2020 April

Volume 6

ISSN 2189-0463

ELF

The Center for English
as a Lingua Franca
Journal
Exploring Intercultural and Transcultural Communication in ELTCross-cultural Quizzes in the ELF Classroom
Asynchronous Online Output Tasks to Increase Student Speaking TimeThe Effect of Positive Psychology in SLA: From Fixed Mindset to Growth Mindset
A Moot Point: How Group Debate Can Engage and Motivate Japanese University English Students
The Effectiveness of Explicit Instruction in Reading Strategies for Beginner-level Students
Liven Up the English Classroom with Academic Learning: Examples from Cognitive Psychology
Quizlet® Live for Vocabulary Review
Listening Portfolio: A Combination of Extensive and Intensive Listening
An Analysis of Research Regarding Video-based Instruction as a Language Learning Tool
A JSPS Kakenhi Report on Developing Resources for Teaching and Assessing Communication Strategies in
ELF-Informed Pedagogy: An Empirical Approach Based on Learners’ Communicative Capability
Report on Faculty Development and Research at the Center for English as a Lingua Franca 2019

CONTENTS

玉 川大学

The Center for ELF Journal
Issue Editors: Brett Milliner and Travis Cote
Reviewers:
Paul McBride
Mitsuko Imai
Tricia Okada
Blagoja Dimoski
Satomi Kuroshima
Andrew Leichsenring
Simeon Flowers
Angelo Magasic
Tomokazu Ishikawa
Michael Seko
Yuri Jody Yujobo
Rasami Chaikul
Blair Barr

The Center for ELF Journal: Call for Articles
The Center for ELF Journal is a refereed journal that seeks to promote criticalreflection among English language teaching professionals from a wide range ofprofessional contexts. Manuscripts are subject to blind reviews by two or morereviewers after initial screening by the editorial committee.
Aims of Journal:▪ To encourage critical awareness among language teaching professionals▪ To encourage reflexive thinking among language teaching professionals▪ To encourage a praxis of action and reflection among language teachingprofessionals▪ To encourage language teaching professionals to empower themselves and in
so doing empower their students▪ To encourage sharing of teaching techniques among the CELF teachers▪ To serve and support the professional development needs of the CELF teachers
Types of Articles:
Research article (1000 ~ 3000 words)
Teaching article (1000 ~ 3000 words)
Forum article (1000 words)
Center for English as a lingua franca reports (1000 words)
Book reviews (1000 words)
ELF classroom practices (1000 words)
Guidelines for Contributors:
Article contributions may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following
areas:English as a lingua franca
Curriculum design and development
Teaching methods, materials and techniques
Classroom centered research
Testing and evaluation
Teacher training and professional development
Language learning and acquisition
Culture, identity and power in language education
Application of technology in the language classroom
Research articles: Research articles should come with a description of the researchcontext and research questions, issues pertaining to the research context, relevant
theories, qualitative or quantitative research data, detaileddescriptions of research method including clear demonstration of attention to research
ethics and commentary.
Teaching articles: Teaching articles should provide a description of the teachingcontext, relevant issues related to the teaching context, teaching theories and approaches
appropriate to the context as well as comments reflecting pedagogical praxis.
Forum articles: From time to time, the editor may call for forum articles focusing on
a particular theme or issue. Readers are also welcome to propose themes or issues forthe forum in consultation with the editor. Contributors will be given the opportunity
to engage with current issues from a given standpoint as well as with each other’s
opinions on the issue.
Center for English as a lingua franca reports: From time to time, the Center for
English as a lingua franca will request a report from full-time faculty. The reports canfocus on a variety of features or services within the ELF program. For example, student
use of the tutor service, research projects, and faculty development.
Book reviews: Writers of book (textbook or other) reviews should first contact theeditors with suggested titles before proceeding with the book review.
ELF classroom practices: Articles should be brief “take-away” descriptions of any
activity, project, strategy or useful tool employed with varying degrees of success inthe ELF classroom (i.e.,“teacher’s toolbox”).
How to submit your manuscript:
Please email your submissions to the editors with the title, “The Center for ELF Journal
Submission”.
email: celfjournal@tamagawa.ac.jp

Issue 6.0 Forewords:
Since the inauguration of the Center, we have been working hard to promote awarenessof ELF, both through teaching and research. In this volume, we are pleased to havean invited article by Dr. Will Baker (University of Southampton), a prominent ELF
scholar, followed by nine individual peer-reviewed articles. In the last part, we have a
JSPS Kakenhi Project report and a 2019 FD & Research Report.
As we provide a campus-wide ELF program, CELF is better known as a teaching unit.
However, CELF faculty members were also very active in publishing and presenting
their research throughout 2019. Volume 6 of the CELF Journal is very special to me,
because I will step down as the Director of CELF after 6 years’ service.
I would like to thank all of you who have supported the world’s first center for ELF forthe last six years and wishing your continuing support. Last but not the least, I would
like to express my sincere gratitude to the editors, Brett Milliner and Travis Cote foranother wonderful job.
Masaki Oda, Ph.D.
Director
CELF

Having spoken with each of the contributors to this edition about their research andclassroom practice, I can attest to their creativity and attention to the needs of students,
as well as the constructive impact they have had at CELF.
We owe sincere thanks for the contribution of CELF Founding Director Professor
Masaki Oda, whose extensive knowledge, diligence, and concern for people, have not
only enhanced the experiences of his colleagues and students, but induced liberatingchange which will continue to be valued as the years progress. Oda-sensei, we deeply
appreciation your efforts.
Paul McBride MEd (TESOL)
Associate Director
CELF

Contents
Exploring Intercultural and Transcultural Communication in
ELT1

Will Baker

Cross-cultural Quizzes in the ELF Classroom
Marinette Ishizaki

Asynchronous Online Output Tasks to Increase Student
Speaking Time

13

21

Prumel Barbudo

The Effect of Positive Psychology in SLA:
From Fixed Mindset to Growth Mindset

33

Mitsuko Imai

A Moot Point: How Group Debate Can Engage and Motivate
Japanese University English Students

43

Richard Marsh

The Effectiveness of Explicit Instruction in Reading Strategies
for Beginner-level Students
Sachi Oshima

55

Liven Up the English Classroom with Academic Learning:
Examples from Cognitive Psychology

67

Tomokazu Ishikawa

Quizlet® Live for Vocabulary Review
Saranyaraja Muthumaniraja

Listening Portfolio: A Combination of Extensive and Intensive
Listening

79

95

Lai Bao Hoa

An Analysis of Research Regarding Video-based Instruction
as a Language Learning Tool

109

Drew Larson
JSPS Kakenhi Report on Developing Resources for Teaching andAssessing Communication Strategies in ELF-Informed Pedagogy:
An Empirical Approach Based on Learners’ Communicative Capability

119

Blagoja Dimoski, Satomi Kuroshima, Tricia Okada, Rasami Chaikul&Yuri Jody Yujobo
A Report on Faculty Development and Research at the Center
for English as a Lingua Franca 2019
Rasami Chaikul & Brett Milliner

131

Exploring Intercultural and Transcultural
Communication in ELT
英語教育における異文化・超文化コミュニケーションの探求
Will Baker, ベイカー・ウイル
Centre for Global Englishes, University of Southampton, UK
w.baker@soton.ac.uk

ABSTRACTIn this article I argue that ELT needs to incorporate a more intercultural and transcultural
approach to teaching about culture and language. I discuss three perspectives tounderstanding language and culture in communication: cross-cultural, intercultural andtranscultural. While cross-cultural perspectives, with their focus on homogenous national
level accounts of language and culture, have been criticised as stereotyped and essentialist,
they are still the most prevalent in ELT. However, in order to better represent the fluidityof language and culture through ELF intercultural and transcultural perspectives need
to be adopted more widely in pedagogy. One of the most fundamental implications of
this is a re-evaluation of communicative competence in ELT. Competence needs to be
expanded to intercultural communicative competence, and particularly interculturalawareness (ICA), to better recognise the intercultural dimension of English teaching anduse. I conclude with some suggestions for pedagogic approaches and practices which
incorporate intercultural and transcultural perspectives by utilizing ICA, with the overall
aim of better preparing learners for the superdiversity of languages and cultures in ELF
communication.
KEYWORDS: Intercultural and transcultural communication, Intercultural awareness,
ELF, ELT
1. INTRODUCTION
This paper considers the relevance of intercultural communication and, most recently,
transcultural communication research to ELT practices. It begins with a brief overview
of different approaches to understanding intercultural interactions from traditionalcross-cultural communication, to more critical intercultural communication and, finally,transcultural communication perspectives. Given the focus on ‘successful’ communicationin ELT, and that this communication is typically intercultural and transcultural, interculturaland transcultural communication should be central to ELT. Linked to this is an expansionof communicative competence (e.g. Canale & Swain, 1980) to incorporate intercultural1

communicative competence and awareness1 (e.g. Baker, 2015a; Byram, 1997).
Pedagogic implications are explored through approaches that place the interculturaldimension at the core of ELT. I argue that such approaches, in which the interculturaland transcultural aspects of communicating across and through linguistic and cultural
boundaries are brought to the fore, better equip learners for the diverse reality of English
as a global multilingua franca (Jenkins, 2015).
2. FROM CROSS-CULTURAL TO TRANSCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Traditional approaches to culture in language teaching have often treated them from across-cultural perspective in which cultures are viewed as clearly delineated separable
entities, typically at a national scale. These cultural characterisations are used to explain
the behaviour of members of that culture as a homogeneous group (see for instance theinfluential work of Hofstede e.g. https://www.hofstede-insights.com/). So, for example,
the culturally influenced behaviour of Japanese people will be identified in a particulararea e.g., greetings. The equivalent behaviour in another cultural group will also be
described, for example, British people. Then the behaviour of the two groups will becompared identifying similarities and differences, in this example, perhaps noting thedifferences between the use of bowing in Japan and shaking hands in the UK. While
there is some value in this approach in highlighting the influence culture can have on
communicative behaviour and also that differences exist between cultural groups, there
are also a number of problems. Most obviously it compares the behaviour of groups ofpeople in intracultural communication (i.e., communication within shared cultures) notintercultural communication (Scollon & Scollon, 2001). How people behave when they
are communicating with someone who shares a cultural background and with someone
who has a different cultural background are not the same. To return to the earlier example,
if two people from Japan and the UK meet they will not presume greetings to be thesame as when in their ‘home’ culture and will not necessarily expect to be greeted with abow or a handshake. In other words, people are usually aware they are in an interculturalinteraction and typically behave accordingly in a flexible manner. Therefore, crosscultural approaches are limited by an overly static view of communication, assumingthat characteristics of communicative behaviour can be identified from one situation andthen generalised to many different situations across a large group of people. However,communication, and especially intercultural communication, is frequently characterisedby flexibility and adaptation, making it difficult to identify ‘fixed’ patterns and suggesting
we need to avoid overgeneralisation (e.g., Scollon & Scollon, 2001; Scollon, Scollon, &Jones, 2012). Indeed, cross-cultural approaches have been criticised as stereotyped andessentialist in assuming that people will behave in a particular way based on a national
cultural characterisation (e.g., Baker, 2015a; Holliday, 2011; Piller, 2017; Zhu Hua,2014). In reality, people are members of many different cultural groups, not just national
cultures, and, moreover, we can expect a great deal of variety among national groups.

2

1
Use of terminology such as competence and awareness in relation to communication is afar from straightforward matter and there has been much debate on this which is beyond the scope of
this paper. However, in specific reference to English and ELF see, for example, Widdowson (2012),
Canagarajah (2013), Baker (2015a) and Lee and Canagarajah (2019).

Furthermore, the boundaries between cultures are blurred and constantly changing, making
the link between a particular national culture and behaviour problematic (e.g., handshaking
is not only a greeting in the UK and bowing is not unique to Japan). Nonetheless, despite
the criticisms of cross-cultural approaches, they are still prevalent in ELT materials (seeGray, 2010; Baker, 2015b).
In contrast to cross-cultural perspectives, intercultural communication perspectives
focus on people from different cultural backgrounds in interaction with each other (Scollon& Scollon, 2001). So instead of examining Japanese and British greetings, an intercultural
perspective would look at what happens when a Japanese person and a British person
greet each other. Thus, an important part of an intercultural communication perspective
is not to make a priori assumptions about what happens in communication, but rather toadopt a flexible approach and observe what happens in interactions. Research has typicallyfocused on discourse analysis of naturally occurring intercultural communication andexamined how cultural references, practices and identities are constructed and negotiatedin interaction (Jackson, 2012). There is also a recognition that people are members ofmany different cultural groupings such as ethnicity, religion, gender, generation, region,and occupation, to name a few (Scollon et al., 2012). This means that national cultures areseen as just one of many scales of culture that may, or may not, be relevant to interactions(Holliday, 2011). Furthermore, the boundaries between cultures are viewed as dynamic
and blurred and even ‘within’ cultures a great deal of variety is expected. Interculturalcommunication approaches have frequently examined hybrid cultural practices mixing
different cultures (e.g., Jackson, 2012). There is also an interest in the notion of third
spaces in which cultural practices and identities are more fluid and not linked to any one
cultural group but instead occupy a liminal in-between space (e.g., Baker, 2009; Kramsch& Uryu, 2012; MacDonald, 2019). Intercultural communication approaches have beenvery influential in ELT research and postgraduate level teacher education (e.g., Holliday,
Hyde, & Kullman, 2017); however, they have had less influence on ELT materials andeveryday classroom practices (Baker, 2015b).
The final and most recent perspective on language and culture in communicationis transcultural communication (Baker, 2015a; 2020; Baker & Sangiamchit, 2019;
Dovchin, Saltana, & Pennycook, 2016; Pennycook, 2007). Transcultural communicationbuilds on intercultural communication approaches that examine how cultural references,
practices and identities are constructed and negotiated in interaction. However, it also
goes a step further in questioning the ‘inter’ aspects of intercultural communication andattempting to understand cultural practices that are not necessarily linked to any single
identifiable culture and, hence, not in-between or ‘inter’ any cultures. Participants intranscultural communication are seen moving through and across cultural and linguistic
boundaries and in the process transcending those boundaries. Therefore, cultural practices
and representations can be constructed in situ and, unlike in intercultural communication,
participants are not viewed as being ‘in-between’ any named cultures. In a recent researchstudy Baker and Sangiamchit (2019, p. 481) provide the following example to illustratetranscultural communication.

3

Example 1: Mooncake
Private message exchange on Facebook between international students in UK - North(Thai) and Ling (Chinese) both female.
North
1. My lovely daughter
2. Thank you for your moon cake
3. It's really delicious
4. I gave P'Sa and P'Yui already5. and I'll give P'Beau on this Sat
Ling
6. U r welcome, and the mid-autumn festival is this Sunday, enjoy~
7. Can u tell P'Sa, she can get her bag back now~
In this extract we see English used a lingua franca between two friends discussing
the mid-autumn festival. Firstly, the subject of the conversation is transcultural with the midautumn festival and mooncake being originally associated with Chinese culture but also afamiliar practice in Thailand (and other Asian cultures). Here though, both participants are
based in the UK while the conversation occurs in the virtual space of a social networking
site (SNS). Thus, we see the mid-autumn festival as a cultural practice that moves throughmultiple scales and spaces from the virtual and local to the global. Secondly, as withmuch ELF communication, the communication is multilingual or translingual with otherlanguages present too. We have the use of ‘P’ (ฬ), in lines 4 and 5, which translates as‘older sibling’ in Thai. In Thai culture ‘P’ needs to be used when speaking to an older
person in an informal situation in order to show respect. This term of address is also taken
up by Ling in line 7; although, Ling is unfamiliar with Thai2. Moreover, in line 1 Northrefers to Ling as her ‘daughter’ following a Thai cultural practice of addressing a younger
friend as a daughter or son; although, this time the language of the cultural practice isEnglish rather than Thai. The transcultural dimension comes from the use of cultural
practices, intimate terms of address (‘P’ and ‘daughter’), linked to Thai culture but also
used by a Chinese interlocutor and expressed through English and Thai. Furthermore, they
are discussing a festival of Chinese origin (but now international) while geographically
based in the UK in the virtual space of a SNS. Examples such as this highlight the complex
links between culture and language in which they are not solely fixed to, nor in-between,
any particular national scale culture. Given how new the transcultural approach is, it has
not yet had a lot of impact on ELT practices, but as I will argue in this paper, it is highly
relevant for global uses and users of English as a lingua franca.
3. INTERCULTURAL AND TRANSCULTURAL APPROACHES TO TEACHINGLANGUAGE AND CULTURE
As discussed in the previous section culture and language (however the relationship42This information came from additional interviews (see Baker & Sangiamchit 2019)

is interpreted) are closely linked and this has important implications for language
teaching. As Zhu Hua notes, “language is key to understanding culture, and culture is anindispensable part of studying language” (2014, p. 219). Language teaching will, thus,
inevitably have a cultural dimension but where a language is not associated with one
particular geographical or national entity, as is the case with English, what culture(s) isthe language linked to and how should we decide on the cultural content and interculturalprocesses to include in the language classroom? One answer might be to attempt to teachlanguage as culturally ‘neutral’ and not associated with any culture. However, this isproblematic because it represents a misunderstanding of culture and language. Whilelanguages are not fixed in their links to any one particular named culture, there is always
a cultural dimension to language since it is culture which gives language its meaning.
An alternative is to choose a particular ‘target culture’ (e.g. the US or UK in the caseof English). However, this is also a misrepresentation of how language is used and fails
to represent the diversity of relationships between language and culture in which global
languages can be linked to multiple cultures, as the Mooncake example showed. Focusing
on one ‘target’ culture would also fail to properly prepare learners for the variety ofcultural contexts in which they will encounter English outside the classroom. Anotherapproach is to teach language as a means of representing local cultures (i.e., classroom,
school, community, region) and/or the L1 ‘national’ culture. Again, though, adopting
this approach runs the risk of misrepresenting the complexity of connections between
languages and cultures and not adequately preparing learners for how language is usedoutside classrooms. Given what we know about the fluidity of links between the English
language and culture, most appropriate is to teach language as a means of intercultural andtranscultural communication with no fixed cultural associations, but which can be linked
to a range of different cultural scales, including local and ‘target’ cultures, as relevant to
the learners and teaching context.
There have been a variety of pedagogic approaches in recent years which haveincorporated a more critical and fluid view of culture and language (e.g. Kramsch, 2009;
Liddicoat & Scarino, 2013; Zhu Hua, 2014). Many of them share a concern with
developing three dimensions among learners in relation to intercultural communication.
These are attitudes (affective dimension), skills (behavioural dimension) and knowledge
and awareness (cognitive dimension). These three dimensions are dealt with most explicitly
through intercultural communicative competence (ICC) (Byram, 1997; 2008) which has
been highly influential in teaching culture. Importantly, ICC recognises that the majorityof learners of second or additional languages are learning for intercultural communication.
Thus, traditional conceptions of communicative competence are expanded to properly
account for this intercultural dimension. This entails going beyond the focus on linguisticcompetence and a narrow account of the sociocultural aspects of communication andadding intercultural factors such as interpretation, negotiation, adaptation and reflection
in intercultural communication. Central to ICC is critical cultural awareness which is “anability to evaluate critically and on the basis of explicit criteria perspectives, practices andproducts in one's own and other cultures and countries” (Byram, 1997, p. 53).
Although ICC has been valuable in emphasising the intercultural in conceptionsof competence and language teaching, the focus on that national scale of culture, i.e.,
5

“one's own and other cultures and countries” (Byram, 1997, p. 53) is problematic for ELF.
There are no clear a priori links between a culture and country in ELF communicationand the national scale is just one of many. Instead, a more fluid conception of competenceor awareness of culture, communication and language is needed. An alternative notion
which has its foundation in ICC, but is specifically developed for the fluid scenarios of
ELF communication, is intercultural awareness (ICA). ICA is defined as “a conscious
understanding of the role culturally based forms, practices and frames of reference canhave in intercultural communication, and an ability to put these conceptions into practice ina flexible and context specific manner in communication.” (Baker, 2015a, p. 163). In ICA
there is an emphasis on process and practice where negotiation and fluidity are central andhence knowledge, skills and attitudes are dynamic and context specific. This dynamism
is crucial and must be part of pedagogy in order to prepare learners for the variable andcomplex links between languages and cultures in transcultural communication throughELF. How this complexity and fluidity can be meaningfully made part of classroom
practices will be the focus of the next section.
4. IMPLICATIONS FOR CLASSROOM PRACTICESIn specific relation to ICA and classroom practices there are two strands which areapplicable to classroom practices. The first is the three levels and 12 elements of themodel of ICA (Figure 1) which offer a way for teachers and learners to identify different
aspects of the development of ICA. While the three levels and 12 elements are notoffered as a literal account of the development of ICA, linking learners’ interculturalinteractions and interpretations of culture and language to the different levels can be
useful for both teachers and learners in gaining insights into their understanding ofthese issues (Baker, 2015a). They can also be used to measure how learners progressover a course of instruction (Abdzadeh, 2017; Yu & Maele, 2018), with the caveat that
progression may not be linear.
Level 1 – Basic Cultural AwarenessAn awareness of:1.
culture as a set of shared behaviours, beliefs, and values
2.
the role culture and context play in any interpretation of meaning
3.
our own culturally induced behaviour, values and beliefs and the ability to  articulate this4.
others’ culturally induced behaviour, values and beliefs and the ability to compare  
this with our own culturally induced behaviour, values and beliefs
Level 2 – Advanced Cultural AwarenessAn awareness of:5.
the relative nature of cultural norms
6

