strategic planning)for in-class, face-to-face discussions. If discussion lecturers ask students to discuss topics that they
will cover in the class on the IVE Project, students will be engaging in conceptualizing, formulating,and monitoring (i.e., cognitive processes that might lift the cognitive load when they do in-classdiscussions with their classmates). In this sense, IVE Project tasks can be categorized as online
strategic pre-task planning for the face-to-face discussions. An avenue of research into IVE Project
would be questioning the extent to which students believe that they can fully formulate their ideason the IVE Project and to what extent they are using the ideas from IVE Project in their face-toface discussions. Yuan and Ellis (2003) stated that online planning allows students to closely attend
to conceptualizing, formulating, and monitoring so students might feel that they have time to fully
express their ideas.
IVE Project might provide a space for developing more complex ideas on the topics coveredin discussion class, but if students want to use ideas from the forum, they would have to recall
and re-formulate for in-class discussion as there might be an extended period of time between
strategic online planning and the face-to-face performance. Yuan and Ellis (2003) noted that for
pre-task planning that occurs right before the task, students would probably remember theirconceptualizations, but not more thorough pre-planned formulations. Students would mostly
paraphrase their ideas from IVE Project interactions rather than be able to recall word for word.
Therefore, Yuan and Ellis stated that increased Complexity, Fluency, and Accuracy (CAF) is a mostly
the result of the effort that students devoted to conceptualization and to a slight extent, formulation,
especially in terms of grammatical morphology. The content from IVE Project would therefore not bein students’ working memory, but would be stored in their long-term memory.
From my own informal observations of adding online asynchronous discussion forums and chatrooms, students had a perceptible increase in their lexical complexity in terms of sophistication (i.e.,rareness of the words) and it might be due to this increase in lexical sophistication that there havebeen a noticeable increase of negotiations of meaning during Zoom meetings. Yet, Suzuki (2017)
examined 28 studies for the effect of pre-tasking planning on CAF and found that the effectiveness on
pre-task planning have been mixed and therefore, contradict literature that has been widely acceptedin the field. For example, some studies stated that it increased a combination of CAF measures85

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whereas others indicated that it did not increase these measures. Suzuki noted that the majority ofpre-task planning studies that she synthesized did not entail specific guidance on how to plan (i.e.,
what students should do during their planning time) nor what they actually do with their planning
time. Thus, there were few verbal protocol analyses in the field to gain insights into the students’cognitive processes and the complexity that pre-task planning entails.
Stroud (2019) also wrote that there have been major issues with the research to-date on
pre-task planning. One problem is that the vast majority of studies have monologic tasks (e.g.,presentations) rather than dialogic (e.g., group discussions or group problem-solving tasks) andtherefore, researchers cannot conclude that the results for monologic tasks would be the same as
dialogic because students in dialogic tasks attend to more processes (Stroud, 2019). These additional
processes include feedback, turn-taking, and negotiations of meaning. These dialogic characteristics
cause more complexity in tasks which might hinder students’ output (Ellis, 2003). Thus, Stroud
stated that the field needs more case studies to uncover the effect of pre-task planning on dialogic
performance. Another issue is the effects of planning can differ according to their proficiency, so
the field needs more case studies that discuss different proficiencies within the same classroom(Kawauchi, 2005; Lynch & Maclean, 2000). Lastly, Stroud stated that previous studies only focusedon the linguistic aspects of CAF; however, participation and interaction should also be measured.
In Stroud’s study, he measured words spoken and turns taken by students to assess the effects ofplanning on participation.
Stroud’s (2019) study was the only research study in the field that I could find that measured theeffects of planning specifically for group discussions. In Stroud’s study, he investigated the immediate
effects of three conditions: rehearsal, strategic planning, or no planning on group discussion task
performance on 24 Japanese university students with an average TOEIC score of 450. Additionally,
he investigated whether there were any differences between participants who contributed a lot to
discussions versus participants who did not contribute as much. He measured the speech rate (i.e.,words per minute) of high versus low participators to determine significant differences occurred influency across three discussions. For the strategic planning, students wrote their ideas on the topic
for 10 min, but were not allowed to discuss it with others. For rehearsal, students were paired withpartners from a different discussion group and practiced discussing the topic for 10 min. The design
was counterbalanced so each participant participated in all three conditions.
In Stroud’s (2019) study, planning outperformed the no-planning condition. The planning
condition had a medium effect sizes for words spoken, speech rate A (i.e., untrimmed), speech rate
B (i.e., trimmed), pauses, reasons per turn, and reference clauses per 100 words (Stroud, 2019). For
rehearsal, there was significant (a) increase in words, (b) increase speech rates, and (c) decreasein pausing (Stroud, 2019). No significant effect for rehearsal compared to no-planning condition
was found for accuracy, complexity, discourse complexity (Stroud, 2019). For strategic planning,participants had significantly (a) fewer pauses, (b) less reference clauses, and (c) gave more reasonsin each turn. No significant effect on accuracy, complexity, or participation was found. Planning had
a significant effect on low participators for more reasons per turn, less reference clauses, and more
words per turn (Stroud, 2019).
A potential avenue of research would be to mimic the design and measurements that Stroud(2019) used, but compare the extent to which IVE Project’s online strategic planning effects in-classdiscussions. Researchers can compare participants with IVE Project online strategic planning toparticipants without IVE Project. Additional measurements might be the amount of negotiations of
meaning episodes and whether there is an increase for other types of discussion skills (e.g., follow-

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COMPUTER-MEDIATED ASYNCHRONOUS DISCUSSIONS ON THE INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL EXCHANGE

up questions, examples, sources of information, and viewpoints). On its own, IVE Project might help
students to improve CAF and discussion performance, but I think researchers at Rikkyo University
ought to collect some evidence that IVE Project can also assist in helping students with performancesof in-class discussions to a greater extent than without IVE Project.

Conclusion
In conclusion, this research brief covers the literature in the field on aspects of motivation andpre-task planning that could potential justify using IVE Project in discussion classes. More workneeds to be done in creating research questions and designing the study. Previous students of the
discussion class have stated that they have difficulty fully formulating their ideas in English duringgroup discussions, but they wished to use English outside of the classroom to engage with theinternational community. By incorporating the IVE Project for take home assignments, lecturersof the discussion class might help students (a) achieve the course goals to a greater extent (e.g.,develop strategic competence, spoken fluency, and use of discussion skills), (b) assist in helping
students more fully express their ideas in the face-to-face discussion class, and (c) attain some of theirinstrumental motivations for studying English.

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Z. Dörnyei & E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity, and the L2 self (pp. 46–58).
Multilingual Matters.
Yuan, F., & Ellis, R. (2003). The effects of pre-task planning and online planning on fluency,
complexity, and accuracy in L2 monologic oral production. Applied Linguistics, 24(1), 1–27.
doi:10.1093/applin/24.1.1

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【Research Brief】

Identifying Policy Puzzles for Discourse Analysis: The Vision of
Education in the Promotion of International Development
Ian Wash
Abstract
This research brief outlines how I identified a policy puzzle that initiated a political discourse analysis. The brief,
inspired by interpretive policy analysis that uses unexpected discoveries in policy fields as a precursor to deploymentof the discursive approach, is divided into two parts. First, it shows how background research into a question about
the ability of education to resolve development issues and reduce poverty in poor countries allowed me to unearth apolicy dilemma in the field of international education. Driven by the question of whether education is a ‘magic bullet’
for development, I explore a critical debate about the methodological and theoretical basis of a dominant argument.
Placed in the wider context of institutional goals, I explain how this conflicted dispute led me to an unanticipateddiscover y: that the vision of international education, previously thought of as a harmonious liberal pact, could
actually be a narrative riven by tension over whether education was an economic good. The final part summarises thediscoveries made and reflects on my breakthrough as a result of answering the initial question. I conclude by using
the identified puzzle to generate a research question capable of guiding a discourse analysis into the torn vision ofinternational education.
Keywords: applied linguistics, discourse analysis, international education, policy analysis

Introduction
The relatedness of language and politics has become more apparent through the field ofdiscourse studies: an interdisciplinary juncture where the political-turn in linguistics meets theideational turn in policy research. A prerequisite to undertaking a robust political discourse analysis
is the identification of a significant policy puzzle. Yanow (2000) makes the point that puzzles often reston the difference between what a researcher expects to find and what they actually experience fromtheir primary contact with the policy field (p. 8). In other words, it is the dilemma that comes to lightwhen the observed reality appears ‘different’ from that originally perceived. This article explains theinitial research process I went through to discover such a mismatch in the literature on education
for development. First contact with the puzzle was made whilst seeking an answer to a question thattroubled me: What are some reasons why education might not be a ‘magic bullet’ for development andpoverty reduction?
My expectation was that it would be difficult to find any logical explanations to contradict thenotion of education as panacea for socio-economic problems in poorer countries. My previous
reading of policy reports by international organizations and donor agencies seemed only to confirm
what I thought was a global consensus: that education was a ‘magic bullet’ for national development.
However, the challenge of the ‘magic bullet’ question forced me to take a critical view of these reports
and explore a limited body of background literature. Answering the question enabled me to engage
with two unforeseen aspects of the field of study. Firstly, that unquestioned support for education as a‘magic bullet’ was in fact misguided. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, that these ‘differences’
were part of a wider and more fascinating policy puzzle about the vision of international education that
could potentially be resolved through discourse analysis.

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This essay is divided into two parts. The first part attempts to answer the ‘magic bullet’ question
by surveying a small sample of institutional and academic research. It takes a careful examinationof why arguments in support of education as a development remedy may in fact be mistaken, andcritically assesses the empirical evidence that warned against educational expansion in low-income
countries. The theoretical basis of the debate is critically examined along with relevant institutional
issues that cast doubt on education as a ‘magic bullet.’ Part two reflects on how, in answering thisquestion, my expectations of what I thought I would find were proven wrong. It also describes how
this reconsideration of what I originally thought was ‘right’ generated a research question to guide apiece of discourse analytical research.

Answering the ‘Magic Bullet’ Question
Proponents of education as a ‘magic bullet’ provide a range of evidence for investment inschooling that is seemingly difficult to argue against given the moral nature of the issue. Improved
productivity, increases in national income, economic growth, technological advances, and lower levels
of inequality are all put forward as advantages of more education (Birdsall, Ross, & Sabot, 1995, p.
502). In addition, Rose (2006) suggests that education delivers a range of social benefits such as better
health and reduced fertility rates (p. 163).
Claims that education can resolve poverty issues and boost development through economic
growth are contested. At the heart of this controversy is the way that Rates of Return (RoR) analysis,a form of cost-benefit analysis commonly used by policy analysts, tends to produce evidence that
contradicts the ‘magic bullet’ argument. Returns analysis is a favored analytical tool of researchers
who explain education through Human Capital Theory (HCT), defined as the acquisition of skills
and knowledge by individuals resulting in greater productivity that subsequently raises incomes andincreases economic growth (Woodhall, 2001, p. 6951). That the policies of international institutions
such as the World Bank and UN agencies are largely influenced by HCT is reflected in way they baseinvestment decisions on economic reasoning (Bennell, 1996, p. 184).

Bullet Stuck in the Chamber: RoR
A major challenge to the ‘magic bullet’ argument questions the supposed impact of education on
economic growth. This section examines how RoR analysis contributes towards doubts over whether
education could resolve development and poverty issues.
Pritchett uses regression analysis to show that the estimated impact of years of schooling on
GDP growth per worker is in fact small and negative (Pritchett, 1997, p. 6). These findings weaken
the link between education and economic growth (Bils & Klenow, 2000, p. 1160). This trend wasespecially prevalent in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa where investment in education has notstimulated growth, as highlighted in literature that draws comparisons with the experience of East
Asia. As Easterly (2002) points out, it is in this contrast that the lack of association between education
and GDP per capita growth becomes most evident (p. 73). Figure 1 illustrates this comparison bypresenting statistics for both regions. It shows that despite a huge education expansion in SubSaharan Africa relative to East Asia between 1960 and 1985, the former experienced only a fraction of
the growth enjoyed by the latter.
Central to this argument is the distinction between the private and social returns to schoolingwhich questions continued public investment in post-primary education. To return to Pritchett, RoR

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IDENTIFYING POLICY PUZZLES FOR DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

4.5
4% per annum

3.5
3
Educational capital growth
1960–85

2.5

GDP per capita growth
1960–85

2
1.5
1
0.5
0
East Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa
RegionFigure 1. Where did all the education go in Sub-Saharan Africa? Source: Easterly (2002, p. 75).

analysis indicates that higher levels of education lead to higher wages but do not increase output or
productivity and therefore will not result in GDP growth (Pritchett, 1997, p. 29). Therefore, although
education attainment increases consumption and demand for consumer goods, a highly-skilled labor
force will not be utilized to drive productivity and supply unless it can be put to work by a dynamic,
entrepreneurial, and diverse economy. Education economists at the World Bank have used thisevidence as justification to withhold donor funding beyond basic education in poorer countries(Psacharopoulos & Patrinos, 2002, p. 1). Such empirical evidence, supportive of HCT, enables thegovernments of powerful Western donors and international organizations to legitimise reductions
in public spending on schooling, often accompanied by the promotion of private sector provision.
Empirical evidence produced by RoR analysis challenged the conventional wisdom that education
was a ‘magic bullet’ for promoting development. However, the validity and reliability of data used inreturns estimates were themselves a source of controversy and brought these findings into dispute.

