Journal

2019

Edited by Debopriyo Roy& John BlakePanSIG is an annual conference
held in May, and organized bymany of the Special Interest
Groups (SIGs) of the Japan
Asociation for Language
Teaching (JALT).

MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR
The 18th Annual PanSIG conference was held at the Konan University, CUBE Campus (Nishinomiya) in
Hyogo on May 18-19, 2019. The conference was a big success attended by participants from all overJapan and abroad. An important goal for PanSIG 2019 was to significantly reduce its environmental
footprint, and we were successful to a large extent.
PanSIG 2019 features over 250 presentations and forums ranging across teaching contexts, methodologies,
pedagogies, and SIG topics. The conference was a collaborative effort from 26 Special Interest Groups(SIGs) within the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT). The conference enabled participants
to attend presentations on a variety of topics from a wide spectrum in the fields of language teaching andlearning.
This journal represents the fifth edition of the annual PanSIG Journal in its latest form–following 14
years of proceedings publications beginning with 2002 - which includes a selection of articles from the2019 conference. With a comprehensive blind and detailed peer review process, including the new policyof allowing authors to take on the role of a reviewer, dedicated reviewing and editing committees, alongwith motivated and professional authors, and proper time management, the quality of the articles
submitted to the 2019 PanSIG Journal were consistently high. The articles finally selected for publicationin the 2019 PanSIG Journal demonstrated a comprehensive and robust representation of the work
presented at the PanSIG conference from a number of different SIGs on a diverse range of topics. More
importantly, the range of research ideas highlight the effort and creativity of the participants of theconference and the members of the SIGs, and clearly demonstrated that PanSIG as a language research,teaching and learning community is constantly evolving and seeking to find new patterns, designs andstructures in language pedagogy.
Heartiest thanks to John Blake, the associate editor of the 2019 PanSIG journal for his immense help.
Congratulations to all previous editors for maintaining the quality of the journal, and allowing me to takeover smoothly. Special thanks to Michael Hollenback, James Dunn, and Aleda Krause for theircontinuous support, feedback, dedication and commitment in reviewing and advising.
This edition of the journal truly stands out due to the commitment shown by the volunteer reviewers,
authors who showed so much interest in reviewing papers from peers in the community, providing
scholarly feedback for improvement, and importantly, timely submission by both authors and reviewers
alike. I would also like to thank the authors for submitting their articles for this publication. The successof this collection is a cumulative effort from a number of hard-working volunteers who dedicated large
amounts of their precious time into putting together such a quality journal. We hope that you will enjoy
reading the articles, explore opportunities for research collaboration and gain insight for your professional
development. Congratulations to all the contributors to this edition of the PanSIG Journal.

June 5th, 2020
Debopriyo Roy

Editor-in-Chief, PanSIG Journal 2019
The PanSIG is an annual conference held in May, and organizedby many of the Special Interest Groups (SIGs) of the Japan
Association for Language Teaching (JALT). The conference brings
together leading scholars and practitioners in language educationfrom Japan, Asia, and throughout the world. It is meant to be asmaller, more intimate conference than the annual international
JALT conference (which is held each fall), and is a place where
SIG members can network with each other.

The 2019 PanSIG JournaliWebsite: http://pansig.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JALTpansig/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JALT_PanSIG (Twitter handle: @JALT_PanSIG)

Selected articles from the 2019 PanSIG Conference
Konan University (Nishinomiya Campus) Tokyo, Japan
Artwork courtesy of Jim George and James Dunn

ISBN# 978-4-901352-58-1
PanSIG Journal 2019 Selected articles from the 2019 PanSIG Conference Tokyo, Japan
JALT Central Office Urban Edge Bldg. 5F, 1-37-9 Taito, Taito-ku,
Tokyo 110-0016, Japan http://jalt.org/ http://www.pansig.org/

All materials in this publication are copyright © (2020) by JALT and their respective authors.

The 2019 PanSIG Journalii

PanSIG Journal 2019
PDF Version
PanSIG 2019 was held May 18-19 at Konan University [Nishinomiya Campus (CUBE)], Japan. Konan
University was a supporting institution (or cosponsor) of PanSIG 2019, and we are grateful for theirsupport. Thank you to everyone who helped make this conference a success!
Venue: Konan University [Nishinomiya Campus (CUBE)], Japan. Dates: May 18- 19 (Saturday to
Sunday), 2019.
Website: http://pansig.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JALTpansig/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JALT_PanSIG (Twitter handle: @JALT_PanSIG)

Edited by Debopriyo Roy and John BlakePanSIG is the annual conference for Special Interest Groups of theJapan Association of Language Teachers

The 2019 PanSIG Journaliii

Thanks to our2019 Journal Reviewers & Editorial Advisory Board
Adam Joseph Garnica
Tokyo International University
Joseph C. Wood
Nagoya Women’s University
Andrew Blaker
Konan University
Abidemi Bankole
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
Anita Eden
Mukogawa Women’s University
Anthony Diaz
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
Andrew D. Tweed
Meijo University
Richard Hill
Meijo University
Christopher Hennessy
University of Fukui
Arisa Koba
Osaka University
Benjamin R. Rentler
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
Brian Cullen
Nagoya Institute of Technology
Cameron Romney
Doshisha University
Nicole Moskowitz
Kyoto Sangyo University
Pool Justin Parker
Osaka Kyoiku University

Bradley Irwin
Nihon University
Lauren Inneke Landsberry
Nagoya College
Julian David Foster
Fukuoka Dental College
Caroline Hutchinson
Nihon University College of Economics
David Townsend
Shujitsu University
Stephen James Clarke
Nagoya College
Frances Jane Shiobara
Kobe Shoin Women’s University
Jeff Morrow
Prefectural University of Kumamoto
Iain Maloney
Nagoya University of Foreign Studies
John Campbell-Larsen
Kyoto Women’s University
Michael James Rupp
Tokai University
Robert Andrews
Ritsumeikan University
Nick Di Cicco
Kwansei Gakuin University
Yaowaret TharawootKing Mongkut’s University of Technology North
BangkokThe 2019 PanSIG Journaliv

Sayaka Sugimoto
Faculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University

Kent David Jones
Kwansei Gakuin University

Sara Hendricks
Asia Pacific University Ritsumeikan

Kevin Reay Wrobetz
Kobe Gakuin University

Nattawadee Sinpattanawong
King Mongkut’s University of Technology North
Bangkok

Michael Griffiths
Konan University

Sandra Healy
Kyoto Institute of Technology
Nicholas Musty
Kobe Gakuin University
John Blake
University of Aizu
Jeremy Perkins
University of Aizu
Aleda Krause
Seigakuin University
Younghyon Heo
University of Aizu
Mehrasa Alizadeh
Osaka University
Robert Taferner
Hiroshima University
Daniel Parsons
International University of Japan
Peter Illic
University of Aizu
Ian Munby
Hokkai-Gakuen University

Meagan Renee Kaiser
Tokushima University
Michael Greisamer
Anaheim University, California
Robert Bruce Scott
Fort Hays State University
Nami Takase
Nagoya University Graduate School
Takako Yasuta
Fukushima Medical University
Raymond Stubbe
Nagasaki University
Robert Dykes
Jin-ai University
Jonathan Rowberry
Sojo University
Olivia Kennedy
Ritsumeikan University
Richard Eccleston
University of Fukui
Anton Vegel
Kent State University

Allan Nicholas
University of Aizu
Wendy M. Gough
Tokai University
Tim James Andrewartha
The British Council

The 2019 PanSIG Journalv

TABLE OF CONTENTSPanSIG2019 Journal

1 Learner Attitudes Towards a Global Approach in Eikaiwa

6

Tim Andrewartha

6

2 Teaching Assistants (TAs) in the English Language Classroom: Successes and Challenges
Abidemi T. Bankole

14
14

3 Usefulness Analysis of the Zenshō Eiken Test

23

Andrew Blaker

23

4 How About You And So On: Formulaic Language

31

John Campbell-Larsen

31

5 Scaffolding for Success in IELTS Speaking

38

Nick Di Cicco

38

Kent David Jones

38

6 A Small-Scale Investigation into the Efficacy of Pronunciation Instruction at a Japanese College

47

Stephen Clarke

47

Lauren Landsberry

47

7 Effectiveness of Poster Presentations for CLIL Courses

56

Brian Cullen

56

Vick Ssali

56

Cameron Smith56

8 Adding Pronunciation Instruction to the Classroom

63

Anthony Diaz

64

9 Cross Institutional Tech Usage: Findings and Trends

74

Armando Duarte

74

Mayumi Komoda

74

10 Homestay Preparation Workshop Activities for Low/Intermediate Level Students

84

Robert Dykes

84

Richard Eccleston

84

11 Target Vocabulary Building and Movies

92

Julian David Foster

92

12 Using Conversation Cards to Enhance Turn-Taking Fluency

98

Adam Garnica

98

Ramon Mislang

98

The 2019 PanSIG Journal2

13 Anxiety in the Japanese EFL Classroom and the Pygmalion Effect110Michael Greisamer

110

14 Adapting and Scaffolding Texts in CLIL Materials

117

Michael Griffiths

117

15 Japanese Version of the Smartphone Addiction Scale Short Version (SAS-SV)

126

Sandra Healy

126

Olivia Kennedy

126

16 Addressing Gender Equality

135

Sandra Healy

135

Tanja McCandie

135

Kathleen Cahill

135

Gerry Yokota

135

Gwyn Helverson

135

17 Maximizing New Vocabulary Retention Using Games

143

Sara Hendricks

143

18 Keep it Positive: Raising Young Bilingual Learners

149

Sara Hendricks

149

Maiko Berger

149

Patrick Johnston

149

Kent Jones

149

John Spiri

149

19 Autonomous Language Learning in Japan: Three Studies in Post-compulsory Education

155

Christopher Hennessy

155

Ivan Lombardi

155

Robert Morel

155

Stacey Vye

155

Anita Aden

155

20 Adventures in Unfamiliar Territory: A CLIL Tourism Course

166

Caroline Hutchinson

166

21 Collaborative Mobile Assisted Digital Storytelling Projects: Practical Considerations for Successful
Classroom Implementation
Bradley Irwin

175
175

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

3

22 Syllable Understanding and Young Learners

181

Meagan Renee Kaiser

181

23 A Novel Approach in the EFL Classroom

188

Olivia Kennedy

188

24 Discourse of Native-Speakerism in Japan

197

Arisa Koba

197

25 Texts That Help: Using Literature as a Guide in L2 Creative Writing

205

Iain Maloney205

26 Creating an Effective ESP Course for Japanese University Environmental Science Majors
Jeffrey Morrow

211
211

27 Using Role Plays and Real Plays for Lower-Level Students

219

Nicole Moskowitz

219

28 Wider Implications of the Foreign Language Effect228

Nicholas Musty

228

Robert Andrews

228

29 Implementing Cooperative Board Games

235

Justin Parker Pool

235

Stephen Andrew Swann

235

30 Cultivating a Willingness to Communicate: Practical Applications for the Japanese Junior High School
English Classroom
242
Benjamin Rentler

242

31 Desirable Difficulties in Reading via Typographic Disfluency and L2 Learners

254

Cameron Romney

254

32 Self-Generated Worksheets to Support Extended Oral Interaction

261

Jonathan Rowberry

261David Ostman

261

Christopher Ott

261

33 The Psychometric Properties of the Brief Kambara Locus of Control Scale

268

Michael James Rupp

268

Ian Maxwell Isemonger

268

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

4

34 CFER Companion Volume and its Application in University Classes

276

Yukie Saito

276

35 Mono No Aware: Revisiting the Magic Bonsai Tree

283

Robert Bruce Scott

283

36 Teaching Reading in Japanese Public Elementary Schools

290

Frances Jane Shiobara

290

37 Teacher Verbal Feedback on English Presentations

297

Nattawadee Sinpattanawong

297

Yaowaret Tharawoot297

38 Yes-No Vocabulary Tests and Synform Pseudowords

304

Raymond Stubbe

304

Kousuke Nakashima

304

39 Investigating the use of a video game to enhance vocabulary acquisition and recall of Malaysian
secondary school students

312

Chee Hao Sue

312

Siew Ming Thang

312

40 Implementing Kahoot! to Enhance Student Learning in an EMI Environment

324

Sayaka Sugimoto

324

41 Learning Formulaic Sequences Through Text Messaging Tasks

331

Nami Takase

331

42 Can More Rater Training Improve Peer Assessments?

339

David James Townsend

339

43 Approaching the Issues of Auxiliaries in English for Japanese L1

346

Anton Vegel

346

44 Write to Speak: Journals In Oral Communication Classes

354

Joseph C. Wood354

45 One Night Werewolf: An Approach to Game-Based Vocabulary Acquisition

361

Kevin Reay Wrobetz

361

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

5

1 Learner Attitudes Towards a Global Approach in Eikaiwa
Tim Andrewartha
The British Council
It is a concern that English schools in Japan, known as eikaiwa, focus too much on native English andwestern culture. However, for change to take place, it is necessary to consider the attitudes of the learners.
Therefore, this study measured learner attitudes in an eikaiwa to a global approach to studying English.
This approach aims to prepare Japanese learners to communicate with people from all over the world byincorporating elements from global Englishes, based on suggestions that they should listen to examples
of world Englishes and English as a lingua franca, and from intercultural communication, based onsuggestions that they should develop an awareness of and appreciation for cultural differences. Eightyfour learners at an eikaiwa in Tokyo completed a questionnaire with multi-item Likert scales and while
statistical analysis revealed some mixed feelings, overall there was a positive tendency suggesting theapproach should be implemented in the eikaiwa classroom.

日本の英会話スクールがネイティブ英語や西洋文化にフォーカスしすぎていることは懸念すべき実情である。これを変えるためには、学習者の考えを考察することが必須となる。本研究では、英語学習における“グローバルなアプローチ”に対して学習者が持つ考えを分析した。このグローバルなアプローチ
は日本人学習者が世界中の人々とコミュニケーションできるよう手助けすることを目的としており、そのために、１）世界諸英語やリンガ・フランカとしての英語を聞くべきとされるグローバル諸英語の要
素、２）文化の違いを認識し好意的に捉えるべきとされる異文化間コミュニケーションの要素を取り入れている。リッカート尺度を用いたアンケートには都内の英会話スクールに通う 84 人の学習者が回答した。統計分析では学習者の入り混じった考えが明らかとなる一方、英会話レッスンにはグローバルなア
プローチを導入すべきであるとの肯定的な考えも導き出されている。

English is spoken by people all over the world,

be changes in the way that English is taught, particularly

with the majority of its speakers being multilingual andin expanding circle countries, such as Japan, where so-multicultural, and its most common use as a global lingua

called native English remains the target in the TEFL

franca (Galloway, 2017; Jenkins, 2015). Kachru’s threeclassroom (Galloway, 2017; Galloway and Rose, 2014).

circle model (1992), including the inner circle where

While efforts to make lessons more global have been

English is spoken as a first language, the outer circle

carried out in the university context (ibid), one area which

where English is an official language in post-colonial

may be neglected is the eikaiwa industry.

countries, and the expanding circle where English islearned as a foreign language, is frequently given
importance in the literature (Galloway, 2017; Galloway &The Eikaiwa Industry

Rose, 2014; Liu and Fang, 2017; Ren, Chen & Lin, 2016)

In Japan there are many private English

and it is commonly accepted that there are far morelanguage schools, known as eikaiwa, which offer lessons

speakers of English in the outer and expanding circles

to both young learners and adults. These schools tend tothan in the inner circle (Galloway, 2017; Jenkins, 2015).

use the feature of having so-called native teachers as aConsidering these points, it is argued that there needs toselling-point to attract learners, or customers as they are
more accurately seen. Therefore, the lessons and

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

6

materials often focus on British or American English andclassroom (Lui & Fang, 2017). In ICC, both Hall (1976)

the culture which is included in the topics and contexts isand Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov (2010) are given

usually from a western perspective. This creates concern

importance in the literature (Chiper, 2015; Servaes, 2016;that learners are not adequately prepared to communicate

Yeo and Pang, 2017). Hall (1976) states that people arewith people from all over the world. However, it may be

usually unaware of their own culture and to understanddifficult to make changes if learners have been socialised

other cultures they first need to develop a deep

into believing that focusing on inner circle English andawareness of their own culture. This has recently been

western culture is the best way to study English. Thisaddressed by Lui and Fang (2017) who argue learners

means it is important to investigate the attitudes ofshould study about their own culture as well as other non-learners towards a global approach.

Anglo cultures in the English classroom. In order tocompare different cultures, the six cultural dimensions
proposed by Hofstede, et al. (2010) can be used, and the

Global Englishes

individualism versus collectivism dimension is seen as

One area from which suggestions for change

essential in understanding the difference between

have come is the field of global Englishes. Global

Western and Asian cultures (Servaes, 2016). However, ofEnglishes includes world Englishes and English as aparticular relevance in this study is research carried out inlingua franca (ELF) (Galloway, 2017; Jenkins, 2015).

Japan by Yoshida, Yashiro and Suzuki (2013) who

World Englishes includes varieties of English from theconducted a focus group with Japanese business people

outer circle, where they have developed in Asia, Africa

in which they discussed how ICC should be taught in theand the Caribbean, each with unique characteristics

Japanese context, and, based on their findings, theyreflecting their national and cultural identities, as well as

devised a framework for teaching ICC in Japan whichfrom the expanding circle, where varieties are alsosuggested that Japanese learners should develop

starting to develop in countries such as China, where“awareness of themselves”, “their own culture” andsome estimations suggest that 400 million people are“cultural differences” (2013, p. 79).

learning English (Jenkins, 2015). However, ELF is themost common use of English (Galloway, 2017), and it is

A Global Approach

used in a flexible way which speakers from the inner circle
struggle to emulate (Jenkins, 2011). Despite the

The global approach in this study (diagram 1)

implications this has for the ownership of English, recent

combines

elements

research suggests many learners still believe English

intercultural communication by aiming to prepare learners

belongs to the inner circle (Galloway, 2017; Liu & Fang,

to communicate with people from all over the world by

2017; Ren, et al. 2016). Therefore, changes need to beteaching them global communication skills. These global

made in the way English is taught. Galloway, who has

communication skills include the ability to listen to global

conducted research in a Japanese university, suggests

Englishesthat there is a need to “raise awareness of Global

differences.

and

the

from

ability

globalto

Englishes

understandandculturalEnglishes” and “emphasise respect for diverse culture
and identity” (2017, preface), and, as shown by Galloway

Diagram 1 Global Approachand Rose (2014), an effective way to do this is throughlistening to global Englishes.

Intercultural Communication
Another area from which suggestions forchange

have

come

is

the

field

of

interculturalcommunication (ICC), and, while this area does not focus
specifically on language but rather feelings, thoughts andbehaviour, it is felt that it is necessary to incorporate
elements from this field into the English language

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

7

Research Questions

manner, which asked the participants to write in either

This study aims to measure the attitudes ofEnglish or Japanese about their attitudes towards learninglearners towards such an approach by asking the

global communication skills, listening to global Englishes

following questions.

and learning about cultural differences.

1) What attitudes do learners have towards a global

Reliability
The questionnaire was written in English andapproach in the English classroom?

then translated into Japanese by a professional translator.
2) Do learners think they should learn how to

Then a pilot study was done with four participants who

communicate with people from all over the world?

provided feedback which was used to improve the3) Do learners think they should listen to different varieties
of English from all over the world?

questionnaire. After the questionnaires were completed in
the main study, and the negative item results wererecoded, reliability tests were run on SPSS. According to4) Do learners think they should learn about cultural

Dörnyei and Taguchi (2010), while it is preferable for thedifferences from all over the world?

Cronbach Alpha (α) to be over 0.70, it should not be below
0.60. Whereas the global approach variable (α = .76), thelistening to global Englishes variable (α = .77) and theMethods

cultural differences variable (α = .69) had good reliability,
the global communication skills variable (α = .58) was

Participant Information
This study included 84 learners at an eikaiwa inTokyo, part of a chain which has many schools in Japan.

slightly low. Therefore, it was decided to remove item 3
from the global communication skills variable to improve
the reliability (α = .60).

The majority were female (69%), 50 years old or over(67%) and studying at the intermediate – advanced levels(82%). The most usual purpose for studying English was

Results and Discussion

as a hobby (52%).

Questionnaire
A questionnaire was used as it was felt that for

Attitudes Towards the Global Approach asa WholeResearch question 1 was answered by the globalchanges to be implemented it was necessary to measureapproach variable. As shown in table 1, the mean was

attitudes on a larger and more accurate scale than if more

3.5 and the standard deviation was .49. This reveals aqualitative methods were used. The questionnaire used

tendency in their attitudes which, although close to

Likert scales, (from 1 disagree to 5 agree), and comprised

neutral, is positive towards the global approach as aof 18 items, some of them positive about the global

whole. The other variables give further insight into theirapproach and some of them negative. All 18 items wereattitudes towards the different elements within the

combined to create the global approach variable whichapproach and are discussed while answering the otheraimed to answer research question 1 which was about the

research questions.

approach as a whole. Then the 18 items were split into
three groups. Items 1 – 6 were combined to create theTable 1 Variables

global communication skills variable which aimed toanswer research question 2 which was about the idea oflearning how to communicate with people from all over theworld. Items 7 – 12 were combined to create the listening
to global Englishes variable which aimed to answer
research question 3. Items 13 – 18 were combined tocreate the cultural differences variable which aimed to

n

α

M

SD

Global Approach

84

.76

3.5

.49

Global Communication

84

.60

3.4

.72

84

.77

2.8

.83

84

.69

4.0

.61

SkillsListening to Global
Englishes
Cultural Differencesanswer research question 4. As well as the multi-item
variables, there were three open-questions, included sothey could express themselves in a more personal

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

8

Attitudes Towards Learning Global
Communication Skills
Research question 2 was answered by thein the case of item 3 the level of agreement was so high it
was removed from the variable to improve the reliability).
However, looking at the items which are negative about

global communication skills variable. As shown in tablelearning global communication skills, we can see more

1, the mean was 3.4 and the standard deviation was .72.

variation, which suggests that there are some conflictingThis also reveals a tendency in their attitudes which,attitudes.

although close to neutral, is positive about learning how

suggest that while learners may want to communicate

to communicate with people from all over the world.

with people from all over the world in English, some

However, the standard deviation indicates there was alearners may believe that they can do this by learning how

larger variation in their attitudes towards learning global

to communicate with people from the inner circle.

These

seemingly

contradictory

attitudes

communication skills than towards the approach as a
The following two comments which participants

whole.

wrote (originally in Japanese) as answers to the openLooking at the individual items (table 2) there

question show that while one participant was positive

was a strong tendency to agree with the items which are
positive about learning global communication skills (andTable 2 Global Communication Skills
Items

1

2

3

4

5

1. Inner circle countries (UK, US, etc.) treat English as a mothertongue, so the people who I want to communicate with in English
the most are English speakers from these countries. (negative)

8%

7%

12%

35%

38%

2. English is often used not only when I speak to people from inner
circle countries (the UK, the US, etc.), but also when I speak topeople from outer and expanding circle countries (India, China,etc.) so I want to be able to communicate with people from all over
the world in English. (positive)

4%

1%

0%

25%

70%

3. I think being aware of the fact that there are many culturaldifferences in the world and also there are different kinds of English
will help me to avoid misunderstandings or trouble when I havecommunication with foreign people in English. (positive)

1%

0%

0%

11%

88%

4. If I understand English and culture from the inner circle countries(the UK, the US, etc.) I will be able to have smooth communication
in English with people from the outer and expanding circles (India,
China, etc.) too. (negative)

19%

17%

20%

27%

17%

5. I think the English language belongs to everyone around theworld who uses it. If there are any skills I should learn to be able tocommunicate smoothly in English with people who are not from theinner circle countries (the UK, the US, etc.), I want to know them.
(positive)

2%

6%

5%

33%

54%

6. I think the English language belongs to people from the inner
circle countries (the UK, US, etc.). So, I mainly want to be able tohave communication with English speakers from these countries.
(negative)

15%

26%

29%

17%

13%

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

9

towards learning global communication skills, another had
mixed feelings.

Research questions 3 and 4 give further insight
into their attitudes towards learning how to communicate
with people from all over the world by looking specifically

I want to learn how to communicate with people
from all over the world. People who we meet inat their attitudes towards listening to global Englishes andlearning about cultural differences.

Japan or in other countries are not always fromthe UK or the US, so I want to learn it as a tool
to communicate with more people.

Attitudes Towards Listening to Global
Englishes
Research question 3 was answered by the

I want to learn how to communicate with mainly
people from the inner circle countries. I want tolearn the basics first. If I could speak thelanguage correctly, then I would be able tocommunicate with people from many different
countries smoothly. It doesn't mean I don't wantto communicate with people from non-innerlistening to global Englishes variable. As shown in table
1, the mean was 2.8 and the standard deviation was .83.
The mean reveals a tendency in their attitudes which,although close to neutral, is negative towards listening todifferent kinds of English from all over the world. The
standard deviation shows the largest variation in theirattitudes of the four variables.

circle countries.
To try to understand the variety in their attitudes
more, we can look at the individual items (table 3) which
Table 3 Listening to Global Englishes
Items

1

2

3

4

5

7. I think listening CDs should also include English by people fromouter circle countries (India, Singapore, etc.). Then I can experience
different kinds of English and learn about its diversity. (positive)

17%

23%

23%

21%

17%

8. I think listening CDs should also include people from different
countries in the expanding circle (Brazilian, Chinese, Russian, etc.)
speaking to each other in unconventional but smooth English. Then I
can hear flexible English which gives priority to understanding one
another as well. (positive)

18%

31%

20%

21%

10%

9. English from the inner circle countries (the UK, the US, etc.) iscorrect and natural, so listening CDs should mainly use English by
English speakers from these countries. (negative)

1%

6%

12%

42%

39%

10. If I experience English by people from expanding circle countries(Brazil, China, Russia, etc.) on listening CDs, I think there will be an
unfavourable influence on my English. (negative)

20%

21%

29%

21%

8%

11. Varieties of English by people from outer circle countries (India,
Singapore, etc.) are not really correct and are difficult to understand,so I don't think I want to listen to them on listening CDs. (negative)

11%

20%

24%

29%

17%

12. If I only listen to English from inner circle countries (the UK, theUS, etc.) on listening CDs, then when I actually communicate withpeople from the outer and expanding circles (India, China, etc.) I
think I might not be able to understand their English. (positive)

19%

19%

19%

35%

8%

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

10

reveal some complex and seemingly contradictory

attitudes. Furthermore, although there was a tendency toattitudes. While an almost equal number agreed anddisagree with item 8, there was a slight tendency todisagreed with item 12, there was a strong tendency todisagree with item 10. This also seems to show someagree with item 9. This suggests that while some learners

contradictory attitudes. It seems that while there is a slightare aware that there is a practical need to listen to different

tendency to think expanding circle English will not have avarieties of English, there is still a clear preference fornegative effect on their English, they do not think it should

inner circle English. Additionally, despite an almost equal

be included. Possibly they hesitated to agree with item 10

number agreeing and disagreeing with item 7, there was

because they felt it was too negative about expanding

a tendency to agree with item 11. This reveals

circle English, but it could also indicate the complexity andcontradictory attitudes suggesting that while some

contradictory nature of their attitudes.

learners understand it is importance to listen to outer circle
The following two comments which participantsvarieties to appreciate the diversity of English, at the sametime they may hesitate to do so because of negative

wrote (originally in Japanese) as answers to the open-

Table 4 Cultural Differences
Items

1

2

3

4

5

13. I think there is no need to study about cultural differences aroundthe world during an English conversation school class in English. It
should be fine if I learn that kind of thing in Japanese, separate frommy English conversation school class. (negative)

44%

44%

6%

4%

2%

14. I think different countries have different cultures, and because ofthat people's thinking, feeling and behaviour change. During an
English conversation school class, it's important to study that kind ofthing. (positive)

1%

1%

6%

31%

61%

15. I think it's necessary to learn about cultural differences between
Japan and other countries during English conversation schoolclasses. I believe that kind of knowledge can be useful when I
communicate with people from all over the world. (positive)

1%

1%

5%

29%

64%

16. The English language belongs to people from the inner circle
countries (the UK, the US, etc.), so if I learn about cultural differencesin an English conversation lesson, I think I should mainly learn about
cultural differences between Japan and inner circle countries.
(negative)

21%

25%

32%

17%

5%

17. If I learn cultural differences between too many countries and get
too much culture shock, I think other stuff I should remember inEnglish learning will be neglected. So, if l learn about culturaldifferences in English conversation school classes, it should beenough just to learn about cultural differences between Japan andinner circle countries (the UK, the US, etc.). (negative)

43%

39%

11%

5%

2%

18. If the only culture I learn about in English conversation schoolclasses is from the inner circle countries (UK, the US, etc.), I think it
would be difficult to communicate smoothly with people from theouter and expanding circles (India, China, etc.). (positive)

15%

13%

27%

32%

12%

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

11

question show how two participants had negative

inner circle culture is universal, this variable shows that in

attitudes towards listening to global Englishes.

general the learners are clearly interested in studying
about cultural differences from all over the world. ThisI think it's not good to learn broken English or
quirky English before you learn the basics.
Therefore, listening should use English bypeople from the inner circle countries. Otherwise

indicates that learners consider culture to be different fromglobal Englishes. While some learners believe English still
belongs to the inner circle, they are aware that English isused in different cultural environments.

you don't know what the correct pronunciation isor you get confused.

The following two comments which participants
wrote (originally in Japanese) as answers to the open-

I want listening to use English by people fromthe inner circle countries, which is correct andquestion show how two participants had positive attitudes
towards learning about cultural differences.

basic. Because I think people from theouter/expanding circle must be making efforts toI think I should learn about cultural differences

be able to listen/speak like people from the inner

between Japan and countries all over the world

circle countries.

equally. Because to communicate with people
from different countries, it's better to know the

Attitudes Towards Learning about Cultural
Differences

cultures of these countries.

Research question 4 was answered by the

It's important to know the difference of culture on

cultural differences variable. As shown in table 1, theEarth. Because we have to know each other formean was 4.0 and the standard deviation was .61. The

the peace of the world.

mean reveals a clearly positive tendency in their attitudes
towards learning about cultural differences between
Japan and countries all over the world. The standard

Conclusion

deviation shows there was less variation in their attitudes

The findings in this study show that while there are sometowards cultural differences than for listening to global

variations in the attitudes of the learners towards a global

Englishes.

approach,particularly

towards

listeningtoglobalEnglishes, overall there is a positive tendency. Therefore,
Looking at the individual items (table 4), theit is felt that the approach could be implemented with thepositive items show a clear tendency to agree that theylearners in this study or with similar groups of learners.

should learn about cultural differences because people’s

Furthermore, it is felt that the clearly positive tendency inthinking, feeling and behaviour change because of their

their attitudes towards learning about cultural differences

culture (item 14) and that it would help them toshould be used to encourage learners to listen to different

communicate with people from all over the world (item 15)

kinds of English from all over the world by finding suitable

whereas, although there was a tendency to agree, morelistening material which has people from different

variety was revealed towards the idea that only learning

countries talking about different cultural issues and topics.

inner circle culture would mean not being able toThen, through the implication of the approach in thecommunicate with people from the outer and expanding

eikaiwa classroom, it is believed that the learners will becircle (item 18). Looking at the negative items, there wasbetter prepared to communicate with people from all overa strong tendency to disagree that there was no need to

the world in English. While there may be reluctance tolearn about cultural differences in English lessons (itemmake major changes such as course and material design13) or that they would get culture shock (item 17) whereas,at the top level, it is felt that if more eikaiwa teachers

while there was still a tendency to disagree, there was a

attempt to find ways to introduce the global approach innoticeable number of people who selected neither agree

their classrooms, and more research is conducted, then it

nor disagree that they should mainly learn inner circle

will help pave the way for a more global future in theculture because English belonged to the inner circle (itemeikaiwa industry.

16). Despite detecting some ambiguous attitudes (items
16 and 18), suggesting some learners might believe that

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

12

References
Dörnyei, Z. and Taguchi, T. (2010) (2nd edition)
Questionnaires in Second Language Research:
Construction, Administration, andProcessing
Routledge: New York and London
Galloway, N. and Rose, H. (2014) Using listening journals
to raise awareness of Global Englishes in ELT. ELT
Journal, 68, 386-396.
Galloway, N. (2017) Global Englishes and Change inEnglish Language Teaching: Attitudes and Impact.
London and New York: Routledge.
Hall, E.T. (1976) Beyond culture. New York: Doubleday.
Hofstede, G. Hofstede, G, J. & Minkov, M. (2010) Cultures
and Organizations: Software of the Mind (3rd edition).
McGraw-Hill.
Jenkins, J. (2011) Accommodating (to) ELF in theinternational university. Journal of Pragmatics. 43,
926-936.
Jenkins, J. (2015) Global Englishes: A Resource Book forStudents. London & New York: Routledge.

Kachru, B.B. (ed.) (1992) The Other Tongue: English
Across Cultures. Urbana, Chicago: University of
Illinois Press.
Liu, J. & Fang, F. (2017) Perceptions, awareness andperceived effects of home culture on interculturalcommunication: Perspectives of university students in
China. System, 67, 25-37.
Ren, W. Chen, Y. & Lin, C. (2016) University students'
perceptions of ELF in mainland China and Taiwan.
System, 56, 13-27.
Servaes, J. (2016) Guanxi in intercultural communicationand public relations. Public Relations Review 42 459464.
Yeo, S.L. & Pang, A. (2017) Asian multiculturalism incommunication: Impact of culture in the practice of
public relations in Singapore. Public Relations Review
43 112-122.
Yoshida, T. Yashiro, K. & Suzuki, Y. (2013) Interculturalcommunication skills: What Japanese businesses
today need. International Journal of Intercultural
Relations 37, 72-85.

Author biography

Tim Andrewartha has an MA in TESOL from Nottingham University. His research interests include global Englishes
and intercultural communication. timandrewartha@outlook.com

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

13

2 Teaching Assistants (TAs) in the English Language Classroom:
Successes and Challenges
Abidemi T. Bankole
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
Teaching assistants (TAs) play an important part in the teaching and learning activities of many universities(Fisher et al., 2015; Sargent, Allen, Frahm & Morris, 2009), where they are employed across a variety ofacademic disciplines (Fingerson & Culley, 2001; Weidert, Wendorf, Gurung & Filz, 2012). An international
university in Japan recruits undergraduate non-Japanese English speakers as Teaching Assistants (TAs)in English as a Second Language classes. This paper presents survey results from TAs and their partner
teachers about the successes and challenges of the TA role. TA success was reported with respect topunctuality, friendliness, willingness to help, building rapport with students, modelling the use of English,
answering students’ questions, and completing administrative tasks. The prevailing areas cited as needing
improvement include taking initiative, interacting effectively with students, communicating with partner
teachers, and understanding the TA role. Based on the results, recommendations are made for thedevelopment of a list of expectations for the TA role, and of a corresponding training program, to help
equip TAs with necessary skills to be more effective working with teachers and students.

ティーチング・アシスタント（TA）は、多くの大学の指導及び学習活動において重要な役割を担っており（Fisher et al., 2015; Sargent, Allen, Frahm & Morris, 2009）、多様な学問分野で利用されている（Fingerson & Culley, 2001; Weidert, Wendorf, Gurung & Filz, 2012）。ある日本の国際大学では、第二言語としての英語の授業のために、日本人でない英語話者の学部生をティーチング・アシスタント（TA）
として採用している。TA とそのパートナーである教員とを対象に、TA の役割に関する成功事例とその課題についての調査が行われた。その調査結果をまとめたものが本論文である。TA の成功事例として報告された事項としては、時間厳守、親しみやすさ、積極的な支援、学生との信頼関係の構築、英語使用の範例、学生からの質問対応、管理業務などが挙げられた。向上が求められる領域としては、率先的な行動力、学生との効果的な交流、パートナー教員との意思疎通、TA の役割についての理解などが主に指摘された。この結果に基づき、教員及び学生とより効果的に協働するために必要な技術を TA に習得してもらうために、TA に求められる役割リストの作成、及びそれに対応するトレーニング・プログ
ラムの開発についての勧告をまとめる。

TAs help teachers and students have a more

universities” (Romm, Gordon-Messer & Kosinski-Collins,

successful lesson and classroom environment. As a2010, p. 81). Undergraduate TAs have been used

result, they play an important part in the teaching andsuccessfully (Fingerson & Culley, 2001), in different

learning activities of many universities (Fisher et al., 2015;

disciplines across many colleges and universities.

Sargent, Allen, Frahm & Morris, 2009). Although the usual(Herrman & Waterhouse, 2010).

tendency at higher education institutions is to employ
graduate students as TAs, “undergraduates have longheld a role in teaching at liberal arts colleges and

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

14

However, despite the benefits the TA role procure, it is not

Roles of TAs
Undergraduate TAs fill a number of different

without its set of challenges. Most research available

roles, depending on the faculty, department, andreport the negative impact TAs can have on students, but

institution (Estrada & Taﬂiovich, 2017; Hogan, Norcross,not the challenges TAs themselves face in fulfilling their

Cannon & Karpiak, 2007). Some take on considerable

duties. Liao (2018) in a study of second-year Taiwaneseteaching responsibilities, including keeping attendance

students’ perceptions of third-year TAs’ effectivenessrecords, grading student work, and maintaining office

showed that students were dissatisfied with the TAs’hours (Rodriguez-Sabater, 2005). Other TAs have lesssubject

significant tasks, as they work alongside classroom

helpfulness. This is similar to reactions from students with

instructors to lead discussion groups and help students

TAs in an undergraduate engineering laboratory course,

either in class (Karpenko and Schauz, 2017), or during

who expressed disappointment with the TAs’ inability tooffice hours (Chandler, 2005). The TAs with which thisanswer questions due to lack of preparation (Reck, 2017).

paper is concerned work in the classroom alongside

However, there is little information on the challenges TAs

instructors, to facilitate English language discussions andface in classrooms. This paper will make somemodel the use of English.

contribution to this area.

knowledge,

preparation,organization,

andBackground of the Institution

Influence of TAs
Studies show that TAs can have a positive effect

The institution where this study was conductedon students, teachers, the institution, and TAs themselves

is a relatively new - less than 20 years old - mid-sized,(Crowe, Ceresola & Silva, 2014; Dickson, Dragon, & Lee,

private international university in Japan. One of its

2017; Haswell, 2017; Hogan et. al., 2007; Karpenko &distinguishing features is that the student body is fifty

Schauz, 2017; Murray, 2015; Rodriguez-Sabater, 2005;

percent Japanese, and the other half are students from

Weidert, Wendorf, Gurung, & Filz, 2012). For example, aover 90 countries and regions (“Student enrolment byTA’s support can lead to better student performance andcountry/region”, 2019). Another important characteristic isincrease in course grades (Crowe et al., 2014). At theits bilingual education (“Bilingual Education”, n.d.).

institution in this study, 65% of students reported thatJapanese students are required to acquire English

having a TA helped their learning (Saunders & Roux,

language skills, while foreign students must learn2013). TAs can become role models, who exemplify goodJapanese.

student practices (Dickson, et al., 2017), and promote

department hires TAs to assist in the English language

learning as a worthy endeavour (Hogan et al, 2007).

classroom.

Moreover,students

canperceive

TAs

asConsequently,

theEnglishlanguagemore

approachable and understanding of their concerns thanfaculty members (Fingerson & Culley, 2001; Hogan et al.,Background of the English TA program
The program is over ten years old, with about2007). Thus, they can bridge the gap between faculty andstudents, and help departments and institutions become
more integrated (Dickson et al., 2017). In addition to
helping instructors with administrative tasks, TAs canprovide added feedback and perspective on teaching(Fingerson & Culley, 2001, p.45). Finally, TAs themselves

forty to fifty TAs recruited each semester. Most TAs areundergraduate non-Japanese students, with excellent
English language skills, but limited or no prior experiencein teaching English. They are paid not only to perform
administrative tasks such as taking attendance or giving

can acquire “a recognizable professional benefit from theout handouts, but also to facilitate second language

work experience and some personal benefits as well.”acquisition- by engaging Japanese students in one-one(Haswell, 2017, p. 32). For instance, it has been shownthat TAs gained “an increased and accelerated sense of
self-confidence, ownership, and initiative concerning theircontinued professional development.” (Murray, 2015, p.
72).

and group discussions and modeling English languageuse. Prior to commencing their duties, TAs attend an
information and training session. English TAs are
assigned to one or two English language classes. They
visit each class twice a week, for a period of 95 minutes
at a time.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

15

Study Motivation and Method

Results and Discussion

The study was conducted because the English
TAprogramlackedaformalfeedbacksystem.

TA and Teacher’s Overall Experience
94% of TA respondents rated

Furthermore, there was an undercurrent of dissatisfaction
among teachers and TAs about the program. TAs
complained of feeling ill-prepared for their roles, whilesome teachers complained of being too busy to train andmentor TAs. Therefore, surveys were developed anddistributed in the Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 semesters.

their TAexperience as either good or excellent in Fall 2017 (Figure1). This was an unexpected positive result, considering
the undercurrent of dissatisfaction which initially prompted
the launch of the program evaluation. Unfortunately, thissame question was not asked in Spring 2018 semester,
therefore results across years cannot be compared. As

Both teachers and TAs were provided with separate

results for 2017 could be an isolated occurrence, it would

questionnaires (see Appendix), comprised of questions

have been interesting to note if TAs’ satisfaction remained

about the TA program. The surveys asked respondents

equally as high in 2018. Moreover, given the low response

about their impressions of the TA role, its successes, andrate (only 17 TAs), it is possible that TAs who completed

challenges. All English TAs and teachers who worked withthe surveys were those mostly satisfied with theirTAs received the survey by email once at end of the Fall

experience, and those who were not content did not make2017 semester, and twice in the Spring 2018 semester –an effort to answer the questionnaires. Nevertheless, theat the end of Quarter 1 (Q1) and again at the end of

results appear to suggest that TAs’ experience was an

Quarter 2 (Q2). A total of 17, 36, and 18 responses wereoverall positive one.

received from TAs, while 35, 40, and 38 responses werereceived from teachers, in the Fall 2017 and Q1 and Q2

TAs' Rating of Experienceof the Spring 2018 semesters respectively. TAs with morethan one class and teacher also completed the survey
more than once.
The low response rates on the part of TAs at the end of

100%
90%

Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 Q2 is attributed to the fact thatquestionnaires were sent out at the end of the semester,when TAs are busy with exams and reports. Amidst these,and preparations to travel back to their home countries forthe holidays, it would have been easy to forget to

80%
70%
60%

complete the surveys. Whereas, the Spring 2018 Q1

50%

survey has a higher rate because students were less40%

busy, and could be reminded because they were stillcoming to English classes. The survey responses wereanalyzed for common trends, which are summarized
below. A descriptive, as opposed to a formal analysis in

30%
20%
10%

the form of a statistical test, has been applied to results.
This has been done firstly because, the survey

0%
Fall 2017questionnaires were not uniform across the study periods;
there are variations in the order and content of questions.

I had hoped for more

Furthermore, due to the nature of the TA program, some

Could have been better

teachers and TAs completed the surveys twice becauseOkthey had two different TAs and teachers respectively.

Good

Consequently, a statistical analysis has not been

Excellent

performed, but instead, the aggregate of responses has
been analyzed for prevalent themes in terms of successes
and challenges in the TA program.

Figure 1 TAs’ rating of their experience (Question: How
would you rate your experience as a TA in these classes?)

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

16

On the other side, 66% of teachers gave TAs ascore of 7 or higher in Fall 2017, and this percentageii)

professionalism – many TAs wereorganized and self-motivatedincreased to 79% in the first quarter of Spring 2018, andto 87% in the second quarter (Figure 2). Even morepositive is that scores between 1 and 4 gradually
decreased and were not given at all in the second quarter.
The reason for these positive and encouraging results is
not completely clear. One possible explanation is that theyarose from adjustments made to the TA program basedon results from the 2017 survey. The training TAsiii)

friendly and positive attitude – bothTAs and teachers reported TAs as being friendly, open,
enthusiastic, and energeticiv)

willingness to help students andteachers – TAs were eager to help and do as they weretold; they helped students with both English tasks andother general concerns

received at the beginning of the Q1 Spring 2018 wasadjusted to respond to the needs TAs and teachers
specified, and recruitment procedures were also modifiedv)building rapport with students – manyTAs succeeded in connecting with and engaging students

to hire more suitable candidates.
vi)
Figure 2 Teachers’ rating of their TA (Question: On a scaleof 1-10, rate your TA. 10 being the best).

Teachers Rating of TAsmodelling the use of English – TAs

showed students how to use English, and were able toanswer most students’ questionsvii)

fulfilling administrative tasks - such as

taking attendance, and checking homework completion

100%

Challenges and Areas of Improvement

90%

compared, the lower teachers’ rating suggests that they

When TAs’ and teachers’ responses are
were less satisfied with TAs’ roles than TAs were with80%

themselves. This could be because there were areas of70%

need that teachers had, but which TAs were unaware of
and were not quite able to meet. This is in line with results

60%

from other researchers who state that TAs tend tooverestimate

50%

their

competence,

especiallywheninexperienced and untrained, as they are unable to40%

accurately judge their own performance (Tulane &30%

Beckert, 2011).

20%

Furthermore, even though ratings seem to register TAs’
overall satisfaction with their experience, and teachers’

10%

general satisfaction with their TAs, a closer examinationof respondents’ answers to other questions in the0%
Fall 2017

Q1 Spring2018

Q2 Spring
2018

Should not be a TA (1-2)
Needs Improvement (3-4)
Ok (5-6)
Good (7-8)
Excellent (9-10)

questionnaires reveal concerns that should be addressed.
Table 1 summarizes the top issues which both TAs andteachers mentioned as challenges and areas needing
improvement.
These include:i)

Overall, TAs and teachers rated TAs as being successful
in the following seven areas:i)taking initiative - being proactive, notalways waiting for direction from teachers, anticipatingneeds and integrating better into lessons

punctuality – arriving to class on timeThe 2019 PanSIG Journal

17

ii)

interacting effectively with students -engaging, supporting, and keeping students motivated in
Englishstudies;joining

small-group

lecturing, or students are testing or doing a task that does
not require TA involvement

discussions;ix)

interacting with shy or passive students

TAs

gradingtheirlanguage-

simplifying language and using appropriate English leveliii)

communicating with teachers - what towith students

communicate with teachers, giving feedback on students
issues; knowing teacher expectations, course content,

These results illustrate that both TAs’ and teachers’
responses overlapped; similar issues were mentioned bygoals, and progression

both groups. TAs and teachers had similar concerns,
iv)

giving students feedback – when,

which need to be addressed.

how, and what kind of feedback to give
Both groups wanted TAs to improve their interactions withsupporting students’ English use - how

students, this was a top concern in all three survey

to encourage students to use English more in class, withperiods. For instance, a teacher respondent wanted TAs

each other, even after completing tasks

to be comfortable “Integrating more with studentsv)(knowing how to mix in with them when they're in smallvi)understanding the TA role - gaining agroups or doing other classroom activities)” (Spring 2018

clear understanding of TA role and responsibilities in theQ1), while another would like TAs to “learn to walk around

English classroomvii)

and engage with all students, not just one group or two
having TAs’ skills used better -teachers to use TAs’ strengths better, integrate TAs more

the whole period. Be more dynamic in the classroom”(Spring 2018 Q1). Similarly, although most TAs weresuccessful in building rapport with students, they wanted

into lessons

to know how to effectively keep students engaged andmaking use of free time - what to do

motivated so that they could help them improve theirduring down-time in class, either when teacher is in front

English skills. On the Spring 2018 Q2 questionnaire, a TA

viii)

asked, “what is the best way to engage the students in theclass? how to motivate each student to have passion in
Table 1 Areas TAs and Teachers reported TAs need improvement

Areas TAs need to improve

TAs
F2017

taking initiative✓interacting effectively with students✓

communicating with teachers

✓

Q1 S
2018

✓

giving students feedback✓

supporting students’ English use✓

understanding the TA role✓

having TAs’ skills used better✓making use of free time

Teachers
Q2 S
2018

F2017

Q1 S
2018

Q2 S
2018

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓
✓

✓

✓

✓

TAs grading their language✓

Note. ✓ signifies that an issue was brought up by a majority of respondent

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

18

learning English”. Another TA specified on the Fall 2017

According to one instructor, “It is not always clear whatsurvey, “... maybe the TA programmer can teach and trainrole the TA is supposed to have in class.

TAs to be better at joining the class and facilitate the class

sometimes, integrating them appropriately is challenging”

beside a good proficiency in English.” It is heartening that

(Fall 2017 teacher responses). Thus, although theyTAs recognized that they should be more engaging, butwanted TAs to be better integrated into lessons, teachers

also discouraging that they did not already know how tothemselves were unsure of how to do this and therefore

do this, as this is a significant component of their duties.

could not give effective directions in this regard. As aresult,TAs also sought to take the initiative more and teachers
desired for them to be more proactive, and not wait to be

instructors

reportedadesire

for

Thus

“more

standardized requirements for TAs for each level” (Spring2018 Q2 teacher responses).

given every directive. A Fall 2017 teacher survey
participant asserted, “…I don't need another person who

Possible Solutions

I constantly have to watch or tell what to do in my classes.”

Bettercommunication

betweenTAs

andInstructors wanted TAs to anticipate classroom needs byteachers would have mitigated many of these issues. On“reading hints and cues that the teacher would need thethe one hand, TAs' comments revealed that they not only

TA to take action” (Fall 2017 Teacher respondent), anddesired general instructions on what and when to

not simply rely on instructions. But TAs did not understandcommunicate with students, but they also needed specific

how to fulfill this expectation, and required teachers to

information

help them integrate better into lessons. A TA respondent

progression. For example, a TA respondent stated, “At

disclosed, “I'm having a bit of trouble trying to figure out

what pace the class is and should be progressing andwhen to talk to the students or not. So I think it'll be helpful

what are the expectations from the students of a specificfor going over situations regarding when the TA shouldclass should be explained to the TAs more properly" (Fallstep in or not” (Spring 2018 Q1 responses). This typifies

2017 TA responses). On the other hand, teachers simply

a challenge which many new TAs experience.

wanted TAs to communicate with them more, especially

such

as

coursecontent,

goals

and

about general observations on students and student
The issues of interacting with students and taking initiative
were compounded by the fact that TAs, and teachers, did
not have an established list of TA role. This was anotherconcerns: “[my TA] could be more proactive telling theteacher about student weak points/issues” (Spring 2018
Q1 teacher responses).

top concern on the surveys, which was raised by bothgroups. TAs lamented not having a clear understanding

More efficient communication between both groups wouldof their role in the classroom, or a set of guidelines tohavefollow. This prompted a TA respondent to comment, “I

understanding the specifics of the TA role, and how tothink discussing about the job description in more detailprovide students feedback, encourage students to use

for TA is necessary…” (Spring 2018 Q2 responses), andEnglish more with each other and grade TA language toanother to ask for “…some universal basic tasks thatstudents’ level. According to Haswell (2017), TAs haveevery TAs could expect to be asked to do in EVERY“linguistic as well as cultural value. However, for TAs toclasses” (Fall 2017 responses). Given this lack ofprovide adequate and organizational support for bothguideline, it is not surprising that TAs found it difficult toteachers and students, clear communication of aims,

take initiative – they were uncertain as to what was

expectations, and opportunities for feedback are required”

required of them. It also made it difficult for TAs to make(p.63). Teachers may not always be able to sit down withappropriate use of any free or down time that arose inTAs, or devote significant time to TA-teacher conferencing

class, as they were unsure of what to do in the first place.

in a 95-minute period. However, it is still very important

also

alleviatedotherchallenges,

includingthat they regularly make time before or after class, orTeachers also, fell into a similar demise, as some
admitted not knowing how to make use of their TAs. Thisin turn made it difficult for teachers to make use of TAs’during class break time, to discuss student issues andlesson goals. As an added means, some of thiscommunication could take place via email.

skills and strengths appropriately, which TAs reported as
an area which needed improvement in Fall 2017.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

19

Also as important as communication between TAs andHowever despite these achievements, certain key areas

teachers, is the requirement of a guideline for the TA roleof challenge were also acknowledged. Specifically, bothas a reference tool for TAs and teachers. Survey results

TAs and teachers wanted TAs to interact better withand the preceding discussion illustrate the necessity ofstudents to help them improve in English and achievethis. It would help delineate clear tasks, and keep boththeir language goals. There was a need to integrate TAs

TAs and teachers on the same page throughout themore in lessons, and make better use of their strengths.

course of the semester. Having TAs and teachers refer to

Teachers desired for TAs to be able to take more initiative

this list at the beginning of the semester, and regularlyin the classroom- without waiting for directions. However,communicate about it and other issues that come up, willa lack of clear TA role, and inadequate communication

help prevent uncertainty, and avoid confusion.

between TAs and teachers prevented TAs from being aseffective as they could be. And although the TAs have a

Finally, the use of an established set of TA roles could be
strengthened by TA and teacher training in incorporating
TAs into English language classes. A major reason forhigh level of English language ability, they were recruitedwith little prior experience and training. Both TAs andteachers reported needing further training.

TAs’ lack of knowledge in many of the areas mentioned isdue to lack of experience and training. As previously

As a result of the results, the author recommends that thestated, most TAs are recruited with minimal priordepartment develop a list of expectations for the TA role.

experience and training in teaching English. There is an

Additionally, there should be a corresponding training

expectation that they would learn on the job, which has

program, to help equip TAs with the necessary skills so

unfortunately not been possible due to time constraints onthat they can be more effective working with teachers andthe part of teachers. One of the questions on the Fall 2017

students in English language classrooms. Offering bettersurvey pertained to TAs and teachers desire for training.

preparation and training to TAs would increase their

When asked, “Would you like to have training in becoming

positive impact on students.

a better TA for English classes?”, 47% of TAs responded
yes. Comparably, 40% of teachers responded yes to the

Study Limitations and Future
Considerations

statement, “If I had extra time, I would be interested inhaving further training to work with TAs”. Therefore, bothgroups perceive a need for training to fill their knowledge
gap – TAs on their roles in the classroom, and teachers
on how to make better use of TAs. Therefore, it isrecommended that more training and guidance sessions
be used to globally address the issues raised.

The results presented in this paper are from only twosemesters of data, and from surveys that did not containexactly the same set of questions. A future improvement
would be to conduct the same questionnaires, over
several semesters. This would provide more reliable
results, which might well be different from those reported

Conclusion and Study
Implications
The TA role can bring many benefits toteachers, students, and TAs themselves. At thisinstitution, TAs and teachers reported TA success in
professionalism, connecting with students, modelling theuse of English, and completing administrative tasks. In
fact and contrary to expectations, both groups expressed
relatively high satisfaction rates with the TA position –94% of TAs reported being satisfied with their role in theFall 2017 semester, while 66%, 76%, and 87% ofteachers gave TAs a score of seven or higher out of ten,in the Fall 2017, Q1 and Q2 Spring 2018 semesters
respectively.

here. However, TAs and teachers’ responses overlappedin many areas and similar issues came up, which suggestthat these are valid issues that should be addressed.
Additionally, having self-reported data might haveaffected participants’ response validity and reliability.
Participants may have not remembered all information, orremembered accurately. The fact that some TAs andteachers completed the survey multiple times could also
have affected their response and its validity. Moreover,the method of analysis was also somewhat subjective insome respects – the areas needing improvement weresummarized from survey data based on the interpretationof theresearcher. Therefore,

resultsmight varydepending on researcher.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

20

Finally, as this study focuses only on one institution andFingerson, L., & Culley A. B. (2001). Collaborators in

on one of its departments, findings may not beteaching and learning: Undergraduate teaching

representative nor generalizable. Therefore, there is needassistants in the classroom. Teaching Sociology, 29,

for further research to see if these are applicable to other

299–315.

institutions.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1319189

Retrieved

fromFisher, L., Godden, L., Golparian, S., Haque, A., Keating,Acknowledgements

B., Sheffield, S. L., … West, K. (2015). Introduction

The author wishes to thank Dr. Paul Sevigny offrom the special issue editors quality enhancement:

Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University for help in designingteaching preparation for graduate teaching assistants,

the survey questionnaires.

45(3),

8-I,II,III,IV,V,VI,VII,VIII.

Retrievedfromhttps://www-lib-uwo-ca.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/cgibin/ezpauthn.cgi?url=http://search.proquest.com.pro

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self-efficacy among graduate teaching assistants.

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Author biography
Abidemi T Bankole has worked with Teaching Assistants (TAs) for almost 5 years. In that period, she has come toappreciate the attributes TAs bring to the classroom, and understand some of the unique challenges which the TA-teacher
relationship pose. She is researching into improving the TA-relationship for the benefit of students. Emaildemibank@yahoo.com

The 2019 PanSIG Journal22

3 Usefulness Analysis of the Zenshō Eiken Test
Andrew Blaker
Konan University – Hirao School of Business Management

Zenshō Eiken is a standardized English test offered to commercial high school students in Japan. Despite
being taken by over 140,000 students each year, there is little information or analysis done of this test.
This analysis of the test was carried out using Bachman and Palmer's (2010) framework of test usefulness.
The content of the test was examined, as was the time spent by students and teachers preparing for the
test, and the use to which the scores are put. It was found that while the test is of use to students as aqualification, the content of the test and the time spent preparing for it could be better spent on morecommunicative activities in the classroom. This research may be of interest to those interested instandardized testing in Japanese schools.

全商試験は日本の商業高校生に提供される全国共通テストであり、毎年 140,000 名以上の学生が受験している。このテストの分析は Bachman & Palmer's (2010)のテスト有意義性のフレームワークを使って行われた。テストの内容と、学生と教師がこのテストの準備に掛けた時間、さらにこのテストの点数がどのように使用されたかについての調査を行った。結果として、このテストを学生の資格試験として使うことは有意義であるが、テストの内容とテストの準備に費やされた時間は教室内でのよりコミュニカ
ティブな活動に使われた方がより有益であったであろうということが明らかとなった。この研究は日本の学校の全国共通テストに興味のある人々に興味を引くものであると考える。

Testing is an important part of the lives of both

together. It is not reasonable to maximize each element,

students and educators, and as such it is important to

but rather to balance each to suit the testing context

evaluate whether the test is achieving its desired goals.

(Weigle, 2010). Thus, the testing environment is important

Usually only aspects of reliability and validity are

to consider. The elements which comprise usefulness are

considered in this type of analysis. This paper reviews thediscussed below.

first grade of Zenshō Eiken, the commercial schools
English proficiency test, and uses Bachman and Palmer’s(1996) framework of usefulness to view the test more
completely, looking not only at the linguistic content andgoals of the test, but also talking into account how the test
is administered, but also how the qualification is used by

given to the same test-taker at a different time should
provide the same results. If there is any variation in theConstruct Validity

Usefulness
According to Bachman and Palmer (1996),
usefulness consists of six elements: reliability, constructauthenticity,

Reliability is the ‘consistency of measurement’of a test (Bachman & Palmer, 1996, p. 19). A single testscore, it is said to have low reliability.

the students.

validity,

Reliability

interactiveness,

impactandpracticality. By including each element, Bachman andPalmer ensure that a test is judged by all elements

Of the varieties of validity, Bachman and Palmer(1996) only consider construct validity to evaluate
usefulness, as construct validity is the most unifying
concept within validity (Messick, 1998). Construct validity
is the ‘meaningfulness and appropriateness of theinterpretations we make on the basis of test scores’

The 2019 PanSIG Journal23

(Bachman & Palmer, 1996, p. 21). Thus, construct validity

practical, but if the required resources do not exceed

seeks to ensure constructs being tested are those claimed

available resources then the test is practical. Resourcesby the test (ibid).

include money, human resources, materials, and time
(Weigle, 2010), thus, practicality is a consideration at

Authenticity

every stage of the test, from test development.

Authenticity is the relationship between theTarget Language Use (TLU) domain and the tasks aThis concludes the introduction of usefulness. It

student is required to do in the test (Bachman & Palmer,

is not necessary to score highly on all elements in order1996). The TLU domain is the set of TLU tasks that ato have a useful test, however, all elements should belearner may engage in outside of the test. Thus, if theconsidered in a test to maximize usefulness.

skills test-takers perform in the test are the same skills
they perform outside the test, then the test is said to have

The Test

authenticity.

Zenshō Eiken is the name given to the English

InteractivenessProficiency test organized by the National Commercial
defineSchools Association, known as Zenshō, Zenshō wasinteractiveness as the individual characteristics of thecreated in 1951 with the aim of developing commercial

test-taker being involved in achieving a task. An example

high school education in order to develop industrialof a non-interactive task is requiring students to change

society in Japan. (Zenshō, 2017a). Zenshō provides

sentences from the past tense to the future tense as thisstandardized tests for eight subjects taught at commercial

task requires knowledge of the language, but nothinghigh schools including English

BachmanandPalmer(1996)

beyond it. An interactive task builds context and requires
students to formulate a response, engaging students’

Zenshō is a Public Interest Incorporated

understanding of the context, and requires students to

Association and as such may not make a profit. It

plan and execute a response.

generates income through fees from testing and its 1,404
member schools (Zenshō, 2017b). Zenshō also provides

Impactsupport to secondary and tertiary students to promote the
Impact is the effect the test has on the

study of commercial subjects, and in 2016-17, gave

individuals and systems they are a part of (Bachman &¥25,358,000 in scholarships. Tests are conducted twice

Palmer, 1996). There are two levels of impact: micro andannually in September and December. The test is called

macro.

Zenshō Eiken, henceforth known as the test. The test
consists of 4 grades, with grade four lowest and grade one
Macro impact is the effect a test has on

educational systems or society as a whole (Bachman &Palmer, 1996), as results can be used to make decisions

the highest. The most recent statistics regarding thenumber of test-takers and pass rates are from 2018 andare shown in table 1.

about future curricula, qualification standards, andtextbook production (Taylor, 2005). Micro impact is the

As table 1 shows, a total of 65,270 students

effect on those involved in the test, whom Bachman andapplied for all grades in September 2018, while only

Palmer (1996, p.31) refer to as ‘stakeholders’. Students

60,438 students sat the test, with 24,860 passing, giving

taking the test, and teachers who help prepare thea pass rate of 41.1%. This research analyses grade one

students are significant stakeholders.

of the test, which has the fewest number of applicants.

Practicality
Practicality

is

the

balancebetween

Grade
Level

No. ofApplicants

1
2
3
4
Total

10,07323,28529,9581,950
65,270

theresources the test requires for development andadministration, and the resources available (Brown, 2007).
Bachman and Palmer (1996) represent this as a balance

No. ofTesttakers
9,323
21,56527,944
1,606
60,438

No. ofPassing
Students
1,308
3,019
19,758784
24,869

Pass
Rate
13%
14%
70.7%
48%
41.1%

between required and available resources. If the required
resources exceed available resources then the test is not

Table 1

Test Attendance

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

24

The pass rate for grade one is 13%, the lowest amongst

classes, and last 60-120 minutes. Two separate classes

the grades. This analysis uses the test held on December

are held each day, covering different skill levels. The

18th, 2016. The following sections will detail the clientele,

Saturday before the test there is one long final seminaradministration, and contents of the test.

preparing for the next day’s test. Attendance at theseseminars is optional, but students are encouraged to

The test is taken by commercial high school

attend.

students in Japan, but any high school student may apply.
Henceforth, all test-takers are referred to as students.

Universities that have a relationship with theCommercial schools are a type of vocational school

high school reserve positions for students admitted

preparing students for a career in business. The

through the recommendation system. In 2017, 216 of 320

demographics of Commercial schools are different from

graduates proceeded to tertiary education, 197 of which,standard high schools, with females making up aroundor 91%, were through the recommendation system.

two-thirds of students. Commercial students also have

Similarly, businesses with a relationship with the school

historically lower rates of university entrance (Yoneyama,hire students in their final year provisionally based on their2012).

results.

The

schoolcontainsacareerguidance

department, who develop these relationships with tertiary
The test is administered twice annually, with themember schools providing facilities and staff. The test is
carried out on a Sunday, outside of school hours. The test

institutions and the business community. Of the 104
students who sought employment after graduation, 100%
found employment before graduation.

is multiple-choice and involves the students reading
questions in a question booklet, recording their answers
on a separate answer sheet. During the listening section,

Analysisaudio is played from a CD player at the front of the room,

In this section, the introduced framework is

but written questions are still found on the answer sheet.

applied to the test and the school environment. Each of

The Monday following the test answers are posted online,

the elements of usefulness is analyzed, and conclusions

and official scores are sent out to schools within two

about whether it rates high or low are made.

weeks of the test.

Reliability
The test takes 90 minutes and consists of 60

A full analysis of the test’s reliability requires

questions in 12 sections. Sections two to six are listening,

comparison of the results of multiple instances of the test

for which a CD is played, lasting 30 minutes. Listening(Bachman & Palmer, 1996). As Zenshō does not publish

questions are repeated twice, and time is given for

statistics of the tests beyond pass rates, such an analysis

students to pre-read questions. The remaining content is

is not possible. If these statistics are not available, otherwritten in the question booklet. All questions are multiple-

lesschoice, and details of question types are shown in table 6.

administration, and scoring of a test can influence its

quantifiablefactorsinthedevelopment,

reliability (Brown, 2007). Therefore, this research uses
these elements determine reliability.

The School
The concept of usefulness of a test is only validThedevelopment

of

the

test

questionswhen discussed in the context in which the test takes

influences reliability. The multiple-choice nature of the test

place (Bachman and Palmer, 1996), thus, the school isis easy to understand, and instructions for questions arealso described. The school described in this research is

written in clear and precise Japanese. Multiple-choicea large commercial high school in a metropolitan area ofquestions reduce the ability of students to answer inJapan. The school specializes in accounting andcorrect yet unpredictable ways. However, in a previous

computing courses to prepare students for careers instudy, Blaker (2017) identified instances of ambiguity inbusiness. There are 960 students and 91 teachers.

available answers. An example is question 7b from theDecember 2016 test, shown in table 2. The question is

Two to four weeks prior to each test, the school

long written passage, followed by a summary of theholds test preparation seminars. They are held after

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

25

passage with missing phrases. Students must select thecorrect phrases to complete the summary sentences.

Subjective marking has a negative effect on atest’s reliability (Haladyna, 2004), but the multiple-choicenature of the test removes the subjectivity of the marker,

Passage

Summarised
Passage
Possibleanswers…the baker put paper fortunes on
the outside of the cookies, not theinside like the fortune cookies weare used to. The reason why
Takeshi Matsuhisa, the baker, didthat was to make sure that people
did not accidentally eat the paper!
The baker put the paper fortune on
the outside of the cookie so thatpeople ( ) the paper.
1) could easily see2) could eat3) would not eat4) would not readprovidingmore efficient administration. Thus, as amultiple-choice test with an automated scoring system,
the test has positive reliability.
The only issue causing an issue with reliability
was regarding development. This was one question of 60
and was not a problem seen throughout the test. The
strong aspects of administration and scoring result in highreliability of the test.

Construct Validity
Table 2

Question 7b

Two available answers (numbers 2 and 4) areeasily discarded, but table 3 shows why the remaining
answers are both valid options. This is done by adding an
extra sentence showing the implication of each sentence.

The analysis of construct validity requires
identification of the constructs being tested (Haladyana,2004). Zenshō’s literature provides no details regarding
constructs tested. The constructs of each section of thetest were identified in a previous study (Blaker, 2017) andare shown in Table 4, along with a description of the task
the student should perform.

Completed Sentence
Option1

Option3

The baker put the
paper fortune on theoutside of the cookie
so that people could
easily see the paper
The baker put the
paper fortune on theoutside of the cookie
so that people would
not eat the paper

Implied bySentenceand so not eat it.

Section one is designated as a pronunciation
test, but as there is no practical speaking component of
the test indirect pronunciation testing is used. This indirect
method requires students to identify which one of the four

because theysaw it.

presented words is spoken with the stress on the specified
syllable. An example of this style is shown in table 5.
Indirect testing of pronunciation is not apredictor of oral pronunciation ability (Taniguchi & Tara,

Table 3

Possible Answers to Question 7b

The answer sheet indicates the correct answer
is option 3, stating ‘for each question, answers other thanthe correct one will be given 0 points’. A student thatchooses option one does not necessarily misunderstandthe question, but still receives zero points. Ambiguity inresponses has a negative impact on the test’s reliability(Hughes, 2003), thus this is an indication of low reliabilityof the test’s development.
Each school administering the test does so2005) and is an indication of weak construct validity.
Questions 9-12 are identified as reading
questions, but the nature of these questions is to test
writing skills indirectly by either selecting an appropriate
word, or ordering several different words into an
appropriate phrase. The type of format in questions 9-12
is an interlinear item set, which does not measureknowledge or ability, but only cognitive skills (Haladyna,
2004), and is an indication of weak construct validity. Fiveof the 12 sections were found to have weak constructaccording to guidelines set by Zenshō. The school
provides the room, a CD player, and a teacher to manage
the test, while Zenshō provides the test papers, a CD
containing the listening, and a script for the listening
section in case of problems with the audio. This uniformityof experience results in high reliability for the test.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

26

Section
Number1

Skill Tested

Detailed Contents

Pronunciation

2

Listening

3

Listening

4

Listening

5

Listening

6

Listening

7

Reading8

Reading9

Reading

10

Reading

11

Reading

12

Reading

Students select one of four words that has the stress on the second syllable for each of
the 5 questions.
Responses. Students listen to five situations and determine the most appropriate
responses from four possible answers.
Responses. Students listen to five spoken sentences and determine the mostappropriate response from four options.
Comprehension. Students listen to five conversations and select the most appropriate
response from four possible options.
Comprehension. Students listen to a long, spoken article and select the mostappropriate response from four possible options to complete five sentences about thearticle.
Comprehension. Students listen to a long dialogue and select the most appropriate
response from four possible options to answer to the 5 questions about the article.
Gap-fill. Students read a one-page article and must choose from 4 options for each of 5
sentences to complete a summary of the reading.
Gap-fill. Students are given six sentences and must choose five to place in a written
dialogue to complete it appropriately.
Gap-fill. Students are asked to choose between four different words in order tocomplete each of five sentences.
Gap-fill. Students read a one-page story and must choose the most appropriate wordfrom four for each of the five gaps.
Synonyms. Students are given 5 sentences and must choose from 4 different options
which is the closest in meaning for each.
Word order. Students are given five sentences where each has a four-word phrase
scrambled and must choose the correct order.
Table 4

Identification of Skills Tested

validity; thus the test is found to have weak constructknowledge of business English. If the TLU domain is one

validity.

of business English, yet business English is not required,this test is found to be inauthentic. MEXT (2003) statesthat the goal for high school students learning English is

For each of the following questions, choose thenumber of the words which have a stronger stresson the 2nd syllable:a. ○1 au-thor

the ability to communicate. Construct validity analysis
showed the skills required for this test are primarily
receptive. Communication requires both productive and2 ca-reer○
3 jus-tice○b.

receptive skills, therefore in the case of communicative
English as a TLU domain, this test is found to be4○ wel-fare
1○ back-groundinauthentic.

2○ ex-tra3○ li-cense

Authentic texts should be contextualized, and4 re-place○

not rely on single answers to static tasks (Wiggins, 2011).
Each section presents a new situation, and so does not

Table 5provide a continuous TLU domain for the students toPronunciation Question

demonstrate their skills, which results in low authenticity.
Considering the different TLU domains, the format of thetest, and uncontextualized content, this test is found toAuthenticity

have low authenticity.

Analysis
understandingofofauthenticity

thestudents’

TLU

requiresdomain.

an
InInteractivenessdetermining the TLU domain, two sources are considered:Interactiveness requires engaging more than

Zenshō, and MEXT. Zenshō states that the students who

students’ language knowledge when answering questions.

pass this test are capable of business communication. In

Two

Blaker (2017), the test was not found to requireinteractiveness: format, and student interest. Eachissues are

identified

in

the

test

achievingquestion in the test was analysed for interactiveness and

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

27

found to be one of three levels: interactive, low-

56.7% of students found the seminars to be the mostinteractiveness, and non-interactive. The results of thisuseful preparation method, so while seminars are notanalysis are found in Table 6.

compulsory there is motivation to attend.
Time spent by students preparing for the test

a

b

c

d

e

2
3
4
5

✕
△
△
△
✕

✕
△
△
△
✕

✕
△
△
△
✕

✕
△
△
△
✕

✕
△
△
△
✕

6

✕

✕

✕

✕

✕

7

✕

✕

✕

✕

✕

8

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

9

✕

✕

✕

✕

✕

10

✕

✕

✕

✕

✕

11

✕

✕

✕

✕

✕

scores are considered cultural capital with which students

12

✕

✕

✕

✕

✕

can advance in society (Shintani, 2013). English ability is

1

may have a negative effect on understanding of the TLU
domain (Bachman & Palmer, 1996). The time spent on the
preparation for each test is significant, thus a further
investigation on how this preparation is done, andtherefore what effect it has on students’ TLU is required.
Status of subject matter tested is relevant inunderstanding the test’s impact further. In Japan, English

often correlated with academic ability (Takahashi, 2000)
Table 6and is therefore heavily weighted in entrance tests

Interactiveness Analysis(Hagerman, 2010), showing the high status of English.
Table 6 shows how each of the 60 questions has
been determined, a circle indicates interactive, triangles
indicate somewhat interactive, and crosses indicate noninteractive. Interactive questions comprise 8.3%, lowinteractiveness 25%, and non-interactive 66.7% of thetotal. The majority of the questions in the test have either
low or no interactiveness, therefore the test is found tohave low interactiveness.

The higher the status, the higher the impact of a test willbe (Shohamy, 1996). Given the primary role of English inacademic measurement, it follows that the impact of thetest is high.
When looking at the uses to which the scoresare put, the most likely are in finding a job or applying toa university. With 91% of graduates at this school entering
university using the recommendation system, and 100%of job-seeking students were hired before graduation,

ImpactBoth macro and micro impacts are discussed inthis analysis, and two of Shohamy’s (1996) factors of
influence are used: the status of the subject-matter tested,

qualifications such as the one provided by this test are
valuable. The school’s systems of direct business hiring,and university recommendation are significant reasons
why students take this test, this results in a positive impact

and the use to which the test scores are put.

on the students.
Macro impacts involve the effects of the test on
the education system or the greater society. Tests can beused to determine curriculum, but the influence of theresults on the curriculum is only as good as the accuracyof the results themselves. If, as shown in the constructvalidity section, skills such as speaking and writing are
only indirectly tested, the results of the test do not give aclear picture of students’ ability. Thus, any decisions
made based on those results will be inappropriate.
Micro

impacts

involvetheeffects

The impact of the test was found to be high, andthe macro impact of the test was found to be negative.
However, despite the negative impact on the stakeholders
by the time taken to prepare for the test, the positive uses
to which the qualification is put, and the resulting positiveeffect on the students’ careers, the micro impact was
found to be positive.

Practicalityonstakeholders. Teachers are involved in the seminars
before each test is held. Each school day between two tofour weeks before each test, and at 90-120 minutes per
seminar, the twice-yearly impact on teachers is significant.

Practicality is considered throughout the testing
system and requires information about the available
resources. This analysis considers Zenshō’s available
resources; annual revenue of ¥379,270,557, and 1,404
member schools, and the resources required in carrying

The same is also true of students. Blaker (2017) showed

The 2019 PanSIG Journal28

out development, administration, marking, and restrictions

indicatingon the test due to practicality concerns.

determined impact is high on individuals involved due tolowinteractiveness.

Impactanalysistime taken and the way in which the results are used.
Development of the test is conducted byteachers at member schools; thus costs are kept low,
giving test development practicality. Administration of thetest is also carried out by member schools. The school
provides facilities for its own students, but also students
from other schools. The test day is a Sunday, meaning
there is no interruption to school activities. Zenshō
provides the testing materials, while the school provides

Weak construct validity means its impact on future
curriculum development is also questionable, however theuse of qualifications by students has a largely positive
impact. The practicality analysis showed that due toincome generated and the organizational networks
between Zenshō and the member schools, available
funds are high, and costs are kept low. Thus, practicality
was high.

rooms containing a CD player, and enough teachers to
invigilate. Teachers are paid for their work by Zenshō,This shows that elements concerned with the

however the school receives no payment for use of its

content of the test; construct validity, authenticity, andfacilities. Beyond the creation and distribution of theinteractiveness were found to be low, while elements

papers, the cost of administration of the test is very low

concerned

which gives administration of the test high practicality.

practicality were found to be high. The test is high impact,

with

the

administration;

reliability

andwith the results having significant effects on students’
The time-intensive nature of marking is an
important factor in practicality (Weigle, 2011). The test ismultiple-choice, allowing the use of an automated marking
system. This allows large numbers of tests to be marked

futures, however it suffers from low construct validity,
which means decisions made based on the results are notnecessarily reliable but result in positive effects on thestudents.

within a reasonable time, with limited expense (ibid).
Papers are collected and marked, with results returned
within two weeks. Official answers are posted online theConclusion

following week. Due to this automation, marking maintains
practicality.

A usefulness analysis must take into accounteach of the six elements, and also consider theenvironment in which the test is taken. In terms of a test

Zenshō commands considerable resources andmaintains organisational relationships with its member
schools. With the resources required to carry out
development, administration, and marking taken into
consideration, and the income generated by the grade
one test alone, it has been shown that the test haspracticality.
Therefore, development reliability was found tobe low due to unanticipated multiple possible answers, but
the reliability of administration and scoring were found tobe high. Analysis of construct validity identified constructs
used, showing that speaking and writing are tested
indirectly, resulting in low construct validity. Authenticity
analysis found that considering students’ multiple TLU
domains, authenticity was low. The multiple-choice format
did not represent real language usage, also resulting in
low authenticity. Interactiveness analysis considered theeffect of the format of both multiple-choice and wordordering questions. While some types of questions

used to measure language proficiency, the test was foundlacking. When looking at the administration of the test, it
is found to be reliable, practical, and is carried out
efficiently. However, shortcomings in construct validity,
authenticity, and interactiveness were found due to thetest not adequately testing communicative English. One
interesting aspect of the test seems to be the use to which
the qualification is put. In the environment of thiscommercial high school, both students who enter
university, and students who will enter the workplace canput the qualification to good use. As such, this test is foundto be useful. There are flaws found in this test, but due toits use the students will continue to take the test
regardless of these flaws. It is worthwhile to put effort into
improving

the

test

to

represent

genuineEnglishcommunication so that it will not only be useful to students
asaqualification,

but

also

encourage

practical

communicative English education, and as a meaningful
tool to measure the resulting language ability.

engage strategic competence, the majority do not,The 2019 PanSIG Journal

29

References
Bachman, L., & Palmer, A. (1996). Language testing inpractice. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Blaker, A. (2017). Module 6 Assignment: Testing.
Unpublished MA Applied Linguistics Assignment,

Shohamy, E., Donitsa-Schmidt, S. & Ferman, I. (1996).
Test impact revisited: Washback effect over time.
Language Testing, 13 (3), 298-317.
Takahashi, T. (2000). Eigo kyouikugaku gairon. Tokyo,
Japan: Kinseido.

University of Birmingham, UK.
Taniguchi, M., & Tara, S. (2005, July). Relation between
Brown, H. (2007). Principles of language learning anddirect tests and indirect tests on English intonation forteaching. 5th ed. New York, USA: Pearson Education.

Japanese learners. Paper presented to Phonetics
Teaching and Learning Conference, London, UK.

Hagerman, C. (2010). English language policy and

Retrieved from:practice in Japan. Journal of Osaka Jogakuin 4-year

www.researchgate.net/profile/Masaki_Taniguchi2/pu

College, 6, 47-64.

blication/242284026_Relation_between_direct_tests

Haladyna, T. (2004). Developing and validating multiplechoice test items. 3rd ed. New York, USA: Routledge.

_and_indirect_tests_on_English_intonation_for_Japa
nese_learners_nucleus_placement/links/546c95440c
f2c4819f229ae1.pdf.

Hughes, A. (2003). Testing for language teachers. 2nd ed.
New York, USA: Cambridge University Press.
Messick, S. (1998). Test validity: A matter of consequence.
Social Indicators Research, 45 (1-3), 35-44.

Taylor, L. (2005). Washback and impact. ELT Journal, 59(2), 154-155
Weigle, S. (2011). Validation of automated scores of
TOEFL iBT® tasks against nontest indicators ofwriting ability. ETS Research Report Series, 2011 (2),

MEXT (2003). The course of study for foreign languages.

1-63.

Retrieved from:Yoneyama, S. (2012). Japanese high school. Hoboken,
http://mext.go.jp/english/shotou/030301.htm [Accessed:

USA: Taylor and Francis.

18 February 2017].
Zenshō
Shintani, R. (2013). Juku as supplementary language(2017a).

About

Zenshō.

Retrievedfrom:www.zensho.or.jp/puf/aboutus/index.html.

education in Japan. Waseda Global Forum, 10, 347374.

Zenshō

(2017b).

Schoollist.

Retrievedfrom:

http://www.zensho.or.jp/pa/download/aboutus/scool_
student_list.pdf.

Author biography
Andrew Blaker comes from New Zealand and holds an MA in Applied Linguistics from The University of Birmingham, in
the UK. He taught English in high schools in Osaka for 7 years, but is now an instructor at Konan University in Hyogo.
Email a_blaker@konan-u.ac.jp

The 2019 PanSIG Journal30

4 How About You And So On: Formulaic Language
John Campbell-Larsen
Kyoto Women’s University
Speakers use a large number of multi-word chunks and formulae in the course of spoken interaction. The
ability to use formulaic language is a key indicator of fluency (McCarthy, 2010, Hasselgreen, 2004).
Second/foreign language learners may rely on a limited menu of formulae, using them in ways that are
subtly different to native speakers. This may result in sending unintended messages and pragmatic
confusion. In this paper I focus on four fixed expressions that are frequently found in the talk of Japaneselearners of English: How about you?, By the way, And so on and Let me see. I will outline their functions
in English based on corpus data and describe the ways that they are used in student talk. I suggest that amore nuanced understanding of the functions of these formulae and explicit teaching will aid learners
achieve more developed pragmatic and interactional abilities.

言語会話において、話者は自らの発話の中に多くの決り文句や形式的文言を用いる。それらの決り文句の運用能力は、流暢さを測る主要な手がかりの一つである（McCarthy, 2010, Hasselgreen, 2004）。言語学習者は限られた数の既習の決り文句を駆使し会話を行うが、それら数少ない決り文句に依存しすぎる傾向があり、またその決り文句の運用においても母語話者のそれとは異なる。そのため、発話の意図と解釈に齟齬が生じる可能性が高く、言外、特に語用論的誤解を生むことがある。本稿では、日本人学
習者の英語会話の中に頻繁に観察される「How about you?」、「By the way,」、「And so on.」、「Letme see,」の 4 つの決り文句・フレーズを取り上げる。まず、コーパスデータに基づきこれら 4 つの決り文句の語用論的機能を概略し、学習者が会話の中で実際にどのように運用しているかを例証する。さらに、これらの細かな語用論的ニュアンスの理解とそれを踏まえた教育手法が、いかに学習者のさらなる語用論的能力と相互行為方略の上達を支えるものであるか論究する。

In spoken interaction, speakers do not proceed throughprimarily used for pragmatic purposes in multi-party

their turns on a word-by-word basis. Rather, speakers use

interactions.

a large number of pre-assembled items to convey
meaning and intent to their interlocutors. These items are

Genres of formulaic utterance

referred to variously as chunks, formulae, holophrases,
and so on. These lexical formulae appear in a variety of

Perhaps the simplest instances of formulaic

forms and are used by speakers for a variety of different

language are noun plus noun collocations. These are

purposes. The ability to use these formulae naturalisticallywords that often appear together, often in fixed order andis a key indicator of spoken fluency (McCarthy, 2010,

whose

Hasselgreen, 2004) and as such these formulae must be

constituent words. Examples of this category are sucha component of any speaking course. However, within thecommonplace items as boys and girls, salt and pepper,

broad category of formulaic language, there are several

knife and fork. A more challenging category of formulaic

sub-genres which differ in various ways and present

utterances for language learners are idioms. These aredifferent challenges to language learners. I will briefly

formulae such as ‘cut him some slack’, ‘miss the boat’ oroutline some of these sub-genres below before focusing‘get bent out of shape’, whose meaning is not readily

on a small number of formulaic expressions that areaccessible from an analysis of their constituent words.

meaningisusuallytransparent

from

the

The meanings of these expressions may not be

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

31

accessible to language learners although native andAmong these are four expressions that serve a basicallyhighly proficient speakers of the language should be able

pragmatic function. These are; How about you?, And soto process the meanings metacognitively and easily

on, By the way, and, Let me see. In a survey of university

explain, for example, that ‘get bent out of shape’ means

third-year Japanese English majors (N=23) carried out bythat a person is upset and dissatisfied with a situation.

the author, all students indicated that they have been

Another category of formulaic expressions that is muchtaught these four expressions by Japanese teachers inless accessible to the intuitions of both language learners

formal, institutional settings. In the author’s view, theseand native speakers are expressions that fulfil a primarily

formulae, as used by learners, are interesting in two

pragmatic function, especially in spoken language.

respects. Firstly, in the frequency of use, and secondly, in

Expressions such as I mean, you know and the thing is

the way that they are used, which is often subtly different

are frequently occurring items in mundane spoken

from the ways that native speakers (or proficient second

discourse (See McCarthy, 2010 for corpus data on

language speakers) use them. The issue of frequency isfrequencies), but the precise function (or functions) ofhard to quantify, but the example of ‘How about you?’ willthese formulae may not be immediately accessible togive some indication of the issue.

metacognitive reasoning and they may prove problematic

In video recorded data collected by the author

to explain to learners. In fact, such words (and other(approximately 100 minutes of spontaneous student peer

single-word pragmatic tokens such as well and like) may

talk, see Campbell-Larsen 2019b for background on

be stigmatized and dismissed as mere fillers and even as

participants and data collection methodology), the formula

throwaways, exasperating expressions, pollution (cited in

How about you? was uttered 26 times. By comparison, in

Gilquin & De Cock, 2013), even though they fulfil a range

audio recording of spontaneous conversation amongof important functions. The complexity involved inthree native English speaking friends in a restaurant

explicating pragmatic language can be seen in Heritage

setting the formula did not appear at all in 55 minutes of(2015) where the pragmatic functions of the word well aredata. Not only does the expression seem over-addressed. Heritage’s literature review references 19

represented in learner talk, it also stands in comparison topapers by distinguished scholars spanning a 37-year

the absence of other pragmatic formulae. McCarthy

period.

(2010) reports that the pragmatic formulae You know andIn summary, pragmatic formulae may present specific

I mean are among the most frequent multi-word chunks indifficulties for language learners and their teachers alike.

spoken English. In the classroom data mentioned above

I suggest that for pragmatic formulae, their relative

there is zero occurrence of either of these two

inaccessibility to introspection, their multifunctional nature

expressions.

and the tendency to be stigmatized can lead to these vital

expressions and the over-reliance on a limited menu ofpieces of language being not taught, under-taught or mis-other formulae is a feature of student talk in my data.

The

lack

of

certainhigh-frequency

taught. In the following sections I investigate some of thefunctions of four expressions that are familiar to mostJapanese learners of English with the aim of achieving amore nuanced understanding of their function is spoken
discourse.

In addition to the frequency issue, the ways in which thelearners use the words is often, subtly different from theusage of native speakers. In the following sections I will
discuss issues of usage with reference to student dataand corpus.

Common Learner Formulae

How About You?

Although language learners may experience

The ability to engage in spontaneous spoken

trouble in giving expression to their thoughts and proceed
through utterances in a word-by-word fashion, evenelementary learners are usually familiar with certain
formulaic utterances and can deploy them readily in
speaking. In the case of Japanese learners of English
there are, in the author’s experience, a small number ofinteraction in a foreign or second language is more thanjust theability to

producegrammatically correctutterances. Participants in interaction must orient to theneed to achieve orderly turn taking. Sacks, Schegloff andJefferson (1974) outlined the system of turn taking that

formulaic expressions that are recurrent in learner talk.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

32

applies to mundane interactions. In outline, speakers canachieve transition by the following means:
1) The current speaker nominates the next
speaker who must then take the turn.

Nominating a next speaker in this way is not
unknown in NES interactions, but there are several points
to note in the way that students use the formula. Firstly,
as mentioned above, is seems to be overused by learners

2) If the current speaker does not nominate thecompared to NES. This suggests that other means ofnext speaker, then, when the current speaker has

bringing about turn transition may be underdeveloped.

reached a point of possible transition, any other

Secondly, the formula may be seen not so much as other-

participant may self-select and begin speaking.

nomination, but as self-deselection. That is, the speaker3) If the current speaker reaches a point ofusing the formula quickly passes the responsibility to talkcompletion and does not nominate a next speaker, and noto some other after very minimal contribution fromother participant self-selects to take a turn, then thethemselves. The formula used thus hinders progressivity

current speaker may self-select and take a further turn.

in that it prevents the prior speaker from engaging in any(Sacks, Schegloff & Jefferson, 1974, p. 704).

uptake of the answer just given. In excerpt 1 above, F’s
answer to the question about what time she got up is given

For rule 1) the means by which a current

in a minimal fashion. Her use of the formula requires M to

speaker can nominate a next speaker are varied. The

talk about his own waking time and tacitly prevents M fromcurrent speaker can use address terms, intonation, eyedelving any deeper into the contents of F’s turn. Similarly,

contact, pragmatic cues or any combination of these to

in excerpt 2, Aya’s response to the question is left at ‘I go

signal that speaker transition is relevant, and furthermore

to Aqua resort’. No further details are sought, nor can be

to signal who the next speaker should be. In the case ofsought as the talk has moved on to Chie’s upcoming plans.

student use of the formulaic expression How about you?

The formula is not present in the author’s NES

some commonalities are apparent.

data. In searching corpora for use of the formula, some1) The formula is used to bring about speaker transition.

differences can be observed in the way it is deployed.

2) It is used at the end of a turn which itself may be aFirstly, the expression is not that common. Davies (2004)

response to a question.

shows only 76 hits for the term. Secondly, the term is3) The formula is used to index that original question andpredominantly tagged as appearing in written genres (66direct the poser of that original question (or anotherout of 76 instances). Thirdly, of the spoken genre, five ofparticipant) to provide an answer. The following excerpts

the instances were of the formula used to make aof student talk are illustrative:

suggestion rather than nominate the next speaker, as in
the following example:

Excerpt 1
M: What time did you get up this morning?

Excerpt 3

F: Ehh, I got up at (.) eight thirty
M: Eight thirty?
F: I, I went to my friend’s house so, (.) it (.) Yeah.
How, how eh How about you?
M: I got up at eight, eight ten

A: You want your coat on, how about you
having a try and see if you can put yours on,
like Richard and James (pause) do you think
you can?

The website Youglish (https://youglish.com)

Excerpt 2

allows users to input a word or phrase and the searchRei: What, what are you doing in Golden week?

engine searches YouTube videos for the item(s). The

Aya: I go (.)go to Aqua Resort.

videos will appear in sequence cued to the point where

Rei: Aqua?

the phrase occurs. Using this tool, the phrase How about

Chie: Aqua resort?

you? gives a large number of hits -over 3,000. (The total

Aya: Aqua resort.

count is not conclusive as non-contiguous instances of theRei: Ah, sounds good. How about you?

words are also included.) Again, the use of the phrase in

Chie: Uhm…I…maybe I didn’t I work every day.

its suggestion function is prominent. In its ‘next speakernomination’ function several recurrent phenomena are

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

33

observable. Firstly, it is almost always used in interactions

And So On

featuring more than two speakers. Most of the instances

English is replete with a large menu of words

are from panel type events. This may be due to the naturethat are variously known as vague category markersof the data. More of these events than mundane(Evison, McCarthy and O’Keeffe, 2007) or generalconversations appear on YouTube. Clearly, in dyadic

extendersinteractions the question of who is the next speaker is a

expressions are defined by Overstreet as,(Overstreet,2014).

These

formulaic

lot more straightforward than in interactions featuring
larger numbers of participants. In these panel type events,[T]ypically optional and attach to otherwise

speaker turns are usually allocated by some person

grammatically complete utterances. They are mostly

serving as host or moderator and the formula isfound in spoken English, particularly among younger

universally deployed by these persons. The formula isspeakers, and perhaps as a consequence are virtuallyoften not a turn-end, stand-alone question, but is often

absent from older descriptive grammars of the English

combined with an address term and often with a question

language. (p. 106).

appended, as in the following examples. (H = Host)
The

most

commonlyoccurring

generalExcerpt 4. Entrepreneurs

extenders are; or something, and everything, and things

wspu (2015 13:14 – 13:21)(like that), and stuff (like that) (Biber et al cited inOverstreet 2014, p. 106). English is very productive in

H: And how about you? You’ve sold Xobni butthese expressions. Overstreet (1999, p. 4) lists 36

you now have Sincerely and Postagram

examples and notes that other, novel, coinages are

How many people are you employing?

common.
These expressions fulfil a variety of pragmatic

Excerpt 5. Innovation

functions such as list completion (Beer, wine and stuff),

RIT Production services (2013, 14:03- 14:10)

thus avoiding prolixity, and hedging (A booklet orsomething) that align with the Gricean maxims of quantity

H: Great (.) Paul how about you? what’s yourand truthfulness respectively. They also suggest sharedsocial knowledge that promotes intersubjectivity andphilosophy on innovation?

mutuality. The utterance Cameron, Brian and those guys
alludes to the listener’s shared epistemic status in

Excerpt 6. Writers

knowing who those guys are, such knowledge being

The Richmond Forum (2013, 1:04:54 – 1:04:59)

inaccessible to out-group persons. In addition, as
H: How about you Doris? uhh are, do you have

McCarthy (2010) notes, these expressions often occur atturn final position and thus signal that turn transition isa ritual as a writer?

imminent, thereby helping participants manage turnThese

examplesrevealthe

speaking

taking.
In student data, general extenders areenvironment in which the formula appears. Use ofaddress terms may occur prior to or succeeding theformula. The formula may index a previously asked
question, as is the case with student usage, or, thequestion may initiate an entirely new topic sequence.
From these data it seems to be the case that learners are
overusing the formula and using it in a bare, stand-alone

noticeable by their absence, even in places where
deployment would be optimal, as in the following:

Excerpt 7
R: What kind of job (.) what do you, will you havepart time job?
C: Uh. I want to some café (6.0)

way that often interferes with progressivity. For a fuller
discussion of this formulaic utterance see CampbellLarsen (2019a).

In this case, the inclusion of a general extender
to indicate further types of desirable jobs, such as I wantsome café or restaurant or something like that would

The 2019 PanSIG Journal34

seem apposite, but the turn ends and a prolonged pause

Japanese learners of English often suffuse their English

ensues, signaling perturbation in turn-taking. Of course,

speaking with this marker. The translation of eto as Let

absence of an item is not proof that it is unknown and nome see may not be entirely accurate. Although eto serves

strong claims can be made concerning absence andto hold the floor for the current speaker and indicate on-interactional competence (See Hall and Pekarek Doehler,line processing, let me see is often used differently by2011), but the absence of general extenders in my data is

native speakers of English. The formula has a directive

notable.

meaning of please show me. It also has a turn holder
The productivity of English in respect of generalfunction, but it often holds the turn while the speaker isextenders has been noted. This stands in contrast withsearching for some external resource such as a clock or

Japanese where informants report a reliance on a more

a timetable rather than engaging in internal cogitation andlimited menu of parallel expressions, namely nado andcalculation. Both the British National Corpus and thetoka. Students report that they have been taught that the

Youglish sites show a clear majority of the show me

English translation is and so on. This expression isfunction, with the second function being retrieval ofcomparatively rare in conversational English. In the British

external information, such as a presenter locating

National Corpus (Davies, 2004-) of the first 1,000

information on a slide during a presentation or checking a

instances of the expression only 18 are tagged as

watch to confirm timing.

appearing in the conversational genre. The majority of
instances are from meetings and other, more formal

Once again, learners report having
being specifically taught the formula in formal instruction

genres of speaking.

and, also report it being taught as a turn holder whilemental processing of the target language is taking place,equivalent to eto. Signaling to an interlocutor that the turnLet Me See

will be taken but that some time is required while internal

As speakers progress through a turn, they may

language processing takes place is probably a highly

encounter troubles in giving utterance to their thoughts.

salient feature of L2 talk. However, speakers can do this

These troubles may stem from a variety of causes, such

more or less felicitously. Extended silence, use of L2 andas memory lapses, misspeaking and the like. For

multiple restarts lie at one end (the less felicitous end) of

language learners, turn progressivity may also bea spectrum (Gardner, 2007). Rapid deployment ofcompromised by shortcomings in knowledge of the L2

discourse markers and hesitation markers such as uh andvocabulary, syntax or morphology and other issues

uhm in turn initial position lie at the other end of theconnected to emergent linguistic and interactional

spectrum. The formula let me see, given its multi-

competence. Speakers encountering such difficulties canfunctionality and its tendency to signal turn holding while

engage in various repair practices such as self-initiatedcontent is retrieved from some external source is probably

self-repair, appeals for other-repair, signals to maintain

sub-optimal in its taught function.

progress by disattending to the trouble source andstrategizing around the difficulty, and the like (Sacks,
Schegloff & Jefferson, 1977).
In my data there are no instances ofthis formula, let me see but it is discussed here because
all students reported knowing it and it appears inJapanese English language textbooks as an item thatsignals a trouble source. For example, in the textbook
One World (Matsumoto et al 2011, p. 107) the expression
is given as one translation for the Japanese marker eto.
The proposed function seems to be as a turn holder thatbuys time for the speaker while he or she engages incognitive activity to construct the turn. Eto is an extremelycommon marker in Japanese spoken interactions andBy the Way
As with the other formulae mentioned above,
students universally report having been taught thisexpression in formal instruction. The function of thisformula is generally taken to be topic disjunctive. That is,
the speaker signals that the following talk will be topicallyunrelated to the previous talk with the tacit meaning thatthe previous topic is now finished and will not be returned
to. This expression appears recurrently in my student data(six instances) compared to zero instances in 55 minutesof native speaker talk. This is perhaps indicative of the
difficulty that language learners experience in sustaining

The 2019 PanSIG Journal35

on-topic talk for extended periods. The following excerpt

However, various different formulae present differing

is illustrative.

levels of accessibility to both teachers and learners withsimple propositional two-word collocations being mostaccessible and formulae that fulfil pragmatic functions

Excerpt 8
Y: Ah no I had ah one first class was not I had

being the least accessible. This paper has focused on four

A: Good you’re lucky

formulae that are well-known to most Japanese students

Y: From second so ah I lucky and by the wayof English and are frequently deployed in learner talk.

winter vacation I was with my friend

However, the frequency of these utterances in learner talkmay differ from that of native and proficient speakers andOnce again, the formula has nuances of usage

the exact ways that language learners’ use the formulaethat differ from the simple introduction of a new topic. BNC

may be subtly different from the way native and proficient

data shows that the expression is often used to introduce

speakers use them. A more nuanced understanding ofincidental material that will not be salient in subsequent

these formulae on the part of teachers and learners canspeaking as in the following:

help to develop learners’ interactional competence andavoid pragmatic confusion. The precise ways in whichthese formulas can be taught to students will vary by

Excerpt 9
A: It's a piece of cake for you! Somebody to wait
on you! Hand and foot. And by the way, you've
got your old trousers on did you know?

context and level and teachers, once aware of thepragmatic functions of these formula, can apply amethodology that suits their own context.

B: Oh! Have I? Oh!
A: Yes you have! (pause) Have you got rid of thecod liver oil taste yet?
It is also frequently deployed subsequent torather than preceding an utterance to account for thatutterance’s seeming departure from the topic at hand as
illustrated in the following:

References
Campbell-Larsen, J. (2019a). Formulaic language: Thecase of How about you? English and American
Studies. Journal of the Graduate School, Kyoto
Women’s University. No. 18. (pp. 1- 28).
Campbell-Larsen, J. (2019b). From needs analysis toemergent pragmatic competence: A longitudinal

Excerpt 10
A: …lying on the beach at midnight going tosleep in your sleeping bag, with a bottle ofthat and your goat’s cheese
B: We're going away in October by the way
A: Are we? Where we going to?

micro-analytic survey of learner talk in Japanese EFL
university classes. In L.U. Takeda & M. Okuguri (Eds.),
A pragmatic approach to English language teachingand production (pp. 169-197). Tokyo: Kazama Shobo.
Davies, Mark. (2004-) BYU-BNC. (Based on the British
National Corpus from Oxford University Press).

It seems that in native-speaker talk this formula

Available online at https://corpus.byu.edu/bnc/.

broadly signals topic disjuncture but this disjuncture canbe either final or merely temporary and the formula can be

Evison, J., McCarthy, M., & O’Keeffe, A. (2007). ‘Looking

placed either prior to or subsequent to any disjunctive

out for love and all the rest of it’: Vague categoryutterance. This is in contrast to learner use which is only

markers as shared social space. In J. Cutting (Ed.),

to use the formula to signal upcoming and complete topic

Vague language explored (pp. 138-157). London,

disjuncture and to signal that previous talk has been

U.K.: Palgrave Macmillan.

completed and should be seen as closed.

Gardner, R. (2007). ‘Broken’ Starts: Bricolage in Turn
Starts in Second Language Talk. In Z. Hua, P.

Conclusion
Formulaic utterances are a highly salient featureof spoken interactions and key indicators of fluency.

Seedhouse, V. Cook, & L.Wei (Eds.), Language
learning and teaching as social interaction (pp. 58-71).
London, U.K.: Palgrave Macmillan.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

36

Gilquin, G., & De Cock, S. (Eds.), (2013). Errors anddisfluencies

inspokencorpora.

Amsterdam,

Netherlands: John Benjamins.

Retrieved from:https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=844&v=vj8ZrdU1HaI

Hall, J. K., & Pekarek Doehler, S. (2011). L2 Interactional
competence and development. In J. K. Hall, J.
Hellermann, & S. Pekarek Doehler (Eds.), L2
interactional competence and development (pp. 1-15).
Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A., & Jefferson, G. (1974). A
simplest systematics for the organization of turntaking for conversation. Language, 50(4), 1-15.
Retrieved from:https://pure.mpg.de/rest/items/item_2376846_3/com

Hasselgreen, A. (2005). Testing the spoken English of

ponent/file_2376845/content

young Norwegians: A study of testing validity and therole of smallwords in contributing to pupils' fluency.

Schegloff, E. A., Jefferson, G., & Sacks, H. (1977). The
preference for self-correction in the organization of

Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.

repair in conversation. Language, 53(2), 361-382.
Heritage, J. (2015). Well-prefaced turns in English

Retrieved from:conversation: A conversation analytic perspective.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Emanuel_Scheg

Journalloff/publication/230876456_The_Preference_for_Selfof

Pragmatics,

88,

88-

104.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2015.08.008

Correction_in_the_Organization_of_Repair_in_Conv
ersation/links/00463521435c0553b2000000/The-

Matsumoto, S. One world English course 2. (2011). Tokyo,
Japan: Kyoiku Shuppan

Preference-for-Self-Correction-in-the-Organizationof-Repair-in-Conversation.pdf

McCarthy, M. (2010). Spoken fluency revisited. English
ProfileJournal,1(01),

1-15.

https://doi.org/10.1017/S2041536210000012[The Richmond Forum]. (2013, January 24). Steven
Spielberg, Doris Kearns Goodwin & Tony Kushner
Discuss "Lincoln" at The Richmond Forum [Video File].

Overstreet, M. (1999). Whales, candlelight, and stuff like

Retrieved from:

that: General extenders in English discourse. Oxford,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=389

U.K: Oxford University Press.

9&v=Ag9PGQez_Pg

Overstreet, M. (2014). The role of pragmatic function in[wpsu]. (2015, April 22). Higher Education in Focus:

the grammaticalization of English general extenders.

Student Entrepreneurship, Part 3 [Video File].

Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International

Retrieved from:

Pragmatics Association (IPrA), 24(1), 105-129.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=799[RIT Production Services]. (2013, May 29). 2013 RIT&v=Y5UFt8YXo-E

Innovation Hall of Fame Panel Discussion [Video File].

Author biography
John Campbell-Larsen is from the United Kingdom and teaches in the Department of English Studies at Kyoto Women’s
University, Japan. He received his M.A. in TESOL from Birmingham University and his research interests include
Conversation Analysis, pragmatics and teaching spoken English. Email joncamlar@hotmail.com

The 2019 PanSIG Journal37

5 Scaffolding for Success in IELTS Speaking
Nick Di Cicco
Kwansei Gakuin University

Kent David Jones
Kwansei Gakuin University
Japanese students score well below the global average in the IELTS test (IELTS, 2012) especially in the
speaking and writing sections (Allen, 2017). This is likely due to the disproportionate amount of time spent
in secondary school preparing for university entrance exams that mainly focus on receptive skills(Watanabe, 2004). The rote memorization of grammar rules and mechanical ability to react to grammar,
reading, and listening questions required to succeed on these exams does not prepare students for the
IELTS test, which requires them to give immediate answers to both concrete and abstract questions andspeak with little hesitation for one to two minutes about a random topic for which they have only one minuteto prepare. Based on the theory of instructional scaffolding (Beed et al, 1991), this paper will focus on
methods to help Japanese students overcome their lack of experience with spontaneous production by
first presenting them with concrete and easily attainable tasks and gradually increasing the difficulty oftasks in terms of the level of abstraction, fluency, and accuracy required. Methods for giving students
formative feedback for their performance at each stage of task difficulty will also be discussed (Crooks,
2001).

日本人学生は、IELTS テスト（IELTS、2012 年）、特にスピーキングおよびライティングセクション（Allen、2017 年）で世界平均を大きく下回っています。これは、主に受容スキルに焦点を当てた大学
入試の準備に中等学校で費やされた不均衡な時間によるものと思われます（Watanabe、2004）。これらの試験で成功するために必要な文法規則と文法、読解、リスニングの質問に反応する機械的な能力を暗記することは、学生が IELTS テストの準備ができていないため、具体的な質問と抽象的な質問の両方にすぐに答えて話す必要があります準備が 1 分しかないランダムなトピックについては、1〜2 分間少し
ためらっています。教育的足場の理論（Beed et al、1991）に基づいて、このプレゼンテーションでは、具体的かつ容易に達成可能な課題を最初に提示し、課題の難易度を徐々に高めることにより、日本人学
生が自発的生産の経験不足を克服するのに役立つ方法に焦点を当てます抽象化のレベル、流さ、および必要な精度の点で。タスクの難易度の各段階でのパフォーマンスに対して生徒に形成的なフィードバッ
クを与える方法についても説明します（Crooks、2001）。

The International English Language Testing

continued to struggle with IELTS and score well below the

System (IELTS) measures the language proficiency of

globalpeople who wish to study or work where English is thecomponents of the exam. In an attempt to mitigate this,main language of communication and is accepted as

our paper demonstrates how instructional scaffolding canevidenceover

help to improve spontaneous speaking by implementing

10,000 educational institutes and training providers

critical thinking to answer abstract questions, which isworldwide.

ofEnglishJapanese

test

proficiency

takers,byhowever,

average,particularly

with

the

productive

have

The 2019 PanSIG Journal38

essential for achieving success on the IELTS speaking

skills, such as listening tasks made up of short and long

test.

dialogues. There are no writing or speaking tasks on thetest (Watanabe, 2004). The 2013 University of Tokyo
exam included reading, grammar, listening, and writing

Lagging IELTS Production Scores in
Japan
IELTS

2012

globalstatistics

show

sections. However, just as the NCUEE, there were no
speaking tasks on the exam, hence, none of the students

thatwere required to perform speaking tasks in any of theJapanese L1 test takers scored below the global average.

entrance exams. In a series of questionnaires, Allen

The results show that they scored particularly low on the(2017) discovered that, out of the four skills, the 204

speaking and writing sections of the test, with speaking

students answered that reading was most focused on inhaving the widest marginal difference from the global

both high school and cram school, while speaking was theaverage.

least focused on. This could be a major reason why thesestudents scored poorly on the speaking section of theTable 1

IELTS exam. Therefore, much more attention should be

Average of IELTS 2012 Japanese L1 Test Takers vsof Japanese students.

Overall IELTS 2012 Average (Allen, 2017)
IELTS 2012

IELTS 2012 Japanese

Average

L1 Average

Overall

5.9

5.8

Reading

6.0

5.9

Listening

6.0

6.0

Writing

5.5

Speaking

5.9

These

low

IELTS

given to the development of fundamental speaking skills

Table 2Average of Participants in Allen (2017) vs Overall IELTS
2012 average
204 University of Tokyo

IELTS

Students - Initial Test

Average

Overall

6.2

5.9

5.3

Reading

7.2

6.0

5.6

Listening

6.6

6.0

Writing

5.5

5.5

Speaking

5.4

5.9

scoreshave

beendemonstrated even at one of Japan’s most prestigious
universities. Allen (2017) examined the IELTS results of2012

204 students from University of Tokyo, who completed thetest in their first year of study, and again within thefollowing academic year of 2014. The results of thestudents’ initial test show that they also had a large

Literature Review: Scaffolding

discrepancy between their productive and receptive skills

The term scaffolding was used by Wood, Bruner,and scored even lower on the speaking than the national

Ross (1976) to describe a mode of learning designed toaverage.

bridge the gap between a learner’s current ability and theirpotential ability. In the early stages of language-learning,
languageelements of tasks may require a level of skill that isrequirements for entering University of Tokyo, it becomesbeyond the learner, thus scaffolding provides the help that

evident why these students struggled on the speaking

makes task

section of the IELTS. The National Center for University

progresses, the scaffolding is removed until they are

Entrance Examinations (NCUEE) is a syllabus-based testcompletely autonomous. (Wood 1976).

When

examining

theEnglishcompletion

possible. As thelearnerbased on the national school curriculum. The test focuseson vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and receptive

There are three important features of instructional
scaffolding that facilitate learning. Firstly, it requires

The 2019 PanSIG Journal39

interaction between a learner and an expert. Secondly,

average present level of attainment on the test (Allen,

learning should take place within the learner's zone of2017) and 6 is a common goal for students that wish toproximal development, meaning that the expert needs tojoin study abroad programs.

be aware of the learner's current level of knowledge andprovide help to complete tasks that are slightly beyond
that level. Finally, the help provided by the expert isgradually removed when the learner becomes moreThe

materials were

designedfor asecond-year

communications class at a large Japanese university.
Although the university had no official requirements forstudents to take the IELTS test, the rationale for using the

proficient. (Beed, Hawkins, & Roller 1991).

test criteria as a basis for course design and assessment
The zone of proximal development is an essential element

is that the test’s structure moves students along aof instructional scaffolding. The term zone of proximal

continuum from basic to more complex tasks. For

development was first proposed by psychologist Lev

example, the first task represents a baseline level of

Vygotsky, who defined it as the distance between theattainment that can be expected of candidate: they are

actual developmental level as determined by independent

able to give short responses to simple interview questions

problem solving and the level of potential development as

about personal topics. In the second task, they are given

determined through problem solving under adult guidance,

one minute to compose a short speech about a personalor in collaboration with more capable peers (Vygotsky,

topic, which also allows them a chance to demonstrate1978). In other words, it is the distance between what atheir ability to more abstract elements of the topic. Finally,learner can do without support, and what they can do within the final task of the test, students are expected tothe support from a more knowledgeable teacher or peer.

express opinions based on more abstract aspects of a

The zone of proximal development should be at a point

topic. They are also not given any time to prepare, andbeyond what a learner can already learn independently. It

have to respond to the interviewer’s questions as quickly

is at a point when a learner needs support from someone

as they can.

more knowledgeable, but not too far beyond what thelearner is capable of doing. Unlike Piaget, who believedthat children developed in a spontaneous process that is
initiated and completed by the children, stemming fromtheir own efforts, Vygotsky believed that children would
not advance very far if they were left to discover
everything on their own (Crane, 2010). He thought that wecannot simply look at what students can do on their own,
but instead we must examine what students are capableof doing in a social setting. Students are most often able
to complete a task in a group or with assistance before
they are able to complete it on their own. and thus,
Vygotsky believed that a teacher’s job is to move a child’s
mind forward step-by-step, and they must determine
which students are ready for which lessons (Crane, 2010).

Based on these tasks, an IELTS speaking task scaffolding
matrix was developed (see figure 1). At the 0 point of thematrix is what (false) beginner level students are capableof doing on their own, such as answering simple questions
about everyday topics in non-sentential utterances. For
example, they may be asked “What food do you like?”, forwhich an acceptable response could be “Sushi”. The X
axis is related to the students’ level of performance and isrelated to bands of the IELTS test and the three tasks on
the test which increase in difficulty as the test progresses,with simple interview questions at the bottom and debate
at the top. The Y axis is related to the topics on the test
and moves from very basic, concrete, and familiar topics,
such as place of living, food, and hobbies, and moves toless familiar, controversial, and abstract topics. For
example, if the topic is food, students may be asked to

Methods and Material Design

express their opinions about genetically modified food andwhether they feel it is safe.

a) Design principles
Based

on

the

principles

of

instructional

scaffolding and the IELTS band 5 and 6 descriptors, amatrix for developing students’ ability to improve theircommunications skills was created. The reason thatbands 5 and 6 were chosen is that 5 represents the

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

40

Vocabulary Translation - Translate the following words
into English

Figure 1 - IELTS Speaking Scaffolding Matrix

1.栄養

3.炭水化物

5. 糖分

2.たんぱく質

4. 脂肪

6. 塩分

Figure 3 - Translation activity (sample)
After completing the vocabulary work, students wereb) Materials
Materials for this project were developed along
this matrix and were related to a unit in the textbook
Contemporary Topics about Genetically modified food.
Lessons were designed for each of the four main stages
along the matrix. First students were asked to complete
simple interview questions about food. These were meant
to get students talking about simple aspects of the topic

given three minutes to prepare a two-minute speech
about a food that they had eaten recently and use thevocabulary to describe its taste, texture, and nutritional
content. Students were then given another speaking task
in which they were asked to describe how to make a dishin which they were given two minutes to prepare, andfinally a third speaking task in which they had just one
minute to prepare a two minute talk about a dish they had(See figure 2).

prepared recently, how to make it, and its taste, texture,
Warm up interview

How often do you go toquestionsrestaurants?

and nutritional value. By reducing the preparation timeand increasing the amount of content expected within thesame amount of speaking time, students were expected

Talk with a partner

What examples can you

about these questions:

think of healthy food?

to increase their fluency (Lowe, 2015).
Throughout

theseactivities,

students

were

given

What is your favorite

What examples can you

formative feedback, which is defined as an ongoingfood?

think of unhealthy food?

assessment process designed to improve student
attainment (Crooks, 2001). Thus, students were madeWhy do you like it?

increasingly aware of teacher expectations in terms of
their delivery, such as clarity of speech, eye contact, andFigure 2 - Interview questions (sample)

posture, and expectations in content. At first, students
were allowed to look at notes when they gave their

Next students were given more technical vocabulary inJapanese about the topic and asked to translate it into
English (See figure 3). This has been recognized as aneffective way to facilitate vocabulary acquisition by
activating prior knowledge (Kanbe, 2015; Mulia, 2015).

speeches and the content expected of them was mostly
descriptive in nature. However, when they wereintroduced to the next section of the course, the debate,
the expectations related to both delivery and content
became more difficult.

After the translation activities were completed, students
were then asked to fill in the gaps in a series of English

Students were separated into groups of three and allowed

sentences using the vocabulary they learned. Later partsto choose from a list of possible debate topics (Seeof the task increased in difficulty by asking students toAppendix). As outlined in the scaffolding matrix, theprovide the correct form of the word. In this way, students

phases of the debate became increasingly demanding of

moved from understanding the meaning of the word in

the students’ English skills as the debate progressed. The

their native language to recognising the correct use of thefirst part of the debate was the resolution. This required

word in their native language.

the students to research their topic and find three reasons
to support their position and use relevant evidence tosupport their position. Each student was expected to giveThe 2019 PanSIG Journal41

a reason to support the group’s overall thesis. They were

The final debate received a summative assessment. Eachalso given a list of useful phrases for stating resolution.

student was given a separate grade based on the qualityof their delivery and content in their part of the resolution,

The next section of the debate was the cross-examination.
This was by far the most difficult part of the debate as it
requires skills, such as critical thinking and the ability torespond in a discussion spontaneously, that it has been
observed that Japanese students in particular struggle
with (Allen, 2017). To familiarize students with this, they
were asked to listen to two resolutions, each with various
flaws in supporting evidence and logic, think of crossthe quality of questions and their ability to answer
questions, as well as their ability to deliver a part of theconclusion. All in all, the project was meant to gauge
students’ ability to engage with more abstract content, use
critical thinking to formulate thoughtful questions, and beable to respond to questions asked to them effectively. All
skills that are required to receive a band 6 score in the
IELTS speaking test.

examination questions, and write them down. They werealso supplied with question forms to use (Figure 4). While
the for and against groups listened to each other’s

Survey, Results, and Discussion

resolutions, they had to think about cross-examinationquestions. They did the debate three times. The first twoa) Participants

times were practice debates and they were given three

The participants in the study were all second-

minutes conferral time before the cross-examination.

year students in the Science and Technology department

During this time they could consult with each to formulate

of a large Japanese university. The students were taught

the questions. The third debate was the final debate,which

the material explained above in a total of seven 90-minutesessions. After the study was concluded, they were asked
to complete a survey. The total number of respondents

Cross-examination questions

was 114. The participants were divided into five classes,
according to their majors. Of the five classes, four wereconsidered to be the most advanced students in their

Repeat the other groups’ supporting point-You say (other group’s supporting point). However,
Ask for references

major based on their scores on the GTech proficiency test.
The class that did not receive the high scores on the test
was used to pilot the survey, the rationale being that thisgroup would be the most likely to have difficulty
understanding the questions. These students did not-What is your source? -Do you have a reference

report any major problems with the survey items. The

for…? -Where did you get this information?

survey results for this group, which was 25 students intotal, were not included in the data reported in the results

Ask for more data
-Can you give some exact numbers support this?

section of this paper because they were not considered to
be of the same proficiency level as the other students.
Also, there were three students who requested not to

Ask for clarification

have their answers included in the data.

-Please explain what you mean by…-You say… Whatb) Survey

do you mean? -Can you elaborate on...

Upon completion of the debates, students were
given a 10-item survey. Of the survey items, seven

Figure 4 - Cross-examination questions

questions asked them about the extent to which they wereasked the extent to which they felt they could do thevarious activities on a 5-point Likert scale. There was also

did not include conferral time and they had to perform thea multiple- choice question in which they were asked how

debate in front of the rest of the class. Their classmatesoften they used English during class time (see Appendix

listened and, after the debate was over, voted on which

for full survey).

side won the debate.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

42

Survey Results

Table 3Overall students were fairly positive about theiruse of English in class. As shown in Figure 5, the majority

Questions about Student Belief in Their Abilityof students felt that they either used English most of thetime (36%) or sometimes (36%). A smaller, but still

Survey Items

Mean

Standard
deviation

significant, number of students (16.3%) believed that theyused English 100 percent of the time. The number ofstudents who felt that they rarely or never used English

Simple interview questions help

was comparatively small.

me to think about the topic.

Translating

words

from

3.68

1.23

3.87

1.16

3.59

1.06

3.52

1.11

3.64

0.95

3.64

0.96

3.49

1.01

Japanese to English helps melearn new vocabulary.

Filling in the missing word in
English sentences helps me
understand how to use thevocabulary I translated.

I can use the vocabulary I
Figure 5 - Student self-reports about the amount oflearned to make a short, simple

English used in class

two-minute speech.

In terms of student responses to the questions about theirability, there was a tendency to lean towards the middleof the Likert scale. As shown in Table 2, students felt thattranslation was very useful for learning new vocabulary.
However, were less sure of the helpfulness of filling in
missing words to understand how to use the vocabulary

I can make a resolution about
one side of an argument andsupport it with references (forexample, "Vegetarianism is anunhealthy lifestyle.")they translated in complete English sentences. They wereeven slightly less confident about their ability to use that

I can listen to another person's

vocabulary in a short speech.

resolution and make a question
about it.

Regarding interaction, students seemed confident that
simple interview questions helped them to think about
their topic. They also felt reasonably confident in theirability to construct a resolution about a certain side of adebate. Moreover, they were equally confident that they

I can listen to another person'squestion about my resolution andanswer it.

could listen to another person’s resolution and make aquestion about it. Where they showed much lessconfidence, however, was in their ability to answer
questions about their own resolution. This supports theobservation that Japanese students find responding toquestions much more difficult than constructing speechesor questions.

Discussion
Scaffolding was used in all of the speaking tasks
as students were guided in their preparation and given an
ample amount of time to prepare for their answers. The
scaffolding was gradually removed so that the learner

The 2019 PanSIG Journal43

could become more autonomous, which is consistent witha student’s ability to answer abstract conversation

the theory of instructional scaffolding (Beed, Hawkins, &questions in preparation for the IELTS speaking test. The

Roller, 1991). In the speaking questions about food,lower confidence is perhaps to be expected until thestudents were initially given three minutes to prepare theirstudents have more time to improve.

answers. This time limit was reduced to two and finally
one-minute preparation to in order to give a two-minuteanswer, which is consistent with Part 2 of the IELTS

Limitations and Considerations for Further
Development
A limitation in this study was that there was no

speaking test. Moreover, the speaking matrix was meant
to gauge students’ ability, in order to find their zone ofproximal development, and slowly increase the topics tomore abstract content. The students were guided in orderto have them develop their critical thinking, formulate
thoughtful answers, and be able to respond to questions
effectively, all of which is required to achieve a band 5 or

pre survey and post survey given to the students. Bothcould have allowed a comparison of the students’ level ofconfidence before and after using these materials.
Moreover, the program did not allow enough classes to
run these comparisons. If this study could have continued
over a two-year period, there would have been sufficient
time to observe their improvement, as well as theirhigher in IELTS.

confidence from a pre-to-post survey comparison. There
As mentioned, the survey shows that the students

was a time constraint due to the length of the program,seemed confident that simple interview questions helped

and so this comparison could not have been done

them to think about their topic. They also felt confident

effectively. Furthermore, the number of lessons that thewith their ability to construct a resolution on a side of a

students received were spaced out fairly far apart.

debate. Their confidence also came with their ability to

Perhaps if they had received more instruction and withlisten to another person’s resolution and make a question

less time lag in between sessions, they could haveabout it. All in all, the survey showed that with the

improved more.

speaking matrix and debates, students felt confident with
their ability to listen, plan and construct. The responsewith the highest mean of 3.87 was given to “Translating

Conclusion

words from Japanese to English helps me learn new

Japanese students score below the global

vocabulary.” This might be because students were in their

IELTS average due to their lagging productive skills,

comfort zone when they were scaffolded the most, as they

particularly with speaking. This has been attributed to their

could use their first language in order to grasp the

pre-tertiary education, which gives few chances for
productive skill development. Japanese students are notmeaning of English vocabulary.

required to do English speaking tests on the national
The lack of confidence lies in their ability to answer

university entrance exam, and therefore pre-tertiary

questions about their own resolution. The mean was 3.49

education is geared to the development of receptive

which was the lowest of the survey to the statement, “I canskills.

listen to another person's question about my resolution
and answer it.” This can be because students were not
given

prep

time

and

were

expectedtoanswerspontaneous. This can be attributed to the washback of
their pre-tertiary education, in which there is a strong lackof productive skills practice. However, the scaffolded
speaking activities were limited to 90-minute classes in ashort period of time, and so more practice would beThis study offers

techniques of scaffolding IELTS

speaking questions, and IELTS-type questions that canhelp Japanese test takers prepare for the speaking
section of the IELTS exam. Based on the super global
university incentive promoted by MEXT (Japanese
Ministry of Education), there is a big push to get more
students studying abroad. However, many students arenecessary to eventually bring more confidence in their

not able to qualify for the study abroad program because

ability to respond, especially to spontaneous questions

they cannot meet the minimum IELTS score requirement.

with little or no time to prepare. The goal of the scaffolded

Our methodology can help Japanese with spontaneous

student’s

speaking and critical thinking skills, which is a requirement

spontaneous speaking skills and bring more autonomy toto achieve the minimum band 6 in order to study abroad.

speaking

exercises

istoincreasea

The 2019 PanSIG Journal44

It is clear that Japanese English learners need to improve

IELTS(2019)

Test

Statistics.

Retrieved

fromtheir speaking ability in IELTS, and in general, to remain

https://www.ielts.org/teaching-and-research/test-competitive in a globalized world.

statistics
Kambe, Y. (2015) No vocabulary, no discussions. New

References

Directions

Allen, D. (2017) Investigating Japanese undergraduates'

Discussion. Rikkyo University.

inTeaching

andLearning

EnglishEnglish language proficiency with IELTS: Predicting
factors and washback. IELTS Partnership Research
Papers 2. IELTS Partners: British Council, Cambridge
English Language Assessment and IDP: IELTS
Australia.