6.
7.
8.
9.


cultural understanding as provisional and open to revisionmultiple voices or perspectives within any cultural grouping
individuals as members of many social groupings including cultural ones
common ground between specific cultures as well as an awareness of possibilities
for mismatch and miscommunication between specific cultures

Level 3 – Intercultural AwarenessAn awareness of:10.
culturally based frames of reference, forms and communicative practices as
being related both to specific cultures and also as emergent and hybrid inintercultural communication
11.
initial interaction in intercultural communication as possibly based on culturalstereotypes or generalisations but an ability to move beyond these through;12.
a capacity to negotiate and mediate between different emergent socioculturally
grounded communication modes and frames of reference based on the above
understanding of culture in intercultural communication.
Figure 1. Twelve components of intercultural awareness (Baker, 2015a, p.164)

Alongside this model of ICA are also recommendations for classroom practices organised
around five different strands (Baker, 2015a).
1.	
Exploring the complexity of local cultures including the different cultural
identities present in the classroom and local communities
2.
Exploring cultural representations in language learning materials such as
textbooks, websites, assessment
3.	
Exploring cultural representations in the media and arts both online(websites, SNS) and in more ‘traditional’ mediums (novels, films)
4.
Making use of cultural informants such as teachers, classmates, friends andfamily who have experience of other cultures and intercultural communication
5.
Engaging in intercultural/transcultural communication both face to face andelectronically and taking time to reflect on these experiences
This list is not exhaustive and is deliberately general in its suggestions since
the details of what is included will be best decided in particular settings and are notgeneralizable. A crucial part of each of the areas outlined is that any representationsof culture presented are treated in a critical manner as subjective and partial. This
does not undermine their value, since all characterisations of specific language andculture connections are necessarily subjective and context specific. Overall, these fiverecommendations illustrate how culture can be integrated into the ELT classroom in a
non-essentialist manner that recognises the complexity of connections between language,
culture, and communication. Such an approach meshes well with other ELF informed
7

approaches to teaching English that also emphasise the necessity of critically questioning
established norms. In particular, the need to raise awareness among learners and teachersof the variability of communication through ELF and the subsequent need for fluidity andadaptability in communicative practices has been a recurring theme (e.g., Dewey, 2012;
Ishikawa, 2017; Sifakis et al., 2018; Suzuki, 2011) in pedagogic research and ELF.
5. CONCLUSION
In this paper, I have proposed that ELF use should be viewed as a fundamentallyintercultural and transcultural process not tied to any particular ‘target culture’ butrather moving across and through multiple scales from the local to the global. In order toincorporate these complex and diverse cultural scales into ELT, teaching practices needto move away from essentialist cross-cultural views on language and culture and adopt
intercultural and transcultural perspectives. Intercultural and transcultural perspectives
also entail a re-thinking of one of the core principles of ELT, communicative competence,and expanding it beyond a narrow focus on linguistic forms. ICA is put forward as analternative that incorporates the wider range of attitudes, skills and knowledge needed
for intercultural and transcultural communication. In relation to classroom practices, thedifferent levels of ICA provide a structure by which teachers and learners can explore theirdevelopment of intercultural awareness. Utilizing ICA is one way to incorporate the nonessentialist pedagogic approaches that are needed to expose learners to the complexityand fluidity of connections between language and culture in their everyday environments
both inside and outside the classroom.
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Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Scollon, R., & Scollon, S. W. (2001). Discourse and intercultural communication. In D.
Schiffrin, D. Tannen, & H. Hamilton (Eds.), The handbook of discourse analysis(pp. 538-547). Oxford: Blackwell.
Scollon, R., Scollon, S. B. K., & Jones, R. H. (2012). Intercultural communication: adiscourse approach (3rd ed.). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
Sifakis, N., Lopriore, L., Dewey, M., Bayyurt, Y., Vettorel, P., Cavalheiro, L., & Kordia,
S. (2018). ELF-awareness in ELT: Bringing together theory and practice. Journalof English as a Lingua Franca, 7(1), 155-209. https://doi.org/10.1515/jelf-20180008
Suzuki, A. (2011). Introducing diversity of English into ELT: student teachers’
responses. ELT Journal, 65(2), 145–153. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccq024
Widdowson, H. G. (2012). ELF and the inconvenience of established concepts. Journalof English as a Lingua Franca, 1(1), 5-26. https://doi.org/10.1515/jelf-2012-0002
Yu, Q., & Maele, J. V. (2018). Fostering Intercultural Awareness in a Chinese English
Reading Class. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, 41(3), 357-375. https://doi.
org/10.1515/cjal-2018-0027
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Cross-cultural Quizzes in the ELF Classroom
ELFクラスにおける異文化クイズ(の使用)についてMarinette Ishizaki, マリネット・石崎Center for English as a Lingua Franca, Tamagawa University, Japan
marinette@lab.tamagawa.ac.jp

ABSTRACT
Learning a language is interlinked with learning culture. In ELF classrooms, cultural
topics are important and inevitable because students interact with their non-Japanese
instructors regularly and they both share similar or different views in class. It is said
that lack of cultural knowledge or unfamiliarity with other people’s cultures could
affect the quality and exchange of communication and interaction in class (Merrouche,2010). Hence, there is a need to integrate and discuss cultural topics in the classroom
in order to increase intercultural understanding of one’s own culture and other culturesthat facilitates the process of building cultural connections and communication (Frank,
2013; Merrouche, 2010; Oxford, 1994). This paper details and explains the use ofcross-cultural quizzes as interactive and practical classroom activities that are perceived
to be interesting and highly engaging for language learners (Cullen & Sato, 2000) withthe goal of increasing students’ cultural interest, linguistic knowledge and learning, andintercultural communicative competence.
KEYWORDS: English language learning, Cultural awareness, Culture quizzes
1. INTRODUCTIONAt Tamagawa University, English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) classes are composed mainlyof Japanese students and non-Japanese instructors from different regions of the world.
Students learn the varieties of English and are exposed to the cultures of their foreign
instructors, and they share similar and different views on various topics in class. However,in some cases, lack of knowledge and unfamiliarity with Japanese culture and nonJapanese cultures could influence the quality of communication and interaction in class.
It could also lead to “misunderstandings, communication breakdowns, or inappropriate
language use” (Merrouche, 2010, p. 109).
As we embrace a globalized community, it is my personal goal for my students
that they learn English not just as a language but also as a culture and tool to learning
diverse cultures. Integrating culture in the classroom, therefore, is important and inevitablebecause it helps language learners develop cultural interest, knowledge, awareness andintercultural communicative competence as well as discover their own cultures while
improving their language and communication skills (Dema & Moeller, 2012; Fantini &13

Tirmizi, 2006; Frank, 2013; Merrouche, 2010; Nguyen, 2017).
Cullen and Sato (2000) suggest doing culture quizzes to “teach culture” inclass because they are practical, fun, highly engaging, and interesting. Quizzes can beboring and nerve-wracking for students, but they are, in many ways, effective tools toassess learners’ performance. They are also often used by teachers to improve students’knowledge on general information that bring about strong language learning outcomes(Ostrowska, 2015).
Cross-cultural Quizzes, in this paper, can be described as an interactive practicalclassroom activity that generally aims to stir up students’ cultural interest and knowledge
helping them acquire intercultural awareness, competence and understanding in the longrun. These quizzes also aim to increase understanding between similarities and differencesof Japanese and non-Japanese cultures, but not to compare which culture is superior or
better.
2. CROSSING CULTURES THROUGH INTERACTIVE QUIZZES IN THE ELF
CLASSROOM
2.1. Allotting a Special Kultura Day for Cross-cultural Quizzes“Kultura Day” or “Culture Day” is a special day I allot once or twice in a semester for
students to research more about their own culture, know more about my Filipino culture,and get interested in other foreign cultures. Students may have heard about the Filipinos
and the Philippines, but they may be unfamiliar with them that could influence theexchange of communication and learning in the classroom.
2.2 Warming-up for the Quiz
For warm-up, learning an easy song that can be sung in the Japanese, English and Filipino
languages often creates a cultural vibe in the classroom. Songs can be varied dependingon the students’ level. We learn the song for about 10 to 15 minutes and use it as a penalty
song for the losing team in the quiz game. Many students report feeling that learning
Filipino words for the first time is a mixture of fun and laughter because of difficulty inpronouncing the unfamiliar sounds.
2.3 Cross-cultural Quizzes in the ELF Classroom
Cross-cultural quizzes can be done in two ways to elicit both active participation andinteraction amongst students. One is the paper-and-pencil quiz which can be done inpairs or small groups. Students write answers to a set of questions in pairs or groups
depending on the size of the class. Members of the group take turns reading and asking thequestions for communication skills practice. After answering the questions, the instructor
and students check their answers together. After checking, students discuss their answers
within the group and share their answers, opinions, discoveries and realizations on the
topics.
Language phrases such as however, in contrast, but are avoided in the questions
and statements in order to avoid making value judgements about either culture. Guide
sentences are provided for low-level learners to use when responding to their partners/
14

groups. To ensure greater participation and interaction, the instructor walks around andfacilitates each group while they are answering the quiz for about 30 minutes. Sample
questions are shown in Appendix A.
The other style is interactive quiz games in which students are grouped incompeting teams. Each team is given a box of candy/chocolate as their “treasure chest/bank” and tries to avoid giving wrong answers and losing their treasures to the other team.
The instructor acts as the Quizmaster and asks the students to compete in answering a setof questions (displayed on PowerPoint) within 20 seconds. Each team must discuss theiranswer before raising the lettercard answer. The team with the wrong answer must givea piece of candy to the team with the correct answer. If both teams are wrong, they must
return the sweets to the Quizmaster. Afterward, students are asked to do follow-up tasks
for discussion. For sample questions, see Appendix B. To incorporate a communicative
approach, one question is for brief roleplay of a real-life situation that also touches ona cultural practice and asks the students to translate common Japanese expressions toEnglish. See sample question 4 in Appendix B.
Quiz questions can vary, and they may include trivia or facts, geography, gestures,practices, beliefs, customs, food, traditional clothing, and other information that generates
interest among the students. Questions are designed to incorporate elements of culture(perspectives, products and practice) and the cultural components: knowledge, awareness,skills and attitude (KASA) for intercultural communicative competence (Byram, Gribkova& Starkey 2002; Fantini & Tirmizi, 2006; Nguyen, 2017). See Appendices A and B.
3. BENEFITS, CHALLENGES AND RECOMMENDATION
There is no doubt that cross-cultural quizzes are fun, interesting and highly engaging as
they tickle curiosity and stir up cultural interest and knowledge of both Japanese and nonJapanese cultures, familiar and unfamiliar, to the students. Some students have expressedinterest in learning the Filipino language or traveling to the Philippines in the future.
Others said that they would like to travel the world to know more about other countries
such as Papua New Guinea, Nepal, Tibet and Myanmar.
Cross-cultural quizzes provide a good opportunity for students to explore
similarities and differences of their own culture, their instructor’s culture, and other
non-Japanese cultures. It is also a good opportunity for students to express and discuss
ideas, opinions and feelings; acquire knowledge of cultural topics; accept or reject new
information; and perhaps even dispel stereotypes.
The quiz activity, in general, is interactive, participative, collaborative andcommunicative allowing language learners to be expressive. For teachers who avoid using
paper, quizzes can also be made on digital web applications. For variation of quiz question
content, teachers can allow students to come up with their own culture questions to becollected and included in a future activity. This also provides good practice for sentence
construction skills.
It is worth noting that cross-cultural quizzes, initiate a basic, surface and factual level ofcultural awareness and understanding, and students should be encouraged to go beyond
this level. Showing only select pieces of culture might be problematic as it could lead15

to negative generalizations and stereotypes (Frank, 2013; Oxford, 1994). Therefore,
discussions and supplemental activities (cultural journals, diaries, cultural informants andobserver activities) through different means (media and technology, first-hand experiences,
visiting CELF tutor service for interviews, and so on) are highly recommended .
4. CONCLUSION
Based on my observations, cross-cultural quizzes are useful and facilitate getting
students interested in learning their own Japanese culture and non-Japanese cultures andin understanding cultural similarities and differences. While doing this activity is fun,it needs supplemental discussions and follow-up cultural activities to deepen students’intercultural awareness, stir up their ‘cultural antennas’, and increase their interculturalcommunicative competence over time.
REFERENCES
Byram, M., Gribkova, B., & Starkey, H. (2002). Developing the intercultural dimension
in language teaching: a practical introduction for teachers. Strasbourg, France:
Council of Europe.
Cullen, B., & Sato, K. (2000). Practical techniques for teaching culture in the EFL
classroom. The Internet TESL Journal, 6(12). Retrieved from http://iteslj.org/
Techniques/Cullen-Culture.html
Dema, O., & Moeller, A.K. (2012). Teaching culture in the 21st century language
classroom. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/teachlearnfacpub/181/
Fantini, A., & Tirmizi, A. (2006). Exploring and assessing intercultural competence.
World Learning Publications. Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/
worldlearning_publications/1/
Frank, J. (2013). Raising cultural awareness in the english language classroom. English
Teaching Forum, 51(4), 2-11. Retrieved from https://americanenglish.state.gov/
files/ae/resource_files/51_4_2_frank.pdf
Merrouche, S. (2010). Approaches to culture in foreign language teaching. Revue
Sciences Humaines, 33, 103-114. Retrieved from http://revue.umc.edu.dz/index.
php/h/article/view/619/fr8-MERROUCHE.pdf
Nguyen, T. (2017). Integrating culture into language teaching and learning: learner
outcomes. The Reading Matrix: An International Online Journal, 17(1), 145-155.
Retrieved from http://www.readingmatrix.com/files/16-lm7civ98.pdf
16

Ostrowska, S. (2015). The importance of world knowledge to the ELT classroom #3– general knowledge quizzes. World of Better Learning. Retrieved from https://www.cambridge.org/elt/blog/2015/08/19/importance-world-knowledge-eltclassroom-3-general-knowledge-quizzes/
Oxford, R. (1994). Teaching culture in the language classroom: Towards a new
philosophy. In J. Alatis (Ed.), Georgetown University Round Table on Language
and Linguistics 1994 (pp. 26-45). Washington DC: Georgetown University Press.
APPENDIX A (Paper-and-pencil)

17

APPENDIX B (Interactive Quiz Game)

18

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Asynchronous Online Output Tasks to Increase
Student Speaking Time
学生の発言時間を増やすための非同期 オンライン出力学習
Prumel Barbudo, バルブド・ プルメル
Center for English as a Lingua Franca, Tamagawa University, Japanbarbudo@lab.tamagawa.ac.jp

ABSTRACTThis paper introduces the transformative potential of asynchronous online output tasks
through utilizing self-recorded videos uploaded on Seesaw® Class App, a learning
management system. Based upon the initial learning outcomes of these tasks implemented
inside and outside of the classroom, their potential to draw out more meaning-focused
speaking output is discussed. Administrative and logistic issues are addressed andrecommendations on how to better carry out the tasks and prepare for the challenges arepresented. The conclusion is that asynchronous online output tasks promise to increase
student speaking time even beyond the classroom and are in sync with the practicality of
in-class traditional communicative activities.
KEYWORDS: Asynchronous learning, Meaning-focused output, Output tasks,
Seesaw®
1. INTRODUCTION
Common experience as a language teacher would indicate that students who are either shy
or unmotivated are an ongoing problem during speaking activities. Whether we are a novice
or experienced teacher, time and time again, we desire classes where students actively
participate and are willing to talk more in classroom discussions. Oftentimes we may
carefully prepare speaking tasks in the classroom to elicit meaning-focused output which
zeroes in on students’ being able to communicate messages to others (Nation, 2013, p.
9). However, more often than not, with students who have low-level speaking proficiency(e.g., A1 to B1 level on the Common European Framework of Reference or CEFR), thismay be an ideal that is not practical or easily implementable. A language teacher may
utilize pair work, group work, and other methods of group dynamics to engage students
in interaction, but students often give trite and short responses to discussion prompts.
Finally, during in-class speaking activities, all students may be willing to speak more, but
a language teacher can only monitor and guide a few students at a time and thus may missgiving feedback to some.
21One strategy that may elicit more speaking opportunities for students is the useof asynchronous (i.e., not-real-time) online speaking tasks (Barbudo, 2019). According
to Mayadas (1997), asynchronous tasks use “online learning resources to facilitate
information sharing outside the constraints of time and place among a network of people,”(p. 2) or simply put, online activities outside the classroom.
Asynchronous online tasks underscore the importance of output. Comprehensible
output hypothesis suggests that students may notice gaps in their language during
production tasks and turn to input for the needed linguistic resources to convey theirmessages (Swain & Lapkin, 1995). While comprehensible input has been recognized
as valuable, one cannot discount the role of output in language learning. When a student
becomes aware of the gaps in their language, they may be able to rectify their output sothat they learn about the language anew. Leading researchers contend that a balanced
English curriculum does not just place importance on arbitrary output, but a meaningfocused one. Doing this could make students “speak about things that they know a lot
about but which stretch their language knowledge” and that a “quarter of a language
course should be spent on it” (Nation, 2013, p. 9). Therefore, output is also as essential
as input in increasing opportunities for students to speak and be able to self-assess it.
This paper will introduce the use of Seesaw, a learning management system that
contains built-in features such as a video-recording function as a tool to produce meaningfocused output beyond the classroom. A classroom-tested protocol on how to implement
meaning-focused output tasks efficiently will be highlighted. If properly conducted by thelanguage teacher, from creating and assigning, to evaluating the speaking tasks, using the
Seesaw Class App (web.seesaw.me) could be an extremely convenient and ecological way
to increase student speaking time not just during face-to-face teacher-student interaction,
but more importantly, outside the four walls of the classroom.
1.1 Selfie-videos for Language Learning
The asynchronous tasks were mainly performed by making selfie-videos. On the whole,selfie-videos can impact the lives of teens enormously (Katz & Crocker, 2015) as
young people today normally enjoy creating their own videos and sharing them on social
networking sites. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, found that regularly
taking selfies with a smartphone and sharing these with friends, can help make one happier(Solano, 2016). A common agreement among studies on using digital tools in learning,particularly selfie-videos, is that they change the academic environment, both directly andindirectly. As language teachers, we can take advantage of the power of digital tools in
helping our students to communicate more.
Not surprisingly, selfie-videos have become extremely widespread recently because
both asynchronous and synchronous online modes of communication dominate the lives
of today's students (Barbudo, 2019). Content creation platforms such as Dubsmash,
Musical.ly, Snapchat, Instagram stories, Facebook Live, Youtube Live, and the Japanese
app TikTok, among a plethora of others, have allowed our students today to organicallyinteract in the moment. Based on observable experiences in the English as a lingua franca(ELF) classroom, shy and inexpressive students often reveal their thinking on their own
social media platforms because they exercise their agency and thus have a voice and feel22

comfortable in their own bubble, unlike being inside the classroom.
The teacher can employ selfie-videos as a powerful digital tool to engage students
in articulating their learning in the language classroom. A form of self-presentation action,
taking selfie-videos allows one to establish his individuality, self-expression, and interests(Ehlin, 2014) because students can communicate more authentic and spontaneous selfreports. Consequently, when students are involved in creating their knowledge content,
they will most likely be more motivated (Bruno, Pisanski, Sorokowska, & Sorokowski,2018). Creating selfie-videos, as an experiential process, paves the way for students to
speak more and enhance their learning.
As video production encourages visual, spatial, audio, and linguistic literacies(Morgan, 2013; Norton & Hathaway, 2010), student-produced videos can also help
activate their language skills acquired during the language course (Pearson, 1990). In
implementing asynchronous online tasks, we may want to see our students articulating
vocabulary already taught previously. Called productive retrieval, this means “recallingthe spoken or written word a learner wants to produce that could strengthen the form andthe meaning” (Nation, 2013, p. 217). Selfie-videos can encourage productive retrieval bygiving learners opportunities to recall what they need. When students face a camera,  they
are compelled to retrieve information and language, thus facilitating language production.
Since seeing oneself in videos is obviously reflective, selfie-videos also aid a
student’s metacognition (Solano, 2016). Roughly defined, metacognition refers to aheightened awareness of one's thought processes or the ability to think about his own
thinking (Flavell, 1979).  When students see themselves in their self-recorded videos, they
can scrutinize their thoughts and assess their own learning. Simply put, self-assessment
through selfie-videos enhances a student’s reflective practice. A student becomes moreengaged because he creates knowledge rather than merely consuming it.
With asynchronous output tasks integrated into the ELF classroom, there should
be independent language learning experiences among students. These tasks lead toa student’s second language acquisition while also promoting a learner’s retrieval andretention of information. Consequently, “automaticity in recalling this information could
be enhanced, resulting in enhanced fluency” (Ishihara & Cohen, 2014, p. 103).
1.2 Seesaw App
Consistent findings emanate across research on the efficacy of digital tools in the classroom.
Learning management systems (LMS) are one such helpful digital resource. Language
teachers leverage these digital platforms through smart devices to use, create, manipulate
and share information inside and outside the classroom. In a similar manner, today's
students use smart devices in class to take notes, access materials and applications, andfor finding relevant information. The integration of computer-mediated communicationin language education (LMS, in this case,) has long been recognized as a way to develop
learner autonomy as it promotes reflective learning (Chang & Sun, 2009) and enhances
academic engagement (Sinclair, 2009).
Seesaw, an example of an LMS, is a “new learning environment” the teacher
can use to support teaching and learning (Bosch et al., 2017, p. 52). Seesaw is a digital
portfolio where teachers and students can see, save, share, and respond to each other’s
23

work anytime and anywhere as long as they are connected online.