Dislodging the Jammed Bullet: Problems With RoR
Sampling errors, methodological discrepancies, and data reliability issues in returns analysis
contribute towards undermining the above claim that education is not a remedy to underdevelopment.
Since returns analysis is consulted in the policymaking process, it is only right that the validity of RoR
and investment decisions based in these estimates be scrutinized.
In macro-level studies, the sampling frame can skew data and distort findings on returns to
education. In many studies, a representative population sample at the household level was preferred
to measure RoR. Although in reality, sampling procedures were often prone to an urban bias as theytargeted large firms which resulted in the wages recorded being significantly greater than the average
market wage (Psacharopoulos & Patrinos, 2002, p. 2). Many influential studies employing RoR thatguided policy decision making repeated such sampling errors. Wages were further distorted in theway that formal sector employees contacted in samples only represented a small proportion of theoverall labor market (Bennell, 1996, p. 188). Informal workers that made up the majority of the labormarket in developing country studies were largely excluded. Furthermore, samples that focused
purely on the formal sector tended to exclude female workers in low-income countries, many of whom
are unwaged or work in the informal sector (Schultz, 2002, p. 208).
Methodological discrepancies have also been flagged up as being potential culprits of distortion,
especially when estimating private returns to education. Mainstream education economists

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argue that methodological errors occur when independent variables such as occupation are
included in regression analysis, subsequently underestimating the impact of education on income(Psacharopoulos & Patrinos, 2002, p. 3). However, this position is contested by those who pointout that other variables such as years of schooling, ability, and family wealth are important whencalculating the wage function, and that excluding them can result in omitted variable bias (Bennell,
1996, p. 190; Schultz, 2002, p. 209).
The reliability of data used in RoR analysis has also been called into question. Without sufficient
controls to guarantee data quality, out-dated and patchy census figures can feed into statistical
calculations that influence key education indicators. Aggregated data used in World Bank studies
has been accused of being misleading on the grounds of being poor quality, out-dated, and having
parts of the data missing (Bennell, 1996, p. 186). On top of that, there is much controversy overinconsistencies between enrolment data, often collected by Education Ministries and incorporated
into returns analysis, and actual attendance or completion data. Arguably, enrolment acts as an aineffective proxy for human capital development as it ignores attendance and drop-out rates, thereby
distorting growth rates upwards (Pritchett, 1997, p. 24). To muddy the waters of data reliability
further, variability in the education systems of different countries reflected in the data can makecomparability of data sets highly problematic.
Questions over the sampling procedures, methodological choices, and quality of data have all
challenged the trustworthiness of RoR analysis and the credibility of its estimates. This casts further
doubt on counter-claims disputing the notion that education can cure development ills. The next
section explores the way that faith in RoR has been further eroded by challenges to the theory it
substantiates.

Disarming the Assailant: Challenging HCTHaving examined controversies surrounding RoR analysis and its central place in the ‘magicbullet’ debate, the critical lens is turned onto its theoretical basis. A summary of the limitations of HCTin explaining educational problems is followed by the proposal of an alternative model that perceives
education as a system of provision.
HCT has come under criticism from educationalists and development scholars who reject theidea of education as an economic good. Rose (2006) draws parallels with slavery in the way that thetheory reduces individual workers to property (p. 174). It has been pointed out that HCT represents
an un-opened ‘black box’ for education, offering no real analytical perspective on education and being
limited only to cost-benefit analysis (Fine & Rose, 2001, p. 156). Rose (2006) adds that this macroorientation results in a narrow focus on economic aspects of education which fails to take into accountits moral, social and cultural impact (p. 167).
A major concern over HCT questions the faith it places in the neoclassical economic principleof obsessive methodological individualism which is then applied to a collective of self-maximisingrational individuals. Perceiving education in this light, the theory misses social relationships as key
elements of education, evades issues of historical and social specificity, and appears redundant in
explaining why educational systems emerged and their evolutionary process (Rose, 2006, p. 174). In
addition, HCT operates on the assumption of full employment and perfect information in markets,
further detracting from its relevance to society and its imperfections. Its limitations in explaining
education as an economic good are even acknowledged by World Bank staff. This is especially true
in regards to the issue of education quality which researchers concede is difficult to measure at the92

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macro-level and can over-estimate the impact of schooling on growth (Pritchett, 1997, p. 32).
An alternative model suggests that it may be better to theorize education as a system of provision.
This model is based on market imperfections and considers education provision as part of country
specific socio-economic framework that rejects cost-benefit analysis of education such as RoR (Fine &Rose, 2001, p. 172). The focus of education as a system of provision is both economic and academic:
building of schools, curriculum planning; committed to interaction of a social, political, economic andcultural nature; and concerned with relations, processes and structures in the social arena (Rose,2006, p. 175). This approach arguably points to a more contextual model of micro-level country
specific education evaluation and planning.
Together with RoR analysis, HCT could be perceived as a fundamental part of the unstableknowledge-generating machinery responsible for dismissing the ‘magic bullet’ argument. The
dominance of this thinking on the wider institutional context is considered next.

Bullet Proof ? Institutional Barriers Obstructing the Bullet
Institutional obstacles further prevent education from being a development cure and a meansof poverty alleviation. Considering these barriers enables the ‘magic bullet’ debate to be located in
the wider context of globally accepted goals that supposedly promote the role of education in thedevelopment process.
Major institutional targets such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the
Education for All (EFA) initiative reflect the findings of RoR analysis and guide the direction ofinternational education policy. A key objective of EFA was to achieve universal primary school
completion by 2015. Bennell (1996) argues that this over-emphasis on basic education is a result of
RoR analysis conducted on behalf of the World Bank, a dominant actor in the goal-setting agenda, that
vastly overestimates the social returns to primary schooling (p. 184). Others agree that the targets are
too selective and divert attention away from adult literacy and higher education, considered by someas equally important for national development (King & Rose, 2005, p. 364).
Prescriptive targets in the MDGs and EFA initiative tend to overlook specific historical contexts.
Providing a ‘one size fits all’ solution, they seem to overlook the fact that education underperformancein Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia is linked with different starting points. In this manner, policies
start to mirror the shortfalls of HCT, demonstrating a lack of historical and social specificity. Further
criticisms of institutional targets claim that they reflect the inherent contradictions in neoliberalism.
This is because the goals are shaped by World Bank recommendations and require expansionary
fiscal policy to be achieved, yet the conditionalities attached to loans by the organization impose harsh
restrictions on public spending in recipient countries (Marphatia & Archer, 2005, p. 3). This situation
compounds the ‘magic bullet’ problem and prompts a potential rethink of more relevant targets andbetter planning of how they can be achieved.
In sum, widening the ‘magic bullet’ debate from a narrow focus on RoR analysis to makeconnections with institutional goals locates the argument in its global context. Doing so indicatesthat a set of dominant beliefs about education as an investment and an economic good possibly drove
the argument that education was not a panacea for development. This prompts reflection on how theabove debate feeds into a much larger policy puzzle and the implications this holds for a discourse
analysis capable of exposing what lay behind the powerful norms in the field.

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Summar y and Reflection on the Identified Puzzle
Answering the ‘magic bullet’ question forced me to examine a wide variety of reasons why
education alone may have been deficient in tackling underdevelopment and reducing poverty.
The presentation of statistical evidence produced by RoR analysis about the weak impact of public
spending on education at first seemed surprising. But the counterarguments, instead of restoring myfaith in the ‘magic bullet’ claim, encouraged me to reflect on the power struggles going on between
institutions, academics, and other actors that influenced the field. The dominance of neoliberal
thinking caused a reconsideration over whether the meaning of the EFA targets was ‘different’ fromwhat I had previously assumed. It is this process of reflection that transformed the ‘magic bullet’
debate into a gateway to a policy puzzle about the aspirations rival actors had for international
education.
One of the most striking discoveries from studying the debate was that my perception ofa functioning and harmonious liberal vision of international education had been tarnished. The
dominant discourse about advancing the perfectibility of people, societies, and nations throughinternational education now appeared to be a curious liberal façade. The ambitions actors had for
education in improving the lot of people in poor countries were far from compatible; they were in
conflict. Given the centrality of HCT in the debate, it appeared to me that the theory would be a
key part of the puzzle. Solving it would entail interpretation using a larger sample of documents tograsp the extent to which HCT, and its underlying neoliberal ideology, had dominated the conflictedvision of education. Reflecting on these tensions generated the following research question: what
was the vision driving international education during this period? With the puzzle identified, theinitial research question in hand, and primary ideas about the theoretical framework, I could begin
conducting a political discourse analysis.

References
Bennell, P. (1996). Rates of return to education: Does the conventional pattern prevail in Sub-SaharanAfrica? World Development, 24(1), 183–199. doi:10.1016/0305-750X(95)00115-S
Bils, M., & Klenow, P. (2000). Does schooling cause growth? American Economic Review, 90(5),1160–1183. doi:10.1257/aer.90.5.1160
Birdsall, N., Ross, D., & Sabot, R. (1995). Inequality and growth reconsidered: Lessons from East Asia.
The World Bank Economic Review, 9(3), 477–508. doi:10.1093/wber/9.3.477
Easterly, W. (2002). The elusive quest for growth: Economists’ adventures and misadventures in thetropics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Fine, B., & Rose, P. (2001). Education and the post-Washington Consensus. In B. Fine, C. Lapavitsas,& J. Pincus (Eds.), Development policy in the twenty-first century: Beyond the post-Washington
Consensus (pp. 155–181). London: Routledge.
King, K., & Rose, P. (2005). Transparency or tyranny: Achieving international development targets
in education. International Journal of Educational Development, 25(4), 362–367. doi:10.1016/
j.ijedudev.2005.04.001
Marphatia, A. A., & Archer, D. (2005). Contradicting commitments: How the achievement of Education
for All is being undermined by the International Monetary Fund. London: ActionAid. Retrieved
from https://www.actionaid.org.uk/sites/default/files/doc_lib/132_1_contradicting_commitments.pdf

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Pritchett, L. (1997). Where has all the education gone? Washington, DC: World Bank.
Psacharopoulos, G., & Patrinos, H. A. (2002). Returns to investment in education: A further update.
Washington, DC: World Bank. Retrieved from http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/
en/512891468739485757/Returns-to-investment-in-education-a-further-update
Rose, P. (2006). From Washington to post-Washington Consensus: The triumph of human capital. In
K. S. Jomo & B. Fine (Eds.), The new development economics: After the Washington Consensus(pp. 162–183). London: Zed Books.
Schultz, T. P. (2002). Why governments should invest more to educate girls. World Development,
30(2), 207–225. doi:10.1016/S0305-750X(01)00107-3
Woodhall, M. (2001). Human capital: Educational aspects. In N. J. Smelter & P. B. Baltes (Eds.),
International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral science (Vol. 10, pp. 6951–6955). Oxford:
Elsevier.
Yanow, D. (2000). Conducting interpretive policy analysis (Vol. 47). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications.

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【Research Brief】

A Critical Evaluation Towards Micro-Teaching With Suggestions
for Future Improvements
Jason Murray
Abstract
The following research investigates the attitudes of 28 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers concerning theeffectiveness of micro-teaching when used in workshops for teacher development and as an observation tool. The
main purpose of the research was to investigate the opinions of the teachers regarding the effectiveness of microteaching activities. The research is supported by a questionnaire that evaluates and measures the attitudes of the 28
participants. From this evaluation, future improvements are suggested towards observation procedures that employ
micro-teaching in EFL language departments in higher education institutions. The paper also reports and discusses
the positive and negative aspects of micro-teaching when used during training sessions and workshops. The paper
includes reflections of micro-teaching activities from my own experiences on teacher-training courses and in higher
education institutions.
Keywords: m
 icro-teaching, English as a Foreign Language (EFL), attitudes towards micro-teaching, teacher
development, observation procedures

Introduction
Micro-teaching was introduced by Dr. Dwight W. Allen at Stanford University. Its objective is to
give trainee teachers confidence, support, and feedback. The teacher reviews a video recording of thelesson, the review analyzes the main areas; what worked, what did not work, and teaching techniquesthat could be improved. Outside the main areas, the teacher can reflect on other important areas
too. For instance, the behavior of the students, class arrangement (i.e., position of tables and chairs),
classroom management, and the teacher’s tone of voice and body language. It is largely viewed thatmicro-teaching provides invaluable feedback from the teacher trainers and teachers. It also allows theteacher an opportunity to test different strategies or experiment using alternative approaches.
Today the use of video for training purposes is a prerequisite for professional development
largely for trainee teachers but also experienced teachers. In workshops and training sessions, video
training can be used in a variety of ways. From my early experiences when taking a Teaching English
as a Foreign Language (TEFL) course in the UK as a trainee teacher, with my peers, we would
analyze and discuss short video clips of lessons with a focus on a specific area of the lesson. The video
was generally a model example demonstrated by an experienced teacher trainer. The aim being forthe trainee teachers to observe connections between theory and practice (Dymond & Bentz, 2006).
Observing a video, the teacher can experience authentic classroom environments (Amobi, 2005). The
common view is shared that its effectiveness of micro-teaching enhances professional development,
especially as an instrument to engage in reflective practice (Kottkamp, 1990).
With the effectiveness of micro-teaching is an effective tool considered, there is also an argumentthat staged classes (i.e., teachers play the role of the students) contrive a non-natural environment.
Stanley remarks that these experiences can be too painful (Stanley, 1998) for teachers. From my
own experiences, when viewing staged micro-teaching activities, the actions could be perceived as
a comical representation and the environment as artificial. Another area to consider which greatly97

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impacts the authenticity of micro-teaching is the familiarity that the teacher has with both class andlesson language function. If familiarity with the class has already been established, the observer
witnesses a smooth, flawless micro-teaching model. In the case of the teacher being unfamiliar andtheir decision-making is not influenced by familiarity, the observer would witness a more authentic
micro-teaching representation.