Retrievedfromhttps://www.ielts.org/teaching-and-Independence.

The

Reading

Teacher. 44 (9). 648-655.

Low-Proficiency

Learners.

RikkyoUniversity.
Mulia, D. (2015) The use of first language scaffolding toIndonesia. SHS Web Conferences, 16.
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Thought and Language. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press.

Crane, W. (2010). Theories of development: Concepts
and applications, 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall.

Watanabe, Y (2004) Teacher factors mediating washback.
Context and method in washback research: theinfluence of language testing on teaching and learning.

Crooks, T. (September 2001) The validity of formal
assessments.

withchildren during dramatic play in West Sumatera,

Beed, P., Hawkins, M. & Roller, C. (May,1991) Moving
TowardActivity

teach English as a foreign language to pre-school

research/research-reports.

Learners

Lowe, R. (2015) Generating Content in a 3/2/1 Fluency

Paperpresented

totheBritish Educational Research Association Annual
Conference, University of Leeds, 13-15.

Hilsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. 129–146.
Wood, D. Bruner, J. & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoringin problem solving. Journal of Child Psychology andChild Psychiatry, 17, 89-100.

Author biography
Nick Di Cicco is a lecturer at the School of Policy Studies at Kwansei Gakuin University, Sanda, Japan. He has taught
IELTS and TOEFL in Toronto, Canada as well as EFL in universities in Japan. <nickdicicco7@gmail.com>
Kent David Jones is a lecturer at the School of Science and Technology at Kwansei Gakuin University, Sanda, Japan.
He has taught ESL at universities and colleges in Canada as well as EFL in universities in Japan. His curriculum
development and research work are largely related to writing, particularly feedback. <kentjones@kwansei.ac.jp>

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

45

Appendix

Debate Topics

Should university students use smartphones/tablets in theirclasses?

Are smartphones helpful/harmful to young people?
Should the government subsidize artists/art?

Should Japan allow more foreign workers?
Should university students have a part-time job?
Should university tuition be free?
Should the government subsidize artists/art?

Should university students use smartphones/tablets intheir classes?

Should children (be required to) learn about art in school?

Should Japan allow more foreign workers?

Should companies (be required to) provide daycare for theiremployees?

The 2019 PanSIG Journal46

6 A Small-Scale Investigation into the Efficacy of Pronunciation
Instruction at a Japanese College
Stephen Clarke
Nagoya College

Lauren Landsberry
Nagoya College
Much past research into the effectiveness of pronunciation instruction has limited relevance to pedagogy
because it measures accent rather than comprehensibility or intelligibility (Derwing & Munro, 2015). Moreresearch is necessary to investigate the effectiveness of classroom instruction. The authors conducted apilot study measuring comprehensibility and the nativelikeness of two discrete pronunciation featuresusing a novel data analysis procedure that is less burdensome than standard procedures. Seven subjects
received seven hours explicit pronunciation instruction over 15 weeks based on materials in the
pronunciation textbook “Clear Speech” (Gilbert, 2012). Eight raters were sent short excerpts from pre- andpost-test recordings via SNS and rated their relative comprehensibility. One of the authors also
subjectively rated the nativelikeness of the rhythm and the /θ/ and /ð/ sounds. Only one subject showedsome improvement in comprehensibility, three showed some improvement in rhythm and there was almost
no effect on pronunciation of /θ/ and /ð/. More research is needed to show that explicit pronunciation
instruction is a worthwhile use of class time.

発音指導の有益性に関する過去の研究の多くは理解性を検証しないため教授法への関連性を限定してきた(Derwing & Munro, 2015)。著者らはデータ分析のため新しい過程を使用して音声サンプルを検証する
パイロットスタディを実施した。７名の被験者が発音のテキスト “Clear Speech”（Gilbert, 2012 年）の教材に基づき１５週間にわたっておよそ７時間の明示的な発音指導を受けた。８名からなる評価グループに指導前と指導後の被検者の声を録音したものから一部取り出したものを SNS により送り、相対的な理解度について評価した。本研究の著者の一人は同時にリズムや th の音についても主観的に評価した。理解性については唯一１名の被検者に改善が見られ、３名の被検者にリズムの変化が見られたが、th の音についはほぼ全く効果は見られなかった。さらなる研究が明示的な発音指導が授業時に有益であることを証明するには必要である。

Few

would

deny

that

acquiringgood2012). L2 Pronunciation resource books such as Derwing

pronunciation is an important part of learning a second& Munro (2015), Grant (2014) and Szpyra-Kozlowska

language. It is also true, however, that teachers tend to(2014) confidently state that teachers can expect to see

regard pronunciation as difficult to teach and their

good results if their instruction is properly designed andinstruction usually has unsatisfactory results (Szpyra-

implemented. Against this backdrop, the authors reflected

Kozlowska, 2014). Although there was a period during theon their own disappointing classroom experiences. We

1980s when explicit pronunciation instruction was avoided

were not confident that our pronunciation teaching had

as a waste of time (Derwing & Munro 2015), many

brought about a positive effect and decided to investigate

influential figures in the L2 teaching field now see it as a

its efficacy.

necessary part of the curriculum (e. Harmer 2015, Ur

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

47

Discrete pronunciation features are frequently

Literature Review
Successful, pronunciation teaching should lead

divided into segmental features, (individual vowel andto improvement that is both long-term and evident inconsonantsounds)andsuprasegmental

featuresspontaneous speech, not only in the controlled speech(prosodic features including intonation, tone, stress andtypical of pronunciation activities. Three recent studies

rhythm). Saito (2015) argues that since most studies

have attempted to synthetize past research data on theexamining the instruction of suprasegmentals have been

efficacy of explicit L2 pronunciation instruction. Saito

conducted in ESL contexts, we also need to investigate(2012) found evidence for significant improvement

the effects in EFL contexts, in which learners typicallyresulting from instruction in 13 out of 15 published studies.

receive less L2 input. Some students which have beenThomson and Derwing (2015) examined 75 publishedconducted on Japanese learners include Saito and Saito

articles and observed that 82% of them reported(2016), who found significantly greater gains for ansignificant improvement. In a meta-analysis of 86

experimental group in overall comprehensibility, word

published studies, Lee et al. (2014) calculated an average

stress, rhythm and intonation than a control group. Also,

effect size for instructional interventions of 0.89,

Saito (2016) found that university student subjects

representing medium to large effects. These findings

showed significant improvement in rhythm in an

appear positive, but we need to be cautious when

immediate post-test. However, neither of these studies

interpreting them. Lee et al. (2014) acknowledge a bias

included a delayed post-test and there was notowards statistically significant results in their selection ofassessment of spontaneous speech.

published studies. Saito (2012) did not report how manyof the studies included a delayed post-test, so we do notknow how durable the gains were; it is possible they
disappeared after a few weeks. Authors of only two of the
15 studies in Saito (2012) claimed to have analyzed
spontaneous speech. Krashen (2013) questioned theseclaims and argued that the effects of direct pronunciation

Clearly, more empirical studies are required, butmany researchers prefer to present pedagogical ideas in
the literature without providing empirical data to back up
their claims. As an illustration, since 2008 there have been
11 papers published in the JALT Conference Proceedings
on pronunciation, but only three of them included
empirical evaluation of learner speech, none measured

instruction are only evident during monitored speech.

comprehensibility and none used an outside group of
andraters for data analysis. One reason for this lack ofintelligibility, two of the key terms in the field, provides

empirical research may be the perceived difficulty ofimportant insights. Derwing and Munro (2015) define

conducting a pronunciation study. Speech samples must

comprehensibility as the “ease or difficulty a listenerbe carefully elicited, edited and then randomized, andexperiencesanddata analysis should be performed by a group of outside

intelligibility as “the degree of match between a speaker’s

raters in a controlled environment, leading to issues ofintended message and the listener’s comprehension” (p.

how to compensate the raters for their time. In addition,

5).

both

the acoustic analysis of discrete pronunciation featurescomprehensibility and intelligibility is complex (Derwing &requires use of specialist software such as Praat, for

Munro 2015, Grant, 2014) so it is possible, for example,

which most teachers are not trained. Therefore, thefor comprehensibility to increase with no significant

standard procedure followed in published papers may

reduction in accent (Saito, 2011). As a result, Derwing andappear dauntingly labour-intensive, time-consuming andMunro (2015) conclude that “a considerable body of thelogistically challenging to many potential researchers.

Research

The

in

into

comprehensibility

understanding

relationshipbetweenspeech”

accent(p.5)

andresearch literature on L2 speech has, at most, limited
value for the classroom because it focuses on accent” (p.
50). Thomson and Derwing (2015) echo this criticism,arguing that since the relationship between discrete
pronunciation features and overall comprehensibility and

The Current Study
This research was conceived as a small-scale
pilot study. The main aim was to discover whether

intelligibility is unknown, many past studies “lackevidence could be obtained of long-term improvement inecological validity” (p. 333).

pronunciation due to instruction. A secondary goal was to

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

48

find out if data collection and analysis could be achieved

RQ3. Does explicit pronunciation instruction make themore easily than in standard practice.

subjects’ pronunciation of the /θ/ and /ð/ sounds more
native-like?

The authors agree with Derwing and Munro(2015) that the main focus of pronunciation instruction

Research Methods

should be improving intelligibility and comprehensibility,
therefore we incorporated a rating of comprehensibility
into the research design. Since we chose raters who

Subjects

raters were accustomed to listening to Japanese learners

The subjects were seven first-year Englishof English, we did not expect useful results from anmajors at a Japanese junior college who took the same

analysis of intelligibility.

weekly speaking class. This class was taught by one of
the authors and was part of a general English program of

The comprehensibility rating was expected to

5 classes per week. The subjects did not receive

bring useful results for classroom practice, but it would notpronunciation instruction in any other class during theshed any light on the effect of instruction on discrete

research period. Their TOEIC scores ranged between 300

pronunciation features, which may improve without

and 470 and none had spent more than one week in an

affecting comprehensibility. Therefore, we also chose to

English-speaking country.

anlayze the change over time of one segmental and one
suprasegmental feature; the ‘th’ sounds (dental fricatives)

Procedure

and rhythm, which is caused by “the differences in stress

It was decided to use a reading-aloud text for

between content words and function words” (Saito, 2016).

eliciting data, since such tasks are the most common

The ‘th’ sounds are not found in Japanese and are often

assessment of pronunciation (Thomson & Derwing, 2015).

difficult for Japanese learners (Saito 2011, Swan & Smith
1987) and the moraic structure of Japanese means thatmany Japanese learners’ speech does not have a strong
contrast between stressed and unstressed syllables(Koike, 2013).

A 210-word text was adapted from the “Clear Speech”
Teacher’s Resource Manual (Gilbert, 2012) to elicit
samples of controlled speech (see appendix). Recordingof all speech samples was conducted during class time.
The subjects were instructed to find a quiet place on
campus and record themselves on their smartphones

The rating of these two discrete pronunciation
features was based on a native-speaker model because

reading the entire dialogue aloud. They then sent therecording to one of the authors via the LINE™ SNS.

this was straightforward and fitted in with the selected
A pre-test was conducted in October 2017.

textbook’s approach. Recently, traditional native-speakermodels have been problematized, with claims being madefor the acceptability of certain features associated with
non-native speaker pronunciation (Derwing & Munro 2015,
Szpyra-Kozlowska 2014). It was not our intention to takesides in this debate; we simply wanted to discoverwhether explicit instruction led to any long-term change.

Research Questions
RQ1. Does explicit pronunciation instruction improve thesubjects’ comprehensibility and does any improvement
last over time?

Instruction started immediately afterwards and was
carried out over 15 weeks, once a week, amounting toapproximately seven hours. An immediate post-test (post1) was conducted in January 2018 and a surprise delayed
post-test (post-2) was conducted four months later in May
2018.

Content of Instruction
All pronunciation instruction was conducted inJapanese by one of the authors, who used and adaptedmaterials from the textbook “Clear Speech” (Gilbert, 2012),
The aspects of English pronunciation taught to the

RQ2. Does explicit pronunciation instruction make thesubjects were:rhythm of the subjects’ speech sound more native-like?
• The emphasis of content words and de-emphasis offunction words in sentences.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal49

• Intonation and pitch patterns.

recordings were edited into 21 sound files. Each filecontained the recording of the same excerpt from the pre-• The correct number of syllables in words and avoidance

and post-tests. Seventeen files contained recordings fromof epenthesis (the insertion of unnecessary vowels into

the pre-test, immediate post-test and delayed post-test.

consonant clusters in words). Epenthesis is a feature of

Four files did not contain the delayed post-test recording

Japanese learners’ speech (Swan & Smith 1987, Koike

due to missing or corrupted data. The order of the2013) and leads to ‘katakana English’ pronunciations

recordings was randomized and known only by thesuch as the word ‘sports’ being pronounced with threeauthors. The raters heard each excerpt introduced only assyllables: ‘su-pō-tsu’.

‘Recording A’, ‘Recording B’ or ‘Recording C’.

• The /θ/ and /ð/ sounds, /b/ and /v/, and /r/ and /l/ sounds.

A total of eight volunteer raters were asked to

As these sounds do not exist in the Japanese language,rate the speech samples for comprehensibility. Six were

they are often problematic for Japanese English speakers

native speakers of English and two were advanced level(Swan & Smith 1987, Saito 2011).

non-native speakers from Brazil and Bulgaria. All wereThe

instructor

used

some

non-traditional

methods to teach these features. Learners held thickelastic bands to learn about word stress kinesthetically.
They placed their hands in the rubber band and stretched

part-time English teachers at the institution and some hadtaught the subjects before. All names were kept
confidential. The raters ages ranged from 35 to 63 andthey had lived in Japan for between 10 and 25 years.

it apart when pronouncing the stressed section of theTheraterswere

explained

thatword. Kazoos were used to teach the ‘musicality’ ofcomprehensibility is different from accent and intelligibility

English intonation. One learner played a kazoo to mimic

and relates to how much effort is required to understandthe tone and rhythm of a certain English sentence and aa spoken message. They were instructed to listen to thepartner had to listen for the correct number of syllables

files in a quiet location and to give their full attention every

and identify the correct sentence from a list. Also, learners

time. They were asked to intuitively judge the relative

were sometimes directed to clap hands or tap the desk atcomprehensibility of the recordings in each file. No rubrics

the same time as pronouncing syllables. Traditional

were used because we were aiming for a holistic,

drilling of problematic sounds, stress patterns and minimal

subjective appraisal. It was explained that one or twopairs was also employed. The instruction comprised notrecording(s) of an excerpt may be more or lessonly of production but also listening practice, in which thecomprehensible than the others, or that there may be no

subjects had to identify word stress, the number ofdiscernible difference in comprehensibility between them.

syllables in words and intonation patterns. Some of thislistening practice was done as weekly homework. Since

Over a period of about one month, the raters

the subjects were unaware of many pronunciation

were sent sound files via the LINE™ SNS and the authors

features,the

instruction

consciousness-raising,as

involved

anelement

ofcollected their responses through the same SNS. Not all

well

as

phonologicalraters responded to all of the requests to listen to and rate

explanations, output practice and feedback.

the files, but a minimum of three, a maximum of eight anda mean average of five rated each file. The authors

Data Analysis
Each reading of the dialogue took approximately

identified any patterns in the comments, simplified them
into

short

phrases,thensummarized

these

into

90 seconds and the authors used the “Audacity(R)”tendencies concerning the superiority or inferiority ofsoftware to edit these recordings into shorter excerpts. A

particular recordings.

total of six short sections of the dialogue were selected for
rating purposes, which are underlined in the appendix.

Ratings of the nativelikeness of rhythm and theEach section was one or two lines long, taking between 5/θ/ and /ð/ sounds were conducted by one of the authors,

to 10 seconds to listen to. For each subject, three excerpts

a 46-year old male who has lived in Japan for 24 years.

were selected for analysis. Choice of excerpt was random,

When rating rhythm, he listened for the degree to which

but if the recorded speech contained a long hesitation,

there was a detectable difference between stressed andmisreading or cough, it was changed for another. The

unstressed syllables, and whether stress was correctly

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

50

placed on content words. In English, stressed syllables

so no firm conclusion can be drawn. For all other subjects,

have higher pitch and are longer and louder than

the results were inconclusive: the post-tests were notunstressed syllables (Derwing & Munro, 2015). Whenconsistently rated as more comprehensible.

rating the ‘th’ sounds, he listened for whether ‘th’ sounds
were pronounced clearly as /θ/ and /ð/ (dental fricatives),or as either the alveolar fricatives /s/ and /z/ or postalveolar fricatives / ʃ/ and / ʒ/ that Japanese learners often

The ratings of the nativelikeness of rhythm (seeTable 3) were inconclusive for Subject B, so there was nocorrespondence with the comprehensibility ratings.
Subjects D, E and F had inconclusive results for

substitute them for (Swan & Smith 1987).

comprehensibility, but there was some evidence for
improvement in the nativelikeness of rhythm.

Results
The excerpts selected from the seven subjects
recordings are presented in Table 1, as well as the total
number of ratings or each file. An asterisk indicates that

In response to research question 3, the author
could not notice any difference in the quality of the /θ/ and/ð/ sounds in 19 of the 21 sound files. The two sound files
in which a difference in quality was noticed were fromthe post-2 data was missing.

Subjects D (the delayed post-test was superior) and G
Table 1 – Dialogue Excerpts that were Rated
Subject

Excerpt

Number of

NumberRatings(the pre-test was superior).

Discussion
The improvement in the comprehensibility of

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

File 1File 2File 3File 1File 2File 3File 1File 2File 3File 1File 2File 3*File 1File 2File 3File 1File 2*File 3*File 1*File 2File 3

2
3
6
1
3
6
6
5
4
2
3
2
4
3
6
5
4
3
5
4
2

8
5
5
8
5
5
6
7
5
5
4
4
5
5
5
5
6
4
7
4
3

Subject B’s pronunciation is the main positive finding fromthis study, however there is insufficient evidence tosuggest that the improvement was completely maintained
up to the delayed post-test. In addition, since speech waselicited only in a reading-aloud text, it is unknown whether
there was also improvement in spontaneous speech.
Despite receiving 15 weeks of pronunciation instruction,
the evidence does not lead us to conclude that the speechof the other six subjects became more comprehensible.
Some evidence was found for a change to amore native-like rhythm in Subjects D, E and F’s samples
but there was no corresponding improvement incomprehensibility. In some cases the raters found slower
speech less comprehensible, but the author rated it as

The summarized ratings of comprehensibility foreach file are presented in Table 2. Numbers in brackets
indicate the number of raters who gave that rating. In
many cases, no clear trend emerged and such cases aremarked as ‘inconclusive’ in the table.
The ratings for comprehensibility for Subject B
were consistent and clearly showed the superiority of theimmediate post-test over the pre-test. Ratings wereinconclusive for post-2 in files 1 and 3, but three of fivehaving more native-like rhythm. Two explanations cometo mind. Firstly, the author and the raters may haveconceptualized comprehensibility differently, which would
indicate a problem with the research design. Alternatively,
Iearners may need to slow down to allow themselves timeto pronounce words in the way they have been taught andthis may cause them to appear less comprehensible.
Instruction of the /θ/ and /ð/ sounds seemed to have hadalmost no effect on the learners’ pronunciation.

raters found post-2 to be superior in file 2. Some raters
noticed improvement in either of the post-tests in Subject
E’s files, but the evidence was sometimes contradictory,

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

51

Table 2 – Summarized Comprehensibility Ratings
Subject
A

File 1post-1 superior (4)pre-superior (2)no difference (2)post-2 inferior (3)pre- inferior (1)File 2pre- superior (3)post-2 superior (2)File 3post-1 and post-2
superior (5)Verdict
InconclusiveB

post-1 superior (6)post-1 and post-2
superior (2)pre- inferior (5)post-2 superior, thenpost-1, then pre- (2)post-1 superior, thenpost-2, then pre- (1),post-1 superior (1)post-2 superior (1)post-1 superior (4)post-2 superior (1)post-2 inferior (2)Strong evidence ofimprovement on post1, weaker evidence
for improvement on
post-2C

pre- superior (3)post-1 superior (2)post-1 and pst-2
superior (1)post-1 superior (4)no difference (2)post-2 superior (1)post-2 inferior (2)post-1 superior (2)no difference (1)pre-superior (1)post-2 superior (1)InconclusiveD

post-2 superior (5)post-1 inferior (3)post-2 superior (4)pre- superior (3)no difference (1)InconclusiveE

post-2 superior (2)post-1 superior (1)pre- superior (1)pre- and post-2 superior(1)post-2 superior (3)post-1 and post-2
superior (2)post-1 superior (5),post-2 inferior (4)Some evidence for
improvement on the
post-tests, but notenough to beconclusive.

Fpre- superior (5),no difference (1)pre- superior (5)post- superior (1)post-1 superior (4)InconclusiveGpre- superior (3),post-1 superior (2)no difference (2)pre- superior (4)post-2 superior (2)pre- and post-2
superior (1)Inconclusive

Limitations

However, since it was possible to obtain

There are many possible explanations for theconsistent comprehensibility ratings for at least one

overwhelmingly negative results of this study. Firstly, it

subject, there are grounds for believing that ourmust be admitted that there were weaknesses with the

procdedure produced valid results and for consideringresearch design. The lack of consistency in the ratings ofother explanations for the lack of improvement fromcomprehensibility may have been due to the fact that we

instruction. For example, the instructor may have failed toasked the raters to judge the relative comprehensibility ofproperly implement the pedagogy advocated in the ‘Clear

two or three samples, rather than have them rate each

Speech’ materials. Alternatively, this pedagogy or indeed

sample individually. The method adopted in this study

any explict pronunciation instruction may be ineffective, at

may be less suitable for identifying small differences. In

least in the present context. In addition, the instruction

addition, it is possible that the raters’ concentration levels

may have included too many features of pronunciation,

fluctuated between listenings. The sound quality of theoverloading the students. Also, one semester ofrecordings, which were not made in laboratory conditions,

instruction may be too short to produce noticeable results.

may also have fluctuated. The suitability of our procedure

Change in the quality of pronunciation could even be U-

for rating comprehensibility needs to be judged byshaped: it may get worse before it gets better.

comparing it with results from a more conventional rating
method.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal52

Longitudinal studies may be needed in order to better

Conclusion

understand changes in learner pronunciation.

The authors began this research project with theaimofdiscovering

whether

explicit

pronunciation

instruction could be effective in their context. The results
obtained were disappointing so we remain to be
Table 3 – Subjective Rating of Rhythm
A

B

C

D

E

F

G

Comment
FILE 1: No
difference.
FILE 2: No
difference.
FILE 3: No
difference, except
faster speech ratein the post-tests.

Verdict
Inconclusive

FILE 1: No
difference.
FILE 2: Post-1
superior, post-2
inferior
FILE 3: Post-1 andPost-2 superior

Inconclusive

FILE 1: Presuperior due tohigher range of
intonation.
FILE 2: No
difference.
FILE 3: Post-1 has
better rhythm(although slower).

Inconclusive

FILE 1: Post-2
superior, preinferior
FILE 2: Post-2
superior, preinferior
FILE 3: No
difference.

Some evidence for
improvement on
thepost-tests,
particularly post-2.

FILE 1: No
difference.
FILE 2: Post-1 andpost-2 superior.
FILE 3: Post-2
superior (althoughslower).

Some evidence ofimprovementinthe post-tests.

FILE 1: No
difference.
FILE 2: Post-1
superior
FILE 3: Post-1
superior

Some evidence for
improvementinpost-1.

FILE 1: No
difference.
FILE 2: No
difference.
FILE 3: No
difference.

Inconclusive

convinced that class time spent on pronunciation
instruction is worthwhile. While there were weaknesses
with our research design, we decided to present ourfindings because it is important to avoid the file drawer
problem of researchers refraining from publishing studies
with negative results. In addition, we wish to have moreteachers reflect on the basis of their beliefs concerning
pronunciation instruction. EFL teachers need to base theirteaching practices as much as possible on empirical data
and the authors encourage other teachers to investigate
forthemselves

whether

pronunciationisactually

something that can be taught effectively in the classroom.

References
Derwing, T., &Munro, M. (2015). Pronunciation

Fundamentals: Evidence-based Perspectives for L2
Teaching and Research. Amsterdam, Holland: John
Benjamins Publishing Company.
Gilbert, J. (2012). Clear speech. (4th ed.). New York, N.Y.:
Cambridge University Press.
Grant, L. (2014). Pronunciation Myths: Applying Second
Language Research to Classroom Teaching. Grant. L.
(Ed.). Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press.
Harmer, J. (2015). The Practice of English Language
Teaching. Harlow, England: Pearson.
Koike, Y. (2014). Explicit pronunciation instruction:
Teaching suprasegmentals to Japanese learners ofEnglish. In. N. Sonda & A. Krause (Eds.), JALT2013
Conference Proceedings. Tokyo:JALT.
Krashen, S.D. (2013). The effect of direct instruction on
pronunciation

instruction:

Only

evident

when

conditions for monitor use are met? GIST Education
andLearning

Research

Journal,7,271-275.

Retrieved from sdkrashen.com
Lee, J., Jang J., & Plonsky, L. (2015). The effectivenessof second language pronunciation instruction: A metaanalysis. Applied Linguistics, 36(3), 345–366.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal53

Saito, K. (2011). Examining the role of explicit phonetic
instruction

inpronunciation

Saito, Y., & Saito, K. (2016). Differential effects ofnative-likeandcomprehensible

instruction on the development of second language

development:

aninstructedcomprehensibility,

SLA

word

stress,rhythm,andapproach to L2 phonology. Language Awareness,intonation: The case of inexperienced Japanese EFL

20(1), 45-59.

learners. Language Teaching Research, 21(5), 589608.

Saito, K. (2012). Effects of instruction on L2 pronunciation
development: A synthesis of 15 quasi-experimental

Swan, M. & Smith, B. (1987). Learner English: A

intervention studies. TESOL Quarterly, 46(4), 842-

Teacher's Guide to Interference and other Problems.

854.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Saito, Y. (2015). Effects of suprasegmental-based

Szpyra-Kozlowska, J. (2014). Pronunciation in EFL

instruction: In English presentation classes for first-

Instruction: A Research-based Approach. Bristol,year university students. Paper presented at JALT

England: Multilingual Matters.

National Conference: Focus on the Learner, Shizuoka
Convention & Arts Center “GRANSHIP”, Shizuoka.

Thomson, R.I., & Derwing, T. (2015). The Effectiveness of
L2 Pronunciation Instruction: A Narrative Review.

Saito, Y. (2016). Reexamining the differential effects of
instructionon

EnglishApplied Linguistics, 36(3), pp. 326-344.

suprasegmentals. Paper

presented at PSLLT 2016, University of Calgary,

Ur, P. (2012). A Course in Language Teaching.
Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Calgary.

Appendix
A: Excuse me. Where’s the library?
B: It’s on the corner of Cupley Road and Mottside Avenue.
A: Sorry, did you say Moatside or Mottside?
B: Mottside. 1Go straight about two blocks that way, and it’s on the right. It’s next to the Cosmopolitan building.
A: Thanks. I need to buy some books for my classes.
B: Do you want to buy books or borrow books?
A: I want to buy some books.
B: 2Oh, then you need the bookstore. You can’t buy books at the library. You can only borrow them from there.
A: 3Oh, sorry. I guess I made a mistake with the words. They’re different in my language.
B: I know how it is. I get mixed up with Spanish words that sound like English words, but have different meanings.
A: Are you studying Spanish?
B: Yes, it’s going to be my major. What are you studying?
A: 4I’m studying English now, because I want to work for an airline as one of the ground staff.
B: 5Really? My sister had an interview with Hawaiian Airlines last week.
A: Did she pass?
B: No, the opposite. Unfortunately, she failed.
A: That’s too bad!
B: 6That’s okay. Now she’s planning to work at a hotel.
A: Well, I wish her a lot of luck. And good luck to you, too. It was very nice talking to you.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

54

Author biographies
Stephen Clarke holds an M.A. in Applied Linguistics/TESOL from the University of Leicester and has taught in Japan forover 20 years. His interests include SLA, extensive reading and Story Listening. Email sjclarke@nagoyacollege.ac.jp
Lauren Landsberry has been in ELT for 15 years, holds an M.A. in Applied Linguistics from Monash University, and iscurrently undertaking further study at Macquarie University. She teaches at several universities in Nagoya and herinterests include bilingualism, world Englishes, SLA, and teacher development. Email laurenlandsberry@gmail.com

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

55

7 Effectiveness of Poster Presentations for CLIL Courses
Brian Cullen
Nagoya Institute of Technology

Vick Ssali
Aichi Gakuin University

Cameron Smith
Aichi Gakuin University

This paper discusses the effectiveness of poster presentations as a teaching methodology in Content andLanguage Integrated Learning (CLIL) courses. In the course being described, students are tasked to doresearch, design and make poster presentations on a topic from each of the themes covered. The authors
propose that these presentations provide an opportunity to meet Coyle’s four Cs criteria: content,
communication, cognition, and culture, and share their own experience of how they have successfully
integrated poster presentations as a core activity in classroom learning. Links between CLIL and higher
motivational levels are also explored. Finally, the results of an extensive student questionnaire arepresented. The questionnaire was designed to elicit the learner’s perspective on their experiences
researching, preparing and presenting the posters. The results showed a general satisfaction among thestudents with the process as a means to communicate new information to one’s audience. Nevertheless,some of the student responses reveal they miss some opportunities to go beyond content and to improve
more on their L2 learning and communication through the processes of research, practice, andpresentation.

この論文は、CLIL(内容言語統合型学習)の教授法におけるポスター発表の有用性を論じたものである。
このポスター発表の活動の中には、Coyle の四つの基準(科目やトピック、言語スキル、様々な思考力、異文化理解)の要素を取り入れることができる。そして教室で CLIL の核心的な活動としてのこのポスター発表を他者と協働することを通し、その経験を仲間と共有できる機会がもたらされると論じている。
この CLIL とモチベーションの関係性に関しては、今現在調査中であるが、生徒への広範なアンケート
調査結果から、このポスター発表の有用性に関する新たな見方、考えも提言している。

The term “Content and Language Integrated& Ssali, 2019). However, the current global movement

Learning” was coined in the 1990s to name an

originates in Europe, encouraged by the 1995 European

educational approach to the teaching of foreign/second

Commission White Paper on Education and Training

languages in which students are taught part of their

which stated that it was “necessary to make proficiency incontent curriculum in that language. Such an approachat least two foreign languages at school a priority”

has, of course, long been the case in colonial and(European Commission, 1995, p. 13). Given that thispostcolonial education whereby much education isneeded to be attempted without increased time resources,

conducted in the language of the former colonizers (Smithin order to maximize exposure to the foreign languages

The 2019 PanSIG Journal56

some content classes (for example, mathematics oron how student interest in content may often be greater

geography) would be taught in those languages (Marsh,

than in straightforward language learning (Fernández

2002). That is, students engage with foreign language

Fontecha,texts and other resources in the process of genuine

disaggregated motivational effects suggested that “lack ofcontent learning as well as foreign language acquisition.

interest” had the biggest impact on the lower attainment2014).

Indeed,a

recent

study

that

of non-CLIL students (Pablo & Jiménez, 2018). Notably,
Subsequent theorization of CLIL has led to
Coyle’s popular model of the four Cs: Content,Communication (unrehearsed, scaffolded production),
Cognition (thinking skills) and Culture (awareness andtolerance of difference) as key elements in good CLIL
education (Coyle, Hood, & Marsh, 2010). While thedefinition of CLIL is contested in terms of its relationshipgiven the current study, Lasagabaster’s (2011) factor
analysis

found

that

“interest

and

instrumental”

motivational factors in CLIL students (valuing English asa life skill whether generally or specifically for work) had asignificant relationship with successful learning outcomes,
whereas factors based on enjoyment of learning English
or effort did not.

to other concepts such as Content Based Instruction,
English Medium Instruction, and immersion education,

However, while there is a growing literature on

and in terms of the balance between the priorities ofthe differences between CLIL and non-CLIL outcomes,

content and language acquisition (“hard” vs “soft” CLIL),

including motivation, there appears to be very little thatthe trend is to treat it as an umbrella term that can beconsiders differences between students within CLIL

identified with all of these practices (Pérez Cañado, 2016).

courses. As noted above, there is evidence that CLIL may

CLIL has spread quickly from Europe, and is now used

give a relative advantage to students not normallyincreasingly in Asia, including in Japan (Pinner, 2013).

oriented towards language learning. However, mostresearch comparing students within CLIL courses looks atcontent outcomes, rather than motivation or language

CLIL: Success and Motivation

outcomes. This imbalance is understandable given that

Although the modern CLIL movement in Europe

primary

andsecondaryeducationsystemsneed

emerged as a solution to curricular time constraints,

assurance that content goals have not been compromised

subsequent research suggests that as a language

by the move to CLIL. The current study provides anteaching

opportunity to examine motivation levels across a range

methodology,

CLIL

may

have

severaladvantages over language-only teaching approaches. Inof language abilities..

particular, active and passive vocabulary, writing andgrammatical complexity, oral production, and strategic

Posters in CLIL

competence (expressing more with limited linguistic
resources) all appear to be enhanced with CLIL, andA key issue in CLIL is the use of authentic

evidence also suggests that CLIL helps the language

materials

andactivities(Meyer,2010).

Posteracquisition of those students who either have lesspresentations constitute such an activity, as they are

aptitude or interest in foreign language compared towidely used in everyday professional and academic

traditional non-CLIL teaching (Dalton-Puffer, 2011).

contexts to communicate information that is new to

However, as Dalton-Puffer and Pérez Cañado both note,audiences (Ilic & Rowe, 2013). Their usefulness as a toolwith several studies comparing CLIL and non-CLIL groups

in the EFL classroom has also long been recognized:at the same institution, there may be self-selection

done in small groups they allow repetition of fluency tasks,

advantages for the CLIL groups, something which later

they encourage the negotiation of meanings withstudies have tried to address.

audiences, and they reduce anxiety compared to wholeclass presentations (Prichard & Ferreira, 2014).

There is also an increasing body of evidence
that the CLIL approach raises the motivation of students

They are also particularly appropriate in CLIL. In

to study a foreign language. It is theorized that this effectthe course described here, poster presentations givecomes from the way that CLIL classes “provide foreign

students an opportunity to research, design, and present

language learning with meaning and real life,” capitalizing

on a topic within a specified theme. For example, if the

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

57

topic is “leaders,” students must choose a political leader

and another with an example from the United Kingdom orfrom an English-speaking country and describe their

any other Commonwealth country. These would, in the

career. As such, this activity provides an opportunity tolong run, provide opportunities for learning more complex

meet Coyle’s four Cs criteria: content, communication

academic material. The lesson about American food(where the images selected for the poster provide(What do Americans eat?), for instance, addresses the all-scaffolding for extended oral production), cognition

important issue of historical migrations to the US: what

(where students must select key information about theAmericans eat today reflects who migrated to the US,

topic and choose images to represent them as well as

when they came, where they came from, and what foods

analyze how to express these ideas), and culture.

they brought to the new world. The lesson about British
food (Sunday Roast), on the other hand, introduces themulti-purpose historical monument of the Tower ofBackground to the Course
The course in which poster presentations arebeing examined here originated as aLondon. Lesson one on “Sports” (Baseball), would
address issues such as the rise of US power in the Pacific,

three-year

while lesson two (Cricket) would introduce learners to thecoordinated compulsory CLIL course in the culture andwidth and breadth of the former British Empire. In

history of English-speaking countries at a mid-level“Famous People 1” (Martin Luther King Jr.), learners

Japanese university. Two of the authors were tasked inwould be introduced in simple fashion to the Civil Rights

2014 with the development of a course that would meet

Movement, while lesson 2 (The Dalai Lama) would not

the newly reoriented department’s two goals of teaching

only enable them to learn about Buddhism in English but

the cultures of English-speaking countries (Eigo-ken) andalso to have a peep into the more complex China-Tibet

increasing a focus on English language instruction. They

problem. Learning about the Christian holidays of Easter

had, in other words, to design a course with two aims:

and Christmas in “Holidays and Festivals”, on the otherimproving language (the ability to study and researchhand, introduces learners at an early stage to the complex

cultural issues in English) and improving culturalissues of what Christians believe, in general, andknowledge (Smith & Ssali, 2019) as the course can also

Christian ethics in particular.

be seen as part of a university’s response to the Japanese
Education Ministry’s desire for increased English-

Subsequent second and third-year courses

language medium instruction as part of broader efforts tohave also been selected with the same guiding philosophy.

internationalize the education system and globalize theLearning about Winston Churchill under “Leaders” (aJapanese labor force (Brown, 2014).

second-year spring topic), for example, provides anopportunity to learn about the Second World War from a

The focus was initially on the first-year intake to

British perspective. Other topics, like “Religion,” however,the new department. The course designers faced two

are about straight-forwardly complex issues that havechallenges which they wanted the new course to be able

been intentionally selected for review and for a deeper

to tackle: “first, first year students typically arrive with aanalysis having been introduced in the first-year course.

striking lack of knowledge of English-speaking countries,

At all the three levels, and with every topic covered, four

including geography and history; and second, students’elements can be traced in language preparation:

English ability level is usually much below that needed foruniversity level content instruction” (Smith & Ssali, 2019:(1) Direct vocabulary study. Each two-lesson topic is85). They proceeded, therefore, to select such content as

preceded by a bilingual vocabulary list of 80-100 words.

would enable students to study ostensibly highly

The items are chosen to fit both the general topic and theaccessible topics namely “food”, “sports”, “music,” andspecific lessons, and students are assessed with simple“movies” for the spring semester, and “tourist sights”,

Japanese-to-English and English-to-Japanese tests.

“famous people”, “holidays & festivals,” and “drinks” forthe fall semester.

(2) Intensive reading. Each lesson has (at least one, andsometimes two) basic historical and cultural content

Each topic was designed to cover two lessons,
one with an example from the United States of America

readings recycling as much vocabulary from the list as
possible.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal58

(3) Extensive reading. Students take home teacher-the few years of running the course that constant teacher

written (usually fictional) stories, recycling as much

guidance is the key to producing ever better results. One

vocabulary as possible, related to topic, and tested forof the part-time teachers at two of the authors’ university

fact-retention with short multiple-choice-question tests.

has recently created systematic guides to student
research for all three years. We hope these guidelines will(4) Research and presentation skills in English. 2-3minute poster presentations in small groups of 3-4
students are considered the high point of each topic, andindeed of the course in general. Students must do
research and make the presentation on an example fromany English-speaking country, and they should speak withno notes and answer other students’ questions afterwards.
At least one of the lessons in the textbook is always given
in presentation form, and we hoped, in the original design,that the content example, as well as the language focus
provided, would give adequate scaffolding for students toresearch and plan their presentations and thus fulfill the
departmental aim and CLIL goal of improving students’ability to communicate on cultural topics (Blower,
Rozsnyoi, and Smith, 2017).

help improve the students’ search for proper information
as well as their choice of appropriate images. Showing“good” and “bad” poster examples to students helps themto choose pictures better. Two pages in the first-year
textbook are devoted to this, and it has helped remedy thetendency students had in the early days of the course tochoose the appropriate number of images which, although
they depicted the topic in various ways, did not help tell astory. Finally, we have also observed, as any teacher
using presentations in an EFL classroom will know, that
there is a persistent problem of script reading. This stilts
the group presentation sessions and denies learners the
all-important practice in presentation skills and fluency.
We have also learned on a positive note, however, thatpre-presentation classroom practice and training in lessreading and more speaking slowly produces results.

Our Experience Using Posters
A general observation from teaching this course
has always been that students’ knowledge of thegeography, history and cultures of the world, let alone of

Poster presentations are graded, after all, and students
are specifically reminded that they lose points by readingfrom a script more than they communicate to theiraudience with proper eye contact and all.

the English-speaking countries, is low. The course,

All in all, we have learned from this course, andtherefore, culminating in poster presentations andwith our own students, that following some basic rules

introducing concrete here-and-now items, has so far beensuch as choosing a good title that will interest theworth all the effort. The items (pictures in a poster),audience, planning the format of the poster so that

introduced both through the sample lessons and theinformation flows in a logical way, and using the poster tostudents’ own presentations, invite learners to go deeper

answer specific questions and tell a story, can makeinto their background and explore the vital questions ofposter presentations an effective tool in language

who did what, where, when, and to what effect. As Blower,

education. It has become clear to us that poster

Rozsnyoi and Smith observed, citing Meyer (2013),

presentations are an effective tool in promoting:“presentation tasks provide opportunity for students tobegin to engage higher order thinking skills as they•

Active learning in groups in the classroom•

Development of content knowledge•

Improvement in presentation skills including

engage in ‘pushed output’” (Blower, Rozsnyoi and Smith,
2017: 304). Moreover, images can be described by
students of any level at their own level. The show-and-telleffect, it has been observed, goes a long way to bridge

outside the course

the gaps in language abilities and confidence that
inevitably exist among students. In addition, the image
selection students undertake during poster preparations•

Positive

feedbackinregularstudents ’questionnaires.

is an economical demonstration of research.
It must be observed, however, that students
originally lack research know-how. We have learned overThe 2019 PanSIG Journal59

Group A Results and Discussion

The Student Perspective
Up to this point, this paper has discussed thebackground and rationale for using CLIL and poster
presentations, and shared teacher perspectives on theprocess. To examine this effectiveness from anotherangle, this final section of this paper presents anddiscusses the results of a questionnaire to show better
what is happening in poster presentations from thestudent perspective.

Preparing the Poster
Most students chose a topic that they were notfamiliar with before (figure 1). 67% chose a topic that they
hadn’t heard of before or didn’t know much about. This isa good indicator that the CLIL course is helping them tolearn new content as well as language. Research time forthe poster was generally about 1 hour (figure 2). Students
were encouraged to look at multiple sources of
information to prepare. Figure 3 shows that this was fairly

Questionnaire
The questionnaire was designed to elicit student

effective and that only 7% used a single source and 21%

opinions and data in four areas: preparation for theused as many as six sources. CLIL is always a balancing

presentation, practice, experience of the presentationact between the focus on language and focus on content.

itself, and things the student might do better next time (thisAs language teachers, we would obviously like our

also

and

students to use English-language source materials, but

metacognition). The questions are shown in Appendix A.

36% used only Japanese sources and an additional 45%

aimed

to

raise

student

awarenessused mainly Japanese sources (figure 4). We had
The questionnaire was set up and responses

expected some of the students to work together but only

collected using Google forms. Immediately after the

3% prepared their poster with another student (figure 5).

poster presentations, students filled in the survey using

Most students spent from 30 minutes to one hour intheir smartphones. In order to ensure that students

creating their poster (figure 6).

understood

all

the

questions,wetranslatedthequestionnaire into Japanese and had it checked by aJapanese research colleague. The questionnaire wascarried out with two groups at different universities, GroupA (n=220; second- and third-year students, each divided
into five groups by English ability (TOEIC), surveyedonce) and Group B (n=81; surveyed after five separate
presentations to investigate change over the course of thesemester). Proficiency though, was not considered a big
factor in our expectations of students’ perspectives, justas it is not a factor in the CLIL textbook and other

Practice
Students usually practiced their presentation foraround 10-30 minutes (figure 7). We encouraged students
to practice in front of others, but only about 10% actually
did so (figure 8). Equally disappointing was that only 20%
of students took the time to video themselves (figure 9).
Modern smart phones make video very accessible foreveryone and we would like to find ways to have students
utilize them more and thus increase self-awareness.

materials used for the course across the groups. The
guiding principle in conducting the course, as well as thisparticular survey, is/was not to prioritize language learningover content learning, which may weaken the motivational

Presentation

strength of CLIL courses (Lasagabaster, 2011). Most, but

Figure 10 shows students’ levels of confidence

not all responses to the questions used in the survey,

during the presentation. It is encouraging to see that more

were measured on a rating scale of 1 to 5 to gauge thethan 70% report a score of 3 or above on a scale of 1 toincreasing intensity of the students’ feelings about their

5. Students also believe that other students were able toexperiences. Some questions, however, requires simple

understand them quite well (figure 11). And again, in

Yes/No responses, while a few of them were simply open.

figure 12, we see the positive result that students
generally thought that other students were interested in

Results and Discussion
Below, we have selected and commented on

their presentations. The listeners also showed this interestby asking questions in most cases (figure 13).

some of the more informative or interesting results fromthe student questionnaires for both Groups A and B.

In our experience, one of the best ways toimprove presentations is for the presenter to make good

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

60

eye contact with the audience and this is something that

It allows us to see any effects over time. Some of the more

we always encourage. About 75% report not primarily

notable results are discussed below.

reading from a script (figure 14). Judging from our own
observations

in

the

classroom

this

seems

high.

Table 1. Time spent preparing each presentation

Interestingly, however, if we ask students directly whether

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

1:46:10

1:33:59

1:36:09

1:23:10

1:22:30

0:54:56

1:09:29

2:01:07

0:41:53

0:35:27

0:31:28

0:24:24

0:24:12

0:27:10

0:18:16

they used good eye contact, the results look quite different(compare figure 15 to figure 14), with only 38.2% reporting

Time

spent

primarily maintaining good eye contact. It may therefore

researching

be that instructions to keep eye contact rather than not to(q. 2)

read from a script may be more effective in encouraging
students to adopt a successful presentation manner.

Time

From the students’ perspective, eye contact is not thecreate poster

same as not reading from a script.

(q. 6)

Figure 16 shows the positive result that students

Time

to

spent

believe that the poster presentations are helping theirpracticing (q.

English skills. Another positive finding is that students

10)

state that their motivation towards English increased as aresult of the poster presentations. Interestingly, when the
results were broken down by year and ability group,
motivation levels correlated with English ability level in thesecond year, but not in the third year, who had had one
more year of this course. This gives some support to thefinding by Dalton-Puffer (2011) that CLIL classes help the
motivation of those with less aptitude or interest in
studying English.

Table 1 and the graph below show the same data which
illustrates a trend to spend less time on practice andpreparation as the semester proceeds. This could be seen
as an improvement in skills and consequently less time
being required, but it could conversely be seen as adecrease in effort and motivation as the activity becomesless novel.

Next Time
Finally, figure 18 shows how students believethat they will be better able to make English presentationsin the future. 41.9% (91students), chose a confidence
level of 3 on a scale of 5, followed by 31% (69 students)
who chose 4. Only 7.8% and 10.6% chose 1 and 2
respectively. Cultural attitudes may be partly responsible
for this show of low self-expectations, as one may not
expect many Japanese students to stand out and say, “I
am sure I will do better next time”. Nevertheless, a goodnumber of students indicated they had benefitted from theposter presentation exercise as well as the feedback
given both by their instructors and their colleagues, hence
the relatively high level of confidence they will use theTable 2 below shows some other rather
surprising results. There was little variation in student
confidence and it did not seem to develop as they did
morepresentations.

Other

things

that

we

were

encouraging such as eye contact, asking questions, being
interesting, and being easy to understand also showed
little variation.

poster to tell better stories in the future.

Group B Results and Discussion
In this section, we discuss the smaller group of
students (n=81) who did five poster presentations over asemester and responded to the questionnaire after each.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

61

Table 2. Other Responses

presentations, we suggest helping students to raise selfawareness through this kind of questionnaire supported

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

by the use of videos and peer practice groups.

14. I was confident during
my presentation.

References

3.55 3.66 3.19 3.68 3.39

Blower, L., Rozsnyoi, H., and Smith, C. A. (2017). The
15. I didn’t just read adevelopment of a coordinated “foundation” university

script. I presented directly
to the audience.

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3.25 3.48 3.02 3.52 3.30

(Eds.), Transformation in language education. Tokyo:
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The

listeners

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knowledge and motivation in CLIL and EFL. Revista

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Information and Libraries Journal, 30(1), 4–12.

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overperspective,thewesemestersaw

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Marsh, D. (2002). CLIL/EMILE the European Dimension:
Actions, trends and foresight potential. Jyväskylä,
Finland: University of Jyväskylä.

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Meyer, O. (2010). Towards Quality CLIL: successfulplanning and teaching strategies. Pulso : Revista de
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9(1),

9.

https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/jtl3.667
Pinner, R. (2013). Authenticity of purpose: CLIL as a way
to bring meaning and motivation into EFL contexts.
Asian EFL Journal, 15(4), 138–159.
Prichard, C., & Ferreira, D. (2014). The Effects of Poster
Presentations and Class Presentations on LowProficiency Learners. TESOL Journal, 5(March), 172–185. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.131
Smith, C. A., & Ssali, V. L. (2019). From foundation course
to text book: introducing CLIL in a Japanese university.
The Journal of the Japan CLIL Pedagogy Association(J-CLIL), 1, 85–99.
Appendix A – Student Questionnaire
どちらの科目を受けていますか？
どのクラスですか？
性別
1. トピックをどのように決めましたか?
2. そのトピックについて調べるのに、どれくらいかかりましたか?
3. あなたのプレゼンテーションのために用いた参考文
献、資料は?
4. 何種類の資料、参考文献を使用しましたか?
5. 他の学生と一緒に調べましたか?
6. ポスターを作成するのにどのくらいの時間がかかりましたか?
7. ポスターにはいくつの画像が使われていますか?
8. あなたのポスターをより良いものにするために、先生にアドバイスを求めたり、先生が助けてくれましたか?

9. 先生のアドバイスを受けた場合、先生はどのようなアドバイスをしましたか?
10. プレゼンテーションの練習にどのくらい時間を費やしましたか?
11. あなたは人前でプレゼンテーションの練習をしましたか?
12. 前の質問にはいと答えた場合、聞いてもらった人か
らどのような意見がありましたか?
13. あなたは自分の練習をビデオに撮って、それを見ましたか?
14. 私は、自信を持ってプレゼンテーションを行った
15. 私は、原稿の棒読みではなく、聞いている人に直接話しかけるようにプレゼンテーションを行った
16. 私は、アイコンタクトを上手にしながらプレゼンテーションができた
17. 聞いていた人たちは、私の発表を理解していたと思う
18. 聞いていた人たちは、私の発表に興味を持っていたと思う
19. 私は、プレゼンテーションを聞いていた人たちから質問を受けた20. 私のプレゼンテーションの内容は、面白いと思った
21. 発表後、私のトピックについてもっと深く知りたいと感じている
22. プレゼンテーションの中に、教科書に出てきた新しい単語を使いましたか？
23. 教科書以外からの新しい単語を使いましたか?
24. このプレゼンテーションの取り組みを通して、英語スキルが向上した
25. このプレゼンテーションの取り組みを通して、リス
ニング力が向上した
26. このプレゼンテーションの取り組みを通して、語彙力が向上した27. このプレゼンテーションの取り組みを通して、様々な題材について学んだ
28. このプレゼンテーションの取り組みを通して、英語へのモチベーションが高まった
29. このプレゼンテーションに取り組みながら、クラス
メイトとうまく活動できたと思う
30. 次回あなたがプレゼンテーションをする時、より良いプレゼンテーションをするために何をしますか？
31. ポスターをより良くするため、どのように改善しますか?
32. 今後、英語でのプレゼンテーションをどうしたらもっと良りよいものにできるかわかっている?

Appendix B – Figures
https://bit.ly/2UAU4kd

Author biographies
Brian Cullen is a professor at Nagoya Institute of Technology. His research interests include positive psychology, ESP,
materials development, CLIL, and music in ESL.
Cameron Smith is an associate professor at Aichi Gakuin University. His research interests include creativity and CLIL.
Vick Ssali is an associate professor at Aichi Gakuin University. His research interests include cross-culturalcommunication, CLIL, and cultural competence.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal63

8 Adding Pronunciation Instruction to the Classroom
Anthony Diaz
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
This article discusses how suprasegmental aspects of English pronunciation can be utilized to incorporate
pronunciation activities into the context of the Japanese English classroom. The basis of this notion is asynthesis of two strands of research regarding pronunciation; difficulties adult-aged learners face whenattempting to master the phonology of a second language (Nakashima, 2006; Munro & Derwing, 1995;
Scovel, 1969; Long, 1990; Patkowski, 1994) and why pronunciation instruction with a focus on
suprasegmentals is important for Japanese L1 learners (Nakashima, 2006, Nakamura, 2010, Koike, 2014).
The second portion of this article briefly discusses a study that the author conducted that focused oninvestigating whether the explicit teaching of suprasegmentals could have a measurable impact on the
speech of Japanese L1 learners. The final part of this article shares some practical pronunciation activities
developed for use in Japanese English classes to teach students about suprasegmentals and describes
how to implement them.

この記事は英語の発音の超分節的特徴の話題で日本の英語の大学クラスルームにどのようにして発音アクティビティを紹介するかを述べます。この記事の基礎は発音に関しての研究の総合体です。まず、大人の学習者にとって第二言語の音韻を取得するのは難しいこと (Nakashima, 2006; Munro & Derwing,
1995; Scovel, 1969; Long, 1990; Patkowski, 1994)、次に日本人の学習者にとって英語の発音の超分節的特徴に注目するということです(Nakashima, 2006, Nakamura, 2010, Koike, 2014)。更に、この記事は私の英語の超分節的特徴に関しての研究を説明しています。末に、英語の超分節的特徴において注目する
発音アクチビティを紹介します。

incorporate

consideration is largely due to the difference between

pronunciation instruction into the Japanese university

Whenconsidering

how

to

English and Japanese syllable structure and rhythm.

classroom, it can be a challenge for instructors to decide

Therefore, if the aim of pronunciation instruction is towhat aspects of pronunciation to focus on (Derwing &enable learners to be more easily understood i.e.

Munro, 2005). A further issue is that many language

comprehensible, then it is imperative that they are madeinstructors lack training in pronunciation instruction (Koike,aware of the difference between the rhythm patterns of2014) or lack the confidence to teach pronunciation, which

English and Japanese.

can be especially true for non-native English speaking
instructors. This article attempts to remedy this quandary
by defining the most impactful aspects of pronunciation
instruction for Japanese L1 learners with a solid
grounding in SLA research.

This statement is by no means advocating for theabandonment of the teaching of English phonemes aspart of a pronunciation syllabus, however, it is the author’s
belief that instructors must reconsider how they approach
the topic of teaching pronunciation to their Japanese L1

When teaching learners from syllable-timed or
mora-timed languages, such as Japanese learners,

students and a focus on the suprasegmental elements ofEnglish speech patterns should be adopted.

special consideration should be taken as to what aspects
contribute the most to their perceived accentedness. ThisThe 2019 PanSIG Journal

64

A Focus on Suprasegmentals
Suprasegmentals

refer

to

aspectsofpronunciation which include intonation, word stress, andTermDefinition

Intelligibility

The extent to which a
listener actually
understands anutterance
A listener’s
perception of how
difficult it is tounderstand anutterance
A listener’s
perception of how
different a speaker’s
accent is from that of
the L1 community

word linking. In terms of Japanese and English
pronunciation, there is a large contrast between the two
languages regarding their rhythms and rates of speech.

Comprehensibility

As a result, Japanese learners tend to transfer their native
speech patterns when they speak English. Regarding
Japanese English pronunciation, several researchers are

Accentedness

in agreement that the suprasegmental aspects of English
pronunciation pose quite a hinderance to Japaneselearners. Nakashima (2006) states that "differences inEnglish and Japanese syllable structure systems imposemanydifficulties

forJapaneselearners"(p.35).

Table 1 Munroe and Derwing's Three Dimensionsof Non-native Speech (1995)

Furthermore, Koike (2014) points out that "Japanesewith the goal in mind of being more intelligible to listeners

learners are likely to transfer suprasegmental featuresfrom different L1 backgrounds. In order to address thisfrom Japanese" (p. 362). One of the most salient features

question, Instructing students in several suprasegmentalof this phenomenon is that when Japanese learners

features of English as a means of increasing theirspeak English, they not only fail to stress words that are

intelligibility was the goal of the study that will benormally stressed in native-speech, but they also fail toelaborated on in this article.

contrast between the stressed and unstressed words inan utterance (Nakamura, 2010, p. 5). In addition, there isevidence that the suprasegmental aspects of English
contribute more to the intelligibility and comprehensibilityof non-native speech. (Derwing and Munro, 2005; Kang,
Rubin & Pickering, 2010)

Difficulties in Mastering Phonology
A common misconception of what contributes todifficulties in understanding non-native speech is that it isdue to a lack of competence in the phonology of the target
language or a speaker's inability to replicate the soundsof the target language. While phonology certainly

Setting Pronunciation Goals forJapanese Learners

contributes to accented-speech, it is the suprasegmental
elements of the English language which have more of an

Munro and Derwing (1995) define three

impact on the intelligibility of a learners' speech (Derwing

dimensions for evaluating foreign-accented speech:

and Monroe, 2005). In addition, Kang, Ruben andintelligibility, comprehensibility and accentedness (seePickering (2010) state that "listeners can tolerate a great

Table 1). When considering what aspects of pronunciation

deal of inaccuracy in pronouncing consonants and vowels,

to focus on, it is essential to consider the target audience,

so long as pitch and pausing are used appropriately" (p.

i.e. who will be listening to the speakers. According to555). Several researchers support the claim that it isresearch regarding the intelligibility of non-native speechnearly impossible for adult-learners to master a target

to non-native listeners, it has been found that speakers

language's phonology (Long, 1990; Nakashima 2006;

from the same L1 as the listener are easier to understandPatkowski,

than speakers from different L1s (Major, Fitzmaurice,

hypothesizes that there is a critical period for acquiring theBunta, & Balasubramanian, 2002; Smith & Bisazza, 1982).

"sound patterns of a language" (p. 245) that coincides with

While Japanese students may or may not go on to use

brain lateralization, which occurs around the age of twelve.

English with native speakers, considering the status of

Derwing and Munro (2005) state that "Though it is often

English a tool for international communication in Japan, it

assumed that greater accentedness automatically entails

is almost certain that they will be using English with

reduced intelligibility and comprehensibility, the situation

speakers from different L1 backgrounds. Therefore, theis not so straightforward" (pp. 385-386). The researchers

question which must be addressed is how can instructors

proceed to point out that there often is not a correlation

assist Japanese students to improve their pronunciation

between speech that is identified as "heavily accented" by

1994).

Furthermore,

Scovel(1969)The 2019 PanSIG Journal

65

native speech raters and the comprehensibility rating of

were able to incorporate elements of English stress andthe speech (p. 386).

rhythm only after being exposed to a very short ammountof instruction. A further interesting discovery that thecurrent author discovered was that when participants

Testing the Hypothesis: Details of a
Small Study

were asked if they had ever received any kind of explicit
pronunciation instruction regarding suprasegmentals,

To investigate if instruction in suprasegmentals

they indicated that they had not and stated that they were

could have an impact on the pronunciation of Japanese

unfamiliar with the concept of stress in English (Diaz,learners' English, in 2016, the present author conducted2017). While five participants are a relatively small sample

a small study at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University insize, their answer to this question casts light on the notion

Oita. The study consisted of pre/post-test recordings ofthat Japanese English learners are largely unaware of theparticipants’ speech and two twenty-minute instructional

differingsessions conducted approxametly two weeks apart. In

Japanese and could benefit from being made aware of theorder to test if instruction would have any impact on the

differences. (Readers may refer to [Diaz, 2017] for moreparticipants' pronunciation, the participants were recorded

soundwaves from the study and pre/post-test sample

before the first instructional session to acquire a sample

recordingsof their natural pronunciation. The recording consisted ofhttps://soundcloud.com/user-781340649)

syllable

structurescanbetweenbeEnglishandaccessedatwords, phrases, and speaking prompts. The first of thetwo instructional sessions focused on word stress, and thesecond focused on several common word linking rules.
The study took place over a period of two weeks, and at

Pronunciation Activities
The

following

sectionwill

outlinesomethe end of the second instructional session, students werepronunciation activities that the author has trialed in therecorded using the same words, phrases, and speaking

classroom that focus on introducing students to English

prompts from the pre-test recording. After analysis of thesuprasegmentals. The primary goals of the activities are

pre/post-test recordings, the present author was able toto raise students' awareness of the differences between

observe evidence that all participants were able to

the rhythm of English and Japanese speech patterns andsuccessfully integrate aspects of word stress and word

to enable students to internalize form through repetition. I

linking in some of the recorded phrases (see Figure 1).

designed the activities taking varying degrees of

Most noticeably, the participants post-test speech

inspiration from the book Teaching Pronunciation: A

samples had a greater contrast in intonation and loudness

Reference for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other

between stressed and unstressed words. It is important toLanguage (Celce-Murcia, Brinton, & Goodwin, 1997)

note that little impact was observed in the unscripted
speech saplees, however it is promising that students

Methodology
There are several important aspects that these
activities share in terms of methodology that the current
author would like to stress to the reader (see Table 2). The
first aspect is that these activities are ideal for use at the(Pre-test)

start of a lesson as warm-ups. This is because most of theactivities are gamelike and can assist students get
comfortable using English at the beginning of class andbreak the ice with classmates. The second aspect is these
activities also feature an aspects of kinesthetic learning by
having students tap or clap along to the words that they

(Post-test)
Fig. 1 Participant 1 Male: Pre/Post-test Sound Waves

stress. The third aspect is these activities focus on thethree ways that words are stressed in English and how
they emphasize the contrast between stressed words andunstressed words. For example, instructors can utilize

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

66

these activities by requesting students to say stressed

worksheet demonstrates how an English sentence's

words longer, louder, or by using a higher pitch. Activities

duration is not influenced by how many syllables are in an

can be repeated with a focus on one of the three methods

utterance but how many stressed words it contains. Theof stressing words. A further benefit of this aspect is that

instructor starts by demonstrating this concept byby having students focus on each way to stress words,

modeling the "Mice eat cheese." sentences, saying eachthey can discover the way that is the easiest for them to

one consecutively while clapping their hands. After theincorporate elements of stress into their speech. The

instructor finishes the modeling, students are instructed tofourth aspect is repetition which is important for these

get into pairs and practice saying the sequence ofactivities and allows students to internalize the form. The

sentences until they can say all of them consecutively

final aspect is the use of a metronome, or other time

without making a mistake. To add an element ofkeeping device. If instructors have the use of a computer,competition to this activity, partners can be prompted toYouTube can be used as a source of metronome videos

call out their classmates when they hear them make a

at various bpms.

word-stress mistake.

Syllable Repetition Activity

MethodRationale

Warm-upactivities are gamelike, andactivities

lend themselves to use at the

instructed to practice saying a pattern of the samestart of classsyllables and to put stress on specific syllables at theKinesthetic

having students tap theirlearning

desks or clap their hands
along with stressed words
helps them to connect theconcept of stress with aphysical action

In this activity (Appendix B) students are

instructor's direction. This activity can be done with any
variety of simple one-syllable sounds such as ha, la, or ba.
The methodology behind this activity is that by choosing
simple syllables that mimic the stress patterns of simple
English phrases, students can focus on stressing andcontrasting between each syllable rather than on thewords of the phrases. In Appendix B, the syllables that

Stressed words

raises students' awareness ofshould be stressed are written in bold capital letters. At

with longer,

the different ways that word-

first, students should be instructed to practice thelouder, or higher

stress is used in English

examples. Then, students may mark random syllables topitchchallenge their classmates.

Repetition

enables students tointernalize form

Use ofkeeps students in time andmetronome

increases the noticing of
mistaken stress

Table 2 Methodology for Pronunciation Activities

English Proverbs
There are two benefits of using English proverbs
to teach stress and rhythm. The first reason is that they
are usually short and easy for students to remember. The
second reason is they can be used to teach students
about culture and to show how there are similar
expressions in common between Japanese and English.
Appendix C presents a selection of English proverbs with

Introduction to English Rhythm and Stresstheir Japanese approximations.

This activity is based on a simple activity from
Teaching Pronunciation: A Reference for Teachers of

Jazz Chant Rhythm Game

English to Speakers of Other Language (Celce-Murcia,

This activity incorporates rhythm and stress with

Brinton, & Goodwin, 1997, p. 155). The activity can servea jazz chant style activity (Appendix D). Students are

as a way to introduce the concept of the difference

given paired worksheets which they use to ask andbetween Japanese rhythm and English rhythm to students.

answer the same question form each round of the game.

The worksheet (Appendix A) starts with a basic

This activity can also be adapted for use with any question

explanation of rhythm and then demonstrates why using

form as a grammar review for students. The game-likecorrect rhythm and stress is important. The last part of thenature of this activity is very engaging for students, andThe 2019 PanSIG Journal

67

the repetition of form is a good way for students to practice

Koike, Y. (2014). Explicit Pronunciation Instruction:

English rhythm and stress. It is also possible to add an

Teaching Suprasegmentals to Japanese Learners ofelement of competition by challenging students to keep

English. In N. Shoda & Krause (Eds.) JALT2013

track of their partner's mistakes by telling them that theConference Proceedings. Tokyo: JALT.

student with the fewest mistakes at the end of the activity
will be declared the winner.

Long, M. (1990). Maturational constraints on language
development.

StudiesinSecondLanguage

Acquisition, 12, 251-285.

Conclusion
Due to the difficulty adult students face toadequately master English phonology, suprasegmentals
should be a main focus of pronunciation instruction in theJapanese university classroom. This is because theliterature supports that suprasegmentals have a larger
impact on the intelligibility and comprehensibility of anutterance. Furthermore, students tend to be largely
unaware of how to improve their pronunciation becauseof the difference between English and Japanese syllable

Major, R. C., Fitzmaurice, S. F., Bunta, F., &Balasubramanian, C. (2002). The effects of nonnative
accents on listening comprehension: Implications for
ESL assessment. TESOL Quarterly, 36, 173–190.
Munro, M. J., & Derwing, T. M. (1995). Foreign Accent,Comprehensibility, and Intelligibility in the Speech of
Second Language Learners. Language Learning,
45(1),

73-97.

doi:10.1111/j.1467-

1770.1995.tb00963.x

structure. The activity ideas and worksheets included withthis article can serve as a good starting point for any

Nakamura, S. (2010). Analysis of relationship between

instructor who has the desire to help their students

duration characteristics and subjective evaluation of

improve their pronunciation or to raise their awareness ofEnglish speech by Japanese learners with regard to

the difference between Japanese and English syllable

contrast of the stressed to the unstressed. Pan-Pacificstructure.

Association of Applied Linguistics, 14(1), 1-14.
Nakashima, T., (2006). Intelligibility, Suprasegmentals,

Referencesand L2 Pronunciation Instruction for EFL Japanese

Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D., & Goodwin, J. M. (1997).

Learners. 福岡教育大学紀要(Fukuoka University ofTeaching pronunciation: A course book and reference

Education Journal), 55(1), 27-42.

guide (1st ed.). New York: Cambridge University
Press.

Patkowski, M. (1994). The critical age hypothesis andinterlanguage phonology. In M. Yavas (Ed.), First and

Derwing, T. M. & Munro, M. J. (2005). Second language
accent and pronunciation teaching: A research-based

second language phonology (pp. 205-221). San
Diego, CA: Singular Publishing Group.

approach. TESOL Quarterly, 39, 379-397.
Scovel, T. (1969). Foreign Accents, Language Acquisition,
Diaz, A. (2017). The impact of teaching suprasegmentals

And Cerebral Dominance. Language Learning, 19(3-on intelligibility. APU Journal of Language Research,4), 245-253. doi:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1969.tb00466.x

2, 69-84.
Smith,
Kang, O., Rubin, D., & Pickering, L. (2010).
Suprasegmental Measures of Accentedness andJudgments of Language Learner Proficiency in Oral
English. The Modern Language Journal, 94(4), 554–
566.
doi:
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.15404781.2010.01091.x

L.

E.,

&

Bisazza,J.

A.

(1982).

The

comprehensibility of three varieties of English forcollege students in seven countries. Language
Learning, 32, 259–269.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

68

Author biography
Anthony Diaz is an English lecturer at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Beppu, Oita Prefecture. He has taught avariety of students including academic, vocational, and adult learners in the United States and Japan. His research
focuses on pronunciation and corpus linguistics. email: adiaz@apu.ac.jp

Appendix A
Introduction to English Rhythm and Stress

What is rhythm?
Rhythm is important in English because it helps us understand what is said. We
speak English with a different rhythm than Japanese. When we speak in English, it
is important to try to use the correct rhythm, so we can be understood.

Imagine if the following sentence were read by a robot:
I eat sushi every Sunday at 4:00 p.m.
Now listen to your teacher read it normally. Can you see why stress is important?

Example of Rhythm and Stress
Listen to the teacher say each of the sentences and notice the rhythm.

MICE

EAT

CHEESE.

The MICEEATCHEESE.

The MICEEAT

the CHEESE.

The MICE

will

EAT

the CHEESE.

The MICE

will have

EATen

the CHEESE.

The MICE

might have been

EATingthe CHEESE.

Now in pairs read the sentences again and tap your desks or clap your hands to therhythm.
Notice that the stress is the same in every sentence, and each sentence takes thesame amount of time to say.
Mice eat cheese portion adopted from (Celce-Murcia, Brinton, & Goodwin, 1997, p.
155)

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

69

Appendix B
Syllable Repetition Stress Activity
Procedure
1. Choose some simple phrases or sentences from class textbook.
2. Change the phrases to one repeating syllable (e.g. da, la, mi, etcetera)
3. Show the original stress pattern by making stressed syllables larger thanunstressed ones (DA da DA da = Nice to meet you.)
4. Have students practice the stress patterns
5. Alternate practice: provide students with a string of the same syllables and ask
them to mark their own stress patterns and then challenge their classmates tosay them.

ExampleSentenceda DA da da da DA

I can’t go to the store.

da da DA da da DA da

Do you want to come over?

da DA da da DA

He sat on the couch.

da da da DA da DA da da DA da

She doesn’t think we need to go early.

Syllable Marking

1. da da da da da da da da da da.
2. ma ma ma ma ma ma ma.
3. ha ha ha ha ha ha.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

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Appendix C
Selection of English Proverbs for Stress and Rhythm Practice
Procedure
1. Introduce one proverb each day
2. Have students attempt to read them with correct rhythm and stress
3. Ask students to briefly discuss what they think the proverb means
4. Model the proverbs and have students practice in pairs
5. Additional practice: Provide students with Japanese versions if available

EnglishJapanese

1. Actions speak louder than words.

挨拶より円札・花より団子

2. Don’t judge a book by its cover.

人は見かけによらぬもの

3. Good things come to those who wait.

果報は寝て待て4. Kill two birds with one stone.

一石二鳥

5. Out of sight out of mind.

去る者は日々に疎し

6. Slow and steady wins the race.

継続は力なり7. Strike while the iron is hot.

鉄は熱いうちに打て

8. There is no time like the present.

思い立ったが吉日

9. Time and tide wait for no man.

歳月人を待たず10. Time is money.

時は金なり

11. A picture is worth a thousand words. 百聞は一見にしかず
12. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

やればできる・ありの思いも天に届く

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

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The 2019 PanSIG Journal

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The 2019 PanSIG Journal73

9 Cross Institutional Tech Usage: Findings and Trends
Armando Duarte
University of Shiga Prefecture

Mayumi Komoda
University of Shiga Prefecture
Do university teachers use CALL more than teachers working at the secondary level? Do Japaneseteachers of English (JTEs) use CALL more than their non-Japanese counterparts (NJTEs)? How muchdifference is there in CALL usage between teachers working in public and private institutions? In this
exploratory study, the researchers looked into these and other questions regarding CALL use for language
learning purposes at the secondary and tertiary levels. Using both Likert scale and short-answer questions,
respondents disclosed whether or not and how they used CALL for either classwork or homework.
Respondents also disclosed their justifications for not employing CALL in their current teaching context.
The presenters will discuss the results of the study and possible implications for language learning withCALL and professional development for teachers who do not use CALL.

大学教員は、中等・高等学校教員と比べて、CALL 使用の頻度が高いのだろうか。あるいは日本人教員
は、非日本人教員と比べて、CALL 使用の頻度が高いのだろうか。また、テクノロジーの使用において、公立校と私立校の間にはどの程度の相違があるのだろうか。この調査研究では、中等・高等学校と大学
における語学学習を目的とした CALL 使用に関するこのような問いに関する調査を行った。リッカート尺度および記述形式による回答を通して、回答者達が、授業や課題においてどのように CALL を使用しているのか、または使用していないのかが明らかになった。さらに、現在の教授内容において、CALLを使用していないことに対する回答者たちからその理由を引き出すことができた。この研究では、その調査結果おおよび CALL 使用による語学学習への提案に関する議論を行うとともに、CALL を使用していない教員に対しての専門的技術向上につながる提案も行う。

Computer assisted language learning (CALL) has many

CALL, its usage, and teacher perceptions of it have been

definitions, one of the most basic of which was provided

researched in various teaching contexts. Alshumaimeri

by Beatty who defined CALL as “any process in which a(2008) conducted a study involving 183 Saudi EFL

learner uses a computer and, as a result, improves his orteachers working at the secondary level which indicatedher language” (2003, p. 7). Due to recent improvementsthat teachers working in that context had overall positivein smartphone and tablet technology and advancements

attitudes towards using some form of CALL in theirin other areas of technology, such as virtual reality,classrooms. Dashtestani (2012) came to a similaraugmented

peripheral

conclusion through a study which included 212 teachers

equipment, CALL is evolving into a catch-all term forworking in the Iranian EFL context. Dashtestani also

almost any language instruction which goes beyond

noted some barriers to classroom tech usage, including

textbooks and whiteboards. In the current research,

cultural attitudes towards computers and a lack of“CALL” is defined as any use of a smartphone, personal

resources. Mustafina (2016) conducted a mixed-methods

computer, or tablet device.

research project in Kazakhstan, which included interviews

reality,

and

mixed

realityand questionnaires, and concluded that teachers working
in that context held very positive attitudes towards

The 2019 PanSIG Journal74

integrating CALL in their classrooms. Albirini (2006), in a

in Omoto, 2005), teachers themselves need to feelstudy involving 326 high school EFL teachers working in

comfortable with computers before they can integrate

Syria, found that teachers had either positive or very

computer technology into teaching. Omoto continues by

positive attitudes towards using CALL in their classrooms.

stating that comfort comes from familiarity, and such

Ismail, Almekhlafi, and Almekhlafi (2010) reached similarfamiliarity will increase when teachers have enoughconclusions in their study of 621 teachers of Arabic andopportunities to use computers and explore ways of

English in the UAE. Their research indicated that teachers

utilizing them. As for the effectiveness of using CALL in

who participated in that study “view technology as anlearning, Omoto supposes teachers will see how CALL

essential requirement for their classes” (p. 50). However,can enhance their instruction, and they will gain skills anda review of currently available literature did not find any

knowledge transferable to their own practice by learning

contemporary research conducted in the Japanesefrom classroom-situated examples of CALL use.

teaching context. That is, the researchers were unable tofind any research which had solicited either Japanese orforeign-born teachers’ opinions on CALL usage orwhether or not they employ CALL whatsoever. The
current research seeks to fill that gap in the literature.

In Japan, MEXT announced The Vision for ICT in
Education-Toward the Creation of a Learning System andSchools Suitable for the 21st Century in 2011 and thinks
much of the utilization of CALL for education. MEXT
believes that teachers can “give easy-to-understandA study by Ben Humphreys (2017) compared the

explanations and raise children’s interest in learning” (p.6)

effectiveness of Quizlet, a flashcard website andby the usage of CALL and asserts that “[I]t is urgently

smartphonehandwritten

necessary to enhance teachers’ ability to utilize ICT inflashcards in terms of students’ short term vocabulary

teaching” (p.32). However, in FY 2009, only 19.2% of

gains. His experiment demonstrated that the groupteachers received training on CALL utilization in teaching

studying(p.32). As for the accredited teacher training course atapplication,

using

Quizlet

with

that

gainedofsignificantly

more

vocabulary than the group using traditional flashcards.

universities in Japan, a subject on “Educational Methods
and Techniques” (including the utilization of information

Humphreys also pointed out that the “novelty” effectobserved in the investigation by Lu (as cited in
Humphreys, 2017) of English learners in Taiwan must be
taken into account. That is, the students who used
smartphone applications to learn vocabulary seemed toenjoy the learning as they appeared quite interested andengaged with the functionality and style of the application
itself, smiling and shouting comments such as “fun!” “I did
it!”
Advancement of and high accessibility to technology has
encouraged CALL use in foreign language education in
the United States, as well. Omoto, Fukai, and Schneider(2005) conducted a survey study involving practicing
Japanese teachers in the United States. They point out
that foreign language teachers are particularly attracted
by the Internet’s potential as a resource for authentic
materials and as a communication tool (157). Existing
research has already established the benefits of using theInternet for foreign language learning. However, they
conclude that foreign language teachers appear hesitant
to utilize the Internet because of technical difficulties andlack of support and training. According to Cotton (as citedequipment and materials) is compulsory, pursuant to the
Act for Enforcement of the Education Personnel
Certification Act. However, concrete class content is up toeach university and subjects are limited only to how toutilize information equipment and software (p.33).
Therefore, MEXT emphasizes teacher training courses at
all universities should strengthen the students’ ability toutilize CALL, which has actually come into force as of April
2019. Furthermore, MEXT mentions the necessity ofcontaining enhanced lectures on the utilization of CALL in“training for teachers with 10-year experience” as well as
in “lectures upon renewal of education personnel
certification” (p.33).
In particular, Saga prefecture has taken the lead inutilizing CALL in all of its public schools (2018, p.20). The
Saga Board of Education has been promoting the use of
CALL in response to MEXT’s The Vision for ICT in
Education, providing public school students with tablet
PCs. To be precise, the ratio of tablet PCs per student in
Saga is higher than any other prefecture in Japan. That is,
Saga prefecture has an access rate of 1.8 students percomputer while 5.6 students per computer is the national

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

75

average (Yoshioka, p.20). Also, electronic blackboards

The main research questions addressed here are: 1) Do

are set in all the classrooms and a high rate of wirelessuniversity language teachers use CALL more than

LAN maintenance has been realized. A survey by MEXT

teachers working at the secondary level? 2) Do Japanese

conducted in a public junior high school in Saga

teachers of English use CALL more than non-Japanese

prefecture proves the attempt to increase CALL inteachers? 3) Do teachers working in public schools use

education has been successful. The survey results

CALL more than private school teachers?

indicate that 87% of the students at the junior high school
answered“Englishbecameeasierandmore

Methods

understandable” by using CALL (2013, p.21).

A 15-question Google Forms survey consisting of Likert
Considering the fact that, among prefectures, there is ascale items, yes-no questions, and short answer

remarkable difference in CALL availability between

responses was sent out to teachers at the secondary andschools and teachers’ ability to utilize CALL, the Saga

tertiary levels. Questions were written with the intent ofmodel can be held as an example for other prefectures incollecting information on participants’ teaching context,

Japan. Rectifying such disparities between prefectures

career length, age, and CALL usage habits for theand between schools within a given prefecture are

purpose of finding a relationship between CALL usage

priorities for the Japanese government, as MEXT thinks it

and any other variables. In addition, when participants

is important to “redress regional disparities” (p.32), in part

indicated that they did not use CALL, short answer spaces

through increased CALL usage as in Saga.

were made available to them so that they could fully
articulate their reasons for not using CALL. These shortSome of the hesitation towards using CALL which wasalluded to by Omoto extends towards concerns over how
the language learners themselves will adjust, or not, to anincreased rate of CALL usage. The Vision, while
advocating increased knowledge for teachers, also
cautions that children must be given “information morals”
lessons so that they can become responsible users oftechnology both inside and outside of the classroom while
being protected against content available on the Internet
which is not suitable for children (p. 7). MEXT believes
that such moral lessons, which are already commonplacein Japanese school curriculum, will help learners “how tobehave properly in [an] information society” (ibid).
Concerns over childrens’ Internet use in schools also
extends to traditional problems already found in society notably, bullying. MEXT reports that “more and more

answers helped give the researchers an insight into theparticipants’ approach in the classroom. Questions about
nationality, age, or teaching career (which could be used
to extrapolate age) were asked at the end of thequestionnaire so that participants would not feel selfconscious about volunteering such information. Even
though the information gathered in this survey was used
only for research purposes, asking questions about age
can potentially be distasteful to some people. The
researchers decided the best way of ascertaining whether
survey participants were Japanese or non-Japanese
would be to ask if the participant is a native Japanese
speaker. Participants who responded “yes” were counted
as Japanese for the purpose of this survey while
participants who responded “no” were counted as nonJapanese.

children come to use the Internet through highly functional
mobile phones, causing new problems concerning

Questions were first written in English and translated into

defamation and bullying on the Internet, as well as crimes

Japanese by a native Japanese speaker. Due to timeand illegal and/or harmful information on the Internet” (p.

constraints, the researchers were not able to complete a10). Other problems, such as the spread of false

backwards translation of the survey. Some survey terms,

information, such as during the Great East Japansuch as “homework” andEarthquake in 2011, as well as cheating via transmission

intentionally left vague so as to give survey respondents

of test questions by mobile phone, have also been

the flexibility to answer the questions how they best saw

identified by MEXT. However, it is important to note that

fit. In other words, if the researchers were to ask asuch problems are not strictly limited to Japan.

question such as “Do your students currently use a tablet

Cyberbullying and the spread of false information areor PC to write essays at home?” with the intention offound in many countries worldwide.

asking about homework assignments, a teacher who does“class activities”, were

The 2019 PanSIG Journal76

not assign essays as homework could potentially answer

Amongst all participants, 43 were teachers working at“no” even if said teacher assigns other homework, such

either 2- or 4-year institutions, while teachers working in

as watching a YouTube video for listening practice. Thus,

secondary schools accounted

in this survey, what constitutes “homework” and “class

Coincidentally, there were an equal number of Japaneseactivities” is left up to each individual teacher whoand non-Japanese participants - 36 each.

for 29participants.

responds to the survey, although through the researchers’
own classroom experience, “homework” is any graded or
ungraded assignment which is expected to be completed
outside of class meeting times, while “class activities” areany exercises or guided activities undertaken during class

Tables 2 and 3 answer the main research questions
undertaken here. Survey results indicate that nonJapanese teachers, university teachers, and teachers
working in private schools use CALL, as defined by thesurvey, at higher rates for classwork and homework

meeting times.

compared to Japanese teachers, teachers working in
The recipients of the survey were selected from thesecondary schools, and teachers working in publicresearchers’ professional networks. Individual teachersschools, respectively. Some of the results showed double

and administrators at institutions in which the researchers

or more the amount of CALL users and non-users

had previously been employed were contacted and the

between the compared groups. For example, only fivesurvey was sent via email link. Other recipients of theJapanese teachers who responded to the survey said thatsurvey included teachers and researchers whom thethey have students use smartphones for classwork, while

researchers had met in professional settings, such as

18 NJTEs – more than triple the amount of JTEs – gave

conferences and professional development events.

the same answer. However, these numbers only

Recipients of the survey were instructed to forward therepresent CALL users – that is, survey participants who

survey to others in their department and other teachers

responded “yes” to the question of whether or not they use

who might be able to participate.

CALL in any capacity - and non-users as individual users
or percentages and the significance of these numbers

Survey responses were collected between July 11th andcannot be represented with simple percentages.

August 30th, 2018.
A t test conducted on the amount of CALL users produced
the results in table 4. Using a standard value of p<0.05 to

Results

determine statistical significance between groups, theA total of 72 responses to the survey were collected. Table

results indicate that there was a significant difference in

1 shows the participant breakdown in further detail.

the rate of CALL usage between Japanese/non-Japanese

Table 1
Summary of Participant Teaching Context
JuniorSeniorJunior/Senior
High
High
High School*
SchoolSchool

2-YearUniversity

4-YearUniversity**

PublicSchool(alllevels)PrivateSchool(alllevels)All
participants
14
8
7
1
42
44
28
(n=72)
Japanese
7
5
5
1
18
20
16
(n=36)
NonJapanese
7
3
2
24
24
12
(n=36)*Junior high school, senior high school, and junior/senior high school will hereafter be grouped together as“Secondary”**2-year and 4-year university teachers will hereafter be grouped together as “University”

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

77

Table 2
CALL Usage for Classwork
SmartphonesN– Yes
Japanese
36
5
Non36
18
Japanese
University
43
23
Secondary 29
Public44
11
Private28
12

Table 3
CALL Usage for Homework
SmartphonesN– Yes
Japanese
36
8
Non36
15
Japanese
University
43
21
Secondary 29
2
Public44
10
Private
28
13

%
13.8
50
53.4
25
42.8

%
22.2
41.6
48.8
6.8
22.7
46.4

Smartphones
– No
31
18
20
29
33
16

22
27
34
15

Table 4t Test of CALL Users in Research Question
Smartphones –PC/Tablet –Classwork
Classwork
Japanese
5
4
NonJapanese
18
25
University
23
21
Secondary
8
Public11
15
Private12
16

PC/Tablet
– Yes
4
25

46.5
100
75
57.1

Smartphones
– No
28
21

%
86.1
50

%
77.7
58.3

21
8
15
16

PC/Tablet
– Yes
12
22

51.1
91.3
77.2
53.5

28
6
19
15

%
11.1
69.4

PC/Tablet
– No
32
11

48.8
27.5
34.0
57.1

%
33.3
61.1

22
21
29
14

PC/Tablet
- No
24
14

65.1
20.6
43.1
53.5

%
88.8
30.5
51.1
72.4
65.9
50

%
66.6
38.8

15
23
25
13

34.8
79.3
56.8
46.2

Smartphones –Homework
8

PC/Tablet –Homework
12

P
value

15
21
2
10
13

22
28
6
19
15

0.00410.00020.9152teachers and between teachers working at universities

use CALL, the amount of “yes” answers were similar incompared to teachers working at the secondary level. The

each category.

t test gave a p value of 0.9125 when comparing thenumber of users at public to private institutions, meaning
there was no significant difference between those twogroups in terms of CALL usage. Although there weresome differences in the amount of public and private
school teachers who answered “no” when asked if they

Given the large discrepancy of CALL usage between
Japanese and non-Japanese teachers, the researchers
further analyzed the results of the initial survey. Tables 5
and 6 give t test results of Japanese and non-Japaneseparticipants in five categories – overall, university,
secondary, public, and private. Participants assessed the

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

78

Table 5
Perceived Usefulness of CALL for Classwork*
N
Mean
SD
P value
Japanese (all)
36
2.94
1.60
Non-Japanese (all)
36
4.03
1.21
0.0018
University (Japanese)
19
2.84
1.64
University (Non-Japanese)
24
4.04
1.27
0.0099Secondary (Japanese)
17
3.47
1.46
Secondary (Non-Japanese)
12
3.50
1.57
0.9591
Public (Japanese)
20
3.85
1.04
Public (Non-Japanese)
24
3.46
1.50
0.3305
Private (Japanese)
16
2.56
1.86
Private (Non-Japanese)
12
4.25
1.14
0.0102*5-point Likert scale: 1 – No change/I don’t know, 2 – Harmful, 3 – Not Helpful, 4 – Helpful, 5 – Very
Helpful

usefulness of CALL for classwork and homework using astatistically significant level compared to Japanese

5 point Likert scale.

teachers in the same group. In the following section, theresearchers will discuss possible explanations for the

Using a standard value of p<0.05, the t test indicated that
there were some significant differences in opinion about
CALL usage in some cases, but not in others. Notably,

difference in CALL usage in spite of comparable levels ofperceived

CALL

usefulness

betweenthegroupsdescribed in this study.

there was no significant difference in attitudes towards
CALL usage for classwork between Japanese and nonJapanese teachers at the secondary level and for

Discussion

teachers at public schools, while for homework, there was

We received some responses from teachers who areno significant difference between Japanese and non-skeptical about the usage of CALL in language learning.

Japanese teachers at the university level and at public

To the question “How helpful do you think it is to use aschools. In the 10 t tests that were conducted in Tables 5

smartphone, tablet, or PC for class activities for language

and 6, there was a significant difference in only six ofacquisition?”, there were teachers who answered “No

those comparisons.

change”, or “I don’t know”. Some of those teachers
believe that there are many issues with using student held

What conclusions can be drawn from this data? The data
seems to suggest that while the level of institution plays
some role in CALL usage, as in the case of university or
secondary schools, it does not make a difference in othercases, as in public or private schools. Meanwhile, eventhough there is a significant difference between Japaneseand non-Japanese teachers in terms of CALL usage for
either classwork or homework, a close examination ofperceived usefulness for either classwork or homework
does not show a dominant trend favoring either group.
That is to say, it is not always the case that non-Japanese

devices in the classroom such as distraction (receivingsocial media messages during class and using otherfunctions of the smartphones unrelated to the classcontent), and a lack of face to face interaction with othersin the class. One teacher points out that even thoughstudents’ learning motivation can be raised temporarily byusing CALL, other conventional methods or devices cando the same for a short time. They continue that students’learning ability is ultimately developed and depends ontheir own will to learn and teaching methods don’t matter.
Other teachers think there are more disadvantages thanteachers in each category have more favorable views at a

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

79their personal interests, laying aside their homework towatch videos or play games.

Table 6Perceived Usefulness of CALL for Homework
P
N
Mean
SD
value
Japanese
36
3.19
1.56
(all)
NonJapanese36
3.94
1.43 0.0375(all)University(Japanese
19
3.37
1.50
)
University(Non24
3.83
1.55 0.3227
Japanese)
Secondary
17
3.00
1.66
(Japanese)
Secondary(Non124.25
1.14 0.0323
Japanese)
Public20
3.40
1.47(Japanese)
Public (Non24
3.83
1.55 0.3459
Japanese)
Private
16
2.94
1.69
(Japanese)
Private(Non124.25
1.14 0.0286
Japanese)

The misgivings and concerns over CALL usage,
mentioned by Omoto and MEXT, may in part be a functionof how technology in schools was introduced by theJapanese government itself in the past. Funamori (2017)
explains that technology introduction at schools has beenaccompanied at all times by a “light and dark side”
explanation of what is possible with technology (p. 46).
Toyofuku (2015, as cited by Funamori) identified some ofthe precautions about technology which were instilled inchildren through the education system, such as the ideathat technology can be addictive and lead to poor healthin children. While not incorrect, Funamori goes on to
identify how such beliefs about the “dark side” oftechnology lead to decreased technology usage - not just
CALL - in all aspects of scholastic life: “forbidding students
to bring mobile phones to school” and “[preventing] theuse of e-mail for communication between the school andparents and [restricting] communication between students
and parents via electronic devices” (p. 47). These beliefs
and practices, introduced through the Japanese school
system at an impressionable age, may be one explanationof the large CALL usage gap identified through the current
research. However, other possible explanations, found inother teaching contexts and also specifically within Japan,
can be found in other literature on this topic.

Barriers to CALL usage
Maftoon and Shahini (2012) carried out research on agroup of 70 Iranian teachers of English with the goal ofadvantages in using CALL in the classroom. Technicalidentifying factors which discouraged CALL usage withinproblems accessing a web site or WiFi issues in thethat group. The factors identified by the researchers wereclassroom are among the concerns raised by teachers.

a lack of facilities, administrative support, and time, as well

As for the question “How helpful do you think it is to use asmartphone, tablet, or PC for homework for language

as “perceived ease of use”, low mastery, others’ attitude,
and perceived usefulness (p. 23).

acquisition?”, skeptical teachers who answered “No

The responses by skeptical teachers in our research alignchange”, “I don’t know” or “Harmful”suggested that CALL

with the findings of Maftoon and Shahini. Depending on

usage would be better for larger, more cultural

the teaching context, some or all of these factors are

assignments or research and would most likely lead toalready in play before the teacher begins to make his orover-reliance when used for normal daily homework.

her curriculum. For example, many public secondary

Other teachers are afraid that some students would use

schools lack the facilities and resources that many private

technologies for other purposes besides homework if they

institutions can provide for students. In addition, manyare equipped with devices for communication such as

secondary-level

LINE or social media networks. They also point out

extracurricular activities which decrease the amount ofstudents tend to indulge in other activities triggered bytime they may spend on CALL training and education.

teachers

areburdened

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

with

80

Secondary

student

converted into CALL users. At that point, the much larger

smartphone use, either outright banning all smartphones

schoolsoften

strictly

controlquestion is “How does a non-user become a user ofon campus or only allowing them to be brought to school

CALL?” to which we currently have no satisfactory answer.

but not used for any purpose, even in the classroom.
While universities have more resources, like CALL
classrooms, campus-wide wifi, and laxer rules about
smartphone or PC usage in class. However, such factors
still do not explain the usage gap between NJTEs andJTEs. Our current hypothesis is that professional
development opportunities pursued by the communities
sampled in this survey can provide the clearest reason for

Limitations
One of the limitations of this study is that the sample size
is not truly random. Because the participants are people
that the researchers know, work with, or worked with in
the past, the results will be biased and not truly
representative of the teaching population as a whole. For
example, one of the researchers was previously an ALT
at a junior high school, and observed firsthand that most

why NJTEs and JTEs use CALL at a higher rate.

teachers did not use CALL. Asking the teachers at that

JALT and JACET participation

school to participate in the survey would produce results

JALT and JACET, two of the largest professionalthat would yield more non-users because of thedevelopment organizations for language teachers living

researcher’s knowledge that CALL is not used at thatand working in Japan, both have special interest groups

school. Future research on this topic should adopt a wider(SIGs) dedicated to CALL. JALT specifically has two

approach to get a truly random sampling of teachers. Ingroups - the CALL SIG and the MAVR (mixed, augmented,

addition, because this survey was created and distributedand virtual reality) SIG. The CALL SIG has 256 members,

via Google Forms, it could ironically be the case thatof whom 44 identify as Japanese and 212 identify as non-people who are uncomfortable using technology wereJapanese. The MAVR SIG, meanwhile, has 25 members,

unable or unwilling to participate in this survey and further

all of whom identify as non-Japanese (Kobayashi, 2019).

research in this area might be better served by distributing

JACET has a single CALL group, called “CALL_Hokkaido”,

via traditional means. Finally, this survey did not collectwhich has 5 members who all identify as Japanese,

informationaccording to a JACET officer (Ueno, 2019). Furthermore,

research by Alshumaimeri (2008) in Saudi Arabia

JACET is typically seen as the professional development

indicated “a greater percentage of female than malegroup with a larger proportion of its members made up ofteachers held more positive overall attitudes towards

Japanese people, while JALT is the opposite - its

technology in the classroom”, but there were no major

membership is made up of more non-Japanese teachers.

differences between males and females in terms of “useabout

respondents’gender.

Previousof computer labs at the school” (p. 41). The researchers
While some barriers to CALL usage, like facilities or others’
attitudes, cannot be remedied by more professional
development on the part of the individual teacher, otherbarriers (perceived ease of use or usefulness) could
potentially be

remediedbymoreof this study chose not to research gender and CALL
usage and instead focused on other demographic factors
which are more significant in the Japanese teachingcontext.

involvement in

professional development groups like JALT or JACET.
Other professional development groups for teachers in

References

Japan do exist, but very few if any are focused solely on

Alshumaimeri, Y. A. (2008). Perceptions and Attitudes
toward Using CALL in English Classrooms
among Saudi Secondary EFL Teachers. The
JALT CALL Journal, 4(2), 29-42.

CALL

or

have

any

CALL-centeredgroups.

The

combination of skeptical teacher responses gathered fromthis survey and the stark difference in membershipnumbers between Japanese people and non-Japanesepeople in CALL groups give the impression that CALL
professional development groups are places where
peoplewhoarealready

convinced

of

CALL’seffectiveness and/or ease of use gather and discuss
instead of being places where non-CALL users go to be

Albirini, A. (2006). Teachers’ attitudes toward
informationand communication technologies: The caseof Syrian EFL teachers. Computers &Education,41(4), 373-398.
Beatty, K. (2003). Teaching and researchingcomputer-assisted language learning. New
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The 2019 PanSIG Journal

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Cotton, Carol. (1995). Technology-mediated learning:
Are we there yet? Syllabus Magazine, 8, 9: 2627.
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Toward the Creation of a Learning System andSchools Suitable for the 21st Century (pp. 140).
Mustafina, A. (2016). Teachers’ Attitudes toward
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Research in Education and Science(IJRES),2(2), 322-332.
Omoto, Y., Fukai, M., & Schneider, K. K. (2005).
Survey on the Use of Computers and theInternet in Japanese Classes in the UnitedStates. Japanese Language Education
Around the Globe,15, 153-173.
Saga Prefectural Board of Education. (2013). Saga
Ken ga susumeru “senshinteki ICT rikatsuyo
kyouiku suishin jigyo” no torikumi joukyo togakushuuyo pasokon dounyuu no haikei (Vol.
3). [Saga Prefectural Development of“Advanced ICT-utilized Education Plan” andthe Background of the Introduction of thepersonal computers for Learning (Vol.
3)]. Saga Prefectural Board of Education.
Toyofuku, S. (2015). Use of ICT in Primary andSecondary Education: 1. Why ICT Use inJapanese Schools is Retarded—From Policy
Conversion to Learner-centered Use of ICT.
JPSJ Magazine “Joho Shori,”56, 316–321.
Retrieved
from: https://www.ipsj.or.jp/magazine/9faeag
000000jvu7-att/5604-01.pdf
Ueno, Y. (2019, January 10). Personal email.

Maftoon, P., & Shahini, A. (2012). CALL normalization:
A survey on inhibitive factors. The JALTCALL Journal,8(1), 17-32.

Yoshioka, R. (2018). Kyouin yousei katei tou ni okeru
ICT katsuyou shidouryoku no ikusei notameno chousa kenkyuu.

MEXT. (2011). The Vision for ICT in Education –Author biographies
The authors of this paper are affiliated to the University of Shiga prefacture.

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Appendix A - Survey Questions
1. What is your teaching environment?
どの教育機関で指導されていますか。
2. Do you teach in a public or private school?
公立と私立のどちらで指導されていますか。
3. What grade level do you teach? Check all that apply.
どの学年を指導されていますか。複数回答可。
4. Do you own a smartphone?
スマートフォンを持っていらっしゃいますか。
5. Do your students currently use smartphones to do any class activities?
現在、授業で生徒たちにスマートフォンを使用させていますか。
6. Do your students currently use a tablet or PC to do any class activities?
現在、授業で生徒たちにタブレットやパソコンを使用させていますか。
7. Do your students currently use a smartphone for any homework assignments?
宿題や課題をさせる際、現在生徒たちにスマートフォンを使用させていますか。
8. Do your students currently use a tablet or PC for any homework assignments?
宿題や課題をさせる際、現在生徒たちにタブレットやパソコンを使用させていますか。
9. How helpful do you think it is to use a smartphone, tablet, or PC for class activities for language acquisition?
授業でスマートフォンやタブレット、パソコンを使用することは、言語習得に役立つと思いますか。
10. If you answered "no change", "I don't know", "not helpful", or "harmful" to the previous question, please explain why.
(Japanese or English)
前の質問に「変わらない、または、わからない」「役に立たない」「悪影響がある」と答えた方は、 その理由をお答え下さい。（記述は日本語で構いません）
11. How helpful do you think it is to use a smartphone, tablet, or PC for homework for language acquisition?
宿題でスマートフォンやタブレット、パソコンを使用することは、言語習得に役立つと思いますか。
12. If you answered "no change", "I don't know", "not helpful", or "harmful" to the previous question, please explain why.
(Japanese or English)
質問に「変わらない、または、わからない」「役に立たない」「悪影響がある」と答えた方は、 その理由をお答え下さい。（記述は日本語で構いません）
13. How long have you been teaching?
ご自身の 指導経験年数をお答え下さい。
14. How old are you?
ご年齢をお答えください。
15. Are you a native Japanese speaker?
日本人（日本語を母国語としている）ですか。

The 2019 PanSIG Journal83

10 Homestay Preparation Workshop Activities for Low/Intermediate
Level Students
Robert Dykes
Jin-ai University

Richard Eccleston
University of Fukui
Some language learners who travel abroad to countries where their L2 is the native language may havenever traveled before, may not be at a high-level in their L2, and/or have never used it in a practical,
natural, or colloquial setting. This paper will cover several activities for study abroad or homestay
preparation workshops targeted at such learners. One activity has students use their existing L2 ability
and non-verbal communication methods, bolstering their ability to fill or maneuver around gaps in their L2
knowledge. Students who have not traveled much are often unaware of the uniqueness and attractions of
their own home life and culture. Using a personalized travel journal, they can present and explain about
themselves, and enrich their experience abroad. Working on communication skills and their own culturalawareness can help boost confidence and motivation, and create a more rewarding experience forstudents and host families.

本稿では、英語圏での留学やホームステイの準備としてのワークショップでのアクティビティを紹介 する。まず、生徒が既に持っている英語力と非言語的コミュニケーション能力を使ったコミュニケーショ
ン・ゲームである。このゲームを通し、生徒が自身の英語力が不足している点を避け、使える英語ででき る限りを伝えることができ、生徒の自信を高めることが出来る。また、外国旅行の経験などが少ない
生徒 は、自身の日常生活や自国の生活・文化の独自さや魅力を理解していないことが多い。そこで自国の文 化的知識を高めることも重要だ。そこで、ジャーナル（日記）を作成させ、ステイ先などで学習者が自身 のことや自国の文化などを英語で説明することを可能とする。それにより、生徒は外国での経験をより楽しめるようになる。これらの活動は、学習者の自信や動機を高める効果があり、その結果、外国での経験がより有意義なものになると考えられる。

Every year, students from Japan are fortunate
enough to travel overseas for a homestay and/or study

around them who they encounter and interact with on theirtrip.

abroad program. Schools and instructors are often
allowed a limited amount of time to prepare students fortheir journey. Much of this time is generally spent on travel
preparations, which leaves even less time to prepare for
language or cultural awareness studies. Covering points
such as plane tickets, insurance, and luggage are ofcourse vital to these programs, but the language andcultural awareness studies are important to creating amore rewarding experience for the students, and thoseThrough our experience in preparing groups of junior highschool students for trips to Seattle, we have put together
a list of activities that will help maximize communication
ability, and foster self- and foreign cultural awareness.
These activities can easily be altered for length andmodified for different age groups and ability levels. First,
we will cover the background of our homestay preparation
experience, which was organized and co-sponsored by

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

84

Eiheiji town in Fukui prefecture. We will then cover our

Communication ability

main goals and aims of the project, before going into detailTime was our biggest limitation when facing theabout the activities. Lastly, we will detail issues werequest to prepare these young students for a trip to theencountered,USA. We felt that trying to increase their English

limitations

wefaced,

andfuturerecommendations.

vocabulary or grammar would not be practical or showmuch progress in such a short time. Instead, we chose tofocus on general communication ability, emphasizing the

Eiheiji town Seattle homestay program

ability to convey ideas rather than focus on improving

The activities covered in this paper were

English accuracy. We took their existing skills, vocabulary,

designed for the Eiheiji town Seattle Homestay programand grammar, and showed them how to maneuver aroundin 2017 and 2018. This was a program subsidized by

the gaps in their abilities. Based on our observations

Eiheiji town in Fukui prefecture, in order to prepare andduring the sessions, as well as the survey results after

send 15 students from three local junior high schools on atheir trips, and feedback from the accompanying

study abroad and homestay program for seven days insupervising teachers, we believe this had a secondary

Seattle, Washington, USA. We volunteered for theeffect of lowering overall anxiety, which was our second

program in 2017 to help prepare the students for their trip,

goal which is discussed below.

and were then asked back in 2018. In 2017, three
sessions with students were scheduled, totaling a little

Reduce anxiety

under nine hours (about two hours 45 minutes for each

Any traveling can be stressful and anxiety

session). In 2018, due to positive feedback from theinducing for even the most ardent of travelers. The anxiety

previous group of students and Eiheiji town, we wereof the airport and flying, traveling to a new and foreign

asked to prepare another group of students. This time,

country, and going to a place where you cannot rely on

five preparation sessions were scheduled, totaling roughly

your L1 as the main mode of communication are major

14 hours with the students. Initially, we were given very

concerns for us. For most, if not all of the students weloose instructions from the organizers, so we decided thatworked with, the above experiences where firsts for them.

our goals in preparing the students for their first homestay

In order to reduce their anxiety leading up to the trip andexperience would be: first, to increase their ability andduring the trip, we prepared various activities and lectures.

confidence in communication; second, to reduce their

Many will overlap with other preparation goals.

overall anxiety and concerns about their impending travel
abroad; and third, to increase their own culturalawareness. These three would benefit students during
their experience abroad, and could be accomplished in
the time we had available. We also wanted the program
to culminate in some form of a final presentation.
Completing presentations in English would give thestudents a sense of accomplishment at the end of thesessions, and help build their confidence in using simple
English to talk about themselves, days before they leave
Japan for their homestay experience.

Foreign language anxiety is a unique form of anxiety(Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope 1986). In order to help reduce
this, we wanted the students to understand through ouractivities that communication can still occur with gaps,
even major gaps, in language ability. We had them
practice conveying English ideas without using the actual
targetwordortopic,

using

variousformsofcommunication, such as gestures, drawing, or using other
English words they do know, to explain a word in English
they do not know or cannot remember. (Further details of
this activity will be covered in the Activities section).

Preparation goals
Our goals in preparing the students were simple
and straightforward: work on their communication ability,
reduce their foreign language and travel anxiety, and help
them become more aware of their own unique culture.

We wanted to take some of the shock out of culture shock,while still leaving plenty of the USA and Seattle toexperience first hand. We conducted brief lectures andprovided short handouts on some of the biggest culturaldifferences they could expect to experience, such as foodsize portions, tipping culture, and what to say and do whileon homestay (common American table manners, theThe 2019 PanSIG Journal85

possibility of saying grace, politely rejecting second

behind this was so that they could answer any questions

servings of food if they are full, etc.).

they may be asked about Japan and their daily lives, andbe able to explain about their home culture to their host

The students knew where Seattle and Washington werein the USA, and they knew where the USA was in theworld, but they did not know much more than that about
their destination. We provided them with more details
about Seattle, providing them with easy to read maps anda list of the main attractions there. These were
downloaded and printed from the official Seattle tourism
website.

family, enriching the experience for both themselves andtheir hosts. The two main methods to accomplish this was
through the guided creation of a travel notebook/journal,
and a communication expansion activity board game,both of which will be covered in detail later in the paper.
In the notebook, we had the students create pages about
their own lives, like a type of scrapbook. And in the board
game, we had the students talk about various aspects ofLastly, throughout the preparation activities, throughseveral brief lectures and the many activities we weaved
in topics, questions, and vocabulary they should expect totheir daily lives and home culture, as practice foranswering any potential questions they may be asked
while in the USA.

encounter at their destination. We did not focus on
increasing their overall English vocabulary, but did include
some vital travel English words in the preparation
sessions. The students probably did not realize that manyof the people they will be meeting, staying with, andencountering in the USA are going to be very excited andActivities
We devised a series of activities to meet the
preparation goals, focusing on communication, gaining
knowledge

about

their

destination,andculturalawareness, as well as basic ice-breaking activities.

interested in them and their lives back home in Japan. We
wanted to prepare the students for some possible

Ice-breaking

questions they may be asked about Japan, themselves,

Ice-breaking took the form of “human bingo”

and their lives back home. We also introduced various

games, where in one activity students had to introduce

topics they should be familiar with while travelingthemselves to everyone else in the room, and in another,overseas and to the USA, such as typical Americanask questions to find people who matched certain criteria

customs and manners, food allergies, paying and tipping,in order to complete a bingo board. Criteria were bothand other travel topics.

general (e.g., “has a pet”, “likes baseball”) and intended
to encourage students to talk with new people (e.g., “isThese anxiety reducing steps were carried out through afrom a different school”, “is not from Fukui”). Anotherfew very brief lectures, activities or handouts. Many of theactivity was “20 questions”, a simple well-known gamehandouts or vocabulary we covered were added to a
travel notebook/journal the students created during thesesessions, which they would take with them on their trip.
This notebook also acted as an anxiety reducing measure,as they could use it as a travel guide, with easy access toa paper map if they needed it, or to look up any details wecovered in sessions or helped them to write in it
specifically, such as how to explain a certain food allergy.

Increasing their own cultural awarenessFor many who travel outside their culture, andespecially with students this age, they often do not realizethat the simple and ordinary things of their culture anddaily lives are extraordinary, special, and interesting tomany of the people they will meet on their travels. Our
goal here was to increase the students’ awareness of theirthat allowed students to focus on communication. One
other communication activity done early in the sessions
was the “sentence race”. This game divided students into
teams, each with a set of sentences to find in the venue
used to hold the preparation sessions. Sentences were
cut in half, and all pieces were hidden around the venue,
such as under desks and on chairs. Students were tasked
with finding their team’s sentence pieces, memorizing thesentences and reporting them back to team members at
a white board who wrote them down and put them backinto complete sentences. The first team to correctly
complete all sentences was declared the winner.
Combined, these activities helped students get to know
others in the group, and become more comfortableworking with them.

own unique culture and background. The reasoning

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

86

Fig. 1 – Board gameCommunication board game

Layout of pieces on the floor

with the winner being the player with the most cards. In

We also created an activity we called thethis way, the pieces/cards could be re-used and adapted

communication board game (inspired by an activity foundto different communicative activities. Because of the age

in the textbook Homestay Adventures (Fuller, 2008)). We

and number of students, and because we had enoughcreated a series of 48 questions and discussion topics,

space in the venue, we chose to make this a morewhich was enough for 2 full board game setups. Our main

physical game. The size can be scaled down to a tablefocus with this activity was to prime them with questions,

top version. The questions and topics are easily scalable

answers, and topics they may encounter on their trip

to higher level students as well.

overseas. We chose areas that they may find regular,
normal, or perhaps even mundane, but are actually of

Word-guessing gameinterest to people outside of Japan. For example, “whatIn order to bolster their communication ability,

do you eat for breakfast?”, “describe your room”, “what is

we took a number of popular party games that all require

your least favorite household chore?”, and “what is yourdifferent forms of communication to convey ideas, andfavorite holiday?”.

adapted them into one single communication activity forthese students. Our goal was to have them practice the

The 48 topics and questions were printed as game pieces

concept that there are many ways to communicate theon A3 paper, and then laid out in a course on the floor tosame idea to maneuver around gaps in English ability.

create a large-scale board game (see Figure 1). Students

The first game we borrowed from was charades; a gestureformed small groups and moved from one end to the other,game where a topic, word, or idea is given and the player

answering the questions or talking about the topics somust convey the idea using only gestures of their body.

they could move forward, judged by a student assistant

The next was Pictionary. This is a word guessing game,from the university we worked for. Groups raced from one

but this time the player is only allowed to draw pictures,end to the other, adding an element of competition. This

with no words or speaking allowed. The final game wewas done twice on different days with a different set ofborrowed from is Taboo . In this game, the player is again

questions/topics. The pieces were also turned into small

given a topic, word, or idea, and they must convey this bycards for a memory game. Cards were placed face downusing any words they can without saying the word theyon the desk, and students took it in turns to turn over two

have been given. These three game ideas were combined

cards. If they matched, they needed to successfully

into one activity. The main reasoning behind this was torespond to the question/topic to be allowed to take theshow the students that the same word or idea can becards. The game proceeded until all cards were taken,

conveyed in countless different ways. Not knowing a

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

87

Fig. 2 - Word guessing gameparticular word does not mean that you cannot
communicate its meaning.

Stack A cards (description, gesture, drawing)

Student notebooks: a travel guide andjournalEach student was given a notebook to keep and

For this game we had two stacks of playing cards. Stack
A was made up of the guessing or game type, which were“drawing” (like Pictionary), “gesture” (charades), andtake with them to enhance their travel abroad experience.
This served two functions: a travel guide for Seattle andthe USA, and as a journal.

“description” (Taboo) (see Figure 2). Stack B was madeup of the vocabulary cards. The goal of this activity was

For use as a travel guide, students were given maps andnot to teach new vocabulary, but to teach communication

basic tourism information about Seattle, Washington stateskills. So, the words were chosen from the target

and the USA, and invited to talk about their expectations

vocabulary used in the New Horizon textbook (Kasajima

and where looked interesting to visit. This helped them to& Noriaki, 2016), which the students had been using at

visualize and get excited for their visit early on.

junior high school. In the game, the player will come up to
the white board or chalkboard and choose a card fromeach stack. The students were familiar with most of the
vocabulary, and in case they were not we would give them
the translation quietly. They would then attempt to convey
the word, and their team would try to guess the answers.
To add some competition to this game, we split thestudents up into teams and gave them a set time. Afterthe time limit was up, we counted up which team was able
to guess the most words.

Students in 2018 were also given basic advice for travel,
based on the problems faced by students in 2017. These
included phrases and etiquette for when eating out,
paying, and tipping. These are situations that junior highschool students in Japan with limited experience abroad
would be unfamiliar with, and be potential causes ofanxiety and problems while abroad.
By thinking about these topics before traveling, and taking
these maps and advice with them in their notebooks,
students had a small resource with them to turn to whenneeded.
As a journal, students used pages to write information
about their hometown, daily lives, and local food andtourist spots, using a mixture of images and text. This
gave students an opportunity to think about familiar topics
and how to best introduce them to someone in the USA,in the process giving them a better awareness of theuniqueness and interesting parts of their own lives andculture. These were intended to aid in communication with
their host families in the USA, to help explain their home
lives and culture, and spark conversation with whomever
they may encounter on their trip. Students were abletoFig. 3 – Board gamepractice of this in the preparation sessions by presenting
Example pieces

their pages in groups, and asking each other questions

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

88about their information, all in English. During theirphotos/images based on their chosen topics, for them tohomestay experience, they could use the remaining

choose from when making their posters.

pages as a travel journal, to record their experiences, andwrite any notes or useful words/phrases.

The next session was spent on preparation, when groups
made the posters, worked on scripts (which we asked

Journal pages were assigned as homework, with topics

students to think about for homework) and practiced.

such as their hometown and weekly schedule. Students

Each group was given a piece of A0 poster paper, awere shown simple example pages, but instructed to be

selection of photos/images we had printed, and access tocreative and use their own style and ideas to complete thepens, scissors, and glue to help make their posters.

pages. The materials used for making pages was up toeach individual to decide; pens, pencils, photographs,
cuttings from magazines, flyers,

packaging, origami

paper, scissors, and glue were all used. In the sessions
they shared their work in groups, showing a variety ofdetailed and colorful pages, which they used to help talkabout their local culture and daily lives.

Finally, after the preparation session we held the poster
presentations. They were presented in a round robin or
carousel style. In other words, if we had 6 groups total, 3
would be presenting and 3 would be listening. They
presented 3 times, and each time the audience group saw
a different presentation. Each presentation was followedby questions from the audience. This way, the presenters

Poster presentations

could get more talking time, and the audience was able to

Aside from the notebooks, the second main

be more engaged. Doing these presentations gave

activity of the preparation sessions was a poster

students a sense of accomplishment at the end of thepresentation. Students worked in groups to discuss andworkshop, and helped build their confidence in using

decide topics, delegate responsibilities, write a script andsimple English to talk about themselves days before they

prepare a poster, to make a presentation during the final

left Japan for their homestay experience.

session. The purpose of completing poster presentations
in English was to build their cultural awareness, by

Adaptability

practicing introducing their own culture. The practice ofgiving a group presentation was also a valuable

All of the above activities, from the games to theexperience. Topics were focused on aspects of Japan andnotebooks and poster presentations, can be adapted forJapanese culture, as a way to build their own culturaluse in other teaching contexts. While we used these forawareness, and give them practice of using English to

junior high school students, vocabulary and questions

introduce their own culture. In order to save time, we

could easily be adjusted to suit higher or even lower level

presented the students with some topic ideas, which

students. Similarly, while the goal of this project was

included sightseeing, food, and festivals/holidays (which

preparation for travel abroad, the content could be

could each apply to Japan, Fukui prefecture, or Eiheiji

adapted for other purposes. For example, questionstown), their school life, and their hobbies. Some students

based on students’ majors (engineering or medicine, for

did extra research about their topic (Japanese festivals,

instance). These activities could also be made morefor example), giving them the opportunity to learn moregeneralized with additional topics (not only focusing on

about their own culture in the process.

travel abroad) for more general communication courses.
Furthermore, while these activities were often lively andFirst, we asked groups to choose a topic, and then gave

loud, there is potential to adapt them to be quieter, thoughthem time to brainstorm all their ideas about the topic theyequally as engaging (using board game tiles for a memory

chose and write down whatever they thought of. After theycard game, for example). Whatever the context you teachhad a lot of ideas written down, we then helped themin, and level of students, the above activities could benarrow down and focus even further. For example, “Fukui

useful, or be the starting point for new activities that you

prefecture” would be narrowed down to “Places to visit increate.

Fukui”; “Eiheiji town” would be narrowed down to “Eiheiji
town foods”. In order to make things easier for the
students, time wise and logistically, we found and printed

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

89

enhance their homestay experience before, during, andConclusion

after.

Results and limitations
One of the most surprising results was that after

Future recommendations
A final survey was given to the students by thethe 2017 group got back, we were informed that the poster
Seattle.

trip organizers. However, because we were the ones

Unbeknownst to us, the organizers of the trip liked the

preparing the students, we would have preferred to makestudents’ presentations of Japan, Fukui, and Eiheiji so

the survey ourselves, or at least have the opportunity tomuch they had folded up the posters, brought them togive input on its creation. The surveys contained very little

Seattle, and had the students present them again there atabout their homestay experience. Homestay experiences

a local junior high school. This was never the intention of

are one of the most unpredictable, and more detailed

the poster project, but it was a welcomed outcome. The

information about their homestays would be invaluable for

only issue from this was that the organizers liked it so

preparing future students for possibilities. Could they use

much, the following year they asked if we could do

the family’s wi-fi? Did they have to do chores like cleaning

something easier to take with them, like PowerPoint

the dishes after dinner? Was there a bedtime or family TV

presentations. For our situation, this was not a realistic

time? We were left in the dark as to these sort of details,

endeavor due to time and other logistical concerns. We

and could only prepare the students for what could occur

did not have ready access to a PC lab, and we did not(saying grace at dinner, for example). We also feel thatknow the students’ PC or PowerPoint proficiency, andboth a before and after survey are vital in order to get awould not have time to teach them. We also felt that thebetter understanding of the students’ expectations of thegroup work, brainstorming, and making of the posters wastrip before they leave, and see if those expectations werein itself an integral aspect of the preparation of themet or how they differed. A before survey would help us

students. Neither of us have witnessed that same level ofplan future sessions based on the students’ needs, as

critical thinking and group work with our older university

opposed to our perception of their needs. We also wanted

students when they have PowerPoint presentation

to add some form of feedback about the preparation

assignments.

sessions from students. Did they want more or less ofpresentations

were

a

huge

successincertain activities, games, and projects? Did they even feel
During the 2017 session, we provided handouts and brief

more prepared for their trip? Finally, our last future

lectures on American food and eating in the US. We

recommendation would be to add role-play to thereceived feedback from the 2017 session that some of the

preparation sessions in the form of ordering out at a fast

students encountered the most trouble when eating out infood or coffee shop. Unfortunately, due to the ratio of

the USA. They had trouble paying at the register or

instructors to students and the time allowed, we did notunderstanding how much their total was when buying food.

feel this was possible for these preparation sessions.

We addressed this in 2018 with more precise handouts
and brief lectures on eating out, paying and tipping,

Ultimately, these preparation sessions were successful,manners and etiquette. With more time, we would like toand a great experience for all involved, and we hope thedo more to reinforce the advice and information given,

ideas in this paper will be useful for other teachers insuch as with role-play activities.

preparing their students for travel abroad.

As a result of the homestay preparation sessions,

References

students could have an idea of where they were going(Seattle), and what to expect in the US and duringhomestay. We could not prepare them for every possible

Fuller,D.

(2008).

Homestay

Adventures.

Tokyo:

Macmillan Language House.

eventuality, but they had a basic idea of some things to
expect and how to cope with any communication issues.
Students had practice of introducing themselves, andtalking about their home life to spark conversation with

Horwitz E., Horwitz M., and Cope J. (1986). “Foreign
language classroom anxiety,” The Modern Language
Journal, 70(2), pp. 125-132.

homestay families, and had a travel guide and journal, to

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

90

Kasajima, J., and Noriaki S. (2016). New Horizon
English Course 1. Tokyo Shoseki.

Author biographies
Robert Dykes has been living and teaching English in Japan for over a decade. His main research focus is language
learner motivation and anxiety, but he has presented on many topics such as CMC, grammar, and quantitative research
design. Rdykes.jalt@gmail.com
Richard Eccleston teaches English at the University of Fukui, focussing on communication, as well as presentations,reading and writing, and medical English. richarde@u-fukui.ac.jp

The 2019 PanSIG Journal91

11 Target Vocabulary Building and Movies
Julian David Foster
Fukuoka Dental College
Most listening tasks involving movies and other various audio material target lexical material central
to the semantic content of movies (see Takase & Parkinson, 2015). Some studies (see Van Patten,2015) suggest this focus on key lexical material such as nouns, verbs and adjectives is justified
because it is most apparent and the earliest second language (L2) material to be absorbed. But whatof the lexical material further down the hierarchy of L2 vocabulary acquisition such as pronouns,
auxiliary verbs, modals and referring words? This ongoing research seeks to determine theeffectiveness of using movies for target vocabulary acquisition and if the noticing of these elements
increases students’ understanding of movies and videos. Students’ awareness of the target vocabulary
was measured using before and after tests. Preliminary results indicate students’ awareness of thetarget vocabulary improved along with a better understanding of spoken language in movies.

映画の音声データを含むリスニング課題のほとんどは、映画の意味に関する内容を中心とした語彙を対象としている（高瀬とパーキンソン２０１５を参照）。中には、名詞、動詞、形容詞などの重要な語彙への注目は正しいとする研究（ヴァン パターン２０１５を参照）もある。それは最も明白で、吸収され易い最初の第二言語の語彙だからである。しかし、第二言語習得において、階層がさらに低い代名詞、助動詞、法助動詞、指示語等の語彙はどうだろう？この進行中の研究は、これらの目標語彙習得の為に映画を使うことの有効性と、目標語彙に気づくことで学生の映画とビデオの理解力が増すかどうかを明らかにしようと努めている。学生の目標語彙の意識は授業の前後のテストを使って測られた。暫定的な結果は、映画の中で話される言葉の理解の深まりと共に、目標語彙に対する学生の意識が向上した事を示している。

Many researchers have shown that movies can provide ajustified because it is the most apparent and the first L2

more effective second language (L2) learning tool thanmaterial to be noticed and absorbed.

textbooks and various audio recordings (see Bray 2019,
Donaghy 2017, Harmer 2012, Lee & Park 2017). The
reasons for this include visual context references andparalinguistic behavior such as body language and thefacial expressions of actors (see Harmer 2012, 308). Most
listening tasks involving movies and audio material focus
on lexical material that is primarily related to the semantic
content (see Takase & Parkinson, 2015). For example,
many information gap activities require students to listen
for thecharacters’ names, places, activities andadjectives that link directly to plot devices and a better
understanding of the characters and stories. Somestudies (see Van Patten, 2015) suggest this focus on key
semantic material such as nouns, verbs and adjectives isThis study seeks to challenge this pedagogical norm bytesting the efficacy of focusing on the lexical elements oflanguage further down the hierarchy of language
acquisition rather than the more typical semantic content.
Furthermore, it seeks to determine whether such a lexical
focus can actually improve students’ understanding of the
spoken language in movies and videos. These parts oflanguage include subject and object pronouns, referringwords, tense markers, auxiliary verbs and contractions
involving auxiliary verbs as they occur in common speech
patterns. While semantic elements as well as thecomments and personalities of characters are frequently
discussed with students, the gap fill exercises focus on

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92

these lexical elements as they occur in everyday spoken

These results may indicate a positive attitude towards

language.

some well known English speaking actors and perhaps
some cultural aspects of English speaking countries

As English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers are no
doubt aware, understanding L2 material in videos andmovies can be a taxing experience for low EFL proficiency
students,

especially

for

those

without

adequate

scaffolding. Research indicates that students use theirlimited L2 resources to understand meaning rather thanform (see Skehan 2002, Lightbrown & Spada 2013). This
study

seeks

to

determineifindeedstudents’comprehension of English as spoken in movies, videos
and by extension, L2 dialogue in general can bealthough the prevalence of Japanese dubbing may
indicate a reluctance to deal with the language. There
were no specific questions regarding these issues so thisis largely speculation and perhaps this could be examinedin more detail in further research. However, the students
were also asked questions about their English proficiency
and their attitudes to English more generally. Only 22% of
the students said they liked English while 64% stated thatthey didn’t. No students in the group had achieved Eiken
Grade 3 or equivalent.

enhanced by trying to get these elements of language atleast noticed.