Figure 1. Interface and functions of Seesaw class app

Students can share their work and their classmates can provide encouragement
and constructive feedback. They can encourage their peers to do their best work, while
language teachers can review any comments before they are posted to ensure that feedback
is appropriate.
2. ASYNCHRONOUS TASKS OUTSIDE OF CLASS
2.1 Speaking Journal
Students regularly create short videos about a series of topics within the course to practice
independent speaking outside of class. This task promotes speaking fluency and someclass-tested examples are “Introduce Your Neighborhood” and “Back-to-University”.
2.2 Share Your Thinking VideoIf getting spoken responses is difficult in class, this task can make students open up andshare their opinions on numerous topics. Students are encouraged to use vocabulary thatthey just learned in class. The complexity of this task can be increased by asking them toexpress their ideas without memorizing or reading a script. Productive retrieval (Nation,2013) is enforced as students may have the chance to recall previously learned linguisticfeatures such as vocabulary and grammar.
2.3 Ecological Momentary Reflection
The author coined the term ecological momentary reflection (Barbudo, 2019) based on
ecological momentary assessment (EMA), an approach widely used in clinical psychology.
Interchangeably called experience sampling method, EMA  was adopted in this paper asa framework to capture ecological momentary behaviors and states in context which are
tracked over a period of time (Moskowitz & Young, 2006).
Students, through videos in asynchronous mode, provide feedback on the course
content and instruction with their own learning. When applied appropriately in pedagogical24research, it can be a great method for capturing students’ authentic behavior. Students
reflect and learn about their own learning weekly, mid-semester, and at the end of thecourse. Their selfie-videos should be taken in a place where they are filming at the momentto capture more ecological responses (Rose, Sierschynski, Björling, & Elin, 2016), thus
promoting more authenticity. In the case of this paper, through asynchronous output
tasks, using selfie-videos can elicit student communication that is natural, immediate,
and embedded within the lessons. This paper contends that the best reflections are done
through speaking ecologically, thereby “momentary” and “ecologically valid,” (Shiffman,
Stone, & Hufford, 2008) or within the environment where learning is taking place.

Figure 2. A student shares his thinking asynchronously through an “ecologicalmomentary” self-reflection video

2.4 Process Genre VideoWe can supplement our teaching of genre approach in writing through asynchronous
selfie-videos. Students can describe a certain process such as how to cook a simple mealby video-recording the real thing. There is so much creativity and authenticity in this task
as students actively engage and are thus remarkably motivated.
2.5 Reading Fluency Video
A selfie-video summary of what students have read— be it a page, a scene, a chapter,or a whole book — can give insights on a student’s reading fluency, comprehension,
pronunciation, and speaking level. This task could be an extension or an alternative toregular book reports in the Extensive Reading program. Letting the students talk about
what they are currently reading would give an instant assessment of not just a student’s
metalinguistic knowledge, but more practically, if the student understands his own reading.
2.6 Repeated Dialogic PracticeWith purposeful repetition through video-recorded speaking practice, students can be
encouraged to explicitly notice their mistakes so they can correct them in succeeding25performances. This task helps student pairs pay attention to the accuracy of their own
language. Following the Noticing Hypothesis (Schmidt, 1990), this paper advocateslanguage noticing as necessary for the acquisition of metalinguistic knowledge.
3. ADMINISTERING THE TASKS
3.1 Getting Started with Seesaw (help.seesaw.me)
A language teacher can first create his own account at app.seesaw.me and then createclasses within his account. The next step is to instruct students to sign up using their Seesaw
account and join the online class created by the teacher. Next, one should download the
Seesaw Class App and select “I’m a teacher.” Then, the teacher can create the class andgive it a name and grade level. Seesaw will suggest a sign-in mode for the students basedon their grade level.
The teacher must then approve access so the students can use the features of their
Seesaw account. Students can sign in two ways: Class “Code Sign In” and “Email SignIn.” For “Class Code Sign In,” the teacher adds students’ names by tapping “+ Students.”
Then, a class QR Code can be printed or projected on a screen. Students would have totap “+ Students” then “Print student sign in.” Students will choose “I’m a student” fromthe Seesaw Class App, then the blue “scan code” button. Finally, students can scan theclass QR code. For “Email Sign In,” students can tap “+ Students,” and then type the classjoin code, which is automatically generated in the teacher’s account. They will type it in,create student accounts, and then connect to the teacher’s Seesaw class.
It is worthwhile to prepare a preliminary model selfie-video task that students
can do inside the class during the first few days of introducing the app to them. This willorient the students with the Seesaw Class App functions. Right from the outset, a teacher
may start doing a short self-introduction video together in class to familiarize students
with the app. This will somehow decrease the usual awkwardness that students feel when
making their own videos. Here, it cannot be emphasized enough to make sure the students
understand and know how to get connected in the Seesaw class to avoid major frustrations
later.
3.2 How to Create and Assign Activities (help.seesaw.me)
Creating tasks in each class is free and sharing them is easy. Tap the green button, thenselect the “Browse Activity Library.” Tap the “My Library” tab and “Create New Activity”
to make a new activity. The Seesaw Activity Library hosts numerous activities that ateacher can easily customize. To customize an activity prompt made by other teachers, theteacher fills in the details of the task: activity name, student instructions which can include
examples and voice instructions, and students tagged to the task. The activity created canbe previewed and then the “Share” tab can be tapped next to publish the activity. Students,on the other hand, will tap the “Activities” tab to see new activities.
All student responses and videos will be stored with their names under the activity.
The teacher can see who has responded to an activity by tapping the response banner.

26

Figure 3. A sample speaking task assigned to the whole class in which students have to
respond asynchronously on Seesaw Class App

3.3 Challenges
The first consideration that teachers deal with is the reluctant attitude of the students
when they are first instructed to take selfie-videos. To prepare for this, it is strongly
recommended that students make short selfie-videos or photographs inside the classduring the teacher’s orientation of the Seesaw Class App. Although some students can be
extremely undemonstrative and timid, a language teacher should first convince students
about the importance of seeing oneself when practicing speaking through selfie-videos.
The teacher should orient the students well in setting up their Seesaw accounts. The
teacher could also spend sufficient class time to help students become familiar with the
Seesaw Class App features first before giving any task instructions.
If left unnoticed by the teacher, recording can lead to bias and the students will
only report speeches that are somewhat well-prepared and less authentic videos. Somestudents tend to memorize their spoken reflections, for example. While fluency may be
encouraged here, it could lead to rote memorization and not automaticity.
Also, there are ethical and privacy issues abound when using online videos, hencecareful reminders and caution should be observed by teachers and students alike. Teachers
ought to emphasize that videos should not be downloaded or exported elsewhere, whether
online or in other forms of exhibition. As in the case of this paper, the author did not allow
students to download the videos but made the videos accessible and viewable on the
Seesaw Class App only.
Finally, it would be helpful if teachers remind students to be respectful in giving
their comments, as this format could be abused. The primary responsibility of the teacher
is to foster positive, constructive comments that could benefit all in the class.
4. INITIAL LEARNING OUTCOMES
Based on the classroom experiences of the author, and self-reports and surveys of students,
asynchronous online output tasks were helpful in developing a positive attitude towards
lessons. They were also a practical way of practicing individual speaking fluency andvocabulary outside the classroom. These tasks could inform the teacher’s pedagogic
decisions, especially in formative assessments.
27

Students reported that the Seesaw Class App was intuitive and similar to theirprivate social media accounts. The commenting feature of the app is a great addition
to monitor students’ language and interaction. It serves as an informal evaluation tool
where the students can receive helpful comments from classmates which benefit boththemselves and their peers (Ozogul & Sullivan, 2009). Teacher feedback in the form of
likes and comments shows students that someone is appreciating their work. The teacher’scomments have demonstrated an increased enthusiasm among students and improved
attitudes towards producing more meaningful speaking output.
Having mentioned the learning outcomes, this paper was limited to observational
findings. Future studies on speaking fluency and complexity and a more in-depth analysisof the linguistic features of students’ discourse should be conducted.
5. CONCLUSION
Increasing opportunities for students to practice comprehensible output can be a challenge
for teachers in the classroom. Asynchronous activities introduced in this paper would serve
as suggestions to better equip our students with ways to reinforce their communicativeskills. Through using Seesaw, students are provided space for immediate feedback fromtheir peers and their teacher. Also, asynchronous tasks promise to increase student speaking
time beyond the classroom and may provide teachers a tool to elicit more opportunities
for speaking output. Further, asynchronous tasks also boost the student’s positive selfimage and can pave a way to better language acquisition. While they serve as successful
extension activities of the lessons, output tasks are in sync with the practicality of in-classtraditional communicative activities.
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Barbudo, P. (2019). Selfie-videos for authentic technology-mediated reflection. The
Language, Media, Learning Research Center, Kanda University of International
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Bosch, N., Bosch, S., Cline, K., Hochhalter, S., Rieland, A. Takekawa, E., & Walther, T.
(2017). The effects of parent-teacher communication using digital tools in early
elementary and middle school classrooms. Retrieved from https://sophia.stkate.
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Understanding selfies. Frontiers in Psychology, 9(44), 1-3. doi: 10.3389/
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Ehlin, L. (2014). The subversive selfie: Redefining the mediated subject. Clothing
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32

The Effect of Positive Psychology in SLA: From
Fixed Mindset to Growth Mindset
第二言語習得におけるポジティブ心理学：フィックスト・マインドセットからグロース・マインドセットへ
Mitsuko Imai, 今井 光子
St. Marianna University School of Medicine, Japanmimai@marianna-u.ac.jp

ABSTRACT
Falout (2016) contends that students can often lose self-confidence, subjective control,
motivation, and meaning in their learning when they are in certain educational contexts,
particularly where language education is compulsory. Japanese students are consideredby Falout (2016) to be at high risk of encountering such environments. As a step towards
overcoming such difficulties, this paper investigates the effectiveness of a program of
positive psychological instruction to assist students in developing self-regulation andacademic perseverance.
KEYWORDS: Positive psychology, Perseverance, Growth mindset
1. INTRODUCTION
In recent years, many researchers and educators have started to cast a spotlight on positive
psychology. In 2014, the first international conference on Psychology of Language
Learning was held in Graz, Austria and in 2016, a book titled “Positive Psychology
in SLA” was published. Followed by much research focusing on the psychology oflanguage learning, Oxford (2016) claims the beginning of the “EMPATHICS” visionin the psychology of well-being for language learners. Emotion and empathy, meaning
and motivation, perseverance, agency and autonomy, time, hardiness and habits of mind,
intelligences, character strengths, and self-factors are the components of the EMPATHICS
vision. All the factors are related to each other in a complex manner. In this paper,
one of the components, perseverance, is the focus to search for a solution for helping
learners achieve progress. The background of this research is that, through research on
autonomous learning, the author has learned that students’ psychological state greatly
influences autonomous learning and teachers could train students to be more autonomousby teaching them explicitly, yet, they cannot guarantee that their students will continue tobe autonomous after a semester.  What students need after a semester is “perseverance”
to continue to be an autonomous learner. Therefore, the author incorporated the theory of33

positive psychology into her class activities to investigate the factors for perseverance.
These activities were developed by the author on the premise that Dweck’s (2016) mindset
theory would help students become more autonomous and have grit in learning English.
Dweck, a psychologist, explains the concept as:
Those with the growth mindset, you believe you can develop
yourself, then you’re open to accurate information about yourcurrent abilities, even if it’s unflattering. What’s more, if you’reoriented towards learning, as they are, you need accurate
information about your current abilities in order to learn
effectively. (Dweck, 2016, p. 11)
Dweck (2016) claims that successful people have a “growth mindset” and others
have a “fixed mindset”, yet anyone can change their mindset once they adopt the “growthmindset”. In this paper, the author will introduce the method she used in her class andexplore the practical implementation of positive psychology in English classes. There are
two questions this research focuses on:
1. How effective is the Growth Mindset (GM) training to improve academic perseverance?
2. Does academic perseverance correlate to English test scores?
2. LITERATURE REVIEWThe importance of perseverance for language learners is often discussed by SLA
researchers, however, the definition of perseverance differs depending on the researchers.
Gardner (2001) claims that persistence (closely related to perseverance) is one of thethree key factors in language learning motivation together with enjoyment and desire
to achieve a goal. As mentioned above, Oxford’s (2016) EMPATHICS vision includes
perseverance. She argues that there are three elements in perseverance: resilience, hope,and optimism. Oxford’s definition of perseverance includes the elements of optimism
whereas Gardner sees persistence (perseverance) as a trait of continuity. Duckworth, a
psychologist who claims grit is important in learning, states that perseverance seems to
be a key factor in determining long-term success (Duckworth, 2016). Duckworth (2016)
explains that grit has two components: passion and perseverance. She developed the grit
scale which contains ten 5-point Likert questions to show how gritty you are. The score
on passion and perseverance are proportional to each other. According to her study, mostpeople score a bit higher on perseverance than passion and the results show that passion
and perseverance are not exactly the same. She explains her own score in her book, which
was perseverance 5.0 and passion 4.6, and analyzes that “strange as it sounds, staying
focused on consistent goals over time is more of a struggle for me than working hard34

and bouncing back from setbacks” (p. 57). Whether or not language learners continue
their study might be affected by their optimistic characteristics which are the result of acomplex web of psychological states common to human beings. Therefore, it is not easy
to clearly define the term perseverance. For this paper, the author defines perseverance asa student’s ability to maintain continuity in learning even when they face difficulties.
3. METHOD
This investigation was conducted over two semesters at a Japanese university. The firstsemester started in October 2017 and ended in January 2018. The second semester wasfrom April 2018 to July 2018. The participants during the first semester were 67 firstyear and second-year Japanese university students and the participants during the second
period were 69 first-year and second-year students. At the beginning of each semester,
students were asked to fill out a questionnaire. The questionnaire was created basedon Van Blerkom’s (1996) survey questions to investigate academic perseverance. The
questionnaire utilized a 5-point Likert scale and consisted of 17 questions (Appendix A).
During the semester, students were exposed to materials that provide information about
Growth Mindset (GM). Also, they completed a couple of self-reflection sheets to further
comprehend the benefits of GM and encourage them to apply the theory to themselves. At
the end of the semester, students filled out the same questionnaire in order that they might
be compared with the results from the first questionnaire. Also, the participants wereasked to provide written feedback regarding the GM training, which will be explainedin the next section, at the end of each semester. Both questionnaires and the written
feedback were anonymous and they were not graded assignments. The second semester
participants of this investigation took the TOEIC IP Listening and Reading test as partof their regular curriculum. To further comprehend the results of the questionnaire, thecorrelation between their TOEIC score and the result of the questionnaire were analyzed.
Participants were provided bilingual consent forms along with both questionnaires andalso one regarding the use of their score. Only the results of those who consented wereanalyzed in this study.
4. MATERIALSThe author incorporated many motivational and influential materials in class, to raise
students’ awareness on academic perseverance (the GM training), and she investigatedthe effects of such training on students’ perseverance. Materials used in this study are
categorized into two types: input activities and output activities. As for the introduction ofGM, a video from a TED Talk was shown to the participants. “Grit: The power of passion
and perseverance” by psychologist Angela Duckworth. In her video, she mentions that oneof the keys to improving perseverance is to have GM. For the second input activity, theconcept of Carol Dweck’s GM was introduced in class. Followed by 5-weekly activities
where participants were asked to reflect on their own experiences with perseverance
and focusing on their goals. The worksheets for these activities were devised based on
Feldman's (2017) workbook for grit. The author arranged some questions to suit Japanese35

university students and translated them into Japanese so as to provide full comprehension
for all the participants.
5. RESULTS
The questionnaire data from both the first and second semester participants were analyzed.
Table 1 shows the results of the pre-test and post-test questionnaire on perseverance. The
data shows that there is a slight decrease in academic perseverance in both post-tests.
During the first semester, the post-test questionnaire was conducted during the last week ofthe semester when students had to complete a lot of big assignments and assessments. The
author’s inferential observation is that they had a lot of anxiety concerning whether or notthey could really make it through the semester, and this may have negatively influenced
their responses compared to the beginning of the semester when they were still optimistic
about classes. To eliminate the possibility of negative responses because of students’anxiety at the end of the semester, during the second semester the post-test questionnaire
was conducted three weeks before the end of  the course. However, the results were thesame as the first semester showing a slight decrease in academic perseverance.
Table 1Pre-test/Post-test Questionnaire Results (first semester)Pre-testn
M (SD)
Academic
67
2.89 (0.3)
perseverance
Pre-test/Post-test Questionnaire Results (second semester)Pre-testn
M (SD)
Academic
41
2.99 (0.3)
perseverancenPost-test
M (SD)

67

2.77 (0.4)

nPost-test
M (SD)

41

2.88 (0.4)

To further investigate if the GM training affected students to any degree, students
were asked to give feedback on what they learned from the GM training materials.
There were a couple of mixed feelings (positive and negative) comments but most of
the reflections were positive. The mixed feeling feedback shows that some participants
were still skeptical about the possibility of developing their own GM. Dweck (2016) calls
this situation ‘mixed mindset’. They express the importance of having grit but they still
believe that a GM (or grit) are inborn characteristics. Here are the examples of mixed
mindsets in this research (Comments from students were not modified):“I learned that efforts and grit are very important. But I think that efforts are
not all. I think that not only effort but also IQ and talent are important. From
now on, I will believe that the ability to learn can change with effort.”“I think grit is a talent, however, I believe we will be able to have grit as longas we are conscious about the concept.”36Even though the academic perseverance scale shows a decrease in both semesters, many
wrote positive comments on GM training:“This story is very interest. I give a good result if I change mind. I know growmindset is important.”“I think that grit is very important. And, I learn that gritty and talent are
different. Also, Growth mindset is great idea. But from now on, I don’t knowthat how to raise growth mindset. So, I want to study about grit. I learn gritty
to watch the video.”“I listen this video. I am impressed. I often give up. but give up is not good.
To hear her story, I think that it was important to never give up.”
“The video which I watched had a good effect on me. I changed the mind
about English. When I watched the videos, I became positive. I thought I
wanted to use English actively and improve my English. So it is very good to
be exposed to those inspiring videos in class.”“I remember that TED’s grit movie. I was encouraged by the movie, andI knew (learned) about grit first time. Sometimes I think it is hard to go toschool and get classes. But I try to come to school and bring homeworks. It issimple thing for everyone, but I’m lazy…”
Considering the fact that many participants gave positive feedback on the GM
training, the result shows that it affected their ways of thinking towards English learning
in a positive way. Nevertheless, if having perseverance is not connected to their English
grades, students might not show interest in having the GM training. Therefore, in thisstudy, the author also wanted to find out if academic perseverance has a correlation withacademic performance. The correlation between academic perseverance and TOEIC score
was investigated using Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient. As shown in
Figure 1, there is a slight positive relationship between their academic perseverance andtheir TOEIC score (r=.31), indicating that having perseverance may be a key to improving
their English skills.

Figure 1. Correlation of Academic perseverance with TOEIC score. (Valid responses: n= 59).