Sur vey Participants and Research Questions
All 28 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers who participated in the survey are working
in higher education in Japan. Participation was voluntary. It is intended that the research would be
useful, firstly as a proto-type project which could be developed comprehensively at a later stage if I wasto investigate micro-teaching activities at a specific place of learning.

Research Questions
The research investigated the following questions:
1.	What are teachers’ perceptions about micro-teaching activities (workshop/observation
procedure) in general?
2. What advantages and disadvantages do micro-teaching activities impose?
Answers to the above questions were thought to be helpful for teacher trainers and teachers in EFL
language institutions where micro-teaching techniques are employed.

Research Instruments
Data was recorded using a Likert-type scale. Attitudes towards Micro-teaching (Appendix A)
includes 10 items with five options—strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree, strongly disagree—which were included in the scale. Micro-teaching activities in the workshops (Appendix B) includes fiveitems with five options—would be of considerable benefit to me, would benefit me, would not benefit me,
would not benefit me at all, undecided—which were included in the scale. To find more comprehensive
data, a micro-teaching opinion box (Appendix C) was included, where comments concerning an areafrom the micro-teaching survey questions enabled the teacher to elaborate on a chosen area. Fivequestions included in the Attitudes towards Micro-teaching scale were worded in positively and fivequestions were worded in a negatively.

Findings
From my survey, the general view revealed that teachers generally held positive attitudes
towards micro-teaching applications. For example, concerning its effectiveness for professional
development, self-assessment, self-confidence, and material production. However, whilst manyteachers were generally enthusiastic about micro-teaching in a workshop environment, there
were mixed opinions when the micro-teaching tool is employed to assess and evaluate a teachers’
performance for observation purposes.
The percentile values of the responses for 15 items were evaluated in three sections in the study.
From the Attitudes towards Micro-teaching questionnaire (see Table A1 in Appendix A), positively
worded items are displayed in Table A2 and analyze five items. Negatively worded items are displayedin Table A3. From the Micro-teaching activities in the workshops questionnaire (see Appendix B), five98

A CRITICAL EVALUATION TOWARDS MICRO-TEACHING WITH SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS

items are evaluated in Table B1.
In Table A2, items about the benefits of micro-teaching were evaluated. The positive statements
about attitudes of micro-teaching, Items 1–5 imply the beneficial aspects of micro-teaching regarding
English language teaching activities in terms of pedagogical practice, evaluating performance, peerto-peer learning, motivation, and preparing lessons.
Item 1 questioned the motivation aspect of micro-teaching on the current course program.
Sixty-four percent of teachers agreed that micro-teaching activities were very motivating in theirpresent occupation while 36% remained undecided. Item 2 questioned whether teachers had a better
understanding of teaching methods from micro-teaching. Fifty percent agreed while 50% remained
undecided. Most of the participants that volunteered for the survey use a ‘set’ teaching approachsuch as ‘PPP’ (Presentation Practice Production) or ‘TTT’ (Teach Test Teach). The approaches arecommon approaches to modern Communicative Language teaching programs that work through theprogression in three sequential stages. The data suggests that as teachers in Japanese universities
and colleges use a ‘set’ teaching approach, micro-teaching aspects of such methodologies were notviewed as necessarily beneficial. Item 3 questioned whether micro-teaching activities helped teachers
prepare lessons more efficiently. Fifty-seven percent agreed while 43% remained undecided. Item 4questioned whether teachers could learn new teaching techniques from their peers. Seventy-eight
point five percent agreed, 7% remained undecided, and 14.5% disagreed. Regarding the responsesof the participants in this context, it is possible to state that by observing other teaching styles andstrategies and by discussing common subjects of teaching and learning, micro-teaching applications
allow participants the opportunity to practice in supportive surroundings. Item 5 questioned whether
micro-teaching helped teachers evaluate their teaching performance. Eighty-five point five percent
agreed, 7% remained undecided while 7.5% disagreed.
The statements in Table A3 examining the negative aspects of micro-teaching applications fromteachers’ perspectives (Items 6–10)—are concerned with micro-teaching effectiveness as a tool for
analyzing teaching methods, the artificiality of the classroom environment, learner anxiety in a microteaching lesson and hindrances of micro-teaching in the learning process. These items were listedwith the positive statements on the Attitudes towards Micro-teaching questionnaire (see Table A1).
Item 6 questioned the effectiveness of the micro-teaching as a tool for teaching methods.
Seventy-eight point five percent disagreed and considered that micro-teaching is a useful tool, while
21.5% remained undecided. Item 7 questioned the artificiality of a micro-teaching lesson. Forty-three
percent agreed, 28.5% remained undecided, and 28.5% disagreed. The data suggest that teachers do
not feel comfortable in a micro-teaching environment therefore, inhibiting their natural approachto teaching. Item 8 examined the hindrances of micro-teaching (i.e., students feeling pressured ina micro-teaching lesson). Twenty-eight point five percent of teachers accepted that micro-teachingactivities hindered students’ learning. Forty-three percent were undecided and 28.5% disagreed. Item
9 examined the extent to which a teacher would take when teaching. This may include a timeline on
the whiteboard or an aspect of phonology using the IPA symbols. Forty-three percent agreed thatthey would be less inclined to teach in-depth as opposed to a lesson not employing the micro-teaching
technique. Fourteen percent were undecided and 43% disagreed. The data suggested conflicted
opinions which were similar to the results from Item 7. The issue being that micro-teaching prohibits
teachers from teaching naturally without feeling restricted. Item 10 questioned whether microteaching created hindrances within the learning program. This question bought mixed opinions fromteachers as 43% disagreed, 43% remained undecided, and 14% agreed.
The statements in Table B1, examined teachers’ preferences towards future micro-teaching99

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activities in workshops. Items 1–5 state preferences for more emphasis on the following areas:teaching methodologies, teaching pronunciation, motivating students, error correction and, giving
feedback.
Item 1 examined more emphasis on teaching methodologies. Seventy-nine percent suggested
that this would be beneficial for them while 14% suggested that this would not benefit them. Seven
percent were undecided. This could suggest that while teachers feel that methodologies such as
The Communicative Approach is effective for General/Discussion English programs with a specificlesson function language (Richards & Rogers, 2001), many teachers suggested that English speaking
programs which require the students to debate or to think critically without a function language are
more suitable for Content-based Instruction lessons. Item 2 examined more emphasis on teachingpronunciation. Fifty-seven percent responded negatively, indicated that this would not be of benefit,
while 36% thought pronunciation would be of benefit. Seven percent remained undecided. The results
suggest that there are mixed opinions among teachers regarding teaching pronunciation. It could
be argued that higher education college managements/course developers are more concernedwith production from the students (i.e., speaking is everything). Therefore, integrating aspectsof phonology into the lessons is not considered important. Item 3 analyzed more emphasis on
motivating students. Eighty-six percent advocated that this would be of benefit. Seven percent did
not see this as beneficial while 7% were undecided. In my experience, most teachers I have worked
with in universities and colleges share the same opinion and that is successful language learning islargely down to motivating and motivated students. Item 4 examined error correction. Seventy-nine
percent suggested that there should be more emphasis on error correction in their workshops, 7%
did not see it as beneficial, and 14% were undecided. Again, the results were largely influenced by
the teachers’ lesson guidelines at their places of work. Item 5 examined more emphasis on giving
feedback. Ninety-three percent thought that this would be of considerable benefit. Seven percent were
undecided. Though the results suggest that teachers would like more emphasis on giving feedback in
micro-teaching activities, there is a lot of criticism from teachers suggesting that the micro-teachingactivities primarily focus on student feedback regarding the use of the function language as opposed
to contented heard during the activities.

Suggestion for Future Improvements
The findings of this study dealing with questioning the positive and negative points of microteaching applications in general support that micro-teaching applications are practical experiences formeeting the desired objectives of training teachers to become effective and reflective in the teachingprofession. The overall results indicate that teachers were satisfied with the applications of microteaching. The data also showed that overall, teachers welcomed the use of micro-teaching activities
and appreciated its benefits either in the workshop or as an assessment tool. Additionally, the findings
specify the creativity and resourcefulness of the micro-teaching activities and prove that teachers,
strongly acknowledge the usefulness of micro-teaching for boosting creativity. It is also efficient for
introducing various materials, encourages teachers to put more consideration when preparing for
lessons, and is beneficial for evaluating teaching performance and getting feedback. Besides, microteaching assists and enhances teachers to develop teaching techniques and learning strategies. Since
micro-teaching focuses on teacher behaviors, it gives clues about weak and strong indications ofteachers and enables the teacher to be more proficient in their profession.
Although the optimistic views about micro-teaching were confirmed by the 28 participants in this100

A CRITICAL EVALUATION TOWARDS MICRO-TEACHING WITH SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS

survey, some negative aspects were also admitted by the participants. On occasions, for time-saving
purposes, micro-teaching applications are carried out with teacher trainers and in some cases, theuniversity staff taking the roles of teachers and students. This form of micro-teaching has often been
criticized by teachers, arguing that artificial classroom settings, where the learners were not real
students, simply followed instructions. This issue was raised by 25% of the survey participants in the
micro-teaching opinion box in the survey (Appendix C).
In this study, 28 teachers’ attitudes towards micro-teaching were examined to identify thebenefits and disadvantages of micro-teaching and the participants’ responses to the items in
the questionnaire affirmed that micro-teaching is a favorable learning and teaching experience.
Therefore, the findings in this study support those who state the beneficial aspects of micro-teaching
applications.
From the survey results, some suggestions can be presented for further studies and applicationsof micro-teaching: micro-teaching as a professional tool in teacher training departments needs to be
applied to motivate teachers; however, results have suggested criticisms, namely teachers feelingawkward and declining to teach in-depth when demonstrating in a micro-teaching lesson. Teacher
trainers need to give their staff more encouragement to be as natural as possible in a micro-teachinglesson. During feedback from teacher trainers, teachers’ areas to improve should be given in aconstructive way to learn by their mistakes. By doing this, teachers will reflect and see the importanceof micro-teaching. For implementing ‘staged’ micro-teaching activities, such as where teachers‘act out’ situations. Education policies of teacher training institutions, curriculum developers, andteaching staff at those institutions should consider the importance of staging correct and incorrectmodels of teaching.

General Criticisms Towards Observation Procedures
Universities and colleges have observation procedures which vary according to their programs.
However, most follow a similar procedure (i.e., the video is watched, evaluated, and discussed).
The general criticisms by teachers regarding the observation procedure are similar. For example,
scheduling the observed lesson between teacher and teacher trainer, arranging a follow-up meeting,
and writing Self-Evaluation Forms can be very time-consuming during a busy semester. Also, teachers
often stress that they feel restricted from teaching naturally and that the classroom environment canseem artificial.

Suggestions to Improve Observation Procedures
From my testimony, teachers often comment that they would welcome having the opportunity to
discuss teaching matters with their peers as it would alleviate stress. I suggest that a peer observation
system would be more beneficial for the teacher as it would promote a team-based work environment.
Peer observation would not be an evaluation. Teachers would not be asked to grade their peer’s
lessons. The system would be viewed as a collaboration (i.e., teachers sharing ideas and offeringsuggestions to improve their teaching skills).

How Would the System Work?
Teacher trainers would assign pairs among teachers. For the follow-up meetings to run smoothly101外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 1 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 1）

during the semester, the teacher trainers could assign teachers with similar schedules. Teachers
would watch their peer’s videos and focus their feedback on the area(s) requested by their peers, aswell as answering some general questions concerning the unit and student’s level. Teachers that do
not feel comfortable observing or being observed by a peer for whatever reason, may choose to beobserved by a teacher trainer as an alternative.