The students in this group were given the same reading
and listening tests at the start and end of the semester.
Both tests examined students’ knowledge, awareness

Methods

and use of grammatical elements of language such as

A study was conducted involving 21 Year 1 Dental

pronouns, auxiliary verbs, contractions, referring words

Nursing students at the Fukuoka College of Health
Sciences in the first semester of 2018. The group were
given material focusing on lexical elements of language

and homonyms incorporating auxiliary verbs. The tests
involved watching a short scene from early in Beauty andthe Beast and included two parts. The first section was a

as mentioned above using selected clips from the movie

standard gap

Beauty and the Beast (Walt Disney Pictures andgrammatical lexicon as mentioned above.

fill type exercise

focusing on

theMandeville Films, 2017). According to Bray (2019),
students generally react favorably to movies in the EFL

Table 1: Beauty and the Beast listening task

classroom and the students involved in this study weresurveyed to confirm this. They were also asked questions

GASTON:

futureregarding if and how they watched English language

watched English language movies and videos while 68%
said they were interested in watching them. Meanwhile,
42% of the students said they watched English language
movies and videos with Japanese dubbing while anotherBelleis the most

makes (4) her the best.
LE FOU:

they could understand.
The pretest results showed that 72% of the students

wife.

beautiful girl in the village. (3) thatmovies and videos. In particular, did they watch them with
subtitles or dubbing and how much of the English dialogue

Look at (1) her , Le Fou. (2) myBut (5) she’s so ….. well read and(6) you’re so ….athletically inclined.

GASTON:

(7)

I

know.

Belle

can

be

as

argumentative as (8) she’s beautiful.
LE FOU:

Exactly! Who needs (9) her when
you’ve got (10) us?

GASTON:

Yes. Ever since the war I felt like I’ve
been missing something. (11) She’s

37% said that they listened to the English dialogue while

the only girl that gives me that sense

reading the Japanese subtitles. Only one student in theof …

group watched English language movies while listening to

LE FOU:Je ne sais quoi?

the English soundtrack and reading English subtitles. Of

GASTON:I don’t know what (12) that means.

those students who listened to the English language
soundtrack, five students said they could understand alittle while one student could not understand any English

In the gap fill exercise, the italicized words were of course

at all. It should be acknowledged here that this data is

missing in the students’ worksheets. Where requested,obtained through self reporting so only carries anecdotal

sections of the scene are played again until all the gaps

value.

were filled. Once completed, the test papers were

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93

collected and students were then given copies of the

between Belle and The Beast in which they discuss

complete scripts for the same scene and a series of

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

questions. In this second part of the test, each question
asked the students to identify what each word in italics
refers to. During this part of the test, the same scene wasviewed again, pausing and repeating as requested by thestudents to give them opportunities to use the visualcontext references and paralinguistic behavior to aid

Table 3: Listening exercise for referring words andgrammatical elements of language
Belle(1) You know Shakespeare?

Beast(2) I had an expensive education.

Belle

Actually, Romeo and Juliet is (3) myunderstanding of the spoken language. The answers infavorite play.

the second part of the test are of course the semantic

Beast

Why did (4) that not surprise (5) me ?

vocabulary which is the usual focus of teaching material

Belle

I’m sorry?

used with movies. The students scored 73.1% in the

Beast

All that heartache and pining. So many

listening section and 37.1% in the reading section.

better things to read.

As a comparison, Table 2 shows an example of a typicallistening task which is used with movies and audio

Belle

Like what?

Beast

Well, there are a couple of things (6) inhere you could start with. (7) You allmaterial from a textbook.

right?

Table 2: Exercise for semantic content

Belle(8) It’s wonderful.

BeastYes. I suppose (9) it is.

Conversation: Listen to the conversation. Fill in theblanks.
Jenny:Can I ask a question?

Some parts of this movie are of better use for studying thisShota

Of course.

type of lexical material than others depending on the

Jenny:

What’s (1) ______________

dialogue in each scene. Some of the referring words such

Shota

It’s a kind of (2) ______________

as I and you may seem self evident to native (L1)

Jenny

Really? When do you (3)speakers and even some L2 students but they were______________

included to help establish the habit of noticing easy(4) ______________

pronouns and noticing the people and things they refer to.

Shota

Students commented that personal pronouns were easier(1) natto

kabukia happi

to grasp than other pronouns such as it, this and that.

(2) food

traditional theatre jacket

These often refer to actions and concepts which are used

(3) eat itwatch itwear itearlier and not always apparent or visible in the video.

(4) Mainly at breakfast All year round At festivals

There appears to be a hierarchy of L2 understanding
when using EFL referring words starting with direct
subject personal pronouns followed by object pronouns
The focus of this exercise is clearly the semantic lexicon
which is used to introduce elements of Japanese culture
to English speakers. Although the speaking elements andvocabulary

are

quite

practical

andtopical,thegrammatical elements of language are fairly incidental tolanguage production. When asked by the teacher, most
students had little idea what ‘it’ in the conversation refers

such as me, her and them, possessive pronouns and later
demonstrative pronouns. This may be due to exposure in
EFL textbooks and popular songs but more research isneeded to determine the exact nature of this hierarchy
and the cause. Students in this study were given othermaterial and worksheets which also focused on thegrammatical elements of language.

to. By contrast, material given to the students in this study
focused mainly on the grammatical elements of language

Students were given translation exercises in class and forwith the semantic lexicon covered in a more covert or

homework which were aimed initially at raising awarenesssubliminal way. An example is a gap fill listening exerciseof the grammatical features of language. Once somein Table 3 from a scene later in Beauty and The Beast

awareness of features such as auxiliary and modal verbs

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94

was developed through writing and speaking practice, ita) Yes, I do. b) Yes, I am. c) Yes, you are. d) Yes,

was hoped students may be able to notice some more ofam I?

them in natural speech patterns. Students were asked to

3. Is it sunny today?

translate into English the equivalents of What is youra) Yes, it is. b) Yes, I am. c) Yes, it does. d) Yes, it

name? Where are you from? How are you? What do you

will.

do? How much is it? What do you think? Would you like

4. Do you have a car?

some tea? Did you have lunch? along with several others.

a) No, I’m not. b) No, I haven’t. c) No, it doesn’t. d)

The questions were chosen according to relevance for

No, I don’t.

use in overseas travel and include high frequency help

5. Did you watch TV last night?

questions as well as casual or small talk.

a) Yes, I do. b) Yes, you watched. c) Yes, I did. D)
Yes, I was.

Students were also given listening exercises utilizing
material from the My First Passport textbook (Buckingham& Lansford, 2013) with the focus changed from theStudents were also given pronoun exercises in class andsemantic to the grammatical lexicon and natural speech

for homework to help raise awareness of the different

patterns. Table 4 shows an example of a listening task

types and practice using them in class. Table 6 is anwith a different focus.

example of a pronoun exercise given to students.

Table 4: In class listening task

Table 6: Pronoun exercise

Kazuo

Hi. (1) My name’s Kazuo. Nice (2) toChoose from the following: I, me my, You, your, He him,

meet you.

his, She, her, They, them and theirStudent

Nice to meet (3) you too.

Student A

Excuse me. (4) Can you help (5)A: I bought a birthday present for (1) _______.

me ?

B: Wow! For (2) _______? Thank (3) _______ very much!

Student B

Sure. (6) What’s the problem?

A: Did (4) _______ get a present from (5) ________

Student A(7) How do you spell Seattle?

boyfriend?

Student B

Sorry, (8) Could you speak more

B: Actually, (6) ________ haven’t heard from (7) _______

slowly, please?

today.

TeacherYes, (9) of course.

A: Do (8) _______ think (9) _______ will give you one?
B: Well, (10) ______ gave a present to (11) ________ for(12) _______ birthday.

Results showed that a majority of students had someawareness and understanding of common expressions
regarding time and shopping such as How much ~, Do

A: Then, (13) _______ should give something to you?
B: Hmm, maybe (14) _______ will give (15) _______ onelater.

you ~ and What time ~ but a much weaker knowledge ofmodal verb forms and questions in the past tense. Scoresfor What did ~ and How was ~ were below 20%. Students
were also given subject verb agreement (SVA) quizzes
such as that in Table 5 to help consolidate grammar andWhen reviewing homework and other worksheets in class,it became apparent that students were easily confused bysimilar sounds such as where and we’re. This led to thedevelopment of homophone exercises as seen in Table 7.

help predict responses to questions and statement in thevideos presented in class.
Table 5: Subject verb agreement quiz
1. Do you like ice cream?
a) Yes, I like. b) Yes, please. c) Yes, I do. d) Yes, I
am.
2. Are you busy today?

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95

Table 7: Homophones exercise

vocabulary. The bigger question of whether this study
could enhance L2 speakers’ understanding of movies andChoose from the following: there, their, they’re, to, too,naturally spoken language remained.

we’re, where, wear, your and you’re

A survey of students in the Test Group was conducted at
A: (1) We’re going to a party tonight. Do you want to comethe end of the semester regarding the effectiveness of this(2) too ?

teaching approach. Eighty seven percent said the lessons

B: Yeah! Thank you. Can my sister go (3) too.
A: Sure. (4) Your sister can come.
B: So, (5) where is the party?
A: It’s at my cousin’s house, near the station.
B: What time are you going (6) there ?
A: (7) We’re meeting at the station at 7 o’clock.
B: Okay, but I don’t know what to (8) wear.
A: Don’t worry. (9) They’re pretty casual people.
B: I hope (10) you’re right.

helped them to understand the movie, eighty five percent
said the lessons helped them to understand who and what
people were talking about and eighty five percent said thelessons helped them in some other way.
When asked to elaborate, three students said the lessons
helped them to understand many new words, one student
said the lessons helped them to understand the story,
another student said they were inspired to watch an
English language movie for the first time, another said thelessons helped them to understand a movie without

The italicized words were omitted and then as in theprevious exercise, the students were required to fill in theblanks. After completing the writing part of the exercises,
students then practiced reading then with a partner. Thiswas designed to give students experience using
homophones with at least some awareness of thedifferent meanings. It was hoped that this may help themto differentiate between them during subsequent listening
activities and listening to natural speech patterns later inmovies, etc.

subtitles for the first time. One student said the lessons
helped them to imagine what people will say next while
another said the lessons helped them see practicalexamples of everyday conversational English.
This ongoing research shows that movies engage
students but natural spoken English presents listening
comprehension problems. These can be helped by edited
scripts which provide the necessary scaffolding for
improved L2 comprehension. This research also showsthat target vocabulary building can be successful using
movies but further research is needed on the efficacy ofResults
At the end of the semester, students were tested again

focusing on particular vocabulary such as referring words
and other grammatical elements of language.

using the same instrument. In the reading section,
average scores improved from 37.1% in April to 63.2% in
July. As for the listening test, average score in July was
down slightly from the April score of 73.1% to 72.5%. In a
subsequent test held on the first day of the second

References
Beauty and the Beast, produced by Walt Disney Pictures
and Mandeville Films, Made in Shepparton Studios,
Surrey, UK, 2017, © Disney DVD, Burbank, USA.

semester though, their score increased to 90.4%. When
asked to explain the different scores before and after the

Bray, E. (2019). Using Movies in the Foreign Language

Summer holidays, the students said other exams on theClassroom: The Movie Journal Approach, in The

same day affected their performance in the test held at theLanguage Teacher, Vol. 43, No. 4.

end of the first semester.
Buckingham, A. & Lansford, L. (2013). My First Passport,
These results indicate a focus on grammatical lexicon canEnglish for International Communication, 2nd Ed. ©

help raise awareness of these elements to some extent. It

Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom.

is interesting to note that this awareness is better on paper
than in a real listening context, nevertheless there is

Donaghy, K. (2014). How can film help you teach andnoticeable improvement in students’ awareness of thislearn English?, in British Council (online) Arts,
Education and Society. © britishcouncil.org.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

96Harmer, J. (2012). The Practice of English Language

Differences and Instructed Language Learning, Peter

Teaching, 4th edition, © Pearson Education Limited,

Robinson (Ed.), © John Benjamins Publishing

China.

Company, (pp. 289-295).

Lee, E. & Park, M. (2017). The Effects of Subtitled Movies

Takase, F. & Parkinson, K. (2015). English Delight ofon Learners’ Affective Domain and Productive

Movie English and TOEIC. © Minerva Publishing.

Vocabulary Knowledge, STEM Journal, Vol. 18, No. 4,

Kyoto, Japan.

(pp. 37-56).
Van Patten, B. (2015). Input Processing in Adult SLA, in
Lightbrown, P. & Spada, N. (2013). How Languages areBill Van Patten & Jessica Williams (Eds.), Theories inLearned, 4th Edition, © Oxford University Press,

Second Language Acquisition: An Introduction, (pp.

United Kingdom.

113-134). © Routledge. Use Title Case: But Try To
Keep It Within Two Lines

Skehan, P. (2002). Theorising and updating aptitude, in
Language Learning & Language Teaching: Individual

Author biography
Julian Foster Biography has a Master of TESOL from Deakin University (Australia) and has been teaching English in
Japan for 22 years. His interests include phonics and children’s EFL education and using movies as a tool for vocabularyacquisition in adult EFL education. Email juliandavidfoster@gmail.com

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

97

12 Using Conversation Cards to Enhance Turn-Taking Fluency
Adam Garnica
Tokyo International University

Ramon Mislang
Tokyo International University
The purpose of this research study is to investigate how turn-taking strategy cards influence English
conversations for EFL students at Tokyo International University. Turn-taking strategies are necessary forhelping EFL students perform competently in English conversation. In our research, we piloted a systemthat assists students with turn-taking strategies through a card system. This card system acts as an
assistive device that helps students practice turn-taking strategies, leading to turn-taking habits. We useda pretest posttest design to record the word count, total conversation time, and uses of each turn-taking
strategy. Data collected was used to measure the efficacy of the training utilizing the turn-taking strategy
cards by comparing the pretest and posttest results. Students also produced transcripts of theirconversations and completed analysis of their conversations. Research results will help to advance futureteaching approaches in encouraging greater depth of conversation among EFL learners by using specificturn-taking strategies.

本研究の目的は、ターンテイキング（話者交替）戦略カードが東京国際大学の EFL 学生の英会話に与える影響の調査である。EFL 学生にとって、英会話の上達のためにはターンテイキング戦略が欠かせない。
本研究では、カードを使用した支援システムを試験的に実施した。このカードシステムは、当戦略の実
践に役立つツールとして機能し、受講者がターンテイキングの習慣を身につけることにつながる。我々は事前事後テストを実施し、単語数、会話の合計時間、各ターンテイキング戦略の使用を記録した。これらのデータに基づく事前事後テストの結果を比較し、カードを用いたトレーニングの有効性を測定した。また、受講生は会話のトランスクリプトを作成し、それぞれの会話を分析した。本研究の結果は、具体的なターンテイキング戦略の使用により EFL 学習者同士のより深い会話を促進するための、今後の教育的アプローチを推進する上での助けとなるだろう。

classroom. The effort to expand English curriculum is

Introduction

aimed at improving oral communication standards among

The push for nurturing more internationallyclassrooms in Japan. However, oral communication

minded citizens in Japan has influenced classrooms tostandards and assessments seem to differ between

increase exposure to English at all levels of education.

curricula. One reason is that speaking tasks vary from one

Going beyond grammar translation style instruction,

classroomclassrooms

morepresentations may be a core speaking task in one class,communicative style instruction. Textbooks have also

a skit performance or scripted dialogues may be the coregone through changes by incorporating an integrated

speaking task in a different class. While a framework thatskills approach to align with pedagogical trends in thecaters to the specific needs of each student cohort as well

have

been

tryingtointegrateto

another.

For

example,although

The 2019 PanSIG Journal98

as the pedagogical inclinations of each teaching team canI did not do well on my test. I forgot many of mystrengthen language programs, sustained opportunities

vocabulary words so I couldn’t understand theforquestions.

building

communicative

communication

appears

tocompetence

in

oral

be

in

many

lackingclassrooms. In other words, while students are able toperform a monologue type of speaking task such as apresentation on Japanese food culture, the same students
may find it challenging to sustain a conversation on the
aforementioned topic. To help learners move beyond
mastery of linguistic knowledge and monologue types of
speaking tasks, learners must be exposed to activities
that expose behavioral norms of English conversations.
The purpose of this study was to observe how learning
aids could provide a starting point for helping learners

Conversations rely on a need for progressivity(Stivers and Robinson, 2006), with questions being a key
marker in inviting more turns to be taken by aninterlocutor. Campbell-Larsen (2019) expanded upon thisby stating that progressivity can be attained via questions
that are interactional in intent. The question is not meant
to be a simple exchange of information, but rather, “to beunderstood as an invitation to provide an expanded
answer and move the conversation forward” (p. 41).
Meaning, there are certain speech acts with questions
that can cue the interlocutor into that drive for progression.

sustain conversations in English.

Campbell-Larsen noted that one such form commonly
seen in native English speakers is the double question,
where one couples questions together to signal their

Literature Review
Performance of speech acts and speech acts

intent in conversational exchange versus informational

sets differ in important ways from language to language

exchange, the latter of which most Japanese speakers of(Celce-Murcia, 2008). As a result, problems negotiating or

English are more apt to treat all questions as (Campbell-

signaling when a turn has ended or when the floor is open

Larsen, 2019). To combat this, the Question/Question

for other interlocutors to take can arise (Young, 2018).

card was formed with the intent of alerting students of the

However, turn-taking “is perhaps the least tackled indifferent intents behind questions, and to give them apedagogical materials and classroom instruction, mostly

structure for introducing clear and recognizable signals in

because it’s the least understood” (Wong & Waring,

their speaking to help aid them in taking more2010). Therefore, instructional materials are needed toconversationallyassist learners in understanding how silence and active

Question/Question usage could be the following:

intentionalturns.

Examplesoflistening can contribute to a conversation or interactions
flow. Working from this suggestion for classroom practice,
we have developed a conversational card system thatbringslearner

attentiontothedifferent

ways

What did you do this weekend? Anything Fun?
How is your mother doing? Is she still running
often?

conversations progress in English, allowing them topractice creating more complex, lengthier, and richer

Did you do well on the test? How did it go?

conversations.
Expanding on the notion of the inclusion of
The first card is the Answer/Detail card, in whichquestions in the turn-taking aspect of spoken dialogue,

students add additional information to their turn. This is tothere already exists a linguistic similarity between English

encourage students to give fuller, richer answers that giveand Japanese. Shigemitsu (2012) noted that asking

their interlocutor more information to interact with when it

comprehension questions in Japanese conversation is not

becomes their turn. This also discourages single-word or

a commonality, but that the types of questions speakers

single-sentence utterances. Examples of Answer/Detailask feed into a co-construction format. This plays on theusage could be the following:

notions of cooperation, “because they create the idea
together, or the listener shows curiosity about what the

I went to the shopping mall this weekend. I didsome window shopping but I didn’t buy anything.
My mother is 65 years old. She runs almost
every day. This is why she is so healthy.

speaker is going to say by inferring what the speaker isgoing to say” (p. 10). This lays the foundation for the
Question/Answer strategy, which encourages speakers tooffer a suggestion or recommendation for the answer to

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

99

the question they have just posed. Through offering

advanced listening and speaking elective, students

helpful suggestions after a question, the card fosters andranged from first-year to fourth-year students. English

brings attention to this already innate strategy in the

Production students in this study were CEFR A1 level

Japanese learners, allowing them to recognize its validity

while Advanced Listening and Speaking Students A were

within the English conversation context. Examples ofat the CEFR B1 to B2 level. This allowed us to see if both

Question/Answer usage could be the following:

low-level speakers and more advanced speakers could
benefit from the conversational strategies. We only used

What did you do this weekend? Did you go to
the cinema?

seven of the 17 students in English Production II and eightof the 11 students in Listening and Speaking A becauseof attendance issues: Those who missed the pretest,

How is your mother doing? Well?

posttest, and more than one card training session were
Did you do well on the test? Did you get an A?

excluded from the final data set.

There are moments in which a speaker

Methods

concludes a turn and the floor becomes open forinterlocutors to take. However, problems negotiating or

Our null hypothesis is that there is not asignaling when a turn has concluded or when the floor issignificant difference between the pretest results and theopen can arise (Young, 2018). These problems are partly

post-test results for any of our measures for fluency. Our

due to speech acts such as silence and pauses being

alternative hypothesis is that the introduction of theexecuted differently between English and Japanese.

conversational strategies via the conversation cards will

McCarthy (2010) also noted that these borders of turns,

produce a significant difference between the pretest andturn openings and turn closings, assist in the maintenancepost-test measures of fluency. We used three methods toof conversational flow, or what we hear as a more fluent

collect data which included a pretest, post-test, and a post

conversation. The function of the Pivot card is to support

conversation strategy reflection.

floor

managementbyhelping

Japaneselearners

recognize a turn is closing and assist them in constructing
a turn opening. Examples of Pivot usage could be theIn the pretest, students discussed a particular
topic, money, with their peers. Students recorded their
discussions with the voice memo app on their cellphones.

following:

Students recorded their entire conversation to be[From the weekend topic] Speaking of thetranscribed.

The

recordings

weekend, I saw this incredible movie...

researchers

via

the

were

instructor’s

submitted
coursetowebsite(Schoology for English Production II and Moodle for[From the mother topic] That reminds me of thistime I tried running a marathon...
[From the test topic] You know what else isdifficult? Finding a part-time job…

Advanced Listening and Speaking A). Students thenlistened to their recordings and produced a transcript of
their pretest conversations that was submitted toresearchers via the aforementioned class websites.
Researchers used this discussion as a benchmark forstudents’ conversation strategy abilities, comparing theParticipants
The participants in this study consisted of fifteen

recordings and transcripts to a set rubric used to measure
students’ conversational fluency (Appendix A).

students from the School of Language Communication ata small private liberal arts university in the Kanto region ofJapan. Seventeen students were enrolled in sophomore
communication courses (English Production II, N = 7) andeleven students were enrolled in an advanced listening
and speaking elective course (Advanced Listening andSpeaking A, N = 8). Students in these classes ranged
from seventeen to twenty-one years of age. In the

After the pretest, students underwent a 10-weektraining period with four conversation strategy cards.
Because students did not have any extensive experience
with using conversation strategies in English, it was
decided that strategy cards be scaffolded and introduced
every two weeks. For example, the answer-detail card
was introduced and practiced in weeks five and six and

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

100

the question-question card was introduced and practiced
in week seven and eight (Appendix B). In weeks thirteen

First, we examined the number of words in eachconversation:and fourteen, students had opportunities to practice all
four conversation strategy cards. During each introductionof a strategy card, 15 minutes were dedicated to
instruction via a powerpoint to explain aspects of astrategy card and demonstrate how to use the strategy
card. Students then received a handout (Appendix C) andpracticed the newly introduced strategy card for fifteen
minutes. In the following week, students were given
another 30 minutes of class time to practice the strategy
cards in conversation. Students repeated this process

From the pretest to the post-test, with our alpha set to .05,
we found that there was a statistically significant
difference in the number of words produced by students
in their conversations from the pretest to the post-test. For
the pretest transcripts, there tended to be a lot ofmonologuing, or students giving a canned or rehearsed
response before quickly passing the turn with a lexical
chunk. Let’s take, for example, this exchange from
Student 10 and Student 11:
S10: OK. What are some ways to earn money?

four times throughout the 10-week training period.

S11: Part time job [10 sec pause] only.
In the post-test, students discussed the same

Here we also see that the student was unable or unsure

topic used in the pretest, but they did not use conversationof how to pass the turn, having completed the question.

strategy cards. The procedure for the recording and

She pauses for a full ten seconds before adding thetranscription for the post-test mirrored that of the pretest

adverb “only” to suggest that “The only way to earn money

procedure.

theis via a part time job.” She adds this as perhaps a way toconversational analysis rubric. Through a combination ofsuggest the finality of her utterance, signaling to her

our conversation strategy usage, length of conversation,interlocutor that she is done speaking and she believes

and word count for each turn taken by the interlocutors,

that she has completed the task of answering the question.

these factors combined will show a progression of

The problem here is that if this is indeed the case, herconversational

mental framing of the task is misaligned with the

Fluencywasdiscourse

analyzedandsignal

using

more

fluentconversations.

assignment, which is to have a conversation, not tomerely ask and answer questions. Now let’s look at theseIn the post conversation strategy reflections,same students in their post test at the same section:

students were given a survey with 5-point likert-scaled

S10: What are some good ways to earn money?

questions. At the end of the survey, students were given

I mean, are you working part-time? What is youra space to write any additional feedback or comments.

part-time job?
S11: Yes, I have three part-time jobs. It is toearn daily meal and play money. I think that part-

Results

time jobs are good for students to earn money.

For our data sets, we used a Case-II T-Test
assuming unequal variance. We chose this statistic
because our data contained normal distribution across ourIn the post-test, we see a large shift that exemplifies anincreaseinthenumberofstrategies

used(Question/Question, Answer/Detail) as well as word count,population (N = 15).

which lengthens the overall conversation. Here, we havea much more fluid and robust conversation. Student 10
Table 1Comparison and Pretest and Post-test Fluency Measures, Sum of Total Population (N=15)
FLUENCY MEASURE

PRETEST VALUE

POST-TEST VALUEP VALUE

Word Count

1454

2928

0.000003500950106

Turn Count

120

208

0.0001587482133

Conversation Length(in seconds)

3000

5574

0.000006541100985

The 2019 PanSIG Journal101

adds clarification to her question: She wants to know

themself to answer said question. This makes the

specifically about Student 11 and her own experiences

conversation sound more fluent and natural and less likeearning money as a student. Student 11 then answers,

an interview or quiz.

explaining why she is working and harkening back to theSecond, we examined the number of turns eachoriginal question of whether or not she believes it is a good

student took in the course of their conversation.We found

way for students to earn money. While she fails to answer

that there was a statistically significant difference in thewhat specifically her jobs are in the dialogue, her answer

number of turns taken by students in their conversations

opens more possibilities for her interlocutor to follow-up

from the pretest to the post-test. Students, in the pretest,with a question or add to the conversation with her own

focused mostly on going through the topic questions muchopinion. It does not end the exchange but rather leaves

like a checklist, exchanging turns rapidly, usually keeping

open possibilities for further contributions from Student 10.

it to only two turns per question in the topic. In the post-

Another example can be seen with another pairtest, however, we see students expanding upon the two-of students and what to do after a partner finishes withturn format to include follow-up questions, deeper

their answer:

explanations, and a few clarification questions. Take thisS5: what are some good ways to make money.

dialogue from Students 13 and 14 in their post test:

The people who cannot save money, learn the

S13: OK. If someone give you 20,000 yen, what

tendency because if the person learn thewould you do with it?

tendency, they can learn how to save money. So,

S14: Someone give me 20,000 yen, I want toI think that is the way to make money.

new clothes, bag, and shoes.

S6: Umm, ok. [5 sec pause]

S13: OK. What is your favorite brand?

S5: What are some good ways to make money?

S14: Umm, my favorite brand is Zara. I often go

Here, Student 6 appears to not know how to respond toto Zara and H&M.

Student 5. Student 5 has given a lengthy answer, full of

The number of turns expands because Student 13 takes

details, but Student 6 fails to take her turn and add

it upon herself to ask a follow-up question to Student 14

anything to signal Student 5 to continue to conversation

about her favorite brand, expanding upon the idea thatafterward. Now, let’s see how this changes in the same

Student 14 would want to buy new clothes andarea of the post-test discussion:accessories. This allows Student 14 to expand upon her

S5: I think just save money and don’t use it. How

initial answer, and with the utilization of the Answer/Detailabout you?

strategy, also introduces new information in the form of

S6: I think good idea setting goals or planningalso enjoying shopping at H&M. This gives Student 13

how to save money. And I want to travel othermore information to tie into her next turn and add a morecountries so now I save money 500 yen a day incoherent flow to the conversation. Now, contrast that withpiggy bank. It is tiny things but If it is correct ahtheir exchange from the pretest:

gather big money,I can spend money to travel.

S13: If someone give you 20,000 yen, what

S5: I have same as it, but I… there are 5, 6 coins.

would you do with it?

Here we see some strategies put into place to help

S14: Maybe I’ll hangout with my friend and I

alleviate the confusion seen earlier. Rather than framing

want to go shopping.

the conversation as a series of “correct” answers to be

There were fewer turns taken by both Student 13 and 14,

given in order to complete the assignment, the students

conforming more to the question-answer format of a strict

see opportunities to have a conversation and achievetask completion mindset versus a more conversational

progressivity. Student 6 expands with their own answer

framework. Note the lack of any expansion of answers

and gives examples (Answer/Detail) in order to give her

and follow-up, lacking in the number of turn-passing

interlocutor something to use to initiate their turn. Student

signifiers and opportunities for continuation of the

5 takes the example of the piggy bank and uses that toconversation topic.

continue the conversation about making money. While
Student 5 did shorten their initial turn, they removed theunnatural reading of the question and then self-selecting

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

102

Table 2
Comparison and Pretest and Post-test Conversation Card Usage, Sum of Total Population (N=15)
CARD

PRETEST COUNTPOST-TEST COUNTP VALUE

Answer/Detail14

390.0008590470558

Question/Question2

90.05064197719

Question/
Answer04

0.05190705376

Pivot

0

4

0.02028429657

Third, we looked at the time for the students tocomplete the conversations, as measured in seconds. We

From the pretest to the post-test, with our alpha set to .05,

found that there was a statistically significant difference in

we found that there was a statistically significant

the length of the conversations from the pretest to thedifference in the number of uses of the Answer/Detail andpost-test. The increase in length was seen universally

Pivot cards from the pretest to the post-test. Students

across all participants, regardless of level. Combined withshowed the highest gains in their use of Answer/Detail,data on the increase in total words and number of turns,

which involved them adding additional information to their

we see that the conversations are stepping further away

responses to get richer, more detailed utterances in theirfrom the more monologic question and answer format andconversations.

approaching more of a co-constructed exchange moreindicative of a conversation.

The use of Answer/Detail gives each turn an expansion inMore words, turns, and time do not necessarily

terms of number of words and length for the overall

show an increase in the quality of the conversation,

conversation. It also adds more information that allows

however, which is why data on the conversational

their interlocutor to open their turn more easily by tying

strategies was collected and analyzed. Thus, we began

their turn to information from the previous turn, creating alooking at conversational card usage. We examined themore

use of each of the cards:

conversational flow between speakers.

co-constructedenvironment

thatcreatesaTable 3Student Pre-Test Turns Versus Post-Test Turns During the Same Topic Conversation to Support Use ofAnswer/DetailStudent

Previous Turn From
Interlocutor

Pre-Test Turn

Post-Test Turn4

Why do somepeople have money
problems?

I think they spendmoney for their hobbies
and playing so they
have money problems.

I think they want new clothes and shoes orfood. So they buy them, they can’t save money
and they have problems. How about you?

9

How often do you
save money?

Once a month.

Once a month. Because I went to go on trip.

11

What are some goodways to makemoney?

Part time job [10 sec]
only.

Yes. I have three part time jobs. It is to earn
daily meal and play money. I think that parttime jobs are a good way for students to earnmoney.

17

Why do somepeople have many
money problems?

I think some people
don’t think about future.

I think they don’t think about their future. And
some people borrow money from someone. It
will maybe some problems.

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103

Figure 1
Students’ Self-Reported Use of Conversation Strategies in the Pre-Test and Post-Test for the Higher-Proficiency
Group (N = 8)

Figure 2:
Conversation Cards Students Found Most Helpful, Based on Percentage

The 2019 PanSIG Journal104

In the data we asked students to complete for the

Two ideas from students emerge from these responses:

reflection activities, some interesting patterns emerged.

First, that they enjoy using questions in conversations. It

For the post-test reflection, we asked students to go backcan help them generate more answers and it is perceived

to their first conversation and identify the number of times

as helpful and fun. Second, students struggle withthey used each conversational strategy. We also had

generating questions, as noted by the second respondentthem do the same for their final post-test conversation to

who said making questions is difficult because “it iscompare their usage and also to see if students were abledifficult to think.” This response could imply there might be

to correctly identify when they were using each of thelinguistic hurdles, perhaps with the actual construction ofstrategies from the cards:

questions, or it could be with the topics themselves, withstudents unable to think quickly enough to construct

Interestingly, in the higher-level student group, there wascompelling, relevant questions on the spot. Thesean overestimation of the number of times they used eachdifficulties with forming questions could also explain why

technique, particularly with the Question/Question cardneither of theand the Pivot card. This misidentification can come fromachieved any sort of statistically significant gains from thethe idea that students misattributed a single question as apretest to the post-test: the student, both low and high,Question/Question, not fully understanding the idea of

were not receiving, or did not receive prior, proper training

paired questions. One student in their reflection wrote “Iof the formulation of questions. This lack of training

think that practice was good for conversation skill, but one

lowered confidence and set up a difficulty barrier thatthing that I dislike about card is if I didn't know what is theperhaps guided them to use the other cards theydifference Q&Q and Q&A, so I didn't know how to use.”

understood more clearly instead.

question-based

conversation

cards

This seems to imply that there were difficulties notaddressed

duringtraining

andpractice

with

the

Limitations

Question/Question card, which merits further investigation
and reworking. As for the Pivot card, a similar

Limitations were to be expected from themisidentification could be at play, but the overestimation

research, given the number of confounding variables atof the use of the Pivot card only came from three students

play that were beyond the control of the researchers.

versusAttendance for participants was an issue throughout the

the

six

incorrectly

estimating

thecourse of the study. While an attendance policy is in place

Question/Question card usage.
We also asked students which cards they foundat the university, illness, job interviews, and unexpected
emergencies came up for students, causing them to missmost helpful for having an English conversation:days where card training or practice with using theAnswer/Detail, the card with the highest usage and astatistically significant gain from pre to post-test, wasranked the highest in perceived usefulness, approachinghalf of all respondents saying it was the most helpful. As

conversation strategies took place. This could have had
negative effects on the participants when it came tounderstanding, internalizing, and using conversational
strategies in the post-test.

seen with the confusion over usage, Question/Answer

The low-level students also relied more heavily

was ranked as least useful, with only ten percent ofon scripting their responses versus writing down a few

respondents

notes to help guide their conversations. This resulted instating

it

was

the

most

helpful.

Question/Question and Pivot nearly tied for the middle
spot, with 30% and 20% voting for them respectively.
Looking at why students rated the Question/Question cardas most helpful, a few responses stand out:

conversations that lacked the natural pacing of a normal
conversation.
Training issues with Pivot and Question/Answer
may have been due to the lack of clarity with the language
used and thefunction of those strategies. The

We can keep talking to use a lot of question.

Question/Answer card was very close to the function andI couldn’t use Question/Question card though it

form of the Question/Question card but had a different set

was so helpful because it makes conversationof rules associated with it. The Pivot card is also more

more fun but it is difficult to think.

conceptualandrequiresanunderstandingof

metacognition in order to utilize appropriately. While theThe 2019 PanSIG Journal105

form of the Pivot strategy did not pose much problem for

exemplify

students, its use created confusion.

assessments alone are insufficient for developing oral

linguisticknowledge.

However,these

Also, the shorter training time with those cards,

communicative skills in English conversations. While it isas they were introduced later in the semester, means

important to create opportunities for learners to articiulate

students didn’t have as much time to familiarize

relationships between ideas accurately and efficiently,

themselves with those cards and strategies. For the Pivot

opportunitiescard, students only had two weeks to learn and utilize theconversation fluency is realised in real language use

card, and only four weeks with the Question/Answer card.

outside of the classroom needs to be integrated in

These cards were ordered last because they did require aclassroom practice.

to

help

learners

understandhow

bit more understanding to utilize properly, so the easierAttention to how speech acts are embedded in

Answer/Detail and Question/Question were placed first tosociocultural beliefs and how they affect conversations

build a foundational knowledge and not discourage

differently in Japanese and English can be useful forstudents. This strategy, however, also meant that theraising awareness of turn-taking practices. Activities thatcards that required more practice received less time to dohelp learners become more aware of turn-takingso.

differences between Japanese and English will help
learners avoid potential consequences of not adapting tobehavioral norms in conversation. Learning aids such as

Future Research

the conversational card system we developed can make

Reflecting research limitations and insights

conversation norms moretransparent by bringing

gained during the research process, there are several

attention to the different ways conversations progress inthings to keep in mind for future studies. First, a control

English, allowing them to practice more complex andgroup without the cards as a treatment would shedricher conversations. However, to shape conversations

insights into traditional instruction versus the use offrom multiple monologues to intertwined and sustainable

conversation

theinteraction, attention to oral communicative behaviors in

Question/Answer card to something more akin to

English conversation needs to be given proper attention“assistance” or “offer a suggestion” could yield morethroughout the curriculum.

cards.

Second,reframing

positive results with card and strategy use. Third, pausing
as a speech act functions differently between Japanese

Referencesand English. Activities that raise awareness to pauses inconversations may influence smoothness between turnboundaries and lead to ideal discourse.
We

observed

conversations

Celce-Murcia,

M.

(2008).

Rethinking

the

role

of

communicative competence in language teaching. In
withintheclassroom and between Japanese interlocutors. However,Intercultural language use and language learning (pp.
41-57). Springer, Dordrecht.

with the growing number of university environments that
promote oral communication practice outside of theclassroom, we would like to observe how Japanese
students interact with instructors and international
students. These conversations might provide points ofdiscussion on how power dynamics between teachers

Campbell-Larsen, C. (2019). Now ask your partner:
Questions in interaction. Pansig Journal 2018, 36-42.
McCarthy, M. (2010). Spoken fluency revisited. English
ProfileJournal,

1(1),

1-15.

doi:

10.1017/S2041536210000012

and students affect the type of conversations students
have. This would also provide data on perceptions

Shigemitsu. Y. (2012). Question-answer sequences inJapanese students have on conversations with non-native

English conversation and Japanese conversation:

speakers of English.

Suggestion for English teaching. Academic Reports
Faculty of English Tokyo Polytechnic University,
35(2), 1-31.

Conclusion
Assessments such as tests, presentations, andscripted dialogues are important for helping learners

The 2019 PanSIG Journal106

Stivers, T., & Robinson, J. D. (2006). A preference for

Wong, J., & Waring, H. Z. (2010). Conversation analysis

progressivity in interaction. Language in society,and second language pedagogy: A guide for ESL/EFL

35(3), 367-392.

teachers. Routledge.

Williamson, J. (2019). A pragmatic explanation forJapanese-English turn-taking contrasts and the needfor pedagogical intervention: A response to Dave

Young, D. (2018). Contrastive models for turn-taking in
English and Japanese. The Language Teacher, 42(3), 912.

Young’s TLT article. The Language Teacher, 43(1),14-18.

Author biography

Adam Garnica is an EFL/ESL educator and currently works at Tokyo International University in their Global Teaching
Institute. He holds an MA in TESOL and MEd in Educational Technology. His research interests include conversational
strategies, collaborative reading, technology in the classroom, and augmented reality in education. Email:agarnica@tiu.ac.jp
Ramon Mislang is an EFL/ESL educator and currently teaches at Tokyo International University. His research interests
include encouraging oral communication in the classroom, increasing awareness of behavioral norms in target language
conversation, and extensive listening practices. Email: rmislang@tiu.ac.jp

Appendix A: Conversation Rubric for Pretest and Postest
Token#: ________________________________________________________________
PretestPost Test

Comments

1) Word count
The length of each interlocutor’s turn will bemeasured by a word count2) Individual turns per interlocutor3) Conversation TimeThe length of each conversation will be measured inminutes and seconds.
4) Answer-Detail Use Count
Turn-Taking Strategy #1
5) Question-Question Use Count
Turn-Taking Strategy #2
6) Question-Answer Use Count
Turn-Taking Strategy #3
7) Pivot (Change topic) Use Count
Turn-Taking Strategy #4

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

107

Appendix B: Conversation Card Schedule

Week#

Procedure
2-4:

Transcript Training

4

Pretest5-6

Introduce Conversation Strategy Card 1: Answer-Detail

7-8

9-10

11-12

13-14
15

-

Use PPT to introduce card-

Students practice Answer-Detail card

Introduce Conversation Strategy Card 2: Question/Question-

Use PPT to introduce card-

Students practice Question-Question card

Introduce Conversation Strategy Card 3: Question-Answer-

Use PPT to introduce card-

Students practice Question-Answer card

Introduce Conversation Strategy Card 4: Assist-

Use PPT to introduce card-

Students practice Assist card

Practice with all four Conversation Strategy Cards
Post-Test

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

108

Appendix C: Talking about the past - Answer Detail Training
Talking about the past
Step 1: When you think of the past, what do you think of? Example topics are primary school, your first movie, first time you got
injured, etc. In the box below, write your ideas. (5 Mins)

Step 2: With a partner, discuss the questions below: (5 Mins)

What did your bedroom look like when you were 7-years old?
What was your best memory or worst memory from high school?
What kind of music did you listen to when you were in junior-high school?
Step 3: How well did you do in the last conversation? Mark your score below: (5 Mins)

Vocabulary:Didn’t use a lot of vocabulary

1

2

3

4

Used a lot of vocabulary

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

Sentence Length:
Used many short sentences

Used many long sentences

Answer-Detail:Didn’t add details

Added lots of detail

Step 4a: Switch partners and brainstorm more ideas about your bedroom, high school memory, and music. (3 Mins)

Step 4b: With the same partner, discuss the questions below (5 Mins)

What did your bedroom look like when you were 7-years old?
What was your best memory or worst memory from high school?
What kind of music did you listen to when you were in junior-high school?

Step 5: Switch partners again. You will discuss the questions below. But this time, you will record your conversation on yourphone. (5 Mins)

What did your bedroom look like when you were 7-years old?
What was your best memory or worst memory from high school?
What kind of music did you listen to when you were in junior-high school?

Step 6: You and your partner will listen to your recorded conversation. Then you will transcribe or write what you said in theconversation. You must email your audio clip and a typed conversation. Don’t forget to use TRANSCRIPTION RULES!

The 2019 PanSIG Journal109

13 Anxiety in the Japanese EFL Classroom and the Pygmalion EffectMichael Greisamer
Anaheim University
This is a follow up paper to a presentation given at the PanSig conference of May 2019 in Nishinomiya.
The paper will first describe the relevance of affect in education and its significance in learning. Then amore specific affective factor of anxiety and its problem in English as a foreign language (EFL) classes isJapan. Factors including education and cultural backgrounds cause Japanese learners more than usuallevels of anxiety in the language classroom. The paper then examines a controversial theory, thePygmalion Effect and its connection to anxiety in the classroom.
The aim (of this paper) is to familiarize teachers with the theory and how it applies to ESL teaching inJapan. In order to demonstrate the theory, the researcher conducts a semester long experiment with two
university classes; one applying the Pygmalion Effect and the other the Gollum Effect. Finally, the paper
leaves the reader with ideas and thoughts on how to alleviate and cope with anxiety in the classroom.

この論文は 2019 年 5 月に西宮で開催された PanSig 会議で発表したものである。最初にまず学習する中で、教育と学習者の感情によって影響を及ぼす関係性を示唆している。調査によると日本人は、英語（EFL）の授業で不安による情意フィルターが特に問題となっていることが確かめられた。そしてそれは教育や文化的背景の要因により、日本人学習者は外国語の授業で、通常より多く不安に感じてしまう
ことが明らかになった。最後に教室での不安に対処するためのピグマリオン効果について考察している。
また教室での不安への対処法を具体的に述べているので参考にしてほしい。

Affect in the classroom has witnessed a notable

Closely related to emotion, affect is defined by

growth in research in the last two decades. Amid theArnold (1999) as aspects of emotion, feeling, mood or

numerous emotional variables, FLA (foreign language

attitude which condition behavior.

anxiety) has been a popular topic of research. This paper
takes a look at affect in the Japanese EFL classroom, with
an emphasis on FLA of Japanese learners.

The Affective Filter hypothesis first proposed by
Dulay and Burt in 1977 gained credibility and incorporated
later in 1985 by Krashen as one of his five input

Among the various solutions and strategies for

Hypotheses. Krashen maintained that learners acquireanxiety in the classroom, the concept of The Pygmalion

second languages only if they obtain comprehensible

Effect is one that carries a strong message. A theory that

input and if their affective filters are low enough to allowemphasizes positive expectation and encouragement to

the input to be incorporated. In his theory, affect includes

develop rapport and better results in the classroom ismotivation, attitude, anxiety and self-confidence.

introduced into the discussion.

affective filter is raised when a learners’ anxiety is highThe

and they become less able to process language input andprogress with their language acquisition. Then Arnold

What is affect?
“All learning has an emotional base” Plato (Ancient Greek
Philosopher, 460 BC)(1999) brought the concept of affect to the forefront inlanguage teaching with her emphasis on the importanceof establishing a good emotional atmosphere in theclassroom. Affect has been continually researched andfollowed by others in the field (Arnold, 2011; Dewaele,

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

1102015; Gregersen & MacIntyre, 2014; Murphy & Dörnyei,feel that they are necessary for mental preparation and2010). Dörnyei expressed the importance that emotion

performanceplays in second language acquisition:

postulated that leaners that are anxious try to compensate(i.e.,

facilitative).

Eyseneck(1979)

by increasing their effort and increasing performance.
This is a huge topic, but the current situation
is sadly straightforward: Apart from a few
exceptions (for example the work of John
Schuman, Peter MacIntyre and Jean-Marc
Dewaele), emotions have been by and large
neglected in the field of SLA.” (Murphy, R. S.,

This increased effort then compensates for the reduced
efficiency of the cognitive processing. But how much effort
must be exerted in order to make up for the loss? It has
been reported that anxious language learners study morethan relaxed learners but their achievement does notreflect that effort. (Horwitz et al, 1986; Price, 1991).

& Dörnyei, Z., 2010, p. 22).
Most educators focus on reducing the level ofapprehension in the classroom by creating a cohesive andAnxiety in SLA

welcoming environment for learning. Contrastingly, theOne of the most salient affective variables inauthor begins the class by increasing the anxiety level.

language learning is anxiety. Language anxiety is a major

This action is to install an atmosphere of professionalism

obstruction in SLA (second language acquisition) and has

and strictness, therefore shocking the students. This

been investigated by various authors (e.g., Bailey, 1983;

raises the level of anxiety to a higher than normal level,

Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986; MacIntyre, P. D., 2002;

prepping them for the work that is expected of them. The

Pae, 2013).

pressure is gradually relieved in the following classes by

Anxiety described by Spielberger (1983, p. 1) isthe subjective feeling of tension, nervousness, trepidation
and worry associated with an arousal of the autonomic
nervous system. These subjective anxious feelings also
carry over into the area of language. For example,
linguists regard anxiety as “a state of apprehension, avague fear” in students’ language learning (Scovel, 1978).
According to Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope (1986), there are
two terms used for anxiety; general and specific. Generalenthusiastically providing positive encouragement andfeedback. Thus, the teacher can create an environment
in which at first feels beyond their abilities. Only then tolower their anxiety by demonstrating the ease at which it
may be achieved in a more relaxed tone.

From

experience most teachers will concur that it is easy to
become kinder during the course of the year and much
more difficult to become stricter during the course of theterm.

(trait) anxiety, which is used for those who are generally
anxious. The second is specific (state) anxiety for being
anxious in a particular situation. Foreign language anxiety(FLA) is an example of specific, as it is usually atemporary anxiousness. For this study FLA will be definedas “the worry and negative emotional reaction aroused
when learning or using a second language” (MacIntyre,
1994, p. 27). Most notably FLA is perceived as a complex

Anxiety in English classroom in Japan
The problem of anxious students in English
class is not new and Japanese language learners arenotorious for being passive, shy and quiet in theclassroom.

Two of the main reason stem from thefollowing; the educational system and their Confucian
heritage culture (CHC).

and multi-dimensional phenomenon of self-perceptions,beliefs, feeling and behaviors related to foreign language
learning (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986).

One of the main causes of anxiety in Japanesesociety is the repressive education system (Yoneyama,
1999); and students general lack of L2 sociolinguistic

Although this paper is concerned with theability (Jones, 1999).

debilitating feeling of anxiety, the facilitating side brings
excitement and motivation to the learner. Being anxious

Japan is falling behind due to an education

before class or when it is ones turn to speak can push andsystem that fails to emphasize pragmatic communicationencourage engagement.

Jones (1991) proposed thatskills (Davis, 2019). Japanese are known for the lack ofstudents may not always interpret their anxiety symptoms

competency and confidence when communicating inas being debilitative toward performance but may in fact

English and that English language education in failing to

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meet the national objectives. The Japan Ministry ofunderlie these expectations. (Taylor, C. 2004.

Education (MEXT) in a response to a newspaper article

p.23)

admitted to this failure on its homepage:For the Japanese EFL student their self-image has
Many Japanese people cannot speak English

been negatively represented by their previous language

despitelearning experiences and lack of opportunity to build

receiving

six

years

of

Englishlanguage education in middle and high school.

stability in their skills.

The reason is the problem with Japanese

reinforcement notion of anything that is foreign as “notschool education. This is why we are moving

worthy” of consideration. The CHC predominat in Asianahead with reform not only to start English

countries is characterized by students that are reticencelanguage education earlier, but also toand hesitant in the classroom. Or as Ryan & Louie

introduce university entrance exams that

describes the CHC leaner as:balance the four competencies mentioned

surface\rote learners prone to plagiarism and lacking

above. (Shimomura, 2014)

critical thinking” (Ryan & Louie, 2007, p. 406).

The first thing that occurs when a student enters

As well as the negative“passive, dependent,

Compared to western leaners they put a high value

junior high school is the process of losing the ability toon‘face’

and‘silence’.

Inaresearch

project

criticize and to become almost disengaged. Students areconceptualizing second language anxiety Woodrow

guided to ignore their self-esteem and ego by forcing upon

(2006) found that English language learners from CHC’s

them strict conformity and unchallenging tasks. This

were more anxious than other countries groups.

ensures that teens are prevented from becoming
rebellious against their mentor (Nakai, 2012). Strict rules
apply to places not only within the school but to daily life
as well. The structure of education in Japan is centeredon the group, emphasizing uniformity that fosters a culture

Therefore, the social imaginary involves themembers of the group’s expectations of each other andtheir surroundings. For Japanese this means to keep thestatus quo, not to lose face or stand out from the group,
this inhibits learning and a proactive attitude. So, beforeof beating down outlying members (Eryk, 2013).

even starting the education there are the issues
These societal problems are reflected in theclassroom.

Students bringmentalformed from an early age; this is magnified in language

engagement into the classroom, which makes it difficult toclasses. Unlike traditional classes in which the lecturer isreengage them in order to communicate on a personal

the focus of the class the learner must be centered. Iflevel. In addition, the society and their educational systemthese social barriers are not breeched the likelihood of arejects individual differences and is inflexible to any

successful class is drastically decreased.

change or opposing views.

A student permitted to

Rosenkjar (1996) reported that students’ anxiety wasproceed faster is considered as favorable discrimination.

indicative of less participation in class, and that students

In the classroom this translates to students not wanting toin general were anxious. Thus, the question is, how tovolunteer to be seen as different and speak out as they doprevent this cycle and encourage the students and their

not want to be perceived as show offing or boasting; thisparticipation to become the norm in the language

follows with poor self-image that leads to low motivation

classroom?

and confidence.

this lackof

associated with the social stigmatisms that have been

Brown andDe Costa (2015) describes a social

imaginary in which learners have of themselves and their

The Pygmalion Effectenvironments. The Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor
explains social imaginaries as:

The Pygmalion Effect is a self-fulfilling prophecy thatworks as a positive circular device. (Rosenthal, R., &the ways people imagine their social existence,

Jacobson, L. 1992). In a classroom it works like this:

how they fit together with others, how things
go on between them and their fellows, theexpectations that are normally met, and the1.

Teacher’s (T) beliefs about students (S)influence their actions towards students.

deeper normative notions and images that

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

112

2.

T’s action towards S influence and reinforce

randomly placed in classes. At the end of the year, thetheir beliefs about themselves.

same test was given and the experiment showed amarked difference between the sample students and the3.

S’s beliefs about themselves influence theiraction towards T & others.

4.

control students.

The results showed the “bloomers”

gained in all aspects, verbal and reasoning. (Rosenthal,

S’s actions towards others impact T and others
beliefs about S.

R., & Jacobson, L. 1992). The conclusion was thatteacher’s expectations influence student’s achievement.
The teachers influenced their students through theiractions and change the way they think of themselves.

And repeat. (See Diagram 1)(See Diagram 1) Rosenthal predicted that the teachers
This circular methodology can be influenced at all four

may subconsciously behave in ways that facilitate andstages but The Pygmalion Effect focuses on the effect of

encourage learning and success.

other people’s expectations and how the device reinforces
An opposite conclusion to The Pygmalion Effect is known

the effect of these expectations.

as the Golem effect in which low expectations lead to adecrease in performance. Brophy (1986) conducted an

Background of The Pygmalion Effectexperiment and found that negative expectations,

From Greek mythology came Ovid’s narrative poem

expectation-mediated discrimination and false evaluation

Metamorphoses in which Pygmalion, a sculptor fell in lovecan be harmful to the student motivation.

As

Csikszentmihalyi points out:
If a teacher does not believe in his job, does
not enjoy the learning he is trying to transmit,
the student will sense this and derive theentirely rational conclusion that the particularsubject is not worth mastering for its own sake.
(Csikszentmihalyi. 1997. p7)
Another way to put it is, as teachers we need to become
inclusive with all students, regardless of our own feelingsof the job or treatment by the employer and not transmit
our negative emotion onto the students. The emotion that
Diagram 1

the teacher exerts through enthusiasm in the classroom
can influence students’ performance.

(Tabrizi, B. & Terrell, M. 2013)
with a statue of his own creation. Because of his love anddevotion to the statue the god Aphrodite gives it life andScripted example of this is from Wardhaugh’s An
Introduction to Sociolinguistics:

he marries the statue. The Pygmalion Effect originated in1965 when psychologists Robert Rosenthal and Lenore

In Shaw’s Pygmalion, Professor Higgins goes

Jacobsonpublicabout transforming Eliza Doolittle by teachingelementary school. They wanted to demonstrate that if

conducted

anexperimentina

her to talk like a lady. Colonel Pickering treatsteachers were led to expect improved performance fromher like a lady and ignores her talk. Eliza

their students, then their students’ performance would

observes that any success she has isimprove and engagement increase. At the beginning of

attributable to Pickering’s approach rather

the school year, all students were given an IQ test. The

than to Higgins! Is there anything we can learn

teachers are falsely informed that certain students wereabout the relationship of language to behavior“intellectual bloomers” and that they were expected tofrom Eliza’s observation (Wardhaugh, R., &bloom during the school year. In fact, students’ scores

Fuller, J. M. 2015. p 335).

had nothing to do with selection as students were

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113

were expressed

If we as individuals are able to remind ourselves when wewere students, who was your favorite teacher? How andwhy did they make you feel? Did you feel that that there
was a mutual connection of understanding that you could

Class average score
Class A Pygmalion
Class B Golem

Oral
80
65

Written85
80

relate to with them? Was it like Eliza’s feelings towards

Expected to speak
English, warned forusing Japanese

Not expected to use
English not warned
for using Japanese

On time/Early toclass, finishing early

Late to start class,
kept till bell.

Table 2End of term oral and written assessment results

Pickering, that you felt you were given a sense ofaccomplishment and respect?

Conclusion
This paper has demonstrated the important role that affectPygmalion verses the Golem EffectExperimentplays in the EFL classroom focusing on the debilitatingrole that anxiety has on learners. It has also emphasized

In order to test the Pygmalion effect theory a classroom

theexperiment was conducted at a private University inthemselves in the classroom and without recognizing thatproblemthatJapanesehaveinexpressing

Japan. Class A was treated with the Pygmalion effectemotion is a major factor in assisting students’ progress

while Class B was treated with the Golem effect. The

and if left unchecked it is unlikely that students will

experiment was conducted with second year non English

improve. The Pygmalion Effect is an effective tool andmajors with low-intermediate levels of English, in two

can be triggered by teacher expectation leading tocommunication classes for one semester (15 weeks).

meaningful communication. As the experiment confirms(see table 1)

positive expectation and reinforcement can be a factor inlanguage proficiency. However, this is only one factor of

At the end of the term learners were assessed withmany that effect learning and it is not always the case that

identical methods, an oral exam and a written exam. (seeby showing affection or constant positive reinforcement,

table 2)students will automatically live up to the expectations,Class A (Pygnalion) displayed higher scores in both thegiven to them.

oral and written assessments. The oral assessment had

A major dilemma of foreign language teaching is that thea significant 15 point gap and the written assessment hademotional component is too often left out, resulting ina five point gap. The results suggest that the teacher’s

relatively emotion-free classes (Dewaele, 2005, 2011).

attitude and conduct in the classroom can affect learners

Emotion-free is certainly simpler for curriculum designers

motivation to do better work.

and traditionalists that focus on rigid learning activities
that require minimum expressive investment, in simple

Table 1

Classroom factors

Class A Pygmalion

Class B Golem

Consistently given
and checked
homework

Seldom given
homework and nevercheckedPositive feedback
and reinforcement

Negative or no
feedback

Positive energy andattitudeNormal or negative
attitudeHigh expectations

No expectations

language that equates to boring. The teachers must
construct comprehensible dialog and create, throughverbal and no-verbal means:
A true learning environment where students believe in thevalue of learning a language, where they feel they canface that challenge and where they understand the benefit
they can get from attaining it.
(Arnold & Fonseca, 2007, p. 119)

Language acquisition occurs when the students relax andfeel free to develop relationships with teachers and

The 2019 PanSIG Journal114

classmates. The value of the “benefit” mentioned in the

Retrieved

quote above is rather difficult to administer in a country

https://www.wsj.com/articles/improving-japans-that does not wish to engage with anyone outside theirenglish-gets-lost-in-translation-11572954240

fromcollective society from the outset coupled with its CHC
sociology. This makes SLA a more complex task in JapanDe Costa, P. (2015). Reenvisioning Language Anxiety in

but not impossible. The expectations talked about in thisthe Globalized Classroom through a Social Imaginary

paper refer to helping learners engage in meaningful

Lens. Language Learning Research Club. University

communication, giving them the freedom to work at theirof Michigan. 65(3), 504-532.

own pace and means.

With this freedom comes the

responsibility of being an active participant which can leadto positive results, despite the probable anxieties in theclassroom.

Dewaele, J.-M. (2011). Reflections on the emotional andpsychological aspects of foreign language learningand use. Anglistik. International Journal of English
Studies, 22(1), 23-42.
Krashen, S. (1985). The Input Hypothesis: Issues andReferences

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Arnold, J. (1999). (Ed.) Affect in language learning.
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MacIntyre, P.D., Gardner, R.C. (1994). The subtle effectsof language anxiety on cognitive processing in the

Arnold, J. (2011). Attention to affect in language learning.

second language. Language Learning, 44(2), 283-305.

Anglistik. International Journal of English Studies,22(1), 11-22.

Murphy, R. S., & Dörnyei, Z. (2010). Where does
psychology

Arnold, J., & Fonseca, C. (2007). Affect in teacher talk.
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research connect? An interview with Zoltán Dörnyei.
The Language Teacher, 34(2), 19-23.

development (pp. 107-121). London: Continuum.
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Bailey, K. (1983). Competitiveness and anxiety in adultsecond language leaning: Looking at and through thediary studies. In H. Seliger & M. Long (Eds.),

intra-relations and the inter-relations with generalforeign language anxiety. Applied Linguistics, 34,
232–252. doi:10.1093/applin/ ams041

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achievement. American Psychologist, 41(10), 1069–

ability grouping: Journal of Educational Research
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Ryan, J., & Louie, K. (2007). False Dichotomy? ‘Western’Brown, J. D., & Rosenkjar, P. (1996). Personality,
motivation,

anxiety,

strategies

andlanguage

proficiency of Japanese students, University of Hawaii

and ‘Confucian’ concepts of scholarship and learning.
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Working Papers in ESL, 33–72.
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Csikszentmihalyi M. (1997). Intrinsic motivation andeffective teaching: A flow analysis. In Bess J L (ed.)
Teaching well and liking it: Motivating faculty to teacheffectively Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore
pp72-89.

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Shimomura, H. (2014, October 31). Statement by Ministerof

Education,

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ns-divided-education-strategy.html
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NC: Duke University Press.
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37(3) 308-328.

Practical Guide to

Author biography
Michael Greisamer has just completed his Doctor in TESOL from Anaheim University, California. His dissertation is aninternational cross cultural study on foreign language anxiety in the classroom with a focus on Japanese EFL learners.
He is always looking for new challenges with regard to SLA teaching. mag6999@gmail.com

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116

14 Adapting and Scaffolding Texts in CLIL Materials
Michael Griffiths
Konan University
In Japan, there has been steady growth over recent years in university level Content and Language
Integrated Learning (CLIL) courses and Japan-focused CLIL research. However, there is limited researchavailable on how teachers can create CLIL materials that include challenging texts and content whilst stillallowing students to access and deeply understand the texts. This paper aims to provide text adaptationand scaffolding approaches that teachers can incorporate into their CLIL materials. These approaches are
based on the presenters’ experiences in designing and teaching a CLIL course at a Japanese university
across a number of semesters. This paper is intended to be useful for teachers new to designing CLIL
materials and teachers looking to enhance students’ understanding of texts in CLIL courses.

近年の日本では、CLIL(「クリル」または「内容言語統合型学習」と訳されることが多い)や日本の CLIL
教育に焦点を当てた研究が著しく発展している。しかしながら，学習者がしっかりとテキストソースの内容を理解でき、尚且つある程度難易度が高いコンテンツを含む CLIL 教材の作成方法に関する研究は進んでいるとは言えない。本稿では、CLIL 教材をコースに組み込むための方法や、その足がかりとなるアプローチ方法について論じている。このアプローチ方法は、日本国内の大学で、CLIL 教育を取り入れるために試行錯誤を重ねた著者自身の体験を基にしている。初めて CLIL 教材をデザインし、CLIL 教育
を取り入れようとしている教師や、CLIL 教育を実践し、学習者の理解を深めようと考える教師にとって有益なものになると言える。

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) was

focus of CLIL by noting Hard CLIL is “supporting language

developed in Europe in the 1990s to increase bilingualism

learning in content classes” whereas Soft CLIL isand multilingualism, and to enhance cooperation between“supporting content learning in language classes” (p. 20).

European countries. CLIL is now being used around the

In different learning contexts, one type of CLIL may beworld in different levels of education: Primary, Secondary,preferable to others.

and Higher Education. Often CLIL is perceived to makecountries more globally competitive. CLIL is defined as “adual-focused educational approach in which an additional
language is used for the learning and teaching of bothcontent and language” (Coyle, Hood, & Marsh, 2010, p.
1). Consequently, CLIL differs from other approaches
since it focuses on both language and content andconsiders the learning of each to complement the other.
The umbrella-like nature of CLIL emerges when language
or content may receive more focus than the other. As thisfocus can be shifted to different degrees, a multitude of
CLIL types is possible. Ikeda (2013) places Strong/Hard
CLIL at one end and Weak/Soft CLIL at the other. Hard
CLIL is considered to be content-oriented while Soft CLIL
is language-oriented. Ball (2015) emphasizes the dual

Japan has seen growing interest in CLIL overthe last decade. Brown and Bradford (2017) provide an
overview of English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI),
Content Based Instruction (CBI), and CLIL and possible
confusions between them. Importantly, they point out thatdefinitions and goals of these approaches are often
similar andmaysometimes

overlap. To

providedifferentiation, Brown and Bradford state that “In EMI,
content is central; CLIL has a dual focus on content andlanguage; and in CBI, content is peripheral” (p. 332).
Many researchers remark that a shared understanding of
CLIL in Japan has yet to be reached. Some years ago,
Ikeda, Pinner, Mehisto, and Marsh (2013) stated “If CLIL
in Europe is a toddler, CLIL in Japan is a new-born baby,

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117but it is slowly and steadily crawling forward in Japanese

language for a real audience (Pinner, 2013). This notion

education” (p. 2). This observation indicates CLIL isthen allows texts produced by CLIL teachers for theirdeveloping in the Japanese context. Yasuda (2019) notes

student audience to be considered authentic. Pinnerthat CLIL has reached brand-name status as an(2013) condenses this issue by stating “To put it simply,“innovative, effective, and forward-looking educational

authentic language is language where something otherapproach that can easily transform from (traditional)

than language for its own sake is being discussed” (p. 61).

teacher-centeredinnovative)

The focus on content in CLIL thereby provides a degree

student-centered learning environments” (p. 50). There isclassrooms

to

(more

of authenticity. Pinner’s two views discussed here allow

a danger CLIL has achieved the mantle of a buzzword,

an adjustment from authentic texts originally written for aand researchers and educators in Japan have yet to fully

native audience to CLIL texts adapted for the purposes ofunderstand how CLIL can utilized. Yasuda (2019) also

this approach.

comments that CLIL in Japan is currently being
Due to the paucity of published CLIL materials,

conceptualized in different ways and reiterates a sharedunderstanding of CLIL is needed for it to be used more
widely in Japan.

especially in Japan, many CLIL teachers opt to write theirown CLIL texts and materials. Moore and Lorenzo (2007)
note three possible choices where teachers: “a) produce

MacGregor (2016) explored viewpoints of CLIL

their own materials from scratch, b) employ ‘undiluted’university teachers in Japan. Thirteen university teachersauthentic materials, c) adapt authentic materials in line

were interviewed about how they define CLIL, how theirwith their teaching goals” (p. 28). The final, and possibly

CLIL classes were taught, how their students weremore desirable from a CLIL standpoint, choice may beevaluated, what materials and activities they used, andsomewhat challenging for teachers to implement possibly

their thoughts on CLIL’s suitability in Japan. Two findings

because it does not often appear in CLIL literature.

of this study related to authentic materials and scaffolding.
SocialThe participants felt learners should use authentic,
unchanged materials, with news articles, TED Talks, andnovels mentioned as examples. However, the participantsalso noted the learners’ level was a determining factor forthe success of the CLIL lessons, and it was challenging tofind materials at an appropriate level. As for scaffolding,
MacGregor (2016) states that “few gave examples ofscaffolding tasks, suggesting that they may not fully
understand what this entails” (p. 431). Therefore,
authentic materials and scaffolding appear to be issues
for the development and use of CLIL in Japaneseconstructivist

learning

theoryisfundamental to CLIL (Coyle et al., 2010). Borne out of thistheory are the views learning should include interaction
between learners and teachers and learning should be
scaffolded. Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal development(ZPD) describes learning when it is challenging but
possible with support. Scaffolding is this support andmanifests in someone or something that is more
knowledgeable than the learner. Mehisto, Marsh, andFrigols (2008) note that scaffolding helps students:• temporarily but not permanently

universities.
• access prior learning and analyze it
The label of authenticity is notoriously hard to
define. Pinner (2013) notes it is a loose concept with a• process new informationlack of straightforwardness. Therefore, authenticity isprone to misinterpretation often manifesting in ideas that• make connections between prior learning and newauthentic texts are written for native speaker audiences.

learning

Aside from the native label being outdated, thisunderstanding of authentic has little relevance to CLIL

• push their understanding further than they could do
without itmaterials as they are not written for a native audience.
Pinner (2013) suggests alternative understandings that• by using teachers, other learners, tasks, and materials

may give a nuanced understanding of the label authentic.
One suggestion is to substitute the term native for the term

It is important to acknowledge that the amount andreal, meaning a real writer could write a text using real

strength of scaffolding can be reduced as the students'

The 2019 PanSIG Journal118

language skills improve (Meyer, 2010). A permanent

at an approximate Common European Framework for

scaffold is something students will always be reliant on

Reference (CEFR) B1 level which corresponded to theand they may not be able to advance their learning without

student level in the author’s learning context. Third,

it. As CLIL has a dual focus on content and language,

teachers in the EAP program who were teaching otherappropriate scaffolding in both areas is essential.

content-focused courses reported that the students could

Although scaffolding should be provided for both, thisdeal with somewhat challenging content-based texts, butneeds to be differentiated depending on salient points ofthey required significant scaffolding. Pinner (2013)texts (Dale & Tanner, 2012). For example, a Venncomments on this notion by stating: “the language anddiagram could be provided for a text comparing two things

content learning aims need to be clear and within theversus a gapped note taking for a text containing a

students’ ZPD” (p. 65).

number of complex arguments on an issue.

Frameworks for CLIL Materials

The aim of this paper is to explore approaches
for adapting and scaffolding authentic texts in CLIL

Coyle et al. (2010) provide viewpoints to consider whenmaterials used in a Japanese university setting. As CLIL

using texts in CLIL materials. They state teachers should

is practiced in a wide range of contexts, the author’s

consider the focus and clarity of the message, the mix ofcourse and learning context will be explained to situate

textualthe text adaptation and scaffolding approaches. CLIL

vocabulary,frameworks used by the author in the development ofgrammatical/syntactical complexity, as well as the clarity

course materials will follow. Authentic text adaptionof the thread of thinking. Any of these aspects in a text

approaches and a selection of scaffolding ideas formay need to be adapted or rewritten to suit CLIL contexts.

stylesused,

thegenerallevelofsubject-specificvocabulary

andassisting students in understanding these texts will thenbe outlined and critiqued.

The CLIL Matrix provides a way for teachers toconsider linguistic and cognitive demands when designing
CLIL materials (Figure 1). Coyle et al. (2010) introduced

Context of Course

the CLIL Matrix as an adaption of Cummins’ Matrix. The x

This CLIL course was taught in an English for Academic

axis of the matrix focuses on the linguistic demands ofPurposes (EAP) program for non-English major Japanese

CLIL texts and tasks. This is usually determined by theundergraduate students at a private university in westernlevel of vocabulary and grammar-syntax. The y axis

Japan. Students were required to take content-focused

focuses on the cognitive demands of tasks. These

subjects in their second year. On this course, students

cognitive demands are typically understood via thehad a TOEFL iTP average of 466. The CLIL course

Blooms’ taxonomy (Anderson and Krathwohl, 2001).

focused on the topic of cryptocurrencies over a 12-weekprogram. Throughout the course the students wereassessed on vocabulary and lesson content plus theirability to write and speak about issues covered in thecourse.
Based on this course’s context and the following
points, a Soft CLIL approach appeared suitable. First,
Ikeda (2013) states that Soft CLIL is “a type of content andlanguage integrated instruction taught by trained CLIL
language teachers to help learners develop their target
language competency as a primary aim and theirsubject/theme/topic knowledge as a secondary aim” (p.
32). These aims matched the institutional requirements ofthe course. Second, Ikeda (2013) concluded Soft CLIL

Fig. 1 CLIL Matrix (Adapted from Cummins’ Matrix in
Coyle et al., 2010)

was suitable for a Japanese high school cohort who were

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119

Lower-order thinking skills (LOTS) are remembering,interactions, CALP assists learners in dealing with theunderstanding, andinput and output of CLIL lessons.

applying

whereas higher-order

thinking skills (HOTS) are analyzing, evaluating, andcreating. Ideally, following the CLIL Matrix, a lesson or unit
will move from quadrant 1 to 3. However, Coyle et al.
(2010) note this may not happen immediately as focusedlearning

inquadrant

2

will

“move

the

learnersystematically over a period of time to quadrant 3” (p. 44).
Therefore, quadrant 3 can be framed as an ideal goal notalways possible in every lesson or unit. In short, the CLIL
Matrix allows teachers to evaluate demands CLIL
materials put on their learners.

Adapting Texts
As authentic texts are an acknowledged issue for CLIL in
Japanese universities, it is important for CLIL teachers inthis context to account for this. Moore and Lorenzo (2007)
provide a valuable study on authentic text adaption for
CLIL materials. For the purposes of their study, Moore andLorenzo (2007) defined adapting as “synonymous with

The CLIL Lesson Framework (Banegas, 2017)adjustment, modification, grading, and fine-tuning” (p. 29).

merges neatly with the CLIL Matrix (Figure 2). It assumes

The researchers gave an authentic text to 23 CLIL

linguistic and cognitive demands of the lesson increase asteachers in Spain with instructions that they would be

it progresses. Learners begin by using familiar language

teaching a group of students at CEFR B1. The teachersand familiar content to scaffold themselves into new

were asked to make appropriate changes to the authentic

content and new language. In this way, learners movetext as it was seen to be too difficult for the students. From

from a familiar base to new challenges. Banegas (2017)
describes the initial lesson stages as involving familiar
input or output while the final stages involve output withincreased levels of linguistic and cognitive demands thanearlier in the lesson. This framework then conveys aconnection to the work of Cummins (1979) on Basic
Interpersonal Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic
Language Proficiency (CALP). BICS is mostly informal
oral language used in social interactions, and CALP isliteracy and academic language skills mostly used inlearning contexts. Therefore, CALP is particularly
important when course content is abstract or more

the adaptations made by the CLIL teachers, Moore andLorenzo identified three distinct text adaption approaches(Appendix A).
Moore and Lorenzo (2007) explored each ofthese three approaches. The simplification approachcreated a semantically easier and more readable text.
However, it was believed these texts would not lead togreater content understanding for students as less new
language was introduced thus impairing students’
exposure to content. The elaboration approach led tolonger and more complex texts. This was believed to bebecause lower level students do not always understandacademic in nature. While BICS are used in CLIL lesson

Fig. 2 CLIL Lesson Framework (Adapted from Banegas, 2017)

The 2019 PanSIG Journal120

paraphrase and synonyms. Also, any elaborations added

The discursified text (see Appendix E) is

may be perceived as additional information leading

presented in a familiar way for many students. The

increased cognitive demands being placed on the

opening sentence, the order signal words (First, Second,

students. The discursification approach used pedagogic

Third), and other bolded language help reduce thediscourse to adapt the message of the text while retaining

linguistic and cognitive demands of the text. The

the linguistic and cognitive demands of the original. With

underlined words would be glossed for clarity as they arethis approach Moore and Lorenzo (2007) point out thatlow frequency but important for understanding thethese texts are “designed to both draw the reader into thediscursified text. This discursified text could also be

text through engagement strategies and to ensureaccompanied by a diagrammatic representation of the

maximum comprehension” (p. 33). The researchers

Bitcoin network to further assist the students inconcluded that no single approach was fundamentally

understanding

better and teachers would be better equipped if they had

network, public). Moore and Lorenzo (2007) also mention

a range of techniques and an understanding of when one

using rhetorical questions and including the writer’s

approach is preferable over another.

attitude, but these did not seem appropriate inclusions for

relatedconcepts(e.g.

peer-to-peer

this text.
An authentic text was chosen by the author of
the current study to demonstrate the three approaches to

In line with the work of Moore and Lorenzo

adapting authentic texts for CLIL materials (see Appendix(2007), the three text adaptation approaches produce

B). It is the opening paragraph of a Wikipedia entry on

significantly different outcomes. On balance, the author

Bitcoin (Wikipedia, n.d.). This text was chosen as it could

feels that the discursification approach produced texts

be considered authentic as it is intended for a nativethat were the most understandable for students in his

audience and adaptation would be needed if included in acontext. However, the simplification and elaboration

CLIL lesson. The original text contains a range ofapproaches also contained some merits for the author’s

semantically challenging expressions and sentencecourse and these were incorporated into texts at times.

structures as well as some cognitively demanding
concepts.

Scaffolding
In the simplified text (see Appendix C) the

Although CLIL teachers may decide to adapt authentic

sections in bold indicate major changes to assist student

texts, scaffolding would be required to maximize student

understanding. Much of the technical vocabulary has

understanding and learning. Mehisto et al. (2008) provide

been simplified to choices understood by students. At thea number of approaches for scaffolding texts in CLIL

sentence level, many of the sentences have beenmaterials:

reduced to simple constructions. However, this simplified
text has lost some content and may still containchallenging lexical items (e.g. coded information, reward).
The elaborated text (see Appendix D) maintains• inserting synonyms or definitions in parentheses• placing notes in margins• breaking materials into chunks

most of the original text. However, additions at a lexicaland sentence level result in a doubling up of information.

• using graphic organizers such as Venn diagrams, tables

The first two sentences are indicative of this. The doublingand chartsof lexis (e.g. peer-to-peer/(P2P), free/open) and sentencelevel content (e.g. Satoshi Nakamoto) may appear toassist student understanding, but it

reduces the• highlighting the most important text in the passage• using pictures and realia

readability. Some lexis and sentence level content has notbeen elaborated upon and may still cause problems for

All of these were seen to be sound scaffolding strategies.

students (e.g. broadcasting digitally signed messages,

However, the author decided to avoid the use oftimestamp transactions, transaction fees).

parentheses, and instead glossed words in the margin of
the texts if required.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal121

A number of other scaffolding strategies were

prompted to make, connections between photographs

used in the course materials. These were chosen as theyand the text. An example of realia was a screenshot of awere appropriate for the author’s teaching context.

company email related to the media during a hacking
scandal. Hence, an intertextual situation was formed

Pre-reading Tasks
Following the CLIL Lesson Framework, the author aimed
at familiar or accessible pre-reading tasks. In these tasks,

where students could synthesize, or be prompted tosynthesize, information between the texts to create
deeper understanding.

students approach the lesson topic via familiar language
and rely on their BICS. These pre-reading tasks took two

Highlighting Parts of the Text

forms, comics and discussions. The comics used three

Mehisto et al. (2008) suggest highlighting important parts

characters (Alice, Bob, and Charlie) to convey the lessonof a passage. The author felt this could also be achieved

topics on a personal level. For example, in a lesson thatin a different way. A Did you know? box was used tocompared cryptocurrencies to the traditional banking

present an important or interesting fact related to the text.

system, two characters who used each money system

The Did you know? box could be presented pre- or post-

were contrasted. The three characters were usedreading. The students were required to read, discuss, andnumerous times across the course so students could use

relate it back to the text. Again, an intertextual situation

their accumulated understanding of them. Discussions

was formed as students were prompted to synthesize

also used personal level questions to prompt students to

information from the text and the Did you know? box. For

consider their lives or lives of other people in Japan.

example, one text includes information about a private key,

Questions moved successively closer to the lesson topic

which is the equivalent of a long password, so the Did you

with the final question asking the students about the

know? box includes an actual 64 character long private

lesson topic itself, and therefore being quite challenging.

key and a description of it to demonstrate its level ofStudents were assigned into pairs or small groups forsecurity.

these tasks. The larger group option was useful if
discussion questions were particularly challenging.
Additionally, in initial lessons, if certain groups were
struggling to answer questions, the teacher could getother groups to report their answers to the class or theteacher could report good responses that were overheard.
This teacher-led reporting was useful until students could
work independently on discussions later in the course.

Graphic organizers
CLIL research literature also emphasizes using graphicorganizers to guide student understanding of texts. In
contrasttoregularlanguagelessonsthatusecomprehension questions to check student understanding,
CLIL lessons focus on guiding student understanding andlearning. The author’s course materials followed a 3lesson unit cycle. The first lesson of the unit guided theVisual information

students by giving a gapped note taking where the

CLIL literature often emphasizes using visual information

students read one paragraph at a time. The second

and tasks to increase student understanding and learning.

lesson of the unit guided the students by giving a whole

Three types of visual scaffolding were used in the author’s

text article map to complete. The third lesson of the unit

course materials: graphs, photographs, and realia. The

was a case study and therefore often required specialized

course focus made it necessary to include facts, figures,graphic organizers. For example, one case study focusedand trends related to cryptocurrency issues in the texts.

on the Mt. Gox hacking scandal that has played out since

One way of supporting students’ understanding was to2011 and involved a number of complex events. Thus, a

add graphs. Often students would make connections

timeline was given to the students so that they could

between the graphs and texts. However, if this was notorganize the events of the story chronologically. Acrosspossible, or if there was a need to highlight a connection,

this three-lesson unit cycle, the amount of scaffolding wasgraphs could be used as discussion prompts or thevaried to encourage students to read with less scaffolding

students could be given a series of questions related tofrom the materials.

the graphs. Photographs and realia were also usedsimilarly. Photographs often showed people or events
mentioned within a text. Students could make, or be

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

122

Conclusion

Coyle, D., Hood, P. & Marsh, D. (2010). CLIL: Content andTo conclude, it is important that CLIL teachers are able tolanguage integrated learning, New York: Cambridge

select a suitable CLIL type for their learning context. This

University Press.

understanding can assist in finding solutions to numerous
issues that arise when writing or designing CLIL materials.
Following a set of established CLIL frameworks can also
assist with this. When using authentic texts, CLIL teachers
should consider what adaptation approach and amount isCummins, J.

(1979). Cognitive/academic language

proficiency, linguistic interdependence, the optimum
age question and some other matters. Working
Papers on Bilingualism, 19, 121–129.

required. A suitable selection of scaffolding strategies

Dale, L. & Tanner, R., (2012). CLIL Activities: A resource

should also be included in CLIL materials in order tofor subject and language teachers, Cambridge:

maximize student understanding and learning. CLIL

Cambridge University Press.

materials should provide scaffolding across lessons, units,
and the course itself. However, certain scaffolding

Ikeda, M., Pinner, R., Mehisto, P., & Marsh, D. (2013).

elements can be leveraged by CLIL teachers if students

Editorial, International CLIL Research Journal, 2(1),need to improve their understanding of a particular aspect

2–3.

of the materials. CLIL teachers should decrease or
remove scaffolding if it is not needed by the students toencourage autonomy. Importantly, the scaffolding could
always be added in again by the teacher during a lesson
if needed.

Ikeda, M. (2013). Does CLIL work for Japanese
secondary school students?, International CLIL
Research Journal, 2(1), 31–43.
Macgregor, L. (2016). CLIL in Japan: University teachers’

It is hoped that future CLIL research in theJapanese university setting can add more details to therange of CLIL approaches being used and further explore
authentic text adaptation and scaffolding within CLIL
materials.

viewpoints, in P. Clements, A. Krause, & H. Brown(Eds.) Focus on the learner. Tokyo: JALT, 426–432.
Mehisto, P., Marsh, D. & Frigols, M.J. (2008). Uncovering
CLIL: Content and language integrated learning inbilingualandmultilingual

education,

Oxford:Macmillan Education.

References
Anderson, L.W. & Krathwohl, D. (2001). A taxonomy forlearning, teaching and assessing: A revision ofMeyer, O. (2010). Towards quality-CLIL: Successfulplanning and teaching strategies, Pulso: revista deeducación, 33, 11–29.

Bloom’s educational objectives, Longman. New York.
Moore, P. & Lorenzo, F. (2007). Adapting authentic
Ball, P. (2015). CLIL, English teachers and the three
dimensions of content, Modern English Teacher,materials for CLIL classrooms: An empirical study,
Vienna English Working Papers, 16(3), 28–35.

24(2), 15–20.
Pinner, R. (2013). Authenticity of purpose: CLIL as a way
Banegas, D. L. (2017). Teacher-developed materials for
CLIL: Frameworks, sources, and activities, Asian EFL

to bring meaning and motivation into EFL contexts,
Asian EFL Journal, 15(4), 138–159.

Journal, 19(3), 31–48.
Wikipedia
Brown, H. and Bradford, A. (2017). EMI, CLIL, & CBI:(n.d.).

Bitcoin.

Retrievedfromhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin

Differing Approaches and goals. In P. Clements, A.
Krause, & H. Brown (Eds.) Transformation inlanguage education. (pp. 328–334). Tokyo: JALT.

Yasuda, S. (2019). Conceptualizing Integration in CLIL:
More than just learning content and language, JALT
Journal, 41(1), 49-65.

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123

Author biography

Michael Griffiths has experience that covers roles in course design and program management. He has taught in schools
and universities in Australia and Japan. Michael is currently a Lecturer in the Institute for Language and Culture at Konan
University. His research interests include Corpus Linguistics, Australian English, EAP, and CLIL. mgriffiths@konan-u.ac.jp

Appendix
Appendix A
Approaches to adapting authentic texts for CLIL courses (from Moore & Lorenzo, 2007)
Adaptation type

MethodExamplesSimplification“a paring down of the text to its basic
content”

sentence based procedure; shorter
sentences, lexical simplification, copulaverbs

Elaboration“an expansion of the text through theaddition of paraphrase and explanation”

high redundancy; important points arehighlighted, and rephrased, key nounphrases repeated

Discursification“a pedagogic redefinition of themessage”

a deep approach, text becomes pedagogic;
rhetorical questions, writer’s attitude, added
visuals or glossaries

Appendix B
Original Text
Bitcoin isa peer-to-peer payment

system and digitalcurrency introduced

as opensource software

in

2009

by pseudonymous developer Satoshi Nakamoto. It is a cryptocurrency, so-called because it uses cryptography to control
the creation and transfer of money. Users send payments by broadcasting digitally signed messages to the network.
Participants known as miners verify and timestamp transactions into a shared public database called the block chain, forwhich they are rewarded with transaction fees and newly minted bitcoins.

Appendix C
Simplified Text
Bitcoin is a type of digital money that uses a peer-to-peer system. In 2009 Satoshi Nakamoto released the Bitcoin
software for free. Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency because it uses coded information to create and send money. Bitcoin
users share payments by sending their coded information with everyone on the Bitcoin network. Other users lookat this information is correct so it can enter the Bitcoin database. If the information is correct, these users get bitcoin
as a reward.
N.B. Bold sections indicate major changes to assist student understanding.

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124

Appendix D
Elaborated Text
Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer (P2P) payment system and digital currency introduced as free open source software in 2009by pseudonymous developer Satoshi Nakamoto. The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto is still a mystery because people
do not know if it is a real person or group of people. Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, so-called because it
uses cryptography, like secret codes, to control the creation and transfer of money. This means Bitcoin has a highlevel of privacy. Bitcoin users send payments by broadcasting digitally signed messages to the Bitcoin network.
Bitcoin miners verify and timestamp transactions into a shared public database called the Bitcoin blockchain, for which
they are rewarded with transaction fees and new bitcoins. The Bitcoin blockchain is open for anyone on the internet
to see, but all the information on it is in a secret code.
N.B. Bold sections indicate elaborations that were added to assist student understanding.

Appendix E
Discursified Text
There are a number of important things to know about Bitcoin if you want to understand it. First, it was developed by
Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009. However, people do not know if Satoshi Nakamoto is a real person or a group of people.
Second, Bitcoin is different to other types of money because it is a digital currency that uses a peer-to-peer network.
Bitcoin users send their information via computers to other Bitcoin users in a secret code no one can read. This isbecause Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency. ‘Crypto’ means secret or coded and ‘currency’ means money or cash. Third, Bitcoinminers check the secret code to see if is correct. They receive a reward in bitcoin for checking it. If the information they
check is correct, it goes onto a public list called the Bitcoin blockchain that anyone on the internet can see.
N.B. Bold sections help reduce the linguistic and cognitive demands of the text. Underlined words would be glossed toassist student understanding.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal125

15 Japanese Version of the Smartphone Addiction Scale Short Version(SAS-SV)
Sandra Healy
Kyoto Institute of Technology

Olivia Kennedy
Nagahama Institute of Bio-Science and Technology
To assist in the recognition and treatment of the widespread phenomenon of smartphone addiction, thisstudy examines the development and implementation of a Japanese translation of the Smartphone
Addiction Scale Short Version (SAS-SV) for adolescents, developed in Korea by Kwon, Kim, Cho, andYang (2013). The original SAS-SV has been replicated in several countries around the world. Scrupulous
forward-backward translation was undertaken, and the resulting questionnaire administered to 533 firstyear undergraduate students at a national university in Kyoto, Japan. A Cronbach’s alpha of 0.85,
comparable to Kwon, Kim et al.’s original 0.911, confirms the new instrument’s reliability. As to validity,
confirmatory factor analysis results, however, indicated that the model was not well-fitted. As such,research is ongoing to improve the psychometric properties of the translation and adaptation of the scale
to increase its suitability for use in the Japanese cultural context.

本研究では、日本語では初となる有効で信頼性の高い青少年向けのスマートフォン依存尺度の作成を試みた。先行研究で示されたスマートフォン依存尺度（SAS）の 33 項目（Kwon, Lee, Won, Park, Min &Hahn, 2013）を採用し、日本語に翻訳された一次元 10 項目のアンケートを作成した。翻訳の際には客観性を保証するために逆翻訳も行った。アンケート調査は京都工芸繊維大学の 1 年生 533 人を対象に行った。因子分析の結果、調査の信頼性を示すクロンバックのα係数は 0.85 となり、信頼性は高いといえる。しかし、今回使用したモデルは日本での使用に完全に適合しているとはいえないため、日本語版の項目のサイコメトリック特性および潜在的適応性の改善を目標に研究を継続中である。また、スマートフォン依存の度合いの問題と同時に、男性と女性でのスマートフォン使用量と依存度の違いについても調査を行った。

In Japan, 81.4% of adolescents (10 to 19 years)

adolescents and emerging adults (aged 18 to 29) accessown a smartphone and this number increases to 94.2%

the internet more than other age groups (Pew Researchfor people in their twenties (Ministry of Internal Affairs andCenter, 2012; Anderson, Steen, & Stavropoulos, 2017),

Communications, 2017). Smartphones, with their greatly

and addictive behaviors established during these years

increased functions, are used by many people throughout

are likely to continue throughout life (Coffey, Carlin,

the day to help them complete everyday tasks. While

Lynskey, Li & Patton, 2013), development of a survey

tasks have become easier, many find themselves

instrument

dependent on their phones and feel adversely affected

smartphone use in young people is particularly necessary.

thatefficiently

assesses

problematicwithout them (Lopez-Fernandez, 2015). Such people
experience “nomophobia”, an abbreviation of ‘no mobile

The purpose of this study is twofold; firstly, tophone phobia’ (SecurEnvoy, 2012). Researchers haveexamine the validity and reliability of the Japanese version

developed

variousscalestomeasurewhethersmartphone usage levels are problematic. Becauseof the Short Version of the Smartphone Addiction Scalefor adolescents and adults (JSAS-SV) and secondly to

The 2019 PanSIG Journal126

estimate excessive smartphone use prevalence amongst

a useful tool to screen for nomophobe-prone adolescents.

the Japanese university student population.

The 10-question instrument measures six factors: dailylife

disturbance,

positive

anticipation,

withdrawal,

cyberspace-oriented relationships, overuse and tolerance,

Problematic Smartphone Useusing a six-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly

Since Young (1998) published her seminal work,

disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). Participants are given a

Caught in the Net, exploring how parents could help

total score ranging from 10 – 60, with higher scores

teenage offspring struggling with problematic internet use,

indicating higher levels of addiction. The SAS-SV foundresearch exploring the problematic use and overuse ofdifferent cut-off values to identify addiction for males (31)technology has developed greatly (Anderson, Steen, &and for females (33) with a Receiver Operating

Stavropoulos, 2017). Internet addiction has steadily

Characteristics (ROC) analysis, which measured thegrown in recent years, possibly related to the rapid

diagnostic ability of the SAS-SV score to predict

increase in the ownership of smartphones. East Asiansmartphone addiction. The SAS-SV has been replicatedcountries in particular are noted for high levels of bothin various cultural contexts such as Italy (DePasquale,internet and smartphone addiction (Roh et al., 2018).

Sciacca & Hichy, 2017), Spain and Belgium (Lopez-

Behavioral addictions have been found to be similar to

Fernandez, 2015), Switzerland (Haug et al., 2015),

substance addictions (Ko, Yen, Chen, Yeh & Yen, 2009;

Turkey (Akin, Altundag, Turan & Akin, 2014), Lebanon

Banz, Yip, Yau & Potenza, 2016) and are characterized(Samaha & Hawi, 2015), and China (Luk et al., 2018). Thisbysharing

study was undertaken to explore the applicability of the“considerable phenomenological parallels with substance

SAS-SV in the Japanese context and will henceforth be

addictions” (Roh et al., 2018, p.80). The Diagnostic andreferred to as JSAS-SV.

“maladaptive

repetitive

behaviors”

Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders from the American
Psychiatric Association (2013) has not yet included
internet addiction, limiting the use of the term ‘addiction’

Methods

to substance addiction, with the exception of pathologicalParticipants were recruited from the first-year

gambling. Problematic internet usage (PIU) has been

students of a large national Japanese university. All

found to have negative implications for people’s lives

participants were science majors. The researchers(Akin, 2012). Similar to PIU and gaming, Problematic

explained the purpose of the survey and told the students

Smartphone Use (PSU) has also become importantparticipation was optional, and that failure to participate(Salehan & Negahban, 2013). Kwon, Kim et al. (2013)

would not affect their academic grades. Participatingstate that “a smartphone also has the possibility ofstudents signed ethical consent forms to allow their data

becoming a prevalent social problem as it signifies theto be used. In addition to the questionnaire, descriptive

characteristics of addiction such as tolerance, withdrawal,

data was collected on gender and age, frequency anddifficulty performing daily activities or impulse control

duration of use, how many times a week they use theirdisorders” (p. e83558). They go on to describe

phones at night, and how many messages they send eachadolescents as being more vulnerable to smartphoneday. The sample consists of 501 usable responeses fromaddiction than other age groups and state that it isyoung adults (30% female, 70% male) with a mean age oftherefore important to identify those who may be at risk.

19.22 years, and a standard deviation of 1.09.
The questionnaire was translated from English

The SAS and SAS-SVThe Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS) wasinto Japanese using a multi-step process. Firstly, adeveloped to measure generalized mobile phone usage

bilingual English-Japanese translator translated the ten

and to identify excessive or problematic smartphonesurvey statements into Japanese. Next, the Japaneseusage amongst the general population. The 33-question

was translated back into English by a second translator

scale proved to be unwieldy, however, and a revised,

and these sentences were compared with the original

short version was developed later in 2013. The

statements. Differences between the translations were

Smartphoneforidentified, and the translations adjusted accordingly. The

Adolescents and Young Adults (SAS-SV) was found to beprocess was repeated, ensuring that the Japanese

Addiction

Scale

Short

VersionThe 2019 PanSIG Journal

127

instrument was as close to Kwon, Kim et al.’s 2013

Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR), wasoriginal as possible. The items from the original SAS-SV

under .08 at SRMR= .073 which is considered acceptable.

survey are shown in Table 1.

Internal consistency of all the corrected item total
correlations is adequate, ranging from 0.38 to 0.73. Item

Table 1

3 is considerably lower than other factor loadings,
however, indicating weaker correlations with other scale

Short Version of the Smartphone Addiction Scale
Items
1

items.
A linear regression, however, showed that theMissing planned work due to smartphoneuse

data is not normally distributed. If the variance is above
40%, the analysis is considered valid, and over 70% ideal.

2

Having a hard time concentrating in

The R squared values are below 20%, however, meaningclass, while doing assignments, or whilethat the dependent variable (JSAS-SV score) was only

working due to smartphone use

slightly influenced by the independent variables (the four
usage values).

3

Feeling pain in the wrists or at the backof the neck while using a smartphone

4

Won’t be able to stand not having a

Item Analysis and ReliabilityFactor
Structure
Item analysis of the JSAS-SV is shown in Table

smartphone

2.
5

6

Feeling impatient and fretful when I am
not holding my smartphone

Table 2

Having my smartphone in my mind even

Item analysis

when I am not using it
7

Mean

SD

CFA
factorloadings

Item 1

4.37

1.31

0.602

Item 2

3.99

1.39

0.631

Item 3

2.97

1.6

0.379

Item 4

3.88

1.47

0.644

Item 5

2.65

1.3

0.745

Item 6

2.38

1.24

0.686

Item 7

3.57

1.45

0.667

Item 8

2.81

1.35

0.607

Item 9

4.60

1.1

0.551

Item 10

2.80

1.49

0.576

I will never give up using my smartphoneeven when my daily life is already greatly
affected by it.

8Constantly checking my smartphone so
as not to miss conversations between
other people on Twitter or Facebook

9

Using my smartphone longer than I had
intended

10

The people around me tell me that I use
my smartphone too much

Factor Structure
To test the factor structure of the scale, aconfirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with one latent factor
and ten observed variables (the ten items) was performed.
To verify the adequacy of the models, χ2 was used. χ2(35)Table 3 indicates that the Cronbach’s Alpha will

= 395.07. All factor loadings were significant at p < .001,

improve to 0.862 if Item 3, which also showed weak

but this may have been due to the large sample size. The

association with the remaining nine items in the

Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = .81 was below thecorrelation matrix, is removed from the analysis. This will

necessary .95 and so fit the data well, and thefurther improve the reliability of the other items. Even

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128

Table 3
Item-Total Statistics
Scale Mean if Item

Scale Variance if

Corrected Item-

Squared Multiple

Cronbach's Alpha

DeletedItem Deleted

Total Correlation

Correlation

if Item Deleted

Item 129.67

68.259

.593

.551

.839

Item 230.04

66.938

.612

.534

.837

Item 331.06

70.679

.355

.164

.862

Item 430.15

67.162

.561

.436

.842

Item 531.38

66.648

.680

.547

.832

Item 631.65

68.461

.626

.484

.837

Item 730.46

66.425

.607

.430

.837

Item 831.22

68.369

.564

.357

.841

Item 929.43

71.633

.534

.361

.845

Item 1031.23

67.411

.537

.325

.844

without removing Item 3, the reliability coefficients for theaddressed feelings of anxiety when not using their phones,summated items were high (alpha = .85), as per thewhich had the lowest scores. This might be attributed tofindings of Gliem and Gliem (2003).

high usage and never being without their phones at hand.
It is somewhat surprising that the mean of Item 10 is so
low when compared to other items. Item 10 points to

Results and Discussion
The purpose of this study was to test theawareness of addiction on the part of others. It would
seem natural that people who self-assessed themselves,

reliability, validity and applicability of the JSAS-SV and tofor example, as having missed planned work due toestimate how prevalent excessive smartphone use issmartphone use, an item with a mean of 4.37, to have had

amongst the Japanese university population. The scale

this brought to their attention. The mean for Item 10,

has a good internal consistency and its mono-factorial

however, was 2.80. Perhaps this is because thestructure was confirmed. As such, it is reliable. The validity,

participants are university students, many of whom live

however, requires further research.

alone, or may reflect societal acceptance of high levels of

In Table 2 showing the item analysis, the mean

smartphone use.

of each scale item is reported. It can be clearly seen fromIn the SAS, Kwon, Lee et al. (2013) stated they

the results that excessive smartphone usage has anfound no difference in the levels of smartphone addiction

impact on the daily lives of the participants with items 9, 1

between females and males, although the female mean

and 2 being the highest items recorded. Additionally,score for that survey was 112.7, and the male 104.5 fromparticipants reported high levels of anxiety if they

a possible minimum score of 48 and a maximum of 288.

imagined being permanently without their phones. ThisThe results of other surveys have been mixed, with some

contrasts with the responses to items 5 and 6, which

showing higher levels of smartphone addiction for females

The 2019 PanSIG Journal129

(e.g. Takao, Takahashi, & Kitamura, 2009), and others for

Number of messages sent, 12.5%; Night usage, 25.0%).

males (e.g. Chen et al., 2017). It therefore seems

Lin et al. (2015) found that smartphone addiction was

important to engage in more research in this area. In the

more strongly connected with frequency of use thanoriginal Korean SAS-SV, the average male score was 24,

duration. Haug et al. (2015), however, found the opposite

while the average female score was 28. In this study,

to be true. In the present study, males were found to have

however, the male score was higher than the female, at

higher levels of smartphone addiction and duration of use,

34.5 and 33.8 respectively. As previously mentioned, theand as some 55% and 47.7% respectively of addicted

SAS-SV identified the addiction levels for males at 31 andmale and female participants use their smartphones forfemales at 33. The average levels of smartphone usage

more than three hours each day, duration is an importantin this study exceed these levels, and as such, are offactor to consider.

serious concern. In the present study, 39% of males and57.5% of females scored over the recommended

Overall,thefemaleparticipants

reportedsending more text messages than their male counterparts.

diagnostic figures for addiction.

This is in line with findings by Haagsma, King, Pieterse
The cut-off scores to assess addiction for theand Peters (2013) and Roberts, Yaya and Manolis (2014),

participants in this survey were based on the ROC

that females use their phones more for social interaction

analysis for the original Korean version of the survey (seethan males do. The reported number of messages sent

Fawcett, 2006 for a detailed analysis of ROC). Some have

was surprisingly low, however, with the majority ofsuggested that cut-offs may need to be reexamined when

respondents across all categories sending fewer than 20

applied to populations of different cultural backgrounds

messages each day. An interesting relationship is seen,(Lopez-Fernandez, 2017). Kuss, Griffiths, Karila andhowever, in that female participants designated as

Billeux (2014), in their comprehensive review of internet‘addicted’ were twice as likely to send more than 40

addiction studies, found that excessive technology use ismessages a day as non-addicted users. Male participants

higher in Asia than in the West. In 2018, Japan ranked

designated as ‘addicted’ were three times more likely tonumber 10 in the international technology penetration

send more than 40 messages a day than their non-comparison,

addicted counterparts.

theInformation

andCommunication

Technologies (ICT) Index, (Zavazava, 2019). As JSASSV data participants are from Japan, a country
geographically, ethnically and culturally close to Korea
where the original SAS-SV was undertaken, it was
assumed that the similar gender distribution and East
Asian culture of the participants in both studies would
result in similarly distributed data. This proved not to be
the case. Lopez-Fernandez (2017) suggests using the
SAS-SV mean score as the addiction indicative cut-off.
This, however, would presume half of the participants are
addicted, and half are not. To err on the side of caution,
this study utilized Kwon, Kim at al.’s (2013) thorough,In terms of night usage, the majority ofparticipants report using their phones once or twice aweek between midnight and 5 a.m. However, 25% offemale participants designated as ‘addicted’ report using
their phones during these hours every night compared toonly 6.3% of non-addicted female users, revealing a verylarge gap between the two groups. There was no similar
pattern among male participants with approximately 20%
of both groups reporting nightly usage. Previous research
has found that smartphone addiction can affect sleep.
Demirci, Akgonul, and Akipinar (2015), for example,
concluded that there were positive correlations between

ROC-driven approach.

high SAS scores and depression and anxiety levels, and
Table

4

shows

smartphone-usage-based

sleep quality.

distributions of the SAS-SV scores for male and female
participants. The highlighted areas show the highest selfreported number of users for each category. It may be
assumed that higher levels of smartphone usage would
be associated with higher levels of dependency. For
female participants designated as ‘addicted’ this was truein three of the four categories (Frequency, 29.5%;

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

130

Table 4Distribution of male and female SAS-SV Scores based on smartphone usage
Female Below
SAS-SV of 32 (%)

Female Above
SAS-SV of 33 (%)

Male Below SASSV of 30 (%)

Male Above
SAS-SV of 31(%)< 10 times

6.3

4.5

15.1

1.8

6.2

10-20 times

42.2

25.0

41.3

24.7

31.1

20-30 times

25.0

28.4

25.4

32.3

28.9

30-40 times

6.3

12.5

7.1

13.9

11.0

> 40 times

20.3

29.5

11.1

27.4

22.8

< 1 hour

6.3

0

5.6

.044

2.4

1-2 Hours

32.8

17.0

38.1

11.2

21.8

2-3 Hours

26.6

35.2

23.0

33.2

30.1

3-4 Hours

15.6

22.7

20.6

22.4

21.2

> 4 Hours

18.8

25.0

12.7

32.7

24.6

< 10 times

31.3

19.3

57.1

34.1

36.9

10-20 times

40.6

44.3

24.6

29.6

32.3

20-30 times

18.8

18.2

8.7

17.9

15.8

30-40 times

3.1

5.7

5.6

6.3

25.6

> 40 times

6.3

12.5

4.0

12.1

9.4

Zero times

14.1

8.0

19.8

8.5

12.0

1-2 times

50.0

30.7

41.3

39.0

39.5

3-4 times

23.4

22.7

11.9

19.7

18.8

5-6 times

6.3

13.6

5.6

12.6

10.2

7 times

6.3

25.0

21.4

20.2

19.6

Smartphone
Usage

Total

Frequency

Duration

Messages

Night Usage

This study has several limitations. Firstly,

example, Lin et al. (2015) compared self-reported andbecause the participants are all first-year science

application-recorded smartphone use and found that adepartment undergraduate students, they form a narrow

majority of participants underestimated their usage time.

educational and cultural demographic. Secondly, theThat study found that those who used their smartphones

gender balance is not 1:1, as 70% of the participants weremore frequently, more greatly underestimated theirmale and 30% female. Additionally, participants in studies

frequency of use. Finally, although it has been only six

that use self-reported data have been shown to

years since Kwon, Kim et al.’s 2013 study, the capabilities

underestimate things that they perceive as negative. For

The 2019 PanSIG Journal131

of smartphones and the number of people who own them
have increased and this may have affected the results.

Chen, B., Liu, F., Ding, S., Ying, X., Wang, L., & Wen, Y.
(2017). Gender differences in factors associated withsmartphone addiction: a cross-sectional study among
medical college students. BMC psychiatry,17(1), 341.

Conclusion

doi:10.1186/s12888-017-1503-z

In conclusion, the present study has establishedthat the JSAS-SV is a reliable tool in the Japanese context,

Coffey, C., Carlin, J. B., Lynskey, M., Li, N., & Patton, G.

but further research needs to be undertaken in regard to

C. (2003). Adolescent precursors of cannabis

validation, as the limitations described do not fully explain

dependence: Findings from the Victorian Adolescent

the lack of model fit. The participants’ responses indicate

Health Cohort Study. British Journal of Psychiatry,high levels of smartphone addiction, higher than those

182, 330–336. doi:10.1192/bjp.182.4.33

found in Kwon, Kim et al. (2013). An ROC analysis in theJapanese university context will allow for analysis of Kwon,
Kim et al.’s cut-off scores here, and will be undertaken as
part of ongoing research, which will also examine thedifferences between smartphone use in males andfemales, and which types of activities are connected to
addiction.

Demirci, K., Akgonul. M., & Akipinar, A. (2015).
Relationship of smartphone use severity with sleep
quality, depression, and anxiety in university students.
Journal of Behavioral Addictions 4(2), pp. 85–92. doi:
10.1556/2006.4.2015.010
De Pasquale, C., Sciacca, F., Hichy, Z. (2017). Italianvalidation of smartphone addiction scale short version
for

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The 2019 PanSIG Journal

133

Authors’ biographies

Sandra Healy is an associate professor at Kyoto Institute of Technology and her research interests include the use oftechnology in the classroom and how the intersection of gender and identity impact on language learning. healy@kit.ac.jp
Olivia Kennedy is a lecturer at Nagahama Institute of Bio-Science and Technology. Her research interests include theuse of technology to improve student experiences and learning outcomes in the language learning classroom.
olivia_l_kennedy@yahoo.com

The 2018 PanSIG Journal

134

16 Addressing Gender Equality
Sandra Healy
Kyoto Institute of Technology

Tanja McCandie
Nanzan University

Kathleen Cahill
Kinjo Gakuin University

Gerry Yokota
Osaka University

Gwyn Helverson
Osaka University

This year the Gender Awareness in Language Education (GALE) Forum at PanSIG2019 had four
presenters. Tanja McCandie introduced her new website designed to improve gender equality called“Equality in ELT in Japan” <www.equalityeltjapan.net>. Kathleen Cahill spoke about the development of
JALT’s Code of Conduct and the procedures concerning how people can make a complaint if theyexperience some form of harassment. She also discussed the implementation of workshops which
encourage the building of a safe environment for all. Our third speaker, Gerry Yokota, built on this,connecting her work with the Code of Conduct committee and her teaching. She explored various ways inwhich we can increase awareness of gender issues on our campuses and in our classrooms. Finally,
Gwyn Helverson provided an example of an academic writing course which addressed the concept ofvoice in writing through the examination of alternative fairy tales and the development of voices for Artificial
Intelligence.

今年開催された PanSIG2019 の GALE フォーラムにおいて、以下の 4 人のプレゼンターが発表を行った。まず Tanja McCandie は、「日本における ELT の平等」というジェンダーの平等性を向上させるために作成されたウェブサイトを紹介した。次に Kathleen Cahill は、JALT の行動規範の啓発とハラスメント被害を受けた場合の申し立ての手続きについて述べ、また全員にとっての安全な環境の構築を促進するためのワークショップの開催について論じた。続いて Gerry Yokota は、この行動規範啓発のために構成された委員会における活動と自身の研究・教育活動を結び付け、キャンパス内やクラス内でのジェンダー問題への意識を向上させるための様々な方法について論じた。最後に Gwyn Helverson は、現代作家によるおとぎ話や AI の声の開発を題材に、書物の中の「声」の概念の獲得を目的としたアカデミッ
クライティングの授業の例を提供した。

The 2018 PanSIG Journal

135

A lack of representation for others needs to be

Tanja McCandie: Equality in ELT in
Japan website

addressed more within the organization. Unlike the recent
medical university entrance scandals in Japan in which

Lack of representation be it for genderwomen were clearly systematically targeted (Wheeler,(Kobayashi, 2014; Nagatomo, 2016; OECD, 2016), first2018), the lack of other, more so female presenters, is notlanguage (Kobayashi, 2011; Kobayashi, 2018), andbelieved to be systematic. Based on ongoing research

invisible and visible minority groups (Chapple, 2014;

being done by JALT’s DEP, it is a result of oversight,

Kageyama, 2019) is still an issue within our teachingwhich persists because of a lack of awareness, lack ofcommunity that we need to address and improve upon.

connections with other, and insular networking. A lack of

The website, <www.equalityeltjapan.net>, was created toawareness, connections and staying within our groupaddress the gender imbalance women face in ELT in

extends to all of us, regardless of our best intentions andJapan.

efforts, and so we all need to work at overcoming this.
The Japan Association for Language Teaching

Stepping back from large events like the JALT

(JALT) began in 1975 and is the largest academic

International Conference, the PanSIG Conference, andassociation in Japan for language teachers. JALT has

the TnT Wokshops, how is JALT doing with smaller events

made great strides towards diversity and inclusiveness inlike chapter presentations? Not well. Research using The

the past few years by instating a Code of Conduct andLanguage Teacher, a JALT publication which keeps

more recently, in June 2019, creating a Diversity andmembers up-to-date, and the chapter reports from 2007

Equity Practices Committee (DEP).

to 2015 demonstrated (findings forthcoming) not only an
overall lack of female presenters, but a lack of Japanese

Membership demographics, supplied by JALT’s

presenters. It became very clear that while I, as a non-Head Office, have consistently hovered around 60% male,

Japanese woman, wasn’t seeing enough of me in invited

40% female, 35% Japanese and 65% non-Japanese forspeaker positions and at local chapters, Japanese women

the last ten years. Non-Japanese men make up nearly

were faring even worse.

50% of the organization, non-Japanese women 15%,
I decided to start questioning how and why

Japanese men 10% and Japanese women account for

women were being overlooked. I began asking people I

approximately 25%.

knew involved in scheduling speakers how they decided
After

the

all-white,male,

nativeEnglishpresentersforchapter

events,symposiums,

andpresenter slate at PanSIG 2016, there was discussion on

conferences. The replies I received were varied. Somejust how underrepresented women were within JALT, andwere very apologetic with people concerned that they had

ELT as a whole. Presentations such as “Where are theblind-spots. They asked what they could do to improve

women in ELT?” (Prentis and Mayne, 2015) given at theand listened to suggestions. Others, however, were rather

IATEFL

websiteunapologetic and insisted there was no imbalance and<http://thefairlist.org> demonstrate that gender imbalancethat even if there was, it was because they could not findin ELT in not just a JALT and Japan issue. The JALT

women to present, women are not knowledgeable inInternational Conference has historically been balanced

certain fields of ELT, women are not interested inregarding slate speakers but there were many otherpresenting, and/or women just are not good enough to beevents that seemed to be rather “male heavy”. JALT’s

asked to present. These replies came from women andTechnology and Teaching (TnT) Workshops, held themen,

Friday before the international conference is one example

universities, and publishing companies. The idea thatof an event that has historically been very non-Japanesepeople organizing events were unable to find willing andmale dominated in regard to presenters. In 2018, ten out

knowledgeable female presenters was very concerning.

conference

in

2015

and

the

variousteacherorganizationsandgroups,of the twelve presenters were male, and in 2017, fifteen
out of eighteen presenters were male. 2019 had four

As a result, the “Equality in ELT in Japan”

women presenters out of sixteen, a better balance thought

website <www.equalityeltjapan.net> was started as bothto be due raised awareness.

a support system for those who wanted to have better

The 2018 PanSIG Journal136

If you’d like to be a part of the website, either as

gender representation at their events, but also to end thebelief that there just are not women qualified enough toapresenter

or

an

ally,

pleasespeak about certain fields. The inspiration to start the<equalityeltjapan@gmail.com>.

contactusatwebsite came from watching what female educators in
Europe and the United Kingdom were doing; “The Fair List”
website <http://thefairlist.org> and “Gender Equality in
ELT”

list

Kathleen Cahill: JALT Code of Conduct
At the 2017 February Executive Board Meeting<https://genderequalityelt.wordpress.com/database-of-(EBM) of JALT, the first version of the Code of Conduct

women/>, being the two main models. Paul Arenson, the(COC) and the Code of Conduct Complaint Procedures

former Gender Awareness in Language Education

were approved. Following the approval, discussions were

(GALE) SIG website administrator, offered support to help

held by the Executive Board to provide feedback to theset up this website so that I could create more awarenessworking group that drafted the Code and the Procedures,and support for women in our ELT community. As of now,

as well as to make recommendations for future actions.

we have a database of over 75 women, from various

Following the EBM, a call was made for anyone interested

communities and language backgrounds who offer ain joining the Code of Conduct Working Group, in order towealth of knowledge and are willing to present. The

let those who were in the group during the drafting to step

website lists women alphabetically, including email

down. It was around this time that I was invited to join theaddresses, in the hopes that those listed will be contacted

working group. For the next two years, our goals were to

and asked to share their expertise with other members ofcome up with a finalized version of the Code and refine

our community. We also include a section based on topics

the Complaints Procedures based on feedback fromso if organizers have certain themes and need speakers,

people we talked to at PanSIG 2018 and the 2018 JALT

they can look at the topic page and find a speaker that is

International Conference, as well as to make people

suitable for their event.

aware of the Code and who it protects. At the 2019
February EBM, our group was officially accepted as aLack of representation is not just a women’s

subcommittee of the Administrative Committee. Members

issue. It affects all of us. We strongly encourage men toof the Committee include co-chairs Tanja McCandie andhelp improve speaker representation by asking them toBrent Simmonds, Gerry Yokota, the President of the JALT

join us and take a pledge to not sit on slates that are not

Board of Directors Richmond Stroupe, the Vice President

representative of the community they are presenting to.

Naomi Fujishima and myself. Our current goals include

The “male ally” page lists many well-known male teachersdeveloping and refining the procedure if an official

in Japan who also want to help create awareness andcomplaint is received, as well as developing a system forequality by being a part of the solution.

keeping records of not only official complaints, but also
past, present and future incidents that do not result in a

We are a work in progress and encourage
people to reach out and help us improve. The website has
only been running for a year as of writing this, but alreadythere has been very positive feedback. The Gifu JALT

formal complaint. We are also developing training
programs to give volunteers, including Chapter and SIG
representatives, the skills needed to handle incidents that
may arise.

chapter used the webpage to help find presenters when
they were organizing their presentation schedule, for 2019

At the 2018 PanSIG conference, we set up aand 2020, the website has been featured in presentations

table to talk to people about the COC and get theirin Europe and presented on in Australia. We are working

feedback. It was at that time that several people

with organizations like “Equal Voices in Education” (EVE)approached us and told us about their experiences andto help increase awareness and would like to work withhow they could relate to the need for a COC. Some people

other groups to better support fair representation for all,were surprised that it had taken JALT as long as it did tobe it gender, first language, and visible and invisible

enact a COC, as most institutions and other organizations

minorities.

have had one for years. For me, the most surprising, andfrustrating reaction was from both men and women saying“What is that for? Sexual harassment at conferences?”

The 2018 PanSIG Journal

137

While instances of sexual harassment, physical assult, etc.

major priority. We would like members to mutually resolve

can and do indeed happen (especially where alcohol istheir issues and punishment will always be seen as theinvolved), those instances are few. In an organization likelast resort. While development of the workshops is still

JALT, often people do not consider the huge variety ofongoing, we highly encourage members, especially thoseroles people hold and interactions that people have withactive in their chapters and SIGs, to familiarize

one another in a large academic NPO run by volunteers.

themselves with not only the Code of Conduct, but also

Roles that include conference and other event organizers,

the complaints procedure, both of which can be found at

the board of directors, the executive board, JALT Central<https://jalt.org/main/jalt-code-conduct>.

Office staff, chapter and SIG officers who correspond withmany people, the publication team who edit and copy edit
publications and conference proceedings. There are also
volunteers who staff events, as well as individuals who

Gerry Yokota: How to be an ally: Good
practices for gender equity

want to present together and/or write together. There are

The GALE Mission Statement includes thevarious interactions that members, volunteers, staff, andfollowing aims: (1) to research gender and its implications

event attendees who have varied cultures and different

for language learning and teaching; (2) to improve

perspectives engage in. There are always going to be

pedagogical practices; and (3) to raise awareness of

instances where interactions and correspondence can be,

human rights issues related to gender for language

perhaps, misinterpreted or emotions, politics or beliefs,

professionals, and to provide information for countering

can get in the way of smooth productivity. People often

such discrimination.

assume that the COC primarily targets sexual harassment.
However, sexual harassment is only one factor. Academic
harassment, power harassment, and other forms ofharassment can and do happen in an organization likeours.

In that spirit, for my part in the Forum I talked
about

the

development

connections
work

with

between
the

my

Code

professionalofConduct

Subcommittee and my work as a teacher. In the former
area, this includes discussing how perceptions of gender

The COC states that harassment includes, but

and gendered roles impact professional relationships inis not restricted to, offensive gestures or verbal comments.

our organization; in the latter, it involves promoting genderThis does not begin to touch on areas of academic

literacy (Yokota, 2018a) as a component of global

harassment. For example, the infringement of one’s rightcitizenship in both undergraduate and graduate education.

to engage in research/education/study in a positiveenvironment, or the submission of a research paper
without the approval of a co-author. It does not address
issues of power harassment, such as Chapter Presidents
or SIG Coordinators abusing their power by forcing duties
onto other members, or withholding opportunities to takeup officer positions for unjustifiable reasons. These are
deficiencies which are continuing to be addressed anddiscussed within the committee. We are currently

I began with a few simple tips on how an
educator can foster an atmosphere of inclusion for people
with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities(SOGI). Specific examples include having a rainbow signon your door identifying yourself as an ally, or slideshowson the first day of class with welcome messages such as“LGBT? Cool with me!” I also recommend the use of thegender-inclusive singular “they” and “Mx” (Yokota, 2018b).

developing and organizing workshops, in which our main

In connection with class content, I demonstrated

goals are to spread awareness about JALT’s definition of

how familiarity with critical concepts from cognitive

harassment, how different behaviors can be perceived byscience and cultural studies can support our efforts to beothers, as well as a thorough explanation of theallies in the quest for gender equity. In my first-yearcomplaints proceedure and how to use it, all of which

general humanities seminar on intersectionality, forshould increase understanding. According to JALT’s legal

example, I use movies to illustrate how advantages

counsel, intention is not something that can be proven, but

accrue when an individual is associated with a cluster ofthe level of discomfort can be clearly explained andrelatively privileged categories (Collins & Bilge, 2016). It

supported by the individual. Our focus is on protecting andis not just that gender intersects with everything. Society

supporting everyone involved, therefore anonymity is a

is still structured so that an individual who is a member of

The 2018 PanSIG Journal138

multiple majorities—whose identity is a combination of thetheir beliefs on issues such as sexual harassment out ofprivileged categories of white, male, and cisgender, forfear of being accused of “rocking the boat.”

example—is going to have a much greater probability of
I call on all members of JALT to find their own

being able to leverage those advantages in the directionof increasingly upward mobility. I propose that one of thebest ways to be an ally is to simply acknowledge thatways to play their part as allies in the quest for gender
equity.

reality. Begin by practicing compassion and empathy, andinform students of the value of those skills, which areuniversally recognized hallmarks of global citizenship.

Gwyn Helverson: Voice: Who’s telling
the tale? What tale is being told?

performanceThis paper evaluates a content-based EFL writing module

workshop based on the UN’s Sustainable Development

aimed at improving students ’mastery of advanced-level

Goals, I encourage students to explore intersections

vocabulary and structure. In an attempt to imbue writing

between two of the SDGs, such as SDG5 (Gender

exercises with more meaning, the module also included

Equality) and SDG4 (Quality Education). I suggest

discussion of the feminist concept of reclaiming one’s

developing gender literacy through the analysis of media

voicesuch as UN campaigns, documentaries, and music videos

Questionnaire results indicate that the module wasin terms of their effectiveness in raising awareness ofreasonably successful and that more statistical data is

global issues.

necessaryInasecond-year

Englishfromtorestrictive

evaluate

gendered

students’stereotypes.

improvementinvocabulary levels.
In classes for humanities majors, I use concepts
such as representation (Hall, 2013) and invented tradition

Background(Hobsbawm, 2012) to help students develop skills at

The 39 students ranged from intermediate tocritiquing the representation of gender in a range ofnative-speaker equivalent level in mixed-major, semi-

genres, from literary classics to anime. Critique is followed

elective writing classes at a reputable university. The

by recognition of the way mass reproduction of such

students’ writing had often been simplistic in vocabularycultural representations perpetuates implicit bias (Banaji

and structure so that this module was an attempt to& Greenwald, 2013).

encourage them to produce more precise language in apersonally meaningful manner.

I also recommended making connections with
campus initiatives. Examples I gave from my own

Methodology

university include official policy statements on diversity

The module began with discussion of voice as

and inclusion, and activities such as our annual film

evident in Grimm, Disney, and alternative feminist fairy

festival focusing on gender and other human rights issues,

tales (Bacchilega & Rieder, 2010; Haase, 2000;

which makes it clear that you are not engaging in

Pennington, 2018; Pershing & Gablehouse, 2010). A

ideological indoctrination but basing your educational

contemporary short story (Angela Carter’s “The Kiss”, apractice on institutional directives.

fairy tale with a distinct setting and a decidedly feminist
twist) was introduced (Byatt, 1998, pp. 401-403). PracticeFinally, I referred to the concept of stereotype

included a variety of activities inspired by “Focus on

threat (Steele, 2011) to demonstrate the psychological

Vocabulary” (Schmitt & Schmitt, 2005) and creative

burden of feeling pressured to prove one’s innocence or

writing exercises (Smith & Greenberg, 1996). For

worth in a world where a member of a less privileged

example, students were asked to brainstorm appropriate

minority is too often treated in ways that make them feellanguage from the story in three different registers

they are being presumed guilty or less worthy. Just as an(casual, semi-formal, and formal/academic) to increase

African-American should not have to “whistle Vivaldi” totheir linguistic awareness.

signal to an oncoming pedestrian that they pose no threat(a famously publicized incident that inspired the title of

The instructor also provided a vocabulary list of

Steele’s book), a feminist should not have to compromise

obscure words in both English and Japanese to facilitate
reading comprehension. After analyzing the structure of

The 2018 PanSIG Journal

139

the story, the students were asked to write a fairy tale

They walk as carefully as if

using their hometowns as the setting. Both peers and thethey respected the ruler of the area where

instructor provided feedback.

they live…

The topic of voice as, historically, a patriarchal
concept (Moore, 2002) with the reclaiming of voice in

Samplesofrepresentative

questionnaire

comments include:

second-wave feminism; i.e. as in Carter’s story (Power,
1. …the study is useful for me2013), was also discussed. Female AI voices ofmaternalized and/or sexualized servitude (of which therobot, Sophia, and Amazon’s assistant, Alexa, are two

because I can have the time to think about

my town history.

examples) were introduced: they are thought to be socalled modern Cinderellas and representative of abacklash against contemporary gains made by feminism

2. Writing Fairy Tale is the firsttime including in Japanese, so it’s full withinterest and fun.

(Chambers, 2018; Steele, 2018). Activists ’creation of agender-neutral

AI

voice

(MacLellan,

2019)

were

One out of 39 students was critical (translated):

discussed in an attempt to subvert oppressive gender
3. Rather than writing a longer

norms, including those of traditional fairy tales.

story, I would have preferred more

Results

sentence-level practice.

Students were asked to evaluate the module’s
effectiveness and meaningfulness in a questionnaire (inDiscussion

both English and Japanese) on a 4-point Likert scale. The

It would be useful to perform quantitative

feedback was mostly positive, with the majority ofanalysis of the students’ early writing in comparison to

students stating that their knowledge of, but notlater work to determine to what degree the students hadnecessarily usage of, advanced-level language improved

increased their usage of more descriptive, advanced-levelin this “difficult,” but “fun” project.

vocabulary. Approximately 20% of the students mastered
all aspects of the assignment (as per grading criteria):

Sample writing:they were able to employ precise vocabulary andstructure in a suspenseful story about their hometowns

1.