37

6. DISCUSSIONAs shown in the results section, exposing students to materials to enhance GM did notaffect the participants’ academic perseverance scale points in a positive way within afour-month semester. However, despite the fact that their points went down at the endof the semester, most of them gave positive feedback to what they learned in class.
Even though the questionnaire was conducted a little earlier during the second period,
it was still given to the participants toward the end of the semester, so they could havebeen feeling the pressure for upcoming assessments. Yet, their feedback to GM training
was positive and they expressed their desire to continue pursuing a GM. This showsthat it might be too premature to conclude that explicit training of GM does not affectstudents’ academic perseverance. To investigate if GM training will improve students’perseverance, a longitudinal study is necessary. The data shows a slight correlation ofacademic perseverance to TOEIC scores (r= .31), which indicates that if teachers canenhance students’ perseverance, they could help their students improve their English
proficiency as a result.
7. CONCLUSION
To conclude, the author wants to denote these three points below. For research question 1
concerning how effective the (GM) training is in improving academic perseverance, theauthor believes:
1. In general, Japanese university students may show lower academic
perseverance toward the end of a semester.
2. Students’ reactions to Growth Mindset appear are positive, and they express
their desire to change their mindset through the training.
Research question 2, asked whether academic perseverance correlates with English
test scores or not, and this study observed:
3. A slight correlation between academic perseverance and TOEIC scores.  
By improving academic perseverance, they might be able to improve theirEnglish skills as well.
From the results of this study, the author concludes that although students’perseverance rate decreased at the end of the semester, it might be beneficial for language
teachers to foster students’ perseverance in their classes.  
REFERENCES
Duckworth, A. L. (2016). Grit: The power of passion and perseverance. New York:
Scribner.
Dweck, C. S. (2016). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Ballantine Books.
38

Falout, J. (2016). The dynamics of past selves in language learning and well-being. In
P. D. Maclntyre, T. Gregersen, & S. Mercer (Eds.), Positive Psychology in
SLA (pp.112-129). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Feldman, C. B. (2017). The grit guide for teens. Oakland CA: New Harbinger
Publications.
Gardner, R. C. (2001). Language learning motivation: The student, the teacher, and theresearcher. Texas Papers in Foreign Language Education, 6(1), 1-18.
Oxford, R. L. (2016). Toward a psychology of well-being for language learners: The‘EMPATHICS’ vision. In P. D. Maclntyre, T. Gregersen, & S. Mercer(Eds.), Positive Psychology in SLA (pp. 10-87). Bristol: Multilingual
Matters.
Van Blerkom, M. L. (1996). Academic perseverance, class attendance, and performancein the college classroom. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of theAmerican Psychological Association.

APPENDIX A (Questionnaire for Academic Perseverance)
このアンケートは学生の学習意識を調査するもので、成績とは一切関係ありません。また、個人情報が研究以外の目的で使われることはありません。
氏名：＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ / 日付＿＿＿＿＿, 2018
Part I
A) This is not at all descriptive of me.
自分には全く当てはまらないB) This describes my behavior on rare occasions.
稀に当てはまるC) This describes my behavior about half of the time.
半分くらい当てはまる
D) This describes my typical behavior.
ほぼ当てはまるE) This is extremely descriptive of me.
完全に当てはまる
1. Once I start an assignment, I am highly motivated and work continuously on it until it
is completed. 一度、何か課題を始めたら、やる気が高まり、最後までやり遂げる方だ。
2. I have a severe problem with procrastination. 私は何でも後回しにしてしまう癖がある。
39

3. At home, I was always very good about completing chores without delay. 家では、雑用（洗濯・掃除など日常のすべきこと）は後回しにせずきっちり行うのが上手い。
4. I can remember times in my life when I never seemed to be able to complete tasks that I
started. 今まで、やり始めた課題が終わらないのではないかと感じたことが何度かある。
5. The most difficult thing for me is getting started on an assignment. Once I start, I find it
relatively easy to complete. 一番難しいのは、何かの課題を始めることで、始めてしまえば、割とやり遂げるのは簡単だと思う。
6. In college, I always make it a habit of reading text assignments before class. 大学では、授業の前にリーディングのテキスト課題を読むことを習慣付けている。
7. If given a choice between working on an assignment and watching television, I oftenchoose to watch television. 課題をするか、テレビを見るかという選択だったら、
よくテレビを見る方を選ぶ。
8. When I have an assignment to complete, I often remember other assignments, chores,
tasks, etc. that seem more important. 課題を終わらせなければならない状況で、もっと重要な他の課題や雑用や宿題などをよく思い出す。
9. I consider myself a highly organized person. 自分自身は、とても計画的な人間だと思う。
10. I find it very easy to motivate myself to complete a task. 何かの仕事をやる遂げる
ためのやる気を出すのは簡単だと思う。
11. I tend to cram for exams. テスト勉強は詰め込み（一夜漬け）が多い。
12. When preparing for exams, I typically spread out my studying over several days. テ
スト勉強をする時、資料や教科書類を机に何日も出しっぱなしにすることが多い。
13. When a term assignment is assigned, I begin working on it soon after it is made. 大き
な課題が出された時、すぐにそれに取り掛かる。
14. I usually start term assignments a week or two before they are due. 大きな課題は締め切りの1週間から2週間前に始める。
15. I tend to think of myself as lazy. 私は怠け者な方だと思う。
16. I could complete assignments much more easily if I didn’t have so many otherimportant things going on in my life. 自分の生活の中でこんなにも多くの重要なことが起こっていなければ、もっと楽に宿題や課題が行える。
17. I have difficulty setting priorities, deciding what needs to be accomplished first. 優先
順位を決めるのが苦手で、何を先に終わらせるべきか決め兼ねる。

40

41

42

A Moot Point: How Group Debate Can Engage andMotivate Japanese University English Students
論点：日本の大学英語におけるグループディベートと学生への影響についてRichard Marsh, マーシュ・ リチャード
Center for English as a Lingua Franca, Tamagawa University, Japanr.marsh@lab.tamagawa.ac.jp

ABSTRACTThis paper will outline the numerous benefits of utilizing a debate task in the Japanese
university classroom. All four of the key skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing)can be improved through the use of debate. A key point is that it places student-centred
learning and critical thinking at the fore. The debate task presented in this article differs
greatly from much of the existing literature, which is often highly structured and aimed
towards native speakers, particularly North American high school students. As the teacher,our role is to introduce the task and make it very clear that this is not a competition, norshould learners rely too heavily on reading pre-prepared notes, but make it clear that they
will receive a favourable grade for how they facilitate and encourage group debate anddiscussion. These accommodation skills are crucial for an authentic ELF environment, as
non-native speaker intelligibility should have primacy of place in the classroom (Jenkins,
2000). This paper will clarify how the debate task can be successfully performed andoffers student feedback that highlights the applicability of the task to the Japanese
university classroom. The final part of the article presents classroom based researchwhich demonstrates the great number of benefits and some issues and ways in which thetask could be improved in the future.
KEYWORDS: Debate, Speaking task, Motivation, ELF, Fluency
1. INTRODUCTION
Through my 5 years experience of teaching in universities in the Tokyo area I feel thenumber one obstacle to a genuine and holistic improvement in our students’ level ofEnglish is that their previous experience of the subject has not been connected to theirreal lives. It seems to me that the average Japanese learner has an acceptable level ofgrammar and vocabulary relative to their level, however, they lack the opportunity toapply this knowledge in any meaningful or practical way. They do not make use of it inauthentic real life situations (Thornbury, 2005). In general it could be said that throughout
43

the average learner’s academic encounters with English the focus has been on reading,rote learning and teaching more ‘testable’ skills, with classes often held in Japanese andwith little opportunity to actually speak English. Subsequently, developing speaking skills
and practicing authentic fluency building tasks have been given precious little attention(Flowerdew & Lindsay, 2005). As such many learners lack the ability to instigate andsustain conversation in English, especially for a prolonged period of time (Brice, 1992).
As Rivers makes clear, ‘Japanese English proficiency achievements are consistently
among the lowest in Asia’ (2011, p. 115). A tradition of rote learning, lack of studentcentered activities and a paucity of opportunities to practice communication skills insideand outside the classroom have been cited as barriers to improving students speaking andfluency skills (Aclan & Aziz, 2015). This paper aims to share the positive experiences I
have had using a group debate task and how it can provide a successful platform for studentcentred learning which helps students to negotiate for meaning by placing a primacy on
intelligibility and fluency. I feel it also impacts all four of the main skills and crucially helps
to develop critical thinking. As Akerman and Neale state in their comprehensive survey ofdebate as an educational tool, ‘students’ perceptions provide strong evidence that taking
part in debate activities leads to improvements in their communication and argumentation
skills, including improved English when it is not their first language’ (2011, p. 5).
For me, while I am an English teacher per se, I harbour ambitions to improvelearners’ soft skills such as critical thinking and attempt to broaden their world view byencouraging the development of English as a vehicle through which they can experience
new cultures and ideas by traveling or studying abroad. As Rear points out, ‘students from
Asian backgrounds are said to have particular difficulty in adapting to the demands of theWestern academic tradition, with educational background and insufficient language skills
commonly cited as the most significant factors’ (2016, p. 51). Improving learners’ English
ability is of vital importance to me, however, doing this while simultaneously making
demands of their logic, persuasive techniques and critical thinking are of exponential
benefit for all. While technological advancement and nonverbal communication
increase unabated, it still remains pertinent that ‘oral communication is often cited by
employers, alumni, professional organizations, and accrediting agencies as an importantskill for recent college graduates entering the workforce’ (Carroll, 2014, p. 1). When theabove situation is taken into account I feel encouraging debate tasks, such as the one
elaborated upon in the article, will help to develop these much sought after soft skills.
As acknowledged in the literature, most of the resources on teaching debate are aimed atnative-speakers, in particular, American high school students (Stewart & Pleisch, 1998)
and, as a consequence, ‘there are few published debate materials for non-native speakers’(Krieger, 2005, p. 6). I feel very strongly that the debate task outlined in this paper can
improve students’ English in a learner-centred, communicative fashion. It can also play arole in developing learner autonomy, critical thinking and preparing young adults to face
the challenges of the 21st century globalised workplace (Aclan, Aziz, & Valdez, 2016).
This paper not only outlines how to implement the debate task in the ELF classroom, but
it also considers student feedback in the form of a ten-question SurveyMonkey form. For
consolidated pedagogical improvements to take place and enrich our field it is essentialthat we gather evidence to support our claims, and that some of this evidence should
44

originate from the learners themselves (Goodwin, 2003).
This article is organized into the following sections: the literature review will seek
to justify the necessity of this paper and how it can address the lack of practical classroom
content regarding the implementation of student debate, especially in a Japanese ELF(English as a Lingua Franca) context. Secondly, how to implement the debate task will
be explained to ensure readers will have a clear and concise picture of how to carry out
the task in their classroom. Next, the SurveyMonkey questionnaire will be introduced
and some key findings will be discussed before the paper finishes with some overall
conclusions.
2. LITERATURE REVIEWAs a key part of the Tamagawa CELF curriculum we utilize two textbooks, one which
focuses on teaching TOEIC and the other which mainly concentrates on reading andvocabulary acquisition. While these resources are a fundamental part of our day-to-day
job, I feel a lot more should be done to connect the classroom to the students’ real lives
and give them an increased sense of ownership and autonomy over their English andoverall educational development. There are many ways in which I attempt to do this andI feel the debate task outlined in the paper is one of the more successful and sustained
examples. To prepare thoroughly for the debate learners must choose a topic, research
individually and practice as a team. As such, this process promotes active learning andgives a real sense of responsibility over the choices the learners have made (Akerman &Neale, 2011). Learners must also question and justify their own opinions and through theprocess of working with their teammates and practicing with their counterparts, who holdan opposing opinion, they become aware of a plurality of thought within the classroom.
As such, ‘debate can compensate for the limitation of the traditional classroom by shifting
the focus of conversational control to students’ (Amiri, Othman, & Jahedi, 2017, p. 121).
The crucial part of the debate task is that it is student-centred and it promotes studentstudent interactions (Zare & Othman, 2013). Personally, my preferred style of teaching iswhere I am not the most important person in the classroom, where I can play the role ofa facilitator rather than a lecturer. The benefit of the debate task is the overall philosophy
that is espoused, where students are not considered ‘vessels waiting to be filled with
instruction’ but, ‘they bring to class theories, attitudes, skills and habits that shape thesuccess or failure of the activities they will pursue there’ (Goodwin, 2003, p. 157).
It is clear that research shows debating has a positive impact on student’s spoken
communication skills (Carroll, 2014), however, if implemented in an effective fashion,
I feel it can make a positive impact on all four of the key skills. As Zare and Othman
explain, debate ‘can promote and foster efficient and successful listening, reading and also
writing’ (2013, p. 1510). This is due to the importance of critical reading and taking clear,
usable notes during the preparation stage. During practice and the debate itself criticallistening is essential as it is vital to respond appropriately to group members rather thansimply reading a pre-prepared script. Learners will have to adjust, accommodate and work
as a team as they negotiate for meaning. This places a primacy on intelligibility rather thanspecifically on form or comparing their language to that of a native speaker. As Aclan and45

Aziz identify, these aspects of the debate task ‘makes it a perfect pedagogical tool because
it integrates reading, speaking and listening’ (2015, p. 9). Critical reading and writing
skills can also be consolidated through a post-task writing assignment which would
further build on the ideas developed during the debate and help to establish the learners’
independent stance. It is widely acknowledged that critical thinking is a crucial skill in themodern workplace (Akerman & Neale, 2011) and its development should be a key goalfor educators in both a first and second language context (Rear, 2010). While they still, attimes, have an important role to play in the classroom, it could be said that, ‘traditional
teaching techniques like textbooks, lectures, and tests with right answers insulate students
from the open questions and competing answers that so often drive our own interest in our
subjects (Goodwin, 2003, p. 162). I feel it is important to respect our learners and treat
them like adults. To most of life’s important questions, there is very seldom a single black
and white answer and I feel our activities in the classroom and the overall philosophy of
our curriculum should reflect this. The debate task presented in this article reflects thisphilosophy very well. It activates all four of the key skills and encourages critical thinking
in a learner-centred motivational fashion.
3. DEBATE TASK
Effective group communication and fluency building is the very raison d’être of the debate
task. However, this can often be impeded by too much teacher-led instruction and therelatively low level of the learners who may struggle to make their opinions lucid in their
L2. An important way to combat this and to build confidence and familiarity with the task
is optional, but strongly recommended stand-alone 90 min lesson. I would often do thisearlier in the semester so learners can practice and understand the concept before the more
rigorous assessed debate starts later in the term. It allows the class to understand how thedebate works, reduces the necessity for lengthy teacher explanation and gives a practicaldemonstration of how important preparation and practice are in the real assessment.
Depending on the number of students in the class the debate requires 4-6 people ina group. At least two students will be ‘for’ and two ‘against’ the particular topic. Initially,
I will give some examples of both formal and more casual debate topics (e.g., legal
drinking age should be 20 or 18, Ghibli movies are better than Disney etc.), provide somebrainstorming time, elicit ideas and write some of the workable topics on the board. The
students will then vote for the topics they want to choose and whether they will be ‘for’or ‘against’. For example, in a 16 student class, there would be four groups, with different
topics, comprised of two students being ‘for’ and two ‘against’. In this condensed versionof the fully assessed debate, the learners only have one class to work in their small groups(of ‘for’ or ‘against’) to research and make notes before joining their counterparts toattempt the debate in the final 10 minutes of the class. In this case, the debates will takeplace simultaneously as to not put too much pressure on them if there is some silenceor they have to revert to their L1 on occasions. However, the final assessed debates willtake place in the middle of the classroom and as such there will be an element of pressure
to perform in front of an audience. At the end of this introductory debate class it is theteacher’s role to be positive and stress that through asking questions, helping each other46

and preparing and practicing thoroughly they will be able to conduct the real debate all in
English for 15-20 minutes.
Most debate tasks in the literature are highly structured and often allocate specificroles to individual students with time limits to state your opinion and prepare a rebuttal
etc. However, this specific version emphasises student interaction and encourages anatural flow to the discussion. In this sense I agree very much with Stewart and Pleischwhen they advise that the ‘introduction and conclusion, usually lengthy monologues,
are de-emphasized in order to allow more time for the…team members to participate
actively’ (1998, p. 1). Even through the practice stage, which in the full assessed debate
can be allocated a 90 minute class for research and rehearsal, the focus should be on
listening, responding and encouragement, rather than memorization and recitation. This
allocation of class time is essential as a study by Fauzan clarifies, ‘by practicing speaking
in the debate practice, they improved their fluency as well as their confidence’ (2016, p.
56). It also provides a perfect platform to aid the learners with some example prompts,
questions and also how to open and close the debate to support and scaffold the class. It
is essential to convey the idea that they should not rely on a pre-prepared script and they
will receive a favourable grade if they rotate the speaker regularly, always finish theirpoint with a question, resist the temptation to speak too much, especially with regards tomaking multiple points at once, and support the more reticent learners. It is important todeemphasize the competitive element and stress that it is through preparation, practiceand supporting each other that they will be able to conduct a natural, fluent 15-20 minutedebate in English and consequently merit a favourable grade. As Carroll explains, ‘thegoal of the exercise is to enhance oral communication skills as opposed to mastering
competitive debating technique’ (2014, p. 7). Finally, there is time for the audience
to ask questions at the end of the debate and this can also be considered as part of thegrading criteria. This encourages active listening from the audience and provides further
opportunities for output and criticality by the debate participants.
4. METHODOLOGY
To gain a deeper insight into how the group debate task is received by students I thought itwould be beneficial to do a post-task survey asking learners a variety of questions to findout some of the positive and negative aspects of the task by collecting some feedback andcomments. I wrote ten questions using the SurveyMonkey (https://www.surveymonkey.
com/) application and asked six classes of lower-intermediate level learners to complete
the questionnaire. The questionnaire was optional and anonymous and in no way connectedto their grade. The six classes were comprised of between 14-22 learners and overall I
received 89 completed surveys. The ten questions were as follows: (Q1) Are you a man ora woman?; (Q2) How old are you? (Q3) What topic did you choose for the group debate?;(Q4) Was it fun?; (Q5) Was 15 minutes for each debate the right amount of time?; (Q6)
Did you think your topic and questions worked well for the debate?; (Q7) Did you enjoyother class members debates?; (Q8) Did the debate help you get to know your classmates
better?; (Q9) Do you feel the debate helped improve your English communication skills?;
and, (Q10) Please try to make some final comments. The average time to complete the47questionnaire was 12 minutes and many students chose to make additional comments. In
the next section I will discuss each question in turn and highlight some interesting findings
and results.
5. FINDINGS AND RESULTS
For the first question there was a roughly even split in the gender of the respondents,
44 (49.44%) people were male and 45 (50.56%) female. As the classes I conducted thesurvey with were predominately first-year university students enrolled in a compulsory
English language class the vast majority of their ages were between 18-19, however,there were some second-year students who were 20 years old (11 in total) and also one
student who was 21. The diversity of the topics they chose was interesting and I feel thishighlights the learner autonomy the task provides. While some topics could perhaps be
described as predictable or rudimentary e.g., ‘summer vs. winter’, ‘iPhone vs. Android’,
a great majority were critical and often provocative e.g., ‘living with family or alone’,‘getting married or staying single’, ‘private or public high school’, ‘is it better to be a man
or a woman’, ‘24-hour city life (e.g., convenience stores, trains, etc.) is good or bad’ etc.
Question 4 generated a very positive response, as can be seen from Table 1 below, with
only 1 person feeling that the task was boring and also only 1 person out of 89 people
stating that it was ‘not fun’. While it is impossible to say who, this single student seems
to have been a higher level learner who lived in America for an extensive period. Whilethey were significantly higher than other members of the debate group, it was slightly
disappointing that they did not find some enjoyment from supporting the other membersof the group, which they actually did very successfully. The question also provided someinteresting comments with many people finding the task to be enjoyable and a good
opportunity to learn from other members of the class e.g., ‘every member of my grouptalked a lot’, ‘many people speaking together is fun and useful about my English skills’.
The comments also highlight the relative difficulty of the task and, while some learners
were understandably apprehensive about debating in front of an audience, the sense of
success many of the learners felt was palpable. For example, ‘it was hard to prepare but I
had a sense of achievement!!’; ‘I was very nervous, but I could speak my opinion. I was
happy’; ‘when I couldn’t come up with nice ideas, the other members helped me. So, I
could relax and keep talking. That helped me gained confidence’. This is very pleasing
and I think, for the majority of learners, achieving something in English that they may
struggle even in their L1 gives a great sense of confidence and a realization that they canapply their English skills to real-life authentic situations.
Table 1
Question 4: Was it fun?
It was boring
1
1.12%