Documentation and Observation Procedure for Teachers
Each teacher would complete both the Peer Observation: Self-Evaluation form (see Appendix D)
and the Peer Feedback form (see Appendix E).
Step 1The lesson is taped.
Step 2The teacher completes the Peer Observation: Self-Evaluation form at the end of their lesson.
Step 3
The form would be then photocopied and given to their partner (the observer).
Step 4The observer would then use the information when he/she fills in the Peer Feedback form,
during, or after viewing the tape. The final section would be completed at the end of the follow-up
meeting.
Step 5
The follow-up meeting
Step 6
The teacher completes the final section of the Peer Feedback form.

Conclusion
The research of 28 teachers’ attitudes towards micro-teaching was examined to evaluate current
micro-teaching activities in the participant’s places of work. The participant’s responses to the itemsin the scale largely affirmed the importance of micro-teaching. Therefore, the findings in this study
support those who state the beneficial aspects of micro-teaching applications. From the findings,
a high percentage of the participants shared the same view that more emphasis on areas teachingsuch as teaching methodologies, error correction, and giving feedback in micro-teaching workshops
would be beneficial for self-development. Furthermore, regarding observation procedures, it ishoped that this paper encourages implanting peer-to-peer micro-teaching activities as it would beof considerable benefit for teachers and management staff especially in language departments thatoffer English programs for a considerable number of students. With sufficient support from theschool management and administrative staff (Richards, 2001), teachers would feel more of a sense of
responsibility having the authority to conduct meetings themselves with their peers. Such a system
in put in place would greatly impact teacher professional development and could create a healthy
working environment among teachers and school management.

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A CRITICAL EVALUATION TOWARDS MICRO-TEACHING WITH SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS

References
Amobi, F. A. (2005). Preservice teachers’ reflectivity on the sequence and consequences of teachingactions in a microteaching experience. Teacher Education Quarterly, 32(1), 115–130.
Dymond, S. K., & Bentz, J. L. (2006). Using digital videos to enhance teacher preparation. Teacher
Education and Special Education, 29(2), 98–112.
Kottkamp, R. B. (1990). Means for facilitating reflection. Education and Urban Society, 22, 182–203.
Richards, J. C. (2001). Curriculum development in language teaching. Cambridge University Press.
Richards, J. C., & Rogers, T. S. (2001). Approaches and methods in language teaching. Cambridge
University Press.
Stanley, C. (1998). A framework for teacher reflectivity. TESOL Quarterly, 32(3), 584–591.

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Appendix A
Table A1
Attitudes towards
Micro-teaching
Micro-teaching activities are very
motivating in my present occupation.

Micro-teaching activities are not a very
effective tool for analyzing teaching
methods.
I understand teaching methods withmore clarity with micro-teachingactivities.
When I present in a micro-teachinglesson I feel awkward therefore thelesson isn’t a true reflection of myteaching.
Micro-teaching activities help me toprepare lessons more efficiently.

Micro-teaching hinders the students.
(i.e. students feel pressured in a microteaching lesson.)
I’m able to learn new teaching
techniques from my peers throughmicro-teaching activities.
I’m less inclined to demonstrate indepth when presenting a micro-teachinglesson. (i.e. illustrate with grammatical
timelines, etc.)
Micro-teaching activities help me
evaluate my teaching performance.

Micro-teaching creates hindrances
within the learning process.

104

Strongly
agree

Agree

Undecided

Strongly
disagreeDisagreeA CRITICAL EVALUATION TOWARDS MICRO-TEACHING WITH SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS

Table A2
Attitudes towards
Micro-teaching(Positively worded)

Strongly
agree

Micro-teaching activities are very
motivating in my present occupation.

Agree

Undecided

64%

36%

Strongly
disagreeDisagreeI understand teaching methods with moreclarity with micro-teaching activities.

7%

43%

50%

Micro-teaching activities help me toprepare lessons more efficiently.

7%

50%

43%

28.5%

50%

7%

14.5%

21.5%

64%

7%

7.5%

Strongly
agree

Agree

Undecided

Strongly
disagreeDisagree

21.5%

21.5%

57%

I’m able to learn new teaching techniquesfrom my peers through micro-teachingactivities.
Micro-teaching activities help me evaluate
my teaching performance.

Table A3
Attitudes towards
Micro-teaching(Negatively worded)
Micro-teaching activities are not a very
effective tool for analyzing teaching
methods.
When I present in a micro-teaching lesson
I feel awkward therefore the lesson isn’t atrue reflection of my teaching.

43%

28.5%

28.5%

Micro-teaching hinders the students. (i.e.
students feel pressured in a micro-teachinglesson.)

28.5%

43%

28.5%

36%

14%

14%

43%

I’m less inclined to demonstrate in-depth
when presenting a micro-teaching lesson.
(i.e. illustrate with grammatical timelines,
etc.)
Micro-teaching creates hindrances within
the learning process.

7%

15%

28%

43%

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Appendix B
Table B1
Micro-teachingactivities in theworkshops

This would beof considerable
benefit to me

This would
benefit me

This would
not benefit me

In micro-teaching activities infuture workshops, I’d like to see
more emphasis on teaching
methodologies.

22%

57%

14%

In micro-teaching activities infuture workshops, I’d like to see
more emphasis on teachingpronunciation.

29%

7%

43%

In micro-teaching activities
in future workshops, I’d liketo see more emphasis on
motivating students.

50%

36%

7%

7%

In micro-teaching activities infuture workshops, I’d like to
see more emphasis on error
correction.

7%

72%

7%

14%

In micro-teaching activities infuture workshops, I’d like to
see more emphasis on giving
feedback.

14%

79%

106

This would
not benefit
me at all

Undecided

7%

14%

7%

7%

A CRITICAL EVALUATION TOWARDS MICRO-TEACHING WITH SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS

Appendix C
In the box below, please could you choose an area of micro-teaching from this survey and briefly outline
your thoughts and opinions concerning that area. This could be an area that you think is of benefit, of nobenefit, or something you would like to learn more about to develop your teaching skills.

The information you provide will be used as quantitative data to support my research. All comments arestrictly confidential and will not be disclosed. Your chosen micro-teaching area(s) subject to comment, will
only be highlighted in the Research Paper as statistical data.
Thank you for participating in this survey.
Jason Murray107

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Appendix D
Peer Observation: Self-Evaluation Form(to be filled in by the teacher who is observed)

Teacher Information
Name:

Position:

Please circle

FT / PT

Date:

Class Information
Date &
LessonPeriod:Number of students:(e.g. May 25, Period 2)
Course:Level:

Unit:(e.g. Debate,
Presentation)
Question 1
What were your strong points in this lesson?
Question 2
What were your weak points in this lesson?
Question 3
How could you have improved this lesson?
Question 4
What do you think is challenging about teaching this unit or level?
Question 5
Which areas would you like your peer observer to concentrate on while watching your lesson?
Question 6
Is there anything about this class and/or these students you would like your peer observer to take into account?

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A CRITICAL EVALUATION TOWARDS MICRO-TEACHING WITH SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS

Appendix E
Peer Feedback Form(to be filled in by the observer)

Teacher information

Name:

The teacher
you observed:

Before the follow-up meeting
Question 1
Please comment on areas mentioned by your partner in Question 5 of their Self-Evaluation form.
Question 2
Can you suggest alternative ways to do any of the activities in the lesson?
Question 3
What new ideas or techniques did you learn from this lesson?
Question 4
What do you think is challenging about teaching this level or unit?

After the follow-up meeting
As a result of the Peer Observation process, what new suggestions or ideas do you plan to implement into yourlessons?

109

【Research Brief】

The Relationship Between L1 Fluency and L2 Fluency AmongJapanese Advanced Early Learners of English
Miki Shrosbree
Abstract
The aim of the present study is to investigate the relationship between first language (L1) fluency and second
language (L2) fluency among advanced early learners. Previous studies have found a relationship between L1
fluency and L2 fluency among late learners, but no studies have examined the relationship among early learners.
Furthermore, not many fluency measures were used in the previous studies. Twelve Japanese advanced earlylearners of English are involved in the present study, in which video-retelling performances were analyzed using 10
fluency measures. The results show that there are positive correlations between L1 fluency and L2 fluency in sevenof the fluency measures. Following the results, the present study suggests that L2 fluency measurement using L1
fluency as a baseline should be developed.
Keywords: fluency, first language (L1), second language (L2), measurement

Introduction
Fluency, which is one of the three components of second language (L2) speaking ability, alongwith complexity and accuracy, has a variety of definitions. When the word fluency is used for the L2, it
is used in two senses (Lennon, 1990, 2000). In the broad sense, fluency means global oral proficiency,
and in the narrower sense, fluency is one of the components of oral proficiency, which is related toa flow or fluidity in speech (Kormos & Denes, 2004). Lennon (2000) proposed a definition of oral
fluency as “the rapid, smooth, accurate, lucid, and efficient translation of thought or communicative
intention into language under the temporal constraints of on-line processing” (p. 26). Therefore, inthe narrow sense, fluency means rapidness and smoothness in speech performances, and it involves
efficiency of speaker’s cognitive processes. Another definition from a more recent study is that
“Fluency in the narrow sense is usually described in terms of speedy and smooth delivery of speechwithout (filled) pauses, repetitions, and repairs” (De Jong, Groenhout, Schoonen, & Hulstijn, 2015),
which focuses only on the temporal aspect of fluency. This paper uses this narrow definition which
focuses on the temporal aspect of fluency.
The measurement of L2 fluency has been developed for many years. Lennon (1990) proposedsome systematic ways to measure L2 fluency, such as speech rate and silent pause time. Kormos(2006) showed an overview of the measurements of L2 fluency, including speech rate, articulation
rate, phonation-time ratio, mean length of runs, the number/length of pauses, and the number ofdisfluencies per minute. Although L2 fluency measurements have been developed, “researchers havenot discovered universally applicable, objective measures of oral fluency” (Segalowitz, 2010, p. 39).
There seem to be some causes of this problem. One of the causes is that, as Kormos (2006, p. 162)
mentions, variables of fluency measurement are not consistent among researchers. For example,
when counting the number of silent pauses, the minimal duration of a silent pause is considered tobe from 0.2 second (Kormos, 2006) to 1 second (Ellis & Barkhuizen, 2005). Also, units for variables
are not consistent. Some researchers use words per minute, but others use syllables per minute as anindicator of speed fluency. The second cause is the difference of task types. Several speaking tasks111

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are used in fluency studies, such as picture narratives, film-retelling, and interviews. Thirdly, the waysof counting syllables are different among studies. Most studies transcribe speech samples and countthe number of syllables by hand, but some studies analyze the data using automated techniques for
detecting the number of syllables. Finally, there might be an influence of first language (L1) fluency
on L2 fluency. The present study focuses on this. If there is a relationship between L1 fluency and L2
fluency, L2 fluency measurement using L1 fluency as a baseline should be developed (Segalowitz,
2010; De Jong et al., 2015).
Several practical studies report that there is a relationship between L1 fluency and L2 fluency(Raupach, 1980; Towell, Hawkins, & Bazergui, 1996; Riazantseva, 2001; Derwing, Munro, Thomson,& Rossiter, 2009; De Jong et al., 2015). Derwing et al. (2009) examined speech performances of 16
Slavic speakers of English and 16 Mandarin speakers of English who had studied English for several
years. They found a positive correlation between L1 and L2 fluency for both groups with respect
to the number of pauses per second, speech rate, and pruned syllables per second. De Jong et al.
(2015) also found the relationship between L1 fluency and L2 fluency. They examined fluency from
48 intermediate to advanced learners of Dutch (24 English native speakers and 24 Turkish native
speakers). They analyzed silent pause duration, syllable duration, and the frequency of pauses anddisfluency. They reported that there was a significant correlation between L1 fluency and L2 fluency
for all these fluency measures. These studies suggest that individual characteristics seems to cause
the correlations between L1 fluency and L2 fluency for any levels of learners. Towell et al. (1996)
examined speech performances of 12 English-speaking advanced late learners of French before andafter studying in France for six months. They found a positive correlation between L1 fluency andL2 fluency in terms of speech rate (strong correlation) and articulation rate (moderate correlation).
They also reported that L2 fluency development among advanced learners seems to stop some way
below their L1 fluency in terms of speaking rate and articulation rate. These results imply the relation
between L1 fluency and L2 fluency might be caused by the limitation of L2 fluency development
affected by the L1 fluency. If so, further study is needed to investigate the L1–L2 relationship among
advanced learners with many fluency measures.
The present study examines the relationship between L1 fluency and L2 fluency among 12
Japanese advanced early learners of English (native speakers of Japanese who started to learn
English at an early age and whose English is now at an advanced proficiency level). It is reported
that early learners’ speech rates are higher than late learners’ (Guion, Flege, Liu, & Yeni-Komshian,2000). Although Towell et al. (1996) found positive correlations between L1 fluency and L2 fluency
among advanced late learners, no studies examined advanced early learners’ speech performances.
Furthermore, not many fluency measures were used in the previous studies. Therefore, the present
study examines the relationship between L1 fluency and L2 fluency among advanced early learners
using a greater number of fluency measures.