Self-introduction in the first class of thesemester (1st year

male, Engineering, seeminglywith (often feminist) plot twists and magical realism worthyof the Carter original.

unmotivated):
This creative writing module seemed to achieve

My name is .… I’m from ____.
______ Castle is famous. It’s cold inwinter, but very hot in summer…It’s
crowded and busy city…
2. Excerpt from this student’s fairy tale:

its main aims: students developed their language skills,
analyzed limiting gendered representations, and explored
a topic that is often superficial in EFL, hometowns, in apersonally meaningful manner. The students not only
gained understanding of the historical concept of voice,but also succeeded in creating their own. They were

The winter in ____ is crisp

asked later in the semester to apply their increased

and cold, while the hot, humid summers

linguistic awareness to another project, an academic

bring

research paper. Further analysis, both qualitative andfaintingfromheat-stroke…The

people walk quickly even though they arequantitative,isrecommended

exhausted from working hard and theyeffectiveness

of

this

don’t have time to sleep. Moreover, they

development overall.

moduletoonevaluatethestudent

writing

The 2018 PanSIG Journal

140

have to pay tax…

Kobayashi, Y. (2011). Global Englishes and the discourse

References
Bacchilega, C., & Rieder, J. (2010). Mixing It Up: GenericComplexity and Gender Ideology in Early Twenty-firston Japaneseness. Journal of Intercultural Studies,32(1), 1-14. doi:10.1080/07256868.2010.525326

Century Fairy Tale Films. In Zipes J. (Author) &Greenhill P. & Matrix S. (Eds.), Fairy Tale Films:
Visions of Ambiguity (pp. 23-41). University Press of

Kobayashi, Y. (2014). Gender gap in the EFL classroom
in East Asia. Applied Linguistics, 35(2), pp. 219-223.
doi:10.1093/applin/amu008

Colorado. doi:10.2307/j.ctt4cgn37.6
Banaji, M. and Greenwald, A. (2013). Blindspot: Hidden

Kobayashi, Y. (2018a). East Asian English learners
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biases of good people. Delacorte Press.

Englishes,37(4),Byatt, A.S., Ed. (1998). “The Kiss” by Angela Carter. The

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558-569.

doi:10.1111/weng.12343

Oxford book of English short stories. Oxford: Oxford
MacLellan, L. (2019). Hear what a genderless AI voice

University Press, pages 401-403.

sounds like— and consider why it matters. quartz.com.
Chambers, A. (2018). There’s a reason Siri, Alexa and AI

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3/28/2019fromare imagined as female— sexism. The Conversation.

https://qz.com/work/1577597/this-ai-voice-is-gender-

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http://theconversation.com/theres-a-reason-sirialexa-and-ai-are-imagined-as-female-sexism-96430

Moore, C. (2002). Why feminists can’t stop talking about
voice. Composition Studies, Vol. 30, No. 2, Fall 2002,

Chapple, J. (2014). Japan's immigration intimations andp. 11-25.

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Journal,23(3),

Nagatomo, D. (2016). Identity, gender and teaching345-360.

English in Japan. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.

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London: Polity.

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Economic

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andDevelopment, (2016). Distribution of teachers by age
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Haase, D. (2000). Feminist Fairy-Tale Scholarship: A

G_PERS_SHARE_AGE

Critical Survey and Bibliography. Marvels & Tales,
14(1),

15-63.

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4/30/2019from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/41380741

Pennington, L. (2018). 7 queer fairy tale retellings you
should read. pride.com. Retrieved on 4/30/2019 fromhttps://www.pride.com/books/2018/5/14/7-queer-

Hall, S. (2013). Introduction. In S. Hall, J. Evans, and S.
Nixon(Eds.),

Representation:

Culturalfairy-tale-retellings-you-should-read#media-gallerymedia-2

representations and signifying practices, 2nd ed. (pp.
1-12). Sage. (Original work published 1997)

Prentis, N., & Mayne, R., (2015). “Where are the womenin

Hobsbawm, E. (2012). Introduction: Inventing traditions.
In E. Hobsbawm and T. Ranger (Eds.), The invention

ELT?”

Retrievedfromhttps://genderequalityelt.wordpress.com/where-arethe-women-in-elt-iatefl-talk/of tradition (pp. 1-14). Cambridge University Press.
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Pershing, L., & Gablehouse, L. (2010). Disney’s
Enchanted: Patriarchal Backlash and Nostalgia in a

Kageyama, Y. (2019, January 5). Japanese lawmakerunder fire for LGBT comment. AP News. Retrieved
fromhttps://www.apnews.com/35051634a235454e996cbf

Fairy Tale Film. In Zipes J. (Author) & Greenhill P. &Matrix S. (Eds.), Fairy Tale Films: Visions of Ambiguity(pp.

137-156).

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Power, C. (2013). A brief survey of the short story part 48:

https://medium.com/pcmag-access/the-real-reason-

Angela Carter. The Guardian: March 22, 2013.

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mar/22/survey-short-story-angela-carter

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Smith, M. & Greenberg, S. (1996). Everyday creative

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Steele, C. (2011). Whistling Vivaldi: How stereotypes

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affect us and what we can do. New York, U.S.: W.W.
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Yokota, G. (2018b). Integrating gender literacy into youruniversity classes: Good practices. GALE Newsletter

Steele, C. (2018). The real reason voice assistants are

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female and why it matters. PCMag. Retrieved on
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Author biographies

Sandra Healy is an associate professor at Kyoto Institute of Technology. Her research interests include computer assisted
language learning and gender and identity. healy@kit.ac.jp
Tanja McCandie’s research interests are gender and teacher and student autonomy. mccandie@hotmail.com
Kathleen Cahill is a lecturer at Kinjo Gakuin University. Her research interests include gender, teacher development andcurriculum development. cahillks@yahoo.com
Gerry Yokota is a professor at Osaka University. Her research interests include the multimodal representation of genderin both traditional and popular culture. gyokota@gmail.com
Gwyn Helverson is a specially appointed associate professor at Osaka University. Her research areas include feminist
art history, gender studies, and applied linguistics. gwynkyoto@gmail.com

The 2018 PanSIG Journal142

17 Maximizing New Vocabulary Retention Using Games
Sara Hendricks
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
Teachers must utilize the latest research in vocabulary study strategies to help their students enjoy
learning new vocabulary. Although vocabulary is a crucial pillar of language learning, teachers often leaveit to their students to memorize new words outside of class (Baykal and Daventry, 2000 cited in Basoglu
and Akdemir, 2010). However, explicit vocabulary-learning strategies need to be taught in order to help
students become good at quickly acquiring vocabulary. Ostovar-Namaghi and Malekpur found that theirstudents’ low level of English vocabulary was clearly linked to their deficit in vocabulary learning strategies(2015). In this paper, I will follow Nemati’s goal of “increasing retention without increasing study time”(2009), as well as creating an enjoyable classroom atmosphere. This paper will discuss the best practices
in retaining vocabulary and then conclude with practical and lively classroom games.

学習者が語彙学習を楽しみながら行えるよう、教師は語彙学習方略における最新の研究を活用する必要がある。Baykal・Daventry（2000,［Basoglu・Akdemir，2010 内引用］）によれば、言語学習において語彙は重要な支柱をなしているが、教師はその学習を学習者の授業外での暗記活動に委ねてしまいがちである。しかしながら、学習者の迅速な語彙習得を支援するためには、明解な語彙学習方略の指導が必要である。Ostovar-Namaghi・Malekpur（2015）は、学習者の低水準の英語語彙力と語彙学習方略の不足との関連を明らかにした。本稿では、Nemati （2009）の「学習時間を増やさずに記憶力を高める［引用者訳］」という目標を考察し、教室内の楽しい雰囲気の元での実践方法を紹介する。さらに、語彙記憶における成功事例を検討し、実用的で活発な授業内活動に言及し締めくくる。

When it comes to teaching vocabulary, many

speech does not imply that the student has actuallyteachers don’t do enough during class to support theirlearned the word; often as in reading, an unfamiliar word

students. This is surprising as it may be that the task ofis merely skipped over when the context provides

learning the thousands of words needed for fluent

sufficient clues about the meaning of the whole sentence”

conversational English is the biggest hurdle facing(Oxford and Crookall, 1990, p. 23). From this, I realized

language learners. Many teachers provide word lists andthat I needed to be more organized, research-based, andsimply expect students to memorize them without

thoughtful about teaching vocabulary.

providing any guidance for how to do that effectively.
Other teachers might assign a vocabulary-learning app
such as Word Engine, Memrise, or Anki. Still otherteachers might do as I used to do and simply assume that
if provided enough natural, comprehensible input,
vocabulary learning would come naturally and easily.

There is a wealth of research, both basic andapplied, that teachers can utilize to improve their students’efficiency of vocabulary learning. In this paper, I will touchon five strategies for vocabulary learning—related vs.
unrelated sets, picture superiority effect, keyword effect,

However, a statement in “Vocabulary Learning: A Criticalgestures, and flashcards—that have a significant amountAnalysis of Techniques,” made me completely rethink myof research behind them.

approach to vocabulary study. It said, “…being able toguess the meaning of an unknown L2 word in a flow of

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Studying vocabulary in related vs.
unrelated sets--which is more effective?

activities into lesson plans that utilize randomly organizedvocabulary sets.

Teachers and low-level textbooks often groupnew vocabulary words into related sets. For example,
Chapter One is all about clothing while Chapter Two
focuses on jobs. Learning vocabulary in these sorts ofsets is very helpful for lesson planning. It is easy toprovide speaking activities and create games basedaround a single topic. Teachers can easily find flashcards
online already made in these groups. However, the brain
learns vocabulary best in UNrelated sets.

Picture Superiority Effect
The picture superiority effect is the theory thatpeople can remember images much easier and for longer
than they can remember words. Teachers often use
flashcards with fun pictures on them for young learners,
but as students grow, educators tend to stop using
pictures flashcards and transition to definitions ortranslations to the L1. However, the article, “TheErten and Tekin’s study of young Turkish

Development of the Picture-superiority Effect,” proved

learners supported this theory when they found that,that the benefits from the picture superiority effect“presenting new words in semantic sets, rather than in“increased in step with chronological age” (Whitehouse,semantically unrelated word groups, can interfere with

Maybery, and Durkin, 2006, p.761). This means thatlearning” (2008, p. 418). This study corroborated anteachers are free to use interesting images, colorful

earlier study with university students in the United States

pictures, and funny sketches with students, no matter

which concluded that “presenting semantically grouped

what their ages.

L2 words to learners has a deleterious effect on learning”(Finkbeiner and Nicol, 2003, p. 376).

Keyword Effect
One posible explination states:

My favorite method of helping students learn
new vocabulary is the “Keyword effect.” This is the idea

if similar words that share numerous common

that when a student is learning a word in a second

elements and a superordinate concept arelanguage, he or she thinks of a similar sounding word in

introduced at the same time, these words will

their L1 to help remember. For example, when learninginterfere with each other and have a negative

the Japanese word “itadakimasu,” it can be difficult toeffect on their retention due to cross-association

remember that unusual combination of sounds from

andscratch. However, if the students’ first language is English,

possible overloading in the short term

memory. (Erten and Tekin, 2008, p. 408)
This trend towards learning vocabulary inunrelated lists can be seen in more recently publishedtextbooks. For example, in the Cambridge textbook for
beginning learners, PRISM Intro, Unit 5’s key vocabulary
list includes seemingly unrelated words such as: advice,

they can think of the words, “eat a duck and mouse” andthen picture that image. Now the phrase is firmly locked intheir memory. Some students don’t like this method,
because it takes the extra time at the beginning to think ofa similar sounding word in the L1. In addition, sometimes
it’s hard to think of a similar sounding word!

boring, earn, hard, help, job, work, strong, kind, polite,

Encouraging students to work together inexample, in shape, and teach (White, Peterson, Blackwell,groups to think of as many keyword mnemonics as they

& Cavage, 2017).

can for the unit’s vocabulary can overcome some of these

Now, this doesn’t mean that teachers need tothrow out their flashcard sets about family members orconversation cards that get students talking about theirpets, or even their games that require students to describe
countries, because a fun game that gets students excited
to use English is a valuable tool. However, teachers
should keep this information in mind and begin to update
their lesson plans by incorporating more games anddifficulties. A teacher could ask students to create
flashcards with their keyword mnemonics and then donate
those flashcards to future students who are studying thesame course. In comparing three learning strategies,
Brown and Perry state, “the keyword method has received
most attention and has been shown to be superior tocontextual and no-strategy conditions” (1991, p. 656).
Fritz, Morris, Action, Voelkel, & Etkind echo this belief that

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“the keyword method has been shown repeatedly to havetoo (Basoglu and Akdemir, 2010, p. 5). A great benefit ofbeneficial effects for foreign vocabulary learning” (2007, p.

using mobile devices is that many of the apps have sn

500).

SRS system built in to the program. SRS (Spaced
Repetition System) is a scientific and efficient way ofremembering new vocabulary. In short, it organizes theGesturesflashcards in such a way that the newer or more difficult

A relatively recent study found that “learning while

vocabulary words are shown more often than the older or

performing gestures was more efficient than the common

mastered vocbaulary words.There are a number ofpractice of learning with pictures and that both…were

vocabulary learning apps available on mobile devices,

betterthanlearning

without

enrichment(“verbal

both free and subscription based, for individual learners

learning”).” (Mayer, Yildiz, Macedonia, & Kriegstein, 2015,or classrooms, for many different native languages, andp. 530). Gestures, of course can easily be used tofor all styles of learning. Teachers should research what’s

remember verbs. Ask students to make a cutting motion

best for their class and choose what’s right for them, butwhen they learn verbs such as cut, slice, carve, or slash.

some good free sites are Anki (apps.ankiweb.net),Students can practice adjectives such as jumbled, hard,

Memriseimposing, or smelly by choosing one of the words and(vocabulary.com).

(memrise.com),

andVocabulary.com

silently acting it out. Then their partner can try to guess
which adjective they chose. There are many different
ways to incorporate gestures into vocabulary learning.

Summary of Five Strategies
The final question and the one all the teachers

Using gestures in class is a great way to get students
moving in class. It is helpful in keeping them awake andattentive and it’s healthy for all of us to be moving morethroughout the day. In fact, the Center for Disease Control
and Prevention synthesized dozens of reports on physicalactivity in the classroom and found that when students areactive throughout class time, student performance may
improve (2010, p.7). This study also stated, “physicalactivity can have an impact on cognitive skills andattitudes

andacademic

behavior…These

includeenhanced concentration and attention as well as
improved classroom behavior” (p.6).

and students want answers to is which strategy is themost effective? Well, the most effective one is the one
your students will actually do, but that differs from student
to student. At Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in
Beppu, Japan, students are required to do Word Engine(wordengine.jp). It has its benefits (SRS, convenient touse on mobile devices, easy to grade for teachers), but it
also has negatives (no images and requires a yearlysubscription). Some students love it and do well above therequired amount, but some dislike it and do the bareminimum. I personally love the Keyword method, butsome students find it unhelpful. Educators need toembrace their students’ different learning styles andFlashcards
There couldn’t be a paper written on the subjectof vocabulary learning without a section on flashcards.
First, if flashcards can increase vocabulary effectively,

preferences, and follow Oxford and Crookall’s advice thatteachers “should become familiar with a variety ofvocabulary instruction tools and should train their students
to use them.” (1990, p. 26).

then that will help improve students’ abilities in nearly

A Hong Kong based study researched theevery area of language learning, from speaking tostrategies of English Language students by asking themlistening to reading. Flashcards have been a criticalboth which strategies they used and which strategies they

component of language learning for decades. In fact,

thought were the most helpful. They then ordered theresearch showed that students who diligently study

students on a scale from high to low proficiency in their L2.

flashcards can read faster and understand more thanThis showed which strategies were the most valued andthose who don’t (Tan and Nicholson, 1997). A study inwhich were actually helpful. It also highlighted how

Turkey compared traditional paper flashcards with mobile

important it is to teach various strategies to students,

flashcards and found that mobile flashcards were more
effective and students enjoyed using their mobile devices,show students how to scientifically discern which strategy
is the most efficient, and then choose which strategies

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Describe the word. (It’s when you can’t

work best for them. This study found that low scoring3.

students used strategies such as, “I repeatedly write thestop something. It’s the opposite of slow or theword,” “I use sound and meaning association,” and “I link

opposite of local. Some examples are Japan,

the word to a Chinese word with a similar sound” (Fan,China, or the Netherlands.)

2003, p. 231). You might notice that the final strategy used
This can be played a few different ways. The

by low level students was my particular favorite method—
the Keyword method. However, Fan’s study concludes

simplest way would be to have the students take turns

with the strongly worded phrase, “There is no evidence indescribing words for some amount of time. Another way

this study to confirm that the more “desirable strategies”

would be to have students work as a team to see howsuch as association strategies, are connected with his
vocabulary proficiency” (p. 235). A student’s personality,
culture, and native language can and will change how heor she best learns a language, and it’s an important
reminder to set aside our personal preferences andmany words they can get their friends to guess in 90
seconds. Additionally, in groups of four, partners could be
pitted against each other. It depends on the atmosphereof your class and students, and what style of learning they
like.

assumptions and provide students with a variety of skills
and allow them to choose what’s best for them.
Now that we know how important study
strategies are, and we are committed to teaching students
various strategies, the next section of this paper reports
on some effective vocabulary games that can be easily
incorporated into any level of English class with minimal
prep and maximum fun.

This game is meant to prepare students for reallife conversations where they will undoubtably lack a
vocabulary word for what they want to express. Practicing
in this way will allow them to continue the conversation.

Drawing GamesA great way to utilize the effectiveness of thepicture superiority effect is to incorporate drawing
activities into vocabulary practice time. First, ask students
to pull out some scrap paper and draw lines dividing theGames
The 1, 2, 3 Game

paper into 8 squares. Then, in pairs, students take turns
trying to draw a vocabulary word they’ve chosen from thelist. Their friend tries to guess what it is. After that, they’ll

This first game is fairly common and used by lotschange roles. Sounds easy enough, (and suspiciously likeof different teachers who call it many different names, but

Pictionary), but that was only the warm-up. Now, I’ll ask

I call it the 1, 2, 3 Game. The teacher first organizes

students to draw it in only 10 seconds. Then they have tostudents into groups of three or four students. I like to use

draw it using their non-dominant hand. Maybe I ask themthe vocabulary words to count off rather than numbers.

to draw the image upside down. Maybe they have to draw

Instead of pointing at students and saying, “One, two,it very small. Perhaps they have to draw it with their eyes

three…” I say the daily vocabulary words while gesturingclosed. Every time I say a new rule, students laugh andtowards each student, “inevitable, express, nation… now

enjoy seeing the images become worse and worse.

join your classmates who have the same word as you!”

However, this just makes the vocabulary learning stick

It’s just one more way to incorporate the words into class

more. As the students try to guess which word it is, theytime. The groups of students are then provided a list ofcycle through all the words in the list, committing each

their vocabulary words. Then, in their groups they takeword more and more to their memory.

turns choosing a secret word and describing it so that theirgroup can guess the word. The describing student follows

Taboo
Taboo is a popular board game with cards suchthese steps.

as Figure 1. Student A tries to describe the word to his or1.

Hmmm.../Ummm.../Let’s see…..

2.

I don’t know the word, but….

her teammates without saying the “taboo” words listed
below the word. We can ask our students to make theirown versions of the cards for their own vocabulary words.
I simply provide a blank pack of notecards and markers,
and then ask students to make three Taboo cards each.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

146

Then the next day they can play the game. I make it a two-

also enjoy watching the teacher attempt the same task in

day activity so that I can collect the cards and look over

15 seconds!

them. This gives me the chance to make sure the “correct”
version of the vocabulary word is being used, and that thetaboo words are good choices. One time, a student madethe taboo card for the vocabulary word, tip. In this unit, tip
was used in the context, the tip of your finger. However,this student’s taboo words were, restaurant, food, money,
server, and eat. She had misunderstood which tip wewere meant to be studying and I was able to catch andcorrect it! Now, by the time the students play the game,it’s more of a speaking activity than a vocabulary activity
because the act of making the cards cements themeaning in the students’ memory.

Ask the Students to Make it Fun
The final way that I will mention for spicing up
the classroom vocabulary activities is to ask students to
do it for you! When asking students to write example
sentences, write a diary using the vocabulary words, ormake a role-play with the vocabulary, the simple task ofasking students to make it fun has amazing results.
Students must be reminded that they are “allowed” tohave fun with the tasks. I might phrase it like this,“Students, when you write your example sentences,
please have fun! I don’t want to see dictionary sentences.
I don’t want to see boring sentences. Please, makestrange, unique, funny, interesting, sentences. Look at
this vocabulary word, schedule. I can write, I have a busy
schedule this semester. (Mime falling asleep due toboredom here.) Or I can write, Let me look at my schedule
for tomorrow. I have to go to the store in the morning tosteal some meat, then go to the zoo in the afternoon andsteal some tigers. It’s a stupid sentence, but students will
politely laugh and then they will make some fun andinteresting sentences. An added benefit is that theseinteresting setnences are often more complex than theFig. 1

A sample Taboo card

Do it Faster
Whenever I am doing any sort of speaking or

normal ones. This simple request to have fun! can help
spice up most vocabulary activities, role plays, andpresentations.

reading activity, I think it’s helpful to do it three or fourtimes. My university students, however, don’t likerepeating things and will complain when I ask them to give

Conclusion

their presentation three or four times. They seem toThrough remembering these five strategies—

magically forget how much they struggled the first or

unrelated sets of vocabulary, picture superiority effect,

second time. In order to make it fun, I ask students to do

keyword method, gestures and flashcards—teachers can

it faster. I might secretly time the first time and explain it

make vocabulary study more effecient. And through using

like this, “Students, the first time you read the textbook

these simple games, teachers can make vocabulary study

vocabulary sentences aloud with your partner, it took you

an enjoyable part of class without too much prep time.

about 65 seconds. I want you to do it again, but faster.

Teachers should teach the various vocabulary study

Find a new partner and this time you only have 45

strategies, allow students to choose which style they like,seconds to read all your sentences.” Speeding up to thisand incorporate more vocabulary focused study time andtime limit might actually be possible, as students didn’t

vocabulary based games into the classroom. Teachers

know that speed was a factor the first time. Then I makemight be surprised at how much vocabulary students can

it faster. “OK students! Very good! Now, I want you to findretain through using these techniques!

a new partner and read the same sentences. This time,
the limit is 30 seconds!” I finish by making a ridiculous timeof 10 seconds. Of course the students can’t do it, but they
will have fun and laugh at each other as they try. They will

References
Basoglu, E. B., & Akdemir, O. (2010). A comparison ofUndergraduate students' English vocabulary learning:

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

147

Using Mobile Phones and Flash Cards. TOJET: The

vocabulary

TurkishPsychology,21(4), 499-526. doi:10.1002/acp.1287

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Educational

learning.

AppliedCognitive

Technology,9(3).
Mayer, K., Yildiz, I., Macedonia, M., & Von Kriegstein, K.
Brown, T. S., & Perry, F. L. (1991). A Comparison of Three
Learning Strategies for ESL Vocabulary Acquisition.

(2015). Visual and Motor Cortices DifferentiallySupport theTranslationofForeign

Language

TESOL Quarterly,25(4), 655. doi:10.2307/3587081

Words. Current Biology,25(4), 530-535.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2010). The

Nemati, A. (2010). Enhancing Long-term Retention by

Association Between School-Based Physical Activity,

Memory Vocabulary Learning Strategies. The Journal

Includingof Asia TEFL,7(1), 171-195.

Physical

Education,andAcademic

Performance. U.S. Department of Health and Human
Ostovar-Namaghi, S. A., & Malekpur, A. (2015).

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Vocabulary Learning Strategies from the Bottom-Up:
Erten, I. H., & Tekin, M. (2008). Effects on vocabulary

A Grounded Theory. The Reading Matrix: An

acquisition of presenting new words in semantic sets

International

Onlineversus semantically unrelated sets. System,36(3),Retrieved July 29, 2019.

Journal,15(2),235-251.

407-422.
Oxford, R., & Crookall, D. (1990). Vocabulary Learning: A
Fan, M. Y. (2003). Frequency of Use, Perceived
Usefulness,andActualUsefulnessof

Critical Analysis of Techniques. TESL Canada
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4781.00187

Tan, A, & Nicholson, T. (1997). Flashcards revised:
Training poor readers to read words faster improves
their comprehension of text. Journal of Educational
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Finkbeiner, M., & Nicol, J. (2003). Semantic category
effects in second language word learning. Applied
Psycholinguistics,24(03).

White, N. M., Peterson, S., Blackwell, A., & Cavage, C.
(2017). Prism. Cambridge: Cambridge University
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Fritz, C. O., Morris, P. E., Acton, M., Voelkel, A. R., &Etkind, R. (2007). Comparing and combining retrieval
practice and the keyword mnemonic for foreign

Whitehouse, A. J., Mayberry, M. T., & Durkin, K. (2006).
The Development of the picture-superiority effect.
British Journal of Psychology,24, 767-773.

Author biography

Sara Hendricks is currently teaching at Asia Pacific University Ritsumeikan in Beppu, Japan and enjoys focusing on funclassroom environments, equality in the classroom, and rapid vocabulary acquisition. Email: sara@apu.ac.jp

The 2019 PanSIG Journal148

18 Keep it Positive: Raising Young Bilingual Learners
Sara Hendricks
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

Maiko Berger
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

Patrick Johnston
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

Kent Jones
Kwansei Gakuin University

John Spiri
Gifu Shotoku Gakuen University

This forum offered diverse viewpoints from five parents raising bilingual or trilingual children in Japan.
They focused on strengthening the parent and child bond through fun and loving language support. During
the discussion, questions were asked about their struggles, successes, and efforts to keep language
learning a fun and positive experience for parents and children. The forum also covered issues such as
public vs. private daycare, the challenge of adding a third language, budgeting for extra costs ofbilingualism, sibling dynamics, biliteracy, extended family relationships, and the use of technology. Forum
participants are all English language lecturers living in Japan and teaching their children Japanese andEnglish, with one participant adding Dutch and another adding Spanish.

本フォーラムでは日本でバイリンガルもしくはトライリンガル児を育てている 5 人の親の様々な観点を提示した。いずれも、楽しく愛情に満ちた言語サポートを通して親子の絆を深めることに焦点を当てている。それぞれが苦労している点、成功例、親子にとって言語習得を楽しく、ポジティブなものにする
コツについて議論が交わされた。その他にも、公立・私立保育に関する問題、第 3 言語を加えることの難しさ、バイリンガル児を育てるのに必要となる費用のこと、兄弟間の関係、2 言語での読み書き、拡大家族との関係、IT の使用法についても意見交換を行った。本フォーラム発表者はいずれも日本在住の英語教員であり、日本語と英語を自らの子どもたちに教えており、その内 1 名はオランダ語を、もう 1
名はスペイン語を家庭の言語に加えている。

There are some things you can force children to

Introductiondo, such as buckling them in a car seat despite theirThis forum was made up of a diverse group of

flailing arms or holding their dirty fingers under the faucet

parents in various stages of raising bilingual or trilingual

to wash. However, it’s often said among parents that there

children. The focus was discussion issues related to theare two things you can’t force your kids to do: eat or sleep.

joy of raising multilingual and multicultural children and toI think we can add a third thing to that list: you can’t force

share support among each other and the audience.

a child to speak, let alone speak in a certain language.
You can encourage, cajole, bribe, and beg, but you can’t

The 2019 PanSIG Journal 149

force the words out of their mouth the way you can justWhen their oldest son was three and their youngest son

pry a dirty rock out of that same mouth. Besides that, there

was almost one, they moved to Oita, Japan where Kent

has to be a better way than cajoling and bribing. Not

started teaching at a University. Their oldest hadnecessarily an easier way, but a better way. And that was

experience in daycare in Canada, while the younger son

the goal of this forum, to share our stories and work

was not verbal until he came to Japan. As a result there

together to find a better way.

are clear differences in their level of English.

Forum Members

John Spiri has two children and followed a “one parent

Patrick Johnston is from a rural, monolingual English partone language policy.” John speaks English and his wife,of Ontario in Canada, where he had mandatory education

Japanese. His oldest graduated from a Japanesein French from kindergarten. However, he didn’t continue

elementary school, passed online U.S. classes for 7th andstudying French after finishing the mandatory credits. He

8th grade, and moved to Wisconsin to start high school incame to Japan as an ALT in 2008 and has been here ever2018. His second son was born in 2006. While his English

since. He considers himself bilingual in English andhas always been decent, his overall language skills

Japanese. His wife is Japanese, and uses about 70%

developed at a slower pace. Being the youngest in his

Japanese, and 30% English with their kids. They haveclass, John’s youger son has struggled academically. As

three children: a 6-year-old who just started at a Japanese

he approached his teen years he has become quite quiet.

elementary school but spent the last three years at an

John jokes with him about his quietness, and encourages

English preschool; and two (3 and 4) who are still

him to speak, but never pressures him to talk.

attending English preschool.
Maiko Berger is from Japan, and speaks Japanese,

Discussion

English, and some German and Dutch. She learned to
speak English through Japanese public schools, radio
conversation programs andstudying abroad. Her

What are some challenges that you have
faced as you try to raise bilingual children?

husband is from the Netherlands, and speaks Dutch,
English, German, some French and profecient Japanese.
They speak English and Japanese to each other. Theirdaughters are 5 and 3 years old and they speak English
and Japanese. The children have only lived in Japan, but
the family travels abroad a few times a year, for 2-4 weeks
at a time. They know some Dutch words and phrases, butthey have little exposure to Dutch. Recently, Maiko started
organizing monthly playdates involving other bilingual
families living in the area.
Sara Hendricks and her husband are both from the USA.
They taught in Japan for 6 years and then left to teach in
Mexico for two years. They recently returned to Japan andhave three children. Their children speak English in thehome and with each other and attend Japanese daycare;thus, their English and Japanese abilities are very strong.
The also speak Spanish due to two years in Mexican
daycares. In the home, Sara and her husband speak
English 90% of the time and Spanish 10% of the time.
Kent Jones is from a small town near Toronto, Canada
and his wife is from Osaka, Japan. They met in Japan, but

Patrick: I have found my main challenge up until now has
been logistical and financial. I felt it was very important tohave all my kids go to an English preschool, but at the
moment all the English or international preschools in mycity are targeted at the children of wealthy doctors. Even
with a haggled discount, the school fees are by far mylargest monthly expense. I do think it has paid off though.
My six-year-old daughter came out of three years ofEnglish preschool with a fairly high ability level.
Maiko: We are employing the Natural Way, so we haven’t
really felt any challenges so far. My husband spoke some
Dutch to our first child when she was a baby, but he mostly
used English. I believed in One Parent, One Language
policy, and I used only Japanese with the eldest until she
was 2 years old. After JALT Oita invited a bilingualism
expert for a workshop, I decided to relax my way andstarted using more English with the children, making sure
not to code-mix intra-sentence.
John: When my kids were young, my wife would
sometimes return to her parent’s house, for long periods

moved to Canada, where they had their two children.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal 150

of time, weeks or even months. I get along well with my

don’t watch Japanese TV. Netflix is set in English, andin-laws and spent quite a bit of time there myself, but thiskids choose to watch programs in English and Japanese.

meant the two boys got less English input than usual.
Kent: Parents can be good role models for language
Kent: I am currently working in a different prefecture and I

learning. Having a positive and loving relationship with

only get to go home about once a month. My wife’s

the parent who speaks the minority language can giveparents are also staying at our house to help while I am

the child a positive attitude to that language. I had a verygone. Though my wife tries, and does a good job oftouching experience the last time I was home visiting myspeaking English to the kids, this is very difficult when her

family. My son and I had a conversation about theparents are there. They generally don’t like having a lot of

Avengers, which we are both interested in. He thenEnglish spoken around them because they can’t

wrote about it as homework for school about how fun it

understand. Another thing that we are having trouble withwas to talk to me about it in English

is finding time to help them develop more academic
English skills, like reading.

Sara: After doing the math of where my kids spend theirtime in an average week (school or daycare 45 hours +Sara: I underestimated the sheer amount of time neededfamily time 35 hours + sleeping 85 hours), I realize thatto become comfortably fluent in a language and themaking our home environment English or Spanish only isdegree to which children would resist language activities,

crucial because of the sheer amount of Japanese time at

no matter how “fun” I try to make them!

school or daycare. Because of that, we also don’t have
any Japanese media in the house. I only read books in

How can parents create an environmentthat is most conducive to our children being
bilingual?
Patrick: We haven’t established any rules about language

English or Spanish. I also hire tutors or babysitters thatspeak only Spanish.

How do you use technology to support theminority language?

use in the home, but I try and do my best and play withthe kids in English as much as I can. Puzzles and board

Patrick: I have downloaded a number of English TV showsgames are really good for that kind of play. Now that theyand Disney movies that they probably spend too muchare getting older I see them playing with each other intime watching. The eldest is currently into Duck Tales.

English without my involvement, and I think it’s great.

Playing Mario Party together was probably the best in

They also mainly watch English media and listen toterms of English support because it essentially recreates

English songs when we’re driving in the car, these days

the board game experience with rolling dice and numbers.

it’s the Lego Movie 2 soundtrack on endless repeat.
Maiko: My daughters watch Netflix programs, all in
John: First, kids should see that English is relevant. This

English, for about 1 hour a day. They occasionally use an

is accomplished by giving kids the chance to witness

Englishconversations in English, either in Japan or abroad.

sometimes play with my iPad. Most apps they use are

Second, provide as much English input as possible.

games, songs and stories, such as My Little Pony tea

Media can certainly go a long way to accomplishing that.

party, Candy Maker, or Peppa Pig, all in English. They

Steer kids away from Japanese TV and other media inalso play with a few Dutch-speaking toys occasionally.

programcalledABC

Mouse.

They

also

favor of English websites, programs on Netflix orelsewhere, English songs, etc. Finally, as much as we

John: My kids, who grew up before the internet was

might want our kids to be bilingual, don’t make it an

popularized, watched English DVDs and programs likeobsession or a burden. Have fun with a second language

Thomas the Tank Engine.

and respect the kids’ preferences.
Maiko: I think parents speaking or trying to speak two or

Kent: We have a Leapfrog tablet that was made in
America, so all of the games on it are in English.

more languages is the way to go. Like John, my children

The 2019 PanSIG Journal 151

Sara: I like the Youtube channel, “Super Simple Songs.”

uses whichever word she knows for whatever item she

We learn the songs in English and Spanish and then singwants, sprinkling all three languages throughout the day.

them together when we’re walking to and from daycare.

From time to time, I redirect my older two kids when they

We also sing songs together three or four times a night

speak Japanese to the youngest and explain that we needusing YouTube Karaoke.

to continue to speak English or Spanish at home, evenwhen she speaks Japanese.

Which language do your children or spouseuse with each other? Is there any way wecan influence the language siblings use
among themselves? Should we?

What efforts have you made towards
biliteracy?

Patrick: I am mainly focused on teaching my 6-year-old toPatrick: My wife and I speak a fairly even mix of English

read on her own. She really loves books, but getting her

and Japanese. The eldest uses mostly English at home.

to read by herself has been a bit of a struggle.I enrolled

The middle child is going through something of a baby-

her in an after-school phonics class that is mainly doing

talk phase, that I’m a little worried about. The youngest

writing. She resisted at first, but actually, it has been a big

child only speaks English, but it’s quite basic still.

help with her trying to spell and sound out words.

Maiko: We don’t regulate the language they use. They

Maiko: We started going to weekly karate lessons thisusually talk to each other in English or Japanese. Only ifpast March, which is held entirely in English. The club

they mix languages, I sometimes interfere. If I use English

started offering English time this April, and they work on

in front of non-English speaking people, my elder

workbooks individually. My elder daughter already knows

daughter sometimes asks why I’m doing it. I use English

hiragana and katakana, and she is gradually learning tofor gentle reprimand when I don’t want others to hear that

read and write the alphabet letters now. I think in the years

I’m doing that.

to come, we will support them with English literacy.
Fortunately, they love reading books, and we read both

Kent: My wife speaks English well and really values theability to speak and read English. Therefore, she does her

Japanese and English books. I think the love of literature
will help them with literacy.

best to use English with the children as much as possible.
However, she does find that when she really needs to

Sara: My husband and I started teaching our daughter tocommunicate something important to them, she has toread at age six. We use an old-fashioned book, “Teachresort to using Japanese, not because she can’t explain it

Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.” It’s not perfect,

in English, but because she is not confident in their ability

but it’s the best book I’ve seen so far for teaching reading

to understand. My children rarely talk together in English,

from scratch, and she’s now reading at her age level,but it does happen when they are pretending to bealthough she isn’t confident and doesn’t love reading. I

characters who speak English. Perhaps encouraging thisthink it might be easier to start at a slightly older age,kind of role-playing could influence them to speak English

maybe 7 or 8 years old. It might also make it easier toto each other.

learn to read in English if the child can already read inJapanese. We plan to wait until our next child is a little

Sara: I have to disagree with using Japanese when theolder to start teaching reading.

kids don’t understand the English. If parents resort toJapanese when topics get complicated then the English
will remain static at a lower level. We’re liable to

What challenges have you faced in adding
a third language?

experience miscommunications our whole life at any levelof language ability, so what greater opportunity than amiscommunication to find meaning together and improveyour children’s language ability? Because my husband
and I both speak English, my kids have always spoken
English at home and with each other. Our two year old

Maiko: We haven’t really made a big effort with the third
language, but our idea is the third language will follow
relatively smoothly if the two languages are strongly
formed. We do use many words, expressions, gestures

The 2019 PanSIG Journal 152

and other aspects of the third language/culture in our daily

year of junior high school, consideration of university

life. For instance, instead of saying good-bye, we say “Hoi”

seems too far into the future. Ironically, it was easier toto our extended family.

consider when he was younger! He’s not academically
inclined and is more anchored to Japan than his older

Sara: I’m struggling with this a lot. I’ve always loved
studying Spanish. I love the Latin American culture. When
we moved to Mexico for two years, it was specifically to
immerse ourselves in the culture and become fluent inbrother.. I still feel there’s an outside chance he’ll want toattend his brother’s high school in Wisconsin, a schoolthat I feel is a good fit for him in some ways, but thedecision will be his to make.

Spanish. Our youngest was born in Mexico and is a dual
national of the USA and Mexico. After two years there, theKent: We have a dream of our children studying abroad,kids could play easily with their Mexican classmates andbut that is very far in the future and may not be realistic

had their dolls and action figures speak Spanish duringconsidering our children’s current proficiency level,

playtime. However, since moving away, Spanish time has

particularly in reading. We are currently setting short term

been a struggle. There simply aren’t enough hours in agoals, such as getting the children to read English books.

day! We have Spanish-speaking university students who

After that we can think about the possibility of themcome around 2-4 hours per week and I try to do focusedreceiving their higher education in English.

Spanish time with the kids for about 15 minutes per night,
but it’s just not enough.

Sara: I hope that my kids will be bilingual and biliterate inEnglish and Japanese. I also hope that they have

John: I had hoped my sons would learn a third language.

conversational ability in Spanish and that they will growWith Vincent more linguistically inclined, and with more

up with a love of using all three languages. I want them totime than most kids in Japan because he attended 7th andhave lots of choices in their future, in terms of higher

8th grades online, I made a push for him to learn a third

education, jobs, travel, and friendships.

language. He took online Spanish classes for about ninemonths in 2017 but his interest, which was never terribly
high, waned and then extinguished. He takes Spanish

Conclusionclasses now at his high school in Wisconsin, but by all

This forum was well-attended and very active with lots ofaccounts is not very motivated.

participation from the audience. It is clearly an important
topic that is close to many people’s hearts. While some ofWhat are your future goals with the L2?

us are primarily working towards bilingualism because wewant a relationship with our kids in our mother tongue,
others are working towards the same goal because of thePatrick: My ultimate goal is that they all develop into
native-level speakers of English and Japanese. Academic
ability in both is also important, but is more of a secondarygoal.
Maiko: We hope that our children will be as well balanced
bilinguals as possible, but they will probably be stronger

opportunities bilingualism affords. Whatever our reasonsfor starting on this journey or our final goals, our pathalong the way looks similar. The road to language
procefiency is filled with books, games, music, family time,occasional frustrations and plenty of quiet victories.
“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goesin Japanese. I’m hoping they enroll in European

to his head. If you talk to him in his own language that goes

universities when they are 18, so they can study in English.

to his heart.”

John: When my sons were younger, my wife and I

Nelson Mandela

envisioned them attending university abroad. My olderson, now 15, bought into that, or was naturally inclined for“One language sets you in a corridor for life. Twostudying abroad, sooner than we had imagined. He has

languages open every door along the way.”

been attending high school in the United States sinceAugust 2018. Although my younger son is in the second

Frank Smith

The 2019 PanSIG Journal 153

Author biographies

Sara Hendricks has lived and taught English in many countries for the past 15 years. She is currently teaching at Asia
Pacific University Ritsumeikan in Beppu, Japan and enjoys focusing on fun classroom environments, equality in theclassroom, and rapid vocabulary acquisition. sara@apu.ac.jp
Maiko Berger has been teaching college students for the past 13 years. Her research interests include study abroad,extensive reading, independent learning, and bilingualism. maiko@pu.ac.jp
Patrick Johnston has been living and working in Japan since 2008. Currently teaching at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific
University, his research interests lie in computerized assessment methods, test validity, and bilingualism.
johnston@apu.ac.jp
Kent David Jones is a lecturer at the School of Science and Technology at Kwansei Gakuin University, Sanda, Japan.
He has taught ESL at universities and colleges in Canada as well as EFL in universities in Japan. His research is largely
related to writing, particularly feedback. kentjones@kwansei.ac.jp
John Spiri has taught at universities in Japan since 1997 and presently is associate professor at Gifu Shotoku Gakuen
University. He has also taught English in Taiwan and English Composition at colleges in Vermont. He resides with hisfamily in Shiga prefecture. spiriatwork@gmail.com

The 2019 PanSIG Journal154

19 Autonomous Language Learning in Japan: Three Studies in Postcompulsory Education
Christopher Hennessy
University of Fukui

Ivan Lombardi
University of Fukui

Robert Morel
Toyo University

Stacey Vye
Saitama University

Anita Aden
Mukogawa Women’s University

Upon entering university, many students in Japan have difficulties developing autonomous language
learning skills, engaging in meaningful communication, and lack confidence in their ability to communicate
in English. While not the only factor, student experiences in an exam-focused secondary education systemthat does not encourage autonomous learning and offers few chances for meaningful communication playa significant role in these difficulties. This paper introduces three complementary studies addressing thesechallenges. First, it shows students’ awareness of the limitations of their secondary school classes anddissatisfaction with exam-focused language learning. Next, it describes two studies suggesting how
university students can become more autonomous learners and confident communicators through selfdirected learning courses and engagement with English in real socio-cultural settings.

大学に進学したての日本人学生の多くは、自主的に言語学習スキルを伸ばし、有意義なコミュニケーシ
ョンをとることが困難であると感じている。また、英語によるコミュニケーション能力に対して十分な自信を得られていない。唯一の要因とはいえないが、日本人学生が受ける試験中心の中等教育システム
では、自主的な学習にはつながらず、そうした困難を乗り越えられる、有意義なコミュニケーションの機会が少ないことが関係している。この論文では、これらの課題に取り組む 3 つの補完研究を紹介する。
まず、学生たちが中等教育の授業には制限があると感じていること、そして試験中心の言語学習について抱く不満を示す。次に、自己主導型の学習コースと、実際の社会文化的な場面で英語を使う経験を通して、どのように大学生たちがより自主的な学習と自信をもったコミュニケーションができるようになったのか、その方法を示す 2 つの研究について述べる。

self-efficacy,2013). However, it is just these issues that many

opportunities for communication, and the willingness andThe

importanceoflearnerJapanese students struggle with as they enter university.

confidence to do so are well established in the SLA

Student difficulties becoming more autonomous language

literature (Benson, 2011; Oxford, 2011; Tsuda & Nakata,learners, communicatingin

English, andlack

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

of

155

confidence are often attributed to an educational systemorganization (KMO) modified gap analysis was thethat focuses on high school and university entrancecompulsory framework for the cadidates in the doctoral

exams

difficulty

program. This framework was used to qualify the students’vocabulary and complex grammar forms at the expenseknowledge and motivation to learn English, and also forof communication(Falout, Elwood, & Hood, 2009;students’ secondary organizational institutions in Japan

Glasgow & Paller, 2016; Gorsuch, 1998, 2000, 2001; Hino,that impacted their English learning and motivation. The

1988;

that

emphasize

Kikuchi&memorization

Browne,2009;of2008).

KMO framework was useful to assess what room for

Additionally, there is a disconnect between this focus on

Nishino,improvements could be recommended for secondary

memorization and the importance of autonomy andEnglish as a foreign language (EFL) teaching in Japan

lifelong learning promoted by the Ministry of Education,that is in the discussion section of this paper.

Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)
regarding the language skills needed in a globalized
workplace (MEXT, 2015). The unfortunate reality is thatafter six or more years of daily English classes, many
Japanese students entering university have challenges
becoming autonomous language learners, have likely had
few opportunities to develop their English communicative
proficiency, and have little confidence of their ability tocommunicate in English. Moreover, with the pressure ofentrance exams past, university education offers an
opportunity to help students become more autonomous
learners and engage with the language as a real-world
tool for communication. This paper introduces threestudies from the 2019 PanSIG Learner Development SIG
Forum which, while conducted independently, offer
complementary insights into challenges learners face.
The first gives context for the following studies by
examining

individual

student

experiences

andperceptions of their secondary school English education.
The paper will then discuss two studies that offer ideas as
to how institutions and teachers can address theseobstacles. Finally, it will provide ideas for practice andfurther research.

Study 1: First-Year University Students’
Perceptions of Their Secondary English
Classrooms in Japan (Stacey Vye)
By exploring practical ways of facilitating
autonomous and self-directed English language learning
courses for university students in Japan detailed instudies two and three, the first study highlights what

Methodology
The interviews were open-ended and semistructured with volunteer students who studied English atsecondary school in Japan. Document analyses of theparticipants’ English textbooks and their curriculum
recommendations that were the English versions of the
MEXT’s (2011b, 2011c) lower-secondary and uppersecondary foreign language (English) policy documents
the teachers utilized provided support for the findings.
Emphasis was placed on how the structural organizationof English teaching policy influenced the students’knowledge and motivation or demotivation to learn thelanguage. As for the textbooks, the focus was on what
extent the linguistic features in the content provided
communication opportunities, and were they relevant tothe students’ lives. There were seven male volunteers,
and unfortunately, only one female, six from publicschools, and two from private that are located in seven
prefectures across Japan. The students’ documented
English proficiency levels were at an intermediate-range,
and the interviews were conducted in English.

Summary of the Findings and Connections
to Prior Research
The findings of the study are not generalizable
because of the small sample size and gender ratio. These
interviews were essential for communicating with theparticipants for the data collection that was closely
connected with the research questions, the KMO
framework, the interview questions and protocol, and the
document analyses. The knowledge, motivation, andorganization findings are as follows.

students most likely have experienced in their secondary
schools. This study is an overview of an exploratory

Knowledge Findings

qualitative doctoral dissertation that focused on eight first-

The two knowledge types of focus chosen foryear university students’ perceptions of their secondary

the KMO framework for measurement were the students’English communication courses in Japan in 2018. The

English proficiency and their metacognitive learning. Their

Clark and Estes’s (2008) knowledge, motivation, andThe 2019 PanSIG Journal

156

Motivation Findings

English proficiency levels was the result of their testscores, and metacognition refers to the students paying

The students’ motivation framework chosen

attention to their cognitive language learning (Oxford,

based on the KMO model was their perceived self-efficacy2011). Regarding the English proficiency, all eightand emotive behaviors while learning English based on

students’ English language levels ranged from lower- totheir secondary school experiences. Self-efficacy refers toupper-intermediate based on a range of two to threewhether the learner believes they can achieve their goals

commercial English proficiency tests they took. However,based on their learning situation, in this case, the students’

three participants did not learn English in English in

EFL classroom support (Bandura, 2005). Then, emotion

secondary school or experience supplementary lessons,referred to the students’ range of emotions that motivateand so their proficiency levels were lower than the otheror de-motivate their learning outcomes (Pekrun, 2011).

five.

Their self-efficacy levels of confidence varied, impacting
their English communication (Johnson, 2013; Takase,An interesting influence was MEXT’s (2011a),

2007; Tsuda & Nakata, 2013). The participants with lower

English assessment is the Test in Practical English

English proficiency revealed they had firmer self-

Proficiency (EIKEN) that is used by the boards ofefficacious beliefs from the leveled support of a

education that measures all the students’ proficiency

communicative English class that led to successful

levels at the students’ final year of junior and senior highcommunication. Nevertheless, the five intermediateschool. The goal is that 50% of the senior high school

students who studied in advanced courses at university

students in Japan will receive a proficiency level of grade

currently had lower efficacy. After studying for six years,

pre-2 or higher, yet in 2016 and 2017, about 34% and 36%

they envisioned their mastery of English would be better

respectively of the high school seniors passed the EIKEN

than they perceived it to be, which brought about lower

pre-2 or higher after six years of English instruction (Aoki,

levels of self-efficacious behavior.

2017; Katayama, 2016; KEIDANREN, 2017). Therefore,
the students should have known about MEXT’s EIKENConsidering the emotion of motivation, thegoal, yet only the two private school students knew about

students needed to feel significant positive epistemic

the requirement due to their schools’ promotion of the test.

emotions about their English communication skills to

It was interesting that the six public students reported that

reduceEIKEN was not a requirement, but just a test to take un-demotivation (Falout, Elwood, & Hood, 2009; Williams &related to high school. Only four of the students took theAndrade,test that impacts MEXT’s proficiency goal. On a nationalsignificantly led to positive communication experiences.

scale if students are unaware of the required proficiency

Overwhelmingly, they reported their textbooks were highly

goal, the outcomes are affected, so generalizable

demotivating, with the teacher lecturing grammar points inresearch is needed regarding the ratio of students who doJapanese. Moreover, three students reported sleeping in

not take the assessment.

the classroom. In high school, three trends emerged. The

foreign2008).

language

Authentic

learning

anxietylanguage

andexchanges

first was that four participants studied prior university
As for the students’ metacognitive knowledge,

English entrance exams in class.

Second, threethey reflected on learning English, which facilitated ainterviewees reported the textbooks were boring. Third, allheightened sense of learner autonomy (Benson, 2011;

eight interviewees did not fully experience an EFL

Dam & Legenhausen, 2010; Oxford, 2011; Tsuda &communicative curriculum in

Nakata,textbooks.

2013).

Sixinterviewees

realized

that

their MEXT-approved

communicating in English on their own was a valuable

learning was not supported by their textbooks and their

Organizational Findings and Challenges to MEXT’s
English Communication Initiatives

classroom experiences entirely except for one student in

The findings of the students’ perceptions of theirstrategy. Nevertheless, their autonomous language

high school.

schools as organizations impacted how they learned
English. All eight were taught that learning English
through yakudoku will help them pass English university
entrance examinations (Gorsuch, 1998, 2000, 2001;

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

157

Hashimoto, 2009, 2013; Kavanagh, 2012; Kikuchi, 2009;

English curriculum for first-year students in a newly

Kikuchi & Browne, 2009; Kuramoto & Koizumi, 2016;

created department at a Japanese national university.

Nishino, 2008; O’Donnell, 2005; Sakai & Kikuchi, 2009;

The course, which is compulsory and credit-bearing,

Sakui, 2004; Underwood, 2012). Only one student’s

started in 2016 and has been implemented every year

school followed MEXT’s communicative English policy

during the spring semester with over 240 students.

exclusively in senior high, and none learned English in
Traditionally, in Japan, secondary education

English significantly in junior high. MEXT’s (2011b, 2011c)
foreignlanguagepolicyadvocatesforEnglishcommunication specifically with no mention of teaching
yakudodu in Japanese to prepare for entrance exams.

often seeks to ‘teach to the test,’ creating a situation
Tsuneyoshi (2013, pp. 165–166) describes as “hyperhigh-stakes

entrance

examinations,”

valuingrotememorization over critical thinking and autonomous
Englishlearning skills. In response to this situation, the SDL

communication from teachers who receive support andThestudents

wantedtolearn

course designers strived to introduce independent

teacher training (Aspinal, 2006, 2011; Browne & Wada,

learning techniques necessary for learning languages and1998; Butler, 2011; Glasgow & Paller, 2016; Kavanagh,

other skills outside traditional instruction settings.

2012; Kikuchi, 2009; Kikuchi & Browne, 2009; Laurier, etal., 2011; Nishino, 2008; O’Donnell, 2005; Reesor, 2005;

Course Philosophy and Design
The course was developed around the idea of

Tahira, 2012). However, two students’ high schools inrural locations in Japan seemed to follow the MEXT policy
the most, one partially, and one fully. All in all, theorganizational limitations on the students to learn
communicative English was highly influenced by the
textbooks, learning through the yakudoku method, andentrance exam preparation. The recommendations fromthefindings

topromoteanautonomousandcommunicative English curriculum is included in thescaffolded autonomy, deemed crucial considering thelearning context described above. Following Benson(2011, p. 91), the authors believed that“fostering

autonomy does not mean simply leaving learners to theirown devices, but implies a more active process of
guidance and encouragement to help learners extend andsystematize the capacities they already possess.”
Therefore, the course was designed to mirror a guided,“scaffolded” SDL cycle in the first quarter. SDL processes

discussion of all three studies.

include the steps of (1) Set Goal, (2) Plan, (3) Learn, (4)Show, and (5) Reflect (Benson, 2011). A “scaffolded”

Study 2: Autonomous Goal-Setting in an
English Self-Directed Course at aJapanese National University(Christopher Hennessy and Ivan
Lombardi)

process, though, bypasses steps (1) and (2), the mostchallenging steps for students with little independent
learning experience. In the second quarter, all five stepsof the SDL process open for developing students’ goalsetting and goal-oriented abilities (Figure 1).

As seen in the previous section, due to anemphasis on test preparation, many students have little
experiencewithautonomous

learning

and

real

engagement with English. A structured, self-directedcourse offers one possible way to address these issues.
In May 2015, the Japanese Ministry of Education called
for “the promotion of autonomous, cooperative andproactive learning” and the overall encouragement of“lifelong learning” skills as part of its ongoing efforts to‘rebuild education’ (MEXT Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science and Technology, 2015). At this time, theauthors of this study designed a self-directed learning

The first SDL quarter introduces autonomous
learning through four sets of “task cards.” These cards,
which include speaking, listening, reading, and computerassisted language learning (CALL) tasks, set concretelearning goals based on the CEFR can-do principles, anda plan to achieve them (Council of Europe, 2001).
Students choose a task card and perform the English
learning activity described. After the actual (3) learning
takes place, the task cards also provide information on
how to (4) show evidence of the process using thecourse’s online LMS, and how to (5) reflect on the learning
itself.

(SDL) English course based on existing autonomous
learning theory and implemented within an intensive

The 2019 PanSIG Journal158

questions, time needed, task location, and a “Skills
Gained” bar graph giving visual representation on
expected learning outcomes (Figure 2). The cards wereavailable in treasure chests placed around the SAC or on
the online LMS.
In the first “scaffolded” quarter, students wererequired to choose one specific task week-by-week
Fig. 1(Week 1: Speaking; Week 2: Listening; Week 3: Reading;

SDL process vs. scaffolded SDL process

Week 4: CALL; repeat). This initial system meant students
were not overloaded with choice and could experience avariety of different tasks. As a first quarter final goal,

Course Workings

students drew a ‘visual map,’ (Figure 3) in which they

The course was conducted at the on-campus

show,

reflecton,andevaluatetheirlearning

self-access center (SAC), which boasts learning support

accomplishments, as well as set new personal learningspaces (e.g. meeting rooms and internet-equipped

goals for the second quarter. For the second quarter,

individual computer booths) and a large amount ofstudents freely chose whatever task to accomplish theirEnglish-language materials (e.g. DVDs, graded readers,stated goals and created their own task cards. In this way,

and games). Students were divided into three sections ofstudents could transition from the scaffolded structure ofaround 20, which met twice a week over two quarters (thethe first quarter into a true self-directed, and autonomous

equivalent of one semester).

learning in the second quarter.

Each class revolved around students choosing

Reflections

a task card, doing the task, and reflecting on their learning.

At the end of the second quarter, students were

Each task card features a color code number, a title, aasked to reflect on the entire SDL course. With three years

goal in the form of a can-do statement, the number ofof student reflections, the authors can conclude that inparticipants required, evidence to show, reflection

general students found the course satisfactory in

Fig. 2

Sample task card

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

159

Fig. 3

An example of a student’s ‘visual map’developing a sense of autonomy. For many, having

and facilitators. This course also affected the authors’ own

choices instead of being assigned specific activities was

language studies to some extent. In developing anda first-time experience, which they found enjoyable andwitnessing SDL in action, the authors have also fosteredencouraging for developing personal language learning

their autonomous language learning habits, both from thegoals. Critical reaction from students mainly focused on

established set of course tasks and the student-designed

courselengthtasks. While such a course may not create complete

requirements). The authors took these critical comments

learning autonomy in every student, it does foster the idea

to affect organizational changes for following iterations ofof taking control of one’s (language) learning (Holec, 1981,

the course, such as removal of mandatory reflection

Little, 1991) . This idea resonates with the Ministry oflength and encouragement of audio/video reflections. In

Education’s most recent guidelines, and surely with thethis way, the reflections served not only to give

authors’ hopes for higher education in Japan.

logistics(e.g.

reflection

writing

perspective to the students, but to also to

give

perspective to the instructors.
One takeaway that the authors had designingand facilitating this course is that autonomy does not

Study 3: Developing Communicative
Competence in Socio-cultural Settings(Anita Aden)

happen automatically. Scaffolding autonomy has led toUnderstanding student perceptions of autonomy

visible development of students’ engagement with thein gaining English skills in the current language learning

SAC materials and autonomous learning in general, as

system in Japan was discussed in previous sections. The

evidenced in student-generated task cards. A second

need to develop communicative competence in students

takeaway is that, given that the course structure vastlyly

substantiates the instructional choices of university

differedent fromcourse structure compared to traditional

language educators as they promote positive self-

instruction, implementing change based on student voices

directedness in rich socio-cultural language settings

led to a more satisfactory experience for both students

designed to encourage risk-taking by students. As

The 2019 PanSIG Journal160

students experience language learning in a personalized

related to current events, entertainment, social or politicallearning environment, their confidence for purposefulissues, and other common issues facing university

exchanges can be nurtured for out-of-class interactions.

students. As students entered with their own lunches, they

Understanding communicative mannerisms of meaningfulreceived a name card and a short description of the lunch

exchanges includes developing skills of socio-culturalactivity schedule. Topics of conversation naturally

awareness, critical thinking, and adjusting expectations ofdeviated from original themes as students described theirnatural interactive, communicative exchanges (Burrows,

own experiences and asked follow- up questions to each2015).

other. The lunch space had a multimedia component,
making videos and retrieving current information a part ofCommunicative Competence in Sociocultural Settings
Language interaction patterns are learned by
students as they practice communicative strategies withfriends or classmates by developing awareness throughthe spontaneous shift of expanding on students’ personal
interests. At the end of the weekly lunch time breaks at
the IP, students answered an anonymous survey withthree questions related to the topic, the opportunity to use
language skills, and their comprehension level of thesuccessful meaning-making in a socio-cultural setting

day’s interactions. Students’ feedback was analyzed after(Burrows, 2015). As Japanese students succeed ateach semester and used in the following term’s IP tomeaningful exchanges with classmates, they formulate a

attract students to join during their lunch break.

stronger understanding of intercultural communicative
learning principles needed for language interactions in

Reflections

out-of-class settings. The integration of language andBy developing communicative competence

culture within language programs prepares university

during university, students will reap benefits later on, such

students for genuine social interactions in real-world

as more open-mindedness in meeting new colleagues

settings. By encouraging students to develop anand

exploratory and reflective attitude towards all forms of

explanation through proximal development (Wass &culture and culture-in-language (Li & Keller, 2018), they

Golding, 2014). To prepare students for these encounters,

can respond more naturally in socio-cultural settings, such

Li and Keller (2018) defined a model for socio-cultural

as joining a lunchtime (self-access) exchange withawareness through attention, relevance, confidence, andinternational students and English-speaking instructors.

satisfaction (ARCS) of instructing students. When

Stepping out of the usual classroom setting can be easily

entering a new environment, connecting with others

done in accessible locations on campus during breaks.

through questions or humor will gain the attention ofunderstanding

actionsthatrequiredeeperpeople. The skill of gaining attention provides the
The social construct of sharing lunch (or anequivalent space) together uses communicative tactics ofachievement and reduction strategies in language(Burrows, 2015). Achievement strategies are used to
manage communication breakdowns and find alternative
ways to reach comprehension. The simple action of
gesturing can break through miscommunication barriers
while the reduction strategy allows the user to simplify themeaning of the conversation by choosing to redirect the
topic. These strategies were observed during a weekly
lunch activity with students in the International Plaza (IP),a space for all students to share opinions about seasonal
and personal topics that utilized socio-cultural tools ofinteracting together.

opportunity for people to proceed with greater confidence
when interacting with people from various backgrounds.
The satisfaction of personal investment of developing
oneself and expressing a more significant understandingof others is the heart of successful communicativecompetency. Using ARCS (Li & Keller, 2018) as a
guideline when interacting in socio-cultural settings helps
students to gain communicative competence for futureendeavors that require skills beyond the language
classroom.

Remaining

confident

thatmeaningfulexchanges are possible helps prepare students for offcampus, real-world opportunities where prior language
learning experiences serve as a key strategy forcontinued language success.

During IP, students could enter anytime
throughout the lunch period and join thematic discussions

The 2019 PanSIG Journal161

language

Discussion

learners

andconfident

communicators.

Becoming autonomous language learners andPrograms such as the self-directed learning English

building communicative competence and confidence arecourse and creation of opportunities to improve student

two of aspects of the learning process that often provesocio-cultural communicative competence offer two

challenging for new university students in Japan. The

different, but complementary possibilities to do so.

above studies examined why this may be and offer twocomplementary ways to address these challenges. Basedon interview data of students in the first study, students

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MEXT. (2015). 2015 white paper on Education, Culture,
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Author biographies

Christopher Hennessy teaches at the School of Global and Community Studies, University of Fukui. He is a multiple
recipient of the Grants-In-Aid from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and has published on Japaneseperceptual dialectology, project-based learning, CEFR-based interviews, and autonomous learning. Email hennessy@ufukui.ac.jp
Ivan Lombardi teaches at the School of Global and Community Studies, University of Fukui. He earned his PhD in
Language Teaching Methodology at the Catholic University of Milan (Italy). His research intersects game studies,motivation, and language learning autonomy. He published two books and several papers on the topics. Email ivan@ufukui.ac.jp
Robert Morel is a Lecturer at Toyo University’s Center for Global Education and Exchange where he teaches study
abroad preparation courses. His main research interests include student motivation and identity, study abroad, and theinternationalization of Japanese universities. Email morel@toyo.jp
Stacey Vye is an Associate Professor at Saitama University at the Center for English Education and Development. She
earned her doctorate at the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California (USC). Her researchinterests are learner and teacher autonomy, identity, self-efficacy, and the connections between the constructs. Emailstacey.vye@gmail.com
Anita Aden is an associate professor in the General Education department at Mukogawa Women’s University in
Nishinomiya, Hyogo. Her main research interests include communicative competency and socio-cultural studies in study
abroad programs. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in education with an emphasis in adult teaching and learning
Email anita@mukogawa-u.ac.jp

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

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20 Adventures in Unfamiliar Territory: A CLIL Tourism Course
Caroline Hutchinson
Nihon University College of Economics
This paper describes a Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) course on Tourism in Japan,
designed and taught by the author as part of a university-level program taught partly in English. The course
aims to give students a grounding in the history of tourism, related business topics such as destination
marketing, and sustainability. It culminates in a group project to design and present a marketing plan fora less-touristed Japanese destination. The paper describes the course design process, core principles
and main activity types used to make concepts accessible to students. It then discusses the purported
benefits of the CLIL approach, and reflects on the successes and failings of the course measured against
the “4 Cs”: content, communication, cognition and culture. It concludes by discussing the importance ofcollaboration and integrated curriculum support to successful CLIL teaching and learning.

本稿は日本の観光事業に関する大学レベルの内容言語統合型学習（CLIL）科目について説明したものである。同科目は大学において一部の授業が英語で行われるプログラムの一環として筆者が考案し教鞭を執っている。狙いは観光産業の歴史、観光地マーケティング等の関連ビジネス、サステナビリティについての基礎知識の習得である。授業の後半では学生がグループに分かれ、国内で観光客が比較的少ない
観光地のマーケティングを企画し発表する。本稿では科目設計の手順、基本方針、そして学生に概念を分かりやすく伝えるための主な活動の種類について述べる。また CLIL アプローチのメリットとされている点について論じ、「4 つの C」、すなわち学習内容、 意思の疎通、思考力、異文化理解に照らして同科目の利点と難点を検討する。そして結論として、CLIL の教授法と学習が功を奏するには共同作業と統合カリキュラム支援が欠かせないとする。

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This paper will describe a fifteen-lesson Content and

Finally, I will use the 4Cs Framework to reflect on the

Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) course entitledcourse’s success, before considering implications for“Tourism in Japan”, taught by the author as part of athe effective implementation of CLIL in Japanese higher

Global Studies program in which students take half ofeducation.

their credits in English medium classes. In 2016, 42% ofJapanese universities offered courses delivered in
English, an increase of nearly 10% on five years

CLIL and the 4Cs Framework

previously (MEXT, 2019). This growth has been

According to Coyle, Hood & Marsh (2010), CLIL “is asupported by funding programs administered by thedual-focused

Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,

educational

approach

in

which

an

additional language is used for the learning andScience and Technology (MEXT), which views English-

teaching of both content and language” (p. 1). The 4Cs

medium classes as a way to improve Japan’s global

Framework adds two more essential components:

competitiveness in higher education, attract morecognition and culture. In this framework, learners learninternational students and faculty, and improve English

subject matter (content) by thinking about it on many

levels (Hashimoto, 2017).

levels(cognition)andinteracting

withothers(communication in the target language). The fourth
However, the benefits of MEXT support have tended tocomponent, culture, permeates the others, and involves

accrue to a small number of universities, often those thatdeepening intercultural awareness by exploring self andhave long-standing English-medium programs. It is‘otherness’, both in the classroom and in relation to thetelling that only 5.2% of faculties within universities

content (Coyle et al., 2010).

offering English-medium programs allowed students tograduate purely through taking classes in English

This combination is highly attractive to educational(MEXT, 2019). In many Japanese universities, English-

policy-makers and instructors. Rather than simply a way

medium education is isolated and ad hoc (Bradford &to learn a language, CLIL has been portrayed as “moreBrown, 2017), and more often taught by languageof everything produced at lower anxiety levels” (Dalton-

faculty than by content specialists.

Puffer, 2007, p. 276). Amano (2015) summarises
several other benefits often ascribed to CLIL, such as

This differed greatly from the CLIL course in Japanese

promoting positive learning outlooks, developing higher

history which I designed and taught as a full-timeorder thinking and academic skills, and even stimulatingteacher at a foreign languages university (Hutchinson,

student interest in studying or working overseas.

2018). While I studied history as an undergraduate, I

Nevertheless, as Bruton (2013) points out, it ishave never formally studied Tourism. As a part-time

counterintuitive to suppose that content learning willteacher, I had limited knowledge of where the Tourism

take place more effectively through a second language

course fit into the overall curriculum. Another difference

that students are also, simultaneously, acquiring.

was students’ expectations; the history course was

Rather than seeing CLIL or English-medium instruction

taught at a university with a strong English-only ethos,

as a magic bullet, it is important to consider what works,

while students in the Tourism course tended to use

and how institutions and practitioners can support

English only receptively, witheffective learning.

theexceptionofassessments. While, ideally, both students and teacher
come to the classroom well-prepared for CLIL, mysituation as a part-time Tourism teacher is perhaps

Course Design

more representative of many practitioners in Japan

Since I do not have a background in tourism studies, mytoday.

first task was to establish a course framework that would
cover introductory content in a way that was accessible

This paper will briefly outline the CLIL approach, and theto lower-proficiency students but challenging enough for

4Cs Framework. It will consider the design process of

those with more linguistic ability. I was unable to conduct

the Tourism in Japan course, introducing goals,

a needs analysis before the course began, and wasassessment, course principles and the course plan.

asked to set my own course plan and goals. Available

The 2019 PanSIG Journal167

textbooks generally took an English for Specificquestions required matching terms to concrete

Purposes (ESP) approach, aiming to train students inexamples. For example,

the English they would need for employment in theindustry, whereas I hoped to follow a more general

Which of the following is an example of inboundtourism to Japan?

“Introduction to Tourism” approach.

A)
I gathered several online tourism syllabi, eventually
taking the majority of topics from a Massive Open Online
Course(MOOC)

offeredby

the

University

of

home.
B)

Our teacher visits Kyoto for a conference.

C)

Our teacher’s brother visits her in Tokyo andQueensland on the EdX platform (University of
Queensland X, n.d.). Seeing the range of inspiring
examples of best practice in the tourism industry, I

Our teacher returns to Japan after a trip

enjoys visiting famous attractions.
D)

Our teacher spends a week in Bali doing
yoga.

decided that course content would not be confined totourism in Japan. Instead, I would aim to activate
student experience about travel and tourism, introduce

The tests were intended to review core concepts thatbest practice from around the world, and encourage

would be needed to successfully complete the final

students to apply it to Japan.

project, in a way that was manageable with a large
number of students. They were written in simple English

I adopted what Wiggins & McTighe (2005) refer to as aand kept concrete in order to support students at lower

Backward Design. Here, the course designer begins at

levels. Nevertheless, average scores were lower forthe ‘end’ by identifying desirable learning outcomes,

more abstract topics (82% for tourism basics, 65% forthen determines criteria and means to evaluate students’sustainability).

progress towards those outcomes, and finally plans
what learners will do in the classroom to support theirBusiness Plan and Marketing Presentation

development. This methodology has the advantage of

The final project was completed in small groups, andinnately encouraging intentionality in the design process,required students to market a less-visited Japaneseas the instructor must consider the purpose of each

destination to inbound tourists. Groups chose theiractivity or topic. It also promotes transparency and self-

destination, identified a target market and justified why

regulation, as students are made aware of learning

their destination would appeal to them. They were also

goals and assessment criteria at the beginning of theasked to consider how and where they would market

course and can connect their learning to these goals. I

their destination.

will introduce each section of the course plan below.
Project preparation was threaded throughout the course,

Learning Goals••••

with the first formal explanation in lesson 6. For thisstudents will deepen their understanding ofclass, I created an information transfer activity based on

basic business concepts relating to tourism

data presented in the McKinsey report “The future of

students will be able to understand andJapan’s tourism: Path for sustainable growth towards

interpret statistics and data relating to tourism

2020” (Andonian, Kuwabara, Yamakawa & Ishida,students will be able to apply their learning to2016). Students worked together to understand charts

the Japanese context

from the report, which gave insights into government

students will be able to effectively

tourism targets and emphasised the need to redirectcommunicate tourism-related information

tourists away from already overcrowded destinations.

orallyTo assist comprehension, note-taking frameworks wereused to steer students towards relevant information.

Assessment Methods
Focussing on unfamiliar destinations promoted content

Multiple-Choice Unit Tests

learning and led students to think more deeply about

These tests targeted key vocabulary items in context.

target markets. Once groups had chosen their

L1 was not used in the tests; instead, answering

destinations,

they

were

expectedtocontinue

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

168

researching, before coming together at the end of the

The final project was based on the current situation incourse to finalize their business plans and presentations.

Japan and targets set by the Japanese government,

Business plans were submitted before the presentations

which were approached through an analysis of anin order that I could make comments and suggestions.

authentic business report (Andonian et al., 2016).
Promoting a regional destination to foreign tourists issomething students may actually do after graduating,

Methodologies
The following basic principles informed the selection ofand they seemed motivated to learn more about Japan
while doing so.

content and materials design.

Utilize Visual Organizers
Utilize Student Knowledge

Visual organizers were used to reduce the linguistic

A class survey conducted in lesson 1 confirmed that all

demand on students and provide a means of confirming

students had some experience of travelling, many

student learning. These were used in several ways: tooutside Japan, and that all were interested in doing socheck understanding post-reading, as note-taking

in the future. Further, 78% of students were interested

scaffolds, and created by students as a tool to explainin pursuing tourism-related careers. This provided atheir ideas to others. Where cognitive demand was likely

basis for students to understand new content, andto be high, such as in debate activities, students

personalise it by relating it to their existing knowledge.

developed their ideas on paper first before introducing

In lectures, I tried to incorporate my own experiences

the visual to opposing teams (mini-debates, lesson 12).

and photos, and encouraged students to share their own

This also worked to promote collaboration.

experiences in warm-up activities.

Promote Collaborative Working
Learn from Best Practice

If students are to learn to communicate in another

Tourism is a global industry which has grown andlanguage, they will need to collaborate with others todiversified enormously in recent decades, and it is easyachieve given tasks. This was accomplished in theto find examples of best practice. These can inspireclassroom through jigsaw tasks such as reading, taking

students to reflect on the Japanese context, and apply

notes and sharing information. These activities build

what they have learned when creating their own

multiple skills and reduce the volume of reading required

marketing plans. This also creates opportunities tofor each individual student. Each lesson began with aengage higher order thinking skills: once an example ofsmall-group review game from the previous week’s

global best practice has been understood, students canlesson, followed by discussion questions aimed at

be asked to apply it to Japan, choose the most relevant

activating students’ knowledge about the new topic.

to Japan and justify their opinion, or create a new idea
using what they have learned.

Promote Thinking Skills
Once students had understood a concept, they were

Ensure Authenticity of Purpose and Input

asked to do something more with it, such as ranking

Using worldwide best practice as a basis to develop

options, making recommendations, selecting andprojects in Japan gave the course greater authenticity ofjustifying a choice, and so on. This promoted active

purpose (Pinner, 2013), and a justification for using

engagement with the content, and encouraged students

materials in English, the lingua franca of worldwide

to think and discuss using English. Making personal

tourism. Texts chosen were generally ungraded but ofdecisions about content also allowed groups to compare

manageable length, preferably providing concreteand thus broaden their thinking.

examples and pictures. Particularly useful were internet
list articles in the vein of “Five Most Inspiring Tourism
Promotions”, which lent themselves to ranking activities

Course Plan

and jigsaw reading activities (in which groups of

In Table 1, I introduce an outline of the course structure

students worked on different parts of a text or task,

and a brief description of the activities used.

before combining those elements to understand thewhole).

Table 1: Course Plan

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

169

Unit

Target content (Activity Type)economic sustainability issues

1. Introduction

Lesson 1: Introduction(jigsaw reading/ speaking)Getting to know you (class travel

Lesson 9: Social sustainability

experience survey); categorising

Overcrowding in Kyoto (reading/(matching pictures to categories

information transfer/ groupof tourist business);

problem-solution diagram)brainstorming (examples of

Lesson 10: Environmental

Japanese tourist businesses)

sustainability

Lesson 2: History

Cause and effect of tourism’s

History of tourism in Japan (shortenvironmental impact (sentence

lecture); design a trip (jigsaw

half matching); Sustainability

speaking activity)

game (groups choose mostsustainable option)

Unit test 1: Tourism basics
2. BusinessLesson 3: Marketing

Unit test 3: SustainabilityAward-winning marketing videos

4. Review andLesson 11: Project preparation(jigsaw analysis/ listening/

Project(teacher models project

speaking); marketing concepts

presentation and business plan)(short lecture)

Lesson 12: Olympics/ course

Lesson 4: Target markets

review

Target markets (short lecture);

Pros and cons of hosting theour class as a target market

Olympics (mini-debate)(discussion of survey data);

Lesson 13: Project preparation

identifying target markets for trips

Lesson 14: Student presentations(jigsaw analysis/ speaking

Lesson 15: Student presentations

activity)
Lesson 5: Technology
Effects of technology (shortlecture); emerging technology intourism (jigsaw reading, analysis,

Assessment of the course: The 4Cs
Framework

speaking)
Lesson 6: Service
Top complaints of Japan visitors(ranking); presentation project
introduction: Japan’s tourism
goals (information transfer)
Unit test 2: Business3.

Lesson 7: Tourism policy

Sustainability

Negative impacts of tourism(prediction/ short lecture);

Content
In order to make content accessible to students, I useda range of techniques drawn from my background inlanguage teaching. Introductory discussion questions
allowed students to personalise content and explaindifficult concepts to one another. The course’s target
language and concepts were carefully selected to feed
into the final project, and recycled frequently, includingin speaking review games.

creation of good tourism

However, there was a loss of content understanding as

guidelines (brainstorming/learners summarised and shared readings during thesharing/ voting)jigsaw reading process. This may have stemmed from a

Lesson 8: Economiclack of procedural knowledge about jigsaw reading, orsustainability

insufficient language and cognitive skills to complete it

Economic issues in tourism

effectively. Thus, although the course gave students a(short lecture); contemporary

better conceptual knowledge of tourism, more could

The 2019 PanSIG Journal170

Language through Learning

have been done to demonstrate and scaffold what was

Instructors can assist students by collecting andexpected.

recycling emerging language, making them aware ofCommunication

how this process contributes to their learning (Coyle et

Coyle et al. (2010) identify three types of languageal., 2010). However, since few students used English toneeded for effective CLIL, which they dub the Language

carry out activities and negotiate meaning, it was difficult

Triptych:to collect examples of language. It was also more•

Language of learning (“language needed forlearners to access basic concepts and skills
relating to the subject theme or topic” (ibid.,••difficult to get a sense of how students were progressing
on a given task, a problem exacerbated by the large
class size.

p. 37)).

CultureLanguage for learning (language that

The intercultural aspect of the course was the most fully

students need to operate in a foreign

realised. The decision to use examples from around thelanguage classroom; in other words, theworld and apply them to Japan set up an implicit

English needed to clarify, give opinions, ask

dialogue between self and other, encouraging students

questions and support one another)to question how Japan might look from the outside. It

Language through learning (language which

also mirrored the real-world process of developing new

naturally arises as students attempt to carryideas in the tourism industry. The initial survey activity

out their learning in the target language)

allowed students to understand their class as a

Below, I summarise my assessment of the course forparticular target market, giving them a point ofcomparison

each aspect.

to

other

markets.

Althoughsomeexperienced a degree of challenge in understanding

Language of Learning

different perspectives, most understood the conceptThis aspect of learning seemed familiar to students, who

and tried to engage with it.

were generally engaged in understanding and reviewing

Cognition

vocabulary and concepts.

As Coyle et al. (2010) argue, “for content learning to be

Language for Learning

effective learning, students must be cognitively engaged”

This aspect of the course was the least successful. As(p. 29). Multiple choice tests indicated that students had

discussed above, my prior experience teaching CLIL

remembered and understood core concepts sufficient tocourses had been at an institution which insists on, andidentify an example of them, types of lower-order

generally succeeds in maintaining, an English-only

processing on Bloom’s taxonomy. Where in-classpolicy in the classroom. It was thus a surprise when

activities required students to carry out higher-orderstudents chose to complete tasks primarily in their L1,

thinking skills, such as analysing cause and effect or

including those intended as less challenging warm-up

making and justifying a choice, the results were more

activities.

verbalmixed. This seemed to depend in part on students’

encouragement and explanation of the benefits oflanguage level, and partly on levels of motivation; someEnglish use, although vocabulary review games werestudents tended to minimal application, giving one-wordtypically conducted in English. All assessment tasks

answers or “I don’t understand”. In a class of 45, it waswere completed in English without question, revealingdifficult to provide targeted support to all students, or tothat many students had surprisingly high levels of

encourage early finishers to go deeper. There also

proficiency given their reticence to communicate. It wasseemed to be less mutual accountability than typicallytherefore unclear why students did not use English indevelops in a smaller class.

This

continued

in

spite

of

class, but greater scaffolding and explanation ormodelling

could

help

procedural language.

familiarise

students

with

The same pattern was observed with the final project,which was intended to encourage student creativity
based on an understanding and application of what we

The 2019 PanSIG Journal171

had learned in class. Some groups did this quite

Nonetheless, attitudes towards collaboration in theeffectively, while others gave presentations which

Japanese higher education sector may make thisskipped over many of the concepts studied in class.

difficult, even in the case of full-time or tenured

Although my intention had been to encourage thesepractitioners (Adamson, 2010).

groups by giving them advance feedback, these groups
were also late in submitting their work. One possible
way to assist students in developing higher order
thinking skills would be for the instructor to model
processes, either before or after students try a task
themselves. Although this was done for the final project,
the patchy attendance of some students meant that they
may not have had a full understanding of the task

Another aspect to collaboration is the extent to which agiven course is supported by a curriculum which builds
students’ linguistic and academic skills and proceduralknowledge. When teaching the history course, I could
assume learner familiarity with collaborative learning
activities, and proficiency in carrying out classroomtasks in English. As a result, I could devote the majority
of instruction to content and topic-specific language.

requirements.

Since students produced a large volume of spoken
English, I could also monitor effectively and exploit

Conclusions

language through learning. Where this is not the case,

Reflecting on my two very different experiences ofEnglish may be a target of learning, but not a medium

designing and teaching CLIL courses has revealed thefor it, reducing CLIL’s putative benefits of promoting

enormousinthinking in a foreign language. Knowledge about what

determining the success of CLIL across the 4C’s.

students come to the class able to do, where they need

Teaching and designing CLIL classes requires “a mix of

to improve and what their expectations are, is also

specialist knowledge of content, language skills, andhugely beneficial when planning a course.

importanceofcontextual

factors

teaching experience as well as a willingness to take ona greater workload than either an L1 content class or alanguage class would normally require” (Brown & Iyobe
2014, p. 16). There may not be commercially available
textbooks aimed at L2 students with an appropriate level

The issue of environment may extend to questions suchas the setup of classrooms; it is more difficult to create
an atmosphere of small group communication andcollaboration in classrooms with fixed desks which allface the teacher. Likewise, facilitating active learning isof linguistic and cognitive difficulty.

made more difficult with a large number of students,
Even where there are, a teacher who is not a content

particularly when they are unfamiliar with activity types

expert will need to increase their knowledge and identify

and unused to receiving directions in English. In suchopportunities for the development of learners’ cognitive

circumstances, more of an instructors’ time is spent on

skills, while a teacher who is not a trained language

managing resources, setting up activities and clarifying

teacherthemselves

with

new

procedures, leaving less time to assist students with

andlanguagelower language proficiency, monitor for ideas andscaffolding. Trained content teachers who are notlanguage usage, and facilitate interactions between

confident speakers of the target language may have tostudents. Effective monitoring of large groups is further

become so, or alter their methodologies to reduce theircomplicated when they do not use the target language.

must

pedagogicalfamiliarise
techniques

providetalking time. Since the development of such classes
typically involves a great deal more time investment
than strict language or content classes, compensationand timetabling should reflect this.

This paper is not intended to dissuade practitioners or
institutions from implementing CLIL programs, butrather to argue that sustained, systematic focus acrossthe curriculum and the institution is necessary in order

Ideally, collaboration between language and content

for the methodology to realise its full potential. Where

teaching professionals is essential to ensure purposeful

this kind of support is not feasible, it may be necessary

instruction at a high academic level. This could extend

to manage expectations, and to ensure that instructors

to collaborative course development and paired

have sufficient insight into the needs of the learners theylanguage and content courses, or pair-taught lessons.

will be teaching. In addition to those at institutions withThe 2019 PanSIG Journal172

a wealth of experience in English-medium and CLIL

universities: Responding to a competitiveness crisis

education, it is also important that we hear from part-in a globalizing world. In A. Bradford & H. Brown

time teachers, or institutions introducing new English-(Eds.), English-medium education in Japanese

medium courses. This research and experience will

higher education (14-31). Bristol, UK: Multilingual

assist in implementing CLIL teaching effectively acrossMatters.

the Japanese higher education sector, and maximising
Hutchinson, C. (2018). Critical Thinking through theits benefits for learners and instructors.

Study of History, PanSIG Journal 2017, 67-74.
MEXT (2019). Heisei 28 nendo no daigaku ni okeru

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Brown, H. & Iyobe, B. (2014). The growth of English
medium instruction in Japan. In N. Sonda & A.
Krause (eds) JALT2013 Conference Proceedings(9-19). Tokyo: JALT.
Bruton, A. (2013). CLIL: Some of the reasons why… andwhy not. System 41, 586-597.
Coyle, D., Hood, P., & Marsh, D. (2010). CLIL: Content
and Language Integrated Learning. Cambridge,
England: Cambridge University Press.
Dalton-Puffer, C. (2017). Discourse in Content andLanguage

Integrated(CLIL)Classrooms.

Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Hashimoto, H. (2017). Government policy driving
English-medium

instruction

atJapanese

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173

Author biography
Caroline Hutchinson teaches at Nihon University College of Economics, Tokyo, Japan. Her research interests include
motivation and learner autonomy, Japanese history and CLIL; she has developed and taught CLIL courses in Japanese
history, tourism and Japanese culture. She can be contacted at hutchinson.caroline@nihon-u.ac.jp.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal174

21 Collaborative Mobile Assisted Digital Storytelling Projects: Practical
Considerations for Successful Classroom Implementation
Bradley Irwin
Nihon University
The purpose of this study was to identify any potential limitations or shortcomings of having English
language learners complete collaborative digital storytelling projects using mobile devices. Utilizing a casestudy approach, qualitative and quantitative data were collected from classroom observation andquestionnaire feedback. The participants of the study were 83 undergraduate CEFR A2-B1 English
language learners. One of the main findings elucidated by this study showed that the collaborative
approaches adopted by subjects during the creative process had significant impacts on the completed
projects. Students who shared a single device to film and edit their videos, thus necessitating deeper
communication, negotiation, and collaboration reported higher levels of satisfaction with their completed
films than students who filmed and edited their projects on a number of devices. The results also highlighttechnological considerations required to successfully implement a collaborative digital storytelling projectusing mobile devices.

この研究の目的は、英語学習者がモバイルデバイスを使用した共同デジタルストーリーテリングプロジ
ェクトを完了することの潜在的制限または弱点を特定することでした。ケーススタディのアプローチを利用して、教室での観察とアンケートのフィードバックから定性的および定量的なデータを収集しました。研究の参加者は 83 人の学部生 CEFR A2-B1 英語学習者でした。この研究によって明らかにされた
主な発見の 1 つは、ﾌﾟﾛｾｽを作り出す際に採用した共同アプローチがﾌﾟﾛｼﾞｪｸﾄを完成せさるのに大きな影響を与えることでした。ビデオを撮影および編集するために一つの機器を共有した学生は、複数の機器を使用して撮影や編集を行った学生よりも必要とされる深いコミュニケーションや交渉および協力ができ、高い満足度が報告されました。また、モバイルデバイスを使用した共同デジタルストーリーテリ
ングプロジェクトを上手に実施するために必要な技術的考慮事項も示された。

Since its development as a teaching andunder the latter category, those that inform and instruct. A

learning tool in the early 1990s, digital storytelling has

useful working definition of digital storytelling for the

been making inroads into mainstream teaching practices.

purposes of this paper would be stories that inform about

Digital storytelling differs from more traditional forms ofa specific topic created using digital video recordings andstorytelling in that it utilizes digital technology to bothphotos; stylistic elements that include music, animatedcapture and share its subject matter. While the definition

graphics, filters, and text; and finally, subtitled voiceofbetweennarration. The digital stories described in this paper werepractitioners, at its core the practice is usually described

also recorded, edited, and published using only theas having common elements such as digital videos andparticipants’ mobile devices.

digitalstorytellingvariessomewhatphotos, music, and narration. Robin (2006) has identified
three broad categories that they tend to fall under; thosethat tell personal narratives, those that examine historicalevents, and those that inform and instruct. The digitalstories described in this study feature stories that fallResearchers have identified several educational
benefits of project based digital storytelling tasks that areof particular interest in language learning environments.
Yuksel, Robin and McNeil (2011), conducted an

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

175

educational benefits survey of 154 teachers and learners

yet to receive much attention. Most of the current researchin 22 different countries around the world. The results ofof mobile device digital storytelling describe studies of

their survey indicated that educators felt students

mobile apps designed by the researchers to complete

benefited most in terms of writing, presentation, andvery specific tasks (Liu, Wang, & Tai, 2016; Han, Shih,technical skills as well as an increase in subject matter

Rosson, & Carroll, 2014).

understanding. Their results further showed that 42% of
respondents

felt

that

digitalstorytelling

practices

The purpose of this paper is to identify problems
or limitations that may hinder teachers from successfully

benefitted language teaching.

implementing a collaborative digital storytelling projectIncreased learner motivation is an often-citedusing mobile devices. By identifying these potential

educational benefit of digital storytelling (Robin, 2006;

problems, teachers wishing to conduct a similar project-

2008; Sylvester & Greenidge, 2009; Kim, 2014; Alismail,based language learning task will be able to smoothly2015). Smeda, Dakich, and Sharda (2014), conducted aachieve their desired outcomes.

multi-site case study in Australian primary schools andthat found that along with increases in motivation, student
task engagement increased leading to the enhancement

Digital storytelling project descriptionof learning outcomes. Indeed, subject behaviors observed

The digital storytelling project described below

during the study described in this paper point to a level of

was included as a major assignment in a compulsory first

motivation,

year English presentation-focused course held twice a

engagement,

andenthusiasm

rarelyexperienced in language classes. Not only did 95% of theparticipants in the present study complete the digitalstorytelling project and all optional and anonymousweek during a 15-week semester. While this project was
originally conducted with 83 students (whose survey
results are discussed in subsequent sections of thissurveys associated with the research, participants were

paper) in the 2018 spring semester, it has since become

alsoenthusiastic

a regular component of the English course and has been

messages on their personal social media accounts. One

completed by over 200 students. The English proficiency

post in particular stood out as a student tweeted, “I can’t

levels of the students participating in this project havewait for next week because we’re going to explore ourranged from A1-B2 on the CEFR scale with the majority

town to make a movie about it. This is going to be great!”falling into the A2-B1 range. For each group of students,

observed

posting

positiveandthe project was conducted after language skills necessary
Learner collaboration is another emerging area

to effectively introduce and describe topics of interest hadof interest related to digital storytelling. Along with digital

been developed using a traditional textbook-based

literacy, critical thinking skills, and problem-solving skills,

approach to language learning (after approximately 20

collaboration is considered an essential 21st century skill

lessons). The project took six 90-minute lessons to(Rich, 2010). Several researchers have found promisingcomplete and was divided into five distinct phases: anresults when exploring learners’ collaborative processes

explanation phase, a research phase, a drafting phase, aduring digital storytelling projects (Saritepeci & Çakır,

filming and editing phase, and a peer feedback phase.

2019; Nam, 2017). Rubino, Barberis, and Malnati (2018)

The explanation at the beginning of the project and the

conducted a study to investigate the ways thatpeer feedback phase at the end were allotted one 90-

collaborative writing of a fictional digital story can affectminute lesson each. The research and drafting phases

student commitment, creativity, social skills, and overall

were allotted two 90-minute lessons each. The filming andscholastic achievement. Their findings indicated that theediting phase was not conducted during regular class timeprocesses of collaboration that students engage in during

as students had to film their projects on-site.

digital storytelling projects have significant impacts onlearning outcomes.

Students were instructed that the subject matterof their videos had to pertain to the town in which their

Of the many dimensions that researchers

university was located. The motivation for controlling theinvestigate relating to digital storytelling, the emerging

subject matter in such a way was an attempt to promotearea of using mobile devices to produce digital stories has

local community awareness and engagement since many

The 2019 PanSIG Journal176

of the students were either new to their university town or(n=66) of the students had a version of an iPhone, which

commuted daily from other cities.

uses iOS as its operating system, the remaining students
had devices that used the Android operating system.

During the explanation phase, students wereshown an example of a digital storytelling video featuring
the historic and cultural significance of a local park that
had been created by the instructor using an iPhone 7 andan Apple iOS video recording and editing software
application called Clips. In order to allow creativity to

Many mobile applications are built for both operating
systems; however some, such as the Clips app
demonstrated by the instructor, are not. This meant that
17 of the students who participated in the digitalstorytelling project could not use the software applicationthat had been demonstrated during the explanation phase.

flourish, students were not prescribed a set procedure tocomplete their digital stories. Decisions relating to video

The operating system also affected how files

content, the selection and use of recording and editing

were transferred between devices. From iPhone tosoftware applications, and collaborative processes were

iPhone, students could transfer files of any size using theleft entirely up to the students. The only stipulations for

AirDrop file transfer feature. Similarly, from an Android

completing the projects were that the videos had to be

device to another Android device, students could use thefilmed at the locations the groups had decided on, that

Android Beam file transfer feature, Bluetooth transfer, or

each member of the group had to be present while filming

in a few cases, by using a removable SD card. In cases

occurred, and that the films had to contain a voiced

where students wanted to transfer files from an iPhone tonarration and matching subtitles in English. The target

an Android device, they had to use the shared Google

length for completed projects was 5 minutes. At the outset

Drive folder which proved to be an inconvenient extra step.

of the project, students were also made aware that they

Having to upload and download files to cloud storage waswould be conducting a peer feedback task using a rubric

also sometimes very time consuming as the students hadprovided by the instructor. This meant that students were

no access to WIFI in the classrooms and as some projects

aware of the criteria used to assess their projects and thatneared completion the files could be as large as 500

their videos would be shared with a wider audience.

megabytes. File format and application compatibility
issues also arose when sharing between devices. TheseAs the university that the participants attended
had G Suites for education (Google productivity andissues are discussed in-depth in the recommendations
sections that follows.

collaboration tools), the instructor set up a shared Google
Drive folder for students to use when uploading theircompleted projects.

Students were asked to comment on the mostchallenging aspect of editing the film projects. According
to the questionnaire results, a majority of students (n=60)

Survey results

reported that adding subtitles was the most difficult editing

Of the original 83 participants in this project, 79
completed an online questionnaire that was both optional
and anonymous. Students were asked to answer the
degree to which they agreed or disagreed with a list of
statements about the filming and editing phase of their
videos. They were also asked open-ended questions
about their thoughts and opinions relating to their overall

aspect. This problem was also reflected in the finishedprojects as the subtitles in some films did not match thevoiced narration or were completely missing from somescenes. Unfortunately, while the Clips app has a very
sophisticated feature that automatically produces editable
subtitles based on voice recognition, other recording andediting apps do not allow for subtitles at all.

impression of the project. The survey responses identified
several issues with the digital storytelling project relating

Another technological problem uncovered by

to technological limitations and problematic aspects of theanalyzing the completed projects were issues relating tocollaborative process.

audio recording. Because students did not have access to
microphones, any scenes that were recorded at any

Students

identified

severalnotabletechnological issues as they tried to complete their video

distance from the speaker or narrator resulted insomewhat inaudible recordings. This problem was also

projects. The first of these issues related to the operating
system of the device being used. While almost 80%

The 2019 PanSIG Journal177evident in recordings that were filmed in windy areas orlargely avoided by having groups adopt a single device

areas that had background noise such as street traffic.

approach. At the outset of the project, students should be
encouraged to identify the tasks necessary to complete

Aside from identifying technological problems,
students also commented on the problematic aspects ofcollaboration. After comparing student questionnaire
responses, two basic patterns of collaboration emerged.
The most common collaborative pattern (n=51) involved
groups using a single device to film and edit their project.
The second collaborative pattern (n=28) involved eachmember of the group using their own mobile devices tofilm and edit various scenes of their project before
transferring the clips to a single device where they were

their videos and divide them equally between groupmembers. Students should then be given advice on skills
needed to overcome theproblematic aspects ofcommunication or negotiation which are often cited as themain challenges of the collaboration process. If students
insist on using multiple devices to create their videos,group members should be selected and arranged basedon the mobile device that they have. These students
should also form a consensus on the recording andediting software they will use to make their videos.

compiled into a single video and shared. The adoption ofdifferent collaborative strategies led to distinct outcomes

It may also be advisable for instructors toin terms of effective collaboration and the quality of thechoose the software application that students use to

final videos. The groups that utilized a single device

record and edit their projects. Selecting software that is

approachdifficulties

available for both iOS and Android would ensure that any

associated with aspects of collaboration such asreporteddemonstrations or tutorials provided by instructors would

communication and negotiation but were generally

be useful for all of the participants in the project. Choosing

satisfied with the finished project. The groups thatthe recording and editing application can also help avoid

adopted a multiple device approach reported fewer

issues related to file format and size. For example, theinstances of difficulty relating to communication andClips application demonstrated by the instructor for thisnegotiation

study creates files using the .MOV format which producesbuthigherhadainstancesmuchhigherofpercentofdissatisfaction with the completed films.

very large files (approx. 100 MB/minute of completed
video) and is incompatible with Android devices. These

When investigated further, the main issues thatthe multiple device groups commented on related to a lackof continuity between the scenes that they had recorded.

large file sizes can become problematic for devices withlimited storage capacity or when students attempt toshare or upload them.

For example, as a range of devices and apps were used
to film and edit individual scenes, there were noticeable

The method for sharing and viewing thedifferences in image and audio quality, subtitle styles andcompleted videos is another aspect of this project that

fonts were different, and other stylistic elements such as

must be carefully considered. In the study described inanimated graphics or text were inconsistent. However, forthis paper, participants had access to G Suites accounts

three of the multiple device groups the problems were

provided by their institution. This meant that the instructor

much more serious. They reported that some file types

simply had to create a shared Google Drive folder thatwere not compatible between mobile devices or the

students could use to upload their completed projects.

mobile video editing software applications and that theyThis method provides unlimited cloud storage that is

had to download the files to a computer in order to compile

accessible through the Google Drive app on participants’

them into a single video.

devices. Completed projects can also be easily uploaded
to Google Classroom as a file attachment to an

Recommendations for implementation
Based on the results of this study, educators canovercome some of the problems associated with thiscomplex task by carefully considering the collaborative
approach students adopt. Problematic aspects of creatingthese videos relating to operating system issues, software
application incompatibility, and file transfers can be

assignment created by the instructor. Luckily for
instructors without access to G Suites several othersharing options exist. For instance, students can use theYouTube mobile app to upload and share their videos bycreating an account. They could also use AirDrop (for iOS)or Android Beam to transfer their video files directly totheir classmates’ devices (although this method cannot be

The 2019 PanSIG Journal178

used for cross-platform sharing). Finally, if classrooms are

Kim, S. (2014). Developing autonomous learning for oral

equipped with video projectors, students could connect

proficiency

using

digitalstorytelling.

their devices with the appropriate adaptors and present

Learning & Technology, 18(2), 20-35.

Language

their videos in class.
Liu, C. C., Wang, P. C., & Tai, S. J. D. (2016). An analysis
A final technological hurdle that students shouldof student engagement patterns in language learning

be made aware of are audio issues caused by distance,

facilitated by Web 2.0 technologies. ReCALL, 28(2),wind,

104-122.

andbackground.

Providing

students

with

inexpensive lapel style microphones called lavaliermicrophones commonly used in TV news productions
may be an option for improving the audio quality of somevideos. Another useful option could also be to use a thirdparty video recording application like MoviePro or FiLMiC
which allows iPhone Airpods, the wireless in-ear
headphones developed by Apple, to be used as a wirelesslavalier microphone. Apps such as iMovie or Clips also
allow for audio to be added later by importing separately

Nam, C. W. (2017). The effects of digital storytelling on
student achievement, social presence, and attitude in
online collaborative learning environments. Interactive
Learning Environments, 25(3), 412-427.
Rich, E. (2010). How Do You Define 21st-Century
Learning?

Retrievedfromhttps://www.edweek.org/tsb/articles/2010/10/12/01pa
nel.h04.html

recorded audio files. The low-tech option of course is tosimply make sure that the recording devices are as close
as possible to the speakers while filming.

Robin, B. (2006). The educational uses of digitalstorytelling. In C. Crawford, R. Carlsen, K. McFerrin,
J. Price, R. Weber & D. Willis (Eds.), Proceedings of
SITE 2006--Society for Information Technology &Conclusion
As

this

study

showed,Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 709undertakingacollaborative mobile device created digital storytelling716). Orlando, Florida, USA: Association for the
Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).

project necessitates foresight and planning. Issues
relating to group dynamics, collaborative strategies,

Robin, B. R. (2008). Digital storytelling: A powerfulsmartphone operating systems (iOS or Android), software

technology tool for the 21st century classroom. Theory

application usage, and file sharing must all be considered

Into Practice, 47(3), 220-228.

carefully before introducing a complex project like the one
described

in

this

paper.

However,

successfully

implementing a collaborative digital storytelling project
can be very rewarding in terms of enhanced problemsolving skills, collaboration skills, and language learning

Rubino, I., Barberis, C., & Malnati, G. (2018). Exploring
the values of writing collaboratively through a digitalstorytelling platform: a mixed-methods analysis ofusers’ participation, perspectives and practices.
Interactive Learning Environments, 26(7), 882-894.

outcomes.

Saritepeci, M., & Çakır, H. (2019). The Effect of Digital

References
Alismail, H. A. (2015). Integrate Digital Storytelling in
Education. Journal of Education and Practice, 6(9),126-129.
Han, K., Shih, P. C., Rosson, M. B., & Carroll, J. M. (2014).
Enhancing community awareness of and participation
in local heritage with a mobile application. In
Proceedings of the 17th ACM conference on

Storytelling Activities Used in a Social Studies CourseonStudent

Engagement

andMotivation.

In

Educational Technology and the New World of
Persistent Learning (pp. 24-55). IGI Global.
Smeda, N., Dakich, E., & Sharda, N. (2014). The
effectiveness of digital storytelling in the classrooms:
acomprehensive

study.

Smart

Learning

Environments, 1(1), 6.

Computer supported cooperative work & social
computing (pp. 1144-1155). New York, NY: ACM.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal179

Sylvester, R., & Greenidge, W. L. (2009). Digital

Education International Conference (pp. 1264-1271).

storytelling: Extending the potential for struggling

Nashville, Tennessee, USA: Association for thewriters. The Reading Teacher, 63(4), 284-295.

Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).

Yuksel, P., Robin, B. & McNeil, S. (2011). Educational
uses of digital storytelling all around the world. In M.
Koehler & P. Mishra (Eds.), Proceedings of SITE
2011--Society for Information Technology & Teacher

Author biography

Bradley Irwin earned his M. Ed. in Second Language Education from OISE at the University of Toronto. He has
researched extensively about corrective and formative feedback practices and innovative approaches to technology use
in language learning. His research interests include language learner identity, autonomous learning, CALL, and MALL.
Email irwin.bradley@nihon-u.ac.jp

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180

22 Syllable Understanding and Young Learners
Meagan Renee Kaiser
Tokushima University
To convey a spoken message clearly in English, both phoneme and syllable accuracy are important. The
new elementary school curriculum in Japan for public schools includes aims for students to recognize
English letters and words for the purpose of developing foundational skills for real communication, to notice
differences in sound features between Japanese and English, and to help children gain a better
understanding of the way words work. Age appropriate work with syllable and stress concepts supports
the achievement of these aims. This paper contextualizes syllable and stress practice within the Japanese
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) New Course of Study in Foreign
Language Education curriculum, and shares teaching methods for preschool and elementary school aged
children developed from three years of classroom action research working with children and university
students on syllable and stress concepts.

英語の会話においてメッセージを明確に伝えるには、音素と音節の正確さが重要である。文部科学省告示の最新版小学校学習指導要領の外国語活動編においては、児童が日本語と英語の音の特徴の違いに気づくこと、そして言葉がどのような仕組みによって機能しているのか理解を深めることを通して、よりリアルなコミュニケーションの基礎的なスキルとして、英語の文字と言葉を認識することが指導目的に含まれている。児童の発達段階に合わせた音節と強勢の取り組みは、これらの目的を遂行するのに寄与可能である。そこで、本論では最新版小学校学習指導要領、外国語活動編における音節と強勢に関わる文脈を整理し、幼児・児童、生徒および大学生と三年間取り組んできた、音節と強勢に関わる授業のア
クションリサーチを基に、幼児教育や小学校児童向けに開発した教育実践方法を共有する。

When we communicate in spoken language, we

communication to be clouded. The speaker might needare clear in our communication with others to the extent

to make a recast to facilitate understanding, or the listenerthat what we say matches our listener’s expectation ofmight need a little more time than usual to work out what

how words or phrases should sound. Phoneme and

is

being

said.

It

is

one

layer

of

ambiguity.

syllable are both integral to meeting those expectations
and clearly expressing meaning in what we say.

Changes in syllable number or stress pattern add yet
another layer of ambiguity when we encounter them.

Our regional varieties of English are defined in large part

Within most L1 varieties of English, word level changes inby the way sounds change from one variety to the next. Ifsyllable number are very rare. Stress pattern changes do

we imagine how someone in a coffee shop might makecertainly happen, but these also are comparatively rare.

the request, “Black coffee, please.” in several different
varieties of English, we see that across most varieties it is

In the case of English learners, it is not uncommon for

the vowels that change. Listeners and speakers fromindividuals to intuitively apply the sound system rules ofdifferent

still

their first language when using their L2. Naturally, this isunderstand each other, but because their expectations

true for Japanese learners of English, too. If a speaker

about the way ”Black coffee, please.” should sound areapplies normal rules of Japanese to the phrase “Blacknot necessarily the same, there is potential forcoffee, please.” it might look something like this:regional

backgrounds

cangenerally

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181

ブラックコーヒープリーズ

Noticing differences in sound features
between Japanese and English/buɾak̚ku koːhiː puɾiːzu/
Understanding the way words work for
fostering language ability improvement
Much like in L1 regional English dialects, there arephoneme changes. The /l/ in the example is swapped with

With regards to the first aim, recognizing English

the flap /ɾ/ in black and please, and the /f/ sound isletters and words, it is written in the guidebook thatswapped with /h/ in coffee to adapt to the palate of choices

developing foundational skills for real communication isavailable in the Japanese sound system. Unlike most L1

the goal and it states also that children should be allowed

English regional dialects, there are significant changes into hear slow and clear English. The “Black coffee, please.”syllable count as well. For the English sound system, theexample described how multiple levels of ambiguity could

number of syllables in a word is, in essence, equal to thepotentially hinder communication attempts by Japanese

number of vowel phonemes in that word. The Japaneselearners in conversation with English speakers fromexample would have eight syllables where speakers ofdifferent L1 backgrounds outside of Japan. It bears

most L1 English dialects would expect four. Multiple levels

questioning what it means to know a word. What happensof ambiguity exist here to potentially stand in the way of aif children are, from the very beginning of their introduction

listener unfamiliar with Japanese regional English and a

to English, guided to pay attention to the number of

speaker unaccustomed to the way English is spoken

syllables and the stress pattern of a word while they learn?

outside of Japan, because this issue affects listening as

Relatedly, we have to think about what it means forwell, understanding each other.

students to hear slow and clear English. If phoneme andsyllable are both integral to clear communication, what isa good working definition of clear English? Clear should

In 2017, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,mean conscious thought has been given to the choice of

Science and Technology (MEXT) published a document

phonemes from whichever varieties of English the teacher

called 小 学 校 外 国語 活 動 ・ 外 国語 研 修 ガ イ ド ブッ ク

deems appropriate, and similarly, careful thought should[Elementary School Gaikokugo Katsudo and Gaikokugo

be given to syllable norms.

Kensyū Guidebook] describing the new curriculum forJapanese public elementary schools and the mindset
behind it in great detail. There is a lot of influence in the

As for the second aim, noticing differences in soundguidebook on curiosity toward foreign languages - plural,features between Japanese and English, the guidebook

and on fostering understanding and respect for diverse

highlights a need for understanding the language systemcultures, but there isn't yet the direct attention in given to

by:Englishes in the plural common to many other countries
in Asia, like Singapore or Malaysia for example. MEXT

noticing the differences in sound features
between Japanese and English

has chosen by unconscious omission or by intention, tonot directly discuss inner circle / outer circle or specificnoticing the special features of eachvarieties of English in this Guidebook. Going forward inlanguage

this paper, I will refer to English (英語) as a singular, butwith the assumption implied that the word English beunderstood as an umbrella term for all varieties of English

noticing differences in word order
noticing how sentence structure functions

and not one variety in particular. Within the guidebook,there are three aims for elementary school students that

The guidebook seems to be describing a child-

have particular relevance to why and how syllable

friendly version of contrastive analysis. At its most basic,

segmentation should be taught to young Japanese

we can define contrastive analysis as the study of pairs oflearners of English.

languages or dialects with the intent to better understandtheir similarities and differences. Here again, not only

Recognizing English letters and words

phoneme but also syllable, stress pattern, and overall

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182

cadence of speech are elements which give English its

classroom based action research approach to look at how

uniqueness. If teachers in Japan are to be successful insyllable instruction might be used to develop fundamental

helping children understand the language systems ofskills for communication, support positive comparison

Japanese and English through comparison and contrast,

between English and Japanese, and increase student

it seems that syllable understanding and related features

understanding of how words and language work.

must logically be included.

The third aim has to do with understanding the way words

Syllable and Stress Pattern Practice in
the Classroom

work for fostering language ability improvement. Within

For the past three years, I have been exploring

this section, the guidebook identifies a concern that some

integrating age appropriate sound and syllable instruction

children feel resistant to speaking foreign languages andin weekly lessons with small classes of early childhood

states that it is vital to create an environment where

age students, elementary school age students, and inleaders (teachers) are able to offer support and fellow

university classes consisting of between 12 to 40 students.

children can support each other. There are many reasons

For the early childhood and elementary age students, I

why a child might feel reluctant to speak in a foreign

have kept a reflective journal to record what we did inlanguage including shyness and anxiety about something

lessons, note progress and setbacks, and preserve

unfamiliar. In addition, we know there are also otherinsights gained from talking with or listening to the children.

issues in language learning related to sense of self and

For the university students, I have kept vocabulary

perceived or real attacks on our identity and culture. Somequizzes which included syllable count,children might show reluctance because they are afraid oftests, and have conducted surveys and feedback

losing a part of their Japanese identity, or, they may havesessions to better understand the effects of syllable andencountered some of the stigmatization surrounding thesound related instruction in the classroom.

pronunciation

way English is spoken in Japan. Teaching syllable
segmentation through a contrastive analysis lens might

The Youngest Learners

have a positive role to play here, too. Starting around the

I began working with a group of three children

1990s in the United States, a handful of teachers inaround the age of one, and a fourth child joined the classmajorityrural

at three years of age. At the time of writing this paper, theAppalachian communities started experimenting withchildren are just about to turn five. From April of 2019, I

bringing contrastive analysis into the classroom as a more

have had the additional opportunity to teach a class of fiverespectful way of approaching L1 language educationand six-year-olds and have worked with them on syllable(Pullum, 1999; Reaser, 2013). In the American cases, theand stress as well.

AfricanAmericancommunities

andteachers focused on teaching the students how tocompare local varieties of African American VernacularEnglish (AAVE) or Appalachian English, respectively, with“classroom English” not in terms of right and wrong, but inthe way a linguist would - through comparing theunderlying rules of both in a non-judgemental and age
appropriate way. So-called 'katakana English' sounds theGrounded in interactionist perspectives of
education, and taking into consideration developmental
best practices for their age, they way I approach syllable
instruction for early childhood has fallen gradually into thefollowing categories:
Clapping, tapping, and drummingway it does because the underlying rules of Japanese
language are being applied to English. What if, instead of
telling a child that the way she naturally says purple/paːpuɾu/ is wrong, we teach her to be excited about

Rhythm in story and song
Questioning and comparing

discovering how and why the Japanese and English ways

When the children were very young, clapping,are different? Syllable instruction lends itself naturally totapping, and drumming was actively done more by thecomparison of this kind and would create the opportunity

adults in the room (child in lap) with the children joining infor children to compare Japanese and English in a way

gradually as they got older and developed morethat is respectful to both languages. This paper uses acoordination and focus. The purpose, in addition to innate

The 2019 PanSIG Journal183

enjoyment of percussion, rhythm, and language play, was,English. The children feel, see and hear it when they’re off

and still is, to encourage the children to notice the syllable

rhythmsegments and stress through sound, sight, and tactile

strawberry(Ooo), for example, in three beats, orsense.

purple(Oo) cat(O), in another case, it was difficult for theandwonder

why.

When

I

tappedout

children to follow at first. Applying the Japanese soundBy age three, the children began to be able tosystem would give a pattern like this:copy rhythm patterns. Some parents still participated, but
ストロベリー (oOoOo-) 6 syllables

most of the children were in class on their own by thispoint with parents preferring to stay in the lobby area of

パープル (O-oo) 4 syllables

the school. The children and I could drum, for example,
short sequences like these on the carpet:

キャット(Oxo) 3 syllables
red(O) - red(O) - purple(Oo) - purple(Oo)Length carries meaning and is syllabic inoctopus(Ooo) - octopus(Ooo) - shark(O)Japanese. The (-) mark indicates the previous sound has
been stretched. For these reasons, the word strawberry

The circles next to the words represent syllables.
The big circle represents a strong syllable and the small
circle represent a weak one. What has worked best is toapproach rhythm patterns as a kind of echo game. I drum
the pattern alone and they copy. Then, I drum and say thewords

together

and

they

copy.

pronounced using underlying rules of the Japanese soundsystem will be 6 syllables long. Purple follows the same
pattern as strawberry, and would be 4 syllables. Cat would
be 3 or possibly 4 syllables. The (x) symbol represents apause simmilar to what happens when an English speakersays the 'pp' in apple. This also is syllabic in Japanese.

For rhythm in story and song, below are a few examples

When children find the rhythm difficult to find,of specific stories and songs that have been particularly

teachers can stop then and ask, “Ok, so why is this one

effective for practicing syllables and cadence:

tricky?” “How do we say strawberry using Japaneserules?” “How about English?” The children and teacher

Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do you
See? by Bill Martin, Jr.

can clap or tap both versions and teacher can model
excitementatdiscoveringsomething

about

both

Pete the Cat : Old MacDonald Had alanguages. When we respect and play with both soundFarm by James Deansystems, the children and often the teacher learn a lot and
we are respectful of each other at the same time. At the

The Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hortschool, we have begun including syllable patterns on the
vocabulary picture cards created in-house to encourage

Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes

more opportunities for learning.

(public domain song)
What is the relevance of this teaching method toFive Little Ducks (public domain song)
Walking, Walking (public domain song)other settings? Guy Cook in Language Play, Language
Learning pointed out that if we think about the chants andthe music that is so much a part of our sporting culture

What all of the examples have in common isand our festivals, it quickly becomes clear that enjoyment

repetition and a lot of simple, concrete vocabulary.

of strong rhythms and rhythmic play is not limited to early

Clapping along, call and response, and classroom

childhood. Teachers of age group could add activities likepercussion have worked well with rhythmic stories.

these to help students develop deeper understanding of
how language works.

Whatemergesfrom

echoingsequences,

reading stories and singing simple songs with strong

Elementary Agerhythm is a very natural environment for noticing

Over the past 3 years, I have worked withdifferences in sound features between Japanese anddifferent groups of elementary school students each year

The 2019 PanSIG Journal184

in grades four through six in a private language school

Example 1

setting. The children in these groups ranged in experience
with English literacy from an emergent reader level - able
to read simple sentences with assistance to much higher

T: a piece of cake (oOoO)
Miss A: a piece of cake (OoO)

level students who were able to read 100 to 200 headword
books on their own. At this stage, syllable and stressMiss J: (giggling) pizza cake?

became a tool to help with literacy and fluency
development. Syllable and stress practice developed into
these categories:
Vocabulary learning
Fluency building
Clapping, tapping, and drumming
Rhythm in chants, poems, and songs

Miss A: what?
Miss J: It sounds like pizza cake.
Miss A: Yeah, it does. (giggling)
T: Right. If you say 'of' softly, it can sound like/ə/ because it's a weak syllable. Connect themand it does sound like pizza, doesn't it?

Questioning and comparing
For the children in these classes, considering

Example 2syllables and stress pattern became part of the normal
routine of learning vocabulary. When they learned newMiss K: Hey, let me see your notebook.

words or phrases each week, we took time to clap or tap
out the syllables, write syllable circles above the words(next to them in this paper, but when handwritten is wasabove), and we took time to practice aloud while thinking

Miss J: (passes it over)Miss K: Hey, why do you have 2 (syllables) for
cupcake? Should be 3, right?

about both sound and syllable. Fluency in this case refers
to having a natural flow to speech. Asking the children toMiss J: No, (you wrote it) wrong.

mark syllable and stress in common phrases as theylearned them meant that from the very beginning thosephrases would be a connected unit. A few examples thechildren learned in this way are these:in the morning (ooOo)
a piece of cake(oOoO
brush my teeth(OoO)

Miss K: Huh, how is it 2?!
Miss J: Claps the rhythm for her.
Miss K: Got it. Not kappu... cup.cake. Ok ok.
Writing in the syllable and stress patterns also
seems to help with recognizing words. It's anecdotal, but
students who struggled with reading a bit still tended tofocus their eye gaze on the syllable pattern to pick up

Once students were used to writing in thepatterns, it only took a few minutes of class time toclues. Further research in this area using eye tracking
technology would be interesting to see.

practice this way. Much like with the early childhood
learners, it invited discovery about ways English andIn these classes, in place of finger-play songs

Japanese differ and helped children to more clearlyand picture books, we used turn taking rhymes like Eeny,

understand how language works. A couple of examples

Meeny, Miney, Mo, short poems by Shel Siversteinfrom the reflective journal include the following below.

(Silverstein, 1981), and simple Christmas songs. At this

These were exchanges written down within 2 hours after

level, students can understand concepts like consonant

the class. The portions translated into English fromclusters or function versus content words in a way theyJapanese are in italics:

couldn’t when they were younger, so the conversations
about language can go deeper than with younger students.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

185

The Japanese elementary school English

As the most recent graduates of the school system

textbook series' 'Let's Try!' and 'Hi, Friends!' only address

however, they do seem to see this as one area where

syllables in words tangentally, preferring instead topositive change could happen in English education.

encourage teachers and students to make use of theaudio and video recordings which come as part of theConclusion

course pack. In the teachers manuals as well, syllable

The new curriculum is aiming to raise the nextpractice or guidance for teachers does not exist within thebasic materials for English courses. The problem with thisgeneration in Japan with stronger communicative skills,

approach is that we hear what we expect to hear because

willingness and confidence to use English, and deeper

our brains are interpreting the audio signal for us.

understanding of how language works. After exploring

Teachers and students with limited experience of thesyllable and stress practice with a variety of students overEnglish sound system will, quite natrually, hear an

the past 3 years, several teaching strategies emerged thatinterpretation of the audio filtered through Japanese

could help support children in becoming successful in

expectations. It's not effective. The direct instruction is in

their language study. The ideas and recommendations infact necessary for most learners to be successful.

this paper are based on just one teacher's experience, but
I hope it will inspire others to try out new ideas for working
with rhythm, syllable, and stress in their own way in their

Reflections from the University

own classes, too.

This paper is focused on young learners, but theopinions of university students, near the end of theirformal schooling can help us understand what they see as

References

the strengths and gaps in the system. For two and a half

Cook, G. (2000). Language Play, Language Learning.

years now, or five semesters, my students haveparticipated in surveys and in focus groups asking, among
other questions, what they think about syllable practice

Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dean, James. (2014). Pete the Cat: Old Mac Donald Had
a Farm. HarperCollins.

and this style of pronunciation practice in English
edcuation. Grouping common comments together theytended to fall into the following categories:
I wish we would have started this muchyounger. My pronunciation would haveHort, Lenny. (2000). The Seals on the Bus. Henry Holt andCo.
Martin, Bill, Jr. and Eric Carle. (2008). Brown Bear, Brown
Bear, What Do You See? Henry Holt and Co.

been better.
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andIt has helped me to build confidence in myTechnology[文部科学省]. (2017, July 7). 小学校外国

speaking ability.

語活動・外国語研修ガイドブック [Elementary

It's good because I know if I'm correct or

School Gaikokugo Katsudo and Gaikokugo Kensyū

not. I'm not guessing so much.

Guidebook]. Retrieved fromhttp://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/kokusai/gaikokugo/__i

It's easy compared to learning vowels.

csFiles/afieldfile/2017/07/07/1387503_1.pdf

Anybody can do it.
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and
The students are not yet talking much about

Technology[文部科学省]. Let's Try! 1. 東京書籍

having noticed Japanese English being more respectedin the process or about the contrastive analysis aspects

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andof the approach, but they do have positive attitudes

Technology[文部科学省]. Let's Try! 2. 東京書籍

toward this practice. The only negative comments werethat we could have spent a little more time on training.
Some students would have liked more support at the start.

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology[文部科学省]. Hi, Friends! 1. 東京書籍

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

186

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology[文部科学省]. Hi, Friends! 2. 東京書籍

Reaser, J. (2013). Dialect and Education in Appalachia.
In Clark, A., & Hayward, N. (Eds.). Talking
Appalachian, Voice, Identity, and Community (pp. 94-

Pullum, G. (1999). African American Vernacular English

109). Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky

is Not Standard English with Mistakes. In Wheeler, R.
(Ed.). The Workings of Language; From Prescriptions
to Perspectives (pp. 39-58). Westport, CT: Praeger

Silverstein, S. (1981). A light in the attic. New York, N.Y:
Harper & Row.

Publishers.

Author biography
Meagan Renee Kaiser is a TESOL specialist working in the Institute of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Tokushima University,
Japan. She is interested in listening and pronunciation skill development in children's language pedagogy.
kaisermeaganrenee@tokushima-u.ac.jp

The 2019 PanSIG Journal187

23 A Novel Approach in the EFL Classroom
Olivia Kennedy
Nagahama Institute of Bio-Science and Technology
This reflective practice article describes the planning, design, implementation, and student reaction (n =24) to an elective course based on the contemporary Japanese novel, Woman on the Other Shore, by
Kakuta Mitsuyo. The course sought to achieve critical thinking goals for students while also improving theirEnglish skills. Following Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) best practice methodology, theinstructor worked to balance language with content, and to foster lexical, syntactic, and semantic,
correctness. While students were initially anxious about their English, it soon became clear that the extent
and breadth of their reading experience, critical thinking, and writing skills were also underdeveloped.
Student reactions to the emotional support, cognitive scaffolding and linguistic adjustment strategies thatthe instructor developed to maximize their learning were positive.

本稿では、角田光代の現代小説『対岸の彼女』を題材として扱った選択科目授業のデザインと実施、そして学生の反応について述べる。当該の授業は、参加者の英語スキルを向上させると同時に、批判的思考力を開発させるという学校機関および政府の掲げる目標の達成を目的としている。筆者は、内容言語
統合型学習（CLIL）の方法論に準拠し、内容学習と言語学習のバランスを取りつつ、言語形式や言語機能（語彙、構文、意味の正確性）にも焦点を当てて授業を実施した。 学生たちは当初、英語でのディスカッション能力に不安を抱いており、幅広い読解力、批判的思考、包括的なライティングスキルも未発達であることが明らかになった。そこで、感情的なサポートや認知的スキャフォールディングなどを網羅する特定の手法を用いたところ、学生の参加意欲が高まり、学習成果も向上した。 本稿では、この手法に対する学生の反応について詳しく説明する。

Combining the teaching of languages with the teaching of2015). In 2001, some 725 European universities offeredsubject content is not new. Since 1995, when the

programs taught in English, which had grown to 8,089 by

European Union showed support for the concept that2014 (Wächter & Maiworm, 2014). The 30,000-student

students “should study certain subjects in the first foreign

private Japanese university where the elective course

language learned” (European Commission, 1995, p.47),

described in this article was undertaken is also working toincreasing numbers of institutions have worked to

expand the number of such courses. Despite some 99%

combine the two. Bilingual education, immersion, Content

of the population studying English for six years at junior

Based Instruction (CBI), English Medium Instruction (EMI),and senior high school, the Ministry of Education, Culture,

multilingual education, language showers, enriched

Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT, 2011) goal of “alanguage

Languagecapability of smooth communication with people ofIntegrated Learning (CLIL) are all examples of efforts toprograms

andContent

anddifferent cultures and countries” for the populace (MEXT,

make the study of languages more authentic and effective

2011, p. 3) seems far from being realized (D’Angelo,

by using the target language rather than their students’2018). In public schools English is still taught using themother tongue and focusing on the use of the language

grammar-translation method (McMillan & Rivers, 2011;

instead of its grammatical or lexical form.