48

Not fun1
1.12%

Medium18
20.22%

Yes, quite fun Yes, very fun!
44
25
49.44%
28.09%

Total
89

Question 5 indicated that the vast majority of learners felt 15 minutes was appropriate with72 (82.76%) people agreeing that this was the optimum length of the debate. As I timed theassessments, however, many groups did, in fact, speak for 20 minutes. Ultimately, I feel itshould be up to the discretion of the teacher to be responsive to the individual classroom
environment and allow some flexibility concerning the timing of the debate. In addition,
I certainly would not use a visible timer as I feel this may inhibit the group and makethem more conscious that this is an assessment. A key feature of the task is fluency andI would like learners to immerse themselves in the debate, relax, and improvise as muchas possible. Questions 6 and 7 both received very positive feedback and the comments
indicated a very high level of engagement with the task (as you can see from Tables
2 & 3 below). For question 6 it is evident that many students worked hard to prepare
for the debate and I feel the comments reflect an increased sense of motivation to study
English, such as: ‘yes. I think more deeply’, ‘because our debate was activated so much.
I understood that going to European countries is very useful to study English’; ‘I could
speak a lot and helping others the debate made me think more deeply about my topic. So
this experience is useful to teach other people’; ‘I have been working hard on the topic’.
Question 7 also suggests that listening to other groups was very beneficial for the majorityof the audience. For example: ‘I could be relaxed to listen the debate. It was very fun!’;‘especially, the last team’s debate was great!! It was easy to listen what they are saying
and they didn’t get too nervous’; ‘all groups use easy English, so I could understandeasier. Also, their topics were interesting and simple’, ‘because teacher make comfortable
atmosphere’. However, there were some learners who, perhaps understandably, felt it
was difficult to follow other groups’ debate: ‘I could not understand English sometimes’;‘sometimes I couldn’t understand content of debate’. This is similar to Zare and Othman’sfindings that some learners, ‘considered that listening to other students debating has notbeen an active and educational activity’ (2013, p. 1507-8). While the question and answer
time at the end of the debate is useful to encourage active listening, it is true that many
students did not volunteer to ask questions. Perhaps when conducting this debate again in
the future I will more actively encourage post-debate questions by emphasising that it will
have a positive impact on their grade, or have them take notes on another group’s debate
to write a summary for homework.
Table 2
Question 6: Did you think your topic and questions worked well for the Debate?
Not at all
3
3.41%

Not really2
2.27%

Medium26
29.55%

Yes, quite well30
34.09%

Yes, very well27
30.68%

Total
88

49

Table 3
Question 7: Did you enjoy other class members’ debates?
Not at all Not really Medium Yes, quite interesting
2
2.27%

2
2.27%

14
15.91%

38
43.18%

Yes, very
interesting32
36.36%

Total
88

I was very pleased with the overwhelmingly positive response to the last three questions.
It would seem a crucial element of the fluency building process to try to make the in-classlearning atmosphere as welcoming and supportive as possible. I feel it is important toencourage class interaction and for learners to build trust and friendship and I feel thisis reflected very well by the results in Table 4. Some comments were also very positiveand encapsulate the spirit of the debate task well: ‘to help each other, I get to know thembetter’; ‘because we talk a lot to prepare’; ‘we talk a lot outside the class for the debate’;‘I could understand the feeling of my friends through the debate’. This would seem aresounding success and hopefully, through the forming of these class ties, the debate task
will help cultivate a more positive class atmosphere to conduct improved fluency andteamwork activities throughout the rest of the semester. While it is difficult for learners tojudge if their English communication skills have improved with any degree of accuracy,
the, albeit slightly anecdotal, results of question 9 are still extremely pleasing. Thesevery positive comments reflect these findings well: ‘I can improve my vocabulary’; ‘I
practice very much’; ‘I could get a little confidence. So I want to speak more’; ‘because
no script, no dictionary, it was very good practice to think quickly in English, because
it was practical learning’; ‘normally, I don’t talk in English, but I talked very much in
English in this debate’. Unfortunately, there is not enough space in this article to list too
many of the comments generated in question 10. Here is a small sample of the comments
which demonstrate how positively the debate task was received by Japanese university
students: ‘I tried to speak a lot. It was so fun!!’; ‘the debate was very interesting and I
had fun working on it. I think I did very good on the fact that I didn’t speak too much andour group spoke equally’; ‘it makes me feel better and I think it was important for me toimprove my English skills’; ‘the Debate improves my English skills! In the future, I want
to help foreign tourist!’, ‘first I think debate is so hard, but I was able to enjoy debate.
I feel my English growing’; ‘I enjoy this class very much!! I’m looking forward to thesecond class and I strive to improve the skills of English more!’
Table 4
Question 8: Did the Debate help you get to know your classmates better?
Not at all
0
0%

50

Not really2
2.25%

Medium17
19.10%

Yes, a little
40
44.94%

Yes, very much
30
33.71%

Total
89

Table 5
Question 9: Do you feel the Debate helped improve your English communication skills?
Not at all
1
1.12%

Not really1
1.12%

Medium17
19.10%

Yes, a little Yes, very much
37
33
41.57%
37.08%

Total
89

6. CONCLUSIONAs demonstrated throughout this paper and highlighted in the student comments above, I
feel debate is an extremely fruitful activity for language learning as it activates all four of
the key skills and, if implemented appropriately, develops a great sense of achievement andintrinsic motivation among learners. I feel that the development of intrinsic motivation,cultivating your own language learning goals and building a vision of the person you want
to become is crucial for successful SLA (Dörnyei, 2003; Dörnyei & Kubanyiova, 2014).
In Japan, most university English classes only last for one year and, in some cases, it could
be the last formal English lessons our learners ever have. Therefore, the development of
an intrinsic desire to continue to learn and use English as a lingua franca both inside andoutside of the classroom is a crucial element of our job. As such I feel the debate task
described in this paper can certainly contribute towards this goal. I hope that this article
can go some way to bolstering these claims and add to the continuing development of the
ELF debate field.
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Aclan, E. M., & Aziz, N. H. A. (2015). Exploring parliamentary debate as apedagogical tool to develop English communication skills in EFL/ESL
classrooms. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature,4(2), 1-16. doi: 10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.4n.2p.1
Aclan, E., & Aziz, N. H. A., & Valdez, N. (2016). Debate as a pedagogical tool todevelop soft skills in EFL/ESL classroom: A qualitative case study. Social Science& Humanities, 24(1), 213-240. http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.4n.2p.1
Akerman, R., & Neale, I. (2011). Debating the evidence: An international review of   current situation and perceptions. London, UK: CfBT Education Trust and The
English-Speaking Union. Retrieved from https://debate.uvm.edu/dcpdf/ESU_
Report_debatingtheevidence_FINAL.pdf
Amiri, F., Othman, M., & Jahedi, M. (2017). A case study of the development of an
ESL learner’s speaking skills through instructional debate. International Journalof Humanities and Social Science, 7(2), 120-126. Retrieved from https://www.
ijhssnet.com/journals/Vol_7_No_2_February_2017/15.pdf
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Carroll, M. D. (2014). Using debates to enhance students’ oral business communication
skills. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 5(10), 1-8.
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Advances in theory, research and applications. Language Learning, 53(1), 3-32.
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Dörnyei, Z., & Kubanyiova, M. (2014). Motivating learners, motivating teachers:
Building vision in the language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Fauzan, U. (2016). Enhancing speaking ability of EFL students through debate and peer
assessment. EFL Journal, 1(1), 49-57. doi: 10.21462/eflj.v1i1.8
Flowerdew, J., & Lindsay, M. (2005). Second language listening: Theory and practice.
London: Cambridge Language Education.
Goodwin, J., (2003). Students’ perspectives on debate exercises in content area classes.
Communication Education, 52(2), 157-163. doi: 10.1080/03634520302466
Jenkins, J. (2000). The phonology of English as a lingua franca. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Krieger, D. (2005). Teaching debate to ESL students: A six-class unit. The Internet
TESL Journal, 11(2). Retrieved from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Krieger-Debate.
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Rear, D. (2010). A systematic approach to teaching critical thinking through debate. ELTWorld, 2, 1-10. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/2265245/A_systematic_
approach_to_teaching_critical_thinking_through_debate
Rear, D. (2016). Critical thinking, language and problem-solving: scaffolding thinking
skills through debate. In Breeze, R., & Guinda. C. (Eds.), Essential Competencies
for English-Medium University Teaching (pp. 51 – 63). New York: Springer
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Stewart, T., & Pleisch, G. (1998). Developing academic language skills and fluency
through debate. The Language Teacher, 22(10). Retrieved from https://jaltpublications.org/tlt/articles/2381-developing-academic-language-skills-andfluency-through-debate
Thornbury, S. (2005). How to teach speaking. Essex: Longman.
Zare, P., & Othman, M. (2013). Classroom debate as a systematic teaching/learning
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wasj.2013.28.11.1809

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54

Effectiveness of Explicit Instruction in Reading
Strategies for Beginner-level Students
初級レベルの学習者に対するリーディング・ストラテジー指導の効果について
Sachi Oshima, 大島 幸
Center for English as a Lingua Franca, Tamagawa University, Japansachioshima@lab.tamagawa.ac.jp

ABSTRACTThis study focuses on Japanese EFL college students at the beginner’s level and investigatesthe students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of explicit instruction in reading strategies.
It examines the following three research questions: (1) How does the way the students
read English change due to explicit instruction in reading strategies?; (2) How does thestudents' fluency in reading change due to explicit instruction in reading strategies?; and(3) Do there appear to be any other benefits of explicit instruction in reading strategies?
The participants were 12 college students who took an elective course titled, Academic
Reading. While reading the textbook, the students were given explicit instruction inreading strategies for three months. More specifically, scanning, annotation, skimming,taking notes, and summarizing were introduced during the course, and the students wereencouraged to repeatedly use these reading strategies and to monitor their use. In order
to investigate any changes in their use of strategies and their reading fluency, the same
open-ended questionnaire was conducted three times during the course, and the students’answers were analyzed. The results of this study suggest that explicit instruction in reading
strategies is effective in developing Japanese EFL students’ English reading skills. The
students reported that their ability to find the necessary information in the texts and tounderstand the gist had greatly improved. The students also reported a noticeable change
in their reading speed. It was also found that explicit instruction in reading strategies canmotivate and encourage beginner-level students to read English texts.
KEYWORDS: Reading strategies, Strategy instruction, Beginner-level students
1. INTRODUCTION
In the teaching of English reading, comprehension questions such as T/F questions,pronominal questions, and multiple-choice items are often included in reading textbooks.
In fact, according to a survey by Benesse Educational Research and Development Institute(2015), 86.5% of senior high school teachers in Japan answered that they “often” or55

“sometimes” use comprehension questions. In other words, Japanese college students are
already familiar with comprehension questions when doing English reading.
However, the fact that students are familiar with comprehension questions does
not always mean that they effectively utilize the skills associated with these questions
and understand the reading materials. Especially for students at the beginner’s level,
conversations such as the following are frequent:
Teacher: Question No. 1. Is it True or False?
Student X: False.
Teacher: Good. Why do you think so?
Student X: Huh?
Teacher: Fill in the blank. What is your answer, (a), (b), (c), or (d)?
Student Y: (b)Teacher: OK. Where do you find this information in the textbook?
Student Y: Eh…where?
From these students’ responses, it can be assumed that beginner-level students
may often answer comprehension questions without understanding or even reading thetext. Nation (2009) explained the problem of comprehension questions, saying thatfrom the learners’ point of view, the most important informationthat they will gain from making an error is that they made thewrong choice and their interest will be in discovering what theright answer is rather than is discovering what they should do to
avoid a similar error in the future (p. 31).
Teachers usually expect students to answer comprehension questions based onreading a text; however, the actual situation does not always fulfill this expectation,
especially for students with low English proficiency. The challenge here is how teachers
can encourage students to actually read English texts, to find necessary information,and to understand the content. In order to deal with this challenge, the effectiveness of
encouraging reading strategies is worth investigating.
2. BACKGROUNDThis study investigates students’ perception of whether explicit instruction in reading
strategies is effective for the development of their reading skills. This review, therefore,
first concentrates on the reading strategies employed in this study. Several studies are also
reviewed in order to examine the positive effects of strategy instruction when teachingreading.
56

2.1 Reading Strategies
According to Grabe and Stoller (2011), reading strategies are defined as “abilities thatare potentially open to conscious reflection, and reflect a reader’s intention to address a
problem or a specific goal while reading” (p. 10). Reading strategies include connecting
text to readers’ background knowledge, skimming, scanning, guessing the meaning of
vocabulary from context, monitoring main-idea comprehension, taking notes, underliningor highlighting, and summarizing (see Grabe & Stoller, 2011; Nation, 2009; Schramn,
2008).
Reading strategies have been considered as important for the development ofreading fluency. If EFL students read texts which contain “no unknown vocabulary andgrammar” (Nation, 2009, p. 72), a good silent reading speed is around 250 words per
minute and a good skimming speed is around 500 words per minute. It is said that lessthan 100 words per minute is too slow to comprehend the text. In order for learners toread fluently or at a good speed, Nation (2009) and Grabe and Stoller (2011) explained
the effectiveness of two reading strategies: skimming and scanning. Skimming means that“the reader goes through a text quickly, not noting every word but trying to get the mainidea of what the text is about” (Nation, 2009, p. 70). In other words, readers try to get thegist and identify the main idea. On the other hand, scanning requires readers to search fora particular piece of information such as a particular name or a particular number.
Of course, it is no use reading faster if readers cannot understand the content
of a text. Nation (2009) suggested that, while developing fluency reading, readers are
expected to score 70 percent of comprehension questions correctly. Therefore, whenteaching these two strategies - skimming and scanning - for fluency development, students’comprehension was also paid much attention and regarded as important.  
2.2 Effects of Strategy Instruction
It is generally considered that good readers can utilize various reading strategies (Chamot,
2008; Grabe & Stoller, 2011; Nation, 2009). Since this study focuses on Japanese EFL
college students with low English proficiency, this review concentrates on the previous
studies whose participants were at the beginner’s level and learned target language as aforeign language.
Macaro and Erler (2008)   provided reading strategy instruction for 14 months
to young-beginner learners in England who were learning to read French as a foreign
language. They focused on the strategies which learners can employ when they faceunknown words or phrases in a text; for example, scanning for familiar words and using
them to guess the meaning, skipping a text, looking up many words in a dictionary, andusing background knowledge. Comparing the participants’ change before and after the
strategy instruction, they concluded that “strategy instruction improved comprehension ofboth simple and more elaborate texts, brought about changes in strategy use, and improved
attitudes toward reading” (p. 90).
As for Japanese college students, Adachi and Oishi (2017) provided strategy
instruction for three months to Japanese college students who took a reading class. They
used a reading textbook, Making Connections 3 (2013, Cambridge University Press),which focuses on reading skills and strategies. In their strategy instruction, they encouraged
57the students to understand paragraph structure, guess the meaning of unknown words orphrases from the context, and their background knowledge. Before and after the course,
the students took a reading test, which was prepared by the researchers and extracted fromthe reading comprehension part (Part VII) in the TOEIC test.  The researchers pointed outthat strategy instruction improved the scores of the reading test. They also suggested that“students with lower and middle-level proficiency could grasp the text better as a whole
as a result of strategy training” (p. 57).
Based on these studies, it appears that strategy instruction is beneficial fordeveloping students’ reading skills. If really so, the teaching of reading strategies tostudents, especially those with low English proficiency should be highly recommended.
However, it has also been pointed out that research on the effects of strategy instruction
is not enough. Grabe and Stoller (2011) suggested that “research on reading strategies
in L2 contexts is surprisingly limited, despite many discussions of the importance ofreading strategies to improve students’ reading abilities” (p. 112). Chamot (2008) also
concluded that “while we have learned much about the usefulness of including the kindsof strategies used by good language learners in target language education, much still
remains to be investigated” (p. 276). More research is needed on the effects of reading
strategy instruction.
2.3 Research Questions
Based on the previous studies, this study focuses on students’ perceptions and investigates
whether strategy instruction can be beneficial in developing the English reading skills ofJapanese EFL students, especially those at the beginner’s level. Through the students’
perceptions of their own English reading, this study examines the following three researchquestions:(1) How does the way the students read English change due to explicit instruction inreading strategies?
(2) How does the students’ fluency in reading change due to explicit instruction in reading
strategies?
(3) Do there appear to be any other benefits of explicit instruction in reading strategies?
3. METHODS
3.1 Participants
The participants were 12 Japanese college students who took an elective course called“Academic Reading” of which the researcher was in charge. All of them were non-English
majors, and their English proficiency was at the beginner’s level. More specifically, mostof them neither passed nor even tried to take Grade 3 of the “EIKEN” English Proficiency
Test in Japan, which corresponds to A1 level of the CEFR. At the beginning of the course,
they commonly reported to the researcher that they were not confident in reading English.
Prior to commencing the study, all the participants gave informed consent to the researcher.

58

3.2 Procedure
The researcher conducted the lessons as the teacher of the course. The textbook used during
the course was Select Readings, Pre-Intermediate (Oxford University Press, 2011) whose
CEFR level is A2. The textbook was chosen by the researcher. Each chapter includes anarticle of approximately 400 to 600 words with comprehension questions.
While reading the textbook, the students were given explicit instruction in reading
strategies for three months. The students read one article every week, except in the weeks
for the reviews, mid-semester and final exams. In order to investigate the changes in theiruse of strategies and their fluency in reading, the same open-ended questionnaire wasconducted three times during the course, and the students’ answers were analyzed (seeTable 1).
At the beginning of the course, the expression to indicate the location in the reading
text, “Paragraph X, Line Y,” was introduced. Then, in the first three weeks, the students
followed the following sequence:(1) Read the comprehension questions first.
(2) Don’t try to translate every single word. Instead, look at the text, and search for aparticular piece of information (scanning).
(3) Underline or highlight the sentence (annotation).
(4) Answer the comprehension questions, and at the same time, answer where theinformation was found using the expression “Paragraph X, Line Y.”
Using the above procedure, when the students answered T/F questions for example,
they had to (1) read the statement written in the textbook, (2) search for the sentence orphrase which supports or denies the statement, and (3) underline or highlight the sentence.
Then, the students had to (4) answer the questions as follows.  
Teacher: Question No. 1. Is it True or False?
Student X: False.
Teacher: Good. Why is it F? Where did you find the information?
Student X: “Paragraph X, Line Y.”
In the fourth and fifth weeks, the students were encouraged to explain whatis stated in each paragraph either in English or Japanese. In order to do so, skimmingand summarizing were additionally introduced. Before looking at the questions on the
textbook, the researcher let the students read each paragraph and take notes to explain
what is written in each paragraph. The students were also encouraged to take notes orannotate in the margin.
From the sixth week on, the students were encouraged to repeatedly use scanning,skimming, summarizing, annotating, and taking notes. At the end of each lesson, thestudents were also encouraged to reflect and monitor which strategies they had used while
reading the textbook.
As for the reading speed, from the first week on, the researcher let the students
know every five minutes while they were reading the textbook. Students were encouraged
59

to write a slash mark (“/”) or any mark in the textbook so that they could trace how many
sentences they could read within every five minutes. As mentioned in 2.1, it is said thata good silent reading speed is around 250 words per minute (Nation, 2009); however,
because the beginner-level students lacked enough vocabulary and grammar, it seemed tobe reasonable to set a moderate goal so reading fluency was monitored every five minutes,
not every minute.  
Table 1
Schedule of the Course
Date
Content(in 2019)
1 April 11
Chapter 1
2 April 18
Chapter 23 April 25
Chapter 3

Word
Count
427
449
588

4

May 9

Chapter 4443

5

May 16

Chapter 5

585

6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

May 23
May 30June 6
June 13
June 20
June 27
July 4
July 11
July 18
July 25

Review (Chap. 1-5)
Mid-semester Exam
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Review (Chap. 6-11)
Final Exam

451
592
613
538
476
496

Strategy Instruction Questionnaire

Scanning, Annotation
Scanning, Annotation
Scanning, Annotation
Scanning, Annotation
Skimming
Summarizing
Note-taking
Scanning, Annotation
Skimming
Summarizing
Note-taking
ALL, Monitoring
ALL, Monitoring
ALL, Monitoring
ALL, Monitoring
ALL, Monitoring
ALL, Monitoring

1st time

2nd time

3rd time

As for the medium of strategy instruction, not only English but also Japanese (thestudents’ L1) was used based on what Chamot (2008) suggested.
Beginning level language students do not yet have theproficiency to understand explanations in the target language of
why and how to use learning strategies. However, if learning
strategy instruction is postponed until intermediate or advanced
level courses, beginners will be deprived of strategies that can60make their language learning more successful and increase theirmotivation for further study (p. 274).
It was true that explaining in Japanese was necessary for the first three weeks,but gradually, the students became able to understand English-only explanations. This ispartly because of their development of English listening skills, but more than that, it canbe considered that the students came to be familiar with reading English texts while using
reading strategies.
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
As noted in 3.1, the same open-ended questionnaire was conducted three times during thecourse (see Table 1). The questionnaire was conducted in the students’ L1 (Japanese)1, andconsists of the following three items.
(1) Do you feel that there has been any change in the way you read English before andafter taking this course?
(2) Do you feel that there has been any change in the speed of your reading English before
and after taking this course?
(3) Do you have any other comments about this course?
4.1 Students’ Perceptions of Their Use of Reading Strategies
First, regarding the research question (1) How does the way the students read English
change due to explicit instruction in reading strategies?, 100% (all 12 students) answeredthat their ways of reading English had changed. The students reported that, instead oftranslating every sentence, their ability to find the necessary information in the texts andto understand the gist was highly improved. In other words, they became able to use
scanning and skimming. Several students showed noticeable changes in their comments
as follows (emphasis was added by the researcher):Student A (male, 2nd year)
Before: “I translated every English word into Japanese and tried to understand thecontent.”
After 14 weeks: “I can pick important parts from the text.”
Student B (female, 3rd year)
Before: “I could not read or understand an English text at all.”After 7 weeks: “I became able to pay attention to and focus on the gist while
reading.”
After 14 weeks: “I feel I became able to read an English text. I became able to infer
the meanings of unknown words from the context.”
1
Questionnaire items and students’ answers cited in this paper were translated from Japanese to
English by the researcher.