Participants
The present study involved 12 Japanese advanced early learners of English (11 females and 1male) aged between 21 to 48 (M = 28.5). All the participants have high proficiency, with higher than
TOEIC 900. They are either university students or English teachers in Tokyo. All the university
student participants take their classes mostly in English, and all the teacher participants teachtheir classes in English at their workplaces. Therefore, they use English in their daily life. All theparticipants are early learners whose age of acquisition is under eight years old (M = 6.2). They have112THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN L1 FLUENCY AND L2 FLUENCY AMONG JAPANESE ADVANCED EARLY LEARNERS OF ENGLISH

been to English-speaking countries and lived there continuously for more than four years (M = 6.3).

Materials
The present study used a film-retelling task using a video clip called “Lion’s Cage” from Charlie
Chaplin’s (1928) silent film, The Circus. Participants described the story in their L2 (English) first, andfour months later, they watched the same video clip and described the story in their L1 (Japanese).
A four-month interval was set to avoid a repetition effect. Because Bygate (2001) reported that arepetition effect was observed after two months, the present study set the interval longer than twomonths.

Analysis
The temporal variables used for fluency measurement in the present study are mostly the sameas those in Kormos (2006). Ten variables (speech rate, articulation rate, pruned syllables per minute,mean length of runs, phonation time ratio, number of silent pauses, silent pause duration, number offilled pauses, filled pause duration, and number of disfluencies) were used. For the boundary of silent
pauses, 0.25 second was used in the present study, following recent fluency measurement studies,such as De Jong et al. (2015).
For measuring speech rate, articulation rate, pruned syllables per minute, and mean length ofruns, different units were used for English and Japanese. For measuring English fluency, a syllable
was used as a unit. On the other hand, for measuring Japanese fluency, a mora was used as a unit
instead of a syllable. This is because Japanese is a mora-timed language, and the basic prosodic unit
in Japanese is mora (Kubozono, 1998). It is more practical to use mora instead of syllable, because
it is much easier to count the number of morae than counting the number of syllables in Japanese,
especially in relatively long spontaneous speech. If there is no necessity of direct comparison of L1–
L2 data, mora should be suitable as a unit for fluency measurement in Japanese.

Results
Descriptive Statistics
Table 1 shows the means and standard deviations of L1 fluency and L2 fluency. All these fivemeasures (1. pruned syllables or morae per minute, 2. speech rate, 3. articulation rate, 4. mean lengthof runs, and 5. phonation time ratio) are speed fluency. Fluency is higher when figures are greater.
Except for phonation time ratio, the units are syllable or mora (L1: mora; L2: syllable), so the figures
are not comparable between L1 fluency and L2 fluency.

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Table 1The Basic Statistics of L1 and L2 Fluency (Speed Fluency)
No.

Temporal Variables

Advanced Early Learners
N = 12
L1
Japanese [mora]

L2
English [syllable]

1

Pruned syllables or morae per minute(syllables or mora/min)

270.816(57.584)

129.288(22.766)

2

Speech rate(syllables or mora/min)

275.636(56.228)133.677(23.094)3

Articulation rate(syllables or mora/min)

443.824(52.827)215.870(21.417)

4

Mean length of runs(the number of syllables or morae)

11.486(2.544)5.571(0.612)

5

Phonation time ratio(%)

67.034(8.508)66.026(9.865)Note. Standard deviations are shown in parentheses. Units are mora or syllable for Nos. 1 to 4, and percentages for No. 5.

Table 2 shows the means and standard deviations of the fluency measurements categorized aseither breakdown or repair fluency measurements (6. number of silent pauses per second, 7. average
duration of silent pause, 8. number of filled pauses per second, 9. average duration of filled pauses,and 10. number of disfluencies per second). Because these measurements represent breakdown orrepair profiles, fluency is higher when figures are smaller. The figures are comparable between L1and L2 for these measures, because they do not include the number of syllables or morae.
Table 2The Basic Statistics of L1 and L2 Fluency (Breakdown and Repair Fluency)
No.

Temporal Variables

Advanced Early Learners
N = 12
L1
Japanese

L2
English6

Number of silent pauses/sec

0.398(0.046)0.399(0.042)

7

Average silent pause duration

840.539(270.946)

854.040(252.158)

8

Number of filled pauses/sec

0.123(0.106)0.084(0.075)

9

Average filled pause duration

459.984(121.895)

494.476(135.854)

10

Number of disfluencies/sec

0.026(0.019)0.038(0.027)Note. Standard deviations are shown in parentheses.

The difference between the L1 fluency and L2 fluency was statistically analyzed using t-tests for the
fluency measures which are comparable between L1 and L2 (No. 5 – No. 10). Homogeneity of variance
was shown in all the measures by Levene’s test. There were no significant differences between L1
fluency and L2 fluency for any of these fluency measures.

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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN L1 FLUENCY AND L2 FLUENCY AMONG JAPANESE ADVANCED EARLY LEARNERS OF ENGLISH

Correlations Between L1 Fluency and L2 Fluency
Table 3 shows the results of correlation analyses between L1 fluency and L2 fluency. Strong
positive correlations between L1 fluency and L2 fluency were found in many of the fluency
measurements. Strong positive correlations were observed for pruned syllables per minute (r = .848,
p < .01), speech rate (r = .841, p < .01), mean length of runs (r = .720, p < .01), and phonation time ratio(r = .721, p < .01). Moderate correlations were also seen for silent pause duration (r = .586, p < .05),
number of filled pauses (r = .679, p < .05), and number of disfluencies (r = .586, p < .05).
Table 3
Correlation Between L1 Fluency and L2 Fluency
Fluency Measures
1

Pruned syllables/minute

Pearson’s r.848**

2

Speech rate

.841**

3

Articulation rate

.557

4

Mean length of runs

.720**

5

Phonation time ratio.721**

6

Number of silent pauses

.209

7

Silent pause duration

.586*

8

Number of filled pauses

.679*

9

Filled pause duration

.482

10

Number of disfluencies.586**p < .05 **p < .01

Discussion
As shown in Table 3, the correlations between L1 fluency and L2 fluency are evident in many
fluency measures (seven out of 10). Among these seven fluency measures, four fluency measures
show strong correlations (pruned syllable per min, speech rate, mean length of runs, and phonation
time ratio), and three measures show moderate correlations (silent pause duration, number of filled
pauses, number of disfluencies). Thus, among advanced early learners, the relationship between L1
fluency and L2 fluency seems to be a general trend, rather than a specific phenomenon within somemeasures. The results from Towell et al. (1996) also found the relationship between L1 fluency andL2 fluency among advanced late learners. From these two results, it is suggested here that L2 fluency
measurement using L1 fluency as a baseline should be developed in diagnostic fluency tests foradvanced learners. For example, an advanced learner who speaks very slowly in their L1 probably has
a very low speech rate in the L2. If L1 fluency is not considered, L2 fluency may be assessed as low foran advanced learner or not yet fully developed, although the learner’s L2 fluency development might
have already reached its full development when considering L1 fluency. Thus, there should be further
studies which investigate adjusted L2 fluency measurement using L1 fluency as a baseline.
One thing which should be noted is that although speed fluency measures showed strong
correlations between L1 fluency and L2 fluency (pruned syllables per minute: r = .848; speech rate: r =.841; mean length of runs: r = .720; and phonation time ratio: r = .721), breakdown and repair fluency
measures showed moderate correlations between L1 fluency and L2 fluency (silent pause duration:r = .586; number of filled pauses: r = .679; and number of disfluencies: r = .586). The differences of115

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the results between speed fluency measures and breakdown and repair fluency measures might berelated to factors which affect the relationship between L1 and L2 fluency. As De Jong et al. (2015)
suggests, individual speaking style such as the way people use silent pauses and filled pauses appear
both in L1 and L2 speech productions, and that might cause correlations between L1 fluency and L2
fluency. Therefore, L1 and L2 correlations in terms of breakdown and repair fluency in the present
study might be related to individual speaking traits. On the other hand, Towell et al. (1996) imply
that the strong correlation of speech rate between L1 fluency and L2 fluency among advanced
late learners might be related to the influence of the L1 fluency on L2 fluency when L2 fluency
development reached somewhere near that of the L1. Therefore, the strong correlations between L1and L2 in terms of speed fluency in the present study might be related to the limitation of L2 fluency
development. If there are some different factors for the relationship between L1 fluency and L2
fluency, further study is needed.
Another thing which should be noted is that no correlation was found between L1 articulation
rate and L2 articulation rate in the present study, although the other speed fluency measures show
strong correlations between L1 and L2. Articulation rate is calculated as the total number of syllables
divided by the total duration of speech excluding silent pause time. The reason for this is not clear,but the ways of producing syllables/morae might be different in English and in Japanese. In thepresent study, while analyzing data, a frequent use of drawls was observed in Japanese speech
performances, and that might affect the relationship between Japanese articulation rate and English
articulation rate. Den (2003) classified the prolonging of segments in Japanese spontaneous speech
into six categories. Among them, the most frequent is initial monomoraic words, such as “de” and thesecond most frequent is final vowels of phrase-final function words such as “te” and “mo.” Drawls werealso examined in French speech production by Raupach (1980). Raupach found in case studies that
French speakers use more drawls than German speakers do in their native language. Similarly, drawls
might be used more commonly in Japanese speech than in English speech. Therefore, some of theparticipants in the present study might have used many drawls in Japanese as a way of hesitation, but
not in English. That would affect articulation rate, because use of drawls decreases articulation rate.
Further studies are needed for the effect of use of drawls on articulation rate in some languages, suchas French and Japanese.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the present study examined the relationship between L1 fluency and L2 fluency
among 12 Japanese advanced early learners of English using 10 fluency measures. The results show
the positive correlations between L1 fluency and L2 fluency in seven fluency measures. Among themspeed fluency measures showed strong correlations between L1 fluency and L2 fluency. Therefore,
the present study suggests that L1 fluency should be taken into consideration for L2 fluency
measurement especially for diagnostic language test among advanced learners. Further studies areneeded to develop L2 fluency measurement based on L1 fluency.

References
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Bygate, P. Skehan, & M. Swain (Eds.), Researching pedagogic tasks: Second language learning,teaching and testing. Harlow.

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Derwing, T., Munro, M., Thomson, R., & Rossiter, M. (2009). The relationship between L1 fluency
and L2 fluency development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 31, 533–557.
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Kubozono, H. (1998). Onseigaku・Oninron. [Phonetics・Prosody]. Tokyo: Kuroshio Shuppan.
Lennon, P. (1990). Investigating fluency in EFL: A quantitative approach. Language Learning, 40(3),387–417.
Lennon, P. (2000). The lexical element in spoken second language fluency. In H. Riggenbach (Ed.),
Perspectives on fluency (pp. 25–42). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Raupach, M. (1980). Temporal variables in first and second language speech production. Temporal
Variables in Speech, 263–270.
Raupach, M. (1980). Temporal variables in first and second language speech production. In H.
Dechert & M. Raupach (Eds.), Temporal variables in speech: Studies in honour of Frieda
Goldman-Eisler (pp. 263–270). The Hague: Mouton.
Riazantseva, A. (2001). Second language proficiency and pausing a study of Russian speakers ofEnglish. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 23(4), 497–526.
Segalowitz, N. (2010). Cognitive bases of second language fluency. Routledge.
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【研究報告】キム・チュイの『小川』に見られる言語習得と間文化性
関

未玲

要旨
北米に位置し、イギリス連邦加盟国でもあるカナダのなかで、今なおフランス語をただ 1 つの公用語とするケベック州では、フランス語およびフランス文化を守るために、カナダ政府の推し進める多文化主義政策と一線を画す間文化主義が掲げられている。間文化主義は、様々な文化への尊重を担保しながらも、フランス語に基づく文化形成を重視する動きである。このようなケベックの言語・文化政策に呼応するかのように、1980 年代以降、移民作家による文学作品が次々と発表されることになる。これらの作品は「移動文学」（écritures migrantes）1 と呼ばれ、ケベックの提唱する間文化主義が示すように、フランス語での執筆を共通項として持ちながらも、様々な出自や文化を持つ移民作
家が、新たな視座からケベック社会を見つめ、これを反映させるような文学を生み出すこととなった。本研究報告で取り上げる作家キム・チュイも、ベトナム戦争終結後の 1978 年、10 歳のときに家族とともに祖国を去り、カナダに移住した移民作家である。本報告では、チュイのデビュー作『小川』を取り上げ、主人公ギュエン・アン・ティンが第二の祖国となったカナダのケベック州において、フランス語を習得してゆく過程で改めて母語とも向き合うことになった姿を分析しながら、今後の本研究の展望と併せて、考察を試みている。