McVeigh, 2004), giving few opportunities for the practiceof productive skills. In order to address this problem, theThe number of universities around the world now offering

university where the course described in this article wascourses taught in English is increasing rapidly (Dearden,

The 2019 PanSIG Journal188

undertaken is working to develop courses where students

to learner needs synchronously, and reflection-on-action,

are taught, participate, and are assessed, in English.

the mental processing of events that have occurred, werefirst differentiated by Shön. Reflection-for-action, added

A mix of non-native English speakers, some Japanese (nby Killion and Todnem (1991) is forward-thinking, and= 19) and some international (n = 5), ranging from first-

identifies ways to bring further success to the learning

year students (n = 8) to a 26-year old postgraduate, took

process. These three forms of reflective practice all

the elective course described in this article. All

contribute to the effective planning and teaching of theparticipants had a minimum Test of English as a Foreign

course.

Language-Institutional Testing ProgramR score of 450.
Their instructor, the author of the present study, is anContent and Language Integrated
Learning (CLIL)

English as a foreign language (EFL) instructor whose
teaching load includes planning and teaching thisliterature class as part of the Liberal Arts program.

CLIL, a term first used in Europe in the early nineties(Coyle, Hood, & Marsh, 2010) describes a pedagogical

The course ran for the first time in the autumn semester

construct in which both content and language are of equalof 2018. The novel that it focuses on explores life inimportance (Marsh, 2002). It is this defining point that setscontemporary Japanese society through the experiences

CLIL apart from other EMI methodologies. CLIL wasof three central female characters and provides richchosen for the course described here because it covers

opportunities for the exploration and discussion of a wide

many of the requirements for successful language

range of topics pertaining to gender and employment.

learning. It ensures that language is meaningful, rather

These overarching themes are significant to university

than just the practice of grammar or vocabulary in isolation

students who hope to make informed choices as they

(Lasagabaster, 2009). Because language and content areenter the workforce. While the novel was published some

integrated, communication is authentic, without any need

15 years ago, in 2004, socio-economic analysis showsforthat while there have been some changes in employment(Graddol, 2006). CLIL organically provides ample

law, little has changed in the lived experience ofopportunities to use the language that learners need inJapanese workers. Because of the perceived relevanceorder to master it (Doughty & Williams, 1998). Additionally,of the subject, course participants are keen to take part instudent motivation levels start high and continue to growclass activities, and motivation is high (as seen, foras learners see their own linguistic and cognitive skills

example, in Keller, 1987).

develop (Thompson & Sylvén, 2019). Finally, learning

communicative

languageclassroom

pretensethrough a foreign, second or additional language can beseen to be an intercultural process as the learner is forced

Reflective practice

to inhabit a different linguistic worldview (Coffey, 2005, inHarrop, 2012). By offering learners the chance toReflective practice (RP) underlies the planning andexperience life in a language not their own, albeit in ateaching of the course. The definition used here of RP isclassroom environment for a limited number of hours,“those intellectual and affective activities in which

educators can better prepare them for internationalizationindividuals engage to explore their experiences in order toand perhaps greater intercultural understanding (Coyle,lead to new understandings and appreciation” (Boud et al.,
1985, p.3). Regarded by some as “the fundamental

Holmes & King, 2009). All these advantages clearly madeCLIL the best choice of methodology for the course.

bedrock of professional development and growth” (Mann& Walsh, 2017, p.22), the concept of RP has beenneed for teachers to reflect on their teaching to design

The study and teaching of literature inJapancurriculums and materials that responded to learner

Readers may assume that the study of literature is similarneeds (Dewey, 1933), and Shön, who first describedin classrooms around the world: a variety of texts are usedeffective teachers as ‘reflective practitioners’ (Shön, 1983,

to create opportunities for students to develop theirp.332). Reflection-in-action, a teacher’s ability to respondreading comprehension, written expression, discussion

influenced most notably by Dewey, who identified the

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

189

and presentation skills, and for instructors to foster(Japan Study Support, 2019, para. 1). The Japaneseoriginality in their students. In the Japanese nationalcourse participants may, therefore, have expected course

curriculum, however, such originality was not seen to be

activities to focus on the connections between thedesirable until comparatively recently. Until 2003,

novelist’s biography and contemporary events, and thestudents were not taught how to make an original

ways that these are manifested through the charactersargument (Ishihara, 2005) or encouraged to form opinions

and events in the novel. When asked to draw connections

about the texts that they read in class (Sanmori, 2005).

instead between their own life experiences and those of

Instead, they were taught ethical lessons from literary

the characters in the novel, many faltered. In contrast, thetexts, and displayed what they had learnt in subsequent

University of Bristol in England, for example, views thewriting activities. Texts were used to show students

study of literature as “a vital component of our research

examples of desirable behavior and character traits, forculture, with students bringing their own ideas andexample “social compliance and obedience” (Ishihara,

initiatives

2005, p.84, author’s translation). Instructors rewarded

conversations with their fellow students and academic

essays that displayed these desirable traits, andstaff” (English Literature: Program Overview, 2019, para.

penalized students for writings that did not, implicitly

4, italics added). While this describes postgraduate rather

teaching their students that it was not “clever” to write

than undergraduate study, the concept is consistent

one’s true feelings in school (Ishihara, 2005, p.56,

throughout University of Bristol curricula that students’author’s translation).

analytical skills and original ideas are key to a successful

tofruitionandengaging

inresearchlearning experience. It was clear from early on that
A change was made to national educational policy whenparticipants in the course described in this article would

2003 Organization of Economic Co-operation andneed to be supported to achieve the course aims ofDevelopment (OECD) Program for International Student

improved discussion, written, and critical thinking skills.

Assessment (PISA) evaluations found that Japanese

The following section describes the methods used to do

fifteen-year-olds had poor ‘reading literacy’, defined as

this.

“understanding, using, reflecting on and engaging withwritten texts” (OECD, 2010, p. 23). While Japanese

Implementation

students could understand and use texts that had been
explained to them, they had not been required to findsimplyDuring the planning stages of the course, the instructor

memorizing the standard interpretations that they had

was advised by the administration that many of the

been taught. The teaching of critical, original thinking wasdifficulties described in the previous section may occur,

therefore added to the Japanese curriculum in the form ofand to take a proactive stance in dealing with them. A

the 2004 New Course of Study. While 15 years havegroup of interconnected strategies were chosen as apassed since its introduction, it is difficult to judge howframework within which to plan the teaching of the course.

much has changed in practice. At the start of the semester,

These strategies were developed by the instructor fromthe Japanese students taking the course described here

ideas suggested during a brainstorm activity at an internal

meaning in texts forthemselves, instead

were unable to explore topics either orally or in writing thatthey had not previously been lectured or given specificreadings on. Instead they sat in uncomfortable silence, orin front of blank sheets of paper.

professional development workshop about increasing
student participationintutorial-stylelessons. The

instructor divided the strategies into four, and labelledthemclassroom

management,

emotional

support,cognitive scaffolding and linguistic support. Classroom
Another issue may also have contributed to course

management strategies are techniques for the smooth

participants’ initial difficulties. The typical process of therunning of lessons and the course. Emotional support

teaching of literature at Japanese universities is describedstrategies help students to feel supported, acknowledgedas, “In their research, students of Japanese literatureand cared for. Cognitive scaffolding strategies link new

examine the author’s personal history and views as wellinformation with concepts that students are alreadyas the historical background in which a work was writtenfamiliar with, making them easier to understand. Finally,to think about the essence of humanity and human society”

linguistic support strategies focus on teacher’s language

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190

use during key points of lessons to improve student

group, and finally class, discussions (emotional support).

comprehension. The following explanation of the course

Participants were also advised to read the assigned novel

shows how the strategies are used in combination.

in the language of their choice (linguistic support). A
variety of translations in different languages were foundStudents need to understand clearly how they can obtainto be available from online bookstores, and comparisonscoursesubmitting

in class led to interesting discussions and increased

assignments on time and in the correct format on thecredit.

For

first-year

students,

mutual understanding among the students (emotional

learning management system (LMS) can be a new andsupport).

unfamiliar process. By distributing a handout at the startof the semester that details these things and referring to
it each time an assignment was set, the instructor
ensured that students could submit tasks appropriately(classroom management). When giving assignments andother information about course credit, the instructor made
sure

all

participants

were

attentive(classroom

management) by using the same phrase each time to callattention (linguistic scaffolding), then pausing before
explaining (classroom management). The instructor
showed the initial course handout on the classroom
screen and held up a physical copy (cognitive scaffolding).
Students recognized that they had previously seen the
document, remembered earlier submission success, andknew that they could achieve success again (emotional
support).

The LMS was also used for the students to submit
reflective journal entries in which they wrote theirimpressions of the set chapter(s) of the text, the content
of discussions in class, and their own performance inthese. By processing their earlier discussions in writing,learners were given the opportunity to consolidate theirlearning, and to prepare for later class activities (cognitive
scaffolding, linguistic support). These writings enabled
the instructor to gain insight into their progress andidentify areas needing further support. One such area
involved participants’ anxiety levels during discussions. A
new seating plan was trialed to replace the standard
double-horseshoe arrangement, with desks set in groupsof four (emotional support). Students were encouraged totalk first to the person sitting beside them to prepare forthe discussion that they would have with the person sitting

In order to take part fully in class discussions, students

across from them. This let students confirm any unfamiliar

need to have prepared carefully for class. When students

terms (linguistic support), the task that they had been set

are operating in a second (or other) language, they need(classroom management),, how longmore preparation time than when using their first. As such,continue (classroom management), and any otherthe instructor used the LMS to make supplementaryquestions they had (emotional support), and pairs werereadings available throughout the course to reduce

encouraged to ask the instructor about anything they

anxiety (emotional support) and to ensure the attainment

were unable to find a solution for (emotional support,of necessary academic achievement levels (cognitive

linguistic support).

they should

scaffolding). These newspaper articles, treatise chapters,
blogposts, explanations of theory (cognitive scaffolding)and thematic vocabulary lists (linguistic support) guided
course participants as to what to focus on in their weekly
reading of the novel (cognitive scaffolding) and preparedthem to take an active part in lessons (cognitive
scaffolding). For the same reasons, the students wereasked to read the novel at a pace of one or two chapters
each week. Because all class members had been
instructed to read up to the same point of the story, thedesire to keep pace with their peers motivated them toprepare and limited their discussions to the section of thenovel freshest in their minds. Both this preparation andthe limited focus increased participants’ confidence in pair,Research in CLIL classrooms has identified weaknesses
in the method that can be overcome when instructors areaware of them. One of these is that there is often notenough focus on form, which can lead to the fossilizationof errors (Swain & Lapkin, 1995). While most comfortablewith recasting as a method of correction (linguistic
support), the instructor was aware that some research
has shown that this method does not encourage learners
to actively fix their own mistakes (Lyster & Ranta, 2004).
As such, she made sure to speak to everyone whose
words she had recast at a convenient time later in thelesson one-on-one (emotional support), to ask that

The 2019 PanSIG Journal191

person to repeat their idea, and support them in achieving

students in the class did not mention their language skills

correctness (linguistic support). She also made sure to

but rather potential issues arising from culture: One

include two error-feedback sessions for the whole classwondered whether she would be able to understand theeach contact period (linguistic support). One of thesecultural context of the novel. Another worried that hepresented an error overheard during discussion activities.

would not be able to empathize with the central character,

Careful to maintain anonymity, and to respect privacy, thea Japanese housewife, and might find the class boring.

instructor changed pertinent information (emotional
support) while allowing both the learner and other classmembers to benefit from the correction (linguistic support).
The other session covered common errors found inreflective journal entries. Interestingly, the same type oferror required being taught three times before an impact
was seen in further journal entries (see Ellis et al., 2008).

The

instructor preparedawrittenresponsethat

addressed each concern with praise, support andreassurance, and distributed these electronically partway
through the second lesson. Students first read themessage that they had received, then talked to a peer.
They were then given a few moments to confirm with theirpartner what could be shared with the class, and what

Student response
As part of this research project, the researcher kept aregular journal, noting down reasons for choices made,effectiveness of methods used, and student reactions tothem. The students were also instructed to keep journals.
These were used to gauge changes in attitudes, to note
progress made and to corroborate the researcher’sclassroom observations. Permission was obtained toshare/publish excerpts anonymously in this article. While
the student journals were not formally coded, entries
were read for themes, and specific attention paid toevidence of self-reflection or analysis, and critical or
higher-order thinking.

should be kept private. In the discussion that followed, it
became clear that many students were not accustomed
to self-reflection. Most were unable to explain why theyfelt uncomfortable speaking English. Several expressedcomments like: “Of course we feel uncomfortable. It isnatural.” One entered a loop: “We are embarrass (sic)speak English because it’s embarrass (sic) speak English,
so we feel embarrass (sic) when we speak English.” Theinternational students had very different views, however.
They were comfortable speaking English in class, despite
having comparable English abilities to those of theJapanese students. One student asked incredulously, “Is
this why you do not talk to me?” Considering that this was
only their second class together, it seems likely that hemeant the Japanese students that he had previously

Most of the class were initially anxious about their spoken

interacted with rather than his classmates. Another

English ability, and 17 wrote openly about these fears inshared that she had felt shy about speaking English as atheir first reflective journal entry in the first week of the

13-year old new to studying the language, but that her

course. In line with the English-only course policy, these

Japanese classmates should try to overcome thisjournals were written in English. Students were asked to“childishness.”

examine their reasons for enrolling in the course, andperplexed by their Japanese classmates. This first

their expectations concerning what they would learn

reflective practice event (journal writing, instructor

during the 15-week semester. Most of the first-year

response and class discussion) pointed to the extent to

students, eight of the total 24, seemed especially worried

which higher order thinking, such as analysis, evaluation

about how their skills would compare to others’. Six usedand synthesis, was unfamiliar to many of the Japanese

the words embarrassed, ashamed or shy to describe theirstudents in the class. By providing opportunities for

feelings about speaking English, which can all belearners to practice reflective skills, then rewardingtranslated with the Japanese adjective hazukashii. The

successful attempts and praising effort, the instructor was

instructor was determined to help these students

able to foster progress in depth of thought, perseverance,

overcome these limiting feelings. Six of the 11 Japanese

and/or confidence of expression.

The

international

students

seemedsecond-year students were concerned that their lack ofEnglish proficiency would inconvenience classmates, orcause problems for the instructor. The five international

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

192

By Week 12, most students had become moretasks. For example, ‘I can describe a TV program that I

comfortable with analyzing their own responses to notwatched to one listener,’ and ‘I can tell a small group of

only issues raised in the text, but also to the responses oflisteners my opinions about something that is important totheir peers. In the Week 12 reflective journal entry,me.’ This information was processed by the instructor andseveral students wrote about how their classmates’

used to divide students into discussion groups withinterpretation of an event in the novel differed from theirmembers ranging in confidence. Students were told theirown, and how they felt about this difference. In the text,

own survey scores (between 18 and 57 of a possible 15

the teenaged Aoi and Nanako are walking back to theto 60) and instructed to speak on the topic at hand in order

hotel where they are working over the summer vacation,of self-evaluated least confident English speaker to mostwhen a group of young male holiday-makers wolf-whistle

confident. This forced those who may otherwise haveat them. One student wrote: ‘My partner says that there isstayed silent to speak, and those who may haveno damage. Nothing bad happen (sic), and Nanako andotherwise dominated the conversation to wait their turn.

Aoi laugh. But I think that they should (sic) angry.’ AnotherIn the doing of this, both the international and thecommented, ‘I hate my partner’s thinking. He said the girl

Japanese students realized that all students were in fact(sic) should be happy men think she is (sic) beautiful. I

capable and had ideas to contribute to discussions. Twowonder, does he call out to beautiful girl (sic), too?’international and six Japanese participants mentioned

Certainly, the students had learned how to express inthis realization in their reflective journals.

written form what they themselves thought, and were now
deeply reflecting on, rather than simply accepting, what
they heard.

Many students mentioned either in reflective journals orin the final course survey how appreciative they were ofbeing able to read the novel in their chosen language,

Students, both Japanese and international, had alsothen to search and mark the English translation for thecome to a level of acceptance and understanding of one

passages that they felt would be useful to refer to during

another by the final weeks of the semester. Their different

class discussions. This was suggested to make sure that

attitudes, initially perceived to be towards the speaking of

the time students spent outside of class time was asEnglish, but also towards the sharing of original ideas,

meaningful as possible. Students felt an increased level

had largely been overcome. The Japanese students hadof autonomy in simply being able to choose which

gained confidence that their contributions were of value

language to read in at home. One Japanese student

to the class and that their spoken English waswrote about the process of finding the correct passage incomparable to that of their classmates, both international

the English text and preparing to talk about it in class as

and domestic. As a result, they had become much more

‘fun.’ Another described it as making her ‘look forward to’

willing to share their ideas. The international students now

group and class discussions. One international student

knew to give the Japanese students time to answer theirdescribed how he felt closer to Sayoko, the suburban

questions during pair discussions rather than trying tohousewife that he had earlier worried that he would not

explain further or simply throwing up their hands in

be able to empathize with, when he read chapters first in

frustration. The intercultural communication skills of both

English, then his native language, then again in English.

groups had developed. Early in the semester, all“She came to life in my mind,” he wrote. This increased

discussions (pair, group and class) had been dominatedemotional depth may not have been possible had the text

by international class members. These students often

not been made available in the students’ various

refused to cooperate when the instructor tried to makelanguages.

sure that everyone was contributing, sometimes talking
over her. One strategy was effective in overcoming these
problems. A homework task in Week Three asked

Outcomes

students to complete an original Likert-type scale survey

The elective course described in this article wasabout their communicative English skills. Students

successful for many of those involved and student

assessed themselves on a scale of 1 (not at all confident)

evaluations proved overwhelmingly positive; 22 of the 24

to 4 (very confident) in their ability to complete a list of

students attended 13 or more of the 15 lessons, and 21

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

193

achieved a passing grade. The volume of writing thatKrause, & H. Brown (Eds.). Transformation inparticipants could readily produce nearly doubled.

language education. Tokyo: JALT.

Progress was also seen in both a reduction in specificerrors and increased syntactic complexity (assessed by
the number of conjunctions used). Speaking skills were
not formally assessed, but students presented as more
confident as the semester progressed. Participants’journal entries support this observation.

Coffey, S. (2005). Content-based learning. In F. Cerezal(Ed.) De la Práctica a la Teoría: Reflexiones sobre laenseñanza y el aprendizaje de inglés. Alcalá deHenares: Universidad de Alcalá, 49-62.
Coyle, D., Hood, P., & Marsh, D. (2010). CLIL.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Conclusion

Dewey, J. (1933). How we think. A restatement of the

The participants in this project showed significant

relation of reflective thinking to the educative processprogress in terms of objective reflection and analysis of(Revised edn). Boston: D. C. Heath.

ideas, both their own and those of their peers, and of thecontent of a novel in the space of a single 15-week

D’Angelo, J. (2018). The status of ELF in Japan. In J.

semester. Benefiting from the structure, support andJenkins, W. Baker, & M. Dewey (Eds.), The Routledge

guidance of the course, students moved towards clearer

handbook of English as a lingua franca, (pp.165-175).

thinking,

Abingdon: Routledge.

acceptedandinternalized

grammaticalcorrections in the target language and gained confidence
in participating in discussion activities. The instructor also
benefitted from the reflective method and was able todevelop an objectivity regarding her teaching, whichenabled her to more effectively communicate her ideas tothe class. By regularly analyzing her application of CLIL
methodology and her responses to student feedback, andDearden, J. (2015). English as a medium of instruction –A growing phenomenon. London, UK: British Council.
Doughty, C. & Williams, J. (1998). Issues andTerminology. In C. Doughty and J. Williams (Eds.)
Focus on Form in Classroom Second Language
Acquisition.

Cambridge:

Cambridge

University

Press. ISBN 978-0-521-62390-2.

modifying both as necessary, she was able to positively
influence student feelings towards communicating in a

Ellis, R., Sheen, Y., Murakami, M. & Takashima, H.

foreign language. The next iteration of the course will also

(2008). The effects of focused and unfocused writtenconsider the way that literature is traditionally taught incorrective feedback in an English as a foreign

Japan. Students will be initially asked to find parallels

language context. System, 36, 353–371.

between the plot of the novel and the known biography of
the author, which may help the Japanese members of the

English Literature: Program Overview. (2019). Retrieved
fromclass to feel more at ease.

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/2019/arts/phd-english-literature/

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Author biography

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

195

Olivia Kennedy is a lecturer at Nagahama Institute of Bio-Science and Technology and is passionate about improving
student experiences of learning. Her research interests include the uptake, usage and acceptance of technology for
language learning. Email olivia_l_kennedy@yahoo.com

The 2019 PanSIG Journal196

24 Discourse of Native-Speakerism in Japan
Arisa Koba
Osaka University
Through the observation of websites advertising commercial language schools in Japan, this article
investigates shared discourse about English education in Japanese society. The analysis reveals that thetraditional view regarding the involvement of Japanese English in ‘outer/expanding circle’ English haschanged. Now, more schools advertise having English coaches with diverse pronunciations as their selling
point. On the other hand, given the fact that many schools still have ‘pronunciation remedy’ programmes
and the way they represent their ‘native’ and ‘non-native’ coaches inner circle English evidently still affords
social power and is recognized as cultural capital, while other types of English are seen as problematic.

本研究は、商業的語学学校のウェブページやブログといった広告の分析を通して、日本の英語教育において共有されるディスコースを明らかにするものである。分析結果から、アウター・サークルないしエクスパンディング・サークル英語としてのジャパニーズ・イングリッシュに対する伝統的な見方は変化していることが分かった。今日では、多くの語学学校が多様な発音を用いる講師を起用し、尚且つそれをセールスポイントとしている。一方、いまだに「発音矯正」プログラムを展開する学校が多いことや、「ネイティブ」および「非ネイティブ」講師の表象に見られる違いは、依然としてインナー・サークル
英語が社会的パワーを持ち文化的資本としてみなされる傍ら、その他の英語変種は問題視されていることを示している。

Englishstudy, I analyze media discourses of commercial(hereafter JE)1 have been negative both intranationallyTraditional

views

on

Japaneselanguage school advertisements (eikaiwa schools) andand internationally. McKenzie’s report (2014) on thediscuss how JE and old varieties of English (OVE) are

attitudes of UK-born university students and Matsuda’s

evaluated in Japanese society. Seargeant (2005) insists

research (2003) on the attitudes of Japanese high schoolthat these advertisements are “The most visible context in

students show that it is stigmatized or at least negatively

which the actualities of language learning within Japanese

recognized in both the UK and Japan. On the other hand,society clash with current trends and recommendations in

it is pointed out that diverse English models are necessarycontemporary TESOL theory” (p. 334). My researchin the context of resisting linguistic imperialism andquestions are as follows: 1. How does the media

protecting a speaker’s linguistic identity; Matsuda (2003)

discourse seen in advertising materials sustain language

argues that an understanding of different models is aideologies in Japan? 2. How does such discourse affect“prerequisite for developing critical awareness of andto learners’ identities?

resistance to linguistic imperialism and the power
inequality” (p. 494). Moreover, Kawamata (2016) argues
that the “native speaker pronunciation” orientation seen in
English education in Japan can be considered a
promotion of English imperialism that sways the identitiesof learners (as Japanese speakers). Alongside these
criticisms is a change in the way the outer/expanding
circle and English as an International Language (EIL) are

Background
Status of “Native” English Speakers inJapan
As mentioned above, JE has traditionallyreceived low ratings both inside and outside of Japan. A
study by Matsuda (2003) indicates that JE is recognizedbeing recognized (Setter & Jenkins, 2005). Through thisThe 2019 PanSIG Journal197

as “not intelligible”, “incorrect”, and “not real”. One of her

superior English skills. However, other participants

research participants described the Japanese accent aspreferred not to sound “native-like”; for these individuals,“not cool”. Mishima’s (2017) investigation on English

the Hong Kong accent indexed their lingua-culturallearners in Japan demonstrated that American English

identity, which would be relinquished by assimilation to

was regarded as “real”, “authentic”, “official”, and “native”.

“native-like”

He attributes these evaluations to the “native-centric

abovementioned studies, as well as studies of English

ideology” in Japan, which is represented by “native

learners in Japan, revealed that the majority of

speaker only policy” in language education institutions

participants devalued their own accents; in Kim’s (2012)that excludes English teachers from outer/expandingwords, East-Asian learners of English tend to be “self-

circle countries.

depreciated”. The correlation between accent and identity

English(Sung,

2016).

Boththewas also demonstrated by Tomic (2013), elucidating a
Furukawa (2014) argues that “Stylized nativespeaker English (NSE), or English spoken with a highly
enunciated hyper-L1 accent” indicates “a degree of social“cool”” (p. 1). He writes that speakers of Stylized NSE “canutilize ideologies that contrast NSE with nativized
English/wasei eigo to appear sugoi (“cool”) gaining socialand cultural capital [sic]” (p. 23). “Native-like” English isthought to be “cool” compared to JE, which also means

binary opposition of Self (“native” speaker) and Other(“non-native” speaker), and argued that the process of“non-native” speakers achieving the status of “native”
speaker constituted a form of “self-annihilation ” .
According to her, accents are one of the most important
markers of Otherness and difference, and her accent
reaffirms her Latina identity and a sense of self.

that “native-like” English is associated with a specific

The abovementioned studies have developedsocial and cultural value. Similarly, in his analysis of a

the arguments on native-speakerism (Holliday, 2006) andforeign language theme park in Japan, Seargeant (2005)

demonstrated the intertwined relation of language

reveals that the concept of the “native speaker” isideology and identity based on quantitative analysis,

regarded as a badge of authenticity. Thus, being a “nativeinterview, and their own experiences. However, how

speaker” or speaking “native-like” English is socially or

those language ideologies are sustained, supported, andculturally valued and is a symbol of “authenticity” inreproduced in actual materials has not been abundantly

Japanese society.

analysed. In this study, I will examine how advertising“Standard” English Ideology andLanguage Identity

materials reproduce English learning ideologies in Japanand illuminate how such communications can affectlearners’ identities.

Kim (2012) argued that social stereotypes ofaccented English in inner circle countries are transferred
and reproduced in the expanding circle, whereby certain

Data and Analysis

English varieties are associated with social power and

The data were mainly collected from 67“the choice of model accent of language learners is notwebsites of commercial language schools and six blogs

independent of the socio-cultural context” (p.134). In

that were associated with the promotion of these schools

Kim’s study, Korean learners of English exhibited a strongor that contained English learning materials (Table 1).

preference for General American English and the lowest

English schools for adults or kids even if created by thepreference for East-Asian accented English (i.e., strong

same company, are counted as distinct. Also, different

Korean and Chinese-accented English), which reflects theschools run by the same company are counted as

public English curriculum and standard language ideology

different. On the whole, websites of commercial language

in Korea. Similarly, Sung (2016) revealed that accents areschools tend to exercise similar strategies to support theirimportant markers of individual/social identity and“authenticity”. In the next section, I will explore theselearners’ accent preferences correlate with particular

strategies in detail.

desired identities. Hong Kong-accented English was
stigmatized and negatively evaluated by some of his
research participants, whereas speaking with a “nativelike” accent was often associated with competent and
The 2019 PanSIG Journal

198

Table 1

Websites and Blogs Used in the Analysis

Schools
Toshin Kodomo Eigojuku
Hatchlink Jr.
LACOMS
Global Step Academy
Amity
Gaba
Shane Kodomo Eigo
Rarejob
Yamaha English Academy
Hummingbird
7ACT
VERITAS
English Village
ALUGO
hanasohanaso kids
ECC Online
DMM Eikaiwa
MeRISE
Alc
Rosetta Stone
vipabcBrighture
Blog of Rarejob
Blog of DMM Eikaiwa
Blog featuring David Thayne

Webpages
https://www.toshin.com/kodomo/
https://www.hatchlinkjr.com/
http://www.lacoms.com/
https://www.gsacademy.com/ja
https://www.amity.co.jp/
https://www.gaba.co.jp/aboutgaba/
https://www.shane.co.jp/kids/
https://www.rarejob.com/
https://school.jp.yamaha.com/english_school/yea/
http://rosettastone-lc.jp/hummingbird/
http://www.7act.com/
http://www.veritas-english.jp/
https://www.english-village.net/
https://www.alue.co.jp/alugo/about/https://www.hanaso.jp/
https://www.hanaso.jp/kids/hanasokids/
https://online.ecc.co.jp/
https://eikaiwa.dmm.com/
https://eikaiwa.merise.asia/
https://eikaiwa.alc.co.jp/pages/campaign201810
https://www.sourcenext.com/product/rosettastone/
https://www.vipabc.co.jp/
https://brighture.jp/b-blog/446
https://www.rarejob.com/englishlab/interview/20180728/
https://eikaiwa.dmm.com/blog/14755/
http://english.cheerup.jp/article/1564

Use and Implication of “Nativity”

spoken “natural English”, the English native speakers use

The first striking feature of these schoolin their daily lives”. The website also describes theiradvertisements is the frequent use of the terms “native”

instructors

and “native speaker”. Toshin Kodomo Eigojuku [Toshin

speakers”. Shane Kodomo Eigo [Shane Kids English]

Kids English School] offers a course called “native

states that they enable children to “make English

programmes”, which claims to offer “the whole culture ofphonemes as their own by hearing real English fromEnglish-speaking world”. Similarly, Hatchlink Jr. has anative teachers”, which implies that the “English phoneme”

programme named “path to the native”. LACOMS’ website

originally belongs to someone else and that only theseclaims that its lessons are suitable for the person who“original” owners speak “real English”. In other words,“wantspronunciation,

English is not “ours”, and therefore, English spoken by “us”

clean/beautiful2 English”. Global Step Academy offers its

is not “real English”. This is associated with the idea, as

programmes for kids and insists that they can “eventuallysummarized in Matsuda (2003), that traditionally, only

improve (your children’s) English to native-level”. Amity

inner circle speakers have ownership of English. This also

explains its strong point as follows: “Children can improvecoincides

their English by being exposed to native English” andadvertisements by NOVA, one of the biggest commercial“They can feel “vivid English” by interacting with native

language schools in Japan. NOVA assumes that “realspeakers’ pronunciation and intonation”. Similar uses ofpractice requires the interlocutor to be a native speaker”.

the term “native (speaker)” were found in over half of theThis assumption is also prominent on Rarejob’s website,

school websites I examined.

which says “English becomes my language”, clearly

to

speak

with

native-like

as

with

“carefully

selected

Seargeant’s

natural(2005)

point

Englishabout

indicating that English originally belongs to Others. The
In some cases, they convey their methods’
authenticity by a strategic use of specific words andphrases: “vivid” English (Amity), “natural” English, and“real” English. On their website, Gaba has statements
such as following: “the English that you learned fromtextbooks is sometimes unintelligible when you actually
put it to use. This is because you have not yet heard orsame analysis is seen in Seargeant (2005), who analyzed
NOVA’s campaign as it promotes the idea that English isconsidered a specifically foreign entity and not a naturalpart of Japanese society. These statements by thecommercial language schools mentioned above imply thebinary of vivid/dull, natural/unnatural, and real/fakebetween NSE and JE.
The 2019 PanSIG Journal

199

role of a well-dressed instructor” (Seargeant, 2005, p.

Attainment of Cultural Capital
Another strategy used by language schools to335). While people of colour are represented on websites

endorse their own “authenticity” is to mention foreign

more often than before, commercial English schools still

country’s or organization’s name or the methods/criteria

tend to use photographs of Caucasians as “gaikokujin

used by them. Many schools for kids mention that their

koushi” (foreigner coaches). Thus, coaches’ academic

lessons follow phonics and some appeal to their potential

backgrounds, nationalities, and racial backgrounds are all

customers by emphasizing their conformity to CEFR. Not

accounted for by commercial language schools in Japan.

only mentioning CEFR, the Yamaha English Academy
also declares that their curriculum is regulated by the
British Council. As for schools for adults, 7ACTemphasizes the accuracy of their English level-check test
by saying that it is the same test employed in theAmerican Embassy’s recruiting test. VERITAS remarksthat its main teaching materials are case studies utilizedin Harvard Business School’s MBA curriculum. All ofthesemethods/criteria/organizations

mentionedbyEnglish schools for both kids and adults are Western, andmany of them are in the US. This inclination shows thatthe inner circle is still seen as authentic enough to be used
to appeal to English schools’ potential customers and that
OVE are still standard. The reason American educationalmodels/organizations

werereferred

to

in

those

advertisements is that Japan traditionally uses American
English as a model (Setter & Jenkins, 2005).

Centrality of OVE Seen in “Pronunciation
Remedy”
Despite these tendencies to emphasize nativity,
the diversity of coaches is richer than before. Schools
such as Rarejob, hanaso, and hanaso kids mainly employ
Filipino coaches. ECC online also employs many Filipino
coaches as English teachers. DMM Eikaiwa [DMMEnglish Conversation] states that they are hiring 6500
teachers from over 112 countries. However, they also
state that they “conduct pronunciation training by native
speakers” for their coaches; in other words, they train their“non-native” coaches to speak “native-like” English. Alc
also hires their coaches from different countries. On theirwebsite, one can search for their coaches and filter the
search results by national origin and current country ofresidence. Selections of National origin include the US,
Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa,

Another example of this strategy is the mention

Japan, and “others”. Selection of the country of origin

academic and national backgrounds.

include the same seven countries, alongside Germany,

English Village’s website states: “All our lecturers are

Spain, Mexico, and “others”. Although the majority ofof teachers ’yondaisotsu or above, and are from the UK, North
America, or Australia”. Yondaisotsu (四大卒) indicatesthat a lecturer has graduated from colleges or universities
that offer four-year programmes. Accompanied with theiracademic backgrounds, the nationality of teachers is usedcoaches are from/reside in the US or Japan, their website
emphasizes and insists that they hire “native and bilingual
coaches particularly from the US, the UK, Canada,
Australia and Japan!!” There is no reference, however, tocoaches from/residing in countries other than these.

to heighten the appeal of the school. ALUGO also

The background of Alc’s website is a world map,

mentions their teachers’ academic status: “Our foreign

while bold national flags of the US, the UK, Canada,coaches are diverse; the natives with higher education,

Australia, and Japan are foregrounded. Above the flags isthe experienced coaches who worked for corporations,the sentence: “native and bilingual coaches particularlyetc.”. Here, again, the term “native” is employed and thefrom the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, and Japan!!” Thecoaches’ nationality (“foreign”) is referred to alongsideemphasis on inner circle countries plus Japan is madetheir academic status, which is considered cultural capitalvisually apparent from the flags. Although the world map(Bourdieu, 1986). The term “native speaker” is “being

in the background could imply that they hire from various

cited specifically for the person’s social or culturalcountries beyond the inner circle, both the sentences andconnotations” (Seargeant, 2005, p. 336); their nationality,

flags pictures are clearly arranged to catch people’s eyes.

or more specifically, the fact that they are from inner circle

This exemplifies inner-circle-oriented policy in English

countries, carries a connotation of authenticity and of

education and the desire to acquire “native-like” = “innerhigher educational achievement. A cultural connotation iscircle-like” English in Japan. An overall consideration ofalso implied by “photographs of Caucasians enacting thethese strategies used by DMM Eikaiwa and Alc shows that
The 2019 PanSIG Journal

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the term “native” includes only inner circle speakers andspeaker-listener factors specific to the particular context

not outer or expanding circle speakers. Although the termof the interaction” (Setter & Jenkins, 2005, p. 12). Thus,“native” has been considered problematic and complex

the abovementioned promotions tend to adopt the(Seargeant, 2005), many commercial language schools instereotypes of JE that are pedagogically questionable,

Japan continue to unquestioningly use this term as theirsince they are meant to be “saleable rather thanselling strategy.

pedagogically sound” (Seargeant, 2005).

Supply and demand of “pronunciation remedy”

To sum up the findings in this chapter,is another factor that supports this power imbalance ofcommercial language school advertisements in Japan

inner circle English. Rosetta Stone offers a specialized

tend to use the term “native” or “native speaker” forprogramme named Hummingbird for “pronunciationcommercial gain. The image of the “native (speaker)” isremedy”. MeRISE also offers a “pronunciation remedy”

constructed by suggestions of ownership of English andcourse for people who “want to speak with native-likecomparison with JE, including the dichotomies of vivid/dull,

pronunciation”. According to their website, Rosetta Stone

natural/unnatural, and real/fake English. The act of being

offers a learning method by which students can compare“the native”, “the foreigner”, or otherwise coming fromtheir

“native”

inner circle countries is represented as cultural capital,

pronunciation. The tendency to negatively evaluate of JE

lining up with the coaches’ academic backgrounds.

is seen in their blogs as well. In a blog written by Rarejob

Although increasingly more schools employ coaches fromtitled “Foreign residents in Japan tell us about the poor

the outer or expanding circle, the inner circle still has the

English Japanese people are using” insists that stresspower of being the owner of “standard” English, whichplacement is much more important than the pronunciation

everyone aspires to acquire. This power is demonstrated

of individual phonemes, which is highly debatable, asand (re)produced by the number of schools andstress placement is not generally considered as a coreprogrammes that offer “pronunciation remedy” and byfactor influencing intelligibility (Jenkins, 2000, 2007). A

negative evaluation of JE.

own

Englishpronunciation

withblog by DMM Eikaiwa, titled “Japanese have the worst
accent in the world!?: Pronunciation rules of English andDiscussion

important things I noticed while traveling around theworld”, insists that many Japanese people cannot

In this section, I would like to revisit my research

distinguishingly pronounce R/L, S/C, and M/N. It should

questions: 1. How does the media discourse seen in

be noted that this widely recognized characteristic of JE isadvertising materials sustain language ideologies in

not, however, unique to Japan but is generally seen in

Japan? 2. How does such discourse affect learners’

East Asian English (Watanabe, 2014). Examples of thisidentities? The fact that the employment is diversifying

characteristic can be seen in a blog titled “Oh my

could be attributed to the increasing population of Filipino

goodness!! 5 weird pronunciations of Japanese English,

workers3, positive attitude towards globalization, andMr. David Thayne told us”, which is not a specific school’s

economic reasons. Positive evaluation of local varieties of

blog but is tied up with an advertisement of an electronic

English is seen in some materials. Vipabc’s article states

English dictionary and features David Thayne, a principalof A to Z English who has also published multiple English
textbooks. The blog states that when Japanese people
say “I am a dog lover”, it sounds like “I am a dog rubber”
due to their lack of ability to pronounce R and L differently.
Other examples on this page are; “Today is my birthday”
sounds like “Today is my bathday”, “Do you want to comewith us?” sounds like “Do you want to come with ass?”,etc. Clearly, these examples ignore the importance ofcontext in conversation; that is to say, these examples do
not take note of the fact that communication “requiresthat the diversity of their coaches is their selling point andthat is the reason customers choose them. This example
shows a change in the traditional view on local varieties
of English.
However, the opposite attitude is seen in somewebsites that negatively evaluate “non-native” coaches
and pronunciations. Some schools that employ from theouter/expanding circle countries conduct “pronunciation
remedy” sessions for their coaches, which means they still
stick to inner circle English standards. This, along with theabundant supply of “pronunciation remedy” programmes,

constant negotiation and adjustment in relation to
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201

indicates that inner circle English still holds the status ofand kind”. As such, the discourse of “othering” is often

being the “ideal” English. The widespread use of the term

seen in advertisements and multiple ethnic or cultural“native speaker” for branding in advertisements shows,groups including Japanese, are posited as Others. This

as Holliday pointed out in 2006, that native-speakerism

discourse plays a role for sustaining OVE as ‘standard’remains a “popular discourse” today in 2019. Whileand JE (and other variations) as “non-standard”, which is

Holliday’s analysis describes how native-speakerism

a view widely shared in Japanese society. As Kiesling

perpetuates “othering” of people from outside the English-(2006) argues, narrative gives discourse a unique voice

speaking West, English schools’ advertisements in Japan

while echoing countless previous voices and that helps

show how Japanese society perpetuates “othering”

discourse’s reproduction and hegemony; discourses ofagainst its own people. Japanese advertisements of

NS/NNS and the hegemony of OVE or inner circle arecommercial language schools effect a form of self-sustained and reproduced by being used in multiple

othering (Hayden 2014).

advertisements.

As previous studies have revealed, feeling like a

Conclusion

speaker of “deficient” English that needs to be remedied
can lead to self-depreciation and a sense of inferiority,

Overall, the results of this analysis largely

which in turn engenders an intensified self-recognition as

overlap with those of previous studies. Of course, the risean Other and affects how English learners interact withof outer/expanding circle English and the increasing

people from other circles (Kim, 2012; Sung, 2016, Tomic,

number of educators from those circles might indicate a2013). Some people, particularly in some outer circle

change in the way people see non-OVE, including JE.

countries, prefer to retain their own accent (Timmis, 2002),

This trend can gain more traction in Japan if institutions

and as previously mentioned, this preference is deeply—not only educational, but also entertainment, cultural,connected to their ethnic identity. However, how canand media institutions—stop

learners respect other people’s accents and intertwined

speakers by bestowing cultural capital on the basis ofidentities if they disparage their own? This cognitive gap

features such as nationality, ownership, authenticity, andconcerning accent and identity can generate serious

start treating English as lingua franca. Dichotomies suchconflict

argued,as “fake/real” English should be abandoned and, asassumptions of standard English ideology divide peoplesuggested in the literature, interaction between NNSs

into

and

should be taken into consideration more seriously. Only

dominant/subordinate. The concept of a standard English

when JE is recognized as a variation of English, and not

defines not only how English learners in Japan recognize

as a deterioration, will people begin to regard it as a part

their own accents, but also how they recognize and positof their identities.

amongpeople.

superior/inferior,

As

Kim

(2012)

normal/abnormal,

essentializing English

those of others.

Acknowledgements

In addition to those advertisements representing
Japanese and NNS of English as Others, these

The author would like to thank Dr. Kaori Hata for useful

advertisements also mark “foreign coaches” as Others by

discussions and comments. This work was supported byrepresenting them as speakers of a language that does

JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 18J12536.

not belong to “us” and as people who are “essentially”
different. This is clearly seen in Seargeant’s example of acommercial language school’s advertisement in Japan,
which insists that “a normal Japanese person’s brain
cannot distinguish English which is on the non-Japanesewave length from noise”. An essentialist view of “foreign

Notes
1 “Japanese English” here refers to English spoken by
Japanese / English with Japanese accents. English
loanwords used in Japan are not included.
2 Original word for this is “kireina.”coaches” sometimes includes references to their culture
or personality. For example, hanaso’s website reads: “our3 Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare:coaches are mainly Filipinos who speak English as theirofficial language and whose national character is brightThe 2019 PanSIG Journal202

https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/koyou_r
oudou/koyou/gaikokujin/gaikokujin-koyou/06.html

Matsuda, A. (2003). The ownership of English in
Japanese secondary schools. World Englishes, 22(4),483-496. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-971X.2003.00314.x
McKenzie, R. (2014). UK University students’ perceptions

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203

Author biography
Arisa Koba is a Graduate student in the Graduate School of Language and Culture, Osaka University, and a research
fellow of Japan Society for Promotion of Science. Her research interests include discourse analysis, communication
studies, and Asian studies. More specifically, her work examines sexual minority and ethnic minority identities. Email:arisza58@gmail.com

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

204

25 Texts That Help: Using Literature as a Guide in L2 Creative Writing
Iain Maloney
Nagoya University of Foreign Studies
A recent study by Liao and Roy (2017) suggested that using real-world texts as examples for creative
writing students can have a “detrimental effect on L2 students’ confidence, desire and learning interests”(p. 55). One potential way around this problem is to present students with a range of texts to illustrate
multiple approaches to writing. By using multiple contrastive texts, students can be led towards the idea
that, in creative writing, there is no ‘proper’ or ‘correct’ way of doing things and that all voices and styles
are equally valid, providing they are successful. This paper explores the use of texts in a third-year creative
writing class at a Japanese university. Six contrasting texts were used during a lesson to explore different
ways to begin a piece of travel writing. Based on student production, the approach can be seen to be
successful and can form the foundation of a way to mitigate the issues raised in Liao and Roy’s paper.

Liao と Roy（2017）の最近の研究によると現実世界のテキストを創造的な執筆の例として使用すること
は、学生の自信と欲求と学習興味に悪影響を与える可能性があることを示唆しました。この問題を回避する方法の 1 つは、さまざまな文章を生徒に提示して、複数の執筆方法を説明することです。複数の対照的なテキストを使用することにより、生徒は創造的な執筆において、「適切な」または「正しい」方法はないという考えに導くことができます。そして、すべての声とスタイルは、それらが成功していれば、等しく有効であること。本論文は、日本の大学における 3 年生の創作ライティングクラスでのテキストの使用について検討します。レッスンでは、旅行の執筆を始めるさまざまな方法を模索するために、
6 つの対照的なテキストが使用されました。学生の執筆結果に基づくと、この方法は成功しました。また、この方法は、Liao と Roy が提起した問題の解決策となることが分かりました。

The use of literary texts in the EFL classroom is a

this class?” one student, Kana, wrote in her journal “I want

long-established practice (Iida, 2013) and in the process

to learn how to write… I want to know the phrases whichof designing a two-semester Introduction to Creative

can use.” Another, Tomohiro, complained, “To write is

Writing course for students at a Japanese university, thedifficult for me because I don’t know rules.”assumption that both canonical literature and studentgenerated texts would make up a portion of classmaterials was behind much of the developmental
direction.

This is, in some respects, an understandable assumption.
The methods used to teach academic writing – theemphasis on thesis statements, topic sentences and theubiquitous “hook” – does imply a “correct” – andHowever, two facts came to light which challenged thisconsequently many “incorrect” – ways of writing.

assumption and led to a divergence in developmental

Furthermore, students taught stock phrases to use inprogress. The first was an oft repeated belief amongst

email correspondence such as “Dear X”, “I am writing towriting students that there is a “correct” way to write inyou…” and “Best regards” cannot be condemned forEnglish and that in their writing classes, students would

believing there may be other stock phrases waiting to be

be taught phrases and structures which, when utilised,revealed by the writing teacher.

produced a “correct” piece of writing. During a secondyear creative writing class, in response to the prompt“What did you think about writing in English before taking

For a creative writing class however, these beliefs arecontrary to the spirit and intent of the subject. Outside rigid

The 2019 PanSIG Journal205

poetic structure (14 line sonnets, 5-7-5 syllable haiku

English majors with a high degree of motivation sinceetc.), there is no requirement for students to follow a set

most have some expectation of using English in theirstructure or pattern, and stock phrases are the enemy offutureinteresting creative writing. Academic writing can be

minimum level of 550 TOEIC/Eiken 2/CSE 1980/IELTS

assessed by how near or far it strays from accepted

5.0, or the equivalent of B2 on the CEFR scale.

careers.

Entrance

requirements

demandaconventions. As Maley (2012) writes, the aim of this kindof writing is “to be logical, consistent and impersonal andto convey the content as unambiguously as possible to
the reader” (para. 6). Creative writing in an academic
environment is not compared to an ideal form of text, andFrom 2019 third year students were no longer required to
study only academic writing and instead were offered aseries of compulsory electives including creative writing,business writing and journalistic writing. Semesters at thisis instead assessed on “how well students have learned

university are 15 weeks long. The creative writing syllabus

the fundamentals of their craft” (Smith, 2016). In short: isdivides this time into four seven-week units (with anit good enough.

introduction class at the beginning of each semester)
focusing on travel writing, poetry, fiction and script writing,

The second problem is far more serious. Liao and Roy’sin that order. The syllabus is based on extra-curricular,

2016 study into student perceptions regarding poetry

uncredited, voluntary classes that have been run by thisreached a startling conclusion:author since 2017.

Statistical analyses revealed that there is a significant

Of the 2019 class body, one student out of 14 had

negative correlation between L2 students’ frequency

experience of L1 creative writing. None had experience ofof reading and writing poetry in English and their

L2 creative writing. The syllabus was designed as aconfidence, desire, and learning interests of writing

beginner’s introduction to L2 creative writing. This fact

poetry in English. This suggests that extensivealone showed that using example texts was a necessity.

exposure to poetry may lead to an unrealistic
expectation of what a poem should be like. (p. 55)

For the creative writing teacher, this is hugely problematic.
Showing students examples of canonical literature may
have a detrimental effect on their confidence andmotivation, the opposite result from that intended.

In the poetry unit, students were asked to produce anumber of acrostic poems; in order to do this, they first
had to be shown what an acrostic poem looked like.
It was decided that a potential solution to the problem of
textual intimidation was to expose the students to multiple
contrastive texts. By showing them that there are multiple

There did however seem to be no way round it. Texts

ways to approach a piece of writing, and that eachneed to be a part of a creative writing program. Imitation

approach is valid, it was hoped that the students

of examples is a useful part of the learning process. Wheninternalise the core philosophy of creative writing:one learns a musical instrument, one does so by learning

anything goes, as long as it’s good enough.

how to play the tunes of others. One doesn’t start withcomposition, one works towards it. Disposing of texts
altogether wasn’t the answer; perhaps the solution lay in
how the texts are presented.

Lesson Focus
The creative writing syllabus began with travel
writing. The unit methodology and results were analysedin Maloney (2019) but to briefly summarise, over seven

Background and Context

weeks the students worked towards producing a piece ofPrior to 2019, students at this Japanese

travel writing based on their own experiences. Each

university attended a dedicated writing class once a weeklesson looked at a unique aspect of travel writing,for 90 minutes. The focus from first to third year was

including reader reaction, dialogue, descriptive writing,entirely on academic writing: research papers in the APA

and opening paragraphs. Remaining lessons included

style. In fourth year students could produce a thesis inpeer review and teacher feedback on drafts. The lesson

English, though this was not a popular option. Students inwhich focused on opening paragraphs focused on six

the Department of British and American Studies are

texts by professional authors. The texts themselves, theThe 2019 PanSIG Journal

206

reasons behind their selection and the ways in which they

Hollywood films on video, and you couldn’t walk ten

address the two problems raised above.

feet without passing a bootleg-tape stall … I caught
the smell of grass as soon as I got out of the cab, andhalf the travellers weaving past me were stoned.

Table 1 Opening paragraphs(Garland, 1996, p.5).
AuthorIain Banks
Matsuo Bashō(Trans. Noboyuki
Yuasa)
Peter Carey
Linda Cracknell
Alex Garland
Haruki Murakami(Trans. Noboyuki
Yuasa)

Book Title
Raw Spirit
The Narrow Road
to the Deep North

Publisher
Arrow, 2004
Penguin,
1966.

Wrong About
Japan
Doubling Back
The Beach
Moshi bokura no
kotoba ga uisuki
de attanara [If
Our Words Were
Whisky]Faber, 2004
Freight, 2014
Viking, 1996
Shinchosha,
1999. Trans.
this author

The sense of place in this paragraph is intense. Sights,
sounds and smells abound, transporting the reader to the
Khao San Road. The story’s temporal setting is also
clearly marked as early 1990s, through the mention oftapes, videos and phone booths. The narrator remains
unnamed, his background and purpose hidden from thereader. This tells the reader that the heart of this work is
not character, but place. As the title also suggests, this is
the story of a beach.

Each text is an example of travel writing. Some

Peter Carey’s memoir, Wrong About Japan takes aparagraphs were the opening to the entire book; others

different track. Carey is an Australian author andbegan chapters or sub-sections. Each was chosen

journalist. His adolescent son Charley is a fan of

because of the unique way it approached the task ofdrawing the reader into the story and preparing the reader

Japanese anime and manga. Carey takes Charley on apilgrimage to Japan and the trip is the subject of this book.

for what was to come. Table 1 shows the texts in question.
In Tokyo’s Harajuku district one can see those perfect

Students were put into small groups or pairs and given a

Japanese Michael Jacksons, no hair out of place, andworksheet (appendix A). They read the paragraphs andpunk rockers whose punkness is detailed so

discussed the questions among themselves before writing

fastidiously that they achieve a polished hyper-

down a mutually agreed answer. Once each set of

reality. Takashi had something of this quality. He hadquestions had been answered, the class reconvened andblack hair that stood up not so much in spikes but inthe answers were aggregated on the board.

dramatic triangular sections... He wore a high-necked
Cambridge blue jacket with what might have once

The questions were designed in order to allow students tobeen called a Mao collar, and which glistened with

explore the key theme or themes of each work. It is often

gold buttons. His trousers were jet black, his boots

difficult in creative writing to know where to start, whatknee high. No one could doubt his pride, or his sense

information the reader needs up front and what can beof dignity.

withheld for a more relevant or dramatically satisfying
moment. The six texts chosen approach this task indivergent, contrastive ways. It should be noted that while“Charley-san?” he asked, and bowed.
My son also bowed. (Carey, 2004, p. 21)

these texts were suitable for these high-level students,
they would not be suitable for less experienced student

Here there is only a brief mention of place, little about

writers.

Charley and even less about Carey. Instead the bulk of
the introduction is taken up with a portrait of Takashi. The

The Beach by Alex Garland is actually a work of fiction,text is focused on his appearance, zooming in like a

not non-fiction, but the opening paragraph presented incamera close-up would in a film to show him in precise

isolation could be from either.

detail. This is a story, the reader is led to understand,

The first I heard of the beach was in Bangkok, on the
Khao San Road. Khao San Road was backpacker
land. Almost all the buildings had been converted into
guest-houses, there were long-distance telephonebooths with air-con, the cafes showed brand-new

about other people, the people Carey and his son
encounter.
Murakami Haruki’s collection of travel essays about
Scotland and Ireland, Moshi bokura no kotoba ga uisuki
de attanara [If Our Words Were Whisky], is less interested

The 2019 PanSIG Journal207

in others and instead opens with a sketch of the stranger

no sooner had the spring mist begun to rise over theside of Murakami’s personality:

field than I wanted to be on the road again to crossthe barrier-gate of Shirakawa in due time. (p. 97).

Whenever I take a trip, be it long or short, there isusually some kind of central theme. When I went to

For Iain Banks, it’s the pure pleasure of the journey itself

Shikoku, I ate udon every day until it seemed like I– the sights and sounds, and the joy of being a tourist:

was going to die, whereas in Niigata I drank nothing
but crisp, refined sake. I went to Hokkaido with theJura. An unbagged island. Always wanted to gogoal of seeing as many sheep as I could, and when I

there, never been…

travelled across America I ate countless pancakes(one time they were so good I wanted to keep eating
until I became sick of them). In Tuscany and Napa
Valley, I consumed enough delicious wine topermanently alter my outlook. In Germany and China
I did nothing but go around zoos. (Murakami,1999. p.
10, translation by this author).

Jura is a short ferry ride from Port Askaig on Islay’s
east coast, close to the Caol Ila distillery, so – as
we’re here, the weather’s fine and there’s a whiskybook to be researched – it has to be done. The
perfect trip will include a visit to the distillery, a lookat the house where George Orwell wrote 1984, andthen a hike to the northern tip of the island to see theThough Scotland and Ireland are certainly featured, thetidal race there between Jura and Scarba, that wide,

main theme of Murakami’s book is Murakami himself. To

roaring whirlpool called the Corryvrecken where

understand it, you have to understand him, and so hebegins by introducing himself.
Linda Cracknell, by contrast, in her collection of essays on
hiking in Europe choses to begin at the end and shows
the approach to her destination before looping back andexploring the reasons behind the journey:

Orwell once nearly drowned (p. 69).

When these texts were reduced to their thematic core inthis way, the students could see not only that there werea variety of approaches to beginning a piece of travel
writing, but how these lessons could be applied to theirown writing. The students were asked to think for a minuteor two about their own stories and try to isolate which is

I approached the slipway of the Glenelg-to-Kylerhea

the most important aspect of it: place, other people, or

ferry on the early evening of the thirteenth day,themselves, the first steps, the journey or the destination.

hastened by an imminent Force Eight gale that might

If their story, for instance, had as its motivating incident

stop the ferry running. High winds were alreadysomething their father said or did, then like Carey they

whipping up a frenzy of waves and rocking caravans

should use the first paragraph to sketch out their father’s

on a south-facing beach campsite. A turned-out tent

character. If they themselves were the chief protagonist,showed me its pale yellow guts. I put on more clothes

then that’s where the focus should be. If they were writingand quickened my step (p. 183).

17th century Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō takes the
opposite tack, beginning at the beginning:

about how a typhoon stranded them in Okinawa or the
sunburn they received in Hawaii, then that was where theyshould begin.

Days and months are travellers of eternity. So are theyears that pass by. Those who steer a boat across

Examples of Workthe sea, or drive a horse over the earth till the

For homework the students were set the task of writing

succumb to the weight of years, spend every minute

their opening paragraph. Below are some examples ofof their lives travelling. There are a great number ofstudents’ work that show the influence of the texts on theirancients, too, who died on the road. I myself havewriting.

been tempted for a long time by the cloud-moving
wind – filled with a strong desire to wander.

“Not only did I miss orientation, other international
students must be shopping for necessities as we

It was only towards the end of last autumn that I

speak.”

returned from rambling along the the coast. I barely
had time to sweep the cobwebs from my broken

My head was filled with these thoughts as I waited forhouse on the River Sumida before he New Year, but

my suitcases at the baggage claim area. I should

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208

have already been in America a day earlier; but

In the next class, the students recreated the activity

having been unable to take the plane I intended todescribed above – answering questions on a worksheet

take, like a lost child separated from her motherabout the opening paragraph – but this time as an act of

because there was no Asian around me, I standpeer review. Having done it multiple times on “proper”

looking like a pitiful thing. (Mina).

texts, they were comfortable with the process and really

Mina’s story begins near the end, with her waiting for a
new flight having missed the first one after forgetting her
passport. As with Cracknell’s story, the drama doesn’t lie
in revealing that she has missed her flight, it’s in reliving
the – in the case uncomfortable – experience of the events

dug into each other’s texts, shaping them. The activity
bore out to them the central point that there are multiple
ways to approach the task of drawing a reader into a story,
all of them equally valid, be it Murakami’s odd thematic
holidays or Ruriko’s broken heart.

leading up to that ending.
“It was a dream. Like an evanescent dream for me. I

Difficulties and Further Workfelt as I thought I was enchanted by him. A year ago,
I had a fateful encounter in a cold country. There are

The students described here were upper-

many men in the world, but I met one boy and it wasintermediate to advanced level, well-motivated English

love at first sight for the first time. However it was the

majors. The complexity of the texts and the number of

beginning of the hell in my life. What a fool I was.

them would challenge lower level students and more time,

Because, I did not follow my friend’s advice. Finally, I

a reduced number of texts or graded texts may bebecame aware, “Life is but an empty dream”. (Ruriko)preferable for different abilities. The main point is that the
texts need to be sufficiently different from each other toHere Ruriko is combining elements from both Carey and
Murakami, introducing herself and this “boy” who will go

defuse any notion of a “correct” way of writing or
performance anxiety.

on to break her heart while she is studying abroad in
Canada. Every character who matters is present in theThis lesson has been used three times to date at thisintroduction, including the friend who warns her of theJapanese university and each time it has produced quality

boy’s true nature. But the bulk of the paragraph is

writing from the students. More specific research needs

reserved for Ruriko herself, and the trauma thisbe done to quantify whether this approach does indeed

experience caused her.

counter the negative impact exposure to canonical texts“Every year I go on a trip with my mother, aunt andgrandparents. Our trip is always in November and wealways go to Echizen in Fukui prefecture, because allof us like crab! There is a very very delicious crab
called “Echizen crab” which is a special food in Fukui,

can have on students’ confidence, as outline in Liao andRoy’s study. Likewise, a further qualitative analysis of
students’ beliefs is needed to pin down the nature of theirbeliefs regarding the nature of writing in English. Both ofthese are being undertaken at the moment.

and it is said to be the king of taste of winter! In thefirst place, Echizen crabs are male snow crabs which
landed in Fukui, and the history of the snow crab
fishery in Echizen is said to be the oldest in Japan.
Moreover, it is also the only crab that the emperor
eats. I think it is high class and so delicious. I am fullof gratitude to my family for taking me there and feelpleasure for eating it every year.” (Mei)Why devote an entire paragraph to the snow crabs?

References
Banks, I. (2004). Raw Spirit. London, UK: Arrow.
Basho, M. (1966). The Narrow Road to the Deep North.
London, UK: Penguin.
Carey, P. (2004). Wrong about Japan. London, UK: Faber.
Cracknell, L. (2014). Doubling back. Glasgow, UK: FreightBooks.

Because Mei suffers a massive allergic reaction to them,

Garland, A. (1996). The beach. London, UK: Viking.

ends up in hospital and hasn’t been able to eat themIida, A. (2013). Critical review of literary reading andwriting in a second language. The Journal of Literaturein Language Teaching, 2(1), 5-11.

since. The “king of taste of winter” is the main protagonist
in the story that will unfold.

Liao, F. Y. & Roy, S. (2017). EFL students’ perceptions of

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

209

writing poetry in English: The effect of educational
backgrounds and belief towards poetry. The Journalof Literature in Language Teaching 6.1 55-72.
Maley, A. (2012), Creative writing for students andteachers. Humanising Language Teaching, 14(3).
Retrieved from http://hltmag.co.uk/jun12/mart01.htm
Maloney, I. (2019). EFL creative writing: using literature asa guide for students’ writing. The Journal of Literaturein Language Teaching 7(2), 31-42.
Murakami, H. (1999). Moshi bokura no kotoba ga uisuki
de attanara. Tokyo, Japan: Shinchosha.
Smith, J. S. (2016). Assessing creativity: creating a rubric
to effectively evaluate mediated digital portfolios.
Journalism and Mass Communication Educator,
72(1), 24-36.

Author biography
Iain Maloney is originally from Scotland. He is the author of three novels, a haiku collection and a memoir.
maloney@nufs.ac.jp

Appendix
Extract from worksheet
Read the introductions. For each one answer these questions (if you can – some may not apply):•

Where?

•

When?

•

Why?

•

Who?

•

What information is given first?

•

What is described?

•

What is kept secret?

Now answer these questions:
1.

Which opening paragraphs do you like the best? Why?

2.

Which do you like the least? Why?

3.

Which ones make you want to read more? Why?

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210

26 Creating an Effective ESP Course for Japanese University
Environmental Science Majors
Jeffrey Morrow
Prefectural University of Kumamoto
Non-English majors in Japanese universities are required to study English in their first and second years.
The author’s university also requires third year students to study Science English, for which the author
created a related course. The author’s background is not science, so self-study was conducted in scienceand students’ needs were discussed with faculty members. The course includes topic-based accessible
and challenging readings, interactive vocabulary exercises, and projects where ideas conceived on paper
are presented. Post-course, a ten-item five-point Likert scale questionnaire was used to gather 33 students’opinions of the course; the questionnaire also obtained reasons for their answers. Results found that 46%
of students strongly agreed that vocabulary learning was useful and 34% strongly agreed that they could
elevate their critical thinking skills, among others. This paper offers all Likert scale results and includes
reasons for students’ answers.

我が大学では一般教養課程修了後の 3 年次にも理系学生に科学英語ーサイエンスイングリッシューの履修を課している。教材の開発は理系領域全般に共通するトピックやフレーズおよび発表に必要なスキルの研究、学生側のニーズの調査、理系学部教員とのディスカッションを通じて行った。この通年コース
では、各トピックごとに身近かつ適度な難易度の読解、インタラクティブな語彙演習、紙面で構成した内容を発表する「プロジェクト」を行う。コース終了後、10 項目 5 点のリッカート尺度アンケートにより、学生のコースに対する感想とその理由について調査した。結果、46%の学生が語彙学習が有益であったことに強く同意し、34%の学生がクリティカルシンキングの向上に有益であったことに強く同意した。ここでは、すべてのリッカート尺度への学生の回答と回答理由を明らかにし、教材の有用性を示す。

instituted during the four years of university study that

Introduction

focus on elevating ESP competency that can be used for

In Japan, non-English university majors must
pass general English courses during undergraduate

students’ employment and livelihoods long into their
futures.

study. This is a requirement by most universities after the

Moritoshi (2008) notes that most university

Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science

departmental majors have their own specific linguistic,

and Technology (MEXT) suggested an improvement oftechnological, and vocational needs in both English andEnglish proficiency evaluation in high schools andother fields, and examined ways in which English

universities in 2016. Usually, students in non-English

teachers can positively motivate non-English students.

majors study required English for two years. These

Several problems were found in the study that could

English courses are largely four-skill, conversation-based

contribute to low motivation: perceived high difficulty ofclasses

generalthe lessons; negative perceptions of the native English

communicative competency. However, many students stillteacher; and perceived irrelevance of the material. Whileleave university with under-developed specific English

specific training may not be necessary to effectively teachskills, perhaps due to poor conceptualization of the ESP

an introductory course in general English, some extra

course. To alleviate this lack of skills in English, more

technical knowledge, study, or research may be required

specialized, better-designed ESP programs should beof the teacher in order to create successful ESP lessons.

aimed

at

elevatingstudents’

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211

Nasr (2015) recognizes the important relationship

Background of ESP

between the facilitator and the subject matter; an ESP

Since the 1960s ESP has been used to teachstudent who is more knowledgeable about subject matter

English for agriculture, science, and technology. ESP isthan a teacher can lead to problems creating successful

characterized by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) as an

ESP classes in several areas: generating adequate

approach rather than a methodology, through the

chunks of useful information, using the students’

foundation that employees learn ESP for definite reasons

potentials, and using scaffolding to balance the three

or to fulfill certain job-related objectives. Because of this,elements of the ESP teaching process. Those are: theteaching ESP does not entail any set method. Dudley-subject matter, the instructor, and the ESP learner. Nasr’s

Evens and St. John (1998) divide ESP teaching into two

study focused on a questionnaire that collects data

aspects: 1) absolute characteristics, in which tasks are

regarding teachers in a science curriculum at Jazan

created to meet special needs of the learner, make use ofuniversity, Saudi Arabia, and focused on difficulty with thethe underpinning of the particular discipline, and are

texts and barriers to teacher-student communication andcentered around the language of the discipline and its

was basically split between teacher-based tools andskills,student-based tools. Results found that some students

characteristics, in which tasks are related to, or designed

were dissatisfied with their teachers’ performances due tofor, specific occupations. These tasks may require atheir strong motivation to learn English. Students reported

specific method of teaching other than that of standard

in one case that a teacher often “stumbled” throughEnglish, are likely to be designed for adult learners, andvarious parts of the subject text and was unfamiliar withare implemented mainly for intermediate and abovescientific information presented. The teacher hadlearners who have some basic knowledge of English or

trouble fathoming different branches of ESP, such as

ESP.

discourse,

andgenres;and2)variable

English for Science, Business, and Medicine. Gorska-

The author self-determined that the elements of

Perecka (2013) states that the ESP teaching situation is aa successful ESP program in Environmental Science

complexawould include training in both specific and broad skills.

conceptualization that starts from planning, designing,process

andisgeneratedfrom

Many environmental Science students must makeand implementing a needs-based ESP course forpresentations in English in their futures; therefore, training

adequate facilitation of learning. Important in ESP is thein both bottom-up skills, such as grammar andnotion of TLA/KAL (teacher language awareness) andpronunciation, and in top-down skills such as building top-(knowledge about language) which can enable teachers

down communicative competency skills needed in

to teach effectively (Gorska-Perecka, 2013).

presentations.

Vocabulary

importancebecauseTo further this research, the author designed an

too

training
inisscience,ofutmostspecialized

ESP course for Environmental Science students in the

vocabulary use, relating to the atmosphere, recycling, andthird year of study at a mid-size public Japanesealternative energy to name a few, is the norm, not theuniversity, which was used and tested in class. Post-

exception. Other important facets of a successful ESP

course, a questionnaire gathered information such as:

programinterest in the topic, ease of understanding theunderstand important points, writing to share thinking andinformation, usefulness of the text sections for students’

information, and critical thinking in generating answers toknowledge, appropriateness of the topics, and usefulness

specific questions. Other useful grammatical structuring

for future endeavors.

includes recognizing and creating word forms by using

Section two includes a general background of
ESP. Section three offers an explanation of the ESP

inscienceincludefocusedlisteningtoprefixes and suffixes, often found in science-related
academic vocabulary.

material used in the class. Section four examines the

In order to meet the needs of Environmental

survey by the author conducted in the Science English

Science students, ESP administrators need to takecourse. Section five contains the survey results; section

certain steps when creating effective ESP Sciencesix offers a discussion. Section seven concludes.

English programs. These steps are divided into three
categories: 1) pre-program activities, 2) in-program

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

212

activities, and 3) post-program activities (Dudley-Evans &Course Materials
In addition to general English, the author’s

St. John, 1998).
Pre-program activities are those administeredpublic university requires that third year Environmental

by the institution or teacher before ESP courses are

Science majors also study Science English. The author’s

created. Needs assessments of the students before thebackground is not in science, so a large amount of self-

program begins are conducted immediately before astudy was conducted and students’ needs were discussed

course.

fully

with faculty members. The students are aware of science

understand the needs of the science students; it includes

Thisenables

programteachers

totopics in Japanese, but have insufficient English skills, so

finding information including other required courses andthe author focused on topics familiar to students such as

the English factors that support these courses. The next

the atmosphere and recycling. The material was based onstep of pre-program activities is course design. Here,similar material created by the author used in an English

results of the pre-program survey data as well as thecourse for majors of technology at a different university

results of the needs analysis are considered. Certain

during the years 2003 to 2013. Having found increased

aspects must be considered in this phase: 1) The intensity

motivation and interest from these particular students, theof the program; 2) learners’ ability assessment in Science

author modified the material to be used in this Science

English; and 3) The length of the program. Other items

English course. In designing the new material, the author

noted by (Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998) that need to befocused on conceptualizing the material from thetaken into account are class sizes and class meeting

standpoint of a non-English major class containing sometimes, although these factors may be set by the university.

students who may have an interest in English, while

Data from pre-program questionnaires are used toothers may not. In conceptualizing effective ESP material,

incorporate meaningful activities into useful classroom-

several important questions came to mind: 1) What kindbased activities.

of English-related material would be beneficial to Science

In-program activities involve administering all

English students? 2) How can students practice the four

the elements of the course; during the course, students

skills of English while focusing on a Science relatedshould be actively involved. This aspect is largely

program? 3) How can new vocabulary be most effectively

dependent upon the teacher. Teachers of ESP forinternalized? 4) How can student retain interest in the

Science should have some experience studying ormaterial and practice offering their own ideas throughteaching ESP for various branches of science, such aspresentations?

biology or chemistry. During the course, ample timeshould be given to allow the students to experience real

Study Sample and Methodology

situations; in addition, their progress should be assessed

The material was used in class for one year,

periodically, accomplished by quizzes, comprehension

after revisions which were made during discussions withchecks, and role-plays.

other professors and after a trial questionnaire which was

A critical evaluation of the program takes placeadministered to students at the end of the previous year.

during the post-program stage. This could be in the form

Many students in the Environmental Science departmentof a survey where the students are interviewed after

enter graduate school where they must conduct

completing the program to assess what was effective forpresentations in English; PhD students must write twothem, what they learned from it, and how they think it willscience-related papers and have them published inassist them in their futures. Other post-program activities

international journals in addition to making presentations

include on-the-job evaluation when finally working

in English. Because of this, the author hoped that students(Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998), and internships in which

would see the material as useful.

students can get a firmer grasp on the field, although

The study was conducted in a third year

English is not always used in science related fields inrequired Science English class of 33 Environmental

Japan.

Science majors in a mid-size public university in WesternJapan on February 8, 2019. After the course, the students
were given a ten-item, five-point Likert questionnaire on
their feelings regarding the material on certain aspects.
The questionnaire items were: 1) The material was useful

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213

Table 1 Item meaning and Abbreviations
Questionnaire Item Meaning

Abbreviation for statistics table

The material was useful as a whole.

Useflness of txt.

The reading section topics were interesting and useful.

Rdng. topics

The illustrations were well done and pertinent.

Illustr.

The vocabulary section was useful and important.

Vocab. Lng.

The vocabulary comprehension section helped me internalize the vocabulary.

Vocab. Compr.

I practiced grammar through the sentence writing section.

Sentence Wrtng.

The listening section helped elevate my listening skills.

Listening

I could practice my critical thinking skills through the question and answer activity.

Quest./Ans.

My design skills were elevated while designing the picture.

Dsgn. Pic.

I was able to practice my explanation skills through explaining the design.

Dsgn. Expl.

as a whole; 2) The reading section topics were interesting

students listen to a spoken passage and while writing

and useful; 3) The illustrations were well done andeverything they are able to hear, while stressing that they

pertinent; 4) The vocabulary section was useful andare not required to be perfect. A question-answer activity

important; 5) The vocabulary comprehension section

follows this, and here, students brainstorm answers tohelped me internalize the vocabulary; 6) I practiced

questions related to the topic and write answers ingrammar through the sentence writing section; 7) The

English. Finally, they are given a task in which to design

listening section helped elevate my listening skills; 8) I

an object, machine, or process based on that unit’s topic.

could practice my critical thinking skills through the

They are to draw the item and write an explanation inquestion and answer activity; 9) My design skills were

English. In the subsequent class, they present their ideas

elevated while designing the picture; 10) I was able toto the other class members who evaluate them on apractice my explanation skills through explaining thesliding scale. An extract of a sample lesson can be founddesign. Answers were recorded using a 5-point Likert: 5)in the Appendix.

Strongly agree; 4) Agree, 3) Neither agree nor disagree;2) Disagree; 1) Strongly disagree.

Results

Questions were also given to which students
could write open-ended answers regarding their opinions.

The

next

sectionthe

breakdownofthebest for you? 2) What did you wish we had done

questionnaire items and abbreviations used for result

differently? 3) What was your favorite part of thetables and statistical calculations will be given in Table 1.

textbook/class procedure? 4) What was your least favorite

Next, a synopsis of the number of students who answered

Each unit of the material contains a reading
passage, followed by a ten-word vocabulary activity

aofquestionnaire.

English and will benefit you in the future?

this,results

Those questions were: 1) What kinds of things worked thepart? 5) Do you think this book helped you with Science

Beforeofferseach Likert question will be offered in Table 2. Finally,answers to open-ended questions will be examined andexplained at the end of the section.
The questionnaire items were abbreviatedbased on the reading. The next activity focuses on using

corresponding

to

each

question.

the vocabulary in cloze sentences, and then asks

abbreviation

can

be

found

students to write sentences each sentence using one

item/abbreviation table.

word chosen from the vocabulary list. Students thenexchange books with partners and check their partner’s
sentences in a peer-review fashion. In the next section,

in

The
the

item

and

following

Likert Results
The answers to the items on the Likert
questionnaire were checked and the reasons as to why

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

214

Table 2 Responses to Questions (in number).
Strongly
Agree
Usefulness of xt. 16
Rdng. Topics
10
Illustr.
10
Vocab. Lng.
15
Vocab. Compr. 6
Sentence Wrtng. 7
Listening
7
Quest./Ans.
11
Dsgn. Pic.
17
Dsgn. Expl,
17

Agree
13
13
17
14
15
18
18
12
13
14

Neither Agreenor Disagree
4
10
6
4
12
7
7
10
3
2

Disagree
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0

Strongly
Disagree
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

students answered the way they did were compiled. After

design drawing activity, 39% agreed, and 9% neither

this, the total number of answers was drafted into tableagreed nor disagreed. Finally, in question 10, 52% ofform. The results of any study are of utmost importance.

students strongly agreed that they were able to practiceIn this study, results found that most students were

their design explanation skills, 42% agreed, 6% neither

positive about the material, and basically agreed withagreed nor disagreed.

each item on the questionnaire.
The paper will now offer a breakdown of student
responses regarding different aspects of the material
based on the data in Table 1. In question 1, as for
usefulness of the text, 48% strongly agreed, while 40% of
students answered they agreed that the text as a whole isuseful. Of the total, 12% neither agreed nor disagreed.
Question 2 found that when answering if the reading
topics are useful, 31% strongly agreed, 39% agreed, and
30% neither agreed nor disagreed. In question 3,
illustrations, 30% strongly agreed that they were usefuland pertinent, 51% agreed, and 18% neither agreed nor
disagreed. As for question 4, of the total, 46% people
strongly agreed that the vocabulary learning exercises
were useful and important, while 42% agreed, 12%neither agreed nor disagreed. As for question 5 totally,
18% of students strongly agreed that they could
internalize vocabulary better through the vocabularycomprehension exercises, while 46% agreed, and 36%
neither agreed nor disagreed. In question 6 asking
whether or not the sentence writing section helped withgrammar and spelling, 24% strongly agreed and 55%
agreed, while 21% neither agreed nor disagreed. Of thetotal in question 7, 21% strongly agreed that they could
elevate their listening skills, 55% agreed, 21% neither
agreed nor disagreed, and 3% disagreed. When students
were asked if they could practice their critical thinking
skills through the question and answer activity in question
8, 34% strongly agreed, 36% agreed, 30% neither agreed
nor disagreed. As for question 9, of the total, 52% strongly
agreed that their design skills were elevated through the

Qualitative Results
This section will examine the qualitative results;
answers will be shared by question and give reasons forthe students’ answers.
Question 1. What worked best for you in the class?
Fourteen students felt that the design andexplanation worked best for them as they felt that this skill
in English helped them immensely. Twelve responded
that they liked discussing the questions and answers withpartners because they had time to think. Hearing partners’
answers was interesting. Three thought the vocabulary
worked best for them because they were able tointernalize words related to the lesson and therefore
became attracted to the material.
Question 2. What do you wish the class had done
differently?
Twelve students wanted to present lessbecause it was stressful, and they felt their English was
not good. Ten students wanted to learn about the topics
on the Internet. This is probably because the class had
Internet access, and the teacher from time to time showedsome things using on-line sources. Five in the classwanted to read science related topics more because they
are interested in many topics. Three wished the textbook
had an order that mixed difficult and easier topics. Three
wished to have more writing practice, as academic writing
was a difficult aspect for them.
Question 3. What was your favorite part or unit of
the textbook or the class procedure?
Fifteen answered that the natural disaster topic
was their favorite. This is because the students’ city

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

215

experienced

years prior. Eightwriting, and explanation when creating the tests due to the

responded that “ecosystems” was their favorite unit

earthquakes

threefact this is a science class and English is out of the norm

because thestudyingof study for these students. Where students may have theenvironmental science. Four felt recycling was theiropportunity to elevate their writing and presentation skills

favorite because their city has had a recycling program for

as English majors, non-English majors may have lessmany years. Two felt that alternative energy was theiropportunity to practice various aspects of English learning

favorite topic because it is very important. One foundeven though such skills may be needed in their futures.

sustainable tourism to be their favorite because tourism

The fact that 55% of the students found sentence writing

will grow in the future and the only responsible way for

was very interesting for the author because sometourism growth is through sustainability.

students in this department in the author’s experience

students areinterested in

Question 4. What was your least favorite part orunit of the textbook or the class procedure?

usually show less interest in writing in general. because
scientific writing is quite difficult for the students,

Thirteen students answered that they enjoyedespecially at the graduate level. The design andevery topic, while twelve answered that the lightning

explanation section worked very well for them and willsection was their least favorite, and eight responded thatundoubtedly be a very important skill to maintain long into

the section on nuclear energy was their least favorite. This

the future.

is most likely because of the negative feeling towards
nuclear power following the Fukushima nuclear accident

Conclusion

in March 2011.
Question 5. Do you think this book helped you with

The material creation process was useful and interesting

Science English and will it benefit you in the future?

after a conceptualization was realized. The time andFor this question, all students answered thatenergy spent to study extra elements of science so as tothey thought it helped and would benefit them in the

be able to put together interesting and effective materials

future.

leading to a textbook was found to be well-worth it fromthe answers from the students who used the material inclass for one year. Although it was not perfect, theDiscussion

students felt that the text did offer some good material that

Table 2 contains the answers in total number of

could help students internalize vocabulary and gain

students for each Likert scale item; most students

speaking, writing, and presentation practice. The students

answered ranging between strongly agree and agree forwere able to gain many opportunities to increase theirmost questions; however, there were several cases where

specific scientific English skill abilities in such activities asa high percentage of students who answered neither

vocabulary, writing answers to questions, and presenting

agree nor disagree, such as in the questioning regarding

in English, and through an increase in skills, the author

internalization of vocabulary (36%), and in whether thefound that their motivation has also increased. Withsentence writing section helped with grammar andincreases in motivation, students in any major can further

spelling (21%).This is telling because obviously some

strive to realize their own abilities.

students felt more comfortable with the material while

The author was delighted to see that theothers did not. Positive results showed that 48% of thematerial to help students in studying and learning English

students strongly agreed that the text overall wasfor science was taken seriously by science-majorinteresting and useful, 21% strongly agreed that they

students, and that they may find the impetus to utilize it in

could elevate their listening skills, and 34% strongly

real-world situations in their futures. If the need for utilizing

agreed that they were able to practice their critical thinking

English skills arises, the students have a backdrop on

skills through the activities. In the final question, 52% of

which to base their English for writing and presenting. In

the students responded that they were able to practicethis way, the author feels that the materials andtheir design and explanation skills, crucial aspects for

subsequent creation endeavor was a success.

students in this department, especially for those who
continue on to graduate school. The author wanted tofocus on elevating aspects such as critical thinking,The 2019 PanSIG Journal216

References
Dudley-Evans, T. & St. John, M. (1998). Developments
in English for Specific Purposes. London: Cambridge

Plan Responding to the Rapid Globalization.
Retrieved October 31, 2018 fromhttp://www.mext.go.jp/en/news/topics/detail/1372625.htm

University Press.
Moritoshi, P. (2008). Motivating Non-English Majors in
Gorska-Perecka, B. (2013). The Role of Teacher

English Class. JALT Conference Proceedings,

Knowledge in ESP Course Design. Studies in Logic,

Shared Identities: Our Interweaving Threads. 283

Grammar, and Rhetoric. 34 (47), 27-42.

291.

Hutchinson, T. & Waters, A. (1987). English for SpecificPurposes. London: Cambridge University Press.

Nasr, A. (2015). English for Specific Purposes
Perspectives and Their Applicaablity Among Science
Students at Jazan University – Kingdom of Saudi

MEXT. (2016). Report on the Future Improvement andEnhancement of English Education: Five

Arabia. Journal Of Language, Linguistics, andLiterature. Vol.1, No. 3, 41-45.

Recommendations on the English Education Reform

Author biography
Jeffrey Morrow is an Associate Professor of English in the Department of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences at thePrefectural University of Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan where he researches motivation in L2, effective ESP teaching,and English for tourism employees. He is responsible for teaching Science English, Basic English, and English reading
and writing for graduate students. Recent publications include: Increasing Student Motivation of Non-English Majors in
the Japanese University (2020) and Foundation to Formation: Effective English for Tourism Purposes Program Designfor Hospitality Educators (2019).

Appendix
Sample Textbook Unit
Unit 2. The AtmospherePart one. Read the passage and understand as much as possible.
The atmosphere contains various things that help us breathe and live. Aerosols in the atmosphere from various cleanersor hairsprays have been very destructive over the past few decades. Aerosols have chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s). These
are organic compounds containing carbon, chlorine, and fluorine. However, this mixture can be quite volatile, and is amajor cause of stratospheric ozone depletion. CFC’c have been widely used in refrigerators, air conditioners, aerosol
cleaners and fire extinguishers. Much of modern life in the 20 th century was made possible through the uses of CFC’s,
but now scientists are aware of the large problems CFC’s cause. Recently, many countries have phased out CFC usage
in order to save the atmosphere.
CFC’s destroy the ozone layer. They do this because chlorine atoms mix in the wind and are carried tovarious heights where they settle in the stratosphere. When UV radiation hits a CFC molecule, one chlorine atom breaks
away. Then this chlorine hits an ozone molecule, which consists of three oxygen atoms, and takes one of the oxygen
atoms, destroying the ozone molecule and turning it into oxygen. When another oxygen molecule hits this new molecule,the two oxygen atoms join together. The chlorine atom breaks free and continues to destroy ozone. Because each chlorine
molecule remains in the atmosphere for a long time, damage to ozone will continue to occur.
Part two. Vocabulary learning. Write the number of the correct word on the lines.
1. atmosphere___ The layer of atmosphere where planes fly.
2. aerosol___ The smallest building block of a cell.
3. organic___ A group of atoms bonded together.
4. compound___ To gradually stop something.
5. stratosphere___ The air that protects the earth from ultraviolet rays.
6. volatile___ A substance that creates greenhouse gasses.
7. phase out___ Related to living things.
8. ozone___ A gas residing in the highest layer of the atmosphere.
9. atom___ Likely to change rapidly, many times for the worse.
10. molecule___ Something that is made up of two or more elements.

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Part three. Vocabulary comprehension. Complete each sentence with a word from part two.
1. CFC’s can destroy the precious _______________ layer.
2. The chemicals used in the experiment were quite ______________.
3. Two oxygen __________ bond together to form O2.
4. It is essential to ______ ______ out CFC use altogether.
5. The tomatoes were reported to be __________.
6. __________ contain CFC’s.
7. The __________ is an important layer in the air above the earth.
8. The earth’s __________ contains mostly nitrogen.
9. Material made up of more than two items bonding together is a __________.
10. A __________ is formed when two or more atoms join together.
Part four. Sentence writing. Choose five words from the above vocabulary and write five sentences, each sentence
containing one word.
1. ___________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________
4. ___________________________________________
5. ___________________________________________
Now, exchange books with your partner, and check your partner’s sentences. Check the grammar, the spelling, and themeaning. Then give your partner a comment!
My comment ___________________________________________Part five. Listening comprehension. In the box, write down as much as you can understand while listening to theconversation. Take notes. Don’t worry about being perfect!

Part six. Questions about the atmosphere. Write your answers in English.
1. How can countries stop CFC uses now?
2. What is one major cause of air pollution these days other than CFC’s?

3. What gasses make up the lower atmosphere?

4. What are ways we can reduce exhaust gas?
5. Name some effects that UV radiation has on flora, fauna, animals, and humans.

Part seven. Design your own atmospheric cleaning equipment, machine, or center. Draw a picture of it. Write an
explanation of the sections in English. Make it located in a viable location and realistic.
My picture

My explanation

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27 Using Role Plays and Real Plays for Lower-Level Students
Nicole Moskowitz
Kyoto Sangyo University
Role Plays and Real Plays (RPRP) can be used to scaffold interaction among lower-level learners,
increase time spent inside and outside the classroom on listening and speaking, and encourages creativity
and personalization of L2 by students. This paper defines what is meant by RPRP, outlines the potential
benefits of RPRP, potential limitations, and describes how the author has been using them for the past
three years in a Japanese university with first- and second-year students in their required English
communication classes. Examples of RPRP handouts, grading rubrics, and scripts are also included.

ロールプレイとリアルプレイ（RPRP）の使用は、低レベルの学習者間の相互作用を支援とし、教室内と外ではリスニングとスピーキングに費やす時間を増やし、学生による L2 の創造性と独自を促進できます。 この記事では、RPRP の意味を定義し、RPRP の潜在的な利点、潜在的な制限について概説し、著者が条件な英語コミュニケーション授業で 1 年生と 2 年生の日本の大学で 3 年間前からを使用した方法について説明します。 RPRP の配布資料、採点基準、および台本の例も含まれています。

Although the exact mechanisms of language learning andmade by teachers, textbooks, or websites, and so may be

development is still under debate, most teachers anddry and less interesting for students. Group discussions,researchers would agree that language will not be learnt

interviews, role plays, and real plays tend to be more

without spaced repetition, opportunities for input andstudent-centered as students are in control of the content,

output, practice, and some degree of corrective feedback.

implementation, and foster abstract answers. There are

Repetition and review are crucial for memories to be

morecreated and second language acquisition (SLA), but not

production, and communication repairs and requests.

many students encounter the same language items

Although all three are certainly useful for SLA, this paper

enough times to create strong memories or knowledge ofwill focus on role plays and real plays, how they are being

language items. If students do review on their own, it is

implemented in the author’s classes, possible benefits,often receptive and not productive, limiting their ability toand limitations.

opportunitiesforinteraction,

personalized

have a deep knowledge and use of the language item, andkeeping them in the lower levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy(Krathwohl, 2002). Learners might be able to remember

What are Role Plays and Real Plays?

and understand, but unable to apply, analyze, evaluate,

Role plays in this paper are defined as whenor create with their new language items (Krathwohl, 2002).

students take on an imagined role (doctors, tourists,

From what learners have said

personal

waiters, etc.) and act in this new identity in various

conversations in class, this lack of repetition seems toimagined scenarios. Real plays are where students retain

stem from the desire for new stimuli, the boredom of

their own identities but act as they would if they were in

repetition, forgetfulness, lack of time, feeling they know it

various imagined scenarios. They both can be more orwell enough already, or other reasons and excuses. Manyless structured, more or less spontaneous, and more orteachers review language items by tests, vocabulary

less reliant on textbooks; because of this they both areactivities, homework, watching videos or reading articles

completely adaptable and dependent on the goals of theand answering associated questions, games, or otherteacher, learner, or class. Ladousse (1987) wrote that

activities which are beneficial for SLA but might not foster

students, “are experimenting with their knowledge of thestudent creativity and experimentation with language (asreal world and developing their ability to interact with other

there is usually only one correct answer) or tend to bepeople” (p 5). Ladousse (1987) also mentioned the aim ofthrough

The 2019 PanSIG Journal219

role plays are “to train students to deal with thechances for quieter students to express themselves in a

unpredictable nature of language...they need to think on

more forthright way, and to many people, mastering

their feet and handle the skein of language as it unravels”

speaking abilities is the ultimate goal of acquiring a foreign(p. 6). Basically, role plays and real plays try to prepare

or second language (McCarthy, 1998; Nunan, 2001).

the students for spontaneous language use outside of theclassroom, and allow for creativity, personalization, andMendelsohn (1994) found “of the total time spent oncommunicating, listening takes up 40-50 %; speaking 25-practice with language items.

30 %; reading 11-16 %; and writing about 9%,” (p. 9).
Although speaking is the medium through which much

The Benefits of Role Plays and RealPlays

language is learnt, listening is even more. In order todevelop listening skills, Rost (1994) has mentioned thatFirstly, role plays and real plays (RPRP) provide“Listening is vital in the language classroom because it

opportunities for scaffolded interaction and review,provides input at the right level, without which learning

creativity, as well as spontaneous production. RPRP

simplyfocuses learners on using the language items andteachers with a means for drawing learners’ attention toachieving their “goals,” which might range from ordering

new forms,” (p. 141-142). Morley (2001) has also written

food at a restaurant to talking about what they want to dothat listening is a nonpassive and very complex receptive

after graduation. They are scaffolded by using alreadyprocess, that comprehension is a fundamental skill, andlearnt language, focusing on a goal to achieve, and being

there is a need for focused practice in the classroom.

given time to prepare but not being allowed to use

RPRP address these points by increasing the time spenttextbooks, dictionaries, or electronic devices. This pushes

on and amount of comprehensible input. Throughthem to apply and synthesize their knowledge rather thanpersonal conversations from talking with students after

just remember and comprehend it (Krathwohl, 2002),

watching RPRP, they say they could understand almost

which pushes their L2 knowledge from receptive toeverything (as long as it was audible) and, after having

productive skills. RPRP help learners by scaffolding andhad looked at comprehension questions and other written

bridging interaction between lower level students andwork from listening to RPRP, this does appear to be true.

other lower levels students, as opposed to between lower-

The RPRP activities discussed here are used as review

level and more proficient language users, and helps themafter textbook units, so students should have highby decreasing their reliance on outside support (textbooks,

comprehension, as it is accessing previously learnt anddictionaries,

etc).

studied language items. This high level of comprehension

Interaction is crucial for SLA where learners might display

is sustained for about an hour, which should aid inand use, and/or cultivate instantaneously sociopragmatic

listeningand pragmalinguistic knowledge (Tateyama, 1998).

(Segalowitz, 2010). If there are errors in comprehension,

Learners must interact in order to clarify, question,

this lets them (and teachers) notice holes and gaps in theirachievedemonstrate

L2, which relates to the Noticing Hypothesis (Schmidt,

understanding (Rost, 1994). However, not many lower1990) and alerts them as to where they should focus theirlevel learners have the language at their disposal toefforts to improve upon their L2, should they choose to dointeract for long periods of time, at ease, or without major

so. Finally, creatively using and sustained comprehension

outside support. This is regrettable because there areof language items should help move students to a deeper

multiple benefits to interaction. RPRP help scaffold

level of knowledge according to Bloom’s Taxology

interaction, and they offer a much wider range of language(Krathwohl, 2002) from simply remembering language

opportunities than the textbook alone. Najizade (1996)

items to understanding, applying, evaluating, and creating

found that RPRP are positive activities for bringing realwith them.

electronic

devices

understanding,or

and/orsoftware,cannotbegin...Listening

automatization

andexercises

fluencyprovidedevelopment

language situations into classroom, and RPRP wereconsiderably effective in improving subjects’ acquiring theforeign language structures. They are fun and motivating(Harmer,1989), because the world of the classroom is
broadened to include the outside world. They provide

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The only caveats concerning RPRP are it requires amechanism, which can show teachers which students

decent amount of time and planning, and teachers might

have been writing and who has not..

find their time is better well spent elsewhere doing otheractivities, especially if the class is not focused on

Week 1After finishing one or two units in a textbook,speaking and listening. Also, Baker (1989) believes thatsince the learners are required to play parts or roles, theyneed to be given clear instruction and sufficient time tounderstand these parts. Finally, RPRP are underresearched therefore at the time of writing, the author was
unable to find studies showing strong positive evidence ofdivide the class into groups of three to four people. The
author has found that groups of three to four people work
well, as larger groups become unwieldly and smallergroups become too shy. Careful consideration should also
be given to balances of introverted and extroverted, males
and females, lower and higher proficient in each group.

student SLA development.

Then, give the groups an icebreaker or achievable task,such as two truths and one lie, charades, figuring out ariddle, or others. This is done to create a relaxed andfriendly atmosphere in the group, and to begin a patternRole Plays and Real Plays Example
Proceduresof communication in English. Then, teach some phrases

The following describes how RPRP activities

for discussing the handout and write them on the board,

have been implemented by the author for the past 3 years,

such as “Which topic do you like? How about topic (2)? It

which have been informed by research but unfortunately

looks hard/easy/ok. Who wants to type the script? Let’s

has not been formally researched yet. In the future, it isrock, paper, scissors.” This is done in order to increase

hoped that RPRP will be able to be researched by thethe likelihood that students will speak in the L2 rather thanauthor, given the university’s permission. All steps to theimmediately switch to L1 and give them something to look

activities have been informed by research, and each stepat for reference if they forget the language or lapse into

and its’ associated research will be explained below.

the L1. Then, give them the handouts and let groups talkand choose their topic. After a group decides their topic,

Before RPRP

this topic is out, and other groups cannot choose it. This

Teachers’ preparation would be to create RPRP

is done to increase the variety of topics and use of

handouts; first with space for student names, second withlanguage items. Have student access their Google

a list of RPRP topics (which students will choose from orDocument, and have them write their names and acreate their own), and lastly a grading rubric. Allowing

number or letter after it (for example, Yuki (A), Sora (B),students to choose their topics puts the locus of control inetc.) Students should start writing in class, while thetheir hands (Dörnyei, 2001) and is an achievable task forteacher reminds them to open and use the book. All

the group. On the back of the handout is the grading rubric,language items should be underlined. This is for ease ofplease see Appendix A for an example of a full RPRP

checking for teachers, as well as to keep students focusedhandout and Appendix B for a detailed grading rubric. The

on review. They do not need to finish their scripts in class

grading rubric is based on criteria for language use andand can finish for homework. Scripts can be as loose oreffort, not perfect language, because RPRP are more

as structured as teachers prefer, but again remind thefocused on interaction, experimentation and creativity withstudents that you are looking for them to spontaneously

language, and repetition of language items than flawlesstalk and use the new language items-not to memorize alanguage use. Over-emphasis on correct L2 use andscript. However, for lower-level students they may want tocorrective

towrite out full sentences for reference. Teachers might feel

communicate, fluency, confidence, and increase anxiety

it is beneficial to start the role plays with a more structured(Dörnyei, 2001). Lastly, create Google Documents for

script and gradually transition to a looser script throughout

each group, and put links on the class webpage. Google

the semester. A sample of a RPRP script is in Appendix

Documents lets a group of individuals work on the sameC.

feedback

candecrease

willingness

document at the same time, which at the time of writing,Microsoft Word does not allow for. There is also a tracking

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Week 2In the following class the group scripts are due,

there is time, to each group. This again is to address themain good and bad points of the RPRP, which might

either on Google Documents, email, or printed paper. It’s

includeup to the teachers as to which is the easiest for them topronunciation of tricky words, etc.

volume,gestures,grammaticalpoints,check in class. Have students do a timed table readthrough, and then write the total time on the top. This is to

ScoresRPRP performances are worth 0-20 points, with eachshow the students if their work is the appropriate length ornot. Generally, for lower-level students 1 minute of
speaking for each person is achievable, while higher level

category being worth 0-5 points:a)students can speak for up to 3 minutes. While students

Non-verbal

Communication(Volume,speed,

gestures, eye-contact, intonation, etc.)

are doing another activity, check their work for use of booklanguage items, length of RPRP, and major L2 mistakes.

b)Teachers give feedback to each group and to the whole

English (correct, no translation software, length, used
English from the textbook, etc.)class. Have students do another table read-through with
their corrections, but also remind them there is no holdingc)Effort (Tried hard to memorize, stressed out or

papers or reading in the final role play. Correction isrelaxed, natural reactions or questions, use ofimportant for students to identify the errors, holes, andconjunctions to give short answers with extra

incompletly-learnt items in their L2. For lower-level

information, etc.)

students, direct corrective feedback of major errors has
been used, while for higher-level students less directd)Extra/Other (Used props or music, had audience
participation, original, funny, etc.)

corrective feedback (such as circling, underlining,question marks, or other marks to draw attention to errors)

It cannot be emphasized enough, scoring is less about an

and then having the group make corrections has been

actual assessment of their English ability and more about

effective. Generally, the author has found that because

their effort and attitude towards using the L2, because an

the lower-level students have less linguistic knowledge,

over-emphasis on correct L2 use increases anxiety,they are unable to make corrections properly or easily,

decreases

which takes a substantial amount of time out of class.

students off from experimenting with and personalizing

However, with the higher-level students, after being given

the L2 (Dörnyei, 2001). Scoring can be done in classcorrective feedback, helps them interact to makeduring the RPRP, which cuts down on marking outside ofcorrections together and is achievable in a reasonable

the class.

willingness-to-communicate,

and

cuts

amount of time. assu
RPRP listening are worth 0-10 points, with a few

Week 3questions to be answered for each group. Generally,In their groups, students practice for 5-10

students write the group number and their topics, thenminutes. After that, teachers explain how to be a goodanswer four to six concrete and abstract questions. For

listener (do not use phones, reactions are good, makeexample, concrete questions or ideas might be: “Write

eye-contact, do not chat too much with classmates, etc.).

down everything that you can catch,” “What were theirlikes and dislikes?”, “Where did he want to go?”, or “WhyDuring the RPRP, students should be listening and taking
notes: each group’s topic, words/phrases/anything or
everything that they could catch, answers to questions
about the role play from the teacher, and/or give threestrong and three weak points of each role play. After allgroups have performed, students write which group was
their favorite and why, and self-reflect on their own work.
This should raise metacognitive awareness about what
was good, bad, and the point of the RPRP. Lastly,
teachers should give feedback to the whole class, and if

are they shopping?” Examples of abstract questions orideas might be: “What were three strong points and three
weak points of this group?”, “What do you think they will
do next?”, “Would you do the same thing in their situation?”or “Do you agree with him or her-why?” Generally,
concrete questions are easier to answer than abstract, so
teachers should be sensitive to students needs and theyshould be given enough time to answer. Then, students
write about which was their favorite group and give threereasons why. Lastly, they self-reflect and on a scale of 1-

The 2019 PanSIG Journal222

10 rate themselves, explain what went well and how they
can improve for next time. This should raise metacognitive

Dörnyei, Z. (2001). Motivation strategies in the language
classroom. Ernst Klett Sprachen.

awareness of their own English, performance, listening,and preparation skills. Marking the listening will generally
take one minute per paper, so it depends on the class size
how long it will take to grade.

Harmer, J. (1989). The practice of English language
teaching. Longman.
Krathwohl, D. R., & Anderson, L. W. (2009). A taxonomy
for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of

Possible Problems and Solutions
Students might not be used to vocal projection,so practice with breathing from the diaphragm and othervocal warm-up exercises (many are available on
YouTube) is advisable. Students who were absent for

Bloom's

taxonomyofeducational

objectives.

Longman.
Ladousse, G. P. (1987). Role play (Vol. 3). Oxford
University Press.

week one will not have a group, so the author has had
success with either pairing them with other absent
students or with herself. If students are absent for week

McCarthy, M. (1998). Spoken language and applied
linguistics. Ernst Klett Sprachen.

three, then their group will be missing a person, then thestudents can try to improvise (higher-level class) or the

Mendelsohn, D. J. (1994). Learning to Listen: A strategy-

teacher can read the parts of the missing student (lower-

based approach for the second language learner. San

level class).

Diego: Dominie Press.
Morley, J. (2001). Aural comprehension instruction:
Principles and practices. Teaching English as a

Takeaways
In conclusion, please consider RPRP in theclassroom because they are helpful activities for allowing
students to practice listening and speaking outside andinside of class, use and start internalizing new language
items,

practice

performanceandnonverbal

second or foreign language, 3, 69-85.
Najizade, Z. (1996). The effect of role-play technique on
the acquisition of English language structures byintermediate EFL learners (Unpublished master’s
thesis). Allameh Tabatabaii University, Tehran-Iran.

communication skills (gestures, eye contact, intonation,
vocal projection, etc.), become more autonomous andNunan, D., & Carter, R. (Eds.). (2001). The Cambridge

creative, are fun, make introverted students moreguide to teaching English to speakers of othercomfortable, give students specific goals, are a goodlanguages. Ernst Klett Sprachen.

bridgetomakingpresentations,give

students

opportunities to make friends in class, and are easy tograde for teachers. Although RPRP are under-researched,
they have been designed with many logical theories inmind, and from personal conversations with students theauthor has found many students who enjoy them andRost, M. (2013). Teaching and researching: Listening.
Routledge.
Schmidt, R. W. (1990). The role of consciousness insecond language learning1. Applied linguistics, 11(2),129-158.

credit them with their improvement in English.
Segalowitz, N. (2010). Cognitive bases of second
language fluency. Routledge.

References
Aliakbari, M., & Jamalvandi, B. (2010). The Impact of

Tatayama, Y. (1998). Explicit and implicit teaching of'Role Play' on Fostering EFL Learners' Speaking

pragmatic routines: Japanese Sumimasen. In K. R.

Ability; a Task-Based Approach. Journal of Pan-

Rose & G. Kasper (Ed.), Pragmatics in language

Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics, 14(1), 15-teaching. Cambridge University Press.Family, B., &29.

Family, C. (2019). The impressive title for the research
article. Top-tier Journal Name, 2 (3), 4-5.

Baker, D. (1989). Language testing: A critical survey andpractical guide London: Edward Arnold.

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Author biography

Nicole Moskowitz has been teaching EFL in various capacities for over 15 years in Japan, China, and Vietnam. Her research
focuses on pragmatic activities which develop students’ speaking CAF (complexity, accuracy, and fluency), and autonomy
inside and outside the classroom through interaction, task-based learning, and CALL. nicoleamoskowitz@gmail.com

Appendix A
Elementary II, Role Play # 2
Before class:a)

From the list below, check the box for ONE topic / situationb)

Write an original script together with your group (with questions, answers, and reactions).

c)

Use vocabulary / questions / grammar from that unit. Underline themd)One person types, prints, and gives Ms. Nicole a copy .

e)Each person speaks for 1 – 1 1/2 minutes.

Group members & student numbers:
Topics / Situations Choices
Talking about things you can do well and can’t do well (Unit 9)
Talking about things you couldn’t do well before, but now you can (Unit 9)
Oh no, you were attacked by Godzilla! Talk about things you can’t and can do since the attack (Unit 9)
Talking about things you like, don’t like, enjoy, and dislike and why (Unit 10)
Talking about things you want to do after graduation, in the future- use “looking forward to –” and “interested in –”(Unit 10)
Talking about things you want to do next year- use “going to –” and “might –” (Unit 10)

Your idea but ASK ME IF IT IS OK!!!!! (nicoleamoskowitz@gmail.com)

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Names & Student numbers: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Role Play: 0-20 points
Volume, Speed, Memorization, Intonation
1

2

3

4

5

Notes
Speed: Very good / average/ not greatToo many stops

Too slow / fast

Volume: Very good / average/ too quiet

Sometimes ok, sometimes too quiet

Memorized: Very well / good effort / average / pretty bad / not at all
Intonation: Very natural / good effort / average / very flat / not at all
English1

2

3

Interesting

Original

Funny

Too boring/ easy / difficult

4

5

Notes

Used the book wellVery natural
Too many mistakes

Good vocabulary / grammar
Short / Long sentences

Translation software

Didn’t use the unit vocabulary / grammar

Hard to understandDidn’t check spelling / grammar

Attitude/Effort
1

2

3

4

5

Notes
Put in a lot of effort Didn’t try at all

Tried hard
No eye contact

Good eye contact Some gestures

Only looking down / up

Gave up
Stiff

Too nervous

Relaxed Made / used props

3

4

Other
1

2

5

Notes

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Pronunciation was smoothGood Q / reactions / props

Worked well together

Forgot parts, but could adlib Forgot to prepare No script

Appendix B
Role Play grades are 0-20, 2 points for each category___ Speed
Really good!

Average Too fast / slow

Too many stops

Pause more___ Volume
Really good!

Average Sometimes ok, sometimes quiet

Too quiet

BoringToo easy / hard___ Information
Interesting

On / Off topic

Too much / little___ English in general
Correct

Mistakes

Too easy

Too hard

Long turns

Short turns

Natural/ Good questions Natural

Too crazy/ Good Reactions___ English pronunciation/intonation
Natural Smooth Didn’t practice hard words Katakana pronunciation Lots of pauses Easy to understand Hard to understandYes/No Questions went up Wh- Questions went down___ Script
Correct English Hard to read Easy to read Good organization Strange organization
Translation software

Spelling problems Typing problems___ Group work
Worked well as a group

Helped each other practice Everyone works evenly

One person did all the work

Relaxed / Had fun Stressed out___ Eye contact
Excellent Ok Sometimes ok, sometimes not Looking down/up
Only looking at teacher Only looking at other group members Looked at audience___ Memorized/Improvisation
Tried hard to remember

If forgot, tried to think of similar ideas/words

Forgot and panicked and froze

Too much Japanese

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___ Attitude
Good smiles

Friendly and relaxed manner

Props

Laughed at mistake

Jokes

Forgot, and got a lot of stress

Very nervous

Showed photo_____Total Score (A=20-17 B=16-13 C=12-8 D=7-4 F=3-0)

Appendix C
Structured Script Example:
Yuki (A), Sora (B), Rei (C)(A) I can’t believe we’re going to graduate from university in two years! Sora, what are you interested in doing after graduation?
(B) I’m not sure. I’m interested in travelling, working, and starting a family. How about you Rei?
(C) I don’t know yet, but I’m looking forward to living by myself.
(A) Really? I’m not looking forward to living by myself! I hate cooking and cleaning!
(C) I don’t mind that. I think it’s relaxing, fun, and I like to see my clean room.
(B) Aren’t you interested in travelling? It’s more fun than cooking and cleaning.
(And so on)

Loose Script Example:
Yuki (A), Sora (B), Rei (C)(A) ... can’t believe ... from ... in two years! B, what are you i-i-d- after graduation?
(B) I’m not sure. I’m i-i- 1, 2, and 3. Ask C(C) ...don’t know yet, but I’m l- f- t- l- by myself.
(A) Really? I’m not l-f-t- living by myself! ...cooking and cleaning!
(C) I d-m-t- 3 reasons why(B) travel- more fun than(And so on)

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28 Wider Implications of the Foreign Language EffectNicholas Musty
Kobe Gakuin University

Robert Andrews
Ritsumeikan University

The Foreign Language Effect (FLE) refers to the phenomenon in which people are less prone to cognitive
biases when asked to make decisions in a second language (L2) than they are when presented with the samequestions in their first language (L1). There are a number of implications of the FLE for language teaching inJapan discussed in this paper. First, it is advised that assessment in the language classroom distinguishes
between marking for language and content. Second, implications for the increasingly popular Model United
Nations events are explored. Next, it is suggested that FLE could affect learners’ understanding of humour.
Finally, the authors consider study abroad programmes, with the suggestion that the FLE may play a role inrisk-taking among students studying overseas. Although further research is needed to demonstrate FLE
influence in each of these four domains, it is suggested that a greater acknowledgment of the effect be made.

「Foreign Language Effect」（FLE）とは、第 1 言語に示された事に対する感情的な反応に対する研究参加
者の現象を指し、第 2 言語の記憶をより合理的な反応を引き起こす。FLE の言語教育との関連性の多くを含意する。最初に、言語の教室では言語と内容で採点を区別することが勧められます。第二に、最近参加者が増えている模擬国連大会への影響が与えられている。次に、学習者がユーモアを習うのに効果がある。最後に、著者は FLE がそれ以上の学びをする学生の間でリスクテイキングにおいて役割を果たすかもしれないという示唆と共に、留学プログラムを検討している。他のところにも FLE の存在を証明するにはさらに研究が必要である。これらの 4 つの領域およびそれ以降では、その効果について大きな認識が得られることが示唆される。

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

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The effect on the speaker of using a foreign

are unaware of their impending death. According to thislanguage has received a lot of attention by researchers in

scenario, a bystander observing the trolley is presented

areas such as anxiety. However, another area ofwith an option to pull a nearby switch diverting the trolley

increasing interest is the effect which the use of a second

onto a sideline, where one other person is working. Pullingor foreign language (L2) has on the making of decisions.

the switch would result in the death of this single worker

The “foreign language effect” (FLE) is a term that refers to

as opposed to the five. The latter scenario also involves aa phenomenon in which various types of decisions appear

trolley which is about to end the lives of five workers, but

to be processed differently according to the input

in this instance, an observer is standing on a footbridge

language, with speakers of a second language appearing

from where it is possible to stop the trolley, but only by

to be less prone to cognitive biases when compared withpushing another nearby observer, who is judged to be ofcontrol groups faced with the same decision-making tasks

sufficient weight to stop the trolley, down on to the trackin their first language (Keysar, Hayakawa & An, 2012).

to their certain death. In most studies (eg. Cathcart, 2013;

The authors of this paper became interested in theGreene, 2013), around 80% of respondents opted to takephenomenon through conducting research on university

action in scenario 1, sacrificing one person for five. This is

students in Japan, the results of which appeared to alignin accordance with a utilitarian principle, identified bywith previous studies (eg Costa et al, 2014). The initial

Bentham (1789), of a moral action being that which serves

research (Musty & Andrews, 2018) reported the results,

the interests of the greater number. On the other hand,

while the current paper aims to consider implications of

only around 20% of respondents were willing to sacrifice

the FLE which may be of relevance to language

the person on the footbridge despite the utilitarian

instructors.

arithmetic being the same. Researchers often explain thediscrepancy between the two scenarios as being a resultof the more emotionally charged second scenario

Background to the Foreign Language
Effectobscuring the utilitarian calculus. Although various studies
have often replicated this discrepancy between scenario

The Foreign Language Effect (FLE) has been

1 and scenario 2, researchers have discovered that this

attributed by researchers to a number of possible

discrepancy narrows when subjects are asked to respondmechanisms such as either an emotional distancing in theto these scenarios in a second language. The foreign

second language or a necessarily more deliberative

language effect appears to be responsible for thiscognitive style when processing a second language.

reduction, although it is not necessarily clear why.

Regardless of the mechanisms for the effect, the main
conclusion of research into the FLE focuses on two

With the FLE having been observed in a number ofcontrasting traits: emotionality and rationality. When an

cultures (Costa et al, 2014), the authors of this paper

ethical dilemma is presented in a subject’s native

tested the FLE in Japan. Although Nakamura (2015) had

language (L1), a tendency towards emotional responses

identified its existence through a series of trolley problem

is observed, in contrast with a higher prevalence ofexperiments, the mechanism behind these decisions

rational or utilitarian decisions made when the same

remained unclear. In addition to a replication study, Musty

decision is required in L2. This is said to be due to theand Andrews (2018) also considered the possibility that

increased cognitive and emotional distance createdthe cognitive load involved with speaking a second

through the L2 channel (Keysar et al, 2012). In common

language could also contribute to the FLE. To test this, anwith previous works, Musty and Andrews (2018)

additional treatment group was tested in which the L1 text

approached the FLE through a set of dilemmas commonlyof the trolley problem containing a series of lexical andreferred to as “The Trolley Problem,” designed by Footgrammatical mistakes, was provided, in order to test

(1967). One hundred and eighty-three students of two

whether a similar narrowing of the discrepancy between

universities in West Japan were asked to consider two of

the results of the trolley problem scenarios was observed.

these problems, the first being the switch scenario

A positive finding may have suggested that the cognitive(“scenario 1”) and the second being the footbridgeload, rather then the reduced emotionality of the language

scenario (“scenario 2”). The former describes a trolley
moving along a track towards five workers on the line, who

The 2019 PanSIG Journal229

was responsible for reduced discrepancy between

on language elements. On the second treatment, the peer

situation 1 and situation 2.

reviewer could focus on content. Alternatively, half of theclass could be responsible for grading a given set of

However, one finding from Musty and Andrews (2018)

criteria, and the remainder for another set of criteria.

raises additional questions related to culture, and that is

There are obvious pedagogical reasons for having thethe comparatively low number of subjects who opted tolearner involved in both, as this practice enables thepull the switch in scenario 1. Only 57% opted to do so,learner to develop an understanding of both content andcompared with figures of 80% that were found in earlier

language, but the existence of an FLE provides a reason

studies. It has been argued that many social science

for approaching these areas separately. Instructors may

experiments tend to take place in Western, educated,

well also struggle to mark language and content

industrialized, rich and democratic (WEIRD) nations (tosimultaneously.

use an acronym attributed to Heinrich, Heine andNorenzayan (2010)). Studies conducted elsewhere in the

Moreover, in standardized tests, such inter-rater reliability

world, with non-WEIRD subjects, have produced different

may be impaired by the FLE when multiple markers fromresults. Gold et al (2014), for example, found fewer thanvarious different cultures and L1 backgrounds arehalf of Chinese participants willing to push the switch in

involved in large, coordinated programmes. It is alreadyscenario 1, far lower than the 80% of their British

established that different standards are applied byequivalents. Costa et al (2014) found similar results

different markers (Stayanchi & Musty, 2019). However, it

among Korean participants, which they surmised may be

could be further hypothesized that, where raters include

a product of a Confucian outlook. The difference between

both L1 and L2 speakers, the amount of emotional

Japanese and Western cultures may also contribute to a

distance is likely to be different and may affect grading.

different perspective on ethical dilemmas. As a result,This is not to state that the distance set up by an L2

differing cultural outlooks are examined in this paper

marker (such as a Japanese instructor of English at aalong with the FLE.

university in Japan) would be better positioned to makejudgements which are more rational, but it does suggest
the need for such factors to be investigated further. If a

Implications of the Foreign Language Effect
The

FLE

has

implications

not

only

for

hypothetical workmen on trolley tracks, but also forteachers and students in the language classroom and in
extra-curricular activities. L1 and L2 tend to alter the
speaker's relationship with various language forms suchas “taboo words, reprimands, expressions of love, andadvertisement slogans” (Keysar et al, 2012:1). This paper
describes four diverse areas in which language learners
are likely to be affected by the FLE. The areas underdiscussion here are marking, Model United Nations,
humour, and study abroad programmes.

discrepancy were to be found, this would lead to a call for
consideration when comparing the results of learners fromeach class. As with any widely-administered test, this
could be dealt with through a wider training programme
which seeks to bring all raters together in their approachto marking (Walker, 1990). Large-scale tests such as theInternational English Language Testing System (IELTS)(n.d.) trains examiners of its oral test to follow a carefully
constructed rubric when assigning scores. Inter-rater
reliability is brought about by having all parties calibrate
their marking in accordance with this rubric, as opposed
to a much more general score sheet. It is therefore
proposed that the FLE can to some extent be

Marking
Although it is not a new idea to separate content

counterbalanced through the use of training and careful
implementation of a standard assessment measure.

and language when marking papers, as scholars such as
Lightbown & Spada (2006) have argued, the FLE gives
further support for this practice. This may be particularly
true in areas where students have written about personalor sensitive issues. Peer assessment activities could be
improved by having the marker tasked with focusing only

Model United Nations
Another learning situation in which the FLE
might need to be acknowledged is that of Model United
Nations (“MUN”) events. The practice, established in the
1940s (Muldoon, 1995), of organizing a mock conference

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230

at which participants represent the nations of the world

needed to ascertain whether or not L1 and L2 speakers

and are charged with writing resolutions aimed at solving

engage a different set of principles in MUN debates.

global issues, has been linked to the improvement ofcritical thinking skills (Gao, 2016; Musty, 2019), andInternational MUN conferences such as JEMUN do

opportunities to join such conferences in Japan have

involve participants of various nationalities. In order toincreased in recent years. While participants fromdevelop a greater sense of cultural and linguistic

overseas, including delegates whose L1 is English, travelawareness, organizers generally aim to form committees

across the globe in order to take part, the majority of theof delegates from multiple backgrounds. While eachparticipants at such events in Japan are likely to be

individual will bring their own set of biases, the resolutions

domestic (eg JEMUN). Representing a particular nationcompiled at a conference are a joint production by

as a delegate involves hours of research in order tolearners. Speeches and position papers, produced by theunderstand matters of relevance to the conference

individual learner, are likely to reflect the attitude of theagenda (Adamson, 2016). However, it is the role of thelearner. The FLE suggests that delegates operating in an

student delegate to decide which aspects are relevant andL2 are likely to be operating in a utilitarian frame. A

which require emphasis during MUN debates. It is thesecomparison of position papers written by L1 and L2

decisions which will influence the recommendations

delegates would be able to explore this idea. It could thenplaced within the MUN resolutions. It is reasonable tobe followed up by an analysis of a resolution produced bystate that such an event is pedagogical and will have noa delegation of diverse backgrounds. Such analysis would

impact on the global political situation. On the other hand,offer some new insight into the FLE, to add to the growing

participants may approach such a learning event withbody of work, much of which is focused on psychologicalsome intention of going into a career in diplomacy, or

tests (Musty & Andrews, 2018).

develop an interest in such a career as a result ofparticipation. Such assumptions are reasonable, giventhat one aim of MUN is to develop political engagement(Levy, 2016). While participation at international events islikely to be in English, research (ie the input language)
need not necessarily be so. However, with English, and
not Japanese, as an official language of the United
Nations (United Nations, n.d.), students who researchsufficiently to meet the needs of participating in MUN doneed to undertake extensive research in English(Adamson, 2016). The authors were unable to find any
evidence of tests which investigate the effects of input
language on, ultimately, diplomatic decisions. However,
the existence of the FLE is evidence that participants may
arrive at different decisions depending upon the use of
their native tongue or their second language. The FLE islikely to be one of many factors, conscious, sub-conscious
and unconscious, coming into play when matters of
diplomacy are being considered. It is beyond the scope of
this paper to speculate on the appropriateness of either

HumourHumour is another area of language in which theFLE may play a role is one in which learners and,frequently, non-native teachers struggle (Banitz, 2018).
The evidence in favour of instructors providing humour inthe classroom is overwhelming (Bell, 2009). Learners
seeking to enjoy the learning environment may benefit
from some injections of humour, known to reduce anxiety(Smith, Ascough, Ettinger & Nelson, 2016). Although
instructors might not instantly receive the laughter thatthey desire, language teacher intuition suggests that
exposure is likely to increase understanding and therefore
would help learners to grow accustomed to the types ofjoke that they are likely to encounter when interacting withother speakers of English. In some cases, instructors may
feel that showing some examples of jokes in English
would be beneficial and doing so could have benefits for
future interactions.

emotions, rationality or a combination when it comes tonegotiating United Nations resolutions. However, theevent of the MUN itself allows speakers of different
linguistic backgrounds to come together and share
responses to a set of global problems. Further research is

However, while humour has the benefit of provoking
laughter or a smile, some forms of humour require more
specific components such as the need for a punchline
twist or an utterance meaning which differs from the literalmeaning (Kitazume, 2015). Humour often differs acrosscultures. It has been stated that there are some unique

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aspects of humour in Japanese culture (Oda, 2006:15-26).

come into play when such decisions are called for in a

For example, expressions of laughter would traditionallyforeign country, particularly when invited to do so by

have been restrained, especially by women. This

classmates or other non-L1 speakers. In some cases, theinevitably affects comprehension of humour in the

difference in response may be of some assistance to thelanguage classroom (Zhao & Fan, 2010). The finding thatlearner, enabling them to participate in activities which

emotional responses are more readily provoked by L1,

they would not otherwise have had the confidence tocontrasted

responses

attempt. On the other hand, they could be persuaded toresulting from L2, would go some way to explaining thewithcomparatively

rational

engage in potentially harmful activities. Hayakawa et al

effect of input language on response to humour.

(2017) explored differences among risk taking strategies

Instructors of English have been known to lose their jobs

by language of input, depending on whether the risk was

as a result of making jokes perceived to be inappropriate

beneficial

in the language classroom in Japan. Occasionally,

tendencies towards increased risk taking in L2 where theoffensive jokes (eg Mainichi Shinbun (2017), an example

risks were judged to be either beneficial or harmful, but

in which the remark was actually made in both English andresults were not conclusive enough to confirm this forJapanese, may even be reported as news. The FLE

either risk type. It would appear that the reduced aversion

suggests speakers in their L2 may not appreciate the levelto risk is affected by the level of cognitive load. Amongof offence that some jokes or taboo words cause L1

learners who were judged to have the greatest increase

speakers.

in cognitive load, risk aversion was seen to decrease byor harmful. The

study

revealed

somethe largest amount (Benjamin et al, 2013), although thisstudy did not deal specifically with linguistic competence.

Study Abroad Programmes
The notion that stress increases when using aforeign language (Caldwell-Harris & Ayçiçegi-Dinn, 2009)is one with which many instructors will be familiar.
However, it does not appear to follow that these increased
stress levels lead language learners into being morecautious. In fact, a tendency has been observed towards
a lower aversion to risk as the cognitive load placed by theforeign language increases (Benjamin, Brown & Shapiro,
2013; Keysar et al, 2012). This may be because of theincrease in emotional distance established by a foreign
language (Hayakawa, Ka Ying Lau, Holtzmann, Costa
and Keysar, 2017). In other words, an L2 speaker would
appear to be more likely to participate in high-risk activities
than the same speaker when acting through L1. Studies
by Keysar et al (2012) and Hayakawa et al (2017) both
involved decisions related to betting. Engaging emotional
faculties is associated with fear, which leads to an

However, as low competence in a language may beequated with cognitive load, those going to study abroadwith lower levels of L2 competence are the ones thought
to be in greatest need of guidance. It is recommended
here that preparatory sessions take place, ideally instudents’ home country and/or L1 before setting off on the
study abroad programme, as well as in the destination
country, using the L2. They would be asked to consider anumber of decisions in which they are likely to be involved
during their time overseas. This would enable the learner
to take advantage of their potentially less cautious
disposition, without making decisions likely to be harmful.
Accidents and tragedies can happen and universities are
expectedtominimisethese.

Givingsufficient

opportunities for students to consider what actions theymight take in a variety of situations could contribute tomore careful responses during the period of overseas
study.

avoidance of risky activities, such as those taken inacademic writing (Cetin, Ilham & Yilmaz, 2014). If the FLE
were to have the effect of reducing fear by a greater

Conclusion

appeal to rational faculties, speakers may end up making

In conclusion, the FLE likely affects learner

different decisions. This may have implications for study

decisions in a number of areas. Research highlighted inabroad programmes. It is thought that currently aroundthis paper has shown it to play a part in hypothetical moral

80,000 students from Japan embark on overseas

decisions (Musty & Andrews, 2018) as well as in a number

programmes of study in a foreign language per yearof gambling decisions (Hayakawa et al, 2017; Keysar et(JAOS, 2017). Suppose a student is given to be hesitantal, 2012). Based on the findings of these studies, it has

to take part in high-risk activities at home. Different factors

beensuggested

that

there

could

be

far-ranging

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

232

implications for this phenomenon, such as when grading

Cathcart, T. (2013). The trolley problem, or would you throw

student papers, participating in Model United Nations,the fat guy off the bridge?: A philosophical conundrum.

considering humour in the classroom, and planning study

Workman Publishing.

abroad programmes. These areas of concern aredisparate enough to suggest that there are likely to be
many more areas in which the changing nature of mental
processing according to the language of input is likely toaffect judgement, both within the domain of language

Cetin, B., Ilhan, M., & Yilmaz, F. (2014). An Investigation of
the Relationship between the Fear of Receiving Negative
Criticism and of Taking Academic Risk through CanonicalCorrelation Analysis. Educational Sciences: Theory andPractice, 14(1), 146-158.

teaching and, inevitably, far beyond the walls of theclassroom. The current study does not go so far as to

Costa, A., Foucart, A., Hayakawa, S., Aparici, M., Apesteguia,

establish positive links between the input language andJ., Heafner, J., & Keysar, B. (2014). Your morals depend

the decisions being made. Therefore, it is suggested thaton language. PloS one, 9(4), e94842.

future publications examine these areas, as well assuggest other areas in which the effect is likely to have aFoot, P. (1967). The problem of abortion and the doctrine of
doubleeffect.