61

Student C (male, 3rd year)
Before: “When I found unknown words, I stumbled and stopped reading, which
affected my reading comprehension negatively.”
After 3 weeks: “I became able to get the main idea of what the text is about.”
After 7 weeks: “I became able to identify the subject of each sentence.”
After 14 weeks: “I can identify the important parts in each paragraph. This
helps me understand the gist of the story without translating every sentence.
Understanding the gist helps me understand detailed information.”
4.2 Students’ Perceptions of Fluency Development
Secondly, regarding the research question (2) How does the students’ fluency in readingchange due to explicit instruction in reading strategies?, all 12 students (100%) answeredthat their speed of reading English had become faster (see Figure 1). After three weeks,four students answered that their speed had become “faster,” six students answered, “alittle faster,” and two students answered that their speed did not change. However, after 14
weeks, no student answered that their speed did not change while four students answeredthat their speed had become “much faster.”Figure 1. Students’ perceptions of their change in reading speed

The students’ questionnaire also showed some reasons why their reading speed
increased. First, they stopped translating English into Japanese. By skimming which isthe strategy they newly acquired, the students found it possible to comprehend the basic
ideas in texts without translating every sentence. Secondly, through summarizing eachparagraph, they became able to grasp the main idea of each paragraph so that they were
not confused while reading even long sentences.
Student D (female, 2nd year)
Before: “I could not comprehend texts unless I translated every English word into
Japanese. Because of this translation, it took a long time.”
62

After 14 weeks: “I can make inferences and guess meaning from the context. I am
happy that I became able to read fluently.”
Student E (female, 2nd year)
Before: “While reading, I often got lost and wondered where I was in the text, andI had to read the same part again and again.”
After 14 weeks: “By reading each paragraph, I can reflect on and organize mycomprehension in mind.”
4.3 Positive Influence on Motivation
Finally, regarding the last research question, (3) Do there appear to be any other benefits
of explicit instruction in reading strategies?, the students’ comments showed that explicit
instruction in reading strategies can encourage and motivate beginner-level students toread English texts. Below are some examples of their comments.
- “I believed I was poor at reading English, but now I don’t feel like that.”- “I gained confidence in reading English.”- “I realized that even I can read and understand English. I gained confidence.”- “I really enjoyed reading long sentences in English.”- “My resistance to English reading disappeared. I want to try to read the English
translation of Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood.”
5. CONCLUSION
This study examined students’ perceptions and investigated the effectiveness of explicit
instruction in reading strategies in the development of students’ reading comprehension.
First, explicit instruction in reading strategies can have a positive effect on the developmentof Japanese EFL students’ English reading skills. Above all, the students reported that
their ability to skim and scan the texts improved greatly. Secondly, explicit instruction
in reading strategies can contribute to fluency development. All of the students (100%)
perceived their development in reading fluency. Finally, it was also found that explicit
instruction in reading strategies is effective for the enhancement of beginner-level students’motivation to read English texts.
It cannot be denied that this study has several limitations which should be
examined in a follow-up study. First, this study had no objective comparison between
an experimental group with strategy instruction and a control group without it. Also, thenumber of participants was exceptionally small. Due also to the limited time available toconduct an objective reading test before and after the course, this study could not provide
objective data which confirms students’ subjective self-perceptions. In the follow-up study,“accuracy in students’ reading,” which can be measured by a reading test, and “fluency
in students’ reading,” which can be measured by timed-reading and word count, arenecessary to be examined. Finally, all participants were taking an elective English course“Academic Reading”; therefore, there is the possibility that they were more motivatedthan the average Japanese college students at the beginner’s level.
In spite of these limitations, the results of this study showed that explicit instruction63

in reading strategies can be a useful means of developing English reading skills in EFL
contexts. Above all, for beginner-level students, strategy instruction is very beneficial
because it encourages them to actively read, find necessary information to answer
comprehension questions, and comprehend texts. Strategy instruction also contributes
to fluency development in reading and brings positive influences on motivation. By
introducing strategy instruction, comprehension questions also appear to work more
effectively and efficiently in teaching reading.   
REFERENCES
Adachi, N., & Oishi, H. (2017). The effects of reading strategy training based on reading
proficiency. In Hiroshima University, Graduate School of Education (Ed.), Journalof Learning Science, 10, 57-63. http://doi.org/10.15027/42638
Benesse Educational Research and Development Institute (BERD). (2015). Survey on
English Instruction in Japanese Lower and Upper Secondary Schools. Retrieved
from https://berd.benesse.jp/up_images/research/Eigo_Shido_all.pdf
Chamot, A. U. (2008). Strategy instruction and good language learners. In C. Griffiths(Ed.), Lessons from good language learners (pp. 266-281). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Grabe, W., & Stoller, F. L. (2011). Teaching and researching reading (2nd ed.). Harlow:
Pearson Education.
Macaro, E., & Erler, L. (2008). Raising the achievement of young-beginner readers ofFrench through strategy instruction. Applied Linguistics, 29, 90-119.
          https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amm023
Nation, I.S.P. (2009). Teaching ESL/ EFL reading and writing. New York: Routledge.
Schramm, K. (2008). Reading and good language learners. In C. Griffiths (Ed.), Lessons
from good language learners (pp. 231-243). Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.

64

65

66

Liven Up the English Classroom with Academic
Learning: Examples from Cognitive Psychology
学問で英語クラスを活気づけよう:
認知心理学からの実例
Tomokazu Ishikawa, 石川 友和
Center for English as a Lingua Franca, Tamagawa University, Japant.ishikawa@lab.tamagawa.ac.jp

ABSTRACT
Topics in merchandised university English coursebooks are not necessarily interesting
to students. By providing example activities on cognitive psychology topics, the present
paper discusses one way of making the classroom a more exciting and engaging place tostudy English, along with academic content through English.
KEYWORDS: English language teaching (ELT), English medium instruction (EMI),
Cognitive psychology
1. INTRODUCTION
Widely marketed university coursebooks of English for (General) Academic Purposes or
EAP largely avoid proactive topics, commonly known as PARSNIP, which are politics,
alcohol, religion, sex, narcotics, isms (e.g., communism), and pornography or pork
(Galloway, 2018; Gray, 2000). Activities in these ‘uncontroversial’ textbooks can be
too insipid to encourage student engagement in learning. In reference to Airey’s (2016)
language-content continuum, the present paper suggests moving from EAP (i.e., language)
towards English Medium Instruction or EMI (i.e., academic content) with the help ofclassical topics in cognitive psychology. Given that Japanese students educated in Japantend to take EMI as the opportunity to learn language (Murata & Iino, 2018), EMI has thepotential to promote more active and purposeful language use through stimulating andfascinating content.
As such, it is not the author’s intention to encourage fellow English instructors to
discuss controversial topics, such as PARSNIP, in their classrooms. Rather, he would liketo demonstrate that incorporating academic learning into our teaching may be key to more
student engagement in classroom activities. To this effect, what follows offers examples
of classroom practices.
672. EXAMPLE ACTIVITIESThis main section introduces four classical topics in cognitive psychology, which may be
used in the university English classroom for students across different English capabilities
and from different disciplines. These topics are Wason’s (1966) four card problem (see2.1), availability and representative heuristics (Kahneman & Tversky, 1972; Tversky &Kahneman, 1973; see 2.2 & 2.3), and change blindness (Simons & Levin, 1998; see 2.4).
Figures 1 to 5 below are the actual slides the author has used in his teaching1.
2.1 Wason’s (1966) Four Card Problem
Based on a series of experiments reported by Wason & Shapiro (1971), we can include
challenging but entertaining activities in class. Students will be shown four cards andgiven a rule to verify. Their task is to determine if the rule is being followed by selecting
two cards out of the four to turn over.

Figure 1. Wason’s four card problem: Letters and numbers

It is worthwhile to explain what vowels and consonants as well as even and odd
numbers mean to students. Obviously, while A, E, I, O, and U are the only vowel lettersin English, there are infinite even numbers. Each card has a letter on the one side and anumber on the other side. For example, the leftmost card (i.e., “F”) has some number
printed on the back side, and the next one (i.e., “4”) has some letter on the reverse side.
A good number of students are likely to select the middle cards (i.e., “4” and “E”).
At first sight, their decision is reasonable since the rule is about even numbers and vowels.
However, it does not matter whether the other side of “4” is a consonant because consonant
cards are irrelevant to the rule (i.e., “If a card has a vowel”). In other words, the rule does
1

These slides will be compiled, together with others, as teaching material for one module atTamagawa University’s Center for English as a Lingua Franca (see Ishikawa & McBride, 2019).

68not say anything about consonants. After all, people may all suffer from confirmation bias,that is, the tendency to confirm rather than disconfirm information. To borrow Anderson’s(2015) words, “[t]he number of people that make the right combination of choices, turningover only the E and the 7, is often only about 10%, which has been taken as a damningindictment of human reasoning” (p. 243).
Human reasoning often fails, and Wason’s (1966) four card problem shows how
good people are at modus ponens and tollens respectively.

Figure 2. Modus ponens and tollens

In the case of Rule 1 in Figure 1:•  Modus ponens (i.e., if p then q): If a card has a vowel, then it must have an evennumber on the other.
•  Modus tollens (i.e., if not-q then not-p): If a card does not have an even number,then it must not have a vowel on the other.
The former logic requires task-takers to turn over “E” (i.e., a vowel), and the latter logic
necessitates checking “7” (i.e., not an even number).
Students may want to try another card selection task. In the hope of more correct
responses, we can state a problem in concrete everyday terms in relation to familiar
everyday experiences.

69

Figure 3. Wason’s four card problem: Drinks and ages

A few students might not be familiar with the word “coke”, which is short for Coca-Cola,and more importantly, a soft drink.
We can encourage small group discussion and make links to our textbooks. As
an example, we can use the following boldfaced expressions from our current reading
textbook for ELF101-102 courses (Ackert, Lee, Hawkins & Back, 2014, p. 77):
I think we should turn over ____ and ____.
•  Yes, I agree. / Yes, I know. / Yes, I think so, too.
•  Well, maybe. / You may be right. / I’m not sure about that.
•  Well, I don’t think so. / You don’t say. / No way.
We may ask each group to reach agreement on the two cards to be selected throughdiscussion, and share their ideas with the class afterwards.
This time, many students will probably select the correct cards: “beer” and “16years old”. We should better not forget to praise students for their active participation inclass and for their better reasoning in the second card selection task.
2.2 Availability Heuristic
Another area we can use to promote student discussion is what is called availability
heuristic (Tversky & Kahneman, 1973) to be explained later. We can create classroom
activities in accordance with interests of local learners, and Kusano (2016) seems to serve
this purpose.

70

Figure 4. Availability heuristic

It is a good idea to make sure that all students understand the above three options,and that beauty parlours are different from barbershops. At this stage, we need not, or ought
not to, explain what availability heuristic is like. Note that the same expressions as in 2.1
are ‘recycled’ in Figure 4. Students will be able to proceduralise textbook expressions byusing them on different occasions.
Again, we may encourage small group discussion to reach agreement on one of thethree options as a group. This procedure will not take so much time since many students
usually think that convenience stores are the largest in number. A few groups may choose
dental clinics instead.
In reality, however, Japan has over 220,000 beauty parlours, far exceeding 35,100
convenience stores and 68,700 dental clinics (see Kusano, 2016). While more updated
governmental statistics are not available, it would be fair to say that the first option (i.e.,
beauty parlours) is the factual answer to this three-choice question.
Human cognition is not perfect. In Tversky and Kahneman’s (1973) original
experiment, people commonly perceive that there are more words beginning with k thanhaving k as the third letter, even though the opposite is true. With first letters a goodmemory cue, it is much easier to think of the former than the latter.
Likewise, in the case of the above three-choice question, convenience stores easily
occur to students’ mind as the places they regularly use. Even if they spend more moneyat beauty parlours than at convenience stores, they use the former far less often. On a side
note, more convenience stores are normally available around railway stations. Tamagawa
University, where we work, is close to a station, and its students inevitably see different
convenient stores while walking to and from the university.
As seen in both Tversky and Kahneman (1973) and Kusano (2016), the morememorable or striking examples are, the more likely people are to judge their occurrence71

in real life. To put it differently, people are liable to make a probability judgment of agiven item by its retrieval fluency (e.g., Reber, 2017), that is, how easily its examples
come to mind.
To convince students further, we can add an anecdote like this: Student A has threeclose friends in her English class, and none of the three likes studying English. She tells
her mother at home loudly that everyone in the class dislikes studying English even if adozen other students in the same class feel the opposite way. Having heard this anecdote,
we may see students smiling or laughing. We tend to exaggerate what easily comes tomind. Again, we may want to praise students for their understanding academic content
through English.
2.3 Representative Heuristic
Similarly, we are prone to judge by representativeness or characteristic features without
regard to base rate or statistical probability. To put it technically, we often use therepresentative heuristic (Kahneman & Tversky, 1972). The following example is adaptedfrom Swinkels (2003).

Figure 5. Representative heuristic

It is likely that students at Tamagawa University are familiar with what its
Performing Arts department is like and therefore with this term (i.e., performing arts),
but that some of them are unfamiliar with the words “aggressively” and “occupation” as
was the case in the author’s ELF101-102 class. When the author used this slide, Naomi
Osaka created a sensation in the media by winning the 2018 United States Open tennis
tournament. He took the second-place winner Serena Williams as an example of aggressive
athletes, and referred to Williams’ and Osaka’s occupation as playing tennis. Also, we canallow students to search by image through the Internet and discuss what trapeze artists are
like, as well as other occupations in Figure 5 as necessary.
72

Yet again, we may encourage small group discussion to decide on one of the five
options. We can ‘recycle’ any set of textbook expressions and put them in a communicative
context (see 2.2). Different ideas will emerge from different groups, making the subsequentclass discussion lively. It is true that the description of the person named Tamao seems
to be suggestive of a performer. Importantly, however, the number of any of the otheroptions (i.e., business people, farmers, lawyers, and surgeons) is significantly higher thanthat of trapeze artists in Japan and elsewhere. Disregarding this base rate information,
students may well be swayed into believing that Tamao belongs to a circus troupe. Given
that 60.04 out of 67.24 million workers in Japan are categorised as business people as of2019 (Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020), it is the most reasonable to consider him to bea businessperson. Students will be ‘all ears’ to this explanation, perhaps wondering why
they have ignored the base rate information themselves.
2.4 Change Blindness
If we left the classroom shortly and came back with a different tie or scarf, how many
students would notice the change? To the same effect, we may show the first 38 seconds of
NOVA’s (2011) video clip to see whether students will notice a change of persons withina brief story.
Simons and Levin’s (1998) well-cited experiment on change blindness isreproduced in the same video clip of NOVA (2011, 1’40’’–2’35’’). In their study, an
experimenter stopped pedestrians and asked for directions (see Figure 6). While talking,they were interrupted by ‘workers’ who were carrying a large board and passing between
them. Even though one of the workers replaced the original experimenter during thatinterruption (see Figure 7), around half of the participants did not notice the change, thus
illustrating how greatly contextual information affects our perception of the world.

Figure 6. Change blindness: Asking for directions, captured from NOVA (2011, 2’07’’)73

Figure 7. Change blindness: Asking for directions, captured from NOVA (2011, 2’09’’)

Once students get the idea that people are often biased by contextual informationand thereby unable to keep track of current information, we can show another video clip,
such as Chambers (2016), in which instructions are given in English. Chambers (2016)
starts with the text instruction, “You’re about to see two images switching back and forthin rapid succession” (0’00’’–0’03’’), and includes three tasks of this kind (see Figure 8
for the first task as an example). Students will be glued to the quickly alternating images,
possibly forgetting the fact that they are reading instructions in English and listening toour explanation through English, rather than their mother tongue.

74

Figure 8. Change blindness: Two switching images, captured from Chambers (2016,
0’13’’–0’17’’)2

With students, we will experience “[t]he inability to detect a change in a scene when thechange matches the context” (Anderson 2015, p. 366). At the same time, we will observe
students’ ability to enjoy and learn about cognitive psychology.
3. CONCLUSIONClassical topics in cognitive psychology may provide English classes with a lot offun. We can facilitate English use when it is combined with academic learning which
is both intellectually intriguing and relevant to everyday life. Wason’s (1966) four card
problem, availability and representative heuristics (Kahneman & Tversky, 1972; Tversky& Kahneman, 1973), and change blindness (Simons & Levin, 1998) are among good
examples. They highlight the human tendencies to have a confirmation bias, overweight
what easily comes to mind, ignore base rate information, and not to see changes in a visual
scene respectively. We can find similar examples in Anderson (2015) and other cognitive
psychology textbooks.
By identifying weaknesses in cognition, we may be able to think more carefullyand effectively. By finding a place of learning these weaknesses in the English classroom,
we may be able to bring more excitement and engagement in studying English as well as
academic content through English.

2

Note the difference in colour of the trousers worn by the person on the far left.

75References
Ackert, P., Lee, L., Hawkins, E., & Beck, J. (2014). New reading and vocabularydevelopment 1: Facts and figures. New Tech Park: Cengage Learning Asia.
Airey, J. (2016). EAP, EMI or CLIL? In K. Hyland, & P. Shaw (Eds.), The Routledge
handbook of English for academic purposes (pp. 71-83). London: Routledge.
Anderson, J. R. (2015). Cognitive psychology and its implications (8th ed.). Madison
Avenue, NY: Worth.
Chambers, C. (2016, September 4). Change blindness demonstration [Video file].
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh_9XFzbWV8
Galloway, N. (2018). ELF and ELT teaching materials. In J. Jenkins, W. Baker, & M.
Dewey (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of English as a lingua franca (pp. 468480). London: Routledge.
Gray, J. (2000). The ELT coursebook as cultural artefact: How teachers censor andadapt. ELT Journal, 54(3), 274-283. doi: 10.1093/elt/54.3.274
Ishikawa, T., & McBride, P. (2019). Doing justice to ELF in ELT: Comments on Toh(2016). Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, 8(2), 333-345. doi: 10.1515/jelf2019-2026
Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1972). Subjective probability: A judgment ofrepresentativeness. Cognitive Psychology, 3(3), 430-454. doi: 10.1016/00100285(72)90016-3
Kusano, K. (2016). Thinking, fast and slow: 利用可能性ヒューリスティック.
Retrieved from https://note.com/kodaikusano/n/n73a39a92abfb
Murata, K., & Iino, M. (2018). EMI in higher education: An ELF perspective. In J.
Jenkins, W. Baker, & M. Dewey (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of English as a
lingua franca (pp. 400-412). London: Routledge.
NOVA [NOVA PBS Official]. (2011, March 3). Inside NOVA: Change blindness [Videofile]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkrrVozZR2c
Reber, R. (2017). Availability. In R. F. Pohl (Ed.), Cognitive illusions: Intriguing
phenomena in thinking, judgment and memory (2nd ed.) (pp. 185-203). London:
Routledge.