キーワード：ケベック 、間文化 、キム・チュイ 、『小川』、フランス語圏文学

はじめに
キム・チュイの作品には、作家自らの人生が色濃く反映された小説が多い。2009 年に刊行された Ru（『小川』）以来、これまで 5 冊の本が上梓されているが、いずれも作家自身の半世紀の足跡を凝縮したような作品ばかりである。なかにはベトナム料理の紹介と文学作品との融合を目指した、挑戦的な一冊 Le secret desVietnamiennes（『ベトナム女性の秘密』）もあれば、往復書簡を小説に仕立てた共著 À toi（『あなたへ』）などもある。2009 年、41 歳にしてデビュー作『小川』を刊行するや、本書はたちまちにして話題となり、RTL-

Lire 大賞、カナダ総督文学賞、アルシャンボー文学大賞など、数々の賞を総なめにした。2018 年には、惜しくも受賞には至らなかったものの、ニュー・アカデミー文学賞にもノミネートされている。本報告書では、チュイのデビュー作となった『小川』を取り上げ、主人公の言語習得を軸に間文化性がどのような形で作品に表れているのか、分析してゆきたい。

ケベックの間文化主義とキム・チュイ作品『小川』で華々しいデューを飾った作家キム・チュイの誕生までの道のりは、平坦ではなかった。裁縫師、通訳、弁護士、レストラン経営など多岐にわたる職業を経験した後、閉店をあと数日後に決めたレストランのガランとしたスペースで執筆し始めたのが、初の作品となる『小川』であった 2。同様に、ケベックでの新たな生活をスタートさせる以前のチュイの幼少期もまた、過酷なものであった。南ベトナムのサイゴンに生まれたチュイは、ベトナム戦争終結後の混乱で財産を没収され、10 歳のときに家族とともにボートピープル
1 「移動文学」という呼称は、ロベール・ベルエ゠オリオル（Robert Berrouët-Oriol）が Vice Versa 17 号（1986-1987）所収« Lʼeffet dʼexil » のなかで用いたことがきっかけとなり、広く用いられるようになった。
2 2017 年 9 月、筆者が司会兼インタビュアーとして登壇した国際フランス語教授連盟主催、アンスティチュ・フランセ関西
共催トークイベント「キム・チュイと出会う」のなかで、作家自らがその誕生秘話を語ってくれた。

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外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 1 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 1）として祖国を去り、マレーシアの難民キャンプを経て命からがらカナダへと移り住む。
『小川』の冒頭を飾る、主人公ギュエン・アン・ティンの誕生は、チュイの人生とも重なる。
この世に生を受けたのは、申年の最初の数日に行われた、旧正月のテト攻撃のさなかだった。家の前に仕掛けられた長く連なる雷管が、軽機関銃の音とともに、多重音となって爆破した。
私の生まれたサイゴンが、まるで桜の花びらのように、あるいは 2 つに引き裂かれたベトナムの町から町へ、村から村へと拡散し、ばらまかれた 200 万人の兵士の血の色のように、無数に砕けた爆破物の破片で赤く大地を染めた。
ロケット弾の横切る空を彩る火花と大輪の光の陰で、私は生まれたのだが、私の誕生には失われた多くの命に代わるという使命があった。また母の人生の続きを生きるという責務があった。
（Thúy, 2009,p. 11, 拙訳）「桜の花びらのように」、「200 万人の兵士の血の色のように」「赤く大地を染めた」南ベトナムのサイゴンで、ギュエン・アン・ティンは生まれながらにして「多くの命に代わる」人生という責務を負いながら、この世に誕生する。作家がボートピープルとしてベトナムを去ったように、ギュエン・アン・ティンもまた、
マレーシアでの過酷な難民キャンプを経て、カナダのグランビーからモンレアル［モントリオール ］へと移り住む。デビュー作『小川』以降の作品のなかでも、ベトナムは主人公の出自として、ケベック文化を相対化しながら紐解いてゆくための指標となり、いっぽうのケベックもまたベトナムを客観視する際の基軸として描出されている。第二の故郷であるケベックに根付き始めた間文化主義を体現させるごとく、文化と文化のあいだに介在する「狭間」が、チュイ作品のなかでは重要となる。間文化主義を理論面で支えてきた社会学者・歴史学者のジェラール・ブシャールは、次のように指摘している。
間文化主義はそれに特有というわけではない要素を複数もつ。たとえば以下のようなかなり普及した考えが挙げられる。公用語や法的枠組みや領土的根拠だけではネイションを築くために十分ではな
く、アイデンティティ、記憶、帰属に関するものを育む象徴的なものすべてをそこへ加える必要がある。
（ブシャール , 2015, p. 55）
北米カナダにおいて圧倒的マイナー言語であるフランス語を死守するために、「アイデンティティ、記憶、帰属」という象徴概念を間文化主義の柱に据え置くことで、歴史の綾のなかで奇跡的にも守られ、受け継がれてきたフランス語の正当性を確保するばかりでなく、フランス語というアイデンティティを起点として、他文化がケベック社会に対して相互作用を行うこともまた、間文化主義は推奨している。ブシャールは続ける。
「間文化主義の独自性として挙げるべき二つ目の特性とは、多様性の尊重を推奨しつつも、このモデルが相互作用、交流、歩み寄り、共同体間のイニシアティブを促進するということである」（ブシャール , 2015,

p. 62）。
ブシャールの提唱する「間文化主義」は、少数派と多数派という両極端な二面性を併せ持つケベック社会のなかで、そのジレンマのなかにありながら、いかに現実的な解決方法を模索してゆくのか、苦悩の末に出された提言である。しかしそれはいっぽうで、カナダにおいては圧倒的なマイナー言語であるフランス語を基盤としたケベック社会の生き残りを賭けた、新たなパラダイム創設へと開かれるための姿勢でもある。
『小川』の主人公ギュエン・アン・ティンは、ケベック社会が移民政策として重要視するフランス語習得のプログラムに参加する。
私にとって最初のカナダ人の先生は、現実の世界へと運ぶ橋をグループで最年少だった私たち 7 人が、渡れるよう付き添ってくれた。未熟児で生まれた赤ちゃんに対する母親のような繊細さで、私たちが新しい土地に移住できるよう世話してくれた。［…］彼女が身を屈め、その両手を私の両手の上に置いて、「私はマリー゠フランス。あなたは？」と言うと、爽やかで、軽やかで、かぐわしい香りの雲に包まれて120キム・チュイの『小川』に見られる言語習得と間文化性

うっとりとしてしまい、瞬きもせず、理解する必要も抱かずに、一音一音を繰り返した。［…］一度自宅で、両親にその音のつながりを繰り返してみせた。「私はマリー゠フランス、あなたは？」すると両親は、「名前を変えたのかい？」と尋ねた。自分の現実に引き戻されたのは、まさにこの瞬間であった［…］。
（Thúy, 2009, pp. 19-20, 拙訳）
帰宅後、先生の「爽やかで、軽やかで、かぐわしい香りの雲」が蘇ってくることに嬉々として、耳で聞いた言葉を繰り返していた主人公が、母の一言によって現実に引き戻される。それはギュエン・アン・ティン
が外国語の響きとしてまだ内面化することを受け入れる準備が整っていなかった言語を、彼女の言語として受け入れるよう、その覚悟を迫られた瞬間であるともいえる。一人称と二人称がもたらす相互置換という関係性を読み取る努力が、すでに求められるのだということを宣告された瞬間でもある。しかしそれは母の願
いそのものであった。
「母は、私がフランス語とさらに英語も話せるよう、できるだけ早く勉強して話せるよ。フ
う、望んでいた。母語は取るに足らないものではなく、不要になっていた」（Thúy, 2009, p. 29, 拙訳）
ランス語を外側から眺めるのではなく、能動的にさらには創造的言語として用いること、しかしこのことは母語の価値を減ずるということにはつながらない。主人公は新たな言語習得を起点として、共通文化創出の担い手となるよう促すケベックの間文化的姿勢を反映させながら、言語を価値のバロメーターとして据え置
くのではなく、ベトナム文化もケベック社会も否定せずに語っている。山出裕子は間文化主義とチュイ作品
を次のようにつなげている。
これまでに出版されたケベックの移民文学作品の多くは、移民たちがケベック社会に同化することができず、ケベック人としてのアイデンティティを構築することもできず、ケベックの外側に居場所を見出していく過程が描かれていた。
［…］二〇〇〇年代に入ると、ポストコロニアル理論からグローバリ
ゼーションが論じられるようになった。この時代におけるこうした変遷は、ケベックで「間文化主義」
が文化政策として掲げられるようになった背景でもある。この文化政策は「文化と文化の間に生み出される新たな文化の創造」に注目したものであり、そうした背景にあって、エスニック・マイノリティが、ケベックの移民としてではなく、新たなケベック文化の担い手である「新ケベック人」としてアイデンティティを持つことが可能になったのである。ゆえに、この時代に発表されたキム・チュイの作品は、二〇〇〇年代にかけて変貌を遂げた、ケベックの多（他）文化に対する態度を、克明に描いているものであるといえよう。（山出 , 2012, p. 165）
山出が指摘しているように、キム・チュイ作品のなかにあるのは、ベトナムという出自を全面に押し出しながらも、第二の祖国として彼女たちを温かく出迎えてくれたケベック社会を新たに担う主人公の姿である。
私たちは次に、主人公ギュエン・アン・ティンがフランス語を習得する過程で相対化していった母語と彼女の関係について見てゆきたい。

言語習得と間文化性
他言語を学習するという経験によって、母語への振り返りが求められることは、誰しも経験があるだろう。
他言語学習は母語を否定することなく、これを相対化させる機会をも与えてくれる。ギュエン・アン・ティンは、その後仕事の関係で祖国ベトナムを何度も訪れるが、母語について以下のように語る。
あまりにも早く諦めてしまった母語を、私はもう一度学ぶべきだった。どのみち、本当の意味で完璧に使いこなせるには至らなかったのだから。というのも祖国は、私が生まれたときに 2 つに分断されていたのだ。ベトナムに戻るまで、南ベトナム出身の私は、北ベトナムの人々が話すのを聞いたことがなかった。南北が再統一されるまで、北ベトナム出身者が南ベトナム出身者の発音を聞いたことがなかったように。ベトナムもまた、カナダのように 2 つの孤独を抱えている。北ベトナムの言語は、時の政治、

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社会、経済の状況のもと進化した。屋根に備えられた軽機関銃で飛行機を打ち落とす様や、グルタミン
酸ナトリウムで血液凝固を早める様、サイレンが鳴ったときに避難場所を見つける様を表す言葉を。その間、南ベトナム語は、コカ・コーラの泡が舌に引き起こす感覚を表現する言葉や、南ベトナムの道に潜むスパイや謀反人、共産主義シンパ者を名指すための用語、米軍兵士たちが狂乱する夜から生まれた子供たちを指し示す名前を生み出した。（Thúy, 2009, pp. 88-89, 拙訳）
カナダとりわけケベックの置かれた英系と仏系の対立を、ベトナムの分断と重ねる主人公の視点が、言葉という問題を通して現れる。祖国と第二の故郷の分断が、政治的・社会的・経済的対立だけでなく、いかに言語へと反映されるのか、作家ならではの視点から分析され、描き出されている。主人公ギュエン・アン・
ティンは、フランス語を習得する過程で、ケベック社会を相対化し、また祖国を見つめ直す機会を持っただけ
でなく、両者の問題を言語問題へと導きながら、互いに抱える苦悩を共有し、共感し、共鳴させる文章へと作り変える。両国の直面する問題に「孤独」という言葉を宛がうことで、共通項へと開かれる第三の場を設ける。英語とフランス語、南ベトナムの言葉と北ベトナムの言葉が、価値基準に拠ることもなく、また愛憎に拠ることもなく、恐らくは唯一無二の方法で併記される。他言語習得を創造行為として獲得してゆくギュエン・アン・ティンの姿勢は、まさに『小川』の主題そのものとなっていると考えられるだろう。

まとめに代えて間文化主義はフランス語をケベック人の共通アイデンティティの要に置くことで、移民文学の方向性を大きく変えてきた。しかしそれは確立した言語を押しつけることではない。間文化主義が目指すもう一つの柱「共同体間のイニシアティブ」の「促進」をも、ケベック文化の新たな担い手である作家に求めるのだ。キム・チュイは極めて 21 世紀的なテーマを、創造的言語へと昇華させる自らのフランス語によって執筆し、作品のなかで描き切ることのできる稀有な作家であるといえる。その作家を 2019 年 6 月、当時在職していた愛知大学に招聘するという幸運に筆者は恵まれた 3。幸運と書いたのは、チュイの講演会開催を企画し、作家の承諾が得られた直後に、2018 年度ノーベル文学賞の代替賞であるニュー・アカデミー文学賞の候補者として彼女の名前がリストアップされたからである。インターネットを通じて一般からの投票を行った最終候補者