Onlineat:significant impact. Until such experiments can positively

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5976/ec350a14f445b04

demonstrate these connections, it is recommended here

76e183291316eceb644bc.pdf

that instructors acknowledge a likely difference inprocessing according to the language of input, and makeGao, C. (2016). Cultivating Students’ Critical Thinking Ability

allowances for learners in order to assist them inthrough Simplified Model United Nations Conference.

accessing both emotional and rational processing
mechanisms when operating in a foreign language.

English Language Teaching, 9(3), 68.
Greene, J. (2013). Moral tribes: Emotion, reason, and the gap
between us and them. Penguin.

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Author biographies
Nicholas Musty is teaching English as a foreign language in the Faculty of Global Communication at Kobe Gakuin
University. His research interests include critical thinking studies and gender. He also is active in Model United Nations
conferences, where he has been advising student journalists since 2015. Email nickmusty@yahoo.co.uk
Robert Andrews is a full-time lecturer in the Language Education Center of Ritsumeikan University teaching Business
Administration students. His research areas include academic writing, pragmatics, critical thinking and philosophy. Emailrar16142@fc.ritsumei.ac.jp

The 2019 PanSIG Journal234

29 Implementing Cooperative Board Games
Justin Parker Pool
Osaka Kyoiku University

Stephen Andrew Swann
Hibarigaoka Gakuen Junior & Senior High School

Games in language classrooms often prioritize language practice over gaming aspects. Despite adding
excitement, these are game-like activities (Ur, 2009), not authentic games. Authentic games (e.g.,
Monopoly, Clue) offer truer game-like experiences. However, the restricted roll-and-move mechanic
provides little intellectual engagement (Mayer & Harris, 2010). Recently, utilizing the more engaging
mechanics of modern board games has been proposed (Vaittinen, 2017), but there is a lack of detailed
concrete implementation examples. We will present task-based learning (TBL) implementations of themodern cooperative board game Forbidden Island in high school, university, and adult learning. Using our
experiences and student survey responses, we compare the contexts regarding the benefits of using thegame, the processes for creating engaging game-based TBL lessons, and the challenges implementation
presented. We aim to demonstrate cooperative games are a well-suited platform for TBL by showing they
are authentic, intellectually engaging, and provide ample opportunity for language use.

言語の授業で使うゲームは教育学上の側面より言語の練習が優先してる。楽しさに与える一方で、この活動は本物のゲームより、ゲームのような活動です(Ur, 2009)。モノポリーなどのゲームで、ゲームのような活動がより本物に近いものですがサイコロを転がしてトークンを動かす手順では、知的活動にはならない(Mayer & Harris, 2010)。近年、EFL 授業は、現代のゲームを使ってそれらのより確かな手順をうまく活用することが提案されている(Vaittinen, 2017)。しかしそれらの詳細で具体的な実行例は不十分である。Forbidden Island という現代の協力的ボードゲームの TBL を高校、大学、社会人学習の場面で実践した。私達の経験と生徒への調査結果を用いて、ゲームの利点、TBL 授業を作り出す過程、そして明らかになった課題に関して、場面間を比較する。私達の目的は、協力的ゲームはオーセンティックであり、知的な活動であり、多くの言語使用の機会を与えることを示し、TBL 法の台として適していると証明することである

This essay examines the implementation and benefits ofpower of games to capture the attention and interest of

integrating cooperative board games into the classroom

the players, characteristics that teachers often strive forin three separate learning contexts: high school, university,

when creating activities for the classroom. However, theand business classes. Humans have long used games as

power of games as a pedagogical tool extends beyond

a source of entertainment and have been credited as

simply diversion or entertainment.

having great social importance. According to the ancient
Greek historian, Herotodus, games were played as far
back as 2,500 years ago by the Lydians (2010). They
used sheep knuckles as dice and used games to stave off
an 18-year famine by diverting their focus. This shows the

The game used in this study, Forbidden Island,
is a cooperative board game. Most traditional board
games like Chess, Monopoly, The Game of Life, andOthello are competitive board games. The goal ofcompetitive board games is to defeat your opponents to
The 2019 PanSIG Journal

235

become the sole winner of the game. This is the mostThis means the players know where they will need to go

common type of board game. Recently, however,to get treasures after completing sets. However, there arecooperative board games have been gaining popularity.

random elements. Especially important is the island

These are games where the participants work together assinking mechanism, which is done through a shuffled decka team to achieve a common goal. In other words, there

of “flood cards” that are negatively affected by certain

is no single winner; participants win or lose together as a

cards hidden among the “treasure cards.” These effects

group. This promotes a group dynamic that encourages

include making flooded parts of the island more likely toteamwork and camaraderie.

sink and be removed from the game, and an overall
increase in the island’s sinking rate. Second, playing

Through teacher observations and student surveys, we
determined using cooperative games engages learners at
all ability levels in each of our contexts. It does thisproviding a challenging and motivating environment
where learners can use English in an authentic context,
notice gaps in their language abilities, and use English asa tool to complete a fun and engaging task.

games primarily focus students on meaning because theyuse meaningful language to perform a task rather thanengaging in language drills.

In Forbidden Island, thefocus on meaning revolves around players discussing thebest use of their limited actions based on the information
they have and what they can predict will happen later.
Next, games obviously have clear outcomes, for example,
in Forbidden Island, you win by escaping with all four

Cooperative Games and Task Based
Learning
Cooperative games such as Forbidden Island are an ideal
activity in a task-based learning curriculum. They fulfill thesix basic criteria for communicative tasks, as described byWillis and Willis:

treasure or you lose if the game ends in any other way,for example, a treasure being permanently lost because it
sank before it was recovered, or the team helicopter
sinking leaving the players stranded. As such, in a gameplaying context, success is always judged according tothe outcome. Winning is synonymous with being
successful. Similarly, in a game like Forbidden Island,

1.

Engagement of learners’ interest2.

A primary focus on meaning

3.

An outcome

4.

Success judged according to outcome

there is a clear focus on task completion as the players
want to win. Furthermore, the game has an island-sinking
mechanism acting like a timer, so players are especially
focused on completion before time runs out and the island
sinks completely. Finally, playing a board game is not only
related to a real-world activity, it is a real-world activity.
Furthermore, the skills developed through playing such

5.

A focus on completion.

6.

A relation to real-world activities. (2007: 12-14)

games, such as group discussion, consensus-building,and logical thinking relate usefully to many other realworld tasks. In this way, Vaittinen asserts modern tabletop

First, games clearly engage learner interest. They are

games are beneficial to language classes, especiallydefined as “an activity that one engages in for amusement

becauseor fun” (“game,” n.d.). Forbidden Island engages player

communication (2017: 186).

interest by being exciting.

they

encourage

authentic

goal-orientated

In the game, players aretreasure hunters attempting to recover four magicaltreasures from an island designed to start sinking if
anyone comes to it. It is also engaging because it is an
exciting combination of logic and chance. Players have ahigh amount of known information. For example, theyknow what treasure cards they each have.

Treasurecards are gained at the end of each player’s turn and must
be collected in sets to get the treasures. Also, the islandis made of tiles laid out randomly within a fixed pattern.

MethodThe game was implemented to improve teaching practice.
This study involved observing the success of integrating
Forbidden Island into three learning contexts: high school,
university,

andlessonsforbusinessmen

ataninternational corporation in Osaka, Japan. The threecontexts used largely similar methods to teach the game,with small variances in preparation, unit duration, andevaluation based on context. Observation methods were
The 2019 PanSIG Journal236

limited to notes made by the teachers (the authors) and a

prepare students to negotiate during the exam whichsurvey given to students after the game-playing units

character each person would play. While character

were complete.

selection is normally random, students were allowed tochoose for the final evaluation. The evaluation measured

School contexts
At the high school level, the game was usedwith 386 students divided into nine classes. Each classstudent awareness of the rules, their frequency inparticipating to discussions of strategy in English, and thecomprehensibility of the English used.

participated in the Forbidden Island unit for a total of nine
50-minute lessons each. The first five lessons wereWith adults, the game was used in four one-hourdevoted to pre-task activities. These activities included

lessons for a group of 17 male employees at a global

conversation activities about games, a jumbled text

corporation. The first lesson involved practice of various

reading to introduce the game’s context, reading activities

suggestion starters (e.g., you should..., If I were you, I

to set up the game, listening and watching tasks to learn

would..., etc.) and conversations about board games tothe basic rules, and further such tasks to learn moreprime learner interest. For homework, learners wrote

advanced rules. In the sixth lesson, the students engaged

about their favorite games in their journals and watched ain the task by playing the game for the entire class period.

YouTube video on how to play Forbidden Island. In the

The seventh lesson was a focus on form activity analyzing

next lesson, learners memorized pertinent vocabularya video on YouTube and the accompanying script.

words and quizzed each other before the backstory of the

Focuses included spoken grammar, use of conditionals,

game was explained via PowerPoint with visualand backchanneling. Students were then given anotherscaffolding. After a reading task to aid learners withlesson to play the game. Groups that finished weresetting up the game, they played a shortened version of

introduced to game variants, such as increased difficulty

the game to get become accustomed to it. For homework,or alternative island shapes. In the final lesson, students

learners watched a YouTube video of the game being

practiced and gave reports prepared for homework.

played and wrote a journal entry describing the game to a

These either summarized their final game and their use offriend. In the third lesson, groups were given fifty minutes

English in that game or gave an evaluation of the game-to play, after which learners had a five-minute reflective

based unit.

conversation. Due to a large amount of absences in theprevious class, learners played a full game the following

In the university classes, the game was usedwith a single class of 25 non-English majors at a national
university. An hour to 90 minutes was devoted to the unit

lesson as well. They concluded the unit by creating
original characters with special skills that could be playedin the game.

over the course of four lessons. The lesson was precededby a unit on giving suggestions to prime students with

Teacher notes and student survey

English that is valuable to complete the task. In the first

Teacher notes were made with attention given

lesson of the unit, students read the story outlining theto learner engagement and language used while engaged

context of the game, underlined unknown words andin the task. Observation focused on whether students

attempted to guess their meanings through context inwere playing the game and whether they were usinggroups. The rules were explained in a scaffolded

English.

PowerPoint and learners began to play to become

language being used in the groups, especially comparing

accustomed to the rules. The subsequent lesson involved

the playing before and after the focus-on-form activities.

an explanation of the final examination, which was an

Although the high school classes had more students, theevaluation of students’ ability to use English to play

author had a teaching assistant for those lessons. The

Forbidden Island. Next, groups were given one hour tosurvey first asked students to give comments reviewing

play. Students were encouraged, but not required to use

their game-playing performance in terms of clear andall English. In the following lesson, the students played thelogical expression in English, active participation, andgame for one more 50-minute session to prepare for thecooperation. Then it asked for assessment of the game-final exam. Afterwards, the students had a conversation

based unit in terms of improving English, discussion skills,

about the ideal characters to use in the game. This was toand logical thinking.

The teachers also listened carefully to the

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

237

Results

the game, some students felt it best to practice playing the

The teacher notes and student comments

game using English. Others, however, wanted to play inshowed the implementation to have been successful. The

Japanese to ensure they understood the game before

latter are presented in Figure 1, a word cloud showing thebeing evaluated playing in English. These students were

frequently used words (the more frequent the use, thewilling to put their daily participation score in peril for thelarger the font) from the survey responses that wassake of the higher-stakes evaluation.

generated via an online world cloud generator. While amore detailed presentation is beyond the scope of thisDiscussion

article, the word cloud provides a view of the concepts that
Despitethe students frequently wrote about.

differencesinlanguageusage,

implementation of the Forbidden Island unit was deemed
successful in each context. Based on teacher observationand student surveys, the activities were highly motivating
for nearly all students, accessible to a wide range oflanguage levels, fostered group discussion, and created
opportunities to practice English beyond the typical examoriented, grammar-focused experiences of many learners.
Based on common or striking student comments, thissection discusses how cooperative games interacted withthe concepts of intellectual engagement; collaborative
dialogue and collective scaffolding; noticing gaps;
authenticity, challenge, and motivation; fun; and flow.
(Note Japanese comments were translated by the authors,
Fig 1. Student Survey Word Cloudand some minor English errors were corrected.)

Learners in all three contexts seemed highly motivated tocomplete the task. The scope and difficulty of vocabulary
words required to understand the rules and participate inthis game were larger than typical units, but students inIntellectual engagement
One of the key aspects of this unit was it was intellectuallyengaging. One student wrote:each context were motivated by the challenge of playing

At first, I was surprised at playing the board game in

the game. Importantly, in each context students of alllessons because I thought it was not equal to study. Butlevels remained engaged throughout the task. In otherafter all, I changed my mind. It was good for us to playwords, lower-level students did not lose interest due to the

Forbidden Island because we had to read, speak, listen totask being too difficult and higher-level ones did not lose

English at the same time. It was difficult, but interesting

interest due to it being too simple.

too.

Regarding use of English, both the high schoolStudents frequently commented on the enjoyable mix ofand adult groups successfully engaged in playing thedifficulty and challenge. Another student explained, “wegame in English throughout the unit. The high school

lost the last game but compared to the previous games instudents were allowed to use Japanese if they had any

this one we talked lots and could choose the best way toquestions. Other than this exception, they played theproceed. As much as possible, I shared my ideas.” During

game without Japanese. The adult group did not use

games there were numerous times teammates had

Japanese during the game. The university students,

multiple potential ways to advance. This creates the

however, were very inconsistent in their use of English

challenge of discussing and choosing the best direction, aand Japanese. Some groups used English exclusively

challenge which many students asserted they enjoyed.

while others used mostly Japanese. This seemed to becaused be differing strategies for the evaluation. Since
students were being evaluated on using English to play
The 2019 PanSIG Journal

238

Collaborative dialogue collective scaffolding

as an impediment to their use with language learners,indifficulty, is in fact an advantage” (p. 45). One student

collaborative dialogue peers while playing the game.

expounded on the idea overcoming challenges brings

Collaborative Dialogue, defined by Swain (2000) as

pleasure: “Communicating my ideas and opinions to“dialogue in which speakers are engaged in problem

others was difficult, but I was always so happy in thatsolving and knowledge building” (p. 102), allows learners

moment where they understood what I was saying.”

to work together to speak at higher levels than they could

Pinner (2016), goes deeper into the processes ofindividually. Donato (1994) stated “learners are capable ofovercoming challenges in authentic materials. He states

providing guided support to their peers during L2“the authentic content, being more challenging, isinteractions in ways analogous to expert scaffolding” (p.

therefore more engaging. In other words, challenge

51). Some learners playing Forbidden Island noticed thisconnects authenticity totoo. One noted, “...because it was a game, when I couldn’t

acquisition.” Another student also connected the difficulty

use the right phrase, I could use simple words or gesturesof the activity to increased motivation: “I think this gameand then my group mates worked together to put it into full

was a little hard for us. At first, we had no clue what weEnglish.” Not only were students engaging in collaborative

were doing. However, we in my group worked hard

dialogue, but some were cognizant of it. Another student

together, and it was good because we came to really get

responded to the survey:

along.”

It was because everyone having the will to discuss inFun

Learners

also

described

participating

motivation

andlanguage

English and have big reactions raised the atmosphere.

Another reason playing cooperative games in

Whenever my speaking got stuck or I wasn’t sure what toclass increases motivation is they are fun. While personaldo, my group helped me, and I was happy.

tastes in games differ, no one disputes games are played
because they are fun. In all three contexts, the teachers

Cooperative games help to facilitate an atmosphere ofcollaborative dialogue and collective scaffolding.

Noticing gaps
Some students also reported playing Forbidden
Island allowed them to notice gaps in their linguisticknowledge. According to Schmidt and Frota (1986),
noticing occurs when language learners discover theirinterlanguage is different from the target language form.
One student commented on this specifically, saying “I
think that through Forbidden Island I have gotten used toEnglish a little. I thought my ability to explain logically

noted nearly all students were having fun playing thegame. Lazzaro (2009) describes four different types offun: hard fun, easy fun, altered states fun, and people
factor. Hard fun is the enjoyment of overcoming obstacles
or challenges. Easy fun involves exploration anddiscovery. Altered states fun is the term for the enjoyment
of encountering new experiences, playing with new
characters, and reacting to novel circumstances. Finally,
the people factor refers to the enjoyment of social
interaction, regardless of whether it is in competitive orcooperative contexts. It is our assertion playing Forbidden

wasn’t good enough, so I want to review things like

Island activated hard fun, altered states fun, and the

conjunctions.” Without being as specific as the student

people factor within the students. Many students also

quoted, other students wrote about increasing their
vocabulary or using a higher level of English to better
explain themselves.

commented on the fun and enjoyment they derived fromplaying this game. Figure 1 shows the words fun, enjoy,
and enjoyed were some of the most frequent words usedin student survey responses. One example of which was

Authenticity, challenge, and motivation
Playing cooperative games in class adds a highdegree of authenticity to the curriculum. Learners area student who said, “we were constantly in a state of
having fun trying to get our ideas across to groupmembers while understanding their ideas.”partaking in a game created by native speakers for anative-speaking audience. Learners rose to the challengeof playing this difficult game perhaps not in spite of the
difficulty but rather because of it. Mishan (2005) asserts“the very feature of authentic texts that is often perceived

Flow
Part of what makes cooperative games so
effective in the classroom is their ability to capture theattention and focus of students in a way lectures, practiceThe 2019 PanSIG Journal239

exercises, and even many communicative language tasks

Lazzaro, N. (2012). Why we play: Affect and the fun ofcannot. Such games have the ability to enter learners into

games. In J.A. Jacko (Ed.) The Human-ComputeraInteraction

state

of

flow,

definedbyNakamura

andHandbook:

Fundamentals,

Evolving

Csikszentmihalyi (2009) as “the experience of complete

Technologies, and Emerging Applications (pp. 725-

absorption

748). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

in

the

present

moment”

(p.

195).

Csikszentmihalyi (1975) specifically refers to games,
asserting they “are obvious flow activities” and that “playis the flow activity par excellence” (p. 37). Indeed, as we
observed the students playing Forbidden Island in all
three contexts, they were completely immersed in theMayer, B. & Harris, C. (2010). Libraries Got Game.
Chicago: American Library Association.
Mishan, F. (2005). Designing Authenticity Into Language
Learning Materials. Bristol, UK: Intellect.

game and deeply invested in the outcome.
McGonigal, J. (2011). Reality is Broken: Why Games
Make us Better and how they can Change the World.

Conclusion

New York: Penguin Books.

The exploration of these three implementations
show board games are recommended in secondary,

Pinner, R. S. (2016). Reconceptualising Authenticity for

tertiary, and adult-language contexts. In each of theseEnglishasa

Globalcontexts, learners are motivated by the intellectualMultilingual Matters.

Language.

Bristol,UK:

challenge and by the inherent fun of the game mechanics
and story. This increased motivation leads to heightened
engagement which helps stimulate second language

Schmidt, R. & Frota, S. (1986). Developing basic
conversational ability in a second language: A casestudy of an adult learner of Portuguese. In R. R. Day

acquisition.

(Ed.), Talking to learn: Conversation in second
language acquisition. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.

References
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1975). Beyond Boredom andAnxiety: Experiencing Flow in Work and Play. San

Swain, M. (2000). The output hypothesis and beyond:Mediating acquisition through collaborative dialogue.
In J.P. Lantolf (Ed.) Sociocultural Theory and Second

Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Language Learning. Oxford: OUP.
Donato, R. (1994). Collective scaffolding in second
language learning. In J.P. Lantolf & G. Appel (Eds.)
Vygotskian

Approaches

toSecondLanguageGame. (n.d.) Oxford Living Dictionaries. Retrieved from:https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/game
Herodotus (2010). The Histories (A.D. Godley, Trans).
Librorum.

Retrieved

Guide

for

Teachers.

Cambridge:

Cambridge

University Press.

Research (pp. 33-56). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

Pax

Ur, P. (2009). Grammar Practice Activities: A Practicalfrom:

Vattinen, J. (2018). Using modern tabletop games in yourEFL classroom. Pansig Journal 2017, 181-187.
Willis, D. & Willis, J. (2007). Doing Task-Based Teaching.
Oxford: OUP.

https://www.paxlibrorum.com/wpcontent/uploads/2019/03/histories_5by8.pdf

Author biography

Justin Parker Pool is a member of the Department of English Education at Osaka Kyoiku University. He has obtained amaster’s degree of applied linguistics from the University of Boston Massachusetts. His research interests include
authentic materials, journal writing, ICT, and the use of games in the classroom.
The 2019 PanSIG Journal

240

Stephen Andrew Swann is a member of the English department at Hibarigaoka Gakuen Junior & Senior High School, where
he is planning and implementing a six-year communicative course. His interests include syllabus design, task-basedteaching, motivation, and using games in the classroom.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal241

30 Cultivating a Willingness to Communicate: Practical Applications for
the Japanese Junior High School English Classroom
Benjamin Rentler
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
Through the administration of a quantitative survey, this study analyzed Japanese junior high school
student self-reported willingness to communicate attitudes on language activities often conducted in theclassroom. As WTC is a crucial component in foreign language speaking development, teachers in the
EFL classroom must endeavor to develop and encourage student WTC in order to cultivate proficient
speakers. Although changes are currently in place to change Japanese English education for 2020, at thetime of this study, a focus on passing entrance exams resulted in grammar-translation teaching styles toprepare students for examinations, not communicative language teaching. Student attitudes on language
learning activities from the survey provided the foundation for identifying teaching strategies thatspecifically targeted increasing WTC. The results indicated that CLT activities do, in fact, improve students’
self-reported WTC in English.

本研究では、日本人中学生に英語科の授業で一般的に行われる様々なアクティビティに対し、自身のWillingness to Communicate (WTC) を評価してもらい、その結果を分析した。外国語のスピーキング力の向上において、WTC は極めて重要であり、英語教員は学生の WTC を向上させるべく取り組むべきである。現在日本の英語教育は、2020 年に向け改革が進んでいるが、本調査を実施した当時は、高等教
育機関の入学試験に合格することに重きが置かれ、Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)ではなく、
文法訳読式の指導が一般的であった。本量的調査により、英語科授業のアクティビティに対する学生の反応が得られ、彼らの WTC を向上させるために最も有効な指導法を見出すための基礎を築くことができた。本調査の結果、CLT こそ学生の WTC を向上させる指導法であるということが確認できた。

This quantitative survey research investigation
focusedonidentifying

learner

attitudes

towards

approach for English. Therefore, English learners’ needs
are not being met.

communicative language teaching (CLT) practices todevelopteaching

strategies

that

improve

student

willingness to communicate (WTC) in the classroom.
WTC can be most easily defined as an eagerness to use
language when given the opportunity to do so (Bradley,2013). The concept of student WTC is particularly
important for teachers working abroad with English as aforeign language (EFL) as students’ opportunities to use
English are often found only within the classroom
environment. A common belief among EFL teachers isthat English should be taught using CLT techniques in
order

to

increase

motivation

andwillingness

tocommunicate. In the Japanese junior high school (JHS)

Previous research related to Japanese learner
WTC failed to provide useful, practical teaching methods
for the EFL classroom (Weaver, 2009). Therefore,
through the administration of a quantitative WTC opinion
survey, teaching strategies were identified that specificallytarget student WTC in English based on in-classroom
teaching activities presented to students in the survey;
thus, the results of this research project help to fill thegaps in current WTC research.

Research QuestionWhatlanguageteaching

activities

wouldJapanese junior high school students identify as having a

EFL classroom, however, traditional grammar-translationteaching

methods

remainthepreferredteaching

The 2019 PanSIG Journal242

positive impact on their self-reported WTC in the English

freely and inhibits the development of communication

classroom?

skills. From this research, a clearer connection can bemade between Japanese culture, English education, and

The Impact of Japanese Sociocultural
Factors on English Education

learning styles.

Recent historical and cultural research ofJapanese English education highlighted challenges

Willingness to Communicate Research andJapanese EFL Learners

currently facing the Japanese ministry of education. In

Willingness to communicate (WTC) has become

Japan, entering a prestigious university is the primary goal

a popular second language acquisition research topic toof secondary education (Bradley 2013; Hosoki, 2011;

study over the last 20 years. Within WTC research a

Maftoon & Ziafar, 2013; Yashima et al., 2004). Samimy

popular method of data analysis was the use of surveys

and Kobayashi (2004) compiled research on Japaneseor questionnaires to determine student opinions orlearner English motivational factors and discovered that

attitudes towards WTC, which provided the basis for using

as “the date for university exams draws nearer, students

a survey for this research (Chu, 2008; Iwamoto, 2014;

expect their teachers to focus on [entrance examination

Osterman, 2014; Watanabe, 2013; Yashima, 2002;

English] since the entrance exams will affect the future

Yashima et al., 2004). Within the literature on WTC andsuccess of their lives” (p. 251). However, separate studies

EFL learners, one common theme appeared: the need forshowed that this type of grammar-translation English

communicative in-class activities to improve student WTC.

teaching,

EnglishMany studies echoed this need (Ayedoun et al., 2015;

classrooms, constituted one of the largest demotivating

Aubrey, 2011; Bradley, 2013; Chu, 2008; Maftoon & Ziafar,

factors for students learning English (Falout, Elwood, &2013; Matsuoka et al., 2014; Osterman, 2014). However,Hood, 2009; Kikuchi, 2009). It is essential to note here,as Weaver argued, recent WTC research simply

however, that the Japanese ministry of education issuggested that there is a need for these kinds of activities

planning on amending the entrance examinations toin the classroom. He stated “most suggestions [forinclude communicative components from 2020. Althoughpedagogicalthis proposed change will surely cause alterations torecommendations of trying to create a classroom

junior high school English education in Japan in the future,environment that maximizes learners’ level of self-

at the time of this research (2016), entrance examinations

perceived competence while reducing their anxiety” (2009,

remained unchanged.

p. 9). Prior research has not clarified models of useful,commonly

usedinJapanesechanges]

have

been

limitedtopractical, implementable instructional approaches orJapanese English Education and its Impact
on Japanese Learning Styles
The reliance on grammar-translation teaching
techniques, therefore, significantly impacts Japanese

strategies that have been shown to be effective inenhancing student WTC. Thus, this study addressed thepreviously identified gaps and shortcomings found incurrent WTC research.

student learning styles. Analyzing Japanese student
learning style was the next step in understanding WTC in
English. One study conducted by Ken Hyland (1993)

Methodology

analyzed the connection between culture and learning
style among Japanese students and found “that theJapanese education system does not seem to value
independencenor

assigntasks…[where]classescreativeor

imaginative

DesignThe quantitative survey research data-collecting
phase of the study involved distributing a questionnaire toand3rd year junior high school Japanese EFL learners. There

students are expected to be passive” (p. 73). Hosoki’s

is a particular reason why surveys were administered to(2011) report of the history of Japanese education also

only the 3rd year students.

supports how this learning environment creates learners

distribution, this researcher had co-taught English to thewho have a deference to authority, passive learningsurvey participants for approximately two and a half years,

attitudes, humbleness, and a fear of making mistakes,

since they first started junior high school. The rational forwhich makes learners timid in expressing themselves

this choice came from a study where Japanese students

areteacher-centered

At the time of survey

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

243

who received instruction from a native speaker for two
years or more often favored group or communicative

Data Collection Instruments: Quantitative
Surveylearning (Hyland, 1993, p. 80). The question items on the

A Japanese translated survey was the tool usedsurvey itself identified if particular traditional andto obtain student opinions on WTC for this projectcommunicative language teaching activities did or did not(Appendix A). The question items were adapted andincrease student self-perceived WTC. These items weremodified from previous researchers’ concepts andmarked using a 1-5 Likert scale. Since many Likert scalequestionnaires to best fit this project’s Japanese juniorstyle WTC studies have been conducted before, thishigh school learning scenario (Matsuoka et al., 2014;

researcher adapted and modified concepts from other

Ockert, 2015). The activities chosen for survey items 1-12

research (Aubrey, 2011; Matsuoka et al., 2014; Ockert,

were designed with Japanese junior high school students

2015; Tomoko et al., 2002). To ensure student

in mind. These questions asked students to share theircomprehension of the survey items, however, they were

opinions and attitudes about their own WTC in English ontranslated into Japanese. Additionally, as researcha 1-5 scale. Students were presented with a teachingsuggested that allowing EFL students to self-report theiractivity and determined if the activity was enjoyable andbeliefs

self-perceived

could potentially increase their willingness to use English

communicative competence and WTC results in a positiveby choosing strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), neutral (3),relationship, this researcher believed that using a survey,

agree (4), and strongly agree (5). However, it should be

as a tool, would deliver accurate results (Weaver, 2009).

noted that survey item 6, recording my voice for

The results were then coded and categorized to informpronunciation and grammar practice, was not an activity

this researcher’s project goal, identifying specificallythat students had experienced at this point in this study

targeted communicative teaching strategies that increase

and may have impacted survey results for this item.

Japanese EFL learner WTC in English.

Student opinions interpreted from the survey results wereandattitudes

towardthen collected, scored, and analyzed to identify practical

Participants and Setting

and implementable teaching strategies that can be used

The survey was given to 3rd year junior highby English teachers in Japan.

school students at a school in northern Hyogo, Japan. The
population for this study was selected by purposive, orAnalysis Overview

judgment sampling, as this researcher was employed at

The data received from the Likert scale survey

the participating junior high school. Due to the fact that theresults was analyzed using an IBM’s statistical analysis

Japanese ministry of education mandated an English

program SPSS for conducting the descriptive analysis,

curriculum

throughout

internal consistency, and survey reliability results. Out ofJapanese junior high schools, this sample provided an

the 194 consent forms sent home to students’ guardians,

adequate representation of Japanese junior high school

86 were received. Therefore, a total of 86 (N=86) surveys

students throughout Japan. As the students being

were used in the data analysis.

that

is

ubiquitously

taughtsurveyed for this project were under 18, a consent form
was required. After receiving approval from the school toconduct the research, an IRB approved letter of consent(Appendix B & C) was translated and distributed to
students to take home for parents to sign. In total, 86(N=86) consent forms were received with parental
signatures and only those students were surveyed. Only
3rd year students were selected at the junior high schoolfor this project because at the time of the survey
distribution, they had over two years of formal English
education, as opposed to 1st or 2nd year students who had
less exposure to the English language classroom.

Descriptive Analysis Results
Table 1 displays the descriptive statistics for all
12 survey items that answers the research question
regarding students’ attitudes of self-perceived WTC on
activities deemed as traditional and communicative. The
students’ opinions, as displayed by Table 1, indicatedinteresting findings. The lowest M scores were Recording
voice (M = 2.67), Repeating from text (M = 3.05), andLecture (M = 3.05). The top three scores for M include
Small Group/Team Activities (M = 3.94), Problem solving
activities (M = 3.85), and Moving around the room
activities (M = 3.61). This data shows that students did, in

The 2019 PanSIG Journal244

fact, feel that communicative activities would increasedefinitive value (Osborne & Costello, 2004, p. 1). Bartlett

their WTC in English.

and Kline (1981), however, suggested that any survey
with a sample of n of 50 or above is adequate for a PCA

Table 1:analysis (Bartlett & Kline as cited in Osborne & Costello,

The Descriptive Statistics for the Twelve Teaching

2004, p. 1). Therefore, for the sake of this analysis, a

Activities (N = 86)

sample size of 86 was enough to perform the PCA

VariableM

SD

Teaching Activities

displayed in Table 2.

Survey Reliability Analysis Results

1.

Pair work

3.47

.90

The survey reliability analysis section details the2.

Small group/ team

3.94

.92

results of the KMO Bartlett’s test and the PCA. The datafrom these results answered the question regarding theactivities
3.

English Presentations

3.15

.96

4.

Moving around the room

3.61

1.12

activities

reliability of the survey to measure student opinions basedon the two categories of communicative and traditional
activities. Before a PCA can be conducted, a KMO and
Bartlett’s test of Sphericity was required to determine if a5.

Problem solving activities

3.85

.89

6.

Recording voice

2.67

.79

Therefore, the KMO and Bartlett’s test results are

7.

Lecture

3.04

1.04

explained first. According to statistical researcher Henry

8.

Listening exercises

3.34

.92

Kaiser, a KMO factor of .8 and above indicates a

9.

Repeating from text

3.05

.93

10. Translation exercises

3.37

.98

value of the 12 teaching activities showed a level of .806,

11. Writing exercises

3.23

.94

meaning that a PCA factor analysis was useful for this

12. Grammar drills with

3.15

.91

data set sample. Additionally, when looking at the

workbook
Note. Answered on a 5-point Likert scale in which 1= the activity feels that it would strongly not
motivate or increase their WTC and a 5 = theactivity feels that it would strongly motivate orincrease their WTC

PCA can be adequately performed on the data set.

“meritorious,” or second-best level, for PCA ability (Kaiser,
1974, p. 35). The results of the KMO sampling adequacy

Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity, a data set is significant if thep value is less than .05. These data showed a highly
significant Bartlett measure of p < 0.001 further confirmingthat factor analysis was appropriate for these data. The
KMO and

Bartlett’s

test provided

thenecessaryconfirmation to ensure that a PCA can be utilized
effectively.

Internal Consistency Results
When conducting Likert scale survey research,

Table 2 shows the results of a PCA of the 12

it is necessary to determine if a survey tool has internalteaching activity survey items. The data in the PCA

consistency. This type of analysis measures if items on

indicates the degree in which a variable item loaded to thethe survey are similar to each other in content. The

teaching

internal consistency reliability of the scales measured

communicative. The PCA concretely displays where

using Cronbach’s alpha for this survey of 12 items was αvariables clustered according to the two factors.

= .828, thus indicating a high reliability among the items

Conducting a PCA with smaller sample sizes requires a(George and Mallery as cited in Gliem, J. & Gliem, R.,loading cutoff to determine where the item values will fall2003).

into which factor. For doing a PCA with N – sizes less thanThe survey’s ability to measure two separate

dimensions of communicative and traditional teachingactivities was confirmed using a Principal Component
Analysis (statistics.laerd.com, 2016). With regards tohaving an adequate sample size for conducting a PCA,

categories

factorsoftraditional

or

200, researcher Stevens suggested that the cutoff todetermine factors should be .40; therefore, a levelnear .40 was used to determine the factors for this dataset (Stevens as cited in Ockert, 2015, p. 15). This PCA
factor analysis shows that two factors were significant. As
expected, the variables clustered into 2 factor groups.

research showed that there was no agreed upon

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

245

Table 2
The Rotated Component Matrix from a PCA Factor Analysis of the Twelve Teaching Activities (N = 86)

Variable

Factor 1

Factor 2

Traditional

Communicative

1. Pair work.790

2. Small group/ team activities.810

3. English Presentations

.374

.612

4. Moving around the room act.

.718

5. Problem solving activities.790

6. Recording voice.398

7. Lecture.832

8. Listening exercises (CD/DVD).832

9. Repeating from text

.849

10. Translation exercises.753

11. Writing exercises.800

12. Grammar drills with workbook.821

Eigenvalues

4.78

2.937

% Total rotated variance explained per factor

36.47924.474Note. Principal Component Analysis with Varimax rotation and Kaiser Normalization with 60.954 % varianceexplained.

The factors were distinguished by which

revealed that the survey was composed of two subscales:

variables loaded to what side. As previously mentioned,

traditional teaching activities and communicative teachingitems 1-7 were to be considered communicative language

activities. This was a desired outcome for this projectteaching activities while 7-12 were to be considered

because the researcher was interested in student

traditional

activities.

opinions on two differing types of teaching activities in the

Therefore, factor 1 was labeled traditional and factor 2classroom; therefore, this survey can be said to have a

was labeled as communicative. In order to better interpret

relatively strong reliability in garnering student opinions

the loadings for each value, an absolute value was set atbased on the two factors of traditional and communicative

suppressing values less than 0.3. Variable 6, recording

teaching activities.

grammar-translation

based

voice for grammar and pronunciation practice, shows a
low loading to the communicative language factor andtherefore might want to be removed or altered for further

Discussion

research. Additionally, variable 3, English presentations,

The survey utilized in this study helped explore

had a slight cross-loading of .374 on the traditional

students’ attitudes and opinions about what teachingactivities factor that also may need to be altered or

activities they believed would increase or improve theirinvestigated further. Excluding variable 6, recording voice

WTC in English in the classroom. The results from thisfor grammar and pronunciation practice, these data

study, however, should not lead readers to assume that

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

246

students participating in the CLT activities would have any

repeating from text (M = 3.05), and lecture (M = 3.05). The

measurable improvements in their WTC; this main goal of

traditional activities of lecture and repeating from the text

this research was to garner study attitudes and opinions

low score results also echoed previously identified

onresearcher

research. Lecture and Repeating from the text styleacknowledges that changes are currently in place tothoseactivities.

Additionally,thisteaching activities require a passive role from the students.

include speaking components on university entrance

Therefore, students could have scored these activities low

examinations, however, this research focused solely on

due to a desire to take part in activities that are

English instruction at the Japanese JHS level.

communicative, require active participation, and thosethat do not focus so intensely on grammar (Hyland, 1993,

Student attitudes on teaching activities
Results from the survey revealed that students
did, in fact, identify that communicative language activities
would increase their motivation and willingness to use
English in the classroom. In particular, the top meanscores for teaching activities that students believed would
increase their WTC were the communicative activities ofsmall group/team activities (M = 3.94), problem solving
activities (M = 3.85), and moving around the room
activities (M = 3.61). This finding was consistent withpreviously identified research. Research indicated thatJapanese students desired more communicative, grouporientated, and free-task type activities in the classroom(Hyland, 1993, p. 80; Osterman, 2014, p. 6; Terauchi,
1995 & Davies, 2006 as cited in Bradley, 2006, p. 26). The
students’ attitudes towards the teaching activities in thisstudy aligned with the sentiments of students indicated inp. 80; Osterman, 2014, p. 6). An additional interesting
discovery was the surprisingly low score received forrecording voice for pronunciation practice. Although thisteaching activity was considered to be communicative innature, students identified this score as the teachingactivity that would least motivate their WTC in theclassroom. There is a possible reason why recording
voice scored so much lower than all the other items. Outof all the twelve teaching activities listed in the survey,
recording voice was the only teaching activity students did
not experience in class. Therefore, it could be assumed
that students were reluctant to indicate a more positive
opinion about their WTC in English on an activity they
have never previously done in class. For future WTC
research on student opinions of teaching activities,
researchers may want to only include activities thatstudents have already experienced in class.

previous studies; that is, an inclination to believe that
communicative tasks would increase their willingness tocommunicate in English in the classroom. Additionally, aImplications, Limitations and Considerations
for further research

factor that could have influenced students’ opinions wasThis research study contributed to an aspect ofthe duration of time the survey participants were co-taught

WTC research that was rarely explored, identifying

English by this researcher. As previously mentioned,

Japanese junior high students’ attitudes towards their self-

according Hyland (1993), Japanese students whoreported WTC and practical teaching activities in thereceived instruction from a native speaker for two years or

English language classroom. As previous researchmore were more inclined to favor group or communicative

lamented, the current status of current WTC failed tolearning styles. It is also important to note that thisprovide practical teaching strategies that aimed at

researcher often used the top three activities students

improving students WTC in English in the classroom

identified as motivating their WTC in the classroom.

(Weaver, 2009). Although this research was unable to

Therefore, because the survey participants had been

make definitive claims on particular teaching methods thattaught from the same English teacher for over two years

could, in fact, improve students’ WTC in the classroom, itat the time of survey administration, there could be aundeniably exposed the attitudes students have towards

connection in students believing that small group/teamtheir self-perceived WTC to communicate. As WTC in

activities (M = 3.94), problem solving activities (M = 3.85),

English is a crucial component in the journey towards

and moving around the room activities (M = 3.61) would

proficiency, the results of student attitudes provide

increase their WTC in the classroom.

teachers with invaluable information that can inform theirlanguage instruction decisions in ways that improve

The three lowest scored teaching activities wererecording voice for pronunciation practice (M = 2.67),

students’ motivation to use English in the classroom.
Teachers must recognize the importance of fostering

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

247

students

WTC

through

effective

implementation

ofcommunicative activities in the classroom.

Chu, H. N. R. (2008). Shyness and EFL Learning in
Taiwan: A study of shy and non-shy students’ use of
strategies, foreign language anxiety, motivation, andThere are several limitations in this study that
could be addressed and improved in future WTC research.

willingness to communicate. Unpublished doctoral
dissertation, the University of Texas at Austin.

One limitation of this study that requires improvement was
the sample size. Due to a variety of factors, only one junior

Davies, A. (2006). What do learners really want from theirhigh school in Japan was surveyed. Therefore, due to theEFLcourse?

ELT

Journal,small sample size, the results of this survey cannot behttps://doi.org/10.1093/elt/cci076

60(1),

3–12.

generalized for a larger Japanese population. Future
WTC research involving junior high school students
should consider including a larger sample size of juniorhigh schools throughout all of Japan. Some other
unaddressed issues that would improve future WTC
research include finding answers to the following
questions: Why do students identify one teaching strategy
that would increase their WTC over another? Does having
a native English speaker in the classroom have an
influence on students’ WTC in English in the classroom?

Falout, J., Elwood, J., & Hood, M. (2009). Demotivation:
Affective states and learning outcomes. System, 37,
403-417.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2009.03.004
Gay, L. R, Mills, G. E., & Airsian, P. (2012). Educational
research: Competencies for analysis and applications.
Pearson. One Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New
Jersey 07458.

Which teaching activities show measurable improvement

Gliem, J. and Gliem, R. (2003). Calculating, interpreting,in students’ WTC? Does actual student experience withand reporting Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient

the activities on the survey make a difference on their self-

for Likert-type scales. Paper presented at the 2003

reported WTC? One way to answer these questions could

Midwest Research to Practice Conference in Adult,

be to conduct a mixed-methods approach that utilizes aContinuing and Community Education, the Ohio State

before and after assessment of students’ WTC along with

University, Columbus, Ohio.

interviews of students. As discovered in Osterman’s(2014) study, research that included interviews of

Hosoki, Y . (2011). English Language Education in Japan:

participants added the human element, which wasTransitions and Challenges 九州国際大学国際関係学

necessary for truly deciphering student WTC needs. As

論集, 6(1), 199-215.

WTC research continues to move forward, it is the hopeof this researcher that the results of this study could
provide English teachers and curriculum developers withinsight into the types of in-class teaching activities that
could positively influence student WTC in the English
language classroom.

Hyland, K. (1993). Culture and learning: A study of thelearning style preferences of Japanese students.
RELC

Journal,24(2),

69–87.

https://doi.org/10.1177/003368829302400204
Iwamoto, N. (2014). Influences of L2 affective variables
on willingness to communicate in English. Toyo

References
Aubrey, S. (2011). Facilitating interaction in East AsianEFL classrooms: Increasing students' willingness tocommunicate. Language Education in Asia, 2(2), 237–
245.
Ayedoun, E., Hayashi, Y., & Seta, K. (2015). A
Conversational Agent to Encourage Willingness to
Communicate in the Context of English as a Foreign
Language. Procedia Computer Science, 60, 14331442. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2015.08.219

Human Sciences Research Institute Bulletin The
Bulletin Of The Institute Of Human Sciences, Toyo
University, (16), 1-11.
Kaiser, M. F. (1974). An index of factorial simplicity.
Pychometrika,

39,

31-36.

https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02291575
Kikuchi, K., & Browne, C. (2009). English educational
policy for high schools in Japan: Ideals vs. reality.
RELC

Journal,40,

172-191.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688209105865

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Maftoon, P., & Ziafar, M. (2013). Effective factors inReid, J. (1990). The dirty laundry of ESL survey research.

interactions within Japanese EFL classrooms. The

TESOL

Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies,

https://doi.org/10.2307/3586913

IssuesandIdeas,

86(2),

Quarterly,

24(2),

323-338.

74-79.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00098655.2012.748641
Matsuoka, R., Matsumoto, K., Poole, G., & Matsuoka, M.

Samimy, K. K., & Kobayashi, C. (2004). Toward thedevelopmentofcompetence:

Theoreticalinterculturalcommunicative

andpedagogical(2014). Japanese university students’ willingness to

implications for Japanese English teachers. JALT

communicate in English: The serendipitous effect ofJournal, 26(2), 245-261.

oral presentations. Journal of Pan-Pacific Association
Statics.laerd.com.

of Applied Linguistics, 18(1), 193-218.

correlation.
Ockert, D. (2015) A placement level study: are students
motivated by traditional or communicative activities?.

(2016)

Pearsonproduct-moment

Retrievedfromhttps://statistics.laerd.com/statistical-guides/pearsoncorrelation-coefficient-statistical-guide.php

OnCue Journal, 8(1), 3-34.
Watanabe, M. (2013). Willingness to communicate andOsborne, J. W., & Costello, A. B. (2004). Sample size andsubject to item ratio in principal components analysis.

Japanese high school English learners. JALT Journal,
35, 153-172.

Practical assessment, research & evaluation, 9(11), p.
Weaver, C. (2009). Trends in research on willingness to

1-9.

communicate. In A. M. Stoke (Ed.), JALT2008
Osterman, G. L. (2014). Experiences of Japanese

Conference Proceedings. Tokyo: JALT.

university students' willingness to speak English inclass: A multiple case study. Northcentral University,Northhttps://doi.org/10.1177/2158244014543779

Carolina.

Yashima, T., Zenuk‐Nishide, L., & Shimizu, K. (2004). The
influence of attitudes and affect on willingness tocommunicate and second language communication.
Language learning, 54(1), 119-152.

Author biography

Benjamin Rentler has been working in English education for over six years. After finishing his M.Ed. in TESOL, he
moved to Beppu, Japan, to teach English at Ritsumeikan APU. His research interests include willingness tocommunicate, CBLT, and independent learning. Benjamin’s current project: Technology acceptance and learning
management systems, and translanguaging as a pedagogical tool in mixed language classrooms.Email:rentler@apu.ac.jp

The 2019 PanSIG Journal249

Appendix A: WTC Opinion Survey
This is a survey to get your opinions about activities in the English classroom and English in Japan and your life. Section
one will ask for your opinion about English activities in the classroom. Please circle the number that best matches youropinion.
このアンケートは、英語についての生徒のみなさんの意見を聞くために行うものです。設問１は、英語の授業における活動（アクティビティ）についての質問が書かれています。それぞれの質問について、最も当てはまる番号に○をしてください。
Section 1
What classroom activities are enjoyable and motivating for you to use English?
設問１
英語の授業において、どんな活動が「楽しい」「やる気が出る」と感じますか？
1. 全くそう感じない 2.そう感じない 3.どちらでもない

4. そう感じる 5.とてもそう感じる

1. Pair work
ペアでの練習

1

2

3

4

5

2. Small group/ team activities
小グループ／チームでの練習

1

2

3

4

5

3. Doing English presentations and assessing English ability
英語で発表をし、お互いを評価する活動

1

2

3

4

5

4. Activities where I am moving around the room and talking withothers.
教室を歩き回って会話を行う活動

1

2

3

4

5

5. Problem solving activities
問題解決型の活動
例: 複数のヒントの英文から答えを当てるゲーム等

1

2

3

4

5

6. Recording my voice for pronunciation and grammar practice
発音や文法練習のために、声を録音する活動

1

2

3

4

5

7. Lecture (listen to the teacher and stay in my seat)
席に座って聞く授業

1

2

3

4

5

8. Listening exercises (using a CD or DVD)
CDやDVDを使った聞く練習（リスニング練習）

1

2

3

4

5

9. Repeating practice from text
先生やCDに続いて教科書を読む練習（リピート練習）

1

2

3

4

5

10. Translation exercises
翻訳練習(英語から日本語、日本語から英語に訳す）

1

2

3

4

5

11. Writing exercises
書く練習（ライティング練習）

1

2

3

4

5

12. Grammar drills/practice with workbooks.
ワーク等を用いての文法練習

1

2

3

4

5

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

250

Appendix B: Consent Letter
RESEARCH SUBJECT INFORMATION AND CONSENT FORMPURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this study is to gain student opinions about English instruction in the classroom and will be used tofurther inform the instruction of foreign English teachers in Japan.
Your child is being asked to participate in this study because she is taking English classes at Toyooka Minami JuniorHigh School.
DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AND YOUR [YOUR CHILD’S] INVOLVEMENT
If you decide to allow your child to be in this research study, you will be asked to sign this consent form after you have
had all your questions answered and understand what will happen to your child.
In this study, your child will answer 15 questions based on English classroom instructional activities and measure how
their motivation to speak English will be affected. The process will take only 15 minutes at the beginning of English
class.
For example: Working in pairs increases my motivation to use English in the classroom.
1

2

3

4

5

RISKS AND DISCOMFORTS
There are no risks or discomforts involved. Your child will simply be filling out a short survey at the beginning of English
class.
BENEFITS TO YOU AND OTHERS
You may not get any direct benefit from this study, but, the information we learn from this study may help English
teachers improve instruction in the Japanese English classroom.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Potentially identifiable information about your child will consist of surveys, however their name is not required ornecessary to be on the survey itself. Data is being collected only for research purposes.
Data will be identified by only by class numbers, not names, and stored separately from the research data in a secured
locked area. All personal consent files will be kept for a period of 2-3 months and discarded after the research iscomplete. Access to parent consent forms and student surveys will be limited to study personnel only.
VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION AND WITHDRAWAL
You do not have to participate in this study. If you choose to participate, you may stop at any time without any penalty.
You may also choose not to answer particular questions that are asked in the study.
QUESTIONS
If you have any questions, complaints, or concerns about your participation in this research, contact:
Mr. Benjamin Rentler: Assistant Language Teacher # 090-8123-3180
and/orMr. Kawasaki: JHS 3rd Year English Teacher # 080-4495-6919
The researcher/study staff named above is the best person(s) to call for questions about your participation in this study.
If you have any general questions about your rights as a participant in this or any other research, you may contact:

DSU IRB Committee

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

251

DeSales University
2755 Station Ave
Center Valley, PA 18034
Telephone: (610) 282-1100

Contact this number to ask general questions, to obtain information or offer input, and to express concerns orcomplaints about research. You may also call this number if you cannot reach the research team or if you wish to talkwith someone else. General information about participation in research studies can also be found at
http://www.desales.edu/irb
I have been given the chance to read this permission form. I understand the information about this study. Questions that I wanted to
ask about the study have been answered. My signature says that I am willing for my child to participate in this study. I will receive a
copy of the consent form once I have agreed to participate.

Name of Child_______________________________________________PRINTED Name of Parent or Legal Guardian_______________________________________________ ________________
Parent or Legal Guardian Signature

Date________________________________________________PRINTED Name of Person Conducting Informed Consent
Discussion / Witness________________________________________________ ________________
Signature of Person Conducting Informed Consent

Date

Discussion / Witness________________________________________________ ________________
Principal Investigator Signature (if different from above)

Date

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

252

Appendix C: Japanese Translated Consent Letter
平成 28 年 9 月 26 日
保護者の皆様へ
豊岡市立豊岡南中学校
ALT ベンジャミン・レントラー
英語教授法研究の調査へのご協力のお願い
英語科の ALT（アシスタントランゲージティーチャー、外国語指導助手）として授業を担当しておりますベンジャミ
ン・レントラーと申します。本校で英語科の授業を担当する傍ら、外国人教諭による授業の質と効果を高めるべく、英語科教授法の研究を行っており、この度研究の一環として、3 年生を対象にしたアンケート調査を実施したいと考えております。つきましては、保護者の皆様にアンケート調査の内容をご理解いただき、お子様のアンケート調査への参加に同意いただきたく、ご連絡させていただいた次第です。
本アンケート調査の目的は、外国人教諭による英語の授業に関する生徒の意見を集め、またこの情報を日本にいる外国人教諭と共有し、授業の向上につなげることにあります。
アンケートは、授業体系（ペアでの練習、グループでの練習等）に関する設問で構成され、それぞれの授業体系が生徒の「英語で話したい」という意欲にどう影響するかを測るものです。所要時間は 10 分で、授業の初めに行います。
例）ペアでの練習は、英語で話しやすい。
1

2

3

4

5 （1：全くそう思わない・・・5：とてもそう思う）

このアンケートは匿名で行われ、得られた情報は、本研究の関係者のみが閲覧でき、英語教授法の研究の目的にのみ使用されます。
以上をご理解いただき、お子様がアンケート調査に参加することに同意いただける場合は、以下にご署名いただき、お子様を通じて、10/11（火）までに各担任にご提出いただくようお願いいたします。
ご意見、ご質問等がございましたら、豊岡南中学校（0796-22-2546）までご連絡ください。
担当：ベンジャミン・レントラー
調査に関するより一般的なご質問、ご意見に関しては、以下の連絡先にもお問い合わせいただけます。
デサレス大学（DeSales University）
DSU 倫理審査委員会
住所：2755 Station Ave, Center Valley, PA 18034
電話番号: (610) 282-1100--------------------------------- 切り取り線---------------------------------------------------------------

お子様のお名前＿＿組＿＿番＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

日付＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

保護者のお名前＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

日付＿＿＿＿＿＿＿The 2019 PanSIG Journal253

31 Desirable Difficulties in Reading via Typographic Disfluency and L2
Learners
Cameron Romney
Doshisha University
Research with L1 readers has shown that using an unfamiliar typeface creates reading disfluency andincreases student performance (Diemand-Yauman, Oppenheimer, & Vaughan (2010). However, Romney(2018b) has suggested typographic disfluency negatively impacts L2 learners and further predicts thatusing the same typeface as their coursebooks should increase reading performance. To test these two
assumptions, 68 students in three intermediate level general English classes at a Japanese university
engaged in an exploratory reading assignment. Students were given one of three handouts at random:
one with the coursebook typeface, one with a equally common typeface, and one with a disfluent typeface.
Results show that students reading text using the same typeface as the coursebook had the fastest timecompletion and highest comprehension rates. Students engaged in disfluent reading had the slowest timecompletion and the lowest comprehension rates. This study argues that disfluent typefaces negatively
impact L2 learners.

第一言語で何かを読む場合, 見慣れない書体だと読み辛さが生じ, その結果生徒の成績が向上することを示す研究結果(Diemand-Yauman, Oppenheimer, & Vaughan (2010)が存在する。しかし, Romney (2018b)は見慣れない書体は第二言語学習者に悪影響を及ぼし, 教科書で使用されている書体を使用した場合に読解の成績が向上すると提言する。この 2 点の仮説を証明するため, 日本の大学において一般英語の授業の中級クラス３つで学ぶ計 68 名の生徒が調査目的の読解課題に取り組んだ。生徒には 3 種類の課題の中からランダムに選ばれた 1 種類が与えられた。それらは教科書と同じ書体, 教科書の書体と同等の一般的書
体, そして見慣れない書体で作成された。調査を実施したところ, 教科書と同じ書体の課題に取り組んだ
生徒たちが一番早く課題を終え, かつその理解度も一番高いという結果を示した。見慣れない書体の課
題に取り組んだ生徒たちは課題を終えるのが一番遅く理解度も一番低いという結果となった。そのため,見慣れない書体は第二言語学習者に悪影響を及ぼすと言う説は妥当だろう。

Reading fluency is one of the core components

influences visual decoding. If the text on the page isof reading and is often neglected in L2 instruction (Grabedifficult to make out, reading fluency suffers. This paper& Stoller, 2001). Reading fluency is a reader’s ability to

explores the intersection between visual decoding via

quickly and easily make sense of a text (Anderson, 2014).

typography and reading fluency for L2 learners.

It is influenced by a number of factors including thereader’s

L2linguistic

anddiscourse

knowledge,

background knowledge on the topic, and cognitive
abilities (Ediger, 2001). However, reading fluency is
primarily determined by word recognition, which consistsof both visual decoding and semantic retrieval (Han,2015). Typography is the visual representation of
language on the page (Drucker, 1984) and highly

Typeface Familiarity and Reading(dis)Fluency
A long held tenant of typography is that thetypeface that promotes the best reading fluency is thetypeface that is most familiar to the reader (Beier & Larson,
2013; Felici, 2012; Garfield, 2011; Romney, 2018a). As
typographer Zuzana Licko (1990) put it, “readers readbest what they read most” (p. 12). For L2 learners, it has

The 2019 PanSIG Journal254been suggested that the typeface with the most familiarity,

In contrast to these disfluent reading research studies,and therefore the best fluency, is the typeface found in the

many reading scholars suggest that anything thatstudent’s textbook (Romney, 2018a).

increases a readers cognitive load, for example using an
unfamiliar typeface, will not only decrease their reading

While experimental research comparing the efficacy ofdifferent typefaces is often problematic (Beier, 2012;
Nedeljković, Puškarević, Banjanin, & Pintier, 2013)
numerous studies have shown that unfamiliar typefaces
are less fluently read then familiar ones (see for example,
Slattery & Rayner, 2010 or Danna, Massendari, Furnari,fluency but also lower their comprehension of the text
(Cotter, 2012; Gasser, Boeke, Haffernan, & Tan, 2005;
Rasinski & Samuels, 2011). Romney (2018b) has
suggested that the L2 itself is enough of a cognitive loadthat no additional benefit can be gained by disfluent
reading and may in fact interfere with comprehension.

& Ducrot, 2018) strongly implying that typeface familiarity
is directly connected to reading fluency.

Finally, a number of studies of L2 extensive reading haveshown

On the other hand, Diemand-Yauman, Oppenheimer, andVaughan (2010) demonstrated that disfluent reading withreading materials that are artificially made difficult bymeans of an unfamiliar, and therefore challenging-to-read

that

gains

in

reading

fluency

are

often

accompanied by gains in comprehension by L2 readers(see Iwahori 2008 for a summary of selected extensive
reading research); therefore, it seems more likely thatdisfluent reading will have an adverse effect on L2 readers.

typeface, as well as small text sizes and poor reproduction,
can benefit students. They found that students did better

Aims of the Studyon recall and comprehension tests when reading
passages were made difficult to read. They theorized that

This study seeks to test Romney’s (2018a &their results were due to desirable difficulties (Bjork, 1994)

2018b) assertions that 1) students will perform the best onthat caused the students to process the material morea reading task if the reading passage uses the same

deeply, more abstractly, and more carefully. Similar

typeface as the students’ textbook and 2) that students

results were also reported by Weltman and Eakin (2014).

will have decreased reading fluency, and therefore
perform worse on comprehension exercises, if a disfluent

Katzir, Hershko, and Halamish (2013) had mixed results

typeface is used.

with students reading texts made disfluent, not bychanging the typeface but manipulating the font size, line

The following research questions are proposed: 1) Do

spacing, and line length. In their two studies older

students perform better on reading tasks when the most

students in the 5th grade had higher comprehension

familiar typeface (i.e. the textbook typeface) is used? 2)scores with disfluent reading passages, but younger

Are students negatively impacted by a disfluent typeface?

students in the 2nd grade did not.

The following answers to these questions are anticipated:
1) Students will perform better on reading tasks that use

While these studies make a strong argument thatteachers should at least consider making their teachingmaterials difficult to read, the results of these studies are
not necessarily applicable to EFL teachers in Japan. The
studiesbyDiemand-Yauman,

Oppenheimer

and,Vaughan (2010) and Weltman and Eakin (2014) were

the same typeface as the textbook; and 2) students will be
negatively impacted by a disfluent typeface. Stated as null
hypotheses: 1) There will be no difference in student
performance on reading tasks with different typefaces; 2)students will not be negatively impacted by a disfluent
typeface.

done in the United States with university undergraduatesand high school students in advanced placement andhonors courses. While not indicated for either study,
presumably the research participants were likely to all
have been native speakers of English. The research by

Methodology
Threefirst-year,

intermediatelevel(approximately CEFR high B1 to low B2), general English

Katzir, Hershko, and Halamish (2013) was done in Israel
and neither the language of the experiment nor the
language ability (i.e. native speakers) were reported.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

255

Figure 1. The first line of the reading passage for all three handouts. Text from World English 2 Online Workbook, by K. L.
Johannsen, 2015, Boston, MA: National Geographic Learning.

courses at a private university in western Japan wereexperimental group read a handout using the disfluent

chosen for the study. In total, the three courses had an

typeface Lucida Blackletter.

enrollment of 80 students with 68 students participating inthe study. All three courses had the same teacher,followed the same curriculum, and used the sametextbook, World English 2 (Chase & Johannsen, 2015).
The investigation was conducted during the seventh weekof the second semester of the academic year at which
point the students had been using the coursebook for 22

Care was taken to ensure that all three handouts had as
similar as possible typographic settings so that the only
significant difference between the handouts was thetypeface. All handouts had a similar line length andleading (line spacing). Figure 1 shows the first line of thereading passage as it appeared in the three handouts; thetop line is Helvetica, the middle line is Times New Roman

weeks.

and the bottom line is Lucida Blackletter.

Materials
Included with the coursebook was an online
workbook that had a number of different extra practiceactivities that followed both the theme and linguistic
content of each chapter. Among these activities was an
extra reading assignment. Students would download
a .pdf file of a reading passage and then answer
comprehension questions online. The extra reading
passage for Unit 9: Life in the Past was chosen and

The point size of all three typefaces was adjusted toensure all three had a similar x-height (the measurementof the lowercase x from the baseline to the top of the letter)and therefore a similar letter size. Figure 2 shows thethree typefaces point sizes adjusted to make them appear
similar in size when printed. On the left is Helvetica at 11
point, in the middle is Times New Roman at 12 point, andon the right is Lucida Blackletter at 11 point.

adapted. Instead of reading online, the .pdf file wasprinted, students were given a handout, and answered the
publisher provided comprehension questions on paper
during class.
The reading passage was 346 words long, had a Flesch
Reading Ease score of 61.7 which is approximately an 8th
grade reading level (Flesch, 1979) or CEFR B2(Linguapress, n.d.).
Three versions of the reading passage were created. First,

Figure 2. Adjusted point size of the three typefaces tomatch x-heights.

students in the control group read the passage as
prepared by the publisher. This handout used the same

Procedure

typeface as the coursebook and was identified as

In all three courses students were given one ofHelvetica. In order to test Hypotheses 1, students in thethe three handouts at random. They were instructed to

first experimental group read a handout whose typeface

take as much time as they needed to read the article andwas changed to Times New Roman, a different typeface

answer the five comprehension questions. When finished,from the coursebook, but still a common typeface. Finally,

they were instructed to bring their handout to the front of

to test Hypotheses 2, the students in the second

the class and give it to the teacher who noted the amountof time the student took to complete the assignment. After

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

256

the class was over, the comprehension questions wereIn order to test validity between the three groups, two one-

graded.
way ANOVA tables were generated using the online
generator at statpages.info (Pezzullo, n.d.). The results ofResults

the ANOVA, one for time performance and one for

Of the 68 students who participated in the study,

comprehension scores are listed in Table 2.

22 each were randomly assigned to the Control andExperimental 2 groups and 24 to the Experimental 1

Discussion

group.

At first glance, the results seem to answer both
Between the three groups, students in the Control groupresearch questions and contradict both null hypotheseswith the handout that used the same typeface as theas predicted. Students in the Control group had the best

textbook (i.e. the handout with the most familiar typeface)time performance and best comprehension scores on

had the fastest time to completion (i.e. the highest reading

average and students in the Experimental 2 group had thefluency) and the highest comprehension scores on

slowest time performance and the lowest comprehension

average. Students in the Experimental 2 group using thescores. Students in the Experimental 1 group fell between

handout with a disfluent typeface had the slowest times

the other two. On average, students reading in thefor completion (i.e. the worse reading fluency) and the

textbook typeface read the article approximately 16%

lowest comprehension scores. Table 1 lists all of thefaster and scored approximately 10% better on thedescriptive statistics.

comprehension questions compared to the students
reading in the disfluent typeface.
Control
Helvetican = 22

Experimental 1
Times New Romann = 24

Experimental 2
Lucida Blacklettern = 22

Time

Score

Time

Score

Time

Score

Mean

7:21

3.64

7:27

3.58

8:28

3.27

Max

9:21

5

9:29

5

10:29

5

Min

4:10

1

6:11

0

7:03

0

Med

7:33

4

7:37

3

8:24

3

SD

0.00080654

1.04860245

0.00060493

1.21285386

0.00071330

1.31590339

Table 1 Descriptive Statistics for Time and Comprehension Scores

Time Performance
Source of Variation

Sum of Squaresd.f.

VarianceF

p-value

Between Groups

16.94312

8.47168.19320.0007

Within Groups

67.207965

1.0340Total

84.151067

Comprehension Scores
Source of Variation

Sum of Squaresd.f.

VarianceF

p-value

Between Groups

1.748520.87430.60920.5469Within Groups

93.287965

1.4352

Total

95.0364

67

Table 2 One-way ANOVA Tables for Time and Comprehension Scores.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal257

It is also noteworthy that the students in the Control groupmore than four months.” The correct answer, “about 4also had the lowest maximum (9:21), minimum (4:10) andmonths,” is a nearly word for word quote from the text.

median (7:33) completion times. In addition, the students
in the Experimental 2 group had the highest maximum(10:29), minimum (7:03) and median (8:24) completion
times. By every measure, students reading the article withthe same typeface as the textbook had the highest
reading fluency and students reading the article printed in

As discussed by Nation (2009), these type of questions
are problematic. If the student is not allowed to look at the
text, then they are tests of memory and if the student isallowed to look at the text, they are questions of only being
able to locate the answer. Neither are true tests of a
student’s comprehension of the reading passage. The

a disfluent typeface had the lowest.

questions provided by the publisher did not test the
The comprehension scores tell a slightly different story.

students’ comprehension, but simply how well they could

Students in the Control group had the highest mean (3.64),

find the answers in the text. This may account for the highminimum (1) and median (4) scores. Students in the

p-value; the results are not meaningful because theExperimental 2 group had that lowest mean (3.27) andquestions were not reliable measures of comprehension.

minimum (0), but some students in all three groups
managed a perfect score of five. In fact, while the mean
comprehension score was the highest for the Control
group, only three students scored a perfect 5. In theExperimental 1 group seven students had a perfect scoreof 5 and in the Experimental 2 group four students had aperfect score of 5. So while the mean average score washigher, more students in both experimental groups scoreda perfect 5 than in the Control group. This might beevidence for the disfluent hypothesis that when students
take more time, they do better on comprehension tests, atFinally, while Diemand-Yauman, Oppenheimer, andVaughan (2010) had impressive results with students
improved performance with disfluent reading, theseresults have not been generally reproducible (Kühl & Eitel,2016) and as noted by Bjork and Yue (2016) the factors
effecting comprehension andmemory of learningmaterials are most likely after perceptual encoding, that is,after the physical act of reading, and may have nothing to
do with typeface at all. The findings from this study appear
to be in line with other research doubting the desirable
difficulty effects of disfluent reading. It seems that there isleast on an individual basis.

no benefit for EFL materials to be printed in a disfluent
However, are these values statistically significant? The p-

typeface and it is therefore recommended that EFL

values from the ANOVAs indicate that while the time

textbooks publishers and teacher-writers producing theirperformance results are statistically significant with a p-

own learning materials should use a standard and familiar

value of 0.0007 (less then 0.05), the difference intypeface.

comprehension scores with a p-value of 0.5469, issignificantly greater than 0.05 andtherefore

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of as hide-and-seek questions where the answer is hiddenin the text and the students simply have to seek it out. For
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was: “How long did it take the colonists to arrive to
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Katzir, T., Hershko, S., & Halamish, V. (2013). The effectof font size on reading comprehension on second and4fifth grade children: Bigger is not always better. PLoS
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Author biography

Cameron Romney has taught ESL/EFL in both the United States and Japan for over 20 years. He holds an MA in Applied
Linguistics from the University of Colorado at Denver and a graduate certificate in Instructional Design from the Universityof Wisconsin Stout. His primary research interest is how the visual elements of language learning materials contribute to,or detract from, learning. In 2020 he was an assistant professor in the Global Communications Faculty of Doshisha
University in Kyoto, Japan. Email: cameron.romney@gmail.com

The 2019 PanSIG Journal260

32 Self-Generated Worksheets to Support Extended Oral Interaction
Jonathan Rowberry
Sojo University

David Ostman
Kumamoto Gakuen University

Christopher Ott
Sojo University
Research suggests that “collaborative dialogue” is highly conducive to second language acquisition (Swain,
2000). Moreover, collaborative tasks in which responsibility for learning outcomes is shared among
participants can have a positive effect on student motivation (Dornyei, 2001). A collaborative learning
activity based on student-generated worksheets was introduced into English Communication classes for
non-English major students at a Japanese university. The activity is designed to facilitate sustained
student-led interactions in English of up to 80 minutes in duration and is readily adaptable according to
topic and student level. This paper describes the learning materials and classroom procedures employed
while considering some of the activity’s potential benefits in terms of both language development andlearner motivation. In order to illuminate the discussion, data are presented in the form of comments
extracted from written reflections in which students evaluated their performance and identified aspects of
the activity that they found rewarding or challenging.

多くの研究では「協調的会話」は第二言語習得に非常に役立つと指摘している(Swain, 2000)。さらに、学習結果に対する責任を学習者間で共有する協調的活動は学生の学習動機に好影響を与えることがある(Dornyei, 2001)。学生が作成するワークシートを基にした協調的学習活動を日本の大学で英語専攻ではない学生達対象の英語コミュニケーションの授業に導入した。この活動は学生主体の８０分間の英語での会話継続の促進を目的としており、学生の習熟度や題目に合わせて容易に調節することができる。本論文では、この活動の言語育成と学習動機の両方における潜在的利益を考慮し、使用した学習教材と授業の手順を説明する。本論文の主旨を明確にするため、データは学生が書いた学習結果の自己評価、満
足度や難易度など活動に関して認知した側面の振り返りからコメントを抜粋したものを提示している。

“Collaborative dialogue”, in which learners work

learning tasks can reduce anxiety by distributing

together to “solve linguistic problems and/or co-constructresponsibility for learning outcomes among peers

language or knowledge about language” (Swain, Brooks,(Dornyei, 2001) and can support the three constructs of& Tocalli-Beller, 2002, p.171), has been claimed to beautonomy, competence, and relatedness, claimed in self-

highly conducive to second language development. In

determination theory to be key to nurturing learnercollaborative dialogue, language is both a tool for

motivation (Ryan & Deci, 2000).

communication and an object of study. This combinationof the social and the cognitive is posited to be an importanttrigger for interlanguage development (Swain, 2006) andcan enable learners to perform beyond their current levelof competence (Swain, 2000). Moreover, collaborative

A collaborative learning activity based on studentgenerated

worksheets,

hereafter

calledLeader’s

Worksheets (Wall Minami, 2016), was introduced at aJapanese university to scaffold extended oral interaction

The 2019 PanSIG Journal261

in English between language learner peers. The activity

distinct tasks. The tasks are linked by the topic but

occupies a three-hour learning cycle within the fourth andprogress from easy and structured towards more

final semester of a compulsory English Communication

demanding and less structured allowing learners to build

course for non-English major students. The students

confidence as they work through the worksheet.

range from pre-A1 to B1 proficiency levels of the Common
European Framework of Reference for Languages(Council of Europe, 2001), heavily clustered around thehigher A1 and lower A2 levels, and their motivation
towards studying English is highly variable. In other words,
they are fairly representative of Japanese university
students outside of public or elite private universities.

The first task, Word Quiz, is comprised of hints for key
vocabulary items related to the topic. The leaders read thehints, and the group members try to guess the keywords.
This is an ice-breaking task, which provides students witha fun, structured start to the activity. When creating itemsin the first class, leaders are encouraged to use words
previously studied in class in order to review target words

Each cycle consists of two class periods. In the first classand to increase the likelihood of members being able tostudents create worksheets using a pre-printed template

identify them correctly. As learners work together to writewith four sections corresponding to four different tasks: aand test their hints, they discover that creating good items

vocabulary quiz, simple survey questions, a short

can be extremely challenging. For the task in the

personal narrative, and open discussion questions. Thensubsequent class to be fun and engaging, hints must use

in the subsequent class students use these worksheets toclear, simple, and concise language and must be neither

facilitate English conversations in small groups lasting 15

too easy nor too hard to guess.

to 20 minutes per student leader, or up to 80 minutes intotal, without direct teacher intervention. Both theworksheetcreationconversations

areprocessandcollaborative,thesubsequent

student-centeredactivities with potential for gains in both language
development and learner motivation. The worksheet
serves a dual function. In the first class students
collaborate to create it, then in the second they use it asa tool to scaffold interactions with new interlocutors. In
both cases, it mediates communication and facilitateslearning within the zone of proximal development(Vygotsky, 1978), allowing novice peers working together
in one class to become expert peers directing the learningin the next.

The second section on the worksheet, Quick Questions,consists of closed survey-type questions that require themembers to answer simple yes/no questions. This task
facilitates simple, minimal stress interaction whileproviding an opportunity for students to learn about theirclassmates. As the title suggests, Quick Questions neednot take long, but leaders are encouraged to ask the groupmembers follow-up questions to elicit more detailed
responses where appropriate.
The third section on the worksheet is My Story. This is a
two-minute personal narrative that the leader recounts to
the group members. The story should relate to theworksheet topic and it may be fictional or non-fictional.
The leaders are not permitted to read a pre-written story,

The Leader’s Worksheet Activity
Leader's Worksheet tasks

but they are allowed six keywords, noted on the Leader’sWorksheet, that can be used as prompts to help themstructure their stories. As they listen, group members are

Leader’s Worksheets serve to review andencouraged to use active listening strategies, such as

consolidate topics encountered during the previous threeverbal cues, mirroring, and paraphrasing, that they mightsemesters, as well as to help students prepare for a final

have studied in class. Then, when the leader has finishedspeaking test. In the first class, each group is assigned a

the narrative, the group members have an opportunity to

topic then, in the second class, each member of the initialmake comments and ask questions.

group leads a series of oral interaction tasks related totheir topic in a new group. An example Leader’sWorksheet is provided in Appendix A. The worksheet
consists of four sections: Word Quiz, Quick Questions, My
Story, and Discussion Questions, corresponding to four

For the final section on the worksheet, Discussion
Questions, students prepare open-ended discussion
prompts which serve to facilitate longer conversations.
This is the culmination of the Leader’s Worksheet activity,
and after the previous three tasks, students should be

The 2019 PanSIG Journal262

sufficiently prepared to speak on the topic for longer andallocated 15 to 20 minutes to lead a conversation using

in a less structured manner. The Discussion Question

their worksheet. The leader is tasked with maintaining

prompts serve as a springboard for follow-up questions

interaction, helping all participants stay engaged in theand even for branching off onto other topics. All groupconversation, and ensuring that participants speak inmembers are responsible for maintaining a flowing

English. If there is a breakdown in communication or

discussion, but the leader moderates the activity, fortrouble getting through an activity, the leaders areexample by inviting reticent members to speak or by

responsible for getting things back on track. For example,

feeding in a new question if the talk starts to dry up. Thisduring the Word Quiz activity, if members are not able totask occupies all the remaining time allocated for thatguess the target words, the leader might offer additional

topic. Therefore, groups that rush through the previous

hints, such as providing the first letter of the word. At thethree tasks will need to talk for considerably longer thanend of the allotted time for each topic another student

those who spent more time on Word Quiz, Quicktakes over the role of leader with a new topic. With four

Questions, and My Story. The Discussion Questions task

students in each group, the entire activity typically lasts foralso closely resembles the end-of-semester speaking test

60 to 80 minutes, after which learners are asked to self-and so provides an opportunity to practice conversationassess their performance against pre-specified learning

strategies, such as showing interest, interjecting, using

objectives, such as ability to sustain communication in

fillers, and self-correcting, that will serve students well in

English or ability to overcome communication problems,

the test.

and to write a short reflection in Japanese. A sample selfassessment/reflection form is provided in Appendix C.

Preparing the worksheets
One drawback to the Leader’s Worksheet
activity is its complexity. As well as explaining the four
different task types on the worksheets, the teacher must
demonstrate the various groupings and classroom

Language Development and Learner
Motivation
The

Leader’s

Worksheet

activity

gains

both

offersprocedures that will be utilized over the two classes. If

significant

learners lack a clear overview of what the interaction tasks

development and learner motivation. At various points

will entail, they may be unable to create effective items forthroughout the two Leader’s Worksheet classes there are

their

or

opportunities for learners to engage in collaborative

demotivated. Therefore, before students work on theirdialogue. As students work together to design hints for theown Leader’s Worksheet it is important to provide themWord Quiz task, and then again in the subsequent classwith an example and use this to demonstrate the activity

as they quiz their new group members on the words, they(see Appendix B). This can be done by having the teacher

are using English to communicate about English. The

act as the leader and the whole class as members, or it

Word Quiz task also generates informative feedback – if

can be done in groups, with each student taking a turn togroup members are unable to guess the word it is likely

lead one of the four tasks on the worksheet. After thethat either the prompt was poorly constructed, or thedemonstration, students then work in groups of four tovocabulary selected was too difficult. This kind ofcreate their own worksheets based on the topic they havefeedback serves as a useful way of checking that the

been assigned. Each student is given a blank worksheet,language used falls within participants’ zones of proximal

and they work collaboratively to complete them, thoughdevelopment. Successful enactment of the Word Quizthey may prefer to work independently on the My Story

component and the other Leader’s Worksheet tasks

section.

demands that learners co-adapt their linguistic resources

worksheets

and

may

becomeconfusedpotentialforinlanguagein the moment according to the exergies at hand, ideal

Conducting extended interaction tasks
based on Leader’s Worksheets

conditions for second language development (LarsenFreeman, 2010).

In the following class new groups of four areformed with each student taking their Leader’s Worksheet

There is also good reason to expect that Leader’swith them to their new group. One student in each group

Worksheets would enhance learner motivation. Self-

is chosen to be the first group leader and they are

determination theory (SDT) is an established macro

The 2019 PanSIG Journal263

theory of motivation which has been extensively

support structure independent of the teacher and helps toresearched in language education including Japanese

reduce face threats should things break down in the

EFL contexts (see, for example, Agawa & Takeuchi,

subsequent oral interaction tasks.

2016). SDT claims that intrinsic motivation is supported by
the three constructs of autonomy, competence, andrelatedness (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Autonomy-supportive
teaching involves providing learners with opportunities totake the initiative, as well as providing activities thatlearners find personally meaningful (Jang, Reeve & Deci,
2010). Word Quiz, Quiz Questions and Discussion
Questions are highly learner-centered tasks insofar as
learners work with peers to frame their own questions andprompts, while My Story enables them to personalize thetopic and speak in their own voice. Consequently, it
seems likely that the Leader’s Worksheets activity
promotes autonomy for most learners. However, the factthat choice of topic is determined by program content
rather than by the learners themselves might serve as a

However, one caveat when considering the impact ofLeader’s Worksheets on learner motivation is thepossibility that some students may experience difficulties
which cause confusion, frustration, or disappointment.
This might be because they do not perceive or relate to
the learning objectives, they do not understand task
procedures, they have difficulty creating suitable task
items, or they feel unable to successfully manage the oralinteraction tasks. Under such circumstances Leader’sWorksheets are unlikely to reap the potential rewards
described above and may even have a harmful effect on
language learning motivation in general. With this in mind
we now turn to investigation of the feedback provided bylearners following Leader’s Worksheet activities.

constraint on autonomy. A possible extension to theactivity, therefore, might be a further round of Leader’sWorksheets based on a topic of students’ own choosing,such as a sport they play, a comic book series they read,or a local event they are involved with. However, students
may need some support in selecting a suitable topic asdifficult or unfamiliar topics are unlikely to generate
successful items.

Learner Feedback
Feedback

fromlearners

about

Leader’s

Worksheets came from two sources. Firstly, a set ofquestions about Leader’s Worksheets was included in the
feedback survey taken by all students at the end of thesemester. Secondly, an analysis was conducted oflearner reflections submitted at the end of each two-class

Leading and participating in extended conversations may

cycle in which students self-evaluated their performance

also have a positive effect on learners’ perception of theirand identified aspects of the activity they found rewarding

L2 competence. Prior to these classes, students mightor challenging (Appendix C).

never have participated in English interactions of such asustained duration despite studying English for at least six
years, so completing the task successfully may result in astrong sense of achievement. In addition, as a physicalartifact the Leader’s Worksheet provides a clear structureand sense of purpose, which also serves to enhancefeelings of competence (Jang, et al., 2010).
Finally, it has been posited that relatedness is vital for

Feedback Survey Data
Five items about Leader’s Worksheets were
included in the end-of-semester student feedback survey.
A total of 666 students responded to these items and their
responses are shown in Table 1. Items were designed toelicit responses to Leader’s Worksheets in five areas:
enjoyment(1),

usefulness(2),

engagement(3),competence (4), and importance (5). The items wereensuring learners feel comfortable in the classroom

presented in the form of a 6-point Likert scale. The

environment and are thereby able to engage in thepercentages reported Table 1 contrast overall agreement

exploratory and creative behaviors that are associated(strongly agree, agree, and slightly agree) with overallwith increased agency and motivation (Noels, 2013). The

disagreement (slightly disagree, disagree, and strongly

Leader’s Worksheet activity contributes to relatedness

disagree).

insofar as both the worksheet creation and thesubsequent discussion tasks are highly collaborative withresponsibility for learning outcomes shared between
peers. Collaboration during worksheet creation provides a

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

264

Table 1: Student Feedback Survey Responses
Agree

1. Enjoyed Leader’s

93.5%

Worksheet activity was enjoyable, while 54 indicated an

DisagreWeighted

intention to continue studying or to study more,eAveragesuggesting that the activity had motivational benefits, at

6.5%

3.73

want to develop my ability to speak English with moreWorksheets
2. Leader’s Worksheets wereleast for some students. One learner said, “From now, I

93.7%

6.3%

3.74

96.4%

3.6%

3.84

86.0%

14.0%

3.48

95.8%

4.2%

3.81

usefulfluency,” while another claimed that the activity “motivatedme to study English harder.” Encouragingly, several of the

3. I tried very hard during LWclasses
4. I was satisfied with myown performance and formulate specific goals for future
study. For example, one said, “I want to improve my ability

performance
5. LW are an importantcomments indicate that students were able to assess theircomponent of this course

to ask questions,” while another commented, “Because ofthis class, I now want to improve my vocabulary.”

It is clear from the responses that the activity was

On the other hand, some students clearly experienced

evaluated positively overall in terms of enjoyment anddifficulties with Leader’s Worksheets. For example, 68

usefulness. 93.5% of respondents stated that theyreflections mentioned inability to communicate meaning,

enjoyed Leader’s Worksheets, and 93.7% felt it was

42 mentioned difficulty with continuing the conversation,

useful. These results are encouraging and suggest that

22 indicated problems with understanding interlocutors,

for most students, Leader’s Worksheets had a positive

and 18 mentioned having had to resort to Japanese.

impact on motivation. In terms of engagement, the vast

However, it is not possible to infer from the data whether

majority of respondents felt they applied themselves to thethese difficulties had a negative, positive, or neutral effectactivity with 96.4% claiming that they had done their best.

on learner motivation. Concerning components of the

Perhaps unsurprisingly given the low proficiency level ofworksheet that subjects perceived to be difficult, thesome students, 14% of the respondents were unsatisfied

responses overwhelmingly indicate that the My Story

with their performance, but a significant majority (86%)

component presented the greatest challenge. One

expressed satisfaction suggesting that, for these students

student said, “I tried to tell My Story with long sentences,at least, the activity served to enhance feelings ofbut I made many grammatical mistakes,” while anothercompetence. There was also a high degree of consensus

said, “Telling My Story using only six keywords was thethat the activity was worthwhile with 95.8% of respondents

hardest part of this activity.” In total, 18 reflections citedagreeing that it is an important component of the program.

difficulty with My Story while just one indicated difficultywith Word Quiz, and none mentioned difficulties with Quiz

Learner Reflections

Questions or Discussion Questions.

Permission was obtained to analyze the learningreflections of students in a sample of four classes, over

Implications

two cycles of Leader’s Worksheets. In total, 210

Responses from both the feedback survey andresponses were analyzed from 103 students to gain

learner reflections indicate that most learners found theinsight into learner interaction with the activity. The

activity enjoyable and useful. However, it is important tofeedback was completed in Japanese, after which it wasnote that some students experienced difficulties andtranslated with the assistance of Japanese colleagues

frustrations as they interacted with Leader’s Discussions

and coded by one of the authors.

tasks. With these learners in mind, we offer somerecommendations for teachers who are considering

Analysis of the 210 written reflections showed that many

adopting similar activities in their own contexts.

students (91 unique instances) associated Leader’sWorksheets with positive learning outcomes. For example,

Firstly, it is important to tailor activities and procedures

one student claimed, “I believe that my ability to converse

according to students’ English communication abilities.

in English improved,” while another said, “I was happy that

Learner reflections indicated that My Story is particularly

I was able to ask specific follow-up questions.” Many

challenging, so for lower level classes it may be necessaryreflections (41 instances) also indicated that the Leader’sto reduce the time required, or even remove the activity

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

265

completely. The level of challenge can also be adjusted

and learner reflections indicating that they enjoyed theby altering timings. For example, while higher level

activity and found it beneficial to their language studies islearners might cope well in the leader role for 20 minutes

encouraging and suggests that the activity has beenor longer, for lower level learners it may be better to limit

largely successful in meeting its goals. However,

the time to 10 minutes or less. Secondly, students are

significant adaptations may be needed in order tolikely to benefit from explicit attention to communication

maximize the learning benefits for learners in otherstrategies leading up to the oral interaction tasks. Raisingcontexts, as well as for different groups of learners inawareness of strategies such as active listening, use ofsimilar contexts.

fillers, paraphrasing, and asking for clarification helps
learners to effectively sustain communication. Thirdly,
explicit objectives, possibly expressed in the form of can-References

do statements, help focus learners on the goals of theAgawa, T. & Takeuchi, O. (2016). Validating Self-

activity and provide criteria against which they can judge
their own performance

duringself-evaluation andreflection. It is also helpful to remind students that while
the Leader’s Worksheets serve as a guide to scaffold
interaction, the ultimate goal is simply to keep talking in
English. Therefore, students should not be discouraged
from deviating from the worksheet by going off on

Determination Theory in the Japanese EFL Context:
Relationship between Innate Needs and Motivation.
Asian EFL Journal. 18, 7-33.
Council of Europe. (2001). Common European frameworkof reference for languages: Learning, teaching,assessment. Cambridge, U.K: Press Syndicate of the
University of Cambridge.

tangents, provided this serves to sustain communication.
Fourthly, since student absence and uneven group sizes
can make it difficult to implement the activity, it is helpful

Dornyei, Z. (2001). Teaching and Researching Motivation.
Harlow, U.K.: Longman.

for the teacher to prepare spare worksheets on each topic
which can be supplied to groups as needed. Finally,

Jang. H., Reeve, J. & Deci, E. L. (2010) Engaging

having students record their interaction may help them

students in learning activities: It is not autonomy-

stay on task during the activity and can subsequently

support or structure but autonomy-support andprovide data for them to analyze, for example, bystructure. Journal of Educational Psychology 102,transcribing and reworking portions of the recording.

588-600.

Moreover, with appropriate consent, such recordings
could also serve as a rich source of data for research
investigations into students’ language production anddevelopment.

Larsen-Freeman, D. (2010). Having and doing: Learning
fromacomplexity

Seedhouse,

S.

theoryWalsh&perspective.

In

C.

(Eds.),

Jenks

P.

Conceptualising learning in applied linguistics (pp.
52–68). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

Conclusions
The Leader’s Worksheet activity provides asupportive

frameworkforstudents

toengageincollaborative dialogue working within their zones ofproximal development. While Leader’s Worksheets

Noels, K. (2013). Learning Japanese; learning English:
Promoting motivation through autonomy, competence
and relatedness. In M.T. Apple. D. Da Silva and T.
Fellner (Eds.) Language Learning Motivation in Japan(pp. 15-34). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.

impose a clear and controlled task structure, the activity
also facilitates free and spontaneous language production

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination

which may begin to resemble real world communication

theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social

beyond the classroom. The Leader’s Worksheet activity

development, and well-being. American Psychologist

also serves to redistribute responsibility for learning from55, 68-78.

teacher to learner, an advantageous outcome for an
English communication class in which student-initiated

Swain, M., Brooks, L. & Tocalli-Beller, A. (2002) Peer-and student-sustained talk are primary course goals.

peer dialogue as means of second language learning.

Feedback from learners in the form of both survey data

Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 22, 171–85.

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266

Swain, M. (2000). The output hypothesis and beyond:Mediating acquisition through collaborative dialogue.

contribution of Halliday and Vygotsky (pp. 95–108).
London: Continuum.

In Lantolf, J. (Ed.), Sociocultural theory and second
language learning (97-114). Oxford, U.K.: Oxford

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The developmentof higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA:

University Press.

Harvard University Press.
Swain, M. (2006). Languaging, agency and collaborationin advanced second language proficiency. In H.
Byrnes (Ed.), Advanced language learning: The

Wall Minami, F. (2016). In the Driver’s Seat. Nagoya,Japan: Perceptia Press.

Acknowledgements
The rationale for the leader’s discussions, as well as the associated worksheets and classroom procedures, were
presented by Fiona Wall Minami at the 2016 Sojo University Teaching and Learning Forum. We are very grateful to Fionafor sharing her ideas with us. Any teachers interested in exploring the activities on their own contexts are advised toconsult her book ‘In the Driver’s Seat’ published by Perceptia Press. We would also like to thank Yoko Kinoshita andKayoko Horai for their assistance with translation.

Author biographies

Jonathan Rowberry teaches in the Sojo International Learning Center at Sojo University. He has published articles on
diverse topics including materials development, learner autonomy, listening assessment, and active learning. His current
research focuses on language learner agency as a complex adaptive system. jrowberry@m.sojo-u.ac.jp
David Ostman teaches in the Foreign Languages Department at Kumamoto Gakuen University. His primary research
involves the use of short, narrative fiction to facilitate intercultural understanding. Recent work involves the utilization of
flash fiction and immigrant biography to aid learner engagement in empathic perspective-taking from the standpoint ofother cultures. dostman@kumagaku.ac.jp
Christopher Ott teaches in the Sojo International Learning Center at Sojo University. He holds an MA in TESOL fromSan Francisco State University. His research interests include developing fun and authentic communicative activities toincrease student motivation. cott@m.sojo-u.ac.jp

The 2019 PanSIG Journal267

33 The Psychometric Properties of the Brief Kambara Locus of Control
Scale
Michael James Rupp
Tokai University

Ian Maxwell Isemonger
Kumamoto University
The paper represents the culmination of a line of research (Rupp, 2016a; Rupp, 2016b; Rupp, 2017a;
Rupp, 2017b; Rupp & Isemonger, 2018) into the psychometric properties of the Kambara Locus of Control
Scale (K-LoCS; 1982, 1987). Rupp & Isemonger (2018) submitted an abridged ten-item version of the
instrument to an a priori test using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) as the method, producing results
which were a marked improvement on previous versions of the instrument, but still not entirely satisfactory.
In this study (N = 330), some of these ten items were revised to reduce earlier-reported non-normal
distributions, and the data was again submitted to CFA with results which were again not entirely
satisfactory. However, post-hoc revision of the model based on theoretical reasoning, and involving theremoval of two items, did result in a model with exemplary fit to the dimensionality of the dataset.

本論文は鎌原氏のローカス・オフ・コントロール（統制の所在）尺度(K-LoCS; 1982,1987) の心理測定
分析に関する一連の研究(Rupp, 2016a; Rupp, 2016b; Rupp, 2017a; Rupp, 2017b; Rupp & Isemonger,2018)の研究成果である。Rupp & Isemonger (2018)が 10 項目の短縮型の尺度を先見的な調査データを使用して確認的因子分析(CFA)を行い、その結果は以前のバージョンよりもはるかに改善されたものの、少し未達成な指示があった。本研究(N=330)では以前に報告された非正規分布の減少することを目的にし、調査項目の微調整を行い、再度 CFA 検証行った。結果は不十分なところがまだ残って、その後、論理的な理由に基づいて、二つの項目を削除することによって、本尺度が著しくに想定されたモデルと収集したデータの次元性に適合となった。

The study reported in this paper is part of anof the continuum would tend to blame external factors forongoing research trajectory (Rupp 2016a, 2016b, 2017a,

the outcomes in their lives. For example, if a student were2017b, Rupp & Isemonger, 2018) aiming to overcome

to do poorly on a test, one who had a higher I-LoC

psychometric weaknesses in an instrument measuring

orientation might think that he or she did not study hard

locus of control (LoC), the Kambara Locus of Control

enough, whereas a student having more of an E-LoC

Scale (K-LoCS), which is widely-used in the Japaneseorientation might instead tend to blame the teacher, thecontext (Kambara, 1982, 1987). LoC (Rotter, 1966) is anenvironment, or perhaps the test for being unfair. Studies

important psychological construct which is notionallyhave correlated a higher I-LoC orientation with better

related to learner autonomy, as well as personal agency

outcomes in language learning (Chang & Ho, 2009;and self-efficacy (Oxford, 2003; 2008). A person’s LoC is

Ghonsooly & Elahi, 2012; Ghonsooly & Moharer, 2012;

seen to fall along a continuum varying from internal locus

Ghonsooly & Shirvan, 2011, Peek, 2016).

of control (I-LoC) to external locus of control (E-LoC).
Those leaning towards the I-LoC end of the continuum areindividuals who tend to believe that outcomes in their lives
fall within their own control while those on the E-LoC end

The K-LoCS was found to have a significant
presence in the Japanese literature, not only in secondary
English educational studies (Hosaka, 2007), but also in

The 2019 PanSIG Journal268

developmental psychology (Fushimi, 2011) and employee

Methods

psychology (Kanda, 2006). The K-LoCS was originallycreated as an 18-item scale (K-LoC18) and later

Instrument
The

expanded to a 43-item scale (K-LoC43). Despite being

instrument

included

ten

items

(see

commonly used in Japan, Rupp (2016a) found that the

Appendix A) inherited from the original 18-item and 43-

scale had only been analyzed through exploratory factor

item scales (K-LoCS; 1982, 1987), but with some revision

analyses (EFA), and had not been subjected to a directin the item content of some items to adjust for non-test of the hypothesized model through confirmatory

normality; that is, non-normality observed in scores

factor analysis (CFA). In redressing this neglect in theobtained by Rupp and Isemonger (2018). The items whichliterature, a CFA conducted by Rupp (2016a) showed that

underwent revision included Items 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9.

scores for both the K-LoC43 and the K-LoC18 fitted poorly

As with the 2018 study, five of the items were designed towith the hypothesized model. Based on these results,

measure I-LoC (Items 2, 5, 6, 9 and 10) while the other

Rupp then employed mixed-methods studies involving

five items were designed to measure E-LoC (Items 1, 3,

focus groups (Rupp, 2016b) and EFA (Rupp, 2017a;

4, 7 and 8). The format for administration departed from2017b) to provide a course for revision of the instrument.

that of Rupp and Isemonger (2018) in that the previous

These studies showed many areas where the scale had

paper-based administration was replaced with a web-potential for improvement, such as a reduction in thebased administration which participants accessed via

number of items, increases in scale refinement, linguistic

their cellphone using a QR Code. A further revision was

issues,thethat the Likert scale was increased from five points to six

aforementioned studies, Rupp and Isemonger (2018)

points to offer further discrimination in the possible

worked to create an abridged ten-item scale which was

responses available to the respondent. Administration

designated as the Kambara Locus of Control 10-Item

was in Japanese, including informed consent, andScale (K-LoCS10). This revised instrument used a 5-point

students were made aware that their grades would not be

Likert scale, as opposed to the original 4-point Likert scaleaffected by participation. The previous instrument used byused in the K-LoCS. A new set of data (N=211) was

Rupp and Isemonger in 2018 had been designated as thecollected for a priori CFA analysis with data gathered from

Kambara Locus of Control 10-Item Scale (K-LoCS10),

the Japanese tertiary context. Results from the 2018

and the slightly revised version used in this study wasstudy showed clear improvements over the K-LoC43 anddesignated as the Kambara Locus of Control 10-Item

K-LocC18 though the fit indexes fell slightly short of what

Scale Revised (K-LoCS10R) to distinguish it from thewas required for an acceptable model. Given theseearlier version.

and

item

redundancies.

Based

on

encouraging results, the authors decided to make further
refinements to the scale, namely by slightly altering thewording of highly skewed and kurtotic items in order toreduce the non-normality of score distributions derived onthese items, as well as further refining the scale to a sixpoint Likert scale. This current version of the scale, used
and tested in this study, is designated as the Kambara
Locus of Control Scale 10-Item Revised (K-LoCS10R; see
Appendix). This revised scale was directly tested, andafter still

not entirely satisfactory

results,

furtherabbreviated in the course of this study to an 8-item scale
through the deletion of two items, Items 7 and 10, basedon theoretical considerations. This resulted in an
abbreviated scale designated as the Brief Kambara Locusof Control Scale, or Brief K-LoCS.

Participants and Procedure
There were 330 respondents in this study. A
feature of the web-based administration was that
responses were required. From a positive point of view,
this assists with the problem of missing responses often
associated with paper-based tests, while from a negative
point of view it is possible that some respondents will
select randomly when they are having difficulty thinking ofa response to an item. The consequence of the decision
to make answers required did, however, mean that there
was no missing data. Respondents were drawn from two
universities in Western Japan, one public and one private,
and from seven major fields including: biology (20%),
zoology(23%),

plant

science(18%),

business

administration (1%), tourism (17%), medical technology(6%), and management (15%). The gender distribution
was somewhat skewed with more males (197 or 60%)

The 2019 PanSIG Journal269

than females (133 or 40%). Age of participants ranged

p value which is interpreted under the same logic as justfrom 18 years to 26 years, but with 98% of the sample

elaborated with respect to the χ2; that is, a nonsignificant

between 18 years and 21 years.

result indicates model fit.

Analytical procedure
For the calculation of descriptive statistics,

Results

IBM/Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS;Results for descriptive statistics and reliability

Version 20) was used and these analyses included: 1)

estimates are presented below, and in advance of thefrequency statistics for the sample (i.e. major and gender),results for the two models tested using CFA as the method.

2) the means and score distributions (normality, criticalratios for skew and kurtosis) for each item, and 3) the

Descriptive statistics

reliability estimates for each item. The most important part

The values derived for item means and itemof the analysis was the CFA (two models; one a priori andstandard deviations are presented in Table 1, as well as

one a posteriori) and Analysis of Moment Structures

the critical ratios for skew and kurtosis for each item. A(AMOS; Version 21) was used for this.

notable feature of central tendency was that the means for
the I-LoC items (Items 2, 5, 6, 9 and 10) were higher thanWith respect to skew and kurtosis, criteria forthe means for the E-LoC items (Items 1, 3, 4, 7 and 8). In

assessing the derived critical ratios were stipulated infact, the overall mean for I-LoC items was 4.48 while that

advance. A critical ratio, for either skew or kurtosis, of lessfor the E-LoC items was 3.60; almost a whole point

than 3.0 was used as a more permissive criterion and lessdifference on the scale. In terms of score distribution, it isthan 2.0 as a stricter criterion. CFA indexes of model fit,clear that there are some weak results for some items.

and the associated criteria for judging the values derived

Item 9 in particular had the highest mean, lowest standard

on these indexes, were also adopted from the influential

deviation, and expectedly therefore, the highest level ofwork of Hu and Bentler (1999). These indexes included

skew (negative). Items 2, 4 and 10 also presented with

the SRMSR and RMSEA (absolute fit indexes) and thehigh levels of skew. Overall, kurtosis was not as

TLI and CFI (incremental fit indexes). Hu and Bentler

problematic as skew, and it was better than for Rupp andrecommend that they be used in triangulation with the

Isemonger (2018), but Items 3, 8 and 9 stand out as being

following cutoff values: SRMSR < .08; RMSEA, < .06; CFI,

more problematic than other items.

> .95; TLI, > .95.

Reliability estimates
Besides these indexes, the χ2 statistic was also

The Cronbach’s alpha value for the E-LoC

used to test models, and given that it is a statistic and notconstruct (Items 1, 3, 4, 7 and 8) was .54, which is below

an index, it is interpreted by comparing the associatedthe threshold value of acceptability of .70 set by Nunnallyprobability level (p) to a pre-determined alpha level

and Bernstein (1994). The 95% confidence interval (Fan(greater than .05 for this study). Interpreting the outcome& Thompson, 2001) for alpha on these same five itemsof this comparison is counterintuitive to those only familiar

was .46 (lower bound) and .61 (upper bound). On the I-

with

a

LoC construct (Items 2, 5, 6, 9 and 10), the value fornonsignificant result (i.e. p greater than .05) is desirable if

Cronbach’s alpha was .74, and the associated confidence

model fit is desirable; that is, a non-significant resultintervals for alpha (95%) was .69 (lower bound) and .78

indicates that the model does not depart from the(upper bound).

traditional

inferential

statistics,

becausedimensionality of the data, and therefore it fits. Typically,
the indexes are used because the χ2 has excessive
statistical power (Byrne, 2001), and therefore it tends toover-reject plausible models, and especially so underconditions of non-normality. In addition to the above
analyses, the Bollen and Stine (1992) bootstrap
procedure was also adopted, and as a means to cope with
non-normality in the data. This procedure also produces a

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

270

Table 1
Item Means, Standard Deviations (SD), and Critical Ratios for Skew and Kurtosis for Scores Derived
on Items Comprising the K-LoCS10R (N = 330)
Test Items

M

SD

Skew

Kurtosis

Item 01 (E)

3.72

1.359

-.927

*-2.979

Item 02 (I)

4.55

1.318

**-6.173-.050

Item 03 (E)

3.62

1.309

.478

**-3.133

Item 04 (E)

3.45

1.276

.510

*-2.711

Item 05 (I)

4.28

1.337

**-4.312-1.204Item 06 (I)

4.06

1.384

*-2.964*-2.049

Item 07 (E)

3.79

1.335

-1.006*-2.511

Item 08 (E)

3.44

1.557

-.173

**-3.942

Item 09 (I)

4.91

1.193

**-8.392**3.447

Item 10 (I)

4.61

1.347

**-5.919

-.944

Note.

* Indicates item is skewed at a threshold of above 2.0.
** Indicates item is skewed at a threshold of above 3.0.

follows,
with cutoffs (Hu & Bentler, 1999) presented in(E)resultsand (I) indicate the E-LoC and I-LoC constructs,
respectively.
CFA model
The initial model tested was the ten-item K-

parentheses: TLI = .888 (>.95); CFI = .915 (>.95); RMSEA

LoCS10R with two subscales, namely, the E-LoC= .057 (<.06); and SRMSR = .063 (<.08). These results

subscale (Items 1, 3, 4, 7 and 8) and the I-LoC subscale

were not satisfactory because the CFI is somewhat below(Items 2, 5, 6, 9 and 10), and with these subscales allowed

the threshold of .95 and the TLI is substantially below theto correlate. The model was recursive with 55 distinct

threshold. While the results for the RMSEA and SRMSR

sample moments, 21 distinct parameters to be estimated,were acceptable, all four indexes have to be consideredleadingthus

in triangulation, and the combination of weakness in theoveridentification of the model was achieved. Maximum

to34

degreesoffreedom,

and

TLI and CFI makes it difficult to accept the model as alikelihood estimation was used, and the test was a priori

plausible one. Given the univariate non-normal properties

given that the model was not empirically derived from theof the data (reported in the descriptive statistics above),same data in which it was tested, and therefore it

and the presence of multivariate non-normality (Mardia’s

preceded the data. The value derived for the χ2 was 70.01

coefficient of 10.42), the Bollen and Stine (1992)

with a probability level of p = .000, indicating, whenbootstrap procedure (1000 bootstrap samples) was

compared to the predetermined alpha level of greater

executed. This produced a p value of .01 which did notthan .05 for this study, that the model was different fromsatisfy the alpha level of greater than .05 set in advancethe dimensionality of the data, and therefore not a good fit.

for this study, but nonetheless was not a poor result.

The values derived for the four model fit indexes were as

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

271

Overall, however, and in view of all the analyses, thethe preferable model. The values obtained were asmodel was rejected.

follows: AIC (ten-item model, 112.018; eight-item model,
63.771) and BIC (ten-item model, 191.799; eight-item

Inspection of the standardized regression
weights for each item indicated that three of the items onmodel, 128.35). Thus, and in terms of both indexes, theeight item model was superior to the ten-item model.

the E-LoC construct were weak (Items 3, 4 and 8) withweights below .40. However, removal of these three items

Discussion

would have left an impoverished E-LoC construct with
only two items, making this empirically-driven solution

The model for the ten-item instrument (K-(inspection of regression weights) not possible. Rather

LoCS10R), which represented a slight modification of thethan seeking an empirically-driven solution, therefore, a

instrument tested by Rupp and Isemonger (2018), did nottheoretical solution was explored. The first author had

produce satisfactory results, and although the RMSEA

previously received oral comments, from an interested

and SRMSR produced values roughly corresponding withpeer at a conference, which had drawn attention to the

Rupp and Isemonger (2018), the values for the CFI and

two items in the set of ten which referenced friends or

TLI deteriorated when compared to same. The revisions

friendships, and their being the source of possible

undertaken after the 2018 study were primarily designed

problems. Our subsequent theoretical reasoning on thisto deal with the problem of univariate non-normality, andwas that the two friendship items, one E-LoC item (Itemthere were some improvements. For example, there were

7) and one I-LoC item (Item 10), may appear too salient

no items in this revised version producing values for thewithin the ten items, and also function as a source of

critical ratio for skew and kurtosis as high as 12.455 andextraneous but systematic variance detracting from the13.285, respectively, as had Item 9 in the 2018 study.

coherence of the locus of control constructs represented

Nonetheless, while kurtosis is a much smaller problem inby the other items (whether internal or external). These

this dataset than it was in the 2018 study, there remain

two items were therefore removed arriving at a model

items with levels of skew which are not desirable.

which, given that it was antecedent to the collection of thedataset and to the rejection of the originally-hypothesized

The most notable positive outcome of this study,

model, was an a posteriori model. This specification

however, and in spite of the qualifications around the

produced an overidentified model with 36 distinct sample

normality of the score distributions, is that a rival model,

moments, 17 distinct parameters to be estimated, and 19

motivated by theoretical reasoning, rather than post-hoc

degrees of freedom.

empirical analysis, produced a model with exemplary fit to
the dimensionality of the data. This model produced a

The results from this second model weregood result for the χ2 test which is typically not achieved

exemplary. The value for the χ2 was 29.77 with anin these kinds of studies, because the χ2 has excessive

associated p value of .06 which was greater than thestatistical power and will detect even trivial departures

predetermined alpha level of .05, and therefore indicatedbetween the dimensionality of the data and the model

model fit. The values for the fit indexes were as follows,

itself. All indexes could be considered meritorious except

with

in

for the value for the TLI which is slightly below theparentheses: TLI = .938 (>.95); CFI = .958 (>.95); RMSEA

threshold, but as Hu and Bentler (1999) point out, these= .042 (<.06); and SRMSR = .048 (<.08). The Bollen andindexes are to be interpreted on a continuum, and in

Stine (1992) bootstrap procedure (1000 samples) alsoearlier work by the same authors (Hu & Bentler, 1998) the

produced a non-significant result (p = .186) being greater

threshold was weaker at > .90, and the value derived inthan the alpha level of .05 set for this study, and thus

this study would have easily met the earlier and lesssupporting the overall case for exemplary fit. As a further

stringent cutoff. Thus, and in the context of a good result

line of analysis, the values produced for the AIC and BIC

for the χ2 test and the Bollen and Stine (1992) bootstrap

indexes (used for within sample model comparisons) were

procedure, the model has to be interpreted as fitting very

inspected for both models and compared under thewell.

cutoffs (Hu&

Bentler, 1999) presented

interpretive rationale (which is consistent with normal
practice) that the model with the lowest value would be

The 2019 PanSIG Journal272

On a critical note, it could be argued that thethe part of the learner which is associated with the locus

reduction of the number of items on the I-LoC and E-LoC

of control for the learner being more internal than external.

subscales necessarily reduces the operational expression

A good and quick-to-administer instrument provides theof the constructs, and that more items are needed. This

teacher with means to evaluate whether this is the casecould be a direction for future research; that is, adding

for each student.

further items to expand the operational expression ofthese constructs, but without having referents to “friends”
or “friendships,” which under this analysis appear to be a

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The 2019 PanSIG Journal274

Author biographies

Michael James Rupp holds a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics/TESOL from Kumamoto University and lectures at Tokai
University in Kumamoto. His research interests include learner autonomy, curriculum design, EAP/ESP and teacher
development. Email michaelrupp@tokai.ac.jp
Ian Maxwell Isemonger is an associate professor in the Department of Communication and Information Studies and thePost Graduate School of Social and Cultural Studies at Kumamoto University. His research interests include
psychometrics and the digital humanities. Email ian-m@kumamoto-u.ac.jp

Appendix
The ten items of the K-LoCS10R (Rupp’s translation into English followed by the actual Japanese used in the survey)
along with indications of internal (I) and external (E) locus of control, followed by the original item number inparentheses from the K-LoCS43.
Item 01 E

It is best just to go with the flow. (1 E)
何でも成り行きまかせが 1 番だ。

Item 02 I

My happiness depends entirely on my own efforts. (13 I)
幸福になるか不幸になるかは, 完全に自分の努力次第だ。

Item 03 E

My future depends mostly on luck and chance. (15 E)
自分の将来はほとんど運やチャンスによって決まる。

Item 04 E

I cannot easily change what happens to me. (16 E)
自分の身に起こることは自分の力で簡単に変えることはできない。

Item 05 I

If I am careful about my actions, people will inevitably trust me. (19 I)
自分の行動に注意していれば必ず人から信頼される。

Item 06 I

If I work hard, I will certainly get the job I wish for. (21 I)
努力すれば希望の職につくことが絶対できる。

Item 07 E

Maintaining long friendships depends on the situation. (27 E)
友人とのつきあいが長く続くかどうかは周りの状況による。

Item 08 E

We cannot easily change how smart we are. (33 E)
頭の良し悪しは簡単に変えることはできない。

Item 09 I

Planning my studies guarantees a better result. (38 I)
前もって計画的に試験勉強をすれば絶対に結果はずっと良くなる。

Item 10 I

If I am kind to my friends, someday they will definitely help me. (42 I)
友人に親切にしていれば絶対にいつかは友人に助けてもらえる。

The 2019 PanSIG Journal275

34 CFER Companion Volume and its Application in University Classes
Yukie Saito
Chuo University
CEFR Companion Volume (hereafter CV) was announced in 2018, which is a complement to the existing
CEFR. Some main changes in the CEFR/CV are addition of Can-do of written and online interaction, PreA and plus levels (A2+, B1+, B2+), and broadening concept of mediation. Changes in the CEFR/CV havereflected language skills needed in the 21st century. Among the changes, the concept of mediationemphasized in the CEFR/CV will be important in this increasing globalized society where English users
will be expected to work as mediators in many international settings. In order to incorporate the conceptof mediation emphasized in the CEFR/CV and Can-do of mediation from CEFR/ CV, I have beendeveloping an e-portfolio for two classes of an English course at a private university and, in this paper, theprocess of developing Can-do of mediation adapted from CEFR/CV is presented.

CEFR の補足版として CEFR Companion Volume(以降 CV)が 2018 年に発表された。主な変更点はWritten and online interaction の Can-do の追加、Pre-A と A2+、B1+、B2＋レベルの追加、mediation の概念の拡大である。CEFR/CV の変更点は 21 世紀に必要とされる言語スキルを反映している。その変更
点の中でも、CEFR/CV で強調されている mediation の概念は英語使用者が多くの国際的な状況で、仲介者としての役割を果たすことが期待される益々進むグローバル化社会でより重要になるだろう。
CEFR/CV で強調されている Mediation の概念と、Mediation の Can-do を取り入れるために、私立大学の英語コースの 2 クラス用に e-portfolio を開発しているが、本論文では mediation の Can-do を適用して、開発した過程を述べる。

Volumeareas of Listening, reading, spoken interactions, spoken(hereafter CEFR/CV) was announced by the Council of

In

2018,

the

CEFR

Companion

production, and writing are presented (Council of Europe,

Europe. The author of this paper participated in the2001).

Launching Conference of CEFR/CV, which was held in
Strasburg in France in 2018. The objective of theconference was to launch CEFR/CV with new descriptors,
which is a complement to the existing CEFR. The CEFR
was issued in 2001. Since then, the CEFR has been
influencing language education in the world including
English education in Japan. For example, in Japan, in a
new Course of Study for junior high school, which wasannounced in 2017 and will be enacted in 2020 (MEXT,
2017), and in a new Course of Study for senior high school,
which was announced in 2018 and will be enacted in 2022
(MEXT, 2018), goals are set in five skill areas of listening,reading, speaking (interaction), speaking (presentation),
and writing. The goal setting in the five skill areas are

Since the issue of CEFR in 2001, more than 18
years have passed. In the decades, the development of
information technology has accelerated globalization andinfluenced language learning and teaching, and English
skills that learners are expected to acquire have been alsochanging in this global society. In Japan, the Course of
Study changes almost every ten years; therefore, it is not
likely that the new Courses of Study for junior high school
and for high school will reflect the contents of the
CEFR/CV soon ; however, changes and revisions in the
CEFR/CV reflecting language skills needed in the 21st
century are expected to be introduced in English
education in Japan.

adapted from the self-assessment grid of the CEFR, inwhich levels of A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, and C2 in five skill

The 2019 PanSIG Journal276

Background of Developing CEFR/ CV

assessment grid shows Can-do of 6 levels (A1, A2, B1,

In the launching conference, North (2018) madeB2, C1, and C2) for five skill areas of Listening, Reading,a summary talk of the background of developing the

Spoken Interaction, Spoken Production, and Writing.

CEFR/CV. Reflecting on the current trend that too much

However, in the CEFR/CV, Writing was divided into

focus has been laid on assessment, North emphasized

Written and online Interaction and Written Production in

the importance of reinforcing all aspects of the CEFR andthe self-assessment grid. The followings are examples offocusing more on learning and teaching. He also

Can-do of Written and online Interaction and Written

addressed the shift from learning and teaching four skills

Production for A1 level.

of listening, reading, speaking, and writing to learning andteaching four modes of reception, production, interaction,and mediation because communication is an integral partof tasks where participants engage in the four modes or a•

media. (Written and online Interaction)•

Interaction)

the language user and learner as a ‘social agent’, acting•

underlined the importance of a language user and learnerin interaction and in co-construction of meaning inmediation while mobilizing plurilingual and pluriculturalcompetences. The significance of a paradigm shift inlanguage education in the 21st century was also

I can write simple isolated phrases andsentences. (Written Production)

process. From that perspective, North (2018) also

as a social agent who engages in negotiation of meaning

I can complete a very simple purchase, filling informs with personal details. (Written and online

combination of two or more of these. The CEFR presents

in the social world and exerting agency in the learning

I can react simply to other posts, images and

The addition of Can-do of Written and online
Interaction reflects the increasing use of SNS and online
shopping in this growing information technology society.
Those Can-do are useful and applicable for English
learners in Japan because many people use SNS andpurchase goods online.

addressed. What he mentioned as examples of theparadigm shift in education are from grammar to use, from

Descriptors of Pre-A were also added. In thelanguage as code to language as action/ collaboration,

CEFR, it is stated that there are specific tasks thatfrom four skills to integrated mode of communication, fromlearners below A1 level can perform using a limited range

producing and receiving to constructing meaning, from aof language such as asking and telling time and dateunidimensional view to multidimensional views, from a(Council of Europe, 2001). The followings are examples

native speaker as a model to a proficient speaker, fromof Can-do of Pre-A1 for overall listening comprehension

multilingualism

and overall spoken production.

toplurilingualism,

and

from

elitisteducation to inclusive education. Regarding the paradigm
shift from a native speaker as a model to a proficient•

Can recognize every day, familiar words,

speaker, there had been a debate about the use of “native

provided they are delivered clearly and slowly in

speakers” in the CEFR, and the expression of native

a clearly defined, familiar everyday context.

speakers in the CEFR were eliminated in the CEFR/CV(Overall listening comprehension)(Green, 2018). This reflects changes in language teaching•

Can produce short phrases about themselves,

and learning in the rapid pace of globalization where

giving basic personal information (e.g. name,English has been used as a tool for global communication

address, family, nationality) (Overall spoken

not only with native English speakers but also among non-production)

native English speakers.

The inclusion of Pre-A1 level is an influence of
CEFR-J, which was developed for Japanese English

Changes and Revisions in the CEFR/
CV

learners. According to Negishi, Takada, & Tono (2012),
80% of Japanese English learners are A level. There areSome main changes in the CEFR/CV are

English learners who are below A1 Level. Thus, having a

addition of Can-do of written and online interaction, Pre-A

level below A1, Pre-A1, enables English educators inlevels, and plus levels (A2+, B1+, B2+), and broadening

Japan who teach students with lower English proficiency

concept of mediation. In the original CEFR, the self-

to use Can-do.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal277

As for addtion of A2+, B1+, and B2+, using a

In the CEFR/CV, Can-do of mediating a text,

scale of 9 inluding steps between A2 and B1, between B1

mediating concepts, and mediating communication are

and B2, and between B2 and C1 in the CEFR was

also added to descriptors of 6 levels (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1,

suggested when narrower levels of descriptors are

and C2) for five skill areas in the original CEFR. For

needed (Council of Europe, 2001). In fact, A2+, B1+, andexample, the followings are the examples of B1 level of

B2+ are explained in the CEFR and for example, A2+ is

Can-do of meditation.

described as the level where learners can more actively
participate in conversations given some assistance. The
suggestion of adding A2+, B1+, and B2+ are realized in
the CEFR/CV. The followings are examples of Can-do of
A2+ and A2 for online conversation and discussion in the
CEFR/CV.
-Can comment on other people’s online postings,
provided that they are written in simple language, reacting
to embedded media by expressing feelings of surprise,interest and indiffernce in a simle way. (A2+)-Can post online short simple statements about him/
herself (e.g. relationship status, nationality, occupation),provided he/she can select them from a menu and/or refer
to an online tranalation tool. (A2)The expression of “ can comment on otherpeople’s online postings” in A2+ shows a slighlty higher
level in terms of langauge use compared to“can post
online short statments” in A2. Although not all domain or
skill areas include plus levels in the CEFR/CV, the-I can convey information given in clear, well-structured
informational texts on subjects that are familiar or of
personal or current interest. (Mediating a text)-I can invite other people to speak, to clarify the reason(s)for their views or to elaborate on specific points they made.
(Mediating concepts)-I can communicate the main sense of what is said on
subjects of personal interest, provided that speakers
articulate clearly and that I can pause to plan how to
express things. (Mediating communication)
Skills described in Can-do of mediation such as
being able to convey information are important in thisinformation technology society where people obtain a lotof information online in English and are expected to covey
the information to those who may not access it. In addition,
English users are expected to play a more active andinitiative role such as inviting other people to speak thanlistening to other people’s opinions and expressing theiropinions in many international settings.

addition of plus levels can be useful as a step for students
between A2 and B1, between B1 and B2, and between B2and C1.

Developing Can-do of Mediation in a
University Class

Broadening concept of mediation
One of the cores in the CEFR/CV was to

Rationale for Developing Can-do ofMediationbroaden the concept of mediation and to develop

Recently, many ELT textbooks include Can-do

descriptors of mediation. Mediation is a social and cultural

being influenced by the CEFR; however, it is assumed

process of creating conditions for communication andthat many ELT textbooks published prior to the issue ofcooperation, facing and hopefully defusing any delicate

CEFR/CV may not include Can-do of mediation. I havesituations and tensions that may arise and in mediation:

been using Life 4 from Cengage Publication in English

the user/learner acts as a social agent who createsclasses at university and it has Can-do after each unit.

bridges and helps to construct or conveying meaning

However, Can-do in the textbook is simple and is not(North, 2018). Although the concept of mediation was

something which asks students for challenges though thementioned in the original CEFR, no validated andtextbook itself is designed to aim at B1+. I assumed that it

calibrated descriptors existed, and roles of mediation

will be meaningful to incorporate the concept of mediation

have been significantly important with the increasing

and develop Can-do of mediation in order for university

linguistic and cultural diversity in this global society

students to acquire skills for mediation and to use English(Council of Europe, 2018).

The 2019 PanSIG Journal278

for mediation which can be helpful for them to work

Can-do of mediation in the CEFR/CV, I used the following

globally after they graduate from university.

criteria.

Teaching Context

They need to match the contents of the textbook.

I am in charge of two English classes named
as Integrated English for freshmen in a private university
in Japan. The main objective of the course is to develop
students’ four skills of English, listening, reading, writing,and speaking. In the course, classes are divided into 8classes with about 20 students in each class depending
on a test result of an English test with reading andlistening sections. Though the test is not TOEIC L&R, but
it shows conversion scores of TOEIC L&R. In one class,the average conversion score of TOEIC L& R was 737
and in the other class, it was 517.

Process of Developing Can-do of Mediation
This is an ongoing process of developing an eportfolio including Can-do of mediation from the CEFR/
CV that students can use online to set goals, monitor theirstudy, and evaluate their learning reflecting a cyclicalphase of self-regulated learning (Zimmerman, 2002). In

Their levels should be either B1 or B2 since thetextbook level is B1+ according to Cengage
Publication.
-Fourth, I adapted the original Can-do of mediation in the
CEFR/CV. The adaptation is needed because some Cando of mediation from the CEFR/CV are very long and theexpressions are sometimes are difficult to understand.
Thus, I simplified and shortened some Can-do of
mediation for students to be able to understand their goals
and evaluate their learning
Table 1 shows contents of Lesson 2, original
Can-do in the textbook, Can-do of mediation in the
CEFR/CV, adapted Can-do for the class, and activities toreflect the adapted Can-do. Lesson 1 is for introducing thecourse, so the textbook was not used. The content of the
textbook was introduced from Lesson 2. The topic of Unit

this paper, I discuss the process of developing Can-do of

1 is Culture and Identity and in 1a of Unit1 titled as “Howmediation from the CEFR/CV for the two classes using the

we see other cultures”, students are to read a passage

textbook, Life 4. The textbook is designed for cultivating
students’ critical thinking skills to encourage them todevelop and share well-informed opinions. I used the
textbook before its revision, but the Can-do in the textbook
are not always related to critical thinking skills and manyof them are related to grammatical skills such as “I can
ask and answer questions about things that are always
and generally true, and routines (simple present)”. I
thought Can-do should be also relevant to critical thinking
skills since the textbook is designed for cultivating criticalthinking skills. For example, it is important for students tohave more opportunities to discuss actively and criticallywith other students. It is assumed that Can-do of
mediation such as passing the summary of the discussion
to others can be integrated for deeper discussions. The
following shows the process of developing Can-do of
mediation from the CEFR/CV.
First, I listed B1 and B2 Can-do of mediation from the
CEFR/CV. Second, I analyzed contents of the textbook to
see how Can-do of mediation can be integrated for each
unit. Third, I added Can-do of mediation to Can-do of the
textbook listed after each unit. For the process of selecting

about stereotyped images and the topic can be developed
to a discussion to think whether having stereotyped
images is good or bad. However, Can-do in the textbook
are not related to the topic, but are related to grammar
about simple present and present continuous and stative
verbs covered in 1a. In 1b of Unit 1 titled as “Culture andcolor”, they are to learn that different cultures havedifferent images toward colors and the topic can be
developed to a discussion about whether understandingthat meanings of colors are different depending on
cultures is important or not. However, Can-do in the
textbook are only associated with grammar about stative
verbs and direct or indirect questions covered in 1b. For
developing their critical thinking skills, I prepare fordiscussion questions such as whether having stereotyped
images is good or bad and how we can do not to havestereotyped images which may lead to biases. In order for
active discussions, I added “Can invite other people in agroup to speak” from B1 Can-do of mediation from
CEFR/CV without any modification. In addition, forstudents to be able to support their opinions with reasons,
I added “Can ask a group member to give the reason(s)for their views” from B1 Can-do of mediation from
CEFR/CV without any modification. Before the discussion,

The 2019 PanSIG Journal279

I instructed how to invite others to speak by introducing

Original Can-do in the textbook

expressions such as “What’s your opinion?”, “What do

I can introduce myself in formal and informal

you think about that?”, and “Why do you think so?” as wellsituations.

as how to express opinions and supporting reasons

I can open and close a conversation.
I can ask for and give personal information.