76

Simons, D. J., & Levin, D. T. (1998). Failure to detect changes to people in a realworld interaction. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 5(4), 644-649. doi: 10.3758/
BF03208840.
Statistics Bureau of Japan. (2020). 労働力調査(基本集計) 2019年(令和元年)平均
結果 [Labour force survey (basic tabulations): 2019 average results (bulletin)].
Retrieved from https://www.stat.go.jp/data/roudou/sokuhou/nen/ft/index.html
Swinkels, A. (2003). An effective exercise for teaching cognitive heuristics. Teaching of
Psychology, 30(2), 120-122. doi: 10.1207/S15328023TOP3002_08
Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1973). Availability: A heuristic for judging frequency andprobability. Cognitive Psychology, 5(2), 207-232. https://doi.org/10.1016/00100285(73)90033-9
Wason, P. C. (1966). Reasoning. In B. M. Foss (Ed.), New Horizons in psychology (pp.
135-151). Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Wason, P. C., & Shapiro, D. (1971). Natural and contrived experience in a reasoning
problem. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 23(1), 63-71. doi:
10.1080/00335557143000068

77

78

Quizlet® Live for Vocabulary Review
語彙レビュー用ための クイズレットライブ
Saranyaraja Muthumaniraja, ムツマニラジャ・サラニヤラジャ
Center for English as a Lingua Franca, Tamagawa University, Japansaranyaraja@lab.tamagawa.ac.jp

ABSTRACTThis paper discusses the effectiveness of Quizlet® Live for a review activity over the
traditional methods that did not use technology in English classrooms at the university
level in Japan. As technology evolves, the classroom methodologies have been evolving
too. Learning the English language with the help of applications on smartphones isnow entirely in vogue among foreign language learners. These game apps spice up thestudents’ learning process on a larger scale. Twenty intermediate level students in Tama
University of Global Studies reviewed the vocabulary learned in the spring term throughtraditional methods that did not use technology and in the fall term with the help of
Quizlet® Live, a modern method that uses technology. This followed a worksheet activity
to match the vocabulary with its meaning. The results indicated that using Quizlet® for areview attracted greater engagement of the learners for vocabulary acquisition than the
traditional method. By working effectively, these game apps add a new dimension to ourteaching. It gives a break from the traditional classroom while still reinforcing the skills
the students are learning.
KEYWORDS: Quizlet®, Gamification, Review, Vocabulary acquisition, CALL, MALL
1. INTRODUCTION
In 2019, technology plays an essential role in our day to day lives. This is also evident
in today's classrooms where technology has brought a significant change in learning.
More and more chalkboards are now active boards; homework is paperless, and most of
the students have an electronic dictionary. These trends offer innovative solutions andcontribute to a more impactful learning experience. Reynolds (2016) notes in his blog
that:
Since TESOL was founded in 1966 as an association for English
language teachers, one of the most profound changes has been therise of technology as a tool for language learning. The technology
79has moved from being a tape recording in a language laboratory
to a program in a computer lab, and now as an application ona mobile device, it has become clear that providing language
practice—something teachers have always thought of like theirjob—can be done better by technology.
            The millennials are called the “Digital Natives” because of their familiarity
with information and communication technologies. Rodriguez (2018) vindicates thattechnology possesses a challenge that teachers cannot escape learning how to exploit it
to offer new learning experiences. The researcher had been using Quizlet for a while forvocabulary acquisition but had never used the Quizlet Live option. Good feedback about
Quizlet Live from colleagues motivated her to research more about it, primarily for a
vocabulary review. The objectives of this study fundamentally focus on the following:•••

To determine if Quizlet attracted greater engagement from learners than a traditional
method that did not use technology when reviewing vocabulary.
To determine if Quizlet helped the students to retain and memorize the vocabulary
after the review more effectively than the traditional method.
To explore whether Quizlet motivated students to learn the vocabulary and complete
the activities more than after a more traditional approach that did not use technology.

2. LITERATURE REVIEWThe application of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) in today’s classrooms
has expanded the L2 learning and teaching field. All these are a part of transitions madeby language instructors throughout generations. In this 21st century, the field of second
language education and learning has significantly become technology-oriented. Today’s
millennial students always interact with digital technology. In a recent Japanese study,
researchers observed greater ownership of smartphones among teenagers in Japan (Cote,
Milliner, Flowers, & Ferreira, 2014). This unveils the millennials' usage of smartphones inJapan for educational use. As a result, today’s teachers face many challenges in their ESL
classrooms. Figueroa (2015) describes that today's digital learners process informationdifferently, and the educational system does not fit their needs. Consequently, in recent
years there has been an increasing interest among researchers and teachers in the use ofgames and game dynamics in the classrooms.
Today's ESL teachers are battling towards fulfilling the expectations of today's
learners in their classrooms. Laremenko (2017) stipulates that for engaging the learners,
educators are looking for opportunities to integrate gamified methods in the classroom.
Subsequently, they are always in search of new ways and means to fulfill the digital
natives. Premeranthe (2017) specifies that teachers should accept the challenge of finding
new avenues to meet the expectations of the 21st century. He also indicates that digital80

natives are no longer motivated through traditional language programs. The advent oftechnology and smartphones allows students to experience the learning process in anotherform. Today’s app revolution provides a new trend in this modern teaching era. These apps
provide different spectrums to language learning. It offers a break from the traditionalclassroom giving a different dimension for learning while still strengthening the skills thestudents are learning.
The researcher makes it a practice to review the vocabulary learned. Vocabularyacquisition experts (e.g., Nation, 2001; Schmitt, 2008) advocate review and repetition
for vocabulary to be acquired effectively. A review is to relearn and retain what we havealready learned in the class. It depends on the class’s situation; it could also be somethinglearned in the previous lesson/class. It is also practicing the learned content to retain it fora long time. When we learn information, we remember it best immediately after we havelearned it. To remember what we have learned over the long-term, we need to move thelearned information from short-term memory into long-term memory. It takes time andmotivation to commit information to long-term memory, and reviewing information helps
us do this.
Brown (1994) sees motivation as an obligatory personality factor that a learnerneeds to acquire a new language. Lepper (as cited in Figueroa, 2015) pointed out thatpeople become extrinsically motivated to perform an activity to obtain some reward or
punishment. Muntean (2011) noted that gamification combines the two types of motivation(intrinsic and extrinsic) using extrinsic rewards like points to improve engagement while
intrinsically motivating them towards achievement, mastery, autonomy, and a senseof belonging. Also, competition, social interaction, and cooperation in helping second
language learners become motivated. The researcher felt that during any student-centeredactivity, the extrinsically motivated students do not perform up to their potential. Therefore,
the researcher was always researching ways to aid the extrinsically motivated students toperform equally with the intrinsically motivated students in a student-centered activity.
Hence, the researcher wanted to identify if technological gamification aids both groups oflearners equally.
Mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) has proved to be a successful way tolearn L2 vocabulary in this millennium. In their 2012 study, Azabdaftari and Mozaheb
found that mobile devices could be used to improve students’ L2 English vocabulary. The
researchers compared the efficiency of mobile devices versus traditional methods that did
not use technology. In their findings, they concluded that the mean score of the group thatstudied vocabulary via mobile phones was much higher than the other group. Lu’s (2008)
also found that participants’ of the study of  MALL and print media both made statisticallysignificant progress in recognizing the vocabulary words during the vocabulary post-testscores; however, the mobile phone group scored better in their post-test.
With over 100 million user-created study sets and over 50 million active users
every month (Quizlet, 2019), Quizlet is one of the most widely used vocabulary acquisition
systems. While teachers and students can use the software on a PC, there is also a freemobile app that could be used both on Apple iOS and Android platforms. Many researchers
have investigated the benefits of using Quizlet to study vocabulary. Sanosi (2017)
investigated Quizlet’s effect on vocabulary acquisition for L2 English learners whose81

L1 was Arabic. The study incorporated an experimental research design and it evaluatedthe acquisition of vocabulary lessons from the assigned lessons in their syllabus. Sanosi
found Quizlet to be a suitable approach for vocabulary learning as the treatment groups
scored significantly higher in the post-vocabulary test. In another study, Danka (2017)used Quizlet to investigate Thai students’ attitudes towards foreign language learning withtechnology. The results indicated that all learners had a very positive attitude towards
Quizlet. Ashcroft and Imrie (2014) used the Substitution Augmentation Modification
Redefinition (SAMR) Model to analyze the benefits of   Quizlet and exclaimed that it
redefines the vocabulary learning experience for the language learning students. Other
researchers have also concluded that Quizlet had a higher engagement or performance(i.e., higher vocabulary test scores) of Japanese students (e.g., Barr, 2016; Chien, 2015;
Lander, 2016; Milliner, 2013). This research paper attempted to identify if Quizlet
attracted a more significant share of engagement during language learning. It also aimed
to determine if it helped learners memorize vocabulary and retain the language learned
more efficiently over a traditional method that did not use technology.
3. METHODOLOGY:
The total number of students participating in the study was 20. The respondents were firstyear students aged eighteen to twenty from the Academic English Program. They werefrom different departments of Tama University’s School of Global Studies, Japan.
3.1. Spring Term Review
The author was teaching academic reading to the freshmen class. The academic reading
book, “Reading Explorer 1” by Cengage Learning (Douglas & Bohlke, 2015), was used
for both the spring term and the fall term. The book has 12 chapters. The first six chapterswere taught in the spring term and the next half in the fall term. Each chapter featured ten
vocabulary items. The program had two smaller vocabulary tests and an end-of-semester
test concentrating on reading and vocabulary focusing on the same words featured in
the textbook. Throughout the course, the teacher emphasized vocabulary acquisition byrecycling the words learned earlier in the course. Figure 1 shows the spring term review
method. After teaching the vocabulary, the teacher would review the vocabulary through a
traditional method that did not use technology. Before reviewing, the students completed
a vocabulary sheet that had the words and meanings to study silently for a few minutes.
Figure 2 shows the vocabulary sheet given to study after eliciting and teaching the
vocabulary.

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Figure 1. Spring term review method

Lesson 3A
Vocabulary

Translation

Meaning
The kind of family one comes from and thekind of education one has

1.

Backgrounds

背景2.

Issues問題

A subject that people argue about or discuss

3.

Peace

平和

A state of quiet and calm; not war

4.

Female女性

Referring to women and girls

5.

Attitudes

態度

The way one thinks and feels about something

6.

Clubs

クラブ

7.

Audience

聴衆8.

Belong属する

9.

Dream of10

DespiteA place, like a nightclub, where people go forentertainment
A group of people who watch or listen to a play,concert, movie, television program, and so on
To be the property of a person or thing

To indulge in daydreams or fantasies aboutsomething greatly desired; to, hope forにもかかわ Even though; used to introduce a fact thatmakes something surprising
らずの夢

Figure 2. Vocabulary sheet

The review activity followed. It was mainly a student-centered activity, intending
to practice vocabulary words. A vocabulary bingo game was used during spring term . In
the bingo game, the students wrote nine vocabulary words on a bingo card. Then, as theteacher reads the definition of the word, the students determine what the vocabulary word
was. Once a student got all of the words in a row they could call out ‘bingo’. This wasfollowed by a free activity of bingo where the students were grouped into threes and one
student read the meanings of the words while the other two raced for bingo. Roles werechanged and the groups played a further two rounds. The review took twenty minutes anda worksheet activity followed. In the worksheet, the students had to match the vocabulary
83with the meaning by writing the number of the vocabulary in the answers column. The
first one is done as an example. Figure 3 shows the vocabulary worksheet used in thespring term.
Lesson 3A
Vocabulary
1

Backgrounds

2

Issues

3
4
5
6

Peace
FemaleAttitudes
Clubs

7

Audience

8

Belong

9Dream of10

DespiteMeaning
A group of people who watch or listen to a play,concert, movie, television program, and so on
The kind of family one comes from and the kind of
education one has
To be the property of a person or thing
Referring to women and girls
The way one thinks and feels about something
A state of quiet and calm; not war
To indulge in daydreams or fantasies aboutsomething greatly desired; to hope for
A subject that people argue about or discuss
A place, like a nightclub, where people go forentertainment
Even though; used to introduce a fact that makes
something surprising

Answers
1

Figure 3. Spring term worksheet activity

3.2. Fall Term Review
Figure 4 shows the fall term review method. In the fall term, after teaching the vocabulary,
the review was done with the help of Quizlet and the Quizlet Live option.  

Figure 4. Fall term review method

A Quizlet link was sent to students via email. The warm-up was followed bydiscussion and eliciting the vocabulary. Students were given a similar amount of study
time to study the vocabulary individually using their smartphones/tablets using Quizlet.
Quizlet has a variety of games that students could use to study the vocabulary, however,in this course learners were instructed to use the Flashcard mode to study the vocabulary.
84

The Flashcard mode is a digital flashcard that exhibits terms that can be flipped on thescreen to show the definitions. The below Figure shows an example of the vocabulary
words on Quizlet flashcard mode. When you click the flashcard the card would flip andshow the meaning as in the Figure. Quizlet provides language options but the author
found that opposed to simply learning the Japanese translation of each term, learning themeaning of each word in English with its translation was more effective. Figure 5 shows
an example of the flashcard mode used by the author in the fall term.

Figure 5. Quizlet flashcard mode

Figure 6. Quizlet live

Then, the students joined the Quizlet Live game using a QR code. Figure 6 shows
the Quizlet live page to enter the game. Once all the students were logged in, they weredivided into teams and started to compete with each group to match the vocabulary withits meaning in English.
85

Figure 7. Quizlet live groups

Figure 7 shows how the students are divided into different teams, and after
each game, Quizlet would re-shuffle them. The students collaboratively competed witheach team to match all vocabulary with their meaning and vice versa. Initially, it took a
few minutes to complete, but gradually the students became faster. The review processcontinued for twenty minutes. Towards the end of the review, almost all students wereable to match the vocabulary. The students wanted to continue playing as they enjoyed
the review process. The Quizlet Live games were followed by the same worksheet activity
used in the spring term where the students had to match the vocabulary with their meaning
by writing the number of the vocabulary in the answers column. The first one is done
as an example. The time was again noted down by the researcher. Figure 8 shows the
vocabulary worksheet used in the fall term.
Lesson 10B
Vocabulary
1

2
3
4
5
6

7
8
9

10

Meaning
AnswersA
part
that
somethingor
someonehasinasituationorTimeless
activity
Confirm
Cause to participate in an activity or situation
Ordinary
As stated by or in
According to Not affected by time or changes in fashion
1
Involved
With no special or distinctive features
To
try to get or win something that someone else isTaskalso trying to win
Roles
To state or show that something is true or correct
Blocks
A piece of work to be done or undertaken / job
Competed Very happy and pleased of something you have done
A large solid piece of hard material especially rock,Proudstone or wood typically with flat surfaces on each side

Figure 8. Fall term worksheet activity
86

4. ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
In both terms, the teacher noted the time taken by the students to complete the worksheet
activity. Table 1 shows the mean time taken by the students to complete the worksheet
activity in both terms. In the spring term, the mean time was 12.7 while in the fall term
the mean time was 3.9. There is a 69.2% reduction in the time taken by the students tocomplete the worksheet activity in the fall term than the spring term. The Quizlet review
appeared to help them complete the worksheet activity much faster than in the spring term.
Table 2 shows the percentage of completed worksheets in both terms. In the spring
term, the percentage of completed worksheets is 64% while in the fall term the percentage
increased by 30%. This change illustrates that Quizlet attracted greater engagement fromstudents in vocabulary acquisition. This also suggests that Quizlet live review helped thestudents to retain new vocabulary and it motivated the students to perform the activities
following it.
Another prominent difference noted by the author was that most of the students
were able to complete the reading comprehension and other activities in the textbook withgreater tenacity than in the spring term. After the worksheet activity, the author continued
with the vocabulary practice section in the lesson; refer to Appendix B. In the spring term
the students had difficulty completing the exercises which was evident while checking
the answers in the class but in the fall term there was a stupendous difference. Eventhe extrinsically motivated students completed the activities exceptionally better than in
the spring term. This is the teacher’s observation in the class and it is not supported byempirical evidence.
Table 1
Mean time taken to complete the worksheet activity in the Spring term and Fall term
Term
Mean Time (minutes)
Spring term
12.7
Fall term
3.9
Table 2The percentage of completed worksheets in the Spring term and Fall term
Term
Percentage of completed worksheets
Spring term
64%
Fall term
98%
4.1 Questionnaire Results/Findings
A questionnaire to determine whether Quizlet attracted greater engagement fromthe learners compared to the traditional vocabulary training method that did not use
technology; refer to Figure 9.

87Figure 9. Students feedback

Sanosi (2017) also observed that Quizlet is the right candidate for vocabularyacquisition, where 76.5% of his students answered that Quizlet helped them to learn
and retain new vocabulary faster than traditional methods. This point is also evident inthis study when you consider the time taken to complete the worksheet after the Quizlet
review. Around 88.2% answered that Quizlet helped them learn the vocabulary more
effectively. The majority also believed Quizlet made the classroom atmosphere exciting
which mirrors some of the findings of Danka (2017) who found that Quizlet took awaysome of the burdens of memorizing a long list of complicated words after students
realized the value of Quizlet. Ashcroft and Imrie (2014) noted that Quizlet allows learners
to share resources and interact in ways unthinkable with paper resources, where 100%of the students positively answered that Quizlet motivated and assisted them in learning
vocabulary after a review. 100% of the students also concluded that Quizlet helped themcollaborate with their classmates and it helped them enjoy the review process. This also
indirectly highlights that these students prefer gamification over traditional methods intheir learning process.
Figure 10 (below) shows the overall preference of the methods to study vocabulary.
A lions’ share (87%) of students favor Quizlet over traditional methods for vocabularyacquisition. The results also confirm that foreign language learners who engage invocabulary learning via online vocabulary websites have increased motivation, whichhas, in turn, led to improvement and an increase in vocabulary acquisition (e.g., Chien,2015).

88

Figure 10. Student preferences for studying vocabulary

5. LIMITATIONS
Despite the positive results revealed through this study, it is not without its shortcomings.
First, the sample size limits the overviews that can be made about the efficacy andperceptions of Quizlet Live review over the traditional methods of review. Even thoughstudents completed the worksheet activity faster after the Quizlet review, how long they
were able to retain the learned vocabulary could have been worthwhile investigating.
Regardless of the results, the teacher wants to explore whether other traditional methods
that do not use technology have a similar effect compared to Quizlet.
6. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Quizlet live, one of the modern technological tools to study vocabulary has a greater
impact on the engagement of Millennials. This study showed that Quizlet motivates andhelps students in learning vocabulary. The usage of Quizlet live for a review helped the
intrinsically motivated students perform better in class activities compared to traditional
methods that did not use technology. This is evident from the overall percentage ofcompleted worksheets in the fall term. It has also proved that using Quizlet live to review
new vocabulary helped students memorize and retain the words much more deeply than
the traditional methods of the spring term. Though the teacher observed that Quizlet review
helped the students to perform better in textbook activities after the review, a future study
that seeks better empirical evidence will add more adiposity to these findings. Quizlet
has definitely bridged the gap between the intrinsically motivated and the extrinsicallymotivated students in the author’s class.
The Quizlet Live review process enabled students in this study to learn vocabulary
words faster than with traditional methods. The researcher also found that Quizlet Livereview unleashed the potential of extrinsically motivated students. They were able toameliorate and compete with intrinsically motivated students. This was evident during
the review process, where they competed with the intrinsically motivated students andthe activities following it. Each technological tool has different dimensions, and foreign89language teachers need to use each tool effectively, by reframing the learning process andmeeting the needs of the learners. Reviewing vocabulary through Quizlet’s Live option
has brought a new dimension in foreign language learning. The results clearly outline thatthe majority of the students’ fancy technological gamification over traditional methods
that do not use technology. This clearly restates that technology is taking a greater role intoday’s language practise. Looking at the students’ feedback, language educators should
consider the inclusion of Quizlet in their systematic vocabulary acquisition programs.
REFERENCES
Ashcroft, R. J., & Imrie, A. C. (2014). Learning vocabulary with digital flashcards.
In N. Sonda, & A. Kraus (Eds.), JALT2013 Conference Proceedings (pp. 639646). Tokyo: JALT. Retrieved from  https://jalt-publications.org/files/pdf-article/
jalt2013_064.pdf
Azabdaftari, B., & Mozaheb, A. M. (2012). Comparing vocabulary learning of EFL
learning by using two different strategies: mobile learning vs. flashcards.
EUROCALL Review, 20(2), 48-59. https://doi.org/10.4995/eurocall.2012.11377
Barr, B. (2016). Checking the effectiveness of Quizlet as a tool for vocabulary learning.
The Center For English As Lingua Franca Journal, 2(1), 36-48. Retrieved fromhttps://www.tamagawa.ac.jp/celf/research/pdf/celf_journal_final2-1.pdf
Brown, H. (1994). Principles of language learning and teaching (3rd ed.). Englewood
Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Chien, C.-W. (2015). Analysis of the effectiveness of three online vocabulary flashcard
websites on L2 learners’ level of lexical knowledge. English Language Teaching,8(5), 111-121. doi:10.5539/elt.v8n5p111
Cote, T., Milliner, B., Flowers, S. and Ferreira, D. (2014). What’s going on at the
MALL?. PeerSpectives, 12, 37-40. Retreived from https://www.researchgate.net/
publication/307925673_What’s_going_on_at_the_MALL.
Danka, S. (2017). CALL to arms: Generations clash over digital technology in theforeign language classroom. IAFOR Journal of Education, 5(SI),  29-45. https://doi.org/10.22492/ije.5.si.01
Douglas, N., & Bohlke, D. (2015). Reading explorer 1 (2nd ed.). United States: Cengage
Learning.
Figueroa, J. (2015). Using gamification to enhance second language learning. Digital
Education Review, 21, 32-54. doi: 10.1344/der.2015.27.32-54
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Lander, B. (2016). Quizlet: what the students think – a qualitative data analysis. In S.
Papadima Sophocleous, L. Bradley, & S. Thouësny (Eds), CALL communities andculture – short papers from EUROCALL 2016 (pp. 254-259). Research-publishing.
net. https://doi.org/10.14705/rpnet.2016.eurocall2016.571
Laremenko, N. (2017). Enhancing English language learners’ motivation through online
games. ICT And Learning Tools In The Higher Education Establishments, 59(3),126-133. https://doi.org/10.33407/itlt.v59i3.1606
Lu, M. (2008). Effectiveness of vocabulary learning via mobile phone. Journal ofComputer Assisted Language Learning, 24(6), 515-525. https://doi.org/10.1111/
j.1365-2729.2008.00289.x
Milliner, B. (2013). Using online flash-card software to raise business students’ TOEIC
scores. Annual Report Of JACET-SIG On ESP, 15, 52-60. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/6346641/Using_online_flash-card_software_to_raise_business_students_TOEIC_scores?source=swp_share
Muntean, C. (2011). Raising engagement in e-learning through gamification.
Proceedings Of The 6Th International Conference On Virtual Learning 323-329.
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Nation, I. S. P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Premarathne, P. B. T. K. (2017). A study on incorporating gamification into ESL
classroom via Kahoot! International Conference on the Humanities (ICH) (pp.
54). Colombo, Sri Lanka: University of Kelaniya.
Quizlet. (2019). About Quizlet. Retrieved 10 November 2019, from https://quizlet.com/
missionReynolds, D. (2016). English language teachers and technology. The TESOL President’s
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Rodriguez, J. (2018). A groundbreaking dawn in elt. In The 45th International
MEXTESOL Convention (p. 57). Puerto Vallarta. Retrieved from https://mextesol.
org.mx/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Proceedings-Puerto-Vallarta.pdf
Sanosi, A. (2017). The effect of Quizlet on vocabulary acquisition. Asian Journal of
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93