4 名に、村上春樹とともに彼女の名前が残った。惜しくも受賞には至らなかったが、ノーベル賞の代替賞ノミネートという快挙に、今や世界中から講演会に招かれ、多忙な日々を送っていたチュイが、ノミネート前の約束を果たし、名古屋まで講演会に駆けつけてくれたのだ。
「留学フランス語」をテーマとするフランス
語総合演習の授業内で、6 週間前から『小川』の抜粋と、学生のためにと予め準備してもらった講演原稿の抜粋を読み進めていった。グループワークで訳読を進め、キム・チュイの生い立ちを辿り、彼女の作品に溢れる「時の重み」に胸を打たれ、常に移り行く世界のその流れに私たちが身を置いていることを思い出させる作家の人となりに、受講生は思いを馳せた。そして当日ホールを埋め尽くすオーディエンスのなかで講演
会は静謐に包まれながら始まった。生き地獄ともいえる壮絶な体験を生きた作家の言葉は重いのだが、負の感情は無く、すべてを前向きに捉える作家の姿に文字通り皆が感動を覚えた。講演時に、「人間には、どんな状況であれ美しさに惹かれるという長所がある」と語った作家の言葉こそ、『小川』を貫く美学を代弁する一言であろう。「どんな状況に置かれていても、人は美に魅惑されてしまうという善良さがある」と作家は言う。祖国と、悲劇と、ときにケベック社会の矛盾を、言葉を極めて描き直すこと、それが作家の辿った
言語習得のプロセスであったのだと感じられる。間文化性を体現するキム・チュイ作品のなかに見られる、
言語習得の新たな可能性を、ケベック社会の分析も織り込みながら、今後の研究でさらに深めてゆきたいと考えている。

3 愛知大学国際問題研究所主催のキム・チュイ氏講演会は、毎日新聞 2019 年 6 月 25 日付朝刊 19 面（名古屋版）および毎日
新聞ウェブ愛知版にも掲載された。https://mainichi.jp/articles/20190625/ddl/k23/040/131000c

122キム・チュイの『小川』に見られる言語習得と間文化性

参考文献
Berrouët-Oriol, R.（1986–1987）. Lʼeffet dʼexil. Vice Versa, 17, 20–21.
Bouchard, G.（2012）. L’interculturalisme. Montréal: Boréal.
Defraeye, J.（2013）. Le roman québécois contemporain et sa double structure temporelle, la thèse présentée àlʼUniversité de Waterloo, sous la direction de François Paré.
Thúy, K.（2009）. Ru. Montréal: Libre Expression.
Thúy, K.（2011）. À toi. Montréal: Libre Expression.
Thúy, K.（2017）. Le secret des Vietnamiennes. Montréal: Trécarré.
真田桂子（2006）『トランスカルチュラリズムと移動文学』彩流社 .
関未玲（2018）「キム・チュイ作品に見られる相対化されたオリンタリズム」『ケベック研究』10，33-47.
チュイ，キム著，山出裕子訳（2012）『小川』彩流社 .
ブシャール，ジェラール著，小松祐子訳（2015）「間文化主義とは何か」『論叢現代語・現代文化』14，53-90.
ブシャール，ジェラール著，丹羽卓監訳（2017）『間文化主義』彩流社 .
山出裕子（2012）「ケベックのアジア系女性文学に見られる「間文化主義」とエスニシティの変遷─ベトナム系作家キム・チュイの作品を例に─」『文芸研究』117，160-169.

123

【Book Review】

Innovation in Language Teaching and Learning: The Case ofJapan. Hayo Reinders, Stephen Ryan, and Sachiko Nakamura(Eds.). Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. xii + 289 pp.
Tara McIlroy
This edited volume aims to showcase ways in which innovation has been driving educational change
in Japan. The book is the fourth in a series looking at innovation using a contextualized, cultureoriented approach (the other three volumes explore innovation in Thailand, China, and the Middle
East/North Africa). Each chapter reviews a specific area of educational development, including
curriculum planning, teacher training, and lesson design. While innovation has been a topic in
educational research for some years (Waters, 2009), the current volume is the first that focuseson innovation in Japan. The current volume is likely to be of interest to trainee language teachers,
graduate students, and more experienced teaching professionals. The book would also be of value toeducators who wish to undertake research as it provides clear definitions of terms, with each chapter
providing quality references and explanations.
The volume contains 14 chapters, including an opening and closing chapter by the editors.
Eleven of the authors are male and nine female, with the authors being a range of ages and levelsof professional experience (including PhD students, teachers from various levels of education, andprogram directors). While there are no distinct sections, the book progresses from several orientating
chapters to elementary, secondary, and tertiary settings, with additional chapters exploring out-ofclass learning and teacher training. Chapters are not numbered, which is not necessarily a criticism,but for the purposes of this review, each chapter is allocated a number.
The opening three chapters define, discuss, and explain the background and current state ofinnovative practices in education in Japan. The first is an introductory chapter by the editors, followed
by a chapter by Philip Seargeant on the geopolitical situation of teaching and learning English inan era of global uncertainty. Seargeant’s chapter provides a grounding to the topic as it allows forinternational contextualization while also illustrating specific points about the Japanese context.
Chapter 3 by Makoto Ikeda provides a detailed explanation of the content and language integrated
learning (CLIL) approaches in Japan, and the drive to look beyond language-only approaches. Whilethese general chapters are necessary scene-setting, they also delve into specific examples, such as
Ikeda’s description of elementary school CLIL lesson design and implementation.
Next are two chapters on elementary school innovations exploring history and peace studies(Noriko Ishihara, Terumi Orihashi, and Zachary Clark), and digital games (Yoko Goto Butler). A
shared theme between these two approaches is the urge for interesting, engaging content. As otherresearchers have noted (Bao, 2018), creativity and innovation in lesson design can enliven lessons andencourage learners, while also engaging teachers in their professional development.
The book contains two chapters dedicated to working with older learners, Chapter 6 by Stephen
Ryan and Kay Irie, and Chapter 9 by Danya Ramírez-Gómez. The first reports on a unique crossgenerational language teaching and learning program in high school in Shimane prefecture. The
preliminary study results encourage further research to report on collaborations between high school
students and older retired learners. Ramírez-Gómez draws on her experiences as a literacy tutor to125

外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 1 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 1）

explore the need for an age-appropriate approach to teaching older learners (60 years old and above)in Japan. The chapter describes curriculum innovations related to vocabulary learning, lesson pace,
and the selection of topics. The results of the investigation would be of interest to trainee teachers, aswell as those working in community-based teaching environments.
In Chapter 7, James York, Jonathan DeHaan, and Peter Hourdequin write about teaching English
using tabletop (board) games using a task-based framework and multiliteracies pedagogy. The
classroom context is a private sciences university in Japan. One of the games used was Pandemic,
which uses real-world scenarios and develops critical awareness of global issues. The chapter reports
on teaching learners how to play and then reflecting on the language used and bilingual questionnaire
reports on learners’ perspectives.
Ayako Suzuki from Tamagawa University writes in Chapter 8 on the topic of English as a Lingua
Franca (ELF). She reports on her university’s innovation to promote the ELF approach in teaching
and instructors’ understanding of the term as a guiding principle. Teachers seemed to view the ELF
approach’s adoption as related to pedagogy, identity, or both. The report concludes that innovations
such as using ELF as a university-wide approach are likely to meet resistance from teachers and tocounteract potential problems, systematic training for ELF is required.
In Chapter 10, Jo Mynard describes examples of innovative practices in self-access centers
in Japan. One example is learning advising, which can take the shape of guided learning cycles.
Innovation can also mean supporting action research projects amongst staff while also rotating project
coordinator positions to encourage new ideas. Mynard advocates investment in staff development
and ongoing professional development to support innovative practices, which can be seen as generaladvice for best practice for innovative teaching and research.
Chapter 11 by Kay Irie begins by describing the built-in conservatism of some universities inJapan and why innovation may be particularly challenging. Irie is describing the establishment of
the Faculty of International Social Sciences at Gakushuin University, Tokyo. The chapter aims to
unpack contextual elements and institutional constraints which new faculties face, providing a real
insider’s view of the process. For those involved in creating new departments, the chapter offers aroadmap and a cautionary tale. The creation of the CLIL and English medium instruction elements of
the Gakushuin department design is particularly relevant to the ongoing course design process at theCenter for Foreign Language Education and Research at Rikkyo University.
Chapter 12 by Tim Murphey, looks at innovating with what he calls the collaborative social,which occurs when learners interact and help each other. Murphey introduces activities which hehas developed to help learners become more accustomed to working together to achieve language
learning goals, using group dynamics for success (Dörnyei & Murphey, 2003). Relevant to the current
online teaching situation, teachers, according to this approach, should encourage learners’ questions(about the course, the progression of tasks and language learning) as asking for help is a mark of L2
proficiency.
Chapter 13 by Maiko Ikeda, Hiroyuki Imai, and Osamu Takeuchi look at in-service teacher
training for English teaching in public elementary schools in Japan. The impetus for innovation
has been the Japanese government’s national curriculum standards to include English language
teaching from April 2020. Anyone involved in elementary education in Japan will be familiar with thechallenges of this change. Teachers feel that not enough training has been provided, for example.
One approach to teacher training has been to take an individual approach in each school, conducting
a needs assessment and then providing tailored training for teachers. The current chapter reports
on innovations to include more collaboration between stakeholders. The final chapter looks at future

126

BOOK REVIEW

ways to use innovation in Japanese educational contexts.
While there are admittedly some benefits to edited collections from international perspectives(see Ushioda, 2013 on motivation, for example), there are advantages to the country-specificapproach. This volume offers a deep dive exploring innovation in education for practitioners andresearchers in Japan, and its primary audience will be the teaching community in Japan. While amore general approach may broaden the perspective, the focused approach adds depth. One further
innovation, should it be possible to achieve, would be a multilingual volume bringing together writingin English and other languages, including, of course, Japanese. As departments seek to collaborate
more closely with each other and programs continue to change and evolve, edited volumes such as
this one are welcome additions to the professional development of faculty and education practitioners.

References
Bao, D. (2018). Creativity and innovations in ELT materials development: Looking beyond the current
design. Multilingual Matters. doi:10.21832/BAO9696
Dörnyei, Z., & Murphey, T. (2003). Group dynamics in the language classroom. Cambridge University
Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511667138
Ushioda, E. (2013). International perspectives on motivation: Language learning and professional
challenges. Palgrave Macmillan. doi:10.1057/9781137000873
Waters, A. (2009). Managing innovation in English language education. Language Teaching, 42(4),421–458. doi:10.1017/S026144480999005X

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外国語教育研究ジャーナル投稿規定
概要：言語教育に関する研究論文、研究報告、及び書評を年 1 回出版
Ⅰ．投稿資格1. 執筆者は（共著の場合はファーストオーサーのみ）、原則として現職の外国語教育研究センター所属教員とする。特別号、特集号等の場合はこの限りではない。

2. 投稿論文はそのカテゴリーを問わず 1 教員につき 1 本までとする（共著による論文も 1 本と数える）。但
し、投稿論文数によっては、ジャーナル & リサーチ委員会による決定を経て掲載号・論文枚数等の調整を受ける場合がある。

3. 投稿論文は過去に出版されておらず、他のジャーナルに現在投稿されているものではないこと。
Ⅱ．使用言語原稿執筆にあたっては、センターに所属する教員が広く互いの研究及び知識の共有を活性化するにあたり、原則として日本語あるいは英語での執筆を基本とする。
Ⅲ．執筆要項
投稿原稿は未公版のものに限る。

1. 原稿の種類は、次のいずれかの区分に属するものとする。区分は執筆者が判断するが、ジャーナル &リサーチ委員会が確認し、必要に応じて、変更を促すこともある。
（1）研究論文：当該分野で一定の結論を出し、その分野に貢献すべき内容が分析、議論されているもの。
従って、執筆者は少なくとも、セクションとして導入と結論を明記し、先行研究を踏まえた当該論文の位置付け、分析や議論（またはそれに代わるもの）にあたる記述を含めること。
（2）研究報告：当該分野における研究の進捗状況を公表し、将来その分野において貢献すべき可能性のある研究経過をまとめたもの。
（3）書評：書籍や文献を紹介しまとめたもの。

2. 書式は以下の項目全てを厳守すること。書式が守られていない場合、原稿は受け付けない。既定のテンプレートを使用すること。テンプレートはジャーナル & リサーチ委員会より配布される。
（1）原稿サイズ

A4 版を使用し、上下各 19 mm、左右各 16 mm ずつあける。
42 字× 43 行、横書きで、フォントは MS 明朝、12 ポイントを使用。
（2）字数
研究論文： 20,000 字程度
研究報告： 6,000 字程度
書

評： 2,500 字程度

図表、参考資料、参考文献、注、Appendix 等全て含める。尚、図表については、明瞭なものを当該個所へ貼り付ける。貼り付けられない場合は、別ファイルを用意し、挿入個所を明示する。
（3）原稿タイトル

18 ポイントでセンタリングし、各文字を太字にしたスタイルに従う。フォントは上記書式に従う。
（4）氏名
右寄せ、ゴシック体で 12 ポイントとする。タイトルとの間は 1 行あける。
（5）要旨
全ての原稿に、要旨と 3〜5 項目のキーワードを付けること。要旨は 500 字程度で執筆すること。書
式は、左右 15 mm ずつ全行インデントし、フォントは MS 明朝、11 ポイントを使用する。尚要旨の129