Lesson2:Can-do of Mediation from CEFR/ CV (B1)

Title of Unit1: Culture and Identity
1a of Unit1: How we see other culture
1b of Unit1: Culture and color
Original Can-do in the textbook
I can ask and answer questions about things that arealways and generally true, and routines (simple
present).

Can present his/her ideas in a group and posequestions that invite reactions from other groupmembers’ perspectives.
Can consider two different sides of an issue, giving
arguments for and against, and propose a solution orcompromise.
Added Can-do in this lesson

I can ask and answer questions about things
happening now (present continuous).
I can talk about professions and states: thoughts andmental process, etc. (stative verbs).
I can use different questions forms: direct and indirectquestion.

I can present my ideas in a group and ask questions
for other students’ opinions.
I can consider two different sides of an issue, giving
arguments for and against, and propose a solution.
Activities to reflect the added Can-do
The topic of a passage of 1c is related to

Can-do of Mediation from CEFR/ CV (B1)
Can invite other people in a group to speak.
Can ask a group member to give the reason(s) for
their views.
Added Can-do in this lesson
I can invite other people in a group to speak.
I can ask a group member to give the reason(s) for
their views.

globalization. I would like to make them discuss what
globalization is, whether they are for or against
globalization, and how we can maximize advantagesof globalization and minimize disadvantages ofglobalization.
Introduce how they can agree or disagree withother people’s opinions.
Table 2 Adaptation of Can-do of Mediation for Lesson 3

Activities to reflect the added Can-do
The topic of 1a is related to stereotyped images. I

The tile of 1c of lesson 1 is “A world together”.

made them discuss whether having stereotyped

They are to read a passage related to globalization andimages is good or bad and how we can do not tothe phenomena which are brought about by globalization.

have stereotyped images which may lead to biases.

The topic can be broadened to include discussions such

Introduce how to express their opinions andas positive and negative effects of globalization; however,supporting reasons.

there is no Can-do related to the topic. In 1d of unit 1, they

Introduce how to ask and answer questions

are to study how to open and close conversations andshowing interests in other students’ opinions.

there are only Can-do related to that such as “I can

Table 1 Adaptation of Can-do of Mediation for Lesson 2

introduce myself in formal and informal situations”. To
have students discuss the topic of globalization, I

Another example is from Lesson 3, in which 1c

prepared for discussions such as what globalization is,and 1d of Unit 1 are covered. Table 2 shows contents ofwhether they are for or against globalization, and how weLesson3, Can-do in the textbook, Can-do of mediation

can maximize advantages of globalization and minimize

in the CEFR/CV, adapted Can-do for the class, anddisadvantages of globalization. In order for active

activities to reflect the added Can-do.

discussions, I used two Can-do of mediation from

Lesson3
Unit1: Culture and Identity
1c of Unit1: A world together
1d of Unit1: First impressions

CFER/CV as a reference, but since they are long anddifficult to be understood by my students, I simplified themand made revised Can-do. For example, one of the Cando of mediation is “Can present his/her ideas in a groupand pose questions that invite reactions from other group

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

280

members’ perspectives.”, but I adapted it to “I can present

expected to acquire have been also changing. Therefore,

my ideas in a group and ask questions for other students’changes in language learning and teaching in the 21st

opinions.”

century are inevitable. Additions and revisions presented
in the CEFR/CV are what were awaited; thus, reviewing
I encouraged them to ask some questions toothers while they were listening to others by using
expresssions such as “Why do you think so?”. In addition,

the additions and revisions in the CEFR/CV and reflecting
on them in English educaiton in Japan are urgently
expected

they learned how to be for and against one issue using
expressions such as “I think globalization is good
because~”, and “I don’t think globalization is good

References

because~” and how to express advantages andCouncil of Europe. (2018). CEFR companion volume withdisadvantages of one issue using expressions such as

new descriptors: Council of Europe. Retrieved from“there are both advantages and disadvantages forhttps://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-

globalization and one of the advantages is~”. Introducing

framework-reference-languages

these expressions can be helpful for students to be able
to achieve what are stated in the Can-do. Since this is an

Green, A.(2018, May). Launching Conference for theongoing process of developing an e-portfolio including

CEFR Companion Volume with New Descriptors.

Can-do of mediation from CEFR/CV, at this stage I

Paper presented at CEFR Companion Volume

finished developing Can-do of mediation from Unit 1 to 4

Launchingwhich are to be covered in the spring semester and from
Unit 7 to 10 which are to be covered in the fall semester.
I included them on the first page of Power Point slides
used in each class and distributed to students as a

Conference,

Strasbourg,

France.

Retrieved from https://rm.coe.int/09000016808ae70d
Negishi, M.,Takada, Y, & Tono, Y. (2012). A progress
report on the development of the CEFR-J. Studies in
Language Testing, 36,137-157.

handout every week. As the next step, I will develop an eportfolio which can be used for students to understandNorth, B. (2018, May). Completing the CEFR descriptive

goals for each lesson, monitor their learning, and evaluate

scheme: the CEFR companion volume. Paper

their learning reflecting a cyclical phase of Self-Regulatedpresented at CEFR Companion Volume Launching

Learning (Zimmerman, 2002).

Conference, Strasbourg, France. Retrieved fromhttps://rm.coe.int/completing-the-cefr-descriptivescheme-north/16808ae70c

Concusion
In this paper, I explained the background of

文部科学省(2017). 中学校学習指導要領 [The Course ofdeveloping CEFR/CV, changes and revisions in the

Study for junior high schools guidelines]. Retrieved

CEFR/CV, and developing Can-do of mediation forfromuniversity English classes with some adaptation. The

https://www.mext.go.jp/content/1413522_002.pdf

degree to which we can incorporate the concept and Cando of mediation in classrooms at universitties may vary as

文部科学省(2018). 高等学校学習指導要領 [The Course

there are a variety of learning and teaching contexts.

of Study for senior high schools guidelines].

However, I suggest reflecting Can-do of mediation by

Retrieved fromchoosing appropriate levels and adapting Can-do ofhttps://www.mext.go.jp/content/1384661_6_1_3.pdf

mediation depending on learning and teaching contexts
because madiating skills will be necessary in thisincreasingly globalized society.

Zimmerman 2002 Zimmerman, B. J (2002) Becoming aself-regulated learner: An overview, Theory into
Practice, 41(2), 63‒70.

Since the original CEFR was issued in 2001, as
globalization has advanced with the development of
information technology, English skills that learners are

The 2019 PanSIG Journal281

Author biography

Yukie Saito. She teaches English at Faculty of Global Informatics of Chuo University. Currently, she is pursuing Ph.D.
from Temple University. Her research areas are CEFR, and its application in English education in Japan. She also works
on teacher cognition and classroom practice research. Email ty-saito@yacht.ocn.ne.jp.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal282

35 Mono No Aware: Revisiting the Magic Bonsai Tree
Robert Bruce Scott
Fort Hays State University
The use of stories is explored as a strategy to support the development of reading and listening
comprehension skills. A rationale is presented to justify a procedure that the author developed in order toapply concepts from reading theory as well as commonly accepted principles of second language
acquisition theory. The “Magic Bonsai” procedure presents learners with opportunities to respond nonverbally to an initial hearing of the day’s episode, followed by a second hearing to prompt active
questioning by the listeners. The students listen to the episode a third time in order to anticipate what will
happen next in the story. The key to success with this teaching approach is to combine familiar contexts
with many chances for guessing ahead.

本稿は、読解力と聴解力を上げるための一つの方法として、物語を特定の手順で提示して使用することを提案するものである。著者が開発したこの方法はリーディングの分野の知見と一般的に受け入れられている第二言語習得理論により正統化を試みている。この「魔法の盆栽」と名付けた教育手順は、まず、ある物語の一部を聴かせ、非言語的にその物語に対して、何らかの反応をする機会を学習者に提供する。
その後、2 回目の聴き取りの後に、学習者に積極的に口頭で間髪を入れず、質問をするように促す。3
回目の聴き取りでは、学習者は物語で次に何が起こるかを予測させる。この教育アプローチで成功する
ための鍵は、学習者の既知のコンテキストとストーリーを予測することを組み合わせることである。

In May of 1988, SIUC-Niigata opened one of the

I did arrive on that temporary campus with somefirst and what turned out to be one of the longest runningpredispositions about how people learn, or acquire, a new

American branch campus programs, in Nakajo, Japan. In

language. These new students were more fortunate thanthat first year, 459 Japanese students enrolled in SIUC-

my first young adult students, at the Instituto de Idiomas

Niigata’s intensive English program, learning in modular

de la Escuela Politecnica del Ejército de Ecuador, in Quito,

units at a temporary site while construction moved forward

several years earlier. That advanced English class went

on a more permanent structure where they would study

very nicely for everyone, and lessons often developed into

the first two years of an undergraduate degree before

straightforward, highly significant, and very interestingtransferring to SIUC’s home campus in Carbondale,

conversations in Spanish, with lots of rapport-building, but,

Illinois, as well as to other U.S. universities (Curtis, 1988),

unfortunately, little or no progress in English for theas Japan’s population of 18-year-olds was peaking, in thestudents, many of whom would contact me months andlate 1980s and early 1990s (nbakki, 2017).

years later to ask for help translating English, which theircertificates of graduation suggested they could do

I traveled to Nakajo as part of the initial teachingcompetently.

staff at SIUC-Niigata with little or no pre-conceptions
about what I would find there. What I found were students

Now, in Japan, and with no knowledge of mywilling to jump through any hoops a teacher set for them,new students’ first language, I saw a positive challenge:

as long as the teacher was also actively jumping throughhow to generate communicative events, a level of rapport,

the hoops himself or herself.

and memorable experiences all in English, without any
need to resort to translation.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal283

One of my assigned classes was beginninglevel reading. The assigned textbook was “True Stories injust three or four days and was a simplified version of
Kafka's "Metamorphosis" (1915).

the News” (Heyer, 1987). I also brought some of my own
books to this new job: "Developing Reading Skills: A
Practical Guide to Reading Comprehension Exercises" byFrancoise Grellet (1981) and "Relevance: Communication
and Cognition," by Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson

But I was quickly learning about the Nakajo
environment, and switched next to a new, completely
original storyline, called "The Magic Bonsai Tree," which
introduced a main character named Hitachi and a vague
legend about a giant bonsai tree in the Nakajo cemetery.

(1986).
Grellet suggests that “reading is a constantprocess of guessing, and what one brings to the text isoften more important than what one finds in it” (p. 7). It
seemed to me as a young English teacher in 1988 that
Grellet was laying the stage for an approach that would
use stories (not necessarily true stories) to generatecommunicative activity. I interpreted Grellet to be implyingthat the global context for fiction is concurrently present atseveral levels: life itself provides the general context
which allows a reader to comprehend and empathize withcharacters and actions in a story; the developing plot
provides a more limited context which constrains thepossibilities for further developments, i.e., the reader can
predict a small number of conceivable next moves; finally,

Clearly, the gaikokugin did not understand thatbonsai are manicured to be miniatures; yet the local
landmarks that were included in the story did seem tocatch the attention of my students.
Every day, as Hitachi walked to SIU-C at Nakajo
with his classmates, they talked about a gigantic
bonsai tree in the cemetery near their path.
None of them had ever seen the tree up close,
but they knew that it was supposed to be magic.
The people of Nakajo said that if you ate theleaves of this magic tree the river monsters
would creep into your home at night and raid
your refrigerator. Hitachi proudly boasted to his
friends, "That story does not scare me."the sentence-level environment of new lexical items helps
the reader to guess meanings, such guesses constrained

By now, a routine had been established which

simultaneously at all three levels of context. Grellet also

took about 15 or 20 minutes from each class period, assays that it is not accurate to label a text or textbook as

the next installment of the story was introduced and“easy” or “difficult”; instead, it is in how we and ourstudents were led through a series of exercises focused

students use the text that reading activities become easieron the meaning of that day's episode.

or more difficult for learners.
The Sperber and Wilson book was interesting in

Methodthat it worked out many of the factors involved in

First, students would see up on the board the full

determining what constitutes a relevant next statement or

text of the previous day's episode, which they had only

sentence in communication. Their research expanded onlistened to the day before. They would go over this withthe relevance principle in H.P. Grice's landmark "Logic

the teacher, who would help them by acting out any

and Conversation" (1975), and Grice was in a line ofvocabulary words they wanted to focus on. One day I evenintellectual descendants of Ludwig Wittgenstein (1958),

found a context that seemed to call for me to stand on mywhose proposal it was that meanings of words primarily

head in front of the class. Whatever it took, I tried my best

consist in their contexts, or the other words around them.

to demonstrate so that students would understand andremember.

The idea was for these beginning students at
SIUC-Niigata to experience what Grellet refers to as

The second step of the daily routine was reading"global understanding" (p. 6) right from the start, on day

aloud to the students the new episode, and asking them,one, by the teacher supporting their understanding withon a sheet of paper, to draw a picture based on what theyfamiliar items from the local setting. The first day began

had just heard. The students were given several minuteswith a short introduction to a story. That first story lasted

to do this and for this step, as the days went by, they wereencouraged to feel very free to be creative, imaginative,

The 2019 PanSIG Journal284

and not necessarily bound by any details of what they had

the beginning of April. He had played under thatheard or thought they had heard in their first hearing of thetree when he was a child; and his parents andnew episode.

grandparents and ancestors had hung to its
blossoming branches, season after season for

The reader or listener is invited to try this now,briefly, using a story that may or may not be familiar.
In Wakegori, a district of the province of Iyo,
there is a very ancient and famous cherry-tree,
called Jiu-roku-zakura, or "the Cherry-tree of the
Sixteenth Day," because it blooms every year
upon the sixteenth day of the first month (by theold lunar calendar),--and only upon that day.
Thus the time of its flowering is the Period ofGreat Cold,--though the natural habit of acherry-tree is to wait for the spring season
before venturing to blossom.
(Citation postponed to facilitate practice with themagic bonsai story technique.)more than a hundred years, bright strips ofcolored paper inscribed with poems of praise.
He himself became very old,--outliving all hischildren; and there was nothing in the world left
for him to live except that tree. And lo! In thesummer of a certain year, the tree withered anddied!
Every day with that first group of beginning level
students in Nakajo, after showing them the text from theprevious day’s episode and reading out loud to them the
new episode, once for drawing and once to prompt themto write their questions, I would read the episode aloud athird and final time, and students were given four or fiveminutes to write their own original ideas for what would
happen next in the story. This final step gets at Grellet's

The reader or listener is asked to use a piece of
paper to draw a picture of anything he or she wishes tosuggestion that reading comprehension is primarily aseries of guesses about what is coming next.

draw right now, whether it seems related to this new story
about the cherry tree or not.

At this point, the daily exercise was over. Their
papers were taken up, and here is how I would respond

As the third step each day in that beginningbefore handing them back at the start of the next day's

reading class at SIUC-Niigata, the same new installment

class. First, I always wrote positive comments below orof the story again was read aloud to the students, and thenext to their drawings, specifying parts that I could identify

students were supposed to write two or three questions

and, if I had no idea what the drawing represented, myabout what they had just heard. I often reminded them that

idealism still impelled me to write something positive

asking a question is the beginning of understanding.

about the effort. I very carefully corrected their questions

Another way to think about it is that a question is like afor grammar and word choice, because of my belief that it

climbing pickaxe that enables a mountain-climber to pull

was important to give them specific feedback to help themhimself or herself up the side of a cliff or glacier, with theformulate questions appropriately, with questions being

mountain or glacier representing global understanding ofsuch potentially useful tools in communication and in thethe meaning and purpose of what is being read or heard.

language learning or acquisition experience. I alsocommented with specificity and encouragement on any

The reader of this current paper is now asked toideas students gave for what would happen next in theread or listen to the second part of the sample cherry-tree

story, and I tried to incorporate as many of their ideas asstory (citation delayed for effect). The reader or listenerpossible as I was creating the new episode each day.

may wish to draw a new picture or add to the original
drawing, but, most importantly, it is requested that he or

At this point in my session report from PanSIG

she write two questions about this developing story,

2019, this is to inform the reader or listener that the cherry

based on what has been read or heard so far. Any

blossom story — “Jiu-roku-zakura”—was written byquestion is fine.

Lafcadio Hearn and published in 1904. It can be accessed
online for those wishing to read the ending of the story.

There was a samurai of Iyo; and the tree grewin his garden; and it used to flower at the usual
time,--that is to say, about the end of March or

The 2019 PanSIG Journal285

processes can have a top-down effect on word meaning

Discussion
According to research by Wilson and Sperberprocesses” (p. 164, Hruby & Goswami, 2011).

(2012), listening and reading comprehension are “online
processes,” meaning they are not constituted necessarilyof a specific sequence of sub-processes, but rather anumber of sub-processes running in parallel while yet
further perceptions prompt activation of additional subprocesses, in something akin to “just-in-time” fulfillment ina modern-day manufacturing and retail continuum. These
researchers furthermore state that communication isbased on an expectation of relevance and “humancognition is relevance-oriented …. The greater thecognitive effects, the greater the relevance will be” (p.
175). At the same time, relevance is decreased inproportion to “processing effort.”

These tentative findings suggest that the magic
bonsai style activities may be appropriate in a sharedemphasis on content, meta-cognition, and relevance.
Additional support for using and developing episodic
stories for listening and reading instruction is found in a
growing body of research on the role of anticipation inhuman mental activity, according to Lavigne and Lavigne(2000). “When the semantic context is predictive enough,”these researchers suggest, “anticipatory context effects
can then facilitate lexical access to the meaning of thetarget word adequate to the context” (p. 9).
Today there are the remnants of a debate in the

The processing effort required to understand anutterance depends on two main factors: the form
in which it is presented (audibility, legibility,
dialect, register, syntactic complexity andfamiliarity of constructions all affect processing
effort); and the effort of memory and imaginationneeded to construct a suitable context.

field of second language teaching regarding whether
language learning or acquisition is essentially an implicit,
content-driven, unconscious process or an explicit, ruledriven, conscious process. As author of this report and as
the teacher who developed the magic bonsai storytelling
technique at SIUC-Niigata all those years ago, I believethat by keeping students’ attention focused on what
Grellet calls “global understanding”—reinforced by three
concentric levels of context—these story activities are(Sperber & Wilson, 2012, p. 176)

providing the comprehensible input that Krashen andThree decades later, I am no longer a youthful

Terrell (1983) and, more recently, VanPatten (2003), havedreamer, yet still I would like to think that magic bonsai

claimed is essential for first- and second-language

style

acquisition.

activities—where

local

context

andfamiliar

landmarks are incorporated into a developing story—will
reduce the effort of memory and imagination required, as

Thus, input is related to comprehension in thata balance to some of the form-related challenges.

whenever a learner of a language is engaged in

Similarly, if the cognitive effects are strong enough, foractively trying to comprehend something in theexample, when something unexpected, shocking, or

L2, that learner is getting input and that input

funny occurs, attention to the story will persist because ofserves as the basis for acquisition…. As a

its assumed or apparent relevance.

learner is grasping the meaning, he or she ismaking connections between meaning and how

There is a lot of neuroscience research todaythat meaning is encoded. Without an attempt at

related to reading, and a cursory review would suggest

comprehension (a primary focus on gettingthat different domains of prior knowledge pertain to themeaning), there can be no connections between

distinct skill areas of language comprehension andmeaning and how it is encoded. For this reason

content

we say that “acquisition happens as a by-comprehension,according

to

Hruby

and

Goswami (2011). These researchers also reported brain-

product of comprehension.”

response findings suggesting an orthography-semantics

2003, p. 26).

(VanPatten,

connection “produced a more powerful recognition effectthan the orthography-phonology and phonology-meaning

To confirm some of my intuitions about theconditions” (p. 163). Additionally, according to Kuperberg

effects of the magic bonsai reading activities, I shared my(cited in Hruby & Goswami), “syntactic and semantic

ideas with a colleague at SIUC-Niigata and we developed
lesson plans connecting our classes through magic

The 2019 PanSIG Journal286

bonsai style story exercises. These notes retrieved on

Finally, the collaboration between teachers

December 22, 2019, by e-mail from Daniel Castelaz,created a connection among the students inprovide further data to inform my research:both classes, especially since Robb and I would
go into each other’s classroom at appropriate

A Second Opinion(planned) times for the purpose of advancing theDuring the time I spent as an ESL teacher at

narrative. I found that the students Robb and I

Southern Illinois University in Japan, I had the

had taught were more enthusiastic about theiropportunity to collaborate with Robb Scott on

language study and recognized that their input

one of his innovative techniques for helping ourand participation were genuinely valued. They

students acquire English language skills. The

weren’t just sitting behind a desk getting

technique came to be called “The Nakajocorrections in red ink on homework assignments.

Stories” and involved engaging students with aninteractive language learning experience thatThose recollections by Dan Castelaz bring out some offocused on reading strategies. Looking back on

the emotional responses of students and teachers

the experience now, it seems as if every teacher

working together on magic bonsai style activities. Maftoon

should have been doing something similar

and Sabah suggest that second language acquisition

because it was so effective. But they weren’t,

research traditionally has emphasized cognitive aspects

and I wasn’t, because it was something thatofRobb had created.

coherent....conception of Vgotsky’s zone of proximal

input

development
The premise for The Nakajo Stories was thatstudents could become better readers if they
were genuinely engaged in the text they werereading. Robb’s idea was to have students takepart in the writing of the text, thereby getting
themintimately

involved

with

it

while

incorporating valuable skills such as predicting.
He also used the local Nakajo environment as
the backdrop for the story, which provided anatural entry for our students. In my classroom,
students were captivated by the mysterious yet
humorous aspects of the story as it unfolded day
by day with each new installment. They looked
forward to sharing their interpretation of what
would happen, and were genuinely interested inwhat the protagonist was going through. I foundthat students would write more than required,and more importantly, I could sense thepersonalities of students emerging as they gave
their thoughts about possible outcomes.

whereasawould…embrace

more
both

“robustcognitiveandandaffective domains” (Maftoon & Sabah, 2012, p. 40).
Larsen-Freeman (2018) explains that agency and“affordances,” or relationships which afford both thestudent and a teacher opportunities to take initiatives
moving classrooms and lessons in new directions, aremore relevant than the “closed system” thinking of socalled “natural” approaches in which a teacher provides“comprehensible input” to a passive listener or reader. Her
philosophy of language learning incorporates ideas from
Thoms (2014), who writes, “The affordance construct is
attractive…because it recognizes that language learning
is not an isolated activity within the implicit causality of
input and output but a dynamic process that mandates
that the learner be an active participant” (p. 727). A
potential explanation for why the magic bonsai reading
activities generated so much enthusiasm among ourstudents at SIUC-Niigata in 1988 is that we established“an affordance-rich environment [displaying] organization,
several feedback loops, and an abundance of learner
agency” (Thoms, 2014, p. 727).

Other positives from this approach to teachingreading were the many authentic opportunities it
provided for group discussion, for listening
practice, and, when necessary, for a bit ofgrammar practice, all of which took place morenaturally and organically as a result of thestoryline and the students’ engagement with it.

Conclusion
In today’s context, when some English teachers
may not believe it is possible for students to communicate
in a second language without continually pausing tomentally translate every phrase, it is my hope thatcolleagues will give episodic, in-class stories a try. ThereThe 2019 PanSIG Journal287

is enhanced engagement in the ESL/EFL classroom when

Kuperberg, G.R. (2007). Neural mechanisms of language

beginners and students at any level of proficiency keep

comprehension:

Challenges

tosyntax.

surprising themselves by understanding before there has

Research,been enough time to start thinking about translating. The

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2006.12.063

1146,

Brain
23–49.

teacher who uses stories to generate this kind of
excitement is going to find himself or herself motivated tokeep the communication going back and forth by guiding
students to greater levels of confidence and language
skills. It is in such an environment—with comprehension
developing quickly in response to engaging contexts anda dynamic, anticipatory cognitive activity—that students
unconsciously and indirectly speed up their rates ofsecond language acquisition.

Lavigne, F. & Lavigne, P. (2000). Anticipatory semantic
processes.

International

Anticipatory

Systems,

v.

of

7,

Computing
pp.

3-31.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/28763476_
Anticipatory_Semantic_Processes
Maftoon, P. & Sabah, S. (2012). A critical look at thestatus of affect in second language acquisition
research: Lesson’s from Vygotsky’s legacy. Brain.
Broad

Research

in

Neuroscience,

References
Castelaz, D. & Scott, R.B. (1988). The magic bonsai tree.
http://libertygroup.tripod.com/magicbonsai.html
Curtis, S. (June 14, 1988). 459 enrolled at Japan campus.
The

JournalDaily

Egyptian.

https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/de_June1988/11/

Artificial
3(2),Intelligence
pp.

and

36-42.

http://brain.edusoft.ro/index.php/brain/article/view/36
1/405
nbakki. (2017). Changes in the 18-year-old population in
Japan,

1955-2016.

http://nbakki.hatenablog.com/entry/Changes_in_the_18-year-old_Population_in_Japan

Grellet, F. (1981). Developing reading skills: A practical
guide

to

readingcomprehension

exercises.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

New School. (2018, July 23). Diane Larsen-Freeman:
Mutual empowerment in challenging times. [Video].
YouTube. https://youtu.be/KXWXJ7znovo

Grice, H.P. (1975). Logic and conversation. In P. Cole &J.L. Morgan (Eds.), Syntax and semantics, (Vol. 3, pp.
41-58). New York, NY: Academic Press.
Hearn, L. (1904). Jiu-Roku-Zakura. In Kwaidan: Stories
and studies of strange things(pp. 137-141).

https://archive.org/details/kwaidanstories00hearrich/p

Sperber,D.

&

Wilson,D.

(1986).

Relevance:

Communication and cognition. Oxford: Blackwell.
Thoms, J.J. (2014). An ecological view of whole-classdiscussions

inasecondlanguage

literatureclassroom: Teacher reformulations as affordances forlearning. The Modern Language Journal, 98(3), pp.

age/137724-741. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12119
Heyer, S. (1987). True stories in the news. Harlow:
VanPatten, B. (2003). From input to output: A teacher'sLongman.

guide to second language acquisition. New York, NY:
Hruby, G. G., & Goswami, U. (2011). Neuroscience andMcGraw-Hill.

reading: A review for reading education researchers.
Reading Research Quarterly, 46(2), 156–172.

Wilson, D., & Sperber, D. (2012). Meaning and relevance.
Cambridge:

Kafka, F. (1915). The metamorphosis. (I. Johnston,Trans.).

Cambridge

University

Press.

https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139028370

https://www.kafka-online.info/the-metamorphosis.html

Wittgenstein, L. (1958). The blue and brown books.
Oxford: Blackwell.

Krashen, S.D. & Terrell, T.D. (1983). The natural
approach. Hayward, CA: Alemany Press.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

288

Author biography

Robert Bruce Scott, Ed.D., has taught English to middle school students and adults in Ecuador; college students inJapan and Saudi Arabia; and international students at American universities. He was raised in Kansas, but has also lived
in New York and in Colorado. He lived in Japan from 1988 to 1992. Email drrobbscott@gmail.com

The 2019 PanSIG Journal289

36 Teaching Reading in Japanese Public Elementary Schools
Frances Jane Shiobara
Kobe Shoin Women’s University
There is little doubt that English language learners need to learn to read, but there is some controversy as
to when and how this process should begin. In the past reading was not taught until junior high school inJapan, but with the new emphasis on English in public elementary schools, the Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has recommended that elementary school students
should also start literacy activities. The aim of this research was to analyze a number of MEXT approved
textbooks in order to assess the type of reading activities that are included in these textbooks, and how
they correspond with common methods of teaching reading to beginners. This paper will show the resultsof this analysis and include suggestions as to what activities might be used to supplement these textbooks
in order for beginners to be taught in a more comprehensive manner.

英語学習者は、リーディングを学ばなければならない。これに異論をはさむ教育関係者はまずいないであろう。しかし、リーディングの学習をいつからどのように始めるかとなると、ここは意見の分かれる
ところである。以前は日本の小学校ではリーディングを教えていなかったが、公立小学校で英語を教えることが改めて取り沙汰されるようになった。この研究の目的は、文部科学省の検定に合格した様々な教科書を分析して、それらの教科書を使用するとどのようなリーディングが指導されるのか、ならびにそれらの指導が英語初心者への一般的なリーディング指導法とどこが共通しているのか、または異なるのかを精査する。本稿では、そうした分析の結果を報告すると共に、英語学習初心者がより包括的な形で指導を受けられるようにするために、どのような指導で検定済教科書を補足できるのかについても提案していく。

Until recently it was thought that elementaryteaching reading to young learners in a first language

school English should focus solely on speaking and(Goodman, 1967; Hinzman & Reed, 2018; Reyhner,

listening skills, and that literacy should be taught from2018; Castles, Rastle, & Nation, 2018; Enever, 2011) as

junior high school (Nemoto, 2018). However, from 2020

well as teaching more advanced reading skills as a

the elementary school English curriculum in Japan willsecond or foreign language (Nation, 2009), but there ischange significantly with English being taught from 3 rdrelatively little literature on teaching literacy to beginners

grade. In addition, Foreign language activities will bein a second language.

increased to 35 hours per year in 3 rd and 4th grades, and70 hours per year in 5th and 6th grades. Although in the
new curriculum speaking and listening skills are stillemphasized, literacy skills will also be included (Nemoto,2018). This will require that elementary school teachers
learn to teach basic English reading and writing skills. As
most elementary students will not have learnt English
before, they will need to be taught the basics of reading in
English. There has been extensive research done on

In 2000, The American National Institute of Child Healthand Human Development published a report on how toteach young English language learners to read (August &Shanahan, 2006). This study was based on a large
number of existing studies into teaching literacy to young
learners in a second language. From the analysis of thesestudies five ‘essential elements’ of reading instruction
were proposed: phonemic awareness (the ability to hear
individual sounds in a word), phonics (the ability to decode

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

290

phonemes to sound out words), fluency, vocabulary andphonetic hiragana and katakana alphabets as well ascomprehension (Irujo, 2007). August and Shanahan

logographic symbols (kanji), which represent meaning.

(2006) also found that in addition to incorporating the five

This means that students in Japan may need to be taught

elements, second language learners need intensive

literacy in English in a different way than students whose

language development before being taught to read. This

first language also uses the roman alphabet. August andis based on findings that students with higher English

Shanahan (2006) recommend emphasizing phonemes

language skills were found to have benefitted more fromthat are not present in the students’ native language. In

reading instruction than those with very low-level English

the case of Japanese, this might mean extra work on /r/,skills. These findings appear to support the current/l/ and /v/ sounds which students often have difficulty with.

recommendations of MEXT that speaking and listening
skills should be emphasized in the early years of English
language instruction, but that literacy is still part oflearning a language even in the beginner stages (MEXT,

Although learning to read in a second language has
challenges, there are also benefits. As Linse (2006)
explains, children who can already read in their native
language have an advantage as they have already made2014).

the connection between printed words representing
This article aims firstly to outline some of the differences

spoken words, and they know that reading can be done to

between teaching literacy in a first and second language.

get information as well as for pleasure.

Secondly, it seeks to outline various methods of teachingreading to beginners.

Finally, six MEXT approved

elementary school textbooks (see table 1) will beanalyzed to see what types of literacy activities areincluded in order to compare the textbook activities with

How to teach beginners to read
There are three main ways in which children aretaught to read: the whole language approach, phonics,

research on teaching reading. Based on this comparison,and sight words. The battle between the whole language

recommendations will be offered on ways that textbook

approach and phonics has sometimes been referred to asactivities could be supplemented to offer a more effective‘the reading wars’ (Castles, Rastle, & Nation, 2018), in

reading

which proponents of each method promoted the virtues ofprogramforelementary

schoolstudents.

their method and criticized the other methods. I will outline
the advantages and disadvantages of each method andwhether they need to be used in isolation, or if a

Differences in teaching literacy in a firstand second language

combination of methods might provide the most effective
way to teach literacy.

When learning English as a first language, mostchildren start to read when they attend full-time primary orelementary school (age five or six). However, in thesecond language children generally start learning to readlater. A review of a number of countries showed that inEurope the average age to start foreign language
education is between four and seven years old (Curtis,
2007). In Japan, English education in elementary school
used to focus only on listening and speaking from ten
years old, with literacy not introduced until junior highPhonics
Phonics is a way in which the smallest units ofsound (phonemes) are taught as individual sounds with
their grapheme or letter representation. These sounds
and letters are then blended together to form words.
Synthetic phonics also teaches learners how to hear all
the phonemes in a word and match them to a letter inorder to help learners to spell correctly. For further readingon phonics please see Jolly Learning (n.d.).

school (twelve or thirteen years old), although from 2020

Phonics gives students the tools to read for themselves. It

literacy will be taught from age ten.

can empower students, and can turn reading into a puzzle,

Macrory (2019) found that students encountering a new
orthography may have an extra challenge when learninga foreign language. Japanese and English have very
different orthographies, with Japanese based on thewhich can be incredibly motivating (Ehri, Nunes, Stahl, &Willows, 2001). Phonics instruction has also been shown
to raise the reading age of children in their first languageby 28 months (Paton, 2014). Unfortunately, only
approximately 50% of words in the English language can

The 2019 PanSIG Journal291

be decoded using phonics (Reyhner, 2018), which cansuch as and or get. The second reason to use sight words

also be frustrating for learners. In addition, it has been

is with common, but phonically irregular words such as

found that although phonics can be extremely useful inthere and have. Hinzman and Reed (2018) warn against

helping second language learners to decode words, evenallowing students to become too reliant on sight words at

at very low levels of language proficiency, it will not aid

the expense of deduction and decoding of words, as they

comprehension if students’ knowledge of grammar andwill always be reliant on what they have already learned

vocabulary is not sufficient to understand the words theyand they will not become independent readers.

are decoding (Irujo, 2007). Second language learners
need to decode words phonically that they have alreadyencountered, and need to have the phonemic awarenessto differentiate individual sounds in words. In addition,
they need sufficiently accurate pronunciation to be able toreproduce the phonemes to create words (Irujo, 2007).

The best method to teach young learners to
read
As can be seen in the previous section, eachmethod of teaching reading has pros and cons, so a
combination of methods may produce the best results. A
solid grounding in phonics gives students the building

Whole Language Approach

blocks to tackle any unknown words they come across.

The whole language approach to teaching

The whole language approach encourages students toreading was developed by Frank Smith and Kenneth

use their schema to guess the meaning of unknown words

Goodman in the 1970s (Katanoda & Wada, 2003). It isthrough context and encourages a love of the language

considered a top-down approach where the reader

through introducing interesting and motivating topics andconstructs meaning from text, based on prior knowledge

stories. The learning of sight words can help learners toof the language. Whole language instruction often

read quickly. Reading quickly allows learners to pay more

involves reading stories and games, as well as songs andattention to meaning, which in turn will aid comprehension.

chants. Goodman (1967) believed that beginning readers

Ultimately the majority of fluent readers read most words

need little instruction to decode letters and that by reading

as sight words and through inferencing as in the wholemeaningful texts and making inferences students will

language approach. It is only when new and unknown

naturally acquire the ability to read in English. The wholewords are encountered that fluent readers resort tolanguage approach involves recognizing words that havephonics, however phonics is a crucial first step for many

been read before, as well as having sufficient backgroundstudents learning to read.

knowledge of English to guess the meanings of newwords from context.

Methodology
In this way, the whole language approach can be very

The current MEXT approved elementary school

effective in learning to read English in a first language,

textbooks were analyzed using Littlejohn’s Levels of

where children as young as four or five years old often

Analysis (2011) to see what type of reading activities arehave an extensive knowledge of vocabulary. However,included and how these correspond to recommended

when teaching English as a second language students

approaches to teaching reading in a second language.

often do not have an extensive vocabulary, so cannot

The six textbooks analyzed were Hi, Friends! 1 (2012), Hi,

guess the words from context, and cannot infer the

Friends! 2 (2012), Let’s Try! 1 (2018), Let’s Try! 2 (2018),

meanings of words.

We Can! 1 (2018) and We Can! 2 (2018).

Sight words

Littlejohn’s Levels of Analysis (2011) has three levels

Sight word instruction is a way in which‘what is there’, ‘what is required of users’, ‘and what isfrequently used words are taught as individual words out

implied’. Firstly, a list of literacy activities appearing in theof context, usually using flashcards. Hinzman and Reed

textbooks, was compiled (Table 1). This is equivalent to(2018) list two reasons for teaching sight words. The first

the first level in Littlejohn’s framework (2011).

is with words that could be decoded with phonics, but

textbooks were analyzed page by page for these activities,

appear so frequently that learning to read them without

which were counted and shown in Table 1. Although some

decoding speeds up the reading time. These are words

activities overlapped, an effort was made to identify each

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

The

292

Hi,
Friends!1(TokyoShoseki,
2012)

Hi,
Friends!2(TokyoShoseki,2012)

Let’s Try! 1(TokyoShoseki,
2018)

1

1

1

Upper

Let’s Try! 2(TokyoShoseki,
2018)

We Can! 1(TokyoShoseki,
2018)

We Can! 2(TokyoShoseki,
2018)

5

5

5

2

Alphabet
Lower

1

Sounds andLetters
Dialogues

1

Song Words

1

1

1
1

Short sentences

4

Short Stories
1
Folk tale

1

Sight Words

1

1

1

5

12

5

9

15

Table 1 Elementary School Textbook Comparison

activity as only one type. Subsequently, each activity was

Level 2 ‘What is required of users’

analyzed to see which method of teaching reading (whole

Hi, Friends! 2 is not intended to include literacy activities

language, phonics or sight words) it might be utilizing.

either. The upper and lowercase alphabets are included,This responds to the second level of Littlejohn’s (2011)

but they are not connected to phonic sounds. There is one

framework trying to see what the learner is expected to do

short dialog, one short story, and one Japanese folktale

and how this is connected to learning. Finally, a shortwritten in English. These are all whole language activities.

summary of the textbooks and how they approach reading

The months of the year are also introduced as sight words

was written as the third level of Littlejohn’s (2011)

with flashcards at the back of the book. As there are noframework to try to see what is implied by the inclusion

phonics, it appears that students are introduced to readingand exclusion of literacy activities.

in English through the whole language approach.
Probably students read and listen while the teacher reads
the stories aloud. Some teachers may incorporate read

Results
Level 1 ‘What is There’

and repeat activities.
Let’s Try! 1 is very similar to Hi, Friends! 1, but in addition

Hi, Friends! 1 is not intended to include literacy

to the uppercase letters of the alphabet and a song, there

activities. The uppercase alphabet letters are introduced,

is also a short story. The short story could be used as abut phonics activities are not included. One song iswhole language activity. There are also flashcards at theincluded with words, which might be used as a wholeback of the book, which may be used as sight word

language approach activity.

There are no sight word

activities, although these words do not appear to be

activities. In general, it appears that students areincluded in the main part of the textbook. The wholeexpected to do very little reading.

language approach is probably used in this textbook, but
it may be supplemented with sight words.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

293

Let’s Try! 2 introduces the lowercase letters of thedo these things, will be able to infer some of the meaningalphabet, but there are no phonics activities. There is one

from the pictures. There are also fifteen pages of sightshort story, which could be used as a whole language

words with supporting flashcards in the back of the book.

activity. The major difference between this textbook and

We Can! 2 has significantly more literacy activities thanthe ones discussed so far is that there are five different

We Can! 1, with a mixture of whole language approachpages of sight words as well as matching flashcards at theand sight words.

back of the book. This indicates that sight words areencouraged through this textbook as well as the whole
language approach.

Level 3 ‘What is implied’
Based on this analysis a number of points canbe inferred as to the way in which the textbook writers

We Can! 1 is intended for 5th grade students, and contains

intend reading to be taught. Hi, Friends! and Let’s Try!

more literacy activities than the previous textbooks. Therefocus almost entirely on speaking and listening activities,

are five pages of ‘letters and sounds’. It is possible that

although the short stories and folktales might be aimed at

the teachers may introduce these sounds as phonicteaching reading through the whole language approach.

practice. The ‘letters and sounds’ pages are at the end of

Unfortunately, as there is only one short story in eachthe textbook, but seem to be intended to be introduced as

textbook, there is not enough reading for students to gain

chants with the themes of the textbook. I would notmuch competence.

classify this as phonics instruction as there is no explicit
blending of letter sounds to read words or breaking downof words into phonemes to aid spelling. In addition, only
individual letters of the alphabet are used. There are no
diagraphs (th, ch, sh, wh) or long vowel sounds (ai, oo, ee,etc.) introduced. The textbook includes five pages called‘Story Time’ which have simple dialogs. These dialogs
could be used as whole language activities. There arenine pages of sight words activities with flashcards tosupplement their teaching at the back of the book. In
general, this textbook appears to encourage a variety ofwhole language activities with flashcards which could be
used as sight word practice. There is an introduction tophonic sounds, but no blending activities.
We Can! 2 contains the same letter and sound activities
as We Can! 1, although they don’t seem to be integrated
into the textbook and there are no explicit phonics
blending activities included. There are two short dialogues
and four pages of short sentences about familiar topics
with clear visuals, which could be used for whole
language approach activities. In addition, there are twelve
pages called ‘Story Time’. These pages have a shortwritten text with plenty of visual clues. This is almost
certainly designed to be used as a top down reading

We Can! 1 and 2 contain far more reading activities. Fivepages of letters and sounds are also included. This could
be an introduction to phonics, although as explained
earlier, phonics should be introduced gradually andstudents need to learn to blend sounds to make words,
not only recognize individual sounds. It can be inferredthat phonics are introduced, but they are not taught
systematically as a method to learn to read.
With five short stories and five dialogs in We Can! 1 andtwelve short stories in We Can! 2 it can be inferred thatthe whole language approach is being used in thesetextbooks. Each story is simple with enough supporting
visuals and common schema that students could guessthe meanings of words from context. Each textbook also
contains various pages of vocabulary, which might betaught as sight words using the flashcards at the back of
the book. The flashcards contain pictures and words,
which means that students do not necessarily have toread the words. In addition, frequent words that arecommonly taught as sight words are not included. From
this it can be inferred that sight word reading was not amain aim of the textbooks, but could be incorporated if theteacher wished to do so.

practice such as in the whole language approach. For
example, there is a story about a boy whose father is abaker and he wants to become a baker too. The visualclues show the boy dreaming of wearing a white chef’s
coat and hat whisking something in a bowl. Students who
know that chefs and bakers often wear these clothes andConclusion and recommendations
Based on this analysis it appears that most of
the current textbooks are mainly using a whole language
approach to teach reading. Research shows thatincorporating phonics, sight words and whole language

The 2019 PanSIG Journal294

approaches to be the most effective way to teach early

Ehri, L., Nunes, S., Stahl, S., & Willows, D. (2001).

literacy skills to young learners (Irujo, 2007). In view of this,

Systematic Phonics Instruction Helps Students Learn

students would benefit from teachers supplementing theto Read: Evidence from the National Reading Panel's

textbooks with phonics and sight words. As all of the

Meta-Ana. Review of Educational Research, 71(3),textbooks introduce first letter phonic sounds for the393-447.

letters of the alphabet, this could be built on by teaching
students to blend the sounds to make words. Teachers
also need to introduce a few extra common diagraphs
such as ‘th’, ‘ch’ and ‘sh’. A few sight words are introducedin the current textbooks, these could be supplemented
with frequent words such as and, have and are, which
could be taught by making flashcards or writing the words

Enever, J. (2011). ELLiE, Early Language Learning inEurope. London: British Council.
Goodman, K. S. (1967). Reading: A psycholinguistic
guessing game. Journal of the Reading Specialist,
6(4), 126-135.
https://doi.org/10.1080/19388076709556976.

on the blackboard.
Although the elementary school textbooks are set tochange from 2020, it is hoped that by analyzing theHi, Friends! 1. (2012). Tokyo, Japan: Tōkyōshoseki.
Hi, Friends! 2. (2012). Tokyo: Tōkyōshoseki.

previous textbooks teachers will be able to identify what islacking in the textbooks they are using. Teachers can thenHinzman, M., & Reed, D. K. (2018, June 12). Teachingsupplement the textbooks with extra literacy activities tosight Words as a Part of Comprehensive Reading

enable students to learn to read in the most effective way.

instruction. Retrieved from Iowa Reading Research

Through having a clear understanding of the methods ofCenter:teaching reading, it is hoped that literacy can behttps://iowareadingresearch.org/blog/teaching-sight-

incorporated in elementary school English classes.

words

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant
Number JP16K45678

Irujo, S. (2007). What Does Research Tell Us About
Teaching Reading to English Language Learners?
Retrieved

from

Reading

Rockets:

https://www.readingrockets.org/article/what-does-

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Author biography
Frances Jane Shiobara is a lecturer in Kobe Shoin Women’s University department of education. She has beenteaching English in Japan for the last thirty years. Her main areas of interest are teaching English to young learners andattitudes to technology in education. fshiobara@shoin.ac.jp

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37 Teacher Verbal Feedback on English Presentations
Nattawadee Sinpattanawong
King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok

Yaowaret TharawootKing Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok
This study aimed to identify the course objectives and the teacher’s teaching goals for English
presentations, to analyze the teacher’s verbal feedback content, and to explore whether the content
provided opportunities for the postgraduates to reach the objectives and the goals. The research tools
were observations, interviews, and document analysis. The audio-recorded data were transcribed andanalyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The results showed that the main course objective was toimprove the students’ presentation skills. Similarly, the teacher’s teaching goal was to provide the students
with techniques for improving their presentations. The content focused on structure, coherence, speaking
skills, involving the audience (including visual aids), and self-presentation. These contents provided
opportunities for the students to reach the objectives and the goals because they were directly related totheir presentation skills. The findings have pedagogical implications for presentations in English courses;
for example, teachers can reflect on their providing verbal feedback, which would lead to reaching course
objectives and their teaching goals.

この研究は教師からの助言をもとに英語で発表する為にコースの目的及び目標を特定します。それから、大学院生の目標及び目的を到達するために特定した内容の検討で提供します。研究ツールは監視、インタービュー、文書分析などであり、録音されたデータを書き起こし、定性的及び定量的の両方で分析しました。研究の結果により、主な目的は生徒のプレゼンテーションスキル向上を示されていました。同様に、教師の目的も生徒にプレゼンテーションスキル向上の支援を提供します。この内容は視聴覚教材、体制、スピーキングスキルなどに関する興味を持つ聴衆を注目しています。さらにこの内容もプレゼン
テーションスキルを直接関係しているために

目標及び目的を到達したい生徒に適しています。今回の調査内容は英語コースで発表に関する意味合いがあります。例えば、コースの個人的な目標及び目的を到達するために、教師が意見を述べられることなどです。

Stevens (1996) explained that “presentations(speaking, reading, writing, and listening). However, thehave a broader purpose. As well as seeking to persuade

most important thing is to build people’s confidence inthey are used to explain ideas, share knowledge andpresentations. Normally, presentations may make people

experiences, help the audience to make informed

feel nervous speaking in front of others. Presentations indecisions and often to elicit feedback from them” (p. 1).

front of a class, a workplace, or a public place, in a

Moreover, presentations are a useful way to contribute tolanguage which is not one’s first native level, can be

English language learning experiences because theydifficult. Leichsenring (2010) conducted an analysis on

enable people to practice all language areas (i.e.

first year Japanese EFL undergraduate students andvocabulary,found that the students thought that giving a presentation

phonology,

andgrammar)andskillsThe 2019 PanSIG Journal

297

in English was difficult. They had problems with planningpresentationand preparing and worried about remembering thepresentation training and assessment processes, thesefactorspresentation content. More recently, in their study, Ličen

includeand Bogdanović (2017) mentioned that when students

vocabulary, speaking skills, involving the audience, andgive a presentation, they normally do not provide enoughself-presentation. The use of visual aids is not listed as a

introduction or conclusion and do not use visual aids

separate category because their use should not be madesuccessfully. It can be concluded that for teaching

mandatory when considering the quality of a presentation.

presentations teachers should give their students the

However, it can be placed within the “involving thepractice and support they need, and they should provide

audience” category.

presentation instructions in a safe and encouraging

factors, which were adapted from Ličen and Bogdanović

environment during the students’ presentations.

(2017), are described as follows.

content,

designed

structure,

to

help

grammar,

with

both

coherence,In this study, eight presentation

One of ways for improving presentations is

Content: a single topic without digressing toassessors’ or evaluators’ feedback. Feedback is one theother subjects/topics. The topic should be discussed innecessary helpers that lots of researchers apply in order

great detail and interesting examples should be offered.

to improve presenters’ presentation skills (Ličen &Structure:

the

basic

introduction-body-

Bogdanović, 2017). Because of assessors’ or evaluators’

conclusion organizational pattern. Presenters have to be

feedback, presenters will get to know simultaneously whatfamiliarized with thesis/topic sentences, the introduction,

has been done right and what could be improved afterand supporting sentences.

performance. In fact, most researches show that giving
feedback is negative because it reduces the confidence

Grammar: the use of grammatically correctsentencesof the presenter directly (Méndez & Cruz, 2012). However,Coherence: a well-ordered and logical flow of

the studies so far specifically related to the teacher’sideas should be presented, and there is a need forverbal feedback on a presentation are scarce and haverepetition, re-wording, and summarization in individual

not been informative. Consequently, this current study fillsorganization units.

this gap by identifying the course objectives and the

Vocabulary: selecting the most appropriate

teacher’s teaching goals for English presentations,words in order to convey precise meanings, as well as foranalyzing the teacher’s verbal feedback content, andusing a wide range of words, linking expressions,investigating whether the use of the feedback provided

appropriate phrases for introducing a subject, involving

postgraduate students with the ability to reach thethe audience, presenting one’s argument, ordering points,

objectives and the goals. In the following sections,starting a new section, referring to visual aids, defining,presentation skills and teacher verbal feedback arerephrasing, and giving examples and offering conclusions.

described.

These make the speech more vivid and effective.
Speaking skills: these are voice/speech traits
such as volume, intonation, fluency, expression, clarity,

Presentation skills

and projection, but they also include pace and pause.

Having effective presentation skills is very

Involving the audience (including visual aids):

important, whether in the classroom or in the workplace.

raising

These skills are a valuable life skill, which can help people

impressive statistics, interesting quotations, asking

in their education and future careers. A presentation caninterestbyoffering

examples,

anecdotes,

rhetorical questions, and the use of visual aids

be defined as the communication of information to an

Self-presentation: several different presentation

audience. It can happen in a classroom, or in theskills and aspects, such as body language, gestures andworkplace and public places. It involves speaking aloud,eye contact, to establish a pleasant relationship with the

but it is also about using the presenters’ critical thinking,audience, to be open and to show a sense of humor

listening, and non-verbal communications skills to gettheir message across. There are broad essential
techniques and structures for giving a presentation that
presenters should understand. According to Ličen andBogdanović(2017),

there

are

eight

significant

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

298

Teacher verbal feedback

Methods

According to Hadzic (2016), in the classroom
verbal feedback is as a natural part of the verbal
interaction between teachers and students. It is the key toformative assessment (Sadler, 1989). It can be as “a key
process in learning, providing information on actual
performance in relation to the goal of performance”

Participants and setting
One presentation class in a master’s degree
program in the field of English at a public university in
Bangkok participated in the study. The participants were
one Thai female teacher, one Thai female master’s(Molloy & Boud, 2013, p. 2). Although normally thestudent, and two foreign male master’s students who willteacher’s verbal feedback is used to instantly correct

hereafter be referred to as the teacher and the students

students’ mistakes (Tonekaboni, 2016), it should be given(T, S1, S2, and S3) respectively. Pseudonyms are given

without personal judgments or opinions (Boud, 2002). The

to the participants for confidentiality purposes and toteacher’s verbal feedback should be given based on theensure their privacy. However, the gender and thefacts, should always be neutral and objective, constructive,
and focus on the future. Teachers should provide theinformation that is being given on how an action isdeveloped in terms of its quality for success. The primarycharacteristic of the teacher’s verbal feedback is the useof its information to improve the students’ performance.
Recently, Rahmat and Munir (2018) explained that there
are two main purposes for teacher verbal feedback: “to let
students know how well they have performed and toincrease their interests and motivation to talk far more” (p.
127). In their research, Mahdi and Saadany (2013) foundthat the students indicated that teacher verbal feedback

nationalities of the participants were not focused on. For
the teacher, she had almost two years of teachingexperience. She had received a Ph.D. in translation
studies from the United Kingdom. Concerning thestudents, their ages ranged from 25-35 years and theirEnglish study period ranged from 15 to 20 years. All ofthem were studying giving presentations in English for the
first time, and they took this course for a semester (threehours a week for 18 weeks). The class was designed tohelp them improve their presentation skills.

Procedure
The investigation focused on the content of thewas needed so that they could know what to improve inteacher’s verbal feedback regarding the students’

their language use. In addition, some of these students

presentations during nine weeks (W3, W4, W6, W7, W10,

explained that when they receive verbal feedback, they

W12, W14, W17, W18) was observed by using an audio

can memorize what they did wrong and do it right the next

recording. During six weeks when the students learned

time. Consequently, they can learn from the teacher’sverbal feedback how to make sense and further theirlearning (Winne & Butler, 1994).

how to give a presentation, the class was observed withtaking notes. Moreover, the class was cancelled for three
weeks so the total observed weeks was 15. Based on theobservations, the teacher asked the students to give a
presentation based on topics in the textbook or on the

Research questions
1.

What are the course objectives and theteacher’s teaching goals in English presentations?
2.

What is the content of the teacher’s verbal

feedback related to presentation factors?
3. Does the content of the teacher’s verbal

student’s topic preferences, such as owning a business,
his or her current job, academic topics, selling a product,
etc. Each presentation task was related to the teaching
topic of each week. As the researchers noticed during thepresentations, the teacher and the other students paid
attention to the presenting student. The teacher asked all

feedback provide opportunities for students to reach theof the students to give a presentation, and then provided

course objectives and the teacher’s teaching goals? If yes,verbal feedback on each student’s presentation by giving

how are the opportunities to reach these objectives andthese goals provided through the content of the teacher’sverbal feedback?

suggestionsorcomments

on

their

presentation

performance.
After observing the class, a semi-structured
interview was conducted. The teacher was asked about
the course objectives and her teaching goals for an
English presentation class. Each student was asked

The 2019 PanSIG Journal299

about the course objectives and the teacher’s teaching

Examples of interview responses concerning

goals and teacher verbal feedback’s contents. The

the teacher’s perceptions about reaching her course

students were also asked whether the use of teacher

objectives and teaching goals are shown below.

verbal feedback provided them for reaching the objectives“Letting them practice in class and also throughand the goals. Each interview was conducted separately,

feedback, every student have to evaluate themselves andaudio-recorded, and transcribed. The sequence of

their friends as well. So, we will learn through mistakes

interview questions and topics followed a semi-fixedand examples, and practice.”sequence.

“Let them watch the videos, see the examples

The last research tool was document analysis.
The documents analyzed was the course syllabus where

and then try to apply it into their own presentations andthen let them evaluate themselves and their friends.”

the course objectives could be found. More details of“When we learned on next time, you all did

presentation techniques taught for each week could bebetter, some point maybe we pointed out the week before

also found in the syllabus.

that maybe you can do this better next time, and thenThe data from the observations, the interviews,

when the week came, you did better. So, I think it help,

and the document analysis were analyzed qualitatively.

maybe it’s not only my feedback, other students’ feedback

The research findings are presented in the same order asthat they got from other students and that also helped.”

the research questions below.

Research question 2
Research Question 2 focused on the content ofResults and discussion
In this section, the results related to the researchquestions mentioned are explained and discussed.

the teacher’s verbal feedback. The data from theobservations in this study suggested that each week theteacher taught a presentation technique to the students
and asked them to give a presentation using the taught
presentation technique of that week or the previous week.

Research question 1
In regard to Research Question 1, the analysisof the course objectives and the teacher’s teaching goals
for English presentations suggested that the objectives
and the goals were quite similar (Table 1). It is possiblethat the teacher wrote the course syllabus based on her
personal teaching goals.

The taught presentation techniques included structuring apresentation and signposting, body language and voice
power, introducing your presentation and rapport building,delivering your message, using visual aids, concluding,and impact techniques. Upon starting to analyze thetranscripts from the observations, an interesting patternbegan to emerge. When the teacher provided verbal

Table 1 The Course Objectives and the Teacher’s

feedback for the students’ presentation performance, her

Teaching Goals for English Presentations

verbal feedback content was based not only on the taught
presentation

The Course Objectives (Course Syllabus)
To learn techniques on how to give effective andsuccessful presentations.
To practice giving presentations.
To improve presentation skills.

techniques,

but

also

on

the

eight

presentation factors of Ličen and Bogdanović (2017) as
can be seen in the following examples.

Example 1“You got pretty much everything there. I mean

The Teacher’s Teaching Goals (The Teacher’s Interview)
My goal was to make the students improve even a little bit
because presentation are skills that you have to practiceand some people may be better at it or some are not as
good. So, it just takes time to practice. My goal is just to letthem be aware of these techniques, which the techniques
they can use to improve their presentations.
_______________________________________________

you did put the outline out. Everything’s along the way.
The structure is quite clear.”“So, you have the basic things, you all haveintroduction, body, structure, and conclusion.”“I think navigation, I think you have some, didn’t
you? like you tell us going to show us the product a little
bit of it, right? Some of navigation thing like you told us or
this is the product that I want to talk about that’s one way

The 2019 PanSIG Journal300

of doing it. There is a way to navigate us, you tell us what

and W16 (Week 6, Week 8, and Week 16), and one of theyou going to talk about, and then you show us the video

presentation factors, involving the audience (including

but you didn’t use it consistently in the presentation.

visual aids) (Ličen & Bogdanović, 2017).

The above examples demonstrate that theteacher gave verbal feedback related to structuring apresentation (using the core structure and signposting),
which was the presentation technique taught during W4

Research question 3
In order to address the third research question,
the analysis of the students’ interviews was performed.

(Week 4) and two of the presentation factors, self-

For each of the following interview narratives, thepresentation and coherence (Ličen & Bogdanović, 2017).

interviewees referred to S1, S2, S3 throughout. Eachsummary was written from the perspective of the

Example 2

researchers.

“Now it seems like your voice is not powerful.”“So, you actually can work on the voice power,
the stress and the pauses that we did last time. You canadjust your voice or you can add the pauses where it’s
appropriate.”“The first impression somehow okay, I mean you
smile, but enormously body language and eye contact you
did not really eye contact with us. I mean you try, but you
didn’t always look at your notes but you didn’t look at us

Interview 1: S1
Based on S1’s interview, S1 mentioned thecourse objectives and the teacher’s teaching goals,
stating that “it is a preparation for us to do any businesspresentations in the future.” S1 indicated that theobjectives and the goals were appropriate for this course
because “this course is mostly about communication andbusiness. It brought you a spectrum, if you are looking forjob somewhere, you can ease to a lot of things. It’s a skill

either.”
It is clear from the examples above that theteacher gave verbal feedback content related to voice
power and body language, which was the presentation
technique taught during W5 (Week 5), and two of thepresentation factors, speaking skills and self-presentation(Ličen & Bogdanović, 2017).

and it really necessary to have that skill.” For teaching thepresentation techniques and improving presentation skills,
S1 indicated that “the teacher tried. I love the fact that weused to have a class discussion and we made at least
every month, we had a presentation that increase
confidence when speaking in front of the class, speaking
to people”. Moreover, S1 insisted that teacher’s verbal

Example 3“And you started with the quote, that’s one thing

feedback helped the students accomplish the course
objectives and the teacher’s teaching goals.

you attracted audiences’ attention first, and then you haveyour welcome the audiences. There was anecdote which
is very good.”“You tried to include your audiences, but in thequestions. And you gave examples, using what theaudiences are familiar with this material, for example.”“Visual aids, it’s not always important. If it canhelp you as good, if it gonna be obstruct you there is not
good. So, it depends on your, how you use. I mean you
can make use of it, but you think No, I don’t need it, that’s

Interview 2: S2
S2

explainedthat thecourseobjectives

supported developing the students’ presentation skills:“the course objectives lead to improving our presentation
skills that we can use in the future.” In addition, S2 said
about the taught presentation techniques that “whengiving a presentation, she told that we should not only
stand still, but also can walk around or use body language
to make a presentation relax and not to make audiences
stressful”. Similarly, for the teacher’s teaching goals she

fine.”

continued to state that “the teacher’s teaching goals madeThe above examples show that the teacher

us improve our presentations. If we can use her verbal

gave verbal feedback related to introducing yourfeedback for our presentations, it will be a benefit for us.

presentation (understanding your audience), rapport

The effective presentation techniques that the teacher

building, using visual aids, and impact techniques, whichtaught us can let our audiences know that we were trained

were the presentation techniques taught during W6, W8,or studied about giving a presentation before. This canimpress audiences.” Furthermore, S2 remarked that

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

301

based on her teaching goals, the teacher wanted to makefeedback is one of the ways of developing presentation

the students’ speech more natural and wanted them toskills because with such feedback the presenters are able

involve the audience in the presentation. Finally, theto learn what they did right and what they could improve.

researcher asked S2 to describe how the teacher’s verbal

Moreover, the results suggested that in a presentation

feedback was helpful for reaching the course objectives

class the content of the teacher’s verbal feedback can

and the teacher’s teaching goals. S2 indicated, “yes, it

help her accomplish the course objectives and herhelped. Because when we got verbal feedback from theteaching goals. The teacher can provide messages

teacher, it made me know more about myself.” Sherelated to the students’ presentation performance andcontinued to explain that she used the feedback to

information she intend to teach her students based on her

improve her presentation skills although they were notcourse objectives and teaching goals. Nevertheless, duegood enough. She tried to make her presentations better.

to the small scale of the study, it is too early to make any
firm conclusions about the use of the teacher verbal

Interview 3: S3

feedback content. Larger studies with more participants

The researcher asked S3 to describe the course

would help to develop a better understanding of the issues.

objectives and the teacher’s teaching goals. S3 stated

However, the researchers hope that other teachers willthat the objectives and the goals were “to learn techniques

find it practical using the content of the teacher’s verbal

of a presentation and how to have a successful

feedback on the presentations in their own classes.

presentation, to practice giving a presentation, and to
improve our presentation skills.” He concluded that basedon the objectives and the goals, the teacher taught theReferences

techniques to improve his presentation skills. She taught

Boud, D. (2002). Sustainable assessment: rethinking

a lot of techniques to improve them, such as improvig

assessment for the learning society. Studies invoice, tone, and body language and using graphics toContinuing Education, 22(2), 151-167. Retrieved frompresent information. To conclude, S3 mentioned thathttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/241580761

teacher’s verbal feedback was helpful for improving his
presentation skills, which was one of the course
objectives and the teacher’s teaching goals. He said that“the teacher immediately gave verbal feedback after
finishing each presentation. Then I used her feedback to
improve his next presentation.” S3 continued to indicatethat “normally the teacher’s feedback is about my_Sustainable_Assessment_Rethinking_Assessment_for_the_Learning_Society
Hadzic, S. (2016). Oral and written teacher feedback in an
English as a foreign language classroom in Sweden(Master’s thesis, Linnaeus University, Sweden).

speaking skills, particularly his voice”. Consequently, heRetrievedfrom

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Ličen, B., & Bogdanović, V. (2017). Teaching assessment

concluded that the contents that the teacher provided

to develop. ESP students’ speaking skills (Master’s

through her verbal feedback on the students’ presentation

thesis, University of Novi Sad, Serbia). Retrieved fromperformance could reach the course objectives and her

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teaching goals. All of the students indicated that theylearned effective presentation techniques that led to
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content/uploads/Formative-Assessment-and-DesignMolloy, E., & Boud, D. (2013). Feedback models forof-Instructional-Systems.pdf

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Author biography
Nattawadee Sinpattanawong is a master’s student in the English for Business and Industry Communication Program(English Program) of the Department of Languages, Faculty of Applied Arts, King Mongkut’s University of Technology
North Bangkok, Thailand. She is interested in teacher education, classroom interaction, and English language teaching
and learning. She can be contacted at nattwd.sw@gmail.com.

Yaowaret Tharawoot is a lecturer in the Department of Languages, Faculty of Applied Arts at King Mongkut’s
University of Technology North Bangkok in Bangkok, Thailand. Her current research focuses on classroom interaction,
discourse analysis, and genre analysis. Yaowaret can be reached at ytharawoot@yahoo.com.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal303

38 Yes-No Vocabulary Tests and Synform Pseudowords
Raymond Stubbe
Nagasaki University

Kousuke Nakashima
Hirsoshima Institute of Technology
Stubbe and Nakashima (2019) introduced synform pseudowords to the yes-no test format. The present
study answers their call for future research by testing an item list containing 50% real words prone tosynformic confusion (vase versus base, for example). Two versions of a yes-no test were created, version
A contained six synform pseudowords and nine regular pseudowords, and version B contained 15 regularpseudowords. The tested real words were 30 synform words and 30 non-synform words. Participants (N= 235) also took an English to Japanese translation test of the same 60 items, to check for over-estimationof word knowledge on the yes-no test. Results suggest that synform pseudowords do help adjust yes-no
test scores to better reflect demonstrable vocabulary knowledge, but correlations with translation testscores, as well as with actual over-estimation were higher for the regular pseudowords. Thus, synform
pseudowords do not greatly assist the yes-no test format.

Stubbe and Nakashima (2019) は、学生が語彙の習得度を自己判断するためのテストに疑似語を取り入れた。本研究では和訳問題に実際にある語彙 (例えば、vase/base)を用いることで、自己診断の正確性が向上するかを検証した。学生の自己診断テスト単語テストには疑似語を用いたが、和訳テストには実在する語を 60 語用いた（綴り字が似ている単語と似ていない単語が 30 語ずつ）。結果として、自己診断テストに綴り字が似ている疑似語を導入する方が学生の語彙習得に対する認識をより正確に測ることができるが、その程度はさほど大きいものではないことが分かった。

Pseudowords were originally added to the yes-no (YN)

the two types of pseudowords and actual incidents oftest format to provide a means of checking whether orover-estimation favored the regular pseudowords overnot test-takers were over-estimating their knowledge ofthe synform pseudowords. It was speculated that thethe tested items (Anderson & Freebody, 1983). Stubbe

reason for the poor correlational performance by theand Nakashima (2019) investigated the usefulness of

synform pseudowords was because “only one of the 30

including synform pseudowords in the item pool of atested real words suffered from what Laufer (1989)

yes-no (YN) vocabulary test. That study featured a YN

labeled “synformic confusion” (Stubbe and Nakashima,

test that measured student self-assessed knowledge of

2019, pp. 238). In other words, there were not enough

45 items, 30 real words and 15 pseudowords. Of thereal word items prone to possible synform error

pseudowords, five were synform pseudowords and theconfusion in the item pool for the synform pseudowords

other 10 were regular pseudowords drawn from Meara

to correlated with. Stubbe and Nakashima (2019, p.

(2010), which provides a list of some 400 pseudowords.

238) concluded that “Future research should utilize an

The 2019 study reported “no significant difference (pitem list which contains a higher proportion of words that= .46) between the full 15 pseudoword h-f adjusted yes-are prone to synformic confusion (“law” versus “raw”;

no test results and participant demonstrable knowledge“vase” versus “base”, for example).” This present studyof the 30 tested real words, as measured by the L2 toanswers that research call.

L1 translation test” (Stubbe and Nakashima, 2019, pp.
237-8). However, correlations between the scores for

The 2019 PanSIG Journal 304

participants had translated the word row as raw, law andBackground

low and suggested “that the l/r distinction remains a

Yes No Vocabulary Tests

problem for these low-level students” (p.168). Other

Compared to other vocabulary testing formats, YN

researchers from various countries have similarly

checklist tests allow for the testing of the largest number

reported synform errors in their classrooms andof words, while placing the fewest demands upon

vocabulary studies (Gu, and Leung, 2002; Kocić, 2008;

administrators and test-takers (Anderson & Freebody,and, Nural, 2014).

1983). In this format, participants are presented with aseries of items in isolation and simply indicate if they

Synform Pseudowords

know each word or not. One liability of this convenience

Stubbe and Nakashima (2019) combined the concepts

is that many test-takers over-estimate their vocabularyof Anderson and Freebody’s (1983) pseudowords withknowledge by signaling knowledge of words they do not

Laufer’s (1988) synform errors to create synform

actually know a correct meaning of. To compensate forpseudowords. The YN test used in that study contained

this potential, pseudowords, otherwise referred to as

40 real words and 15 pseudowords, five of which were

non-words, were introduced to the YN format bysynform pseudowords. These synform pseudowords

Andersonofwere created by substituting one or more letters frompseudowords in YN tests has remained widespreadcommon words from the first two 1000 frequency bandthrough present day versions. In YN tests, knowledge ofof the 2003 version of the JACET 8000 (JACET Basica real word is referred to as a ‘hit’, while claiming

Words Revision Committee, 2003). For instance, value

knowledge of a pseudoword is called a ‘false alarm’. Not

became balue. That study presented conflicting data

claiming knowledge of a real word is labeled a ‘miss’concerning the usefulness of synform pseudowords inand not claiming knowledge of a pseudoword is a

YN testing. As mentioned, one weakness of that study‘correct rejection’. Claiming knowledge of words that do

was that only one of the 30 tested items was vulnerable

not exist is seen as a possible indication of falsely

to synformic confusion. “The word “vase” was translated

claiming knowledge of real words (overestimation). The

as “base” by 32 of the 205 test-takers (15.6%)”, whichtest results from learners who claim knowledge ofled to their call for future research, quoted above.

andFreebody(1983).

This

use

pseudowords are adjusted downwards using a varietyof scoring formulae, to better reflect the actualAim
The present study attempts to answer Stubbe andvocabulary size. (Beeckmans et al., 2001).

Nakashima’s (2019) call for future research by testing a

The most common of these adjustment formulae is

60 item word-list comprised of 50% synform words,

called h-f (Anderson & Freebody, 1983), which iswhich are real words prone to synformic confusion withcalculated

FAs

a similar word of a higher frequency (vase versus base,(pseudoword hits) relative to the total number offor example). This study will use a YN test containing 15

pseudowords (the FA rate, f), is subtracted from thepseudowords, six of which are synform pseudowords toproportion of real word hits relative to the total number

determine whether synform pseudowords improve theof real word items (the hit rate, h), thus h-f.

functioning of the YN test.

asfollows:

theproportionofSynform Errors
According to Batia Laufer (Laufer, Meara, & Nation,

Methodology2005) synform errors “are word pairs or groups of words
with similar (though not identical) sound, script, ormorphology, which learners tend to confuse” (p. 4; see
Laufer, 1988 for a detailed explanation of synforms).
Stubbe and Cochrane (2016) found a high number of
synform errors in an English to Japanese (L2 to L1)
translation test. For instance, using back translations,
Stubbe and Cochrane (2016) reported that many

Real Words Items
A list of 30 possible katakana synform words pairs wascreated, based onthe following consonant pairs: f-h; l-r;v-b; and m-n in syllabic final position. For example,
paired words included: appeal – appear, hill – fill, van –ban, andsum – sun. Using the JACET 8000 Level
Marker 2015 (JACET Basic Words Revision Committee,2016), the frequency level for each of the 60 words was

The 2019 PanSIG Journal 305

determined (from 1K for the 1000 most frequent English

the top 8000 words from 1 – 8000, non-synform words

words, through 8K being words from the 7001 – 8000

from very close in ranking to each of the 30 synformband.) With only one exception, the less frequent word

words were selected. These non-synform words wereof each pair was tested. With the pair grass – glass,

only slightly more frequent on average than the 30

grass is rated in the 1K band while glass is rated as a

synform words, 4.33 and 4.5 average frequency level,

2K, which went against the researchers’ expectations.

according to the new JACET 8000. Table 1 displays the
30 items in each group.

A similar list of 30 non-synform words was also created.
Using the older version of the JACET 8000 (JACET
Basic Words Revision Committee, 2003), which ranks

Table 1.
30 Synform and Non-synform Tested Items.
30 Synform Items

30 Non-synform Items

Appeallime

arcticlucrative

Brow

load

awesomemachinery

Clash

lush

bittermaximum

Clown

mime

excellentnurse

Collect

raw

exile

onto

Dairy

rent

eyebroworganization

Fair

rip

fighter

Pig

Fear

rot

fragrance

Qualify

Flesh

row

generation

Quiet

Fork

scare

grief

Reservoir

Frightsum

illSecretion

Grass

tiled

infancy

Shade

Hence

van

intakeSprinkle

Hill

vest

intricate

Striker

Hound

warn

local

User

YN Test Creation: Real Words andPseudowords

Thus, YN A contained 60 real words, plus six synformTo test the effectiveness of synform pseudowords, two YN

effectiveness of these six synform pseudowords, atests were created, labeled YN A and YN B. The firstsecond YN test, YN B was created, in which those six

version (YN A) included the 60 items discussed in the

synform pseudowords were replaced by six others,

previous section, plus the same15 pseudowords used in

randomly selected from Meara (2010), while keeping thethe pilot study (Stubbe and Nakashima, 2019), six ofsame 60 real words. In YN A all 75 items were randomly

which were synform pseudowords. Five of those synform

distributed, and in YN B, the synform pseudowords were

pseudowords were created by changing one or a few

replaced with the six additional Meara pseudowords

letters in a katakana synform word to make a non-word,(hereinafter regular pseudowords), while keeping thedetail became detair, for instance. One of the 10 othersame item order as YN A.

pseudowords and nine regular pseudowords. To test theregular pseudowords, which were all randomly selectedfrom Meara (2010), ralling, was re-designated as a
synform pseudoword because of its popularity in the pilot
study, likely due to its proximity to the real word rolling.

Again, both YN tests, versions A and B, contained thesame 60 items (30 synform words and 30 non-synformwords), plus the 15 pseudowords (six of which were
synform pseudowords, in YN A).

The 2019 PanSIG Journal 306

Testing, Participants and Scoringtranslation test results were stronger for the YN test real

A third vocabulary test, an English to Japanese (L2 to L1)

words (.71) and the pseudowords (0.32) than version

translation test of the same 60 items, randomly ordered,

A’s .65 and -.05.

was also created. The purpose of this third test was to act
as a criterion measure for evaluating the accuracy of the
YN tests results and the usefulness of the synform
pseudowords compared to the regular pseudowords.

Paired t-test were used to determine whether thedifferences between the mean scores for the version A
and B tests were statistically significant (Table 3). The
difference between the 119 version A and 116 version B

The YN A and B test versions were intermixed prior totranslation tests was not statistically significant (t = .74, p

distribution. Participants randomly received either YN A or

= .46). As the difference between the YN 60 real word

YN B at the beginning of class. These YN test versions

scores was even less (.16 compared to the TR difference

were completed in about 10 minutes, and immediatelyof .62) a t-test was deemed unnecessary. Only the false

collected. Towards the end of that same class, student

alarm means were significantly different (t = 6.33, p

took the translation (Tr) test of the same 30 synform words= .0002). This suggests that the only significant difference

and 30 non-synform real words. This test took about 15

between the two test versions resulted from theminutes and was also immediately collected. Participants

pseudoword differences.

(n = 235) were low- to mid-intermediate level first, second
and third year students enrolled in one of sevenmandatory English classes at a Japanese university.

Table 4 presents the scores for the pseudowords used inboth YN versions. The six synform pseudowords weremuch more popular than the nine regular pseudowords inBoth YN A and B test forms were scored using an opticalversion A (means of 19.17 and 3.67, respectively) andscanner, and the translation test was marked manually byeven more so than version B’s regular pseudoword mean

one of the authors. Prior to marking the translation test,of 2.73.

24 test forms were randomly selected (10% of 235),
copied and sent to a different Japanese teacher of English
for marking. Co-rater reliability between the two raters
was good at 91%, supporting the reliability of the original

Table 2.
Translation Test and YN Versions A and B Tests Descriptive
Statistics
Versionrater.

mean (%)

SD

range

R

Tr

28.71 (48%)

6.18

13-46

1

YN

39.24 (65%)

7.30

21-57

0.65

1.24 (8%)

1.36

0-7

-0.05

Tr

28.09 (47%)

6.61

9-47

1

YN

39.40 (66%)

8.21

14-56

0.71

0.35 (2%)

0.70

0-3

0.32

/Test

Results
Descriptive statistics for both the translation (Tr) test andthe YN test, versions A and B, are presented in Table 2.
For version A the translation test mean of 48% of the 60
real words was 17% lower than the YN test mean of 65%
for the 119 participants, suggesting that there was over-Ver. AYN FA
Ver. Bestimation of demonstrable knowledge of the real words
on the YN test. The false alarm rate of 8% exceeded the
5% rates reported in two other studies reporting on
Japanese EFL learners (Mochida & Harrington, 2006, andStubbe, 2012). Correlations with translation test results

YN FA

were moderate for the YN test real words (.65) andNote: Tr denotes translation test scores for those participant

negligible for the pseudowords (-.05).

who took the YN version A or B; YN denotes yes-no testscores for the 60 real words; FA denotes false alarms on 15

For version B the translation test mean of 47% of the 60

pseudowords; r denotes correlation (Pearson Productreal words was 19% lower than the YN test mean of 66%

Moment) with translation test results; N = 119 for Version A,

for the 116 participants, suggesting that there was again

116 for Version B; K = 60 words (and 15 pseudowords on

over-estimation on the YN test. The false alarm rate of 2%

the YN test).

was a quarter of version A’s 8%. Correlations withThe 2019 PanSIG Journal 307

Table 3.

pseudowords in version B results in only a slight 3%

Versions A versus B t-tests for Significant Differences

reduction in the YN test mean (from 66% to 63%) but
maintains the highest h-f correlation with translation test

Test

Tr

YN

A

B

28.71

28.09

(48%)

(47%)

39.24

39.40

(65%)

(65%)

1.24

0.35

(8%)

(2%)

FAs

difference

t (p)

0.62

0.74 (0.46)

0.16

unnecessary

scores (.68).

Over-estimation and Pseudowords
Correlations
By comparing the real word results for the YN test with thetranslation test results on a student by student, item byitem basis, the amount of over-estimation can be

0.89

6.33 (.0000)

determined. Table 6 looks at the mean amount of overestimation of the YN real word items (synform and nonsynform) for version A versus B. As anticipated, the over-

YN Test h-f Scoring Formulae

estimation mean for the 30 synform real words (27% andTo compare the usefulness of the pseudowords used in28%) was significantly greater than for the non-synformversion A versus version B, they were utilized in the fore

real words (15% and 14%). Using paired-t tests, thementioned h-f YN scoring formula (the hit rate minus thedifferences were found to be statistically significant (tfalse alarm rate). Applying the h-f correction formula using(118) = 11.72, p <.001 for version A; and, t (115) = 12.21,

all 15 pseudowords adjusts version A’s YN test meanp < .001 for version B)(from 65% to 57%), substantially closer to the translation
test mean (of 48%), but also lowers the correlation withtranslation test results from (.65 to .61, Table 5). Applying
the h-f formula using only the six synform pseudowords
dramatically adjusts version A’s YN test mean (from 65%
to 49%), very close to the translation test mean (of 48%),
but further lowers the correlation (from .65 to .55). If fact,a paired t-test found the difference between the Tr scoresand the synform h-f results to be not statistically significant

As pseudowords were added to the YN test format as a
means

of

checkingforprobableover-estimation,correlations between pseudoword (synform and regular)scores and actual over-estimation (from Table 6) areprovided in Table 7. Again, as expected, the synform
pseudowords had higher correlation with the real word
synform over-estimation scores (.31) than with the nonsynform over-estimation scores (.16). Also, the regular(t (118) = .91, p = .37), whereas the difference between
the Tr scores and 15h-f results were significantly different(t (118) = 8.89, p < .001). Using only the nine regularpseudowords results in the highest mean (62%) and theworst correlation (.52). Similarly, using the 15 regular
Table 4.
Pseudoword Scores: Synform and Non-synform
Version A Pseudowords
6 synform

score

9 regular

Version B Pseudowords
score

15 regular

score

regular

Score

Crealy46

curify14

curify

16

milne

1

inprove

43

degate

5

hoult

6

perryman1

Ralling

11

glandle

5

noot

4

troake

1

Balue

6

oxylate4

degate3balfour0

Detair5noot2oxylate3

dowrick

0

Grav

4

perryman

2

arain

2

lannery0

balfour

1

glandle2

werrell0

dowrick

0

proctalize

2lannery

0

Mean

19.17

3.67

2.73

The 2019 PanSIG Journal 308

Table 5.
Applying h-f Using the 6 Synform and 9 Regular Pseudowords.
Version / Test

mean (%)

SD

differenceR

Version A
Tr

28.71 (48%)

6.18

1

YN

39.24 (65%)

7.30

10.53

0.65

15 h-f34.13 (57%)

8.22

6.04

0.61

6 Synform pseudowords h-f

29.58 (49%)

9 regular h-f

37.39 (62%)

12.46

1.49

7.09

0.55

9.30

0.52

Version B
Tr

28.09 (47%)

6.61

YN

39.40 (66%)

8.21

15 regular h-f

1

7.26
37.98 (63%)

11.31

0.71

9.98

0.68

Note: 15 h-f denotes the h-f formula results using the false alarms on all 15 pseudowords; r denotes correlation (Pearson
Product Moment) with translation test results; difference denotes difference with Tr test mean; N = 119 for version A and
116 for version B; K = 60 words (plus 15 pseudowords on the YN test).

pseudowords had higher correlation with the real word

47% (Table 3). Using version B’s 15 regular pseudowords

non-synform over-estimation scores (.24) than with thein an h-f adjustment only decrease that YN score fromsynform over-estimation scores (.18). This difference was

65% to 63%. From this, it appears as if using synform

even greater for version B’s regular pseudowords

pseudoword with the h-f correction formula holds promise

correlations of .49 on the non-synform over-estimation

for YN tests. However, pseudowords were included in YN

scores and .16 on the synform over-estimation scores.

test to signal possible over-estimation of vocabulary

Combining the over-estimation for all 60 (synform andknowledge

non-synform) real word items, as well as all 15 synform

pseudowords scores and over-estimation results wereand regular pseudoword items (version A, 6+9) results inconsiderably

a higher correlation for version B (.36) than version A (.34).

pseudowords (.31 on synform real words) than for thebytest-takers.

lower

for

the

Correlations
versionA’s

betweensynform

version B’s regular pseudowords (.49 on non- synform
real words; Table 6). These over-estimation correlations,

Discussion/Conclusion

coupled with the lower correlation for version A’s synform

The results presented above present conflicting data

pseudoword h-f adjustments on translation test scoresconcerning the usefulness of the synform pseudowords.

than version B’s regular pseudoword h-f correlations (.55

Version A’s synform pseudowords received a lot moreversus .68, respectively; Table 5), seriously questions thefalse alarms than the regular pseudowords in either YN

usefulness of including synform pseudowords in YN tests.

test version. Using Version A’s 15 pseudowords (sixsynform and nine regular pseudowords) in the h-

One of the weaknesses of the present study is that thefcorrection formula decreased the YN test mean from 65%

tested items were presented in decontextualized lists.

to 57%. Using only the six synform pseudowords in the h-

Future research should investigate whether placing

f adjustment lowered the YN mean to 49%, which was not

synform real words in context, say a story, decreases thesignificantly different from the translation test mean ofamount of synformic confusion and consequently YN test

The 2019 PanSIG Journal 309

Table 6.
Over-estimation by YN Test Version
VersionItem typeK

Mean (%)

SD

Range

A

Synform Over-est.

30

8.01 (27%)

3.28

1 - 17A

Non-Syn Over-est.

30

4.45 (15%)

2.53

0 - 13A

All items Over-est.

60

12.45 (21%)

4.83

2 - 25B

Synform Over-est.

30

8.48 (28%)

3.71

1 - 19B

Non-Syn Over-est.

30

4.32 (14%)

2.56

0 - 12B

All items Over-est.

60

12.80 (21)5.20

4 - 28

Note: Over-est. denotes over-estimation; Non-syn denotes non-synform real word items; K denotes number of real word
items; N: version A = 119, version B = 116.

Table 7.
Pseudoword Score Correlations on Over-estimation Results
VersionItem typeK

r

A

Synform Pseudowords

6

A

Synform Over-estimation

30

0.31

A

Non-Syn Over-estimation

30

0.16

A

Regular pseudowords

9

A

Synform Over-estimation

30

0.18

A

Non-Synform Over-estimation

30

0.24

A

All Pseudowords

15

A

All items Over-estimation

60

B

Regular Pseudowords

15

B

Synform Over-estimation

30

0.16

B

Non-Synform Over-estimation

30

0.49

B

All items Over-estimation

60

0.36

0.34

Note: K denotes number of real word items; r denotes correlation of pseudoword scores on over-estimation results forsynform and non-synform real words.

over-estimation. Such a study may shed further light on
the problem of synformic confusion in vocabulary

Examiningtheyes–novocabulary

test:

some

methodological issues in theory and practice.

acquisition and assessment.
Language Testing, 2, 235-274.

References
Anderson, R. C., & Freebody, P. (1983). Reading
comprehension and the assessment and acquisitionof word knowledge. In B. A. Hutson (Ed.), Advancesin Reading/Language Research (Vol. 2, pp. 231-256).
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Gu, Y. & Leung, C. (2002). Error patterns of vocabulary
recognition for EFL learners in Beijing and Hong Kong.
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JACET list of 8000 basic words (JACET8000). Tokyo:
JACET.

M., & Van de Velde, H. (2001).

The 2019 PanSIG Journal 310

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Mochida, A. & Harrington, M. (2006). The Yes/No test as

The new JACET list of 8000 basic words. Tokyo:

a measure of receptive vocabulary knowledge.

Kiriharashoten.

Language Testing 23 (1), 73-98.

(availableat:

http://mochvocab.sakura.ne.jp/cgiNural, S. (2014). Approaching Synforms (Similar Lexical

bin/J8LevelMarker/j8lm.cgi)

Forms) in an EAP Context. Theory and Practice inKocić, A. (2008). The problem of synforms (similar lexical

Language Studies, 4, (9), 1753-1762.

forms). Linguistics and Literature 6 (1) 51 - 59.
Stubbe, R. (2012). Do pseudoword false alarm rates andLaufer, B. (1988). The concept of 'synforms' (similar

overestimation rates in yes/no vocabulary tests

lexical forms) in vocabulary acquisition. Languagechange with Japanese university students’ English

and Education 2 (2), 113-132.

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learning: Deceptive transparency. Aila Review 6, 1020.

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L2 to L1 Translation Test. Vocab@Tokyo Conference
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Author Biographies
Raymond Stubbe holds an M.A. in Applied Linguistics and TESOL from the University of Leicester, England; and a B.Ed.
from the University of Victoria, Canada. He is presently a full-time Assistant Professor at Nagasaki University. His researchinterests include vocabulary acquisition and testing. Email: raymondstubbe@gmail.com
Kousuke Nakashima holds a Ph.D. in Language and Culture Studies from Kyoto University of Foreign Studies (2014).
He worked for Kyushu Sangyo University and National Institute of Technology, Ariake College as a full-time lecturer.
Presently he is a lecturur at Hiroshima Institute of Technology.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal 311

39 Investigating the use of a video game to enhance vocabularyacquisition and recall of Malaysian secondary school students
Chee Hao Sue
HELP University, Kuala Lumpur

Siew Ming Thang
HELP University, Kuala Lumpur

This paper attempts to address the gap in knowledge in this field by investigating the potential of video
games that were designed for entertainment as a language learning tool in Malaysia. Studies have shownthat the amount of time that teenagers spend on video games has been increasing. In Malaysia, students
find it difficult to learn English, as to them it is a second language (ESL) or even a foreign language (EFL).
Research has shown that many Malaysian students lack interest in learning English, thus creating a needto look for new methods to motivate students in ESL/EFL classrooms. The introduction of video games isan effort towards building interest in these students. The results of the study showed positive effects on
vocabulary acquisition as well as student motivation. Using a game designed for entertainment led tolimitations such as difficulty in targeting specific words and a lack of interaction between students, as thegame used was designed for a single player. However, compared to educational games, which thestudents found to be boring and unauthentic, the students in this study showed high levels of engagement
and intrinsic motivation.

この論文は、楽しく語学学習ができるようにマレーシアで開発されたビデオゲームの可能性を調査することによって、この分野に関する知識のギャップに対応するよう試みるものである。調査によると 10代の若者がビデオゲームに費やす時間が増加している事を示している。さらに多くのマレーシア人学生
は英語学習に興味がなく、ESL / EFL の教室で学生をやる気にさせる新しい方法を探す必要があることが明らかになった。ビデオゲームの導入は、これらの学生への関心を高めるための取り組みである。この調査研究では、学生にビデオゲーム”Scribblenauts Unlimited”をプレイする事を求めた。データを集めるためにいくつかの方法を使用した。量的データはゲームをした 3 日後に学生が記憶していた単語の数と新しく学んだ単語の数を記録して集めた。その後、学生と短いインタビューを行った。研究者の観察は、ビデオゲームへの学生の関与を説明するためにも使用された。結果は、語彙習得、学生のモチベーション、ゲームへの高い関与度に効果的であることが示された。

(2018), discovered that seven key factors are responsible

Introduction
Studies have shown that the amount of time thatfor the effectiveness of video games in the acquisition of
vocabulary: Motivation,

Repetition, Feedback, Virtual

teenagers spend on video games has been increasing.

World, Dual Encoding, Interactivity, and Instantiation.

Amory (2010) demonstrated in his research study that the

Out of all these factors, motivation was found to be mostimplementation of educational computer games in

effective in influencing vocabulary acquisition/learning. In

classrooms had positive impact on student performances.

this study, vocabulary learning and vocabulary acquisition

Through an analysis of past literature, Rasti & Dehan

are used interchangeable though it is acknowledged that

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

312

the former has a broader meaning than the latter. To beable to complete the syllabus in time for their students’

more precise, “vocabulary learning” has been describedfinal examinations (Kamisah Osman & Nurul Aini Bakar,

as the process of acquiring building blocks in second2012). Recently the Ministry of Education has taken steps

language acquisition (Ramos & Dario, 2015) whereas

to move away from this rigid system of education. This“vocabulary acquisition” has commonly been describedshift in policy and the popularity of video games amongas the process of learning new words. Researchers haveyouth in Malaysia have led to renewed efforts to introduce

posited that video games provided various sources oftechnology, including educational games, to classrooms

motivation to learners. Garris, Ahler, and Driskell (2002)at all levels in Malaysia.

proposed that video games enhance control as well as
This research proposal is designed to addressconfidence which lead to increase in motivation and finallydesirable learning. Other features in video games thatenhance intrinsic motivation includes interactivity, rules,
goals, challenge, risk, fantasy, curiosity, control (Pivec
Dziabenko, and Schinnerl, 2003; Dickey, 2007). Video
games have also been found to enhance language
learning and vocabulary learning/acquisition (Tseng &the gap in knowledge in this field by investigating thepotential of a video game that was designed forentertainment as tool for vocabulary acquisition and recall
in the Malaysian context. Paivio’s Dual Code Theory(DCT) (1971) proposed that new materials presented
simultaneously in both visual and verbal forms should
improve learning as both channel are receiving andSchmitt, 2008; Turgut & Irgin, 2009; Jasso, 2012).

processing information together. However, Mayer and
In Malaysia, students find it difficult to learn

Moreno believed it is more complicated than that. Their

English as to them it is a second language (ESL) or even

Mutimedia Theory presupposed that dual coding exists

a foreign language (EFL). Research has shown that

but learning requires a higher level of processing in bothstudents lack interest in learning English in Malaysianverbal and visual channels than what is proposed by theclassrooms (Thang, Ting & Jaafar; Ganapathy & Gooi,

DCT (Mayer & Moreno, 2003). Mayer (2005) further posits2016). Due to this lack of motivation, there is a need tothat digital games unlike educational games do notlook for new methods to motivate students in ESL/EFL

possess mental representations from words or picturesclassrooms. As mentioned earlier the introduction of video

designed to make information easier to access andgames has the ability of motivating and building interest inremember, hence they are less effective for language

these students. In addition to that, as pointed out by Rasti

learning& Dehan (2018),

video games have the potential toadvocators of the use of digital games such as video

promote learning through providing repetition, feedback,games for learning believe that digital games have thevirtual world, dual encoding, interactivity and instantiation.

potential of enhancing learning more so than educational

However, there are hardly any studies undertaken on thegames as they are more engaging and stimulating. The

influence of video games on vocabulary acquisition/

current study takes on this premise and seeks to findlearning in Malaysia. Back in 2009, Roslina and Azizah

evidence to support the benefits of using a video game inpointed out that more studies needed to be conducted inteaching vocabulary acquisition and recall.

thaneducational

games.

Despitethis,

Malaysia to generate more knowledge on educational
game

designanddevelopment

as

well

as

the

effectiveness of educational games in enhancing learning
among Malaysian students. Research conducted in thisfield is also in line with the Malaysian ICT Master Plan

Specifically, the study attempts to seek answers
to the following research questions:a)What are the students’ perceptions of

the use of a video game as an English lesson?

(2001) which called for the integration of ICT in educationand training programs (Lubis et al., 2009). Despite thesecalls, the amount of research done is still low. A factor thatb)

Does playing the video game help thestudents in the acquisition and recall of vocabulary?

contributes to this may be the Malaysian education
system, which requires teachers to adhere to the syllabus
designed by the Ministry of Education. Teachers arec)What other benefits do students’ gainfrom playing the video game?

reluctant to introduce pedagogical innovations as time
taken out of the syllabus may mean that they may not be

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

313

d)

Are there any limitations in using theof processing in both verbal and visual channels (Mayer

videogame in teaching English vocabulary? If yes, what

& Moreno, 2003). Mayer (2005) posited thatare they?

multimedia applications built for educational purposes
will have the mental representations from words or
pictures to support or guide student learning but this will

Literature Review

apply less to digital games which are built for

Theories related to the use of video games
to learnThis study is framed by the following theories.

Lewin’s, Dewey’s, and Piaget’s models of learning
through games

entertainment as these games do not possess featuresdesigned to make information easier to access andremember.

How video games promote vocabulary
learning/acquisition

Using Lewin’s, Dewey’s, and Piaget’s models of

By motivating learners

learning theories on experiential learning as the guiding
principles, Kolb (1984) concludes that experiential
learning: 1) is a process, not merely outcomes, 2) is acontinuous process grounded in experience, and 3)
involvestransaction

betweenlearners

andtheenvironment. Learning through games fits this theory aslearning through games is by nature a process that is filledwith tension and conflicts. This process of learning which
provides an informal learning environment filled with fun,further

involves

self-directed

as

well

as

Motivation is an important factor in second
language learning. In a Malaysian context, students often
struggle with learning English because they lackmotivation to learn the language. According to Ushioda(2003, 2012), motivation is an important part of thelearning process. However, it is not something which isconstant. Motivation can oscillate during the learning
process due to internal and external factors. Therefore,
the teacher must not only be able to create motivation, butalso must be able to maintain it.

subconscious/unconscious learning processes (incidental
learning).

In view of the growing interest of children, young
adults and adults in video games, it is now timely to

Dual Coding Theory

explore the possibility of including video games into

The dual-coding theory (DCT) is a general
cognition theory that was proposed by Allan Paivio in
1971. Paivio originally used this theory to account forverbal and nonverbal influences in memory, however,since then, the theory has been applied by otherresearchers in other areas of cognition. This theory

learning

environment

for

their

development

andmaintenance of motivation. Video games can help show
students that English is not simply something to add to arepertoire of skills, but a personalised tool that enables
them to access new and interesting sources ofentertainment.

proposed that a person can learn new materials using
verbal associations (that deal with language) or visual
imagery (such as graphical or visual information). This
theorypositedthat

newmaterials

By allowing repetitions
Repetitions in video games are also effective inpresented

enhancing the learning of vocabulary. Bakar andsimultaneously in both visual and verbal forms should

Nosratirad’s (2013) in their study found that participants

improve learning as both channels are receiving andmentioned that frequent exposure to the same words asprocessing information together. (Whitton, 2014: 169).

one of the key factors forSome researchers, argued that

there is insufficient

vocabulary items through a video game called “The Sims

evidence to support this. (e.g. Clark & Craig, 1992).

III”. Yip and Kwan (2006) earlier explained gamers

Despite that,

repetitively played the same game because they enjoyed

it is a theory that remains popular andcommonly applied to literacy and language learning.

Multimedia Theory
This theory presupposed that dual coding
exists but proposed that learning requires a higher level

their success in learning

the competition and this led to the learning of new words.

By providing immediate feedback
Allum (2004) proposed that immediate feedback
in CALL is a distinctive feature that makes it effective in

The 2019 PanSIG Journal314

vocabulary learning because immediate and appropriate

video game on surgery, learned more new vocabulary

feedback motivates learners and encourage learners tothan the control group, who just passively watched themake more efforts to learn and produce new vocabulary

video game.

items. Feedback is a distinctive feature of video games.

By providing instantiation opportunities

These feedbacks are outcomes of trials and errors forsolving problems (Kiili, 2005) and if the problem is not
solved, the gamer cannot proceed, thus increasing
motivation, and encouraging greater efforts on the partof the gamer which leads to more learning including theacquisition of new words. (Cornillie, Clarebout, & Desmet,

As we know a word has more than one meaning and it isthrough exposures we learn the different meanings ofeach word. Anderson et al. (1976) believe that these
meanings could be retained in the memory through theprocess of instantiations which involve recalling orexperiencing a particular instance or example of the2012).

meaning of a word. Instantiation is very important in

By creating virtual worlds

sentence comprehension and different instantiations takeVideo games through the use of audio-visual

place according to contexts (Oakhill, 1983). It is also

components, are able to create authentic contexts forimportant in learning and understanding linguistic

learning (Gee, Halverson, Shaffer, and , 2005). In thismessages in both oral and textual formats as well as

virtual world, the learners are immersed in the target

learning of vocabulary (Nation, 2001). Zheng, Bischoff,language, hence the degree of exposure is very high, andand Gilliland (2015), found “Massively Multiplayer Online

gamers will be able to learn more new words than throughRole-Playing Games (MMORPG)” to be very resourcefultraditional methods. For example, Second Life, a gamein providing instantiations.

made by Linden Lab in 2003, can provide

virtualsimulation games that allow learners to immerse in reallife situations and in the process are exposed to authentic
interactive

environments

which

promoteOther advantageous of video games for
Language Learning
Video games have also been shown to havelanguagelearning including learning of new words (Milton, 2010).

successful impact on other behavioural, cognitive andphysiological outcomes (Boyle et al. 2016). Studies ofBy creating contexts for dual coding

Hong Kong Chinese gamers found that L2 (second

Contexts where dual encoding take place canlanguage) gaming undertaken primarily for pleasure.

be easily created by video games thorough the use ofpromotedaudios, videos, pictures and, graphics aids. Therefore,

Additionally, educational games have been recommended

learning vocabulary through video games is moreas another method for providing effective and engaging

productive and simulating than through the traditional

instruction (for a review, see Clark et al., 2009) bymode. Vahdat and Rasti Behbahani (2013) claimed thatleveraging on students' intrinsic enjoyment of gaming

this support “the Dual coding theory” which proposed that

(Jackson & McNamara, 2013, McNamara, Jackson, &when input or words enter the memory through two orGraesser, 2010).

more channels, the chance of integration ofself-directed

L2

learning(Chik,

2012).

the
A study done by Ebrahimzadeh (2017) in Iran

input/words into the memory is elevated and this leads tofound that students who learned vocabulary from playing amore effective learning.

digital video game outperformed students doing intensive

By enabling control, manipulation andinteractivity
In addition to that, features such as, control,
manipulation, and interactivity can help in

reading and concluded that digital video games could be
beneficial as an activity for vocabulary acquisition. In the
Malaysian context, there are very few studies on the use

vocabularyof video games for language learning. One of the few

learning. These features allow guessing from the context

studies was undertaken by Melor Md. Yunus et al. (2012)

and testing through trials and errors. Through thesewhoprocesses, gamers arrive at the desired outcomes, hence

students' writing skills and their perceptions ofleading to learning. Ali Mohsen (2016) found evidence toincorporation of video games in the of teaching writing.

support this. In this study he found that video gameThe study found that video games (such as Anytown)

investigated the influence of video games ontheplayers, who had the opportunity of interacting with the

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

315

were able to motivate students to learn English and there

Scribblenauts Unlimited is suited for thiswas also a positive correlation between gaming andresearch because it is a game in which the player directly

students’ writing skill development.

interacts with the game environment using his or her
knowledge of English. The game also allows players tocheck the names of objects that are present in the gameResearch Design
This is primarily a qualitative study comprising

environment. The game also has a scaling difficultysystem in which initial levels are easier to complete. This

two parts (1) a short interview with the students after they

allows students to participate at different levels according

played the game and (2) the researcher’s observations

to their abilities.

which were used to explain the students’ involvement in
the video game. A quantitative component was included

The research study investigated the effects ofto provide information regarding the number of words theplaying video games on both students’ vocabulary

students could recall and also the number of new words

acquisition and recall, with a secondary focus on learningthey had learnt immediately after the playing of the game.

through communication. To facilitate communication,

This procedure was repeated after a lapse of three days.

participants in this study played the game in pairs of two
players, hence, allowing them to share ideas andResearch Intervention

knowledge. Since the scenarios, each team of players

For this research, students were required to playwould be participating in would be similar to a certain

the video game Scribblenauts Unlimited. Scribblenauts

extent, it would be possible to predict what words the

Unlimited is a game which involves controlling a character
named Maxwell who goes through the virtual world

players would learn in the process (adapted from Campos,
2013).

helping people and addressing their problems. The tasks
include rescuing a cat from a tree or creating a work of art

Sample Population
The students chosen for this study were six

for a museum. To accomplish these tasks, the player cantype a word and the object will appear on the screen in theSecondary Three male students

from a Malaysian

game world. For example, the player can type the word

National Secondary school. The medium of instruction ofladder and a ladder will appear, allowing the player toall six students at the primary level was Mandarin and all
had to take one year of Remove before entering
Secondary One. The medium of instruction in thesecondary school was Bahasa Malaysia. Only malestudents of Chinese origin were chosen to avoid issues
related to cultural and gender differences. This decision
was made to reduce the number of variables being
studied.

Fig. 1

Multiple methods to solve puzzles

rescue the cat stuck in the tree as mentioned earlier. Eachtask can be approached through a variety of ways. For
example, instead of using a ladder to rescue the cat stuckin the tree, the player can type the word fireman, and afirefighter will appear to rescue the cat in the tree. The only
restrictions imposed by the game are the use of profanity,
obscenity and copyright material. Beyond that, the players
can use their own creativity and ingenuity to complete thepuzzles.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

316

The students were recruited on a voluntary

student being more proficient than the other. S3 and S4

basis. They were of low to above average proficiency inboth scored B in English in the UPSR (Ujian Pencapaian

English. Table 1 provides a breakdown of the students’

Sekolah Rendah) (Primary School Evaluation Test) andbackground. As shown in Table, S1 had above average

they spoke only Mandarin at home.

proficiency in English; he spoke English at home. He wasconsidered as the “even pair”. The third pair was also an

the only student who had experience playing a digitaluneven pair. The reason for having “even” and ‘uneven”

educational game. He was paired with S2 who was lesspairs was to find out whether different types of groupings

proficient than him and only spoke Mandarin at home.

would yield similar or different results. All these students

This pair could be described as an “uneven pair”, with one

had some experience playing video games.

Description
Age
Form
UPSR results
UPSR English
score
Hometown
Language(s) use athomePrimary school
Secondary school
Father’s
occupation
Mother’s
occupation
Previous video
game experience?
Favourite videogames
Age started
playing video
games
Hours played video
games per day
Things learnt fromvideo games intheir opinion
Have they played
education
video
games before?
Name theeducational
games

This could be

Team 1 (uneven pair)
S1
S2
15
15
3
3
3As & 2Bs
5As & 2Bs
A
B

Team 2 (even pair)
S3
S4
15
15
3
3
2As
2As & 3B
C
C

Team 3(uneven pair)
S5
S6
15
15
3
3
1A &3BNo
B
D

KajangKajangPerak

KajangKajangKajangEnglish,Mandarin &Cantonese
SKJC SgChua
SMK Jalan
Bukit
assistantmanagerhousewife

Mandarin

Mandarin

Mandarin

Mandarin

Mandarin

SKJC Sg.
Chua
SMK JalanBukitmechanic

SJKC Sg.
Chua
SMK Jalan
Bukit
not sure

SJKC Sg.
Chua
SMK Jalan
Bukit
driverSJKC Sg.
Chua
SMK Jalan
Bukit
Salesman

SJKC Sg.
Chua
SMK Jalan
Bukit
Boss

housewifehousewife

clerk

housewifehousewife

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

Grand Theft
Auto Online

Blackshot

NBA

Dota 2

Dota 2/Black
Shot/PS2

7 years old

13 years old

12 years old

Sports oradventuregames
10 years old

9 years old

12 years old

3-6 hours

2 hours

3 hours

2-3 hours

1-2 hours

1 hourEnglish,randomhistory,solving
puzzles
yes

No

No

BasketballskillsNo

Learning how
to win

no

no

no

no

no

Tidy up

no

no

no

no

no

Table 2

Background of the students.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

317

Pair 1

Words recalled

New words

Words recalled

New words learnt

Additional

after gamelearntafter 3 days

recalled after 3

words recalled

days

after 3 days

S1

35

2

27

2

3

S2

32

4

17

2

0

Table 3

Pair 1

Words

recalled

New

Summary of word recall of Team 1

words

Words recalled
after 3 days

New words
learnt recalled
after 3 days

Additional
words recalled
after 3 days

after gamelearnt

S3

23

3

20

1

5

S4

25

6

21

2

6

Table 4

Pair 3

Words

recalled

Summary of word recall of Team 2

New words used

after gameWords

recalled

after 3 days

New words learnt

Additional

recalled after 3

words recalled

days

after 3 days

S5

38

2

42

2

10

S6

47

4

51

2

8

Table 5

Summary of word recall of Team 3

Research Procedures

learning English. The students were then required to list

The students played the game in pairs. Since

down on a piece of paper the words they had used in the

only one student could play at a time, students took turns

gameplay and to highlight new words they had learnt.

to play the game, with each student playing for 25 minutes.

After three days, the students were asked to list down the

If the students ran into difficulties, the instructor would firstwords they could remember from the gameplay. A

provide prompts to aid the students, then key words if theysummary of the words the students could remember

were still stuck. Each pair of students were observed and

immediately after the treatment and in three days’ time aresupported by the researcher throughout the gameplay.

presented in Table 2, 3 and 4.

Their interactions with each other were recorded in audio
form and their gameplay sessions were recorded on thecomputer in video form.
After the conclusion of each session, thePresentation of findings
Quantitative findings

students were interviewed by the researcher on their

For Team 1, S1 was the stronger student andperceptions of the games in terms of helping them to learn

S2 was the weaker student (in term of English proficiency).

English words. The students were also asked about their

It was seen that S2 had learnt through working with S1 as

opinions of the game in terms of fun and effectiveness inhe was able to use vocabulary beyond the level expected

The 2019 PanSIG Journal318

of him with S1’s help, leading to both students being able

between the members of each team. The researcher also

to recall over 30 words that they had used during theobserved close collaboration between team members andgame. (as shown in Table 2). When tested to see how

intense engagement in the game though interaction was

many words they could recall three days later, it was foundless evident.

that S1 was able to recall 78% of the words (i.e. 27 words
and out of this, two were new words he learnt throughplaying the game). He even managed to recall extra threewords not mentioned three days ago. One of the words,
S1 could recall was “cupid”, a word not used by themduring the game session but it was displayed in theenvironment of one of the levels. This shows thatincidental learning (Kolb, 1984) had taken place to a
substantial extent in the case of S1. S2 recalled only 52%of the words (19 words). However, interestingly, he

It was also observed by the researcher that thisvideogame did not have a specific focus hence
vocabulary learnt varied from one team to another. This isbecause Scribblenauts Unlimited is a commercial gamedesigned for entertainment purposes; the learning being
done is incidental learning. The game also has branchingpaths depending on the choices and abilities of the player.
This means that it is difficult to teach specific items using
this gamerecalled both of the new words he learnt. Thus, both had
benefitted from the gameplay especially S2 who had
benefitted from partnering with S1.
Team 2 comprised an even pair of students (interm of English proficiency). As shown in Table 3, bothstudents recalled about the same number of words after
the gameplay, although S3 stated he learnt three new

Discussion of findings
The findings are discussed according to theresearch questions.

Research Question 1
What are the students’ perceptions with regard to the useof a video game as an English lesson?

words and S6 said he learnt six new words. They alsoboth recalled almost similar words three days later. BothAll the students said they enjoyed playing thestudents forgot some of the words in their earlier list but

video game. Research has shown that video games canboth could recall several new words. Similar to Team 1,

increase motivation and stimulate higher order thinking

S3 and S4 were able to recall several words that appeared

skills (McDonald, 2017). Motivation in learning English isin the background during the game (e.g. cannibal).

one of the major issues facing English teachers in

Incidental learning had also taken place in this case.

Malaysia. Many students simply do not see the benefit oflearning English, which they rarely use. Many video

The students in Team 3 were an uneven pair in which S5
had much better UPSR result in English than S6. For thisgames are only available in English and these could be
introduced to the students.

team, surprisingly S6 recalled more vocabulary than S5
on the day of the game session and also three days later

Research Question 2

as shown in Table 4. Both managed to recall two newDoes playing the video game help the students in thewords learnt. This is indeed very encouraging as theacquisition and recall of vocabulary?

student with lower English proficiency had managed tolearn and recall more words than the better student
showing that the video game is indeed a tool that canmotivate learning.

The study clearly revealed that video game canhelp students in the acquisition and recall of vocabulary.
It further demonstrated that pairing a stronger student witha weaker student (in terms of proficiency in English)

Qualitative findings

seemed to be more beneficial for the weaker student. In

During the interview all of the students who

the case of Team 1 and Team 3, the stronger student wasparticipated in the research reported that they enjoyedable to scaffold the weaker student and helped the weakerplaying the game. They all also agreed that this type ofstudent improve his performance to a level beyond whatgame should be used in their class for teaching English.

he would normally be able to achieve.

A scrutiny of the words in the lists revealed thatAs Vygotsky (1978: 86) pointed out:

there was a high degree of similarity in vocabulary recall

The 2019 PanSIG Journal319

the distance between the actual developmental level as

This game did not lead to much interaction between thedetermined by independent problem solving and the level

students hence it is not a game that would be useful toof potential development as determined through problem

stimulate interaction. In addition to that the game does not

solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more

enable the teaching of specific vocabulary as learning of

capable peers.

vocabulary tends to be incidental and varies from eachteam due to the non-linear nature of the game. Thus, if a

In Team 1, S2 was able to recall many more words thanS3 and S4 from Team 2 despite being of the same English
Proficiency level as them because he was aided by S1during their gameplay session. However, he was not able
to remember many of the words used after three days
which suggested that reinforcement activities need to beteacher wants to run a class around a theme found in aparticular level of the game, students may not even arriveat that level in their gameplay. Thus this game is not
appropriate if the intention of the teacher is to teachspecific items in a set curriculum as it is not possible tomodify this video game to meet the teacher’s needs.

built in after gameplay sessions. Similarly S6 was able tolearn and recall many words despite being of much lower
proficiency because he was supported by S5 and in thisImplications and conclusioncase he was able to recall many of these words even after

The results from this study clearly suggest the advantages

three days. One possible contributory factor for this wasof introducing video games to motivate students inbecause S6 was very keen on video games. As he stated

Malaysia. It shows that the game investigated has thein his background information he viewed games in a very

ability to motivate students and drive them to perform

competitive manner.

better not only in the game but also in the acquisition ofHence S6 might have been

approached this task as a competition, meaning he was

vocabulary andmore motivated and hence was able to remember moreadvantages of playing video games as proposed by Rasti

words (Cagiltay et.al, 2015). This raises the possibility that& Dehan (2018) could have also come into play to makeif students are competing with each other it might help totheir learning experiences both enriching and educational.

motivate them to perform better. A possible issue with this

Although using video games such as this one has its

approach is that in a strong-weak pair, the stronger

limitations in that it is does not allow teachers to customise

student may not share as much with the weaker student

it to teach specific vocabulary items, it has its strength indue to the competitive environment.

that the students involved have benefited substantially

Research Question 3

recalling of words learnt.

The otherfrom playing this game.

What other benefits do students’ gain from playing theThis study strongly suggests that it is now timely tovideo game?

explore other video games for learning of vocabulary andother skills, not only in Malaysia but also in Japan andAs mentioned in the findings, all the students became very
involved and engaged in the game they were playing.
They also observed their partner playing closely andattentively and as a result could recall many of the words
they used together in solving the puzzles even after threedays. This showed that they had learnt from each other

other countries too. The three conditions that must bepresent are: students who are keen on video games;
access to such games are easily available; and mostimportant, teachers who are willing to take on thechallenge of experimenting with these games to enhancetheir student learning.

and were playing with full attention which indicatedplaying the video game had led to total engagement and

The advantageous of video games over educational

intrinsic motivation to learn as found in other studies

games is that educational games are less entertaining(Clark et al., 2009).

and not sufficiently competitive or challenging. Thus, it isour belief that despite educational games having

Research Question 4
What are the limitations in using the videogame inteaching English vocabulary?

advantages in that they have features that makeaccessing and remembering information easier (Mayer,2005), video games will have the edge over them, as
educational games are designed around the content and

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

320

not around the fun factor, negating the motivational

language learning and teaching (pp. 95- 114). London,

advantages of video games. Thus, the final suggestion is

UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

that videogames designers should be invited to work witheducationists to produce games that are both fun to playand educational at the same time. This is happening in thewest and hopefully more such efforts will be undertaken
in Malaysia and countries in this region. It would beinteresting to investigate the effectiveness of such gamesin the future.

Clark, D., Nelson, B., Sengupta, P., & D'Angelo, C. (2009).
Rethinking science learning through digital games
and simulations: Genres examples, and evidence.
Washington, DC: National Research Council.
Cagiltay, N. E., Ozcelik, E., & Ozcelik, N. S. (2015). The
effect of competition on learning in games. Computers& Education, 87, 35-41.

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Author biography

Sue Chee Hao is currently pursuing his Masters in Education (Teaching and Learning) at HELP University, Kuala Lumpur.
His interests include technology in learning and learner motivation. suecheehao@gmail.com
Dr. Thang Siew Ming is a Professor at HELP University, Kuala Lumpur. Previously she was a Professor at the Schoolof Language Studies and Linguistics, the National University of Malaysia. Her areas of interest are CALL, Learner
Autonomy, Motivation, and Eye-tracking research. She is President of PacCALL and Co-chair of GLoCALL series ofconferences. tsm.2001uk@gmail.com

The 2019 PanSIG Journal323

40 Implementing Kahoot! to Enhance Student Learning in an EMI
Environment
Sayaka Sugimoto
Waseda University
This practice report shares the process and results of an implementation of Kahoot! in EMI (English
medium instruction) classes in a private university setting between 2017 and 2018. After summarizing thechallenges commonly faced by students in EMI classes, this paper explains why and how Kahoot! wasimplemented. While the 2017 implementation increased positive learning behaviors, a new set ofchallenges emerged, which required further adjustment to the implementation. With some modifications,the 2018 implementation solved a few of these problems. The results of a student survey conducted in2018 indicated that the majority of the students favorably evaluated the 2018 implementation of Kahoot!,recognizing its benefits. Kahoot!, therefore, appears to be a potentially useful tool, and its effectiveness interms of reducing the burdens that EMI tends to impose and enhancing student learning warrants further
testing.

本論文では 2017 年度から 2018 年度にかけて都内の私立大学にて実施された英語による専門科目の授業(EMI)における Kahoot!の導入とその結果について報告をする。初めに EMI において学生が頻繁に経験す
る困難についてまとめた後、Kahoot!を選択した理由と 2 年間にわたる導入の過程について解説する。
2017 年度においては、Kahoot!の導入によりポジティブな学習行動の増加が見られたが、同時に新たな課題も生まれ調整が行なわれた。導入方法の微調整の結果、2018 年度においては学習効果に少しの改善が見られた。2018 年の授業評価によれば過半数の学生が Kahoot!のメリットを認識し、その導入を好意的に受け止めている。導入過程における注意深い観察と細かな調整を継続することにより Kahoot!はEMI に伴う困難さのうち集中力やモチベーションに関する問題を緩和し学生の学びを向上させる可能性があるように思われる。

anmention one or a combination of the following reasons:increasing number of universities in Japan have startedTo

internationalize

theireducation,

improvement of English skills (both students andimplementing EMI (English medium instruction) into theirinstructors), an effective method to prepare students for

curriculum (MEXT, 2018). EMI refers to the “use of thestudying abroad, and a measure to make classes more

English language to teach academic subjects (other thanaccessible to international students (Sugimoto, 2016).

English itself) in countries or jurisdictions where the first
language of the majority of the population is not English”(Macaro, Curle, Pun, An, & Dearden, 2018, p. 37).
Therefore, EMI is different from CLIL (Content andLanguage Integrated Learning), in the sense that EMI
instructors only teach an academic subject, while CLIL
instructors teach both the subject and the language usedas the medium of instruction (i.e., English). The reasonsfor the rapid expansion of EMI vary depending on theuniversity, but the proponents of EMI in Japan typically

While many universities have proceeded with
the implementation of EMI, which emphasizes its benefits,studies have found that instructors and students facediverse challenges in their EMI classes (Sugimoto, 2016).
After briefly summarizing these challenges, I explain why
and how Kahoot!, a web-based platform that allows forreal-time quizzes, was implemented in my EMI classes.
Then, I report the results of the implementation and offer
suggestions for future studies.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal324

Challenges of EMI Classes

their English skills remained sufficiently motivatedStudies have found that students face three(Hengsadeekul, Koul, & Kaewkuekool, 2014). Wheninterrelated challenges in EMI classes. First, theyEnglish becomes an obstacle to learn in EMI classes,

experience comprehension problems. Many students findstudents struggle to maintain their motivation levels.

it difficult to understand lecture contents owing to their
Problems

limited English abilities (Bozdoğan & Karlıdağ, 2013, forinstance). Although a few top students with high English
proficiency levels can thrive in EMI classes without
assistance, the majority of the students with low-to-mid
proficiency levels need some form of language assistanceto comprehend lecture contents. Among the four
dimensions of EMI classes (i.e., listening, speaking,reading, and writing), students found listening to be
especially difficult (Rogier, 2012). Inadequate listening
skills make it difficult for students not only to understandlecture contents but also to ask questions or seek support.
To formulate a question, students should be able torelatedtocomprehension,concentration, and motivation create a vicious circle,
which, once established, makes it difficult for EMI
instructors to intervene. Without effective intervention or a
support system, students can eventually develop negative
opinions of EMI and claim that they would learn thesubject more effectively in their first language than inEnglish (Kirkgöz, 2014). From

my own teachingexperience and based on the literature, some form ofassistance is needed to help students maintain theirunderstanding, concentration, and motivation during EMI
classes.

recognize what they did and did not understand. However,when students’ listening skills are inadequate, they often
find themselves unsure of where they lost track of thelecture. Without knowing which questions to ask, most
students give up on seeking assistance (Sugimoto, 2019),
which leads to an accumulation of confusion andfrustration.
Consequently, students face concentration
problems, which is the second most common challenge
associated with EMI. When it is troublesome for students
to understand lectures, it is difficult for them to maintain
concentration. They tend to engage in unproductive
behaviors, such as falling asleep, chatting with peers, andusing cellphones for purposes irrelevant to the lecture. In
fact, sleeping and irrelevant internet usage were the two
major problems I often observed when teaching EMI
classes, especially in large lecture halls.

What is Kahoot!?
To alleviate the difficulties commonly faced by
students, I implemented Kahoot! in my EMI classes.
Kahoot! (https://Kahoot.com/) is a free, web-based,interactive learning platform that allows users to create
and complete online quizzes in real time. It allows theentire class to take multiple-choice quizzes together,whereby it projects the questions onto a screen throughInternet-connected devices, such as an instructor’s
computer or students’ smartphones, tablets, or computers.
The procedure for using Kahoot! is addressed in detailelsewhere (Harold, 2017), but its strengths include its
user-friendly interface that allows users to intuitively learn
how to use the platform with a little practice. Although
instructors need to create an account with a working email
address and password, students only need to visit a
website (https://Kahoot!.it/) and enter a PIN number and a

Third, students face motivational problems.

nickname to participate in a quiz. Quiz results can be

During registration, students decide to enroll in EMI

downloaded in the form of a Microsoft Excel file once thecourses for various reasons, such as an interest in thequiz is completed.

subject (Sugimoto, 2019), improving their English skills(Chapple, 2015), and superior job opportunities (ElliliCherif & Alkhateeb, 2015). However, after facing
challenges in terms of understanding or concentrating on
the lecture, it becomes difficult for them to sustain the
motivation required to complete their EMI classes. In fact,
Chapple (2015) found 34% of Japanese students dropped
out of or failed to complete EMI courses. Another study
suggested that only those students who were confident of

Why Kahoot!?
I decided to implement Kahoot! because it
appeared to have the potential to help students manage
the three aforementioned challenges of EMI classes. For
instance, Kahoot! can function as a comprehension test
for students. In EMI classes, students are often unsure
about whether they have accurately understood a lecture.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

325

However, by using Kahoot!, they can identify what theyto

did and did not understand. Moreover, Kahoot! is likely tointerdisciplinary curriculum. Students are evaluatedhelp students maintain concentration. If they are informed

based on attendance, participation in class activities, andthat there will be a quiz after a lecture, they are likely toa final group project. I instructed the students to write theirmake more efforts to focus on the lecture. Finally, theKahoot! nickname on the back of their attendance cards

peer-recognition factor involved in Kahoot! could motivate

becausestudents to understand lectures in detail. After eachparticipation.

question,

Kahoot!

displays

the

top

five

the

socialtheirsciences

Kahoot!

given

scoresthedepartment’s

werecountedasplayers’

usernames, and at the end of the entire quiz, Kahoot!

First Implementation

displays the scores of the top three players. A few
students may develop the desire to achieve high scores

Kahoot! was first implemented during the spring

to gain peer recognition. For these three reasons, I

semester of 2017, and 98 students registered for the

implemented Kahoot! in my EMI classes. Although a few

course. At the end of each lecture, the students werereports about the use of Kahoot! in university classrooms

instructed to participate in a Kahoot! quiz, which consisted

can be found in the literature (Licorish, Owen, Daniel, &of 10 questions related to the content of the day’s lecture.

George, 2018; Plump & LaRosa, 2017; Wang & Lieberoth,

While some questions asked in the lecture were simply

2016), few studies have reported its use in EMI

about facts, other questions were more complex. They

environments.

involved critical thinking and synthesis skills, such as thequestions asking students to select an appropriate context
to which a concept they learned could be applied. They

Implementation Context

were given 20 second to answer each question.

To internationalize its learning environment, theuniversity in which the present experiment was conductedhas been actively implementing EMI courses. By
increasing the number of EMI courses to up to 50% by2032, the university aims to increase the number ofinternational students and to provide domestic students
with opportunities to improve their English skills. Kahoot!

The

implementation

caughtthestudents’attention and brought about changes in their behaviors.
Positive attitudes and behaviors, such as improved
attention, posture, and participation, were observed fromthe first day of this implementation. The data downloaded
from Kahoot! showed that all 98 attendees participated in

was implemented in one such EMI course called “Cultures

the quiz, although the percentage of correct answersof English-Speaking Countries.” This course introduces

varied across individual students. They appeared to enjoy

various cultural aspects of English-speaking countries,
such as language, customs, and values, through 90-min
lectures. Although the lectures, at times, involved
instructor–student

interaction

throughquestionsbeginning

and

at

the

open-ended

student–student

interaction through pair/group discussions, for the mostpart, they involved one-way information flow from the
instructor to the students. The course is elective and isavailable to students in the second year and beyond.
Annually, approximately 100 students, including several
international students, enroll in this course to improvetheir subject knowledge and their English skills. Before
this course, all students are required to complete two

verifying their correct answers, the distribution of student
responses, and ranking of the top students. From thesecond day of this implementation, the teachingassistants (TAs) and I observed that the number ofstudents who took lecture notes increased, and thenumber of students who tended to fall asleep decreased.
The students started to bring tools that better suited theirneeds during the lecture and the subsequent Kahoot! quiz.
While most of the students initially used their cellphones
to participate in the Kahoot! quiz, more than half of thestudents started bringing along a laptop in subsequent
lectures for this purpose. According to a TA’s observation,
students started using their laptops before the Kahoot!

courses in their first year, namely “Tutorial English”

quiz to take lecture notes, understand the vocabulary(general English language course) and “Current Topics”

used in the lecture slides, and search websites for content(CLIL type course), and are expected to have therelevant to the lecture.

minimum language skills required to enroll in EMI courses.
Their academic backgrounds can vary from the sciences

The 2019 PanSIG Journal326

Simultaneously, a new set of challenges

few students reviewed their lecture notes, while others

emerged. First, the percentages of correct answers weresearched online for additional information. A few students

not as high as the instructor expected. On average, 49%

discussed the question with their peers before selectingof the students selected a correct answer for eachthe final answer. The provision of 3–5 min of review timequestion, and in every class, only a few students could

between questions seemed to reduce excitement amonganswer all questions correctly. Second, the students did

the students who preferred to quickly proceed with thenot seem to perceive the low percentage of correct

quiz. Telling the students in advance that I would stop

answers as a problem. Both I and the TAs felt that the

Kahoot! to ask them a few questions to clarify why they

students were more focused on responding quickly andselected a specific answer choice seemed to help themless on carefully reviewing their responses. A few

engage more carefully with the quiz because they would

students said they enjoyed Kahoot! because it is like “ahave to justify their choices. Consequently, the average

game,” and perhaps for that reason, they seemed to care

percentage of correct answers increased to 56%.

more about the results of the competition (quiz) and lessabout understanding the lecture thoroughly. Third, theResults of Student Evaluation

students would leave the classroom once the Kahoot! quiz

At the end of the semester in 2018, as a part ofwas completed. Given that I administered the Kahoot!
quiz during the last 15 min of a 90-min lecture, the classcourseevaluation,

thestudents

were

asked

to

did not have adequate time to review each question andanonymously respond to an open-ended question, “[w]hat

discuss the responses. I felt the need to spend a few

do you think of Kahoot!?” Among the 78 students who had

minutes, at the very least, after each question to discuss

registered for the course, 63 responded to the question.

why a specific choice was correct and the other options

Their responses were classified into three categories:

were wrong based on a review of the relevant part of thepositive, negative, and neutral. As illustrated in Figure 1,

lecture.

the majority (79%, n = 57) of the students described theirexperiences with Kahoot! as positive.

Second Implementation
In 2018, 78 students registered for “Cultures ofEnglish-Speaking Countries.” Based on the experiences
gathered in 2017, I made three changes to the 2018
Kahoot! implementation. First, I raised the time limit toanswer each to 1 min to give the students more time tocarefully select an answer choice. Second, during the
Kahoot! quiz, I spent 3–5 minutes after each question to
discuss why a specific answer choice was correct and theothers were not. I expected that doing so would help thestudents to accurately understand lecture contents andrectify any misunderstandings. Last, to gauge whether the

Fig. 1. Student responses.

students liked Kahoot!, I included a few questions about
courseTable 1 provides a summary of the positive responses. By

evaluation at the end of the semester. Although both I andcontrast, 18% of the respondents (n = 13) described their

the TAs believed that the students appreciated the 2018

experiences as negative. Table 2 provides a summary of

implementation, we felt the need to collect feedback

the negative comments. Several students provided

directly from the students for validation.

neutral responses, including “neither (I neither like nor

Kahoot!

Whenthedepartment

conducted

dislike it)” and “we could use Wasepochi” (an online
Thanks to the above changes, the students did

clicker to which the university provides free access).

not compete in terms of how fast they could respond to
the questions. Instead, they seemed to select an answer
choice more carefully. In the extra time that was given, aThe 2019 PanSIG Journal

327

The instructor can inform students of these possible

・I like Kahoot! because I can check myproblems in advance so that students are aware of themcomprehension instantly.

when they take a Kahoot! quiz. Before commencement of・Kahoot! helps me maintain concentrationa quiz, instructors can also provide suggestions toduring lecture.

students for managing such problems (e.g., moving to a

・Kahoot! stimulates competitiveness among us.

front seat if students cannot clearly read instructions).

・I could enjoy Kahoot! like a game.

Given that Kahoot! is a web-based tool, the use of Kahoot!

・Kahoot! evaluates students fairly.

is not recommended in settings where instructors do nothave access to a stable Internet connection.

Table 1. Summary of positive responses.

In addition to this limitation of dependency on astable Internet connection, instructors should be aware of
the pedagogical challenge that can emerge because of・Unnecessary.

Kahoot!

implementation.

Formanaging

the

“low”

percentage of correct answers and rushed responses, I

・The font size was too small torecognize from the back.
・I don’t like the fact that I cannotchange my response once I submit it.
・The time limit was too short.

increased the amount of time provided for Kahoot! while
reducing lecture time. Although this alleviated theaforementioned problems, I had to sacrifice lecture timeand, therefore, was able to cover less information than I・Poor internet connection was
distracting.

did in the previous year. When considering theimplementation of Kahoot!, EMI instructors must think
about how to manage this tradeoff, and when determining

Table 2. Summary of negative responses.

what to prioritize, they must consider the course
objectives.
In terms of the percentage of correct answers,
an average of 49% was achieved with the 2017
implementation. I considered it too “low,” and to increase

Discussion
The results of the students’ evaluations andthis number, I made several adjustments to the 2018

observations indicated that overall, they welcomed theimplementation. In retrospect, this judgement was madeuse of Kahoot! in the EMI class. Its implementation

rather intuitively, and future implementations should,

increased positive learning behaviors among the students,

ideally, be based on evidence rather than instructors’such as active listening and note-taking, and decreased

intuitions. To date, few studies have investigated students’negative behaviors, such as sleeping and texting.

comprehension in EMI contexts. Consequently, little is

Additionally,

the

2018

student

demonstrated

that

the

majority

surveyresults

known about the reasonable level of understanding thatthestudents

EMI instructors should expect from their students (Macaro,appreciated Kahoot!. This is consistent with the findings

Curle, Pun, An, & Dearden, 2018). Thus, I do notof the previous studies on the influence of Kahoot!

objectively know yet whether the percentages of correct

implementation in non-EMI university classrooms, most ofanswers obtained with the 2017 and 2018 Kahoot!

which found that students welcomed Kahoot! as a fun andimplementations are high or low. Future studies will

enjoyable learning aid (Licorish, Owen, Daniel, & George,

benefit from comparative analyses of learning outcomes

2018; Plump & LaRosa, 2017).

among groups with and without Kahoot! to investigate itsofbenefits more comprehensively. Additionally, in future
Although a few students negatively evaluatedthe 2018 Kahoot! implementation, most of the problems
they mentioned were technical and, thus, fixable. These
problems included small font size, inability to change their
response, short time limit, and poor Internet connection.

studies,

researchers

could

investigate

student

comprehension when a lecture is delivered in L1. EMI
instructors, including myself, tend to believe that student
comprehension would be significantly better in L1 than in
L2, but the assumption is not necessarily true or backed

The 2019 PanSIG Journal328

by research. Testing this assumption would help EMI

implementation from multiple perspectives, including

instructors to set realistic goals in terms of student

learning outcomes measured using objective instruments

comprehension.

(e.g., exam scores). Additionally, Kahoot! could be
implemented for multiple purposes, such as fact-checking

During both implementations, I observed thatduring the lecture and the subsequent Kahoot! quiz, thestudents started to use an Internet browser on their laptop
or smartphone. Since their internet usage was relevant toand application of concepts, each of which could affectstudent learning differently. Future studies should focus
on various types of Kahoot! questions and their effects onlearning outcomes.

the lecture contents or the Kahoot! quiz, we considered ita positive learning behavior. However, it should be noted

Conclusionthat the usage of Internet-connected devices can very
easily have detrimental effects on students’ learning, andIn this paper, I reported the reasons for,

instructors should be aware of these disadvantages.

processes associated with, and results of implementing

Students can use the Internet for various purposes in a

Kahoot! (real-time online quiz) in EMI classes at a private

Kahoot! session, such as vocabulary verification or fact

university in Japan between 2017 and 2018. In describing

checking. Whether to allow Internet usage depends on thethe process of improving the Kahoot! implementations, I

nature of the questions and the purpose of the quiz. I andaimed to highlight the types of benefits and problems that

the TAs felt the need to set a rule regarding Internet usage

emerged as a result and the manner in which theseby the students for purposes other than participating in

problems were managed. In addition, I intended to explore

Kahoot! sessions. Similarly, I felt the need to set rules

Kahoot!’s potential for helping students to manage

about peer discussions during the quiz. After extending

challenges that are commonly encountered in EMI

the time limit for answering Kahoot! questions, I often

classes, such as comprehension, concentration, andobserved the students discussing the questions with theirmotivational problems. My observations and the findings

classmates. Whether to allow such peer discussionsof the student survey indicated that the majority of the EMI

depends on what an instructor wants her students tostudents appreciated the Kahoot! implementation. It

achieve through the Kahoot! quiz and how she evaluates

encouraged them to engage in positive learning behaviors,

their performance. The instructor should clarify thesesuch as active note-taking and peer-discussion. In

rules to students at the start of the semester.

addition, a few students provided feedback stating that
Kahoot! helped improve their concentration in and

The results of the 2018 student survey not only
demonstrated the students’ appreciation of Kahoot! butalso indicated the potential of Kahoot! to alleviate thecommon challenges associated with EMI classes. A few
students, for example, stated that Kahoot! helped themcomprehend or concentrate on lectures. Studies that haveexamined the effects of using game-based student

comprehension of the lectures. These findings suggestthat it is worthwhile to further test the effectiveness of
Kahoot! in the EMI context. Future studies should
qualitatively and quantitatively investigate the extents towhich

Kahoot!

cancontributetowardimproving

concentration, participation, and comprehension among
EMI students.

response systems in non-EMI classrooms have reported
increased levels of attention, participation, and motivation
among students, in addition to deeper learning (Barrio,
Muñoz-Organero, & Soriano, 2016; Wang & Lieberoth,2016).

Futurestudiesshouldquantitatively

Acknowledgement
This paper is a part of the outcome of a researchandproject performed under a Waseda University Grant for

qualitatively investigate the extents to which the sameSpecial Research Projects (Project number: 2019C-355).

trends can be observed in EMI contexts. In the present

I am thankful for the funding of this research. In addition,

study, the findings of the student survey are based on the

I would like to extend my gratitude to the two anonymous

students’ perceptions. Therefore, it remains unclear

reviewers who invested their time and efforts to read andwhether their positive evaluations of Kahoot! were

provide valuable feedback on this paper.

accompanied by positive learning outcomes. Futurestudiesshouldanalyzethebenefitsof

Kahoot!

The 2019 PanSIG Journal329

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andReferences
Barrio, C. M., Muñoz-Organero, M., & Soriano, J. S.

Technology (MEXT). (2017). 平成 27 年度の大学にお(2016). Can gamification improve the benefits of

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dissertation). University of Exeter, United Kingdom.
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(2018). Students’ perception of Kahoot!’s influence on

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Limited.

Author biography

Sayaka Sugimoto is an Assistant Professor with the Faculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University. Her research
focuses on EMI in higher education. She is currently involved in identifying the support needs and construction of effective
support systems for EMI students and instructors. Her email address is sayakasugimoto@aoni.waseda.jp.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

330

41 Learning Formulaic Sequences Through Text Messaging Tasks
Nami Takase
Nagoya University Graduate School
Learning formulaic sequences remains one of the challenges language learners face, especially in an
English as a foreign language (EFL) context where exposure to the language is limited outside of class.
This study suggested the use of text messaging for learning formulaic sequences through tasks andcompared the results with traditional face-to-face learning for oral language development. Face-to-face
and text messaging groups each conducted a series of tasks that included formulaic sequences. Oral
speaking tests and cloze tests were used to measure pre- and post-task development. The results
indicated no significant difference in the total score for cloze tests. The results of the speaking test also
revealed that the mode of learning may affect different aspects of speech development. The detailed
analysis of the pre- and post-test results were discussed in terms of sentence complexity, accuracy, andfluency.

本研究は、オンラインによる文字のコミュニケーション活動を利用した学習方法を検証する。特にタスク活動を利用して定型表現を習得した場合、オンラインでの学習と対面学習ではどのような学習効果があるのかを明らかにする。また、学習環境の違いとスピーキングに与える影響も検証する。対面学習とオンライン学習の 2 群において、定型表現を含むタスクを実施した。両群には、事前テストとしてスピーキングテストと空欄穴埋め問題を利用した。タスク活動終了後、事後テストにも事前テストと同様の試験を行い、結果を比較した。学習環境によって定型表現の習得に差はなかったが、スピーキング領域に発達の違いがあることがわかった。事後テストを複雑性、正確性、流暢性の観点から分析した。

Advances in technology have afforded different

compare the effect of tasks in learning formulaic

mediums of communication, such as text messaging. Text

sequences in a traditional face-to-face setting and a text

messaging is a synchronous form of communication inmessaging setting and how different modes of learningwhich the message is exchanged in a written form. As it

impact speaking skills.

plays an important role in today’s communication, it ismeaningful to consider online media as platforms for

Backgroundlanguage learning and the necessity of understanding
how language used in text messaging affects traditional
methods of communication, such as speaking. Previous
research has explored the possibility of how text
messaging may affect oral speech (Abrams, 2003; Payne& Whitney, 2002; Sotillo, 2000). However, little is knownof the relationship between the use of tasks and theacquisition of new vocabulary such as formulaic
sequences. Thus, it is worthwhile to investigate how theuse of text messaging in a language-learning environment
may or may not afford equivalent outcomes compared toface-to-face interactions. The purpose of this study is to

Text Messaging for Foreign Language
Learning
Previous

research

has

reportedmany

advantages of text messaging for foreign language
learning. As text messaging is a synchronous means ofcommunication that is exchanged in written form, thischaracteristic of the method may account for the saliencyof the gap between the target language and theinterlanguage (Pellettieri, 2000). Pellettieri (2000) claimed
that reading the text appearing on the screen provides
more time to process the information. Compared to audio

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

331

input, recipients of the message may be able to reread or(2007), formulaic sequences were processed as a wholeslow down their pace for unfamiliar speech. The extra

and stored and retrieved as a whole. This holistic

online processing time may also account for refined

representation has been reported as being processed

output (Smith, 2012). Pellettieri (2000) claimed that

more

communication through text messaging allowed learners

sequences (Jiang & Nekrasova, 2007). The research

to visually monitor their own output, which makes it more

results imply that building a repertoire of formulaic

likely for them to spot their errors and achieve greater

sequences will eventually lead to gains in oral fluency.

accuracy than face-to-face spoken interactions. Salaberry

However, research has also suggested that formulaic(2000) supported the claim of accuracy in a study on

sequences were problematic for language learners toacquisition of Spanish verb endings. According toacquire since they were not easily noticeable (Lewis,

Salaberry (2000), text messaging led to increased

2009; Spötttl & McCarthy, 2004). Spöttl and McCarthy

accuracy compared to face-to-face oral communication.

(2004) claimed that acquisition of formulaic sequences

quicklyandaccurately

than

nonformulaic

was closely related not only to the proficiency of the
Research on corrective feedback has also
pointed out the benefits of language learning using online
text-based interaction on the advantage of the saliency of
the written exchange. Sauro (2009) investigated thelearner but also to exposure to authentic formulaic
sequence usage outside the classroom. Learning
formulaic sequences in an environment where there isless use of the target language may not be ideal.

possible advantages of incorporating communication
through online text and focused on corrective feedback.

Oral Development

The results indicated that corrective feedback with

In an EFL learning environment, improving

metalinguistic information achieved greater gains in the

speaking skill is a critical issue. Outside the classroom,target language. The research on corrective feedback

few chances exist to practice speaking. As learning

through text messaging indicates the affordance of text

formulaic sequences may facilitate fluency in oral speech,

messaging to language learning.

the aim of the current study is to investigate how formulaic
sequences in an online setting offers additional time andAlthough previous studies have highlighted thatwritten forms of interaction improved the ability of learners
to notice linguistic items, the relationship between thenoticed item and acquisition was not clearly understood
until Smith (2012) used the eye-tracking method andconfirmed that learners noticed corrective feedback
through eye gaze and stimulated recall. Research on text
messaging mostly relied on analyzing the text log, whichis available after the exchange has been submitted.
Smith’s research, however, provided valuable evidence
on how attention shifted during the production of text. The

saliency for processing foreign language. Payne andWhitney(2003)

reported

that

the

spontaneousconversation in text messaging may resemble oral
exchange (Payne & Whitney, 2003). It has been argued
that the additional time offered in text messaging allows
language learners to reduce their cognitive load forprocessing foreign languages (Yuan & Ellis, 2003). The
goal of this research is to investigate how acquisition of
formulaic sequences can develop oral skills by taking
advantage of the inherent features of text messaging andcompare the results with face-to-face learning.

result of Smith’s study (2012) on text messaging
demonstrated that semantic and syntactic items may
become targets of attention instead of morphological ones.

The present study addresses the following
research questions:

The use of text messaging for learning new vocabulary
has a positive effect on second language learning.

(1)

Is there a difference in cloze test

results between the text messaging group and the face-

Learning Formulaic Sequences

to-face group?

Recently, studies on formulaic sequences havesuggested that they are often processed faster thanlexical items (Erman, 2007), and it has been recognized(2)

Will learners be able to use the target

formulaic sequence naturally in oral speech?

that they play an important role in fluency development(Towell et al., 1996). According to Jiang and Nekrasova

The 2019 PanSIG Journal332

Methodology

The interview questions were created to ask about theirfavorite city or what they would like to do there. Examples

Participantsof the interview questions are:This research included 37 university students
majoring in engineering or informatics in Japan. All theIf you can choose to go anywhere in theparticipants were Japanese nonnative English speakers,

world, what do you look for in a place toaged from 19 to 22 years old. Their English proficiency

live?

levels were A1-B2 in Common European Framework(CEFR), with Test of English as an International
Communication (TOEIC) scores ranging approximately

Is it easy to get around by public
transportation there?

from 400 to 620. The data for this current study wascollected during an English class. Due to absences, only
data from students who attended all classes and who
provided written consent were used for analysis.
This study followed a quasi-experimental design
and used pre- and post-tests. Two classes were asked toparticipate in this study. Both groups took a vocabulary
quiz on formulaic sequences before and after the threeweek interventions. The first class functioned as a control
group with 16

students doing only the face-to-face tasks.

The second class functioned as an experimental groupwith 21 students and used only text messaging forcommunication in all tasks.

Procedure and Tasks
Two kinds of tasks—repetition and interview
tasks—were used for learning formulaic sequences. The
repetition task was adopted to ensure practice of thetarget items and to present the translation in the students’Figure 1: Web page of learning formulaic sequences forthe text messaging groupnative language. In order to compare the results with theAfter the interview, learners were then asked toprevious studies (Abrams, 2003; Payne & Whitney, 2002),

summarize the content of their interview to the teacher.

the interview task was chosen to elicit speaking by making
use of their own experience. The repetition task for face-On the first week, all the participants took the pre-test.

to-face groups was practiced orally by repeating after theThrough the second to fourth weeks, learners practiced

teacher three times. For the text messaging group, the

new sets of formulaic sequences each week throughtarget formulaic sequences were practiced silently by

repetition and interview tasks. On the fifth week, learners

typing (Figure 1). The students were asked to practicewere asked to take the post-test.

typing the target formulaic sequences three times in thedesignated activity page. All the activities for the text
messaging group were presented in the language
manage system, Moodle. Students were using the sameschool computer with keyboards. After the repetition
practice, both the control and experimental groups
engaged in face-to-face and text messaging interview
tasks, respectively. Learners were paired, and theyinterviewed each other using the questions in theworksheet that included the target formulaic sequences.

Pre- and Post-Test
Two tests were used as pre- and post-tests—
the cloze test and the one-minute speech test. The cloze
test consisted of 15 sentences that included the target
formulaic sequences. Learners were to fill in the blank tomake the sentence match the translation. Learners were
not allowed to use outside resources. The time limit was
15 minutes. The test was conducted online in a classroom
where the teacher monitored the screen. The test was
created using Google Forms and was conducted using a

The 2019 PanSIG Journal333

school computer with keyboards. The topic for the one-counted using Praat (Boersma & Weenink, 2019).

minute speech was “If you could live in your favorite city,

Differences in the score between pre- and post-tests were

where would you live? Explain your reasons.” Before

calculated for effect size. The effect size was considered

recording, learners had one minute to prepare for theirin terms of Plonsky and Oswald’s (2014) criteria on paired

speech. The speech was recorded in the classroom bytests—small, d = .060; medium d = 1.00; and large d =using the school’s computer and a microphone. The

1.40.

“Sound Recorder” application was used to record

Complexity and Accuracy

individual speeches. The teacher monitored and gave
additional technological support when necessary.

Target Formulaic Sequences

Building on previous research (Norris & Ortega,
2000) and considering students’ proficiency, the numberof clauses per AS-unit (Analysis of Speech unit) was used

Prior to the current study, a pilot study was

to measure development of syntactic complexity. AS-units

conducted with 20 cloze sentences to ensure the desired(Foster et al., 2000) have been commonly used in speechdifficulty level of the target formulaic sequences and theanalysis (e.g., Suzuki & Kormos, 2019) for linguistic

difficulty of the quiz. Formulaic sequences wereanalysis.

referenced from the textbook used in class (Bolhke, 2016).
Fifteen formulaic sequences were chosen based on the
difficulty score. Interview questions were generated byusing the target formulaic sequences. Interview questions
were selected to ensure learners were able to practiceand learn formulaic sequences in context. By testing theability of students to ask and answer questions, the tests
sought to determine students’ ability to think about theirideal city and express their ideas clearly.

Linguistic Analysis
Cloze Test

AS-units were also used to calculate accuracy.
The percentage of error-free AS-units was used tomeasure accuracy. Local accuracy measures such as
wrong word choice, morphological mistakes such as S-V
agreement, and tense mistakes were counted as errors.

Fluency
It has been argued that the major componentsof fluency are speed, breakdown, and repair (Suzuki &Kormos, 2019). Breakdown has been defined as filled andunfilled pauses with silences longer than 250 milliseconds(Jong & Bosker, 2013). Speech fluency refers to the

The difficulty index for each item was calculated

number of pruned words per minute. In the current study,by the number of students with correct answers divided bybreakdown is the total number of Japanese words andthe total number of students in each group. Index scores

filled and unfilled pauses divided by pruned words. Repair

closer to zero indicated that the item being responded torefers to the number of dysfluencies (false starts andwas being answered less accurately by a greater

repetitions) divided by pruned words.

proportion of the test takers, and it was thus a difficult item.
The differences between pre- and post-tests were
calculated to measure the effect of task interventions.

Results
Cloze tests on 15 formulaic items were used to

Speech Test

answer the first research question. The results indicatedPre- and post-tests of the one-minute speechthat there was no significant difference between the twowere used for linguistic analysis. The recorded data wasgroups (Table 1). Paired-sample t-tests between pre- andtranscribed and pruned by eliminating filled pauses,

post-cloze tests were conducted. The results revealed

repetition, and self-corrections. There were seventhat the face-to-face and text messaging groups hadvariables used for analysis: accuracy, complexity, fluency

significant differences with a large effect size (face-to-face(broken into the following components: speech fluency,group: t(15) = 8.73, p < .001, d = 2.18; text messaging

breakdowns, repairs, and total number of words), andgroup: t(20) = 8.01, p < .001, d = 1.74).

variation (word type). Trained coders used the transcribeddata to analyze accuracy, complexity, and repair (r = .91).
Word count and word variation were analyzed using the R
program. The number of pauses for breakdown was

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

334

Table 1: Descriptive Statistics for cloze test on formulaic sequences (15 items)
P retest-P osttest
P re T est

P ost T est

com parison
E ffect

M ode

n

M

SD

n

M

SD

p

F 2F

16

5.31

3.26

16

10.94

2.57

0.000

2.18***

T exting

21

6.05

2.52

21

11.14

2.31

0.000

1.74***

S ize (d)d> .60*,d> 1.00**,d> 1.40***

Table 2: Descriptive Statistics for learning formulaic sequences through text messaging

M ode
F2F
Textingn
16
21

Pre T est
M
SD
42.95
27.23
28.03
15.42

n
16
21

P ost Test
M
SD
42.28
28.43
52.11
23.65

F2F
Texting

16
21

10.78
9.34

2.71
2.54

16
21

12.34
11.3

3.54
3.73

F2F

16

44.25

11.38

16

57.06

12.66

Texting

21

45.52

16.86

21

65.05

33.32

B reakdow n

F2F
Texting

16
21

0.32
0.39

0.19
0.26

16
21

0.26
0.25

0.17
0.18

R epair

F2F
Texting

16
21

0.06
0.03

0.04
0.03

16
21

0.04
0.03

0.03
0.02

T otalW ords

F2F
Texting

16
21

52.94
52.81

14.39
19.70

16
21

65.50
71.43

12.69
34.65

W ord T ype

F2F
Texting

16
21

27.50
27.00

6.63
7.34

16
21

34.38
36.90

6.69
14.81

A ccuracy

C om plexity

S peechFluency
Fluency

size (face-to-face group: t(15) = .07, p = .947, d =.02; text
messaging group: t(20) = 3.90, p =.001, d =.85). For
To answer the second research question, a oneminute speech test was conducted. There was a small
number of usages of formulaic sequences in the post-test
speech for both the face-to-face and text messaging
groups. Formulaic sequences appeared twice in one
speech for the face-to-face group and four times in four
different speeches in the text messaging group. Although
there was only a small number of formulaic sequences innatural use, both the face-to-face and text messaging
groups demonstrated evidence of usage.
To analyze the results, transcribed speech was
examined for complexity, accuracy, and fluency (Table 2).
Paired-sample t-tests between pre-test and post-test
revealed that accuracy was higher in the text messaging
group than in the face-to-face group with a large effectspeed fluency, the face-to-face group was larger in effectsize than the text messaging group (face-to-face group:t(15) = 5.05, p < .001, d =1.26; text messaging group: t(20)= 3.64, p = .002, d = .80). There was no difference in termsof breakdowns for the face-to-face group, t(15) = 1.66, p= .080, d=.42; however, differences were found in the text
messaging group with small effect size, t(20) = 2.67, p=.014, d = .58. For repair, differences were found for theface-to-face group with small effect size, t(15) = 2.40, p=.03, d = .60; however, no differences were found for the
text messaging group, t(20) =.37, p=.71, d=.08. Both theface-to-face and text messaging group gained more inword type with medium effect size (face-to-face: t(15) =4.07, p = .001, d = 1.02; text messaging group: t(20) =3.78,p¬ =.001, d=.83). No difference was found in complexity
for both groups (face-to-face: t(15) = .005, p = .996, d =The 2019 PanSIG Journal335

1.02; text messaging group: t(20) = .866, p¬ = .397, d

Text Messaging and Speech Development
This study shows a sample of how foreign=.19).

language practice through text messaging can lead todifferences in speech development compared to face-to-

Discussion

face practice. According to the results, practice throughAcquisition of Formulaic Sequence andText Messaging
As the results indicated, learning formulaic
sequences through text messaging was equivalent tolearning face-to-face, with both groups having a large
effect size between pre- and post-tests in terms of thecloze test results. There were no significant differences inface-to-face communication led to improved speed
fluency with fewer repairs. However, breakdown, which
includes filled and unfilled pause and accuracy, did notappear to improve between pre- and post-tests. By
contrast, the text messaging group had a difference inaccuracy between pre- and post-tests. Speed fluency
improved, but the effect was not as large as that of theface-to-face group. As for the number of breakdowns, thethe total test score.

text messaging group also improved with a small effectIn terms of usage of formulaic sequences, there

size; however, the face-to-face group displayed no

was only a small amount of data where learners useddifference. Results corroborate previous studies on online

formulaic sequences in speech tests. Although thecommunication that suggested that text messaging

interview tasks aimed to facilitate the acquisition of

improves oral output (Abrams, 2003; Payne & Whitney,

formulaic sequences in a natural context, this intervention

2002; Sotillo, 2000), particularly for accuracy (Salaberry,

only lasted for 3 weeks, which may have been insufficient.

2000; Smith, 2012). From the results, it can be assumed

Samples 1 and 2 are excerpts from the dialogues of thethat students in the text messaging group were moreface-to-face and text messaging groups with formulaic

careful and perhaps more attentive to what they weresequences incorporated in their speech. Both samples

producing. The inherent characteristic of communication

demonstrated that they used formulaic sequences

through text messaging may allow learners to pay more

together with “with friends,” which they learned throughattention to linguistic items (Pellettieri, 2000) that may be

asking and answering the interview question “Where dooverlooked in face-to-face practice.

you often hang out with your friends?”

Conclusion

Sample 1

The present study analyzed cloze test results
Student 1 from face-to-face group:and oral speech test results for face-to-face and text

Pre-test: …I think Tokyo has many things. For

messaging groups of students. From the cloze test result,example, very favorite shops and Tokyo tower. I wantlearning formulaic sequences through text messaging

to visit sightseeing. ….

leads to results equal to that of face-to-face practice.
There were no significant differences found in total scores

Post-test: …I think Tokyo has many newest shops. Iof the post-test. In both modes, formulaic sequences were

want to hang out with friends. My bestused naturally in context; however, there were few

friendlives in Tokyo now so I want to hang out with her….

samples, and it may not be justifiable to generalize fromthis result. Through the task intervention, speaking

Sample 2

improved in both modes especiily text messaging group
Student 1 from text messaging group:

improving in accuracy. The unique feature of text
messaging may enable additional attention to linguistic

Pre-test: ... there are a lot of store and amusement
and I want to shopping in Tokyo.

aspects otherwise overlooked. As the current study only
lasted for 3 weeks, it would be worthwhile to do research

Post-test: I want to shopping to search for good items

spanning a longer period of time in order to observe theand I want to hang out with mylongitudinal differences in terms of acquisition in bothamusement parks.

friends in somemediums.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal336

Task-based learning in an online environment

Norris, J. M., & Ortega, L. (2000). Effectiveness of L2

may offer opportunities, such as text saliency, that may

Instruction: A Research Synthesis and Quantitative

not be available for traditional face-to-face learning

Meta‐analysis. Language Learning, 50(3), 417–528.

environments. As online communication is text-based,
learners may pay more attention to linguistic aspects ofPayne, J. S., & Whitney, P. J. (2002). Developing L2 oral

learning and attempt their best to stay focused in the

proficiency through synchronous CMC: Output,

target language and be more aware of the errors theyworking memory, and interlanguage development.

make. With the use of text messaging, opportunities are

CALICO journal, 20(1), 7–32.

created to practice the target language in a synchronous
written form, promoting language acquisition.

Pellettieri, J. (2000). Negotiation in cyberspace. In M.
Warschauer,

R.

Kern

(Eds.),

Network-based

language teaching: Concepts and practice (pp59-86).

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Benjamins Publishing Company.
Lewis, M. (2009). The idiom principle in L2 English:
Assessing elusive formulaic sequences as indicators

Suzuki, S., & Kormos, J. (2019). Linguistic Dimensions ofof idiomaticity, fluency, and proficiency. Saarbrücken,

Comprehensibility

andPerceived

Fluency:An

Germany: VDM Publishing.

Investigation of Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency inSecond Language Argumentative Speech. Studies inMorris, C. D., Bransford, J. D., & Franks, J. J. (1977).
Levels of Processing Versus Transfer Appropriate

SecondLanguage

Acquisition.

doi:

10.1017/S0272263119000421

Processing. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal
Behavior; New York, NY:16(5).

The 2019 PanSIG Journal337

Towell, R., Hawkins, R., & Bazergui, N. (1996). The

Yuan, F., & Ellis, R. (2003). The Effects of Pre‐Task

Development of Fluency in Advanced Learners ofPlanning and On ‐ Line Planning on Fluency,

French. Applied Linguistics, 17(1), 84–119.

Complexity and Accuracy in L2 Monologic Oral

Wood, D. (2010). Formulaic language and second
languagespeechfluency.

London,Production. Applied Linguistics, 24(1), 1–27.

England:

Continuum.

Author biography

Nami Takase has been teaching English in Japan for more than ten years at junior and senior high schools, universities
and companies. Her research interests include CALL and task-based learning. She is currently a student at Nagoya
University.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal338

42 Can More Rater Training Improve Peer Assessments?
David James Townsend
Shujitsu University
This paper will detail the results of a follow-up study examining the reliability of a group of second-year
university students’ peer assessments of their classmates’ oral presentations. The original study
calculated the inter-rater reliability coefficient of the peer assessments and found them to be only fairly
reliable. It was theorized that increasing the amount of time spent on rater training would improve thesescores. This paper will detail the findings of a two-year follow-up study in which the amount of time spenton rater training was doubled. The results of this increased rater training on the reliability of the peer
assessments was calculated, with very little improvement being observed. The results of the study areprovided as well as some hypotheses as to why more significant improvements were not made.

この論文は前回行ったクラスの生徒間での相互評価による集中力の増加、モチベーションの増加などの実績の研究の続きである。今回は前回よりも良い結果を残すために総合評価の回数を二倍に増やし、研究をし直した結果と今後の改善点などをまとめた。明らかな改善は見られなかったので、その原因を推測し、今後の課題などについて書いている。

The ability to both prepare your thoughts

more involved through peer assessment. Instead of being

logically, and then present your message clearly andpassive observers they instead could critically evaluate

persuasively has always been recognized as an

the performances of their peers, and then provide

invaluable skillset. As such, being able to conduct aformative feedback to help them further develop theirsuccessful presentation is considered one of the mostpresentation skills in future performances.

important proficiencies needed for career advancement
as well as for becoming an influential and productive
member of society (Al Nouh, Abdul-Kareem, & Taqi,2015).

If properly implemented, peer assessment allows for the
direct participation of learners in the assessment process,which enables learners to reflect on their experience andmonitor their learning (Reynolds & Trehan, 2000). Some

Unfortunately, in the increasingly technology-driven world

teachers, however, may feel uncomfortable ceding somein which we now live, a lack of face-to-face communicationof the responsibility of grading to the students. A large parthas had a detrimental effect on the development of someof the hesitance teachers have in involving students withstudents’ interpersonal communication skills. To offset

assessment stems from their belief that the students’

this trend, many Japanese universities have included oral

scores will be unreliable (Saito, 2003). This is certainlypresentations in their curriculums to give their students an

how this author felt when asked to include peeredge in the competitive global business market (Brooks &assessment in a presentation class he was teaching.

Wilson, 2014).
Despite a lack of experience with peer assessment as well
One of the obvious difficulties with including oral

as a profound uneasiness with allowing students a say inpresentations in the classroom, however, is the time-

contributing to student scores, an attempt was made toconsuming nature of assessment. As student afterincorporate peer assessment as part of the overall

student comes to the front of the class to present on theassessment procedures for the class. Furthermore, in ansame or similar topic, the other students are often

attempt to better understand peer assessment, research

relegated to being passive audience members. One

was conducted to learn more about its potential benefits

solution to this ‘downtime’ is to have the students become

The 2019 PanSIG Journal339

and/or drawbacks when implemented in the language

Initially,classroom.

organization of a presentation which followed a structure

students

wereintroduced

to

the

basic

that included an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
While there have been numerous studies examining theability of students in writing classes to reliably peer assess
their classmates’

compositions, comparatively little

research has been directed at oral presentations. Whenfocused more narrowly on English as a foreign language(EFL) the lack of research becomes even more apparent

Following this, the students viewed a video containing two
sample presentations. While the contents of the twopresentations were virtually identical, the first was an
example of a poorly conducted presentation, while thesecond was of a well done presentation (see details inHarrington & LeBeau, 2009).

(Fazel, 2015, p. 80).
After viewing the sample presentations, the students
At the conclusion of the first year experimenting
with peer assessment, a study was conducted toascertain whether the scores the students were providing
could be considered reliable. Unfortunately, the findingsin the resulting paper (Townsend, 2012) were rather
disappointing. This prompted the current study, a followup study conducted six years after the first, to examine theeffects of significantly increased rater training on theworked in small groups comparing the two with a focus on
identifying what factors contributed to the second
presentation being more effective than the first. From thisthe students came up with the core set of five basicpresentation skills as follows: (1) posture, (2) eye contact,(3) voice, (4) gestures, and (5) easy to understandlanguage (English). These were then used as the basis
for assessment.

reliability of the peer assessments.
Finally, over the course of three 90-minute lessons, theThis paper will briefly review the initial study and its
findings. Following this, the current study will be explainedwith a detailed account of the changes made to rater
training as well as the underlying justifications for thesechanges. Finally, the findings from the current study will
be presented as well as the implications these findings

students engaged in a series of structured activities where
both good and poor examples of each of the five
aforementioned presentation skills were introduced andpracticed. This was followed by students undergoingpractical training with each skill through structured pairand group-work activities.

have on our general understanding of the reliability of peer
assessments of oral presentations in the context being

Limited rater training was conducted before every set of

examined.

presentations,

with

the

teacher

explaining

what

constituted a poor, fair or an excellent score. It should be
noted at this time, that the primary goal of peer

The Initial Study

assessment in this class was to assist in the identification

In the 2010-2011 academic year, a study wasof the strengths and weaknesses in each of theirundertaken to determine the reliability of the peer

presentation skills in the hopes that this knowledge would

assessments of oral presentations by a group of second-

help the students improve their performances inyear English majors at a private Japanese university. The

subsequent presentations.

class was mandatory for all sophomores and met twice aweek for a total of 32 90-minute classes per semester.

The class was randomly divided in half. One group sat at
the front of the classroom and the other group at the back.

The

students

wererequiredtoperform

threeStudents then took turns presenting in front of their peers.

presentations a semester on an assigned topic, for a total

While each student was presenting, the other students inof six presentations over the course of the year. Eachtheir group were instructed to watch carefully and fill out

presentation accounted for 15% towards that semester’s

an assessment/comments sheet provided (see Appendix).

final grade. For each presentation, the cumulative scorefrom their peers amounted to 30% of the final score for the

The items to be assessed were listed, and scoring waspresentation, with the remaining 70% coming from thedone with a 10-point Likert scale, with 1 being the lowest

teacher. Students were required to speak for 3 to 5score and 10 the highest. All of the six presentations wereminutes.

conducted after completing two units from the prescribed

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

340

textbook. For each unit the students prepared andclassification over that which would be expected bypracticed a presentation, but were allowed to choose

chance and is scored as a number between 0 and 1,

either of the presentations to perform.

where 0 represents the amount of agreement that can be
expected from random chance, and 1 represents perfect

When filling out the assessment/comments sheet, theraters were instructed to fill out the content section (Part1) corresponding to the presentation the presenter had

agreement between raters (McHugh, 2012). The interrater reliability coefficients for the six presentations are as
follows:

elected to perform. However, the presentation skills
section (Part 2) was filled out for all presentations
regardless of which unit they chose. It should be noted

Table 1
K Values for Initial Studythat for this study, only the scores for the five presentation

Presentation #(IRR) Kappa

skills were included in the calculations for this study. The

1

0.28

reasoning for this is that while the contents of each

2

0.33

presentation changed from one presentation to the next,

3

0.28

the skills remained constant.

4

0.42

5

0.27

6

0.31

At the bottom of each assessment/comments sheet, there
was a space provided where students were instructed totoWith the IRR coefficients being calculated, the next job

supplement and reinforce the numerical scores as well as

was interpreting the results. A review of the literature on

provide some more specific information. It was requested

assessment reliability shows that the interpretation ofthat students make three comments in each of the twointer-rater reliability coefficients – what is consideredcategories (for a total of six), though students rarely

reliable or not – is contentious at best. While there is noprovided this many. Students were not formally assessed

generally agreed on measure of significance, the following

on the quantity or the quality of their comments, and astable provided by Landis and Koch (1977) is perhaps the

such this was outside the purview of the study.

most widely used resource for interpreting ҡ values:

write

comments

on

their

peers’

performance

While both groups were presenting I positioned myself inthe middle of the classroom in a good position to observe

Table 2
Guidelines for Interpreting K ValuesҡInterpretation

and assigned a grade based on a holistic interpretation of<0

Poor agreement

each performance. Finally, the assessment/comments

0.01 – 0.20

Slight agreement

sheets were collected and the reliability for the student

0.21 – 0.40

Fair agreement

assessments was calculated.

0.41 – 0.60

Moderate agreement

0.61 – 0.80

Substantial agreement

0.81 – 1.00

Almost perfect agreement

both presenters. I took extensive notes on each presenter

An inter-rater reliability coefficient was calculated for the
student-assessed scores of all six groups of presentations.
While there are various ways to measure the reliability of

According to these guidelines, all but one of the sets ofassessments based on the number of items being

presentations conducted in the initial study could beassessed and the number of assessors, in the case of

considered fairly reliable. Only presentation #4 achieved

subjectively-rated tasks judged according to a rating scale

moderate reliability. The results show that within the(such as presentations), determining reliability usuallyconfines of this limited study, the peer assessments

takes the form of calculating an inter-rater reliability (IRR)

provided by the students were not altogether reliable.

coefficient.

Furthermore, the scores did not improve in a linear fashion,
which led to the conclusion that “repeated exposure to

The Online Kappa Calculator (Randolph, 2008) was used

peer assessment had a limited effect on improving inter-to calculate kappa – a chance-adjusted measure ofrater reliability” (Townsend, 2012, p. 242).

agreement – for any number of cases, categories, orraters. This calculates the degree of agreement in

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

341

As

mentioned

wereratherEven extensive training sessions, however, will not

discussion

muchensure that every observer agrees with a standard or withconsideration was given to how the reliability of the peer

his or her peers (Myford & Wolfe, 2009). In addition,assessments could be improved upon in the future.

research has demonstrated that even after raters have

Ultimately, it was concluded that more robust rater training

undergone sufficient training, they will not necessarily

was required to aid the students in better understanding

continue to be reliable raters. Over time, and without

what they were assessing as well as to more consistently

constant attention, the consistency of the raters suffers,

interpret the rating scales. Furthermore, additional

and the scores become less reliable. Therefore, it isresearch was conducted to better understand what

necessary to conduct periodic follow-up training sessions

effective rater training should look like.

to ensure rating is conducted as reliably as possible

disappointing.

above,

theseIn

ensuingtheresults(Graham, Milanowski, & Miller, 2012, p. 18).

Rater Training

One final consideration when designing a rater training

In order to improve the reliability of the peer

program is accountability. Johnson, Penny and Gordon

assessments, measures must be taken to limit the(2009) found in a study they conducted that raters arevariance among ratings to the greatest extent possible.

more attentive to requirements and score more closely toThis can be done through rater training, whereby

the rubric when they know their ratings are going to be

explanations and practice are given to assessors on themonitored. These findings suggest that observers areinterpretation and use of rating scales. This is generally

more accurate when they feel accountable for theirreferred to as Frame of Reference (FOR) training, andcompliance with the rubric and/or standards as prescribed

typically involves an explanation of the rating system,by the teacher.

discussion of avoiding bias and common errors, advice on
observing and making judgements as well as practiceobservations (see Graham, Milanowski, & Miller, 2012, fora more comprehensive overview of FOR training).

In summary, to improve rater training it is important toconsider the length of training with more than five hours
being optimum. As well, training should include making
raters aware of the rating scale as well as how to apply

Research has shown rater training to be useful inthe rating scale to a particular performance. Furthermore,

improving rating accuracy, reliability and validity (Woehr &training should not be a one-off, but should be

Huffcutt, 1994; Schleicher, Day, Bronston, Mayes, &continuously revisited and reinforced.

Riggo, 2002; Gorman & Rentsch, 2009). Attempts at
improving rater reliability through rater training have comeup with some promising results. One study by Saito (2008)
concluded that rater training improved inter-rater reliability
by reducing the possibility of a misfit in the data. That is,after training it was less likely for one rater to have a wildly

Finally, there should be some accountability for the scores
raters give, with follow up provided if a rater consistently
falls far outside the norm of what is expected. With thesepoints in mind, the revised training program for the current
study will now be detailed.

different score from the other assessors.
Several L2 language testing studies (Shohamy, Gordon &Kraemer, 1992; Weigle, 1994, 1998) have examinedtraining effects in relation to both expert and novice raters.
These studies offered evidence that supports theunsurprising conclusion that trained raters are morereliable than untrained raters. In regards to the optimum
length for rater training, Graham, Milanowski and Miller(2012) determined that training begins to be effective after
an hour or two, and rater training sessions lasting 5 hours
or more are significantly more effective than those lasting
fewer than 5 hours (pp. 15-16).

The Current StudyIn the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 academic
years the rater training for the oral presentation
component of the class was doubled, with all otheraspects of the class remaining unchanged. After being
introduced to the basic format of a good presentation, thestudents once again viewed the video demonstrating agood example of a presentation as well as a bad example
of a presentation. As before, in small groups the students
discussed why the second video was much more effective,
and they came up with the same set of five basicpresentation skills which formed the basis for assessment.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal342

Unfortunately, a second suitable practice video like the

Finally, in both the initial and current study, students were

one described above was unable to be procured. In lieu

required to write their student number on the back of theof this, a different activity was devised to further theassessment/comments sheet. This allowed the teacher todevelopment of rater consistency. The students were

provide additional rater training to students whenrequired to each prepare, practice and perform a simple

necessary. For example, if students were giving scorespresentation introducing their favorite place. The students

dramatically inconsistent with their peers, or they were

were then divided into small groups of four. As eachmarking the exact same score for all five presentation

student performed their presentation, the remaining threeskills, individual follow up training was conducted. This

students in the group were tasked with observing thewas done in the hopes of improving accountability, andperformance and filling out an assessment/comments

was conducted more frequently in the follow-up study.

sheet as a group.

Once again, The Online Kappa Calculator (Randolph,
2008) was used to calculate the IRR coefficients, and the

The usual assessment procedure has the students fill out

scores are as follows:

one assessment/comments sheet by themselves, andtheir scores and comments are anonymous. However, in
this case the three members of the group observing theirclassmate’spresentation

filledout

asingleassessment/comments sheet as a team. They were also

Table 3
K Values for Current Study

(IRR)
Kappa

(IRR)
Kappa

(IRR)
Kappa

2011-12

2016-172017-18

1

0.28

0.24

0.25

2

0.33

0.23

0.29

3

0.28

0.30

0.32

4

0.42

0.35

0.19

5

0.27

0.30

0.28

6

0.31

0.27

0.30

Presentation#encouraged to discuss amongst themselves what score
they would give for each skill as well as the rationale for
their decisions. The other members might recommend ahigher or lower score and explain their rationale. In thismanner they would negotiate a mutually agreeable scorefor each of the five presentation skills being assessed.
Students were additionally instructed to write somecomments that would give more practical suggestions for
how future presentations could be improved upon. It was
hoped that this activity would develop more consistent

Discussion

raters, as they would be more familiar with the rating
scales and how they should be interpreted.
Next, instead of the three 90-minute lessons in the initialstudy, the students underwent six 90-minute lessons
whereby they underwent extensive practical skills training
through pair and group-work activities. As was the casebefore, the focus of this practice was to demonstrate both
good and bad examples of each skill in action, and how –if done well – they can make a presentation more effective.
In the initial study, limited rater training was conducted
before all six of the presentations. In the current study, therater training was increased to include not only the preperformance training, but also follow-up training in thenext lesson after their performances. In both of these rater
training sessions it was carefully explained what
constituted a poor, fair and excellent grade.

Despite the increased rater training the reliabilityof the peer assessments did not improve. In fact, withmean scores of 0.31, 0.28 and 0.27 respectively, the latterscores were slightly less reliable. In the confines of thisstudy, it seems that the initial training offered may havebeen adequate for the students to understand the rating
scales and how they should be applied, and the increased
rater training did not improve the reliability of the peer
assessments.
It could be surmised that the level of instruction on all theoral presentation skill aspects in the initial study was
sufficient to establish a certain level of correlation, and the
additional training in the current study may not haveadded any more advantages to the assessors on top of
instruction in the skill aspects.
While more research is needed, it might be time to begin
rethinking what a reliable score should be for EFL
students

conducting

peerassessments

of

their

The 2019 PanSIG Journal343

classmates’ oral presentations. In light of the generally

As well, the students were better able to provide moreconsistent inter-rater reliability scores for all three years

appropriate comments to their partners both in the

being examined, and despite the doubling of rater training

practice stages as well as through the formal comments

for two of those years, the question must be asked

provided on the peer-assessment sheets. For thesewhether or not interpretation of the scores fits in thisreasons, the increased rater training was considered acontext.

success, and will continue to be an important part of theclass.

There is precedent for interpreting the scales differently
depending on the context being examined. For example,
McHugh (2012) has suggested that in the context ofReferences

healthcare research, any kappa value below 0.60

Al-Nouh, A. N., Abdul-Kareem, M. M. & Taqi, H. (2015).

indicates inadequate agreement among the raters andEFL college students’ perceptions of the difficulties inlittle confidence should be placed in the study results (p.

oral presentations as a form of assessment.

279). The justification for this view is clearly that theInternational Journal of Higher Education, 4(1), 136-

reliability of healthcare workers to assess accurately a150.

patient’s condition could be the difference between lifeand death.

Brooks, G. & Wilson, J. (2014). Using Oral Presentations
to Improve Students’ English Language Skills.

McHugh goes on to suggest that in other contexts it is not

Kwansei Gakuin University Humanities Review, 19,

uncommon for researchers to accept low kappa values in

199-212.

their inter-rater reliability studies (p. 282). Perhaps in thecontext being examined here, EFL students conducting

Fazel, I. (2015). A step in the right direction: peer-

peer assessments of oral presentations, a lower kappaassessment of oral presentations in an EFL setting.

value should be considered acceptable. While this study

Reading Matrix: An International Online Journal, 15(1),is limited, the inter-rater reliability coefficients of student

78-90.

peer-assessments in the three years examined were

http://www.readingmatrix.com/files/12-595x9qg9.pdf

remarkably consistent, with 17 of the 18 sets ofpresentations being fairly reliable.

Retrievedfrom

Gorman, C. A. & Rentsch, J. R. (2009). Evaluating frameof-reference

rater

training

effectiveness

using

While further research is needed to determine what otherperformance schema accuracy. Journal of Applied

factors might be responsible for contributing to the rather

Psychology, 94(5), 1336-1344.

low rater reliability, it might be time to concede that theguidelines for interpreting kappa scores as Landis & Koch
(1977) proposed are unnecessarily harsh in this context.
Furthermore, this might necessitate the creation of a new
set of guidelines specifically designed to interpret theGraham, M., Milanowski, A. & Miller, J. (2012). Measuring
and promoting inter-rater agreement of teacher andprincipal performance ratings. Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of Education, Center for Educator
Compensation Reform.

reliability of peer assessments of oral presentations in an
EFL context.

Harrington, D. & LeBeau, C. (2009). Speaking of Speech:
Basic Presentation Skills for Beginners (New Ed.).

Finally, while the increased rater training did not

Tokyo: Macmillan.

significantly improve the reliability of the peer-assessedscores, there were other notable observed benefits. The

Johnson, L. J., Penny, J. A. & Gordon, B. (2009).

extensive practical skills training activities were very

Assessing Performance: Designing, Scoring, anduseful in improving the overall quality of the presentations.

Validating Performance Tasks. Journal of Educational

The doubled exposure through the pair and group-work

Measurement, 46(4), 474-477.

activities seemed to better demonstrate the importancethat the individual skills have on making a presentation
more effective.

Landis, J. R. & Koch, G. G. (1977). The measurement ofobserver agreement for categorical data. Biometrics,
33, 159-174.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal344

McHugh, M. L. (2102). Interrater reliability: the kappa
statistic. Biochemia Medica, 22(3), 276-282).

reference training: Enhancing the construct validity ofassessment centers. Journal of Applied Psychology,
87(4), 735-746.

Myford, C. M. & Wolfe, E. W. (2009). Monitoring rater
performance over time: A framework for detecting

Shohamy, E., Gordon, C. M. & Kraemer, R. (1992). The

differential accuracy and differential scale use.

effect of raters’ background and training on the

Journal of Educational Measurement, 46(4), 371-389.

reliability of direct writing tests. The Modern Language
Journal, 76, 27-33.

Randolph, J. J. (2008). Online Kappa Calculator.
Retrieved from http://justus.randolph.name/kappa

Townsend, D. (2012). Reflections on Peer Assessmentsof Oral Presentations. Shujitsu English Studies, 29,

Reynolds, M. & Trehan, K. (2000). Assessment: A critical

223-248.

perspective. Studies in Higher Education, 25(3), 267278.

Weigle, S. C. (1994). Effects of rater training on raters of
ESL compositions. Language Testing, 11, 197-223.

Saito, H. (2003). Rater training effects on peer
assessment of EFL individual presentations: Aninterim report. Hokusei Journal, 43(1), 11-22.

Weigle, S. C. (1998). Using FACETS to model rater
training effects. Language Testing, 15, 263-287.

Saito, H. (2008). EFL classroom peer assessment:

Woehr, D. J. & Huffcutt, A. I. (1994). Rater training forTraining effects on rating and commenting. Language

performance appraisal: A qualitative review. Journal

Testing, 25(4), 553-581.

of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 67.
189-205.

Schleicher, D. J., Day, D. V., Bronston, T., Mayes, B. T. &Riggo, R. E. (2002). A new frame for frame-of-

Author biography

David James Townsend teaches at Shujitsu University in Okayama, Japan. His research interests include thedevelopment of activities that promote communication in the classroom as well as the reliability of peer assessments oforal presentations. Email davidtownsend@shujitsu.ac.jp
Appendix: Assessment/Comments Sheet

The 2019 PanSIG Journal345

43 Approaching the Issues of Auxiliaries in English for Japanese L1
Anton Vegel
Kent State University
Auxiliary verbs are salient in both English and Japanese especially to convey aspect and voice yet theirdifferences can pose problems in the learning process. This study thus explores how auxiliaries are usedby providing a descriptive grammatical comparison of English and Japanese auxiliary verb use.
Furthermore, curricular suggestions are provided for intermediate Japanese L1 learners by exploring ways
they can be pre-tested and taught auxiliaries. Finally, a small sample of textbooks is comparatively
analyzed for how tense and aspect, modal and interrogative formation, conditionals, and passive voice
are presented by focusing on implicit (contextual, authentic practice focus, open ended practice) and
explicit (metalinguistic, accuracy focus, repetition practice) methodological elements. Ultimately, this study
employs descriptive methods to provide a useful collection of analysis for practitioners to use whenapproaching the instruction of English auxiliaries to Japanese L1 learners.

助動詞は、英語と日本語でアスペクトとボイスを言い表す場合には主要共通点がある。しかし、英語と日本語の中に文法的な相違があるため学習過程で問題があります。この論文の目的は記述的文法比較することで、英語と日本語でどのように助動詞が利用されるのかを説明します。更に、英語中間レベルの日本人向けの教材を作成のため、まとめた助動詞の教える方法が分析される。最後に、少数の教科書の中では、暗黙的と明示的の方法に中心した研究することで、アスペクト、ボイス、法助動詞、受動態、条件文の使用等が分析される。尚、この論文は、記述的方法を活用することで英語中間レベルの日本人向けのリソースを作成のため、複数の分析がまとめられます。

transfer is not always helpful. To emphasize this point
some of the most divergent points of syntax between

Learner Population
This study targets intermediate ESL learners ofJapanese and English auxiliary usage are presented

Japanese L1. The target points cover the most salient

along with a series of grammatical comparisons. These

implications of auxiliary and modal verb use. Of course,

points are then supported by textbook reviews and further

these implications are abundant, and not all of themcurricular action needed to address learning implications

should or can be introduced in succession, but many ofis suggested.

the usages of auxiliary verbs are not easily transferable
for Japanese L1 learners of English. An intermediate levelis chosen to emphasize practical auxiliary verb usage andprovidebootstrappingforadvanced

Grammatical ComparisonsJapanese use of auxiliaries, in comparison to

proficiency.

Furthermore, many ESL text series do not introduce
complex usages of auxiliaries in beginner levels.
Consequently, in intermediate programs, learners are not
only introduced to many new auxiliary uses, but they arealso trying to extend and apply the rules that they know,
and in the case of Japanese L1 learners, syntactic

English, is mostly based on postverbal inflection or
affixation and is often following the “gerundive” te-form
(Ono,

2000,

p.

40).

Kiyoharu

Ono’s

study

“Grammaticalization of Japanese Verbs” (2000) focusedon 18 lexical Japanese verbs, and certain auxiliaries that,when following te-form, appoint semantic and syntacticchanges that are semantically similar to English

The 2019 PanSIG Journal346

progressive aspect, perfect aspect, negation marking, and2000, p. 65). English usually requires the inversion ofmodality (p. 56, 65-66, 69).

subject and auxiliary.

Present progressive aspect

Modal and interrogative

ame

ga

mada

hutte

i-masumookaettemoyorosii

rain

subj

still

fall

-ing

Now

returning emphasis

雨がまだ降っています。

もう帰ってもよろしいか？

It is still raining.

May (I) go home now?

ka?

good/fine question marker

Here we can see that the te-form is being followed by “imasu,” which acts similarly to “-ing” in forming an –ing

This example highlights the use of both modal auxiliary

participle for progressive aspect, but it lacks an external

and the inversion process for an interrogative expression

moveable auxiliary like “is” or the base form and primary(p. 66). Because a modal or auxiliary is present (in theauxiliary “be” (Ono, 2000, p. 56). However, “i-masu” andEnglish sentence), a fronted “dummy” auxiliary is not used.

other postverbal inflections in Japanese are used in many

However, in the case that an auxiliary is absent, “do” isof the same ways that English auxiliaries are.

used as a placeholder for the auxiliary position. This“dummy” auxiliary takes the duties of the numerous tasks
that any other auxiliary would such as tense marking or

Perfect aspect

negation.

a. momizigasukkarititteshimatta

leavessubj

completely

fallingfinished

紅葉がすっかり散ってしまった。

Negation and “dummy” auxiliarykyō

The leaves have completely fallen.

wa

moo

eigo

no

benkyō

any longer

English

gen.

study

yo

ga

kinō

no

yoru

today subj

I

subj

yesterday

gen.

eveningwo

shi-naku-te mo

ii

kara

benkyōshite

i-masuobj

not doing

good you know

since

study

-ing

今日はもう英語の勉強をしなくてもいいよ。

b. watashi

私が昨日の夜から勉強しています。

emphasis(You) do not need to study English any longer today.

I have been studying since last night.
This example shows the inverted and fronted “do” with
These examples exhibit two expressions with similar

subject verb agreement, negation marking, and tense

semantic meaning to the English present perfect aspect,

inflection. Although Japanese L1 learners may be able tohave + -ed although they are syntactically different. It is

understand this implicitly, presenting these comparisons

important to note here that unlike the clear difference in

may help some learners especially those with fragmented

meaning between simple present and present progressive

foreign language education or gaps in their grammaticalaspects, present perfect and present perfect progressive

understanding.

are very similar in meaning with perfect progressiveemphasizing a continuation of the action referenced (pastaction, present relevance vs. accumulation of experience)(Berry, p. 102). Example a. expresses aspect through theuse of “shimatta” after te-form inflection, indicating afinished event, action, or activity. In contrast, example b.
expresses present perfect (progressive) aspect lexicallythrough the use of “kinō” and “kara,” and not through theuse of a postverbal inflection.
Furthermore, modality and interrogative forms
are structured differently in English and Japanese (Ono,

Passive voicea. Darekagasomeone subj

korosareta

killpassive/past

誰かが殺された。
Someone was killed.
b. Darekagakisetsukan ni korosa reta

someone subj policeman by killpassive/past

誰かが警察官に殺された。
Someone was killed by a policeman.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal347

These examples highlight the difference between thePrimary

auxiliaries

can

be

immediately

Japanese and English expression of passive voice.

confusing for L2 learners because of their crossEnglish requires a primary auxiliary “be” in a pre-verbal

grammatical functions (auxiliary and lexical verb): 2a. She

position in the verb phrase; on the other hand, Japaneseis happy, 2b. She is running. These two examples may

requires the postverbal inflection “-reru” or “-rareru.”

erroneously convince a learner, who is unfamiliar with pre-Furthermore, the Japanese passive does not require averbal auxiliaries, that “is” functions as a lexical verb andpast form of the verb or past participle in passive voice, asthat “running” is an adjective (2a, b).

it is required in English.

Modal auxiliaries, on the other hand, express“modality” such as possibility, necessity, prediction, andvolition: will, can, shall, may, must, would, could, should,

Grammar Description

might (Bieber et al. 2002, p. 28). The position of modal

Auxiliary verbs are widely used in English to
express modality, progressive and perfect aspects,

auxiliaries further complicates the role of the primary
auxiliaries when presented together by taking the role ofpassive voice, and question inversion. Because of thetense inflection, negation marking, and subject verb

salience of auxiliaries and their diverse implications, theagreement for example, 3a. She is not studying, 3b. She

teaching

should not be studying; 4a. They are studying, 4b. They

processshouldbecarefully

considered,especially in terms of the learners’ L1.
Auxiliary verbs are a closed class of function
words among prepositions, coordinators, and pronouns.

ought to be studying. Additionally, not only do modals takea specific position in the verb phrase they also contain anumber of distinct semantic categories. The specific orderThis closed class indicates their specific, limited, and fixedof modals, auxiliaries, and the essential main verb isgrammatical use. As opposed to open classes like verbs

detailed in a chart that may prove useful to ease some ofand nouns that regularly have new words introduced suchthe ambiguity learners may initially have:as “e-bike, n.,” “MacGyver, v,” or “misgender, v.,” closed

Verb Phrase Structureclasses are less flexible (OED, 2019). Furthermore,
Modal

Perfect

Progressive

Passive

main

aux 1

aux 2

aux 3

aux 4

verb

will

have

been

being

sung

form:

infinitive-ed part-ing part-ed part

finite: finite

non-finite

non-finite

non-finite

non-finite

closed classes have very necessary functions, their use is
not limited to register, and they occur in most contexts ofcommunication (Bieber, Conrad, Leech, 2002, p. 16).
Auxiliary verbs are further divided into twoclasses, (1a.) primary and (1b.) modal auxiliaries: 1a. The

ex:(Berry, 2012, p. 36, Table A6.2.1).

purse was stolen; 1b. The purse should not have beenstolen. Primary auxiliaries only include be, do, and have,

The interrogative auxiliary and subject position

while modal auxiliaries have a far larger list of lexical items

inversion, generally referred to as “fronting,” can also

(list following) (Bieber et al. 2002, p. 26). Despite verb

pose problems for learners whose L1 does not markphrases being able to contain up to four auxiliaries, theinterrogative by fronting. The learning implications of

only necessary constituent is the main verb (Berry, 2012,

interrogative structure include negative marking, absence

p. 35). Additionally, in spite of the disorderly appearanceof auxiliary, distinguishing wh- versus yes/no question,of the verb phrase, it is, of course, a rule bearing

and conditional use. Within an inversion movement, “not”

syntactical structure. For instance, be and have are usedcannot be placed after the main verb, and a negative

to form perfect aspect, progressive aspect, and perfectmarker is rarely used without a contracted form after anprogressive aspect. The forms depend on both auxiliary

auxiliary or modal in the fronted position: 5a. I can do it;

choice, position, and lexical inflection for example, have +5b. Can(’t) I do it? (Berry, 2012, p. 41). In the absence of-ed (perfect aspect); be + -ing (progressive aspect); havean auxiliary verb, a “dummy” auxiliary is introduced to take+ be (-ed) + -ed (perfect progressive aspect); be + -ed

the front position: 6a. She works hard; 6b. Does she work

(passive voice), and adhere to the syntactical order ofhard? (p. 41). The distinction between wh- questions

modal position, perfect aspect, progressive aspect, andversus yes/no questions further adds to the problems ofpassive voice for example, “will have been being sung” (p.

the “dummy” do or auxiliary inversion because of the

35).

fronted position that the wh- question word takes overauxiliaries and modals (p. 121). This rule might seem

The 2019 PanSIG Journal348

contradictory to learners, and they might attempt to use

be better suited for learners, and thus, a more successful

previously learned rules that apply to fronted positions

approach can be developed. Folse (2009) outlined thewith these wh- words. Inversion is also used formany implications of the verb phrase and particularly

conditionals to indicate a hypothetical situation or

auxiliary verbs to support learner assessment (p. 46).

counterfactual situation: 7a. Had I been aware, I wouldn’t
have said it (Berry, 2012, p. 64; Yule, 2003, p. 139).

Auxiliary verb implications: Assessment
supportCurricular Action
Since some auxiliary use is necessary for evena. Problems with auxiliary verbs in negating

beginner levels of English proficiency, at the intermediate*My sister no lives in Texas now.

level, learners should have a basic understanding or
should, at least, be aware of many of the implications ofb. Problems with auxiliary verbs in questions*Why you need more medicine?

auxiliary usage. This makes teaching the verb phrase ac. Wrong verb tense: present tense for present

highly productive task in the classroom. Furthermore,progressive

because of the diversity of learner knowledge and the*She can’t go now because she cooks dinner.

often fragmented proficiency in ESL classrooms, it isd. Wrong verb tense: present tense for present perfectcommonly

recommended

to

take

a

postmethods*How long do you live here?

approach while focusing on the particularities of learners’
needs. An ESL context demands a more learner-centered

These problems provide a guide for proficient use of

approach, as it requires acquiring language skills not justauxiliaries: a. provides an example of “dummy” dolanguage studies. Therefore, many questions about

insertion for negation, marking when an auxiliary is not

approaching an auxiliary teaching curriculum should bepresent; b. shows the absence of the auxiliary position

considered.

(after the wh-word) in question formation with a whnecessary

question (and in this case requires a “dummy” docomponent of English syntax, and since they are likely

auxiliary); c. and d. exhibit the misuse of tense and aspect

covered fragmentally throughout early levels, assessing

with an absent or misused auxiliary for the semantic

learners’ knowledge and ability can illuminate the needs

requirement in the context.

Since

auxiliaries

are

such

a

and consequently the scope necessary to reach learning

Another possibly worthwhile activity is a quick

outcomes. Moreover, review and reiteration can be areview regarding verb forms. Likely this review does not

positive effort to provide scaffolding for intermediateneed to be extensive, and instead, just serve the purpose

proficiency goals with an aim towards advancedof assessing the learners understanding of forms toproficiency and beyond. Due to the numerous usages ofprovide bootstrapping for auxiliary use. Folse (2009)

auxiliaries, isolating the most useful and necessary

further details these forms by providing four regular verb

implications in a text series or through supplementary

types and four irregular verb types. A prompt should illicit

materials (although complicating the planning process)responses from learners and push output of the inflections

ultimately proves essential in a postmethods approach.

or changes assessing knowledge of verb forms such as

This approach not only utilizes one material source but

suffix –ed, suffix –en, suffix –ing, internal vowel change,

deconstructs the effectiveness of each material and its

or no inflection. Learners should also be tasked topotential function.

complete a chart of base, past, past participle, andpresent participle verb forms (p. 47). This review can help
reiterate the forms for learners who are familiar with theInitial Assessment: Learner’s
Knowledge and Ability
Before a curriculum is planned and implemented,

content or provide scaffolding and resource building forlearners who are less familiar with the forms.
Furthermore, before approaching auxiliary verb

instructors should be aware of the learners’ needs

tasks, a sharp distinction between the verbal and primary

including their knowledge, ability, and language-use

auxiliary usages of be, do, and have should becontext. By understanding these needs, a curriculum canunderstood by the learners, and reiteration can provide

The 2019 PanSIG Journal349

necessary scaffolding. A simple cloze exercise increases

past participle” (p. 211). After learners are tasked to

the learners’ awareness of these two functions and aids

identify active and passive voice, they form active toin their understanding of the usages in specific contexts:

passive voice using a range of tense and aspect forms.
The particular implications of auxiliary verb tense

1. (be)a. You should _____ studying.

inflection are not mentioned but are introduced implicitly

b. I _____ happy.

throughout the text with textual enhancement (highlighted,

2. (have) a. He _____ worked there for five years.

3. (do)underlined, or italicized). Interrogative formation, however,b. He _____ a new car.

is covered explicitly although very little practice is present

a. _____ you like apples?

(p. 213). A useful section in this particular chapter

b. Youintroduces modals in passive form (p. 220). This section

should _____ it.

introduces ten commonly used modals in authentic
In these examples, (a.) uses a cloze of the primarylanguage and offers extensive practice; however, very

auxiliary verb function, whereas (b.) uses a cloze of thelittle semantic descriptions are offered (they are offered inmain verb function. Other usages could be tested quickly

previous modal focused chapters). Another useful feature

with this type of exercise for example, tense and aspect,of Understanding and Using English Grammar (2009) is

subject verb agreement, or passive voice (Folse, 2009, p.

the internal resources. Particularly the list of common

49-50).

regular verbs and irregular verbs is a useful reference forLastly, modals should be a final but necessary

learners (p. 20). This text is particularly useful in providing

point to pretest learners’ knowledge. This can be done byassessment materials, exercises, introducing syntactical

prompting learners to name modals that they are familiar

structures, and chart based syntactical descriptions with awith, and then prompted to order the modals in order ofmore explicit leaning approach.

weakest to strongest and provide contextual sentences tomatch their semantic categories (p. 51).

Grammar and beyond 3 (2012)
Blass,

Iannuzzi,

Savage,andReppen’s

Grammar and Beyond 3 (2012) offers a different approach

Textbook Elements

to Understanding and Using English Grammar. The

Often, in texts, a similar sequence is followed inapproach differs primarily in its use of authentic texts.

presenting English auxiliary use although the overall

Every chapter begins with a reading exercise thatapproach often varies greatly. In this section, a three

introduces the structures implicitly followed by explicit ruleintermediate level grammar texts will be analyzed in terms

oriented charts. Although these charts are often

of their effectiveness for Japanese L1 ESL learners.

comprehensive,

Furthermore, based on these findings, supplementarymaterials or at the very least extra descriptions tomaterials and approaches will be suggested for aholistically aid the target structure. Although Grammar

comprehensive curriculum.

and Beyond 3 seems to present target structures in a truly

theyrequiresome

supplementary

explicit manner and appears to be comprehensive in thisrespect, it often falls short of providing necessary explicit

Understanding and using English grammar(2009)
Azar and Hagen’s Understanding and Using
English Grammar (2009) presents individual chapters thatcover verb tenses, aspect, subject verb agreement,
modals, passive voice, and conditionals. The generalapproach of this text focuses on forum with visual charts.
In most cases, the chapters begin with a brief warm-up
activity and immediately introduce grammatical charts fullof explanations, rule exceptions, and graphs. In particular,“The Passive” chapter introduces a chart that contrasts
active and passive voice. The form is introduced as “be +and metalinguistic resources. In the chapter “Present
Perfect,” useful contextual descriptions are provided, yetvery little is presented that might provide metalinguistic
bootstrapping. For instance, useful descriptions arepresented contextually and semantically, but there is alack of truly grammatically explicit descriptions. I havepersonally found Folse (2009) to be a useful and actually
requested supplement in an ESL classroom due to its
clear syntactical model form (p. 79). Ultimately, this text
provides useful contextual descriptions and reading
resources for target structures. These resources can help
scaffold and increase learners’ ability to notice forms to

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

350

prepare for more advanced language tasks with a morecomponents that inevitably build on each other. A specificimplicit approach.

sequence might not be necessarily dependent on alearner population. However, understanding the learner

Oxford practice grammar (1999)

population certainly helps clarify an approach such as

Eastwood’s Oxford Practice Grammar (1999)
offers useful supplements to both Grammar and Beyond
3 and Understanding and Using English Grammar.
Specifically, “The Passive” chapter introduces forms
clearly with many of the implications of auxiliary use inpassive voice presented initially for example, tense
inflection, modal use, and negation (p. 130). This text alsooffers a greater variety of descriptions that cangrammatical transfer from L1 and ultimately L2 language
goals. As this study focuses on Japanese L1 ESL learners
at an intermediate language proficiency, it considers four
points: 1. issues of salience are marked by authentic
language use, 2. scaffolding is provided in anticipation ofultimate L2 language goals, 3. L1 transfer is utilized forbootstrapping, and 4. a circular curriculum is emphasizedfor skill building.

accommodate different learning styles. Furthermore, it
provides a clear and visually explicit description of subject

The following list provides one possible orderthat aims to provide such a sequence.

position/agent or nominative structure (active) and thecontrasting

subject

position/receiveroraccusative

structure (passive). The passive example (a.) presented
in the “Learner Population” section (Dareka ga korosa
reta/Someone was killed) shows a clear distinction
between Japanese passive voice expression and English
passive voice expression. Additionally, because there aresome similarities between these forms, they can beutilized to provide bootstrapping for learners. One
similarity is that even though passive voice is expressed
postverbally in Japanese, the tense inflection is also takenby the postverbal element similar to English auxiliary
inflection. Furthermore, Japanese relies on the use of1.

Comprehensive Assessment

2.

Tense and Aspect

3.

Modals and Interrogative Formation

4.

Conditionals

5.

Passive Voice

This order is chosen largely based on the salience of theforms in the verb phrase. Tense and aspect clearly prove
to be the most important forms that will be used frequently
when practicing others forms. Especially if attempting toprovide an authentic task-based methodology, anintermediate level of tense and aspect must be solidified
first. Modals and interrogative formation are presented
next because of the syntactical implications that can bepostparticles. In passive voice, “ に ” indicates that theusefully

previous noun is the agent, and similarly “by” indicatesinterrogative formation). Conditionals that use inversion

that the following noun is the agent of the predicate

can thus now be better processed and used by learners.

indicated in the example (b.) (dareka ga keisetsukan ni

Passive voice is recommended last because of its lack ofkorosa reta/Someone was killed by a policeman). These

overall salience in language use, its overall similar

comparisons can be used to further bootstrap the concept

semantic meaning and use, and its additional usefulnessof the auxiliary use in a passive voice lesson while also

to review tense, aspect, modal, and interrogative.

focusedontogether (fronting

modal

for

utilizing visual aids that stress the distinction between thegrammatical structures of active and passive voice (p.

Materials and further suggestions

132).

Of the materials presented and reviewed in thisstudy, aspects of each may be successfully used in an

Lessons and Curriculum
Sequence
A similar sequence is often found in ESL
textbooks in presenting English auxiliary use. For the
specific purpose of introducing auxiliary verb usage at an

ESL context classroom of various L1 backgrounds, butsome specific suggestions towards their use in aparticularly Japanese L1 context are provided.

Tense and aspect
Folse (2009) provides a very comprehensive

intermediate level in an ESL context, the following

chapter, “Twelve Verb Tenses,” that is very useful insequence considers salient forms, opportunities toexplicitly detailing the target tenses in isolated forms,

provide scaffolding grammatical forms, and necessary

which can be especially useful for focusing on specific

The 2019 PanSIG Journal351

problem points. Blass, et al. (2012) provide the mosthypothetical or counterfactual situation by inverting theuseful materials for presenting more complex forms suchinitial clause. Learners should be instructed to produce

as present perfect and past perfect tense and aspect. The

this form for additional practice with inversion and its manyreadings are practical for raising the learners’ awarenessuses in English. Additionally, Azar and Hagen (2009)of the forms and especially the particular contexts in which

provide a comprehensive unit on real and unreal

they are used for instance, whether an event has a clear

conditionals covering tense and aspect. This unit offers abeginning and end with an extra time marker or whether

clear and explicit form focused presentation with closed

the beginning or end of the event is undefined or close topractice exercises.

the moment of speaking. These semantic implications
may be difficult for Japanese learners to express throughsyntax because of L1 and L2 differences (shown in theexamples of perfect aspect a. and b. as one is expressedwith a postverbal conjugation, but the other is expressed
through a lexical adverbial). Furthermore, Azar andHagen (2009) and Eastwood (1999) both provide anumber of useful practice exercises that can help reiterate
the grammatical forms before attempting authentic use to
avoid fossilizing erroneous forms. Blass, et al. (2012) also
provide writing tasks based on each target form that prove

Passive voice
Blass, et al. (2012) provide a useful andauthentic introduction to passive voice with a reading
exercise; however, it ultimately lacks clear descriptions,visual aids, and comprehensive exercises for classroomuse. Alternatively, Eastwood (1999) offers much of what
Blass, et al. (2012) are insufficient in providing. “The
Passive” chapter begins with clear and explicit forms whileproviding a comprehensive list of the various tenses andaspects in English in both active and passive form. Thiscan aid Japanese L1 learners in recognizing not only the

to be useful authentic activities.

shift in nominative and accusative forms but also theimplications of the auxiliary in forming passive voice.

Modals and interrogative formation
Eastwood (1999) offers useful materials for

Furthermore, Eastwood (1999) includes useful visual

modal and interrogative specifically covering negation inelements such as pictures and grammatical diagrams that

wh-questions versus yes/no questions. Modals arefurther provide a way for the learners to notice andintroduced through a dialog that could well supplement

contextualize not only the syntactical differences but also

Blass, et al. (2012) by prompting learners to report their

the semantic use of passive voice in an English speaking

understanding of the relationship between the context ofcontext. Finally, Azar and Hagen (2009) further provide

the dialog and the semantic meaning of the modals.

supplementary resources such as common passive +Depending on the needs of the learners Azar and Hagen

preposition collocations. A general aim towards preparing(2009) provide useful exercises especially for detailing thelearners for an authentic task that self-assesses their work

uses of tense and aspect in modality expression as wellthroughout the lesson can supply the learners with aas offering a resource for semantic categories. For

greater understanding of not only the target forms but also

Japanese L1 learners, conveying meaning of modality

their own ability to use the target forms.

through auxiliary may be frustrating especially once verb

This study has thus aimed to show the saliencephrases become complex; therefore, introducing theof auxiliaries in English specifically within the frame of

Berry (2012) “Verbal Phrase Structure” chart can prove

approaching

Japanese

L1

helpful to identify the positions of the various items in aintermediate

curriculum

canverbal phrase to raise metalinguistic awareness of theaccomplish this, a range of syntactic and sematic focused

forms before attempting to practice and automate thecomparisons have been shown with learning implications

structures (p. 36).

for each token. Useful language texts have been analyzed

learners
be

and

how

an

approached.

Tofor their presentation of auxiliaries and specifically how

Conditionals
Becausethey present auxiliaries explicitly and implicitly. Lastly, a
conditionals

have

far

more

significance in English usage than a focus on auxiliary
verbs can cover, a brief introduction to interrogative
formation through conditional use is suggested (within the

curriculum outline has been provided, one that builds ongrammatical and semantic complexity and allows forcircular practice and skill building. By accomplishing thesegoals, a beneficial resource for practitioners to approach

auxiliary target lessons). Example “7a.” conveys a

The 2019 PanSIG Journal352

the issue of auxiliaries in English for Japanese L1 learners
should be accomplished.

Eastwood, J. (1999). Oxford practice grammar. (2 ed.).
New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Folse, K. (2009). Keys to teaching grammar to English

References
Azar, B., & Hagen, S. (2009). Understanding and using

language learners. Ann Arbor, MI: University ofMichigan Press.

English grammar. (4 ed.). White Plains, NY: Pearson
Education.

OED. (2019, March). New words list March 2019.
Retrieved

Berry, R. (2012). English grammar: A resource book for

15,

2019,

from

march-2019/#new_words.

students. New York, NY: Routledge.
Biber, D., Conrad, S., & Leech, G. (2002). A student

Novemberhttps://public.oed.com/updates/new-words-list-

Ono,

K.

(2000).

GrammaticalizationofJapanese

grammar of spoken and written English. London:

Verbals. Australian Journal of Linguistics,20(1), 39-79.

Longman.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07268600050003355

Blass, L., Iannuzzi, S., Savage, A., & Reppen, R. (2012).
Grammar and beyond. (Vol. 3). New York, NY:

Yule, G. (1999). Explaining English grammar. New York,
NY: Oxford University Press.

Cambridge University Press.

Author biography

Anton Vegel holds a BA and MA in TESL from Kent State University (KSU). He did his undergraduate teaching certificate
in Germany teaching community classes and observing a number of diverse educational institutions. He completed is
MA with an awarded assistantship in KSU’s intensive language learning program. He continues teaching university ESL
in Nagoya, Japan. Research interests and topics he has published on include language policy and nation-states,
discourse and nation-building, game design and learning principles, and ESL methodology. Email: avegel@kent.ed

The 2019 PanSIG Journal353

44 Write to Speak: Journals In Oral Communication Classes
Joseph C. Wood
Nagoya Women’s University
This paper examines the perceptions of 18 first-year university students at a private university in Japan
who wrote weekly journal entries in English for homework over the school year. Data collected for the
study consisted of surveys and interviews and found that students believed that writing in their journals
each week helped them to not only speak English better in class, but also helped them to better learn
vocabulary. The study concluded that journal writing can be beneficial in oral communication classes andcan help students to become more self-aware of their own learning process as they reflect weekly about
their speaking performance in class in their journals.

この論文では、日本の私立大学において、18 名の新入生に、一年を通して英語で書いたジャーナルを毎週の課題として提出させ、この課題によって学生たちが感じたこと、気づいたことを調査した。この研究は、提出されたジャーナルそのものの調査と学生へのインタビューによって成り立つものである。これによって次のことがわかった。学生たちは、毎週英語でジャーナルを書くことが授業での会話スキル
工場に役立つだけでなく、自身の会話のボキャブラリーを増やすことにも効果的であると信じているということである。この研究によって、英語でジャーナルを書くことはオーラル・コミュニケーションの授業に有益であり、さらに、学生たちにとって、授業中の英会話のパフォーマンスに毎週反映される、
英語学習のプロセスにおける自己認識を促すことに役立つものと言えると結論付けられる。

Journals (or diaries, etc.) can be of great use to bothcommunication potentially changes over time. Students

students and teachers alike in a language-learning

are better able to raise their awareness of the interactionalclassroom. Weekly journal entries can help students toresources they use during discursive practices in theengage in written dialogues with their teachers throughoutclassroom with their classmates. With the help of journal

the term or school year. This open channel ofwriting, students can also notice the changes in how they

communication with students can allow teachers to better

handle and manage communicative problems over theunderstand how their students are feeling about the classschool year as their interactional competence develops.

and to give feedback or further explanation about classAccording to Young (2011), interactional competence

content when needed. Cohen (1990) states that “journals“involves participants recognizing and responding tohave been transformed into vehicles for dialogue between

expectations of what to say and how to say it” (p. 427). By

teacher and student” (p. 112) while Brown (2007) adds

writing in journals about topics covered in class, students

that “Because journal writing is a dialogue between

are much more likely to be ready to respond appropriately

student and teacher, journals offer a unique opportunity

to questions their classmates may ask them and havefor a teacher to offer various kinds of feedback to learners”

suitable vocabulary ready to use as well. Hall and Pekarek(p. 476).

Doehler (2011) pose the question of how can a learner’sinteractional competence be assessed? They ask “What

Journals can also give students a much-needed chance
to reflect on how lessons went afterwards while they writein them at home, thinking back on their performance inare the relevent units of analysis (actions, practices,
methods, linguistic items, etc.) that allow documentingchange in IC across time, and warrant comparability

class. This can help second language (L2) learners to

between interactional conduct at two different moments?”

become more aware of how they communicate in the(p. 7). By writing in a journal and assessing their “actions,language during class and most importantly, how thatpractices, methods, linguistic items, etc.” for a full year,

The 2019 PanSIG Journal354

language learners are potentially able to assess thewith many aspects of language learning, possibly evendevelopment of their own interactional competence aswith learning to speak it.

they are able to compare how they performed earlier inthe school year to how they did towards the end based on

Methodwhat they wrote.
When implementing journal-writing tasks in an L2
classroom, there should be some basic understandings

Research Questions
The current study examines the following researchand rules for the process. For starters, unless the journals

questions:

are specifically being used in a writing class, teachers

1. How can writing in English journals impact students’should try to avoid correcting too many of students’ written

speaking skills in oral communication classes?

errors in them (or any at all for that matter). Teachers
should use the journals as a tool for allowing an open

2. How can we as teachers, approach journal writing in a

dialogue with their students, one that miraculously allows

way that helps our students to benefit the most from thethem to connect to every one of their students individuallyprocess?

regardless of the class size. What should be mostimportant is that students are able to give their opinions

Participants and setting

about class and their performance while still being able toThis study examines 18 first-year university

ask any questions about previous lessons or about

students who enrolled in a required English oral

anything they still do not understand in terms of classcommunication course. Students were French majors andcontent. Cohen (1990) explains his rule for how to

had a considerably lower level of English ability compared

manage dialog journals by stating that:to the English majors at the school. During the yearlong
course, students were trained to use communication

Teachers are to operate under one basic constraint

strategies (CSs) during timed-conversations in class andwith respect to dialog journals – namely, they are notin the university’s Speaking Lab where students video-

to correct the language. They are simply to respondrecorded their conversations in recording booths. The

to the queries – writing their responses directly into
the dialog journal, in the space provided by thelearner (p. 113. Italics original).

primary function of the journals in the beginning stage wasto help raise awareness of how and when students wereusing the CSs that they were learning in class. Tarone

Writing is a personal experience that often allows us to(1977) states that “Conscious communication strategies

reflect in a way that speaking to others does not. In a

are used by an individual to overcome the crisis which

sense, it is our chance to have a dialogue with ourselves,

occurs when language structures are inadequate to

not only in the present as we write, but also in the future

convey the individual’s thought” (p. 195). So, in a sensewhen we sit down and reread what we have written.

CSs are what students can use to prevent communicative

Writing can help us organize our thoughts and flush out

breakdowns (asking for clarification or asking forour ideas in ways that we can revisit when we need to.

something to be repeated). It is important, however, toWriting in a journal can make us more aware of how andadd that they can also be employed simply to maintain thewhen we learn. As Oxford et al (1996) state, “Language

flow of communication and show interest in what thelearners benefit by keeping a diary or journal because

speaker is saying (interjecting, agreeing/disagreeing,

they become more aware of and attentive to their own

shadowing, etc.). According to Nakatani and Goh (2007),learning processes” (p. 21). Furthermore, writing can help

“CSs

us prepare for future tasks, whether it is something as

phenomena

simple as a reminder list of things we need to do, or adisruptions, but also as devices with pragmatic discourse

quick email to a colleague discussing a work project.

functions for message enhancement” (p. 208).

Journals, however, have the added benefit of being able
to help us look back on past experiences while
simultaneously planning for future ones. In a language-areregarded
to

not

only

as

problem-solving

compensateforcommunication

From the second week of class on, students had to write
weekly in their journals (referred to as “Action Logs” inclass) for homework. In these journals, students werelearning classroom, journals can be used to help learners

The 2019 PanSIG Journal355

required to write about their use of CSs in class, about

had written in English journals before for another class, if

how well their conversations in English went with their

they wanted to continue writing in English journals afterclassmates in the previous class, how they want to

the present class finished, and if they thought writing in

improve their future conversations, etc. Furthermore, thejournals helped them to better speak English during class.

journals also gave students the opportunity to reflect on

Based on students’ answers from the surveys, more in-their own learning process outside of the classroom and a

depth questions were created to be used during the next

way to become more aware of how they were performing

phase of data collection, the interviews.

in class.

Interviews
Classes were held once a week for 90 minutes over two

Five students were selected as a sample to besemesters. Students were required to write in theirinterviewed by the instructor. The five students all agreed

journals for homework and to put them in their instructor’s

to be interviewed, signed consent forms, and were told

mailbox by Friday evening at 5pm. The instructor wouldthat their names would be changed in the event of thethen read and grade the journals over the weekend andresearch

pass them back at the beginning of the following week’s

generally between 10 – 15 minutes and involved students

class. Students who submitted late journals would lose

answering questions about whether they found thepoints for that week’s homework.

homework journal writing assignments useful or not. They

ever

being

published.

Interviews

lastedwere also asked questions about whether or not they

Data Collection

thought that writing in an English journal each week was

Data for the study came from survey resultsfrom the entire class and interviews that were conductedwith a sample of five students. The survey (Table 1) asked
general questions about students’ feelings and attitudes
towards writing in their journals each week for homework.
The interviews, however, asked more in-depth questions

helping them to improve their speaking skills in English.
The interviews were conducted in English, however,which is one limitation to the study considering thatstudents could have more clearly articulated their answers
and views had the interviews been conducted in theirnative Japanese.

concerning how useful the journals were towards helping
students to learn and speak English and about how

According to the majority of the students who weredifficult they found the writing process in a foreigninterviewed, the journals were a particularly useful tool for

language.

learning English vocabulary. This was one of the mostnoticeable themes to emerge in the interview data. Some

Surveysstudents also reported that they found the task of writing

Survey data were collected from all students
during the final class of the school year. The survey
featured four questions and asked students whether or
not writing in journals helped them to learn English, if they

in a journal each week difficult. However, while thesestudents believed it was difficult, they also found it usefuland understood the value of the task. During theinterviews, one student even confessed to writing in a

Table 1 Survey results
1. Do you think writing in an English journal each week helped you learn English better?
YES – 11

NO – 0

Maybe – 7

2. Have you ever used English journals in another class before?
YES – 1

NO – 12

Maybe – 5

3. Do you want to keep writing in an English journal after this class finishes?
YES – 3

NO – 2

Maybe - 13

4. Do you think writing in a journal helped you speak English better in class?
YES – 12

NO – 1

Maybe – 5

The 2019 PanSIG Journal356

second English journal at home, a private one that she“I think it was difficult, but also helpful…umm…forcould write whatever she wanted to in English in it.

vocabulary.” – Ayako

Data Analysis

Natsuko and Motomi said that they could learn new words

Here we will examine and analyze the data fromthat they could then use in the following class.

the surveys and interviews and look closer at how thestudents felt about writing in English journals and its effecton their learning of the language.
The survey results showed that students had an overall
positive attitude towards the journal writing and thoughtthat it helped them improve their English skills. The
majority of students also believed that the journals helped
them to speak English better in the classroom. Only a“I can learn new words and practice writing. I can know
new words, so I can use them in talk.” – Natsuko“When I write, did the homework, I used the dictionary, so
I know new words and next week we talked about the topic,
so it was really useful.” - Motomi
Yuto said that the journals helped him to obtain new
knowledge and helped him to speak English.

small percentage of students, however, reported that theywanted to continue writing in an English journal at home

“For me, thanks to the action logs [journals], I could getafter the course finished.

many knowledge and vocabulary, so it helps me to speak
English.” - Yuto

As for the interviews, they helped to confirm what students
had reported in the survey data while adding more detail

Tomomi reported that she searched for certain English

to the subject of how journals impacted their speaking

words and then would use those words in the next class.

ability in English. It is important to note here that students’comments from their interviews have not been corrected“When I write in the journal, I have to search English

or reworded by the researcher. Although there are somewords and next class I use English words…the ones I

grammatical errors in students’ statements, it is thewrote in the journal.” – Tomomi

researcher’s belief that in the interview data presented
here, the meaning of what students want to convey is stillclear enough to be understood by the reader. Furthermore,pseudonyms have been given to all of the students who

Natsuko said that it took her a long time to write in her
weekly homework journal while Motomi wrote in apersonal journal of her own, but believed it would be good
if a teacher could check it.

were interviewed and have been used in the interview
data featured in this study.

“The bad point is it takes me a long time to write, about
one hour or more. Good points…you can get new words.”

Yuto and Tomomi believe that the journals were useful for– Natsuko

learning vocabulary as well as for reviewing what they hadlearned in class.
“I think it’s a good thing [writing in journals] because it’s

“I write in a [personal] English journal at home, but if ateacher checked it, I’d be glad.” – Motomi

useful to get many vocabulary because if there’re some

Yuto felt that writing in the journals also helped him withwords I don’t know, I use the dictionary to research. I could

his English outside the classroom.

get many vocabulary and also I can review in class, so it’sa good thing.” – Yuto

“It helped me to learn English because for example, I don’t
have much opportunities to write English, so if I write in“I think it is helpful because we can review every week’sEnglish in the journal, sometimes I can use those phrases

class, what we learned and my English vocabulary wason Facebook or send emails…so I think this English skill

growing up. I think so.” - Tomomithat I have learned helps me not only in class, but also in
daily life.” – Yuto

Ayako believed that writing in the journals was difficult, butlike others, believed it was helpful for learning vocabulary.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

357

Discussion

the survey results and interviews, that students do believe

From the survey and interview data that werethat journal writing helped them and clearly did more goodcollected and analyzed, it appears that students believed

than harm in improving their English skills. Importantly,that writing in weekly journals in English helped them tojournal writing can also help students to become aware ofactually speak the language better in their oral

how their interactional competence is developing as they

communication class. The journals helped them toare are able to read earlier entries assessing their in-classprepare for their future lessons and topics while also

performances and compare them with how they managed

giving them the chance to reflect on their performance intheir communication in later entries. Raising students’

the previous classes.

awareness of their own interactional competence and how
they interact in the language is vital if we are to make them

In regards to the first research question, there seem to be

successful communicators in the language. As van

many potential ways that journal writing positively affects

Compernolle (2015) states, “Interactional competencies

students’ speaking skills in English. To begin with, it

underlie successful interaction, which is a necessary

appears that the journal writing assignments helped tocondition for many aspects of L2 development” (p. 179).

improve students’ English by giving them a chance towrite down vocabulary words they wanted to use during

For the second research question concerning how totheir upcoming conversations with their partners in future

approach the process in a way that helps students toclasses. Students were also able to write down questions

benefit the most, it is important to stress to our students

they wanted to ask their partners in their journals as wellthat the journals can also be used as a direct channel ofas write down good questions that their partners asked

communication to us. We should encourange ourthem in class. These actions can help contribute tostudents to ask us questions in the margins about material

students’ interactional competence by allowing them to becovered in class that they are not quite sure about. Journal

able to anticipate the types of questions classmates would

writing for students in this study provided them with suchask them and allow them to be prepared with contextuallyan outlet and students did indeed ask their instructor

appropriate vocabulary and responses in English. Writing

specific questions about class content as well as about

in the journals can also help students to assess their own

general language questions they had throughout the year.

speaking and raise their awareness of how they speakThis opportunity for one on one communication can bewith their partners in class and how they take turns during

particularly important for shyer students who can quietly

interactions. Students were able to write about the CSs

ask questions directly to the instructor in their journals as

they used with their classmates and which ones they

opposed to asking them in front of their classmates orused when they got into communicative trouble andworse, not asking their questions at all. Although manyneeded to stop their communication from breaking down.

students reported that it took them a lot of time to write

With journal writing, students are cabable of better

each week in their journals, they were able to recognize

understanding the interactional resources, such as CSs,

the benefit and understand the use in doing it.

that they use during paired-conversations by writing andreflecting on them each week. Over the school year
students were able to reflect on their video-recorded
conversations in their journals as well as their speaking
test performances and notice changes in the way they
communicated. By reflecting weekly outside of class, itgave students the opportunity to evaluate how they wereusing the language and helped them to notice deficiencies
or areas of development that needed to be worked on interms of their language learning. Students often wrote
personal goals in their journals, particulary when it cameto CSs that they wanted to use in class. While it cannot bemeasured exactly how much their increase in ability canbe attributed to the journals, it can be said that based onConclusion
From the perspective of the teacher, having
students write in journals is a unique opportunity toconnect weekly with them individually. It provides us achance to know what our students are thinking about thelessons and how they feel they are performing. It allows
us to better assess our own teaching by understanding
students’ feelings about the classes. Furthermore, it
allows us a better glimpse into how our students arelearning the class material. As Oxford et al (1996) believe,“Diaries also help the teacher to understand what thestudents are doing as they try to learn” (p. 34).

The 2019 PanSIG Journal358

In terms of research, the use of journals provides a uniqueproblems they are having with class content, etc. At times

and useful way for instructors to collect qualitative data

students can get off topic and begin to write about thingsfrom their students. As Macaro (2001) states, “Forunrelated to class or what the instructor wants them tocollecting data over a considerable period of time, diaries

write about. This can lead to large amounts of writing thatare a useful tool” (p. 45). Of course, this may depend on

cannot be used for research purposes, but that thewhether or not students understand the research goals

researcher must still sift through as they attempt to lookand provide the instructors with consent to use theirfor relevant qualitative data that the students havejournal entries for research purposes. For this study, theprovided. Cohen and Scott (1996) write that “Two serious

research was explained to students on the first day of

drawbacks of diaries and dialogue journals are the volumeclass when they were told about the journal writingof data produced and the potentially random nature of thehomework. Students were asked if it would be okay toentries” (p. 100). They, however, go on to add that, “Inpotentially use things they had written in their journals forspite of these limitations, diaries and dialogue journals

research that was being conducted. A consent form wascan be useful research tools” (ibid, p. 100). Based on theglued to the inside of students’ journals, asking

data collected in this study, it is also the opinion here that

permission to use the journals for research purposes.

despite potential drawbacks and logistical issues, the use

Students were told that there would be no penalty orof journals in oral communication classes benefited thejudgment whatsoever from the instructor if they decided

students by helping them to improve their speaking skills

not to sign it and could leave the signature line blank if

in English as they both self-reflected on their performance

they wanted to. It was explained that the research being

in class and as they planned ahead for future classes.

conducted and the data in their journals could potentially

Importantly,

improve not only their classes, but also those for years toqualitatively allowing us to better understand how learning

come. The consent forms were signed by every student

takes place in our classrooms on a weekly basis and toand at the end of the school year many students evengive us a chance to connect with our students each week

volunteered to donate their journals to the researcher.

individually.

journalsalso

benefit

instructors

byAlthough there are many positive aspects of using
journals in class for learner development as well as toReferencescollect research in our classrooms, there are also someBrown, H. D. (2007). Principles of language learning anddrawbacks that must be taken into consideration as well.

teaching. White Plains, New York: Pearson Education.

If a student loses their journal the instructor/researcher
could potentially lose access to important or useful data.
During the course of this particular study, one student losttheir journal in the first semester. From then on a research
assistant photocopied students’ weekly journal entries on
the department’s copy machine to ensure that no further
data were lost. If journals are being used for datacollection purposes in a class, photocopying entries
weekly can be a useful insurance policy and something
very much worth doing.
Further issues could be that some students may not takethe writing tasks very seriously and only write the bareminimum required each week, not going very deep in theirreflections of their performance in class. Also, since
students know that their instructor will be reading their

Cohen, A. (1990). Language leaning. Boston, MA: Heinleand Heinle Publishers.
Cohen, A., & Scott, K. (1996). A synthesis of approaches
toassessing

RebeccaL.

strategies

language
Oxfordaroundlearning(Ed.),
thestrategies.

Languageworld:

In

learning

Cross-cultural

perspectives. (pp. 89-106). Honolulu: University of
Hawai’i, Second Language Teaching & Curriculum
Center.
Hall, J. K., & Pekarek Doehler, S. (2011). L2 Interactional
competence and development. In J. K. Hall, J.
Hellermann&

S. Pekarek Doehler (Eds.), L2

Interactional Competence and Development (pp. 115).

Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

journals, they may only write things that they believe theinstructor will want to read and gloss over any

Marcaro, E. (2001). Learning strategies in foreign andshortcomings on their part or neglect to mention any

second language classrooms. London: Continuum.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal359

Nakatani, Y. & Goh, C. (2007). A review of oral

Tarone, E. (1977). Conscious communication strategies

communication strategies: focus on interactionist andin interlanguage: A progress report. In H.D. Brown,

psycholinguistic perspectives. In A.D. Cohen & E.

C.A. Yorio, & R.C. Crymes (Eds.), On TESOL ’77 (p.

Macaro (Eds.), Language learner strategies: Thirty

194-203). Washington, DC: TESOL.

years of research and practice (pp. 207-227). Oxford,
van Compernolle, R.A. (2015). Interaction and second

UK: Oxford University Press.

language development: A Vygotskian perspective.
Oxford, R.L., Lavine, R.Z., Felkins, G., Holloway, M.E., &Salah, A. (1996). Telling their stories: Language

Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing
Company.

students use diaries and recollection. In Rebecca L.
Oxford (Ed.), Language learning strategies around theworld: Cross-cultural perspectives.

(pp. 19-34).

Honolulu: University of Hawai’i, Second Language
Teaching & Curriculum Center.

Young, R.F. (2011). Interactional competence in language
learning, teaching, and testing. In Hinkel, E. (Ed)
Handbook of research in second language teaching
and learning. New York, NY: Routledge.

Author biography
Joseph C. Wood is currently an associate professor at Nagoya Women’s University. His research interests include
interactional competence, communication strategies, extensive reading, and more. He is also currently president of the
Nagoya JALT Chapter. He can be reached at dearjoewood@gmail.com.

The 2019 PanSIG Journal360

45 One Night Werewolf: An Approach to Game-Based Vocabulary
Acquisition
Kevin Reay Wrobetz
Kobe Gakuin University
Game-based learning can be a powerful tool in the second language classroom. The entertaining natureof games can motivate students to engage more deeply with the material presented in class. The wide
variety of games and the even wider variety of approaches to utilizing games in the second language
classroom provide a near endless supply of resources and deserve careful pedagogical investigation. This
research investigates how smartphone games may be utilized in EFL classrooms to increase vocabularyretention rates by incorporating course specific vocabulary into the mechanics of gameplay. This particularstudy analyzes post-game vocabulary test results of a test group (n=13) receiving game-based instruction
with the smartphone version of One Night Werewolf by Akihisa Okui. In order to ascertain the effectivenessof the intervention, these test results using One Night Werewolf as an intervention are compared to pregame test scores (without game-based instruction) from the same sample group.

ゲームに基づいた教育法は第二言語教室での強力なツールとなりえます。ゲームの面白い性質は、生徒が授業で使用される教材に、より深くのめり込み、夢中にさせる事ができます。第二言語習得時に、多種多様なゲームと、無数のアプローチよって、ほぼ無限の教育的リソースが提供され、更には、入念な教育的調査に値します。本研究では、コース固有の語彙をゲームプレイの仕組みに取り入れる事で、語彙保持率を高めるために英語の授業でスマートフォンゲームをどのように利用できるかを調査します。
本研究では、奥井晶久氏作のスマートフォン版「ワンナイト人狼」を利用し、ゲーム教育法に基づく指導を受けたテストグループ（n = 13）のゲーム後の語彙テスト結果を分析します。上述のテスト結果は、同じテストグループのゲーム教育法に基づく指導を利用していない語彙テスト結果と比較されます。

The pedagogical potential of utilizing games in

the most effective instruction in as many skills as possible

the second language acquisition (SLA) classroom lies inconcerning the acquisition of a foreign language; games

the entertaining nature of gameplay. When integrated

that can be harnessed to build upon skills in the target

successfully into an educational environment, games canlanguage such as speaking, listening, reading, writing,create highly motivating atmospheres to supplement (orandeven serve as the foundation of) curricula in a wide arraypedagogically viable tools in the SLA classroom as moreof educational fields. Motivation is a well-researched

traditional educational materials such as language

component to increasing proficiency in a second language

textbooks. This study investigates how the game One(Dörnyei, 1994), and with the right selection of games,

Night Werewolf by Akihisa Okui (in Japanese ワンナイト

students can be highly motivated to interact with course人狼), a smartphone edition of the communication gamematerial in the target language that they would otherwise
have absolutely no interest in whatsoever. However,when selecting an appropriate game for use in the SLA
classroom, entertainment value should not be the only
factor under consideration, and certain game mechanics

vocabulary

shouldbeconsidered

just

as

“Mafia” or “Werewolf,” was used to successfully increasetarget language vocabulary retention in three university
English as a foreign language (EFL) courses at a private
Japanese university.

should unquestionably be prioritized in order to provide

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

361

Akihisa Okui’s One Night Werewolf is a smartphoneof the uninformed majority, then the informed minority

adaptation of the communication game known as bothgroup wins the game. A typical gaming session of either“Mafia” and “Werewolf.” The game’s origins can be traced

Mafia or Werewolf can take many hours to complete,back to the game “Mafia” created by Russian psychologist

depending on how many players are participating andDmitry Davidoff in 1986 to simulate conflict between an

how long the discussions take. The potential for thisinformed minority, represented by the Mafia, and ancommunication game to be an effective educational tool

uninformed majority, represented by innocent civilians

in(Xiong, Li, Mao, & Iida, 2017). Andrew Plotkin applied a

communicative skills) is not to be understated. Indeed,

werewolf theme to the game whereby a number of newgames such as these have been shown in research toroles and incantations of the game evolved over time

have positive effects on(Eger & Martens, 2018). Whether playing a version of thecommunicate using the L2 (Reinders & Wattana, 2012).

game Mafia or Werewolf, the core game mechanics haveWith that being said, however, the game can be timeremained largely unchanged since its inception in 1986.

consuming to utilize in a course which may have other

The following explanation of gameplay will be greatly

topics to cover in its curriculum other than playing Mafia

simplified.

or Werewolf. These potential drawbacks to classroom

the

SLA

classroom(particularly

students’forbuilding

willingness tointegration can be overcome with a particular version of
The game is typically played orally in groups of varying

the game known as One Night Werewolf.

size with each person having been secretly assigned at
the start of the game to either the informed minority (mafia

The smartphone edition of the game One Night Werewolf

members/werewolves) or to the uninformed majority

by Akihisa Okui operates on the same gameplay(civilians/villagers). The informed minority all know who

mechanics described above, albeit with some minor

each other are, and the uninformed majority do not know

alterations. These alterations, however, make One Nightthe role of any of the other players except for themselves.

Werewolf the superior game for classroom integration.

Gameplay is divided into two phases, a night phase and aAgain, the following explanation of gameplay for One

day phase. During the night phase, a game moderator

Night Werewolf will be greatly simplified. The most

instructs all the players to close their eyes. After it has

noticeable of these alterations to gameplay is the

been

are

elimination of both the moderator and day/night phases.

cooperating with the instructions, the moderator then asks

sufficiently

confirmed

that

all

players

The game is conducted on one smartphone which is

the informed minority to open their eyes and silently

passed around the group. Since all of the information

confirm amongst themselves a member of the uninformed

needed by each player is presented on the one

majority to kill. After the innocent civilian/villager from thesmartphone screen, which only one player is holding,uninformed majority has been selected for murder, thethere is no need for a game moderator to conduct secretmoderator instructs everyone to open their eyes again in

information exchanges whereby only certain players may

unison and informs the players of who was selected forhave their eyes open. Furthermore, gameplay ismurder. This act commences the start of the day phase.

condensed into one night phase (hence the name One

The player who was murdered by the informed minority is

Night Werewolf) and one three-minute discussion roundthen removed from gameplay altogether and can nowhich makes this version of the game much more

longer participate in the game except as an observer.

conducive to classroom integration in which time is a

During the day phase, all of the players who still remain in

highly valued commodity. At the end of the three-minutegameplay must discuss amongst themselves about who

discussion round, a vote is tallied on the smartphone, andthey think is a member of the informed minority and select,

a player is chosen to be burned at the stake. If the player

by simple majority vote, one player to banish and remove

chosen for execution is on the werewolf team (thefrom gameplay in a similar fashion to the murdered player

informed minority), each player on the villager team (thefrom the night phase. If the uninformed majority canuninformed majority) for that round wins a certain amountbanish all of the players forming the informed minority,of points. Likewise, if the player chosen for execution isthen the uninformed majority group wins the game.

on the villager team, each player on the werewolf team for

Likewise, if the informed minority can kill off the membersthat round wins a certain amount of points. Gameplay may

The 2019 PanSIG Journal362

be continued whereby the points earned by each player invocabulary terms as player monikers in One Nightthe previous rounds are carried over to an entirely new

Werewolf coupled with the regularity of playing the game

game with new roles assigned to each player. This is alsoeach week in class was successful in increasing testa beneficial change in gameplay conducive to activescores in post-game vocabulary tests relative to pre-gameclassroom integration as it eliminates the situation in

vocabulary

which one player is removed from the game and can only

hypothesized to be involved in the increased vocabulary

passively observe the remaining gameplay. Finally, theretention are discussed in the following section.

tests.

The

mechanisms

which

are

smartphone application of the game also allows forcustomizable player names. It is this very feature ofcustomizable names during gameplay which was used to
improve target-language vocabulary retention.

Hypothesized Post-Game Vocabulary
Retention Mechanisms
The students who participated in this study all

The feature on Akihisa Okui’s One Night Werewolf that

saw increases in post-game vocabulary test scores

allows for customizable player names was utilized in thisrelative to pre-game vocabulary tests. Although there

study to incorporate course specific vocabulary from three

could be a number of factors at play when considering

university EFL courses. At the start of each gaming

how this game was effective at increasing target language

session in each course, a list of the target-language

vocabulary retention (such as individual motivation levelvocabulary equivalent to the number of players wasto succeed during gameplay or frequency of self-study

written down on a separate sheet of paper in Japaneseoutside of class), this study proposes three mechanisms(the L1 of 11 of the 13 students participating in this study).

related to these vocabulary retention gains. First,

Each student chooses one Japanese vocabulary term asincreased motivation induced by the entertaining nature ofa moniker to be used during gameplay and writes their

the game One Night Werewolf increased the level ofname next to the Japanese vocabulary. This sheet served

cognitive processing of each vocabulary term utilized

as a reference guide during gameplay as to which student

during gameplay. In order to interact with and succeed inis represented by which word. After each student has

the game (for which the students are highly motivated due

chosen a vocabulary moniker, the English equivalent ofto the entertaining nature of the game), the students must,each vocabulary term is entered into the game.

as a result of the methodology of the study, frequently

Throughout the game, there are a number of scenarios

interact with the target vocabulary, which in turn increased

during which the players must confirm which word

the level of cognitive processing for each target

represents which student. For example, the informed

vocabulary. Furthermore, a large body of research has

minority (the werewolves) have the ability to confirm who

shown that increased motivation is beneficial to reducing

the other werewolves in the game are. This information isanxiety and increasing the effectiveness of SLA

presented to the students as a to-be-learned vocabulary

instruction (Gardner, Day, & MacIntyre, 1992). Second,term in English. The student on the werewolf team must

the same vocabulary being covered throughout multiple

then match the English vocabulary to the Japanesegaming sessions produced a spacing effect. Spacing

vocabulary/student name written on the reference sheet.

vocabulary presentation over multiple sessions relative to

Another scenario in which students must match themassed presentation in one session has robustly been

English vocabulary to the Japanese vocabulary/student

associated with increased vocabulary retention for many

name reference sheet is during the execution vote. At the

decades (Melton, 1970; Janiszewski et al., 2003). By

end of the three-minute discussion round, each student

utilizing the so called spacing effect in the design ofmust vote for which player they want to be executed

curriculum (in this present study with multiple gaming

whereby the English vocabulary representing each player

sessions covering the same vocabulary terms), an

must be matched to the reference sheet. The players

instructor can induce the spacing effect to increase

therefore have the incentive to actively recall what each

vocabulary retention (Sobel, Cepeda, & Kapler, 2011).

of the words being used during gameplay mean, because,

For this particular study, lists of 20 vocabulary terms were

without said information, the students will be put at astudied in two separate classes with a week separating

strategic

each study session. Third, by creating new associations

disadvantage.

This

methodofutilizing(other than simple English/Japanese meaning) between

The 2019 PanSIG Journal363

the vocabulary terms and the players they represent
during gameplay allowed for novel semantic processing ofTesting and Quantitative Data Analysis
Procedures

the meaning of each vocabulary term. The spacing effect

The students were tested bi-weekly on a list of

is not the only mechanism that can be effectively utilized

20 vocabulary terms throughout the semester. The

to increase vocabulary retention. Research has also

vocabulary content of each bi-weekly test was different for

shown that how students cognitively process theeach class and different for the pre and post-game testing.

vocabulary is linked to how well the vocabulary is retained

Each vocabulary list was course specific, but the test

(Challis, 1993). By associating vocabulary terms withformat was identical. The tests themselves consisted ofplayers in the game, new semantic contexts for eachfive vocabulary reproduction questions, five vocabulary

vocabulary term are created which allows for varied

matching questions, and ten multiple choice questions.

cognitive processing and increased retention. This study

There were a total of four pre-game vocabulary tests fromproposes that these three mechanisms are responsible

each of the three classes for which no game-based

for achieving the statistically significant increases in post-

instruction was used. The results of these four pre-gamegame vocabulary test scores observed throughout all

vocabulary tests are compared to the results of four post-

three participating courses.

game vocabulary tests using paired two-tailed t-tests to
identify the statistical significance in test score differences
between pre-game test averages and post-game test

Methodology
Course Details
As mentioned previously, there were three EFL
courses that participated in this study at a private
Japanese university. The three EFL courses were aaverages. Any result from the paired two-tailed t-tests witha p-value of <0.05 was considered to be a statisticallysignificant difference between pre-game and post-gametest averages. The following section will present anddiscuss the results of the data collected in this study.

Communicative English course (n=6), a TOEIC Workshop(n=3), and an English Writing Workshop (n=4). The

Results and Discussion

Communicative English course met three times a week for
90-minute classes, and the remaining two courses met
once a week for 90 minutes each. A total of thirteen

Cumulative Course Averages
When the data collected for this study are

students participated from all three courses. Eleven of theanalyzed,thedifference

betweenthepre-game

thirteen students were native Japanese students, and thevocabulary test averages and post-game averages isremaining two students were exchange students, one

statistically significant (Figure 1). The average vocabulary

from South Korea, the other from China. Both of thetest scores from all three courses, Communicative English

exchange students were enrolled in the TOEIC Workshop(CE), TOEIC Workshop (TW), and Writing Workshop

course. Apart from the two exchange students, all(WW), prior to the game-based intervention was a 68.45

students participating in this study had TOEIC scores(out of a maximum of 100 points); the post-game test

between 250-500, and their English proficiency level

score average from all courses was an 80.62. When

could be described using the guidelines provided by the

analyzed with a paired two-tailed t-test, the p-value isAmerican Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages<0.001 thus indicating a significant increase in vocabulary(ACTFL) as novice mid to novice high (Breiner-Sanders,retention from pre-game to post-game testing. When

Lowe Jr, Miles, & Swender, 2000). The two exchange

looking at the difference in pre and post-game vocabulary

students both had achieved the N1 proficiency on thetest score averages from each individual course, both CE

Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), had

and WW show statistically significant increases inachieved TOEIC scores over 800, and their English

vocabulary retention. The pre-game average from CE wasproficiency could be described using the ACTFL

65.4, the post-game average 77.083, and the p-value

guidelines as being between advanced mid to advanced

0.014. The pre-game average from WW was 61.25, thehigh. All data in this study were collected during the 2018

post-game average 79.5, and the p-value 0.011. However,fall semester at a private Japanese university.

when looking at the test data from TW, the pre-gameaverage was 84.167, the post-game average 89.167, andThe 2019 PanSIG Journal364

the p-value 0.529. Although there was a slight increase in

One Night Werewolf to increase vocabulary retention in

test scores from pre to post-game intervention in the TW

an SLA environment has been shown to be effective. The

course, the difference cannot be ruled out as being

following section will delve further into the possible

caused by a statistical anomaly, and therefore the null

reasons why the data from TW does not reflect the same

hypothesis for the TW course cannot be rejected. With

results as was seen in both CE and WW.

that being said, when all of the data is analyzed together
from all three classes, the game-based intervention using

Fig. 1 Pre and Post-game Vocabulary Test Score Averages

Fig. 2 TOEIC Workshop Individual Pre and Post-Game Test Score Averages

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

365

TOEIC Workshop Course

the TW course who participated in this study were foreign

To analyze why TW did not benefit as muchexchange students. Students 7 and 8 shown in Figure 2

from the game-based intervention as the other courses inare the foreign exchange students (student 7 from Souththe study, it is necessary to look at the pre and post-game

Korea and student 8 from China). Student 9 in Figure 2 isvocabulary test score averages from each of the threea native Japanese student. As can be seen in the data,

students enrolled in the course who participated in thisthe test scores from student 7 increased only slightly fromstudy (Figure 2). As was referenced in the Course Details

pre-game to post-game intervention (93.5 to 100), and thesubsection of this article, two of the three students fromtest scores from student 8 actually decreased from pre-Fig. 3 Communicative English Individual Pre and Post-Game Test Score Averages

Fig. 4 Writing Workshop Individual Pre and Post-Game Test Score Averages

The 2019 PanSIG Journal366

game to post-game intervention (100 to 93.5). Student 9,

based intervention was not as effective for student 3 as iton the other hand, shows a sizable increase in test scores

was for almost every other student who participated in thisfrom pre-game to post-game intervention (60 to 75). As

study. Relative to the other students enrolled in CE,

was already alluded to, the reason behind thesestudent 3 had a similar TOEIC score at the start of thisdifferences in scores could lie in the overall level ofstudy (250-500), similar performance during class, andEnglish proficiency at the start of the study. Bothsimilar pre-game vocabulary test scores. The situation of

exchange

students

student 3 is further complicated when looking at the data

(proficient in Korean/Chinese respectively, Japanese, andstudents

presented from WW in Figure 4. All students enrolled in

English) with starting TOEIC scores of over 800. In

the WW course also saw statistically significant increases

contrast to the two exchange students, student 9 had afrom pre to post-game intervention. The only conclusion

starting TOEIC score of between 250-500. Furthermore,that can be drawn with the limited sample size and study

when looking at the average test scores from exchange

period presented in this study is that there remains thestudents 7 and 8, their pre-game averages werepossibility that the strategy of using Akihisa Okui’s

exceedingly high (or perfect in the case of student 8). In

smartphone adaptation of One Night Werewolf to increase

contrast to this, the pre-game average for student 9 was

vocabulary retention in SLA classrooms may not be

a 60. It therefore seems to be much more the case that

universally effective for every single student, even whenthe vocabulary presented in this class was much too easycare is taken to select appropriate vocabulary relative tofor students 7 and 8 to benefit from the game-based

the proficiency level of the students who are receiving theintervention

game-based intervention.

than

were

the

both

case

trilingualthat thegame-based

intervention is not effective for all students with a broad
range of English abilities. It may also therefore be

Limitations and Future Considerations

concluded that the effectiveness of the game-based

The game-based intervention presented in thisintervention presented in this study is dependent on the

study utilizing Akihisa Okui’s smartphone adaptation oflevel of difficulty of the words being used during gameplay

One Night Werewolf to increase vocabulary retention in

relative to the proficiency level of the students receiving

SLA classrooms has been shown to effectively increase

the intervention. With this being said, however, there are

vocabulary test scores in the majority of the students whodata from the CE course which might suggest that thereceive the intervention. With that being said, there aregame-play intervention presented in this study is not

two major limitations in the execution of this study which

universally effective for all students.

need to be addressed before making any generalizations
about howCommunicative English Course

effective

thegame-based

intervention

presented in this study is at increasing vocabulary

Out of the thirteen students who participated inretention in SLA environments. The first of thesethis study, two students saw a drop in average test scores

limitations is in sample size. With a limited sample size offrom pre to post-game intervention. The first example,

13 students, it is not only difficult to make broad

mentioned in the previous section, was student 8, an

generalizations about the effectiveness of using game-exchange student from China, who saw a drop in pre-based interventions for vocabulary retention in SLA

game to post-game test score averages from 100 to 93.5.

environments, but it is also difficult to generalize theThis drop in test average test scores, however, is more

effectiveness of the One Night Werewolf intervention

than likely due to the relatively easy nature of thepresented in this study. With a larger sample size in a

vocabulary presented in the TW course and not the

future study, the universal effectiveness of this particularineffectiveness of the game-based intervention togame-based intervention could be explored in further

increase vocabulary retention. However, as can be seen

detail. The second of these limitations is in the difficultyin Figure 3, there was one other student in this study wholevel of vocabulary relative to the level of proficiency in thesaw a drop in average test scores from pre to post-gamestudents participating in the game-based intervention. In

intervention. The pre-game average test score of 59.12

this present study, vocabulary was chosen which wasfrom student 3 dropped to an average of 57.5 in the post-

specific to the courses that each student was respectively

game intervention. Unlike student 8 from the TW course,

enrolled in without specific regard to the target language

there is not an easy explanation as to why the game-The 2019 PanSIG Journal367

proficiency level of the participating students. In futurestudies, varying the level of difficulty of the vocabularyGardner, R. C., Day, J. B., & Maclntyre, P. D. (1992).

used and analyzing the differences in pre to post-gameIntegrative motivation, induced anxiety, and language

results will help identify the most effective difficulty level

learning in a controlled environment. Studies inof vocabulary to be used in this particular intervention.

Second Language Acquisition, 14(2), 197-214.

With these limitations set aside, the game-based
intervention utilizing One Night Werewolf was a highly

Janiszewski, C., Noel, H., & Sawyer, A. G. (2003). A meta-

motivating and overall statistically effective method ofanalysis of the spacing effect in verbal learning:

increasing vocabulary retention in three separate EFL

Implications for research on advertising repetition andcourses at a private Japanese university which deserves

consumerfurther pedagogical investigation.

research, 30(1), 138-149.

memory. Journalofconsumer

Melton, A. W. (1970). The situation with respect to theReferences

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Challis, B. H. (1993). Spacing effects on cued-memory188). Palgrave Macmillan, London.

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Sobel, H. S., Cepeda, N. J., & Kapler, I. V. (2011).
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Xiong, S., Li, W., Mao, X., & Iida, H. (2017, December).
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Eger, M., & Martens, C. (2018, September). Keeping theStory Straight: A
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In Fourteenth Artificial Intelligence and Interactive
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Author biography
Kevin Reay Wrobetz is an instructor of English in the Department of Business Administration at Kobe Gakuin University.
His current area of research is vocabulary acquisition through game-based instruction. He is currently working on his PhD
in Applied Linguistics at Kyoto University. Email: kwrobetz@ba.kobegakuin.ac.jp

The 2019 PanSIG Journal

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JALT Special Interest Groups & the PanSIG Conference
Extensive Reading SIG (ER)The ER SIG exists to help promote extensive reading (ER) in Japan. Through our website, our newsletter, the ERJ
Journal, and presentations throughout Japan we aim to help teachers set up and make the most of their ER
programmes.
Framework and Language Portfolio SIG (FLP)
FLP SIG wants to discuss the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) and European Language
Portfolio (ELP), and other similar frameworks and their relevance for Japan. There is an emphasis on developing
materials to support educators who would like to use these pedagogic tools. This is currently practically pursued ina Kaken Project. Also, the bilingual Language Portfolio aimed at Japanese universities is available on the SIG
moodle.
Gender Awareness in Language Education SIG (GALE)
The purpose of the GALE SIG is to research gender and its implications for language learning, teaching, andtraining. We welcome submissions for our newsletter (spring, summer, and fall issues) on topics, both theoreticaland practical, related to the SIG’s aims. Book reviews, lesson plans, think pieces, poetry -- basically anything
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GILE aims to promote global awareness, international understanding, and action to solve world problems throughcontent-based language teaching, drawing from fields such as global education, peace education, environmental
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Learner Development SIG (LD)The LD SIG is a lively energetic group sharing an interest in ways to promote learner (and teacher!) development
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Lifelong Language Learning SIG (LLL)
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Literature in Language Teaching SIG (LiLT)
LiLT started up to encourage and promote the use of literature in the language classroom. Literature provides realcontent to engage and to motivate our EFL students.
Materials Writers SIG (MW)The MW SIG was established to help members turn fresh teaching ideas into useful classroom materials. We try to
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Other Language Educators SIG (OLE)
The OLE SIG was founded in 1996 in order to serve the special needs of learners and teachers of a wide variety oflanguages (German, French, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, and Russian etc.). OLE can also be considered part ofpeace education as languages are also thought to be instrumental in developing cultural empathy, opening up our
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The 2019 PanSIG Journal369

Pragmatics SIG (PRAG)
The Pragmatics SIG welcomes members who are interested in both research and practical teaching issues related
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Study Abroad SIG (SA)The JALT Study Abroad SIG was established in 2008 to promote research on overseas study and facilitate
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Task-Based Learning SIG (TBL)
The TBL SIG is aimed at teachers who currently use, or are interested in using, task-based approaches in theclassroom. TBL SIG focuses in particular on issues related to Task-based Language teaching and learning in the
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Teaching Younger Learners SIG (TYL)
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Testing and Evaluation SIG (TEVAL)TEVAL SIG aims to provide avenues for research, information, and discussion related to foreign language testingand evaluation both from within JALT membership and with other professional organizations which have common
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Vocabulary SIG (VOCAB)
The VOCAB SIG aims to provide a forum for focused research and discussion in specific regard to vocabularyacquisition. We aim to offer both teachers and researchers a place to connect regarding how learners improvevocabulary knowledge, how to test their knowledge, and how these theoretical aspects will connect to classroom
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PanSIG Journal 2019
ISBN# 978-4-901352-58-1
Debopriyo Roy – Editor-in-Chief
John Blake – Associate Editor

PanSIG Journal 2019
Selected articles from the 2019 PanSIG Conference

JALT Central OfficeUrban Edge Bldg. 5F, 1-37-9 Taito, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0016, Japan
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PanSIG Journal 2019

ISBN# 978-4-901352-57-4
Created and Edited by Debopriyo Roy and John BlakePanSIG is a yearly conference held by the Special Interest
Groups in the Japan Association of Language Teachers.