外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 1 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 1）

言語は執筆言語に関わらず英語あるいは日本語とする。
（6）本文への註釈は、対応する註記を各ページの下に 9 ポイントで表記する。

3. 原稿の提出は、電子媒体（ワードファイル）1 点を電子メールにてジャーナル & リサーチ委員会宛（fler_submission@ml.rikkyo.ac.jp）に送信する。
4. 提出書類は、次の通りとする。
（1）投稿内容を収めた電子媒体（電子メールで送信）（2）カバーシートa）著者名（日本語の場合は日本語とカタカナ読みを併記すること）
b）タイトル（日本語の場合はカタカナ読みも併記）
c）原稿区分d）担当言語Ⅳ．脚注及び参考文献の形式
原則的に APA スタイル（第 7 版）を用いること。執筆者の責任において同一論文の中で齟齬のないよう確認すること。
Ⅴ．投稿開始及び締切日
投稿の受付は毎年 4 月春学期の開始から行う。初稿の提出締切日は 6 月初週最終日とする。尚ジャーナルへの投稿募集は前年度の各 FD 等の全体会及び SPIRIT メールによってセンター所属の教員に周知を行う。
Ⅵ．査読に関して研究論文カテゴリーへの投稿は、匿名の査読員 1 名による査読が行われる。査読は規定のルーブリック
を用いて行い、査読員は任意のコメント、修正案等を追記することができる。査読終了後ジャーナル &リサーチ委員会より、春学期終了前までに執筆者へ査読結果を報告し校正等の打診を行う。研究報告及び書評への投稿は原則として査読は行わない。但し基本的な内容及び体裁のチェックをジャーナル & リ
サーチ委員会が行い、掲載可否を判断する。
Ⅶ．校正及び再提出査読を受けた執筆者は、論文の校正を行い、秋学期第 1 週目末日までに再提出を行う。校正後の原稿はジャーナル & リサーチ委員会による最終確認を経て掲載可否の判断を行うものとし、執筆者に結果を通知する。尚出版社より体裁等の修正依頼があった場合は、再度の校正を執筆者に依頼する場合がある。
Ⅷ．出版
当該ジャーナルは毎年 12 月に出版される。
Ⅸ．CiNii 及び立教リポジトリへの登録）及び掲載された論文は、立教大学を通して CiNii（国立情報学研究所論文情報ナビゲーター［サイニィ］
立教大学学術リポジトリに登録される。
その他の要件

1. 原稿料は支払わない。
2. 掲載された論文の著作権は、原則として立教大学外国語教育研究センターに帰属する。但し、著者が著者自身の研究・教育活動に使用する際は、許可なく使用することができるものとする。

3. 万が一出版後、剽窃等の不正が発覚した場合は当該論文をジャーナルから削除する。

130

Journal of Foreign Language Education and Research
Manuscript Submission Guidelines
Scope: The journal annually publishes research articles, research briefs, and book/article
reviews.
I.

Eligibility
1.	Contributions to the journal are primarily limited to individuals affiliated with Center for
Foreign Language Education and Research (FLER). In the case of co-authored papers, thisrequirement applies only to the first author. Exceptions may be made for special editions.
2.	A maximum of one contribution per issue is accepted (co-authored papers are also counted
as one contribution). Due to space limitations, your submission may be considered for
publication in a later issue, or you may be asked to reduce the length of the submitted article.
3.	Work submitted to the journal should not have been previously published and should not be
under consideration for potential publication by other journals.

II. Language
In order to effectively share knowledge and research activity amongst FLER-affiliated instructors,
we accept, in principal, manuscripts written in either English or Japanese.
III. Content and Formatting Guidelines
1. Contributions are limited to previously unpublished work.
2.	Upon submission, authors are required to select one of the categories listed below for theircontribution. Appropriateness of the selected category will be reviewed by the Journal &Research Committee. You may be requested to change the submission category, if necessary.
(1)	Research Articles: An article which can be considered as making substantial contribution to
the relevant field through explicit analysis of data or theoretical discussion which leads toa clear and sound conclusion. The author is expected to include an introduction section inorder to situate the research in reference to previous empirical research and/or theoretical
discussion and a clear conclusion section well-connected to the research findings or
discussion presented.
(2)	Research Briefs: An article which reports an aspect of a research project underway at thetime of writing and demonstrates the potential of the topic for generating further questionsof interest or prospective contributions in the relevant field.
(3) Book/Article Reviews: A critical review of a published book or article relevant to the field.
3.	Please ensure to follow all formatting guidelines listed below. Any submission which does
not conform to the required guidelines will not be considered for publication. The use of theofficial template distributed by the Journal & Research Committee is required. Authors who
intend to write in Japanese should refer to the Japanese version of this document.
(1)	Size: Use A4-sized paper, leaving margins of 25 mm at the top and bottom and of 25 mmon both sides of the text. The letters in the text should be Times New Roman 12 point andsingle-spaced.
(2)	Length: Research articles should be approximately 8,000 words in length including graphs,
charts, the reference list, and appendices. Research briefs should be approximately 3,000
words and book/article reviews should be approximately 1,000 words. Graphs and charts131外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 1 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 1）

should be embedded in the text. However, if it is difficult to do so, please submit as aseparate file, but leave space and indicate where they should go in the text.
(3)	Title: The title should be in 18 point and centered following the capitalization rules. Font asabove.
(4)	Author’s name: The name of the author(s) should be indented to the right side and written
in Gothic 12 point. Leave one line between the title and the name of the author(s).
(5)	A bstract: Manuscripts written in English should be accompanied by a 150–250 word
abstract in either English or Japanese, which includes 3 to 5 keywords for the article at thebottom. For the abstract, the entire text should be indented 5 spaces from the left and rightand written in Times New Roman 11 point.
(6)	Footnotes: Footnotes should be placed at the bottom of each page, in 9 point.
4.	Manuscripts should be submitted by email in Word or equivalent format to the Journal &Research Committee at fler_submission@ml.rikkyo.ac.jp.
5.	The following are required at the time of submission.
(1)	An electronic version of the manuscript, which must be sent to the Journal & ResearchCommittee(2) A cover sheet containing the following information(a) Author’s name: The name should be written in the same language as used in the article.
(b) Title: Use the same language as the article.
(c) Category: Select an appropriate category for your submission.
(d)	Language: The language taught by the author irrespective of the language used in the
manuscript.
IV. Footnotes and Referencing
The author is responsible for consistently adhering to APA (7th edition).
V. Call and Deadline for Submission
Submissions begin at the beginning of Spring semester. The deadline for submission is the last
day of the 1st week in June. Call for submission is circulated via SPIRIT email and is announced
at FD or other meetings in the previous year.
VI. Peer Review
All submissions to the research article category will be reviewed by one anonymous reviewer.
The review is conducted with a designated rubric and the reviewer may provide you withcomments and suggestions for further improvement of your work. After the review is completed,review results will be sent to the author from the Journal & Research Committee before the endof Spring semester. No peer review will be conducted for research briefs or book/article reviews.
However, the Journal & Research Committee will check if the submitted work meets the journal
submission guidelines and determine if the work is publishable.
VII. Revision and Resubmission
After receiving the results of peer review, the author is expected to revise the manuscript forresubmission. The revised manuscript must be submitted by the end of the 1st week in Fallsemester. A final review will be conducted by the Journal & Research Committee to determine
if the work is publishable. The author will be notified of the decision once the final review is132

投稿規定・MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION GUIDLINES

completed. The author may be asked to further revise the manuscript if there is any stylistic/
format issue.
VIII. Journal Publication
The journal is published annually in December.
IX. Registration on CiNii and Rikkyo Repository
Contributions to the FLER Journal will be registered on the national CiNii database and the
Rikkyo University Academic Repository.
Other Conditions
1. No remuneration is offered to the author(s).
2.	The copyright of articles published in the FLER Journal resides with Center for Foreign
Language Education and Research, Rikkyo University. However, the author(s) retains
the right to use his/her work for future research and/or educational purposes without
permission.
3.	If any plagiarism or misconduct is discovered after the work is published, the published work
will be removed from the journal.

133

外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 1 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, VOL. 1）【執筆者・Authors】

David Truxal
My name is David Truxal and I am currently an Adjunct Lecturer in the Center for Foreign Language Education
and Research at Rikkyo University. I hold a Masterʼs degree in TESOL Education from Temple University, Japan.
My research interests include bilingualism/biculturalism and sociocultural issues related to language. When I am
not teaching, I enjoy hiking, surfing, cooking, and family trips.

Devon Arthurson
Devon Arthurson earned her Bachelor of Social Work degree from the University of Manitoba in 2008 and recently
completed her Master of Arts in Integrated Studies. Devon taught in high schools in Osaka before joining Rikkyo
University. Her current teaching and research interests include fostering learner autonomy and inter-culturalelements in the learning environment. Her volunteer activities include poverty alleviation and awareness-raising
about human trafficking.

Paul Garside
Paul Garside is an adjunct lecturer in the Center for Foreign Language Education and Research at Rikkyo
University. He is also currently enrolled in Temple University Japanʼs doctoral program in applied linguistics.
He has written articles on many aspects of applied linguistics and second language acquisition, although his
main research interests lie in the development of fluency and interactional competence through communicativeinteraction.

Ryo Nitta
Ryo Nitta is a Professor and Dean of the Center for Foreign Language Education and Research, Rikkyo University.
He completed his PhD at the University of War wick, UK. He has written several books on second language
acquisition and published widely in international journals. His research interests are language learning motivation,task-based language teaching, and second language writing from the perspective of complex dynamic systems.

Yuka Yamamoto
Yuka (Maruyama) Yamamoto, Ph.D., Applied Linguistics, is an associate professor at Rikkyo University. Her
research interests are in curriculum development, second language vocabular y acquisition, and extensive
reading.

Masakazu Mishima
Masakazu Mishima, Ph.D. is an associate professor in the Center for Foreign Language Education and Researchat Rikkyo University. His research interests extend to a wide range of topics in Applied Linguistics and TESOL
including but not limited to L2 writing, L2 motivation, teacher agency, and CALL. He is currently working on a
project to explore the role of teacher agency in curriculum development from a socio-material perspective.

Heather Woodward
Heather Woodward earned her M.S.Ed. in TESOL from Temple University, Tokyo Campus in 2018. She spent 10
years teaching EFL in China, Vietnam, and Japan before joining Rikkyo University as an instructor in 2019. Her
research interests include CALL, TBLT, material development, and language testing and assessment.

134執筆者・AUTHORS

Ian Wash
Ian Wash is an Adjunct Lecturer at the Center for Foreign Language Education and Research, Rikkyo University.
He is an interdisciplinary researcher with much of his work focusing on the relationship between language andpolitics. His main research interests include discourse studies, political discourse analysis, interpretive policy
analysis, and international education. In the past he has also conducted studies in the field of English for Academic
Purposes.

Jason Murray
Jason Murray has worked in Education over the past 20 years in Japan and the UK. His roles have been mainly
in teaching EFL and also as a SENCO (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator). Presently, he is employed as an
English instructor in the Center for Foreign Language Education and Research at Rikkyo University in Tokyo. Heteaches English in Discussion, Debate and Presentation classes. His areas of research and interest include microteaching (for teacher development purposes) and sociolinguistics.

Miki Shrosbree
Miki Shrosbree, PhD, is an associate professor in the Center for Foreign Language Education and Researchat Rikkyo University. Her research areas are the second language acquisition and phonetics. A special focus ofinterest is oral fluency development among advanced learners from the perspectives of both utterance fluency andperceived fluency.

関未玲（セキ ミレイ）

愛知大学准教授を経て、2020 年より立教大学外国語教育研究センターに准教授として着任。パリ第 3 大学および立教大学博士。専門はフランス語圏文学、フランス語教育。共著に『Marguerite Duras―Passages, croisements,（Classiques Garnier）、論文に「キム・チュイ作品に見られる相対化されたオリエンタリズム」（『ケベッ
rencontres』
ク研究』第 10 号）、単著に『フランス語

ほんとうに必要なところをまとめました』（ベレ出版）がある。

Tara McIlroy
Tara McIlroy (PhD) is an associate professor in the Center for Foreign Language Education and Research at
Rikkyo University. Her primary research interests focus on utilising literature in the foreign language classroom todevelop L2 language proficiency and how pedagogic theory and practice can inform language curriculum design.

135

外国語教育研究ジャーナル 第 1 巻（JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, Vol. 1）
発行日

発行者

2020 年 12 月 1 日

立教大学 外国語教育研究センター（Center for Foreign Language Education and Research, Rikkyo University）〒 171-8501 東京都豊島区西池袋 3 − 34 − 1

製作株式会社 DTP 出版〒 135-0042 東京都江東区木場 2 − 18 − 14

ISSN 2436-0325©2020 立教大学 外国語教育研究センター

JOURNAL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGEEDUCATION AND RESEARCH
Vol. 1
December 2020

Center for Foreign Language Education and Research, Rikkyo University