94

Listening Portfolio: A Combination of Extensive
and Intensive Listening
リスニングポートフォリオ：広範で集中的なリスニングの組み合わせLai Bao Hoa, ライ バオ・ホア
Center for English as a Lingua Franca, Tamagawa University, Japan
hoa@lab.tamagawa.ac.jp

ABSTRACT
Listening skills have been proved to be important among the four language skills; however,research and teaching listening has not been paid sufficient attention to (Brown, 2014).
Recent studies have shown that Japanese learners’ weakness is still listening becauseof their lack of ability to decode sounds as linguistic forms. (Yonezaki, 2014). Yonezaki(2014) added that the lack of teachers’ instructions on how students can actually listen
for listening purposes, not for non-listening purposes is another reason. A listening
portfolio, which enables students to listen extensively to various and freely chosen topics,
and requires them to practice decoding the sounds they recognized, then reconstruct allthat they decoded in writing through dictation, is recommended in this paper. When inclass time is limited, a course project asking students to work out of the class should beconsidered as an assessment method and a teaching technique. The listening portfolio,
combining extensive and intensive listening, not only addresses Japanese learners’
weaknesses when listening to English, but also gives them chances to listen actively,
effectively, and enjoyably.
KEYWORDS: Extensive listening, Intensive listening, Dictation, Listening portfolio
1. INTRODUCTION
Bozan (2015), Yildirim and Yildirim (2016), stated that listening can be considered a
primary source (50%) in language learning and daily communication. However, in
language instruction, teaching listening skills seems to be neglected as the least understood,
the least researched language skill, or the most disregarded skill (Brown, 2014). Japaneselearners also find listening skills challenging even though many of them can read well.
Being instructed on mostly reading and writing in class makes Japanese learners find it
hard to converse in the targeted language. Therefore, more studies relating to teaching andlearning listening skills should be undertaken by the research community.
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2. INTENSIVE AND EXTENSIVE LISTENING, DICTATION AND LISTENING
PORTFOLIO
2.1. The Importance of Learning Listening Skills Among Japanese Students andTeaching Listening Skills to Japanese Students
English education in Japanese universities is complicated (Ikegashira, Matsumoto, &Morita, 2009; Løfsgaard, 2015) as a majority of students do not think it is important forthem to learn English, but they still have to learn the “necessary evil” language for theuniversity entrance exam (Løfsgaard, 2015, p.28). The university entrance exams have
faced a large deal of criticism as they merely measure students’ memorization on reading
and writing. The major focus on reading skills in the tests results in a teacher-centeredclassroom where very little attention is paid to communicative skills (Løfsgaard, 2015).
Historically, English education in Japan was focused on grammar-translation
methods that were prevalent in the early 19th century. English teaching in the schools
was merely conducted for the purpose of entrance examinations (juken eigo) with theemphasis on translating Japanese sentences into English and vice versa (Løfsgaard, 2015,p.13). Approaches did not change until the late 19th century when Palmer introduced
the “Audio-Lingual method” to English teaching in Japan (Løfsgaard, 2015). With
this method, students heard the target language and then repeated it. The 20th century
witnessed the boom of English language teaching in Japan with a more communicative
focus, enabling students to get familiar with group-work, discussion and opinion-sharing.
Even though the approach proved to be communicatively effective in theory; in reality, it
is still infeasible as few teachers had a strong command of English  to apply this teaching
method (Løfsgaard, 2015).
Traditional teaching methods like Grammar-Translation, the Audio-Lingual
method, and even Communicative Language Teaching give students few chances to listen
actively as it is believed that enhancing exposure is the way to improve listening skills, notthrough teaching (Richards & Renandya, 2002). In recent years, even with Communicative
Language Teaching, the duration of students’ exposure to the target language via listening
in class is still limited. As a result, students are not yet confident in their listening skills.
Besides, according to the data of a recent TOEFL test, the performance of Japaneselearners’ listening is still low (Yonezaki, 2014). Therefore, what should teachers do tolet students practice listening skills outside classrooms effectively? The answer could
be homework. But what kind of homework is effective? How should it be assigned andconducted?
To address these teaching concerns, the author proposes a combination of extensive
listening and intensive listening.
2.2. Processes of Foreign Language Listening
To find out the best way to teach or learn listening skills, there is a need to first understandthe processes of foreign language listening. Oller (1971) recognized there was a schemain the listening comprehension process with several sequences. Yonekaki (2014) agreed
and he proposed a scheme for the processes of listening:
96

Figure 1. Three processes of listening (Yoneyaki, 2014, p. 22)(1) The listener perceives sounds,(2) The listener decodes the sounds he or she has perceived, recognizing them ascertain linguistic forms, and(3) The listener decodes the forms he or she has recognized, this timecomprehending the meaning of the forms.
Yonezaki (2014) stated that among the three listening processes, listeners normallyfound no difficulty in the first process. However, what restrained them was the second
process. In other words, learners were trapped in the second stage, which made them
unable to translate the perceived sounds into forms. As Ito (1990) suggested, this could
be due to Japanese students being more used to understanding the sentences by readingwords and letters than listening to the sounds. Hence, English teachers need to find a way
to help their Japanese learners be able to recognize sounds as “corresponding linguistic
forms” (Yonezaki, 2014, p. 23).
2.3. Intensive Listening and Dictation
Gilakjani and Ahmadi (2011) noted that with intensive listening, learners might be required
to comprehend every small unit of the discourse such as specific information, grammar,
vocabulary, and sounds. While a number of researchers and teachers agreed that the global
meaning or the meaning-based input was essential for students’ listening comprehension
skill (Bozan, 2015; Renandya & Farrell, 2010; Renandya, 2011; Vo, 2013), “extensive
exposure to meaning-based input does not lead to the development of syntactic and lexicalaccuracy in an L2” (Lee, 2010, p. 94). As a result, students should also be given chances
to practice form-focused listening. Dictation is an intensive method that enables students
to construct linguistic forms and boost up their listening accuracy and effectiveness.
In terms of dictation, Davis and Rinvolucri (2010) defined dictation as a combinationof the decoding of language sounds and recording them by writing. Also, Morris (1983)
stated that dictation was an “active re-interpretation by the learner” (p. 126). To support
this, Oller (1971) suggested a model of dictation in which learners first differentiatedphonetic units, then worked out the wording and phrasing sequences that made sense.

97

Finally, learners analytically translated this into a representation of graphemes.

Figure 2. Model of dictation (Oller, 1971, p. 258)

2.3.1. Advantages of Dictation
Japanese learners’ difficulty in listening is in recognizing sounds as corresponding
linguistics forms. Dictation can help learners discover and segment the chains of sounds,
and rebuild them actively, making them become words, phrases or even sentences, by
writing them down. All these suggest that dictation can help Japanese learners overcome
their weaknesses in listening as it enables students to make the auditory forms and visualforms subjective and then put them together by translating “sounds into forms and thenforms into written forms” (Yonezaki, 2014, p. 23).
Furthermore, when translating sounds into forms, learners need to make up someof the missing information and deal with situations where reduced sounds, unstressedwords or syllables, sound changes, assimilation, liaison, and elision occur. Also, Fujinaga(2002) showed that students often make mistakes in listening due to their lack of ability tolisten and recognize unstressed, weakened syllables and sound changes. In other words,
by filling information gaps and reconstructing the original forms, dictation practice candevelop students’ skill of prediction, which is crucial in listening.
2.3.2. Different Types of Dictation
There are different types of dictation. In the past, in class or in the exam room,
teachers might read a passage out loud with pauses; and the students had to write down
what they heard (Richards, Platt, & Platt, 1992). Recently, more applications of dictation
have been proposed to serve more teaching and learning needs, such as fill-in-the-blanks
style dictation, or gapped dictation (Kidd, 1992; Yonezaki, 2014) with one, or more than
one word for each blank and no limit to the number of blanks. The other type is the
dictation that requires learners to write whole sentences. Last, dictation for the whole textor ‘dicto-composition’ can also be provided (Kidd, 1992).
2.4. Extensive Listening
Bozan (2015) defined extensive listening as “listening for pleasure” (p. 8). Also, Renandya
98and Farrell (2010) showed that extensive listening could be any listening activity providing
learners with a great deal of meaningful and fascinating input. Moreover, excellent accessto the Internet makes it easy for learners to seek comprehensible listening resources andmaterials, which suit their level of proficiency, interests, and learning styles. To suit all
the effectiveness, appropriateness, enjoyment criteria, Vo (2013) suggested teachers use
extensive listening in teaching and assessing listening.
2.4.1. Advantages of Extensive Listening
Extensive listening benefits language learners to a great deal. First, with extensive
listening, all the messages that learners receive are meaningful in nature (Bozan, 2015).
Along with this, extensive listening can be immeasurably motivating as learners canchoose different resources such as TV shows, movies, radio programs, podcasts, oraudiobooks (Vo, 2013). The visual aids from the chosen materials can aid learners toa great extent with their prediction skills and sustain their interest. Besides, as students
choose the listening resources themselves, they may feel more confident, more involved
and responsible for their own education (Holden, 2008; Onoda, 2012). Finally, extensive
listening can develop learners’ ability to handle various rates of speech, word recognition,and vocabulary, which makes students become fluent listeners and boosts them to a higher
level of language comprehension (Renandya, 2011).
2.4.2. The Need for Extensive Listening
Thorn (2009) stated that even though teachers and researchers attempted toboost listening teaching, most of the listening was conducted for non-listening aims; forexample, as language input to teach grammar or vocabulary, to introduce the discussion
topic, to test students’ language proficiency, or to introduce or familiarize students withdifferent accents. Also, as Brown (2011) highlighted, when a teacher plays audio, thenasks students comprehension questions, or to complete listening tasks, they are testing,
not teaching (Brown, 2011). Thorn (2009) concluded that most of the listening texts intextbooks did not appeal to the students due to their lack of language characteristics (e.g.,
linking or elision), their utility of one standard accent, and their inappropriateness todifferent individuals’ interests. As a result, these prepared and non-authentic listening
texts did not equip learners adequately for the real listening obstacles they might face.
2.4.3. The Practicality and the Effectiveness of Extensive Listening
To a number of teachers, especially teachers with traditional teaching methods andmindsets, the validity of extensive listening can be questioned. For a long time, teachinghas focused on assessment. When giving students a segment to listen to and ask them to
dictate, some teachers may want to check students’ dictation work and have them correct
any mistakes. By doing this, the teachers may feel relieved as the listening tasks seemcomplete. However, in practice, class time is limited, class numbers are often large, andthere are four skills and countless linguistic elements that the teachers have to consider
introducing each class. As a result, it may not be possible for teachers to run dictation tasks,
check the accuracy of every listening source that students choose. In certain situations,like exams, accuracy is important; nevertheless, in other cases, the focus on accuracy99

may hinder other student qualities, such as creativeness, learning interests, and learnerautonomy. It is not uncommon for teachers to assign students certain tasks and check them
regularly for evaluation purposes. However, students may develop even further throughlearner autonomy, in which students make decisions about their own learning and become
more responsible for what they have decided. In this way, students may become maturelearners, learning for their own sake. Last but not least, when helping students engage inlearner autonomy from the early stages, teachers may guide them to step into life-longlearning, which benefits students in the long run.
2.5. Listening Portfolio
History and the current English education context in Japan show very limited attention to
the teaching of listening, and Japanese students are still struggling with listening. There
should be a teaching approach to help students overcome their weaknesses in recognizing
sounds, and exposing them to a wide range of Englishes frequently. Besides, exposure to
English should be appropriate to students’ levels, needs, learning styles, and interests. For
all of these reasons, a combination of intensive and extensive listening is an appropriate
solution. If class time is not enough for extensive listening, teachers can assign it as
homework.
This kind of listening homework has been used by a number of teachers withdifferent names and a variety of adaptations.
First, Ducker (2013) proposed an extensive listening portfolio for listening
homework. The portfolio task involved listening, reading the script, and checking
vocabulary and grammar. The steps in the portfolio gave students chances to focus onforms while practicing listening. Nevertheless, Ducker (2013) showed that students mightlose their motivation easily and this becomes the challenge for teachers. Ellis (2005) andDörnyei (2001) agreed it was difficult to ask students to complete the homework if it was
not related to classroom activities. Therefore, if listening portfolio is used as homework,
there is a need to frequently check on students’ work in class. By this way, the validity of
portfolios can be granted.
Second, the listening journal by Schmidt (2016) for intensive and extensive
purposes showed that students liked it because of its effectiveness and attraction. At theend of the program, Schmidt’s students agreed that the listening project was “a source ofimprovement for their real-world listening skills” (p. 7) as the idea came from teaching
and learning realities and students’ weaknesses. The project could fill the gaps which
previously made teaching and listening procedure challenging. Schmidt (2016) concluded
that without getting exposed to a wide range of listening input, and without a focus onsounds, words and phrases comprising the input, students could not improve their listening
skills in an effective way. Lastly, to prove that his idea on listening journal was necessary,
Schmidt (2016) added if listening instruction in the ELT world focused on testing the skill,
not on guiding the students how to listen, this could be problematic.
Finally, Chen (2016) suggested one another type of listening assignment which
was the Taiwanese college students’ project on their individual listening diary. In thediary, Chen (2016) asked the participants to report their listening activities outside theclassroom, material selection, the problems encountered and students’ perception of the100diary’s effectiveness. The research data also showed that keeping a listening diary means
students started to have study plans, which enabled them to be more responsible for theirown learning.
Herein, I propose a “weekly listening portfolio” as an appropriate type ofhomework to raise students’ listening skills.
1. What is a weekly listening portfolio? A listening portfolio is a student’s individual
course project. I propose that each week, students should be required to choose a pieceof listening to listen to and write the transcription (dictation). The sources can varyfrom youtube.com, ted.com, newsinlevels.com, fluentu.com, to esllab.com with any
topic that appeals to students. Based on students’ levels, teachers can make decisions
on the duration of the listening texts (e.g., a two-minute talk or a movie trailer). The
students have one week to do the assignment, and they can listen to the listening
materials as many times as they wish. Two samples of the listening portfolio and how
students make and combine it are in Appendix B.
2. Difficulties: In the beginning, students may get frustrated because of the fast rate andthe large number of unknown lexicon. However, as the listening topic is what students
are interested in, and the levels of difficulty are also decided by students, they may
happily look for new lexicons in their dictionaries and continue with the dictation.
3. Addressing problems: Some researchers and teachers may worry about students
cheating, or losing motivation on this kind of assignment (Dörnyei, 2001; Ellis, 2005).
Teachers can check progress by having students hand in their portfolio at the beginningof the lesson. Besides, to ensure that students actually do their homework, teachers
can check individual works randomly. Some students may choose a listening sourcewith transcription. To avoid this problem, the teachers make students aware that they
will be randomly checked if they can write any piece of the transcription again in-classwhen asked by the teachers. If students fail to do their homework as they claim, they
will be asked to listen to another video, and get prepared to perform well in class thenext week.
4. Follow-up activity: As suggested by Chen (2016) in the listening diary, there should
be a follow-up activity to explore students’ opinions, problems, and preferences. Whenchecking students’ work in-class, teachers may spend several minutes listening to thelistening texts and asking students some related questions. Some meaningful questions
not only check whether students actually listened, but also provoke thoughts.
5. Vocabulary notes: In the proposal of extensive listening portfolio, Ducker (2013)agreed that checking vocabulary was essential. After having finished the dictationtask, students are encouraged to look up for the new words in the dictionary that theyencounter in the listening, and then write the meanings down. Thanks to vocabularychecking, students may acquire new words while listening. Hence, learning new
vocabulary will be more contextualised and meaningful.
6. Reflection: If the students’ level is upper-intermediate or higher, teachers may ask
students to write a reflection regarding how students have done so far with the portfolio,
what they have found interesting, what they have learned, what difficulties they have
had, and what they are going to do in the future to practice listening.
101

7. Listening portfolio completion and assessment: Teachers will need to check
students’ work every week to make students keep up with the progress. At the end of
the course, students are asked to compile all the weekly listening assignments, and thereflection (if required), and make a listening portfolio.
Teachers should create a marking scheme for the listening portfolio. The criteria
and the marks given to each criterion in the scheme may vary. A suggested marking
scheme for listening portfolio (accomplishment, lateness in submission, portfolio display,
appropriateness of level, range of chosen topics and video sources, and work on new
vocabulary) is included in Appendix A.
3. CONCLUSION
Based on a literature review concerning  Japanese college students’ weaknesses in English
listening skills and the limitations of listening instruction in Japan, the author proposesthat teachers use a weekly listening portfolio homework task. The assignment can bechecked every week and at the end of the semester by the teacher; therefore, it can become
an effective on-going and summative assessment. By letting students freely choose thelistening materials that fit their levels, interests, and needs, the listening portfolio makes
students become familiar with a variety of Englishes with different accents and uses,
which is important in this era of globalisation. Furthermore, dictation enables listeners
to focus on forms, and recognise the sounds better; and this is beneficial to Japanese
students as they have been struggling with form-focused listening. In short, the idea about
a combination of extensive and intensive listening can fit ideally with the weekly listening
portfolio, which promises an appropriate approach to teach and assess students’ listening
abilities.
4. LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The proposal of using weekly listening portfolio in this paper has not proven its validity
using students’ feedback, reflections by the author, and classroom observations. Hence, theauthor plans to publish empirical research about its use and effectiveness in a forthcoming
paper. This paper proposes a weekly listening portfolio as an idea for teachers to consider
for teaching and assessing listening. The literature reviews are valuable and beneficial toteachers to some extent as they can better understand the originality, the purposes, theadaptations, the problems and the practicality of the method.
For further research, teachers can measure the effectiveness of the listening
portfolio, make their own adaptations to fit the teaching and learning contexts, and solicit
wider perceptions about this method.

102

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teaching. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Brown, H. D. (2014). Principles of language learning and teaching. Upper Saddle River: Pearson.
Chen, C. (2016). Listening diary in the digital age: Students’ material selection, listening
problems, and perceived usefulness. The JALT CALL Journal, 12(2), 83-101.
Davis, P., & Rinvolucri, M. (2010). Dictation: New methods, new possibilities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ducker, N. (2013). Self-directed Internet-based extensive listening portfolios. In N. Sonda, & A. Krause (Eds.), JALT2012 Conference Proceedings (pp. 516-526). Tokyo:
JALT.
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APPENDIX A

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APPENDIX B
An example of a students’ weekly Listening Portfolio

106

107

108

An Analysis of Research Regarding Video-based
Instruction as a Language Learning Tool
言語学習ツールとしてのビデオベースの指導に関する研究の分析
Drew Larson, ドリュー・ラーソン
Center for English as a Lingua Franca, Tamagawa University, Japanlarson@lab.tamagawa.ac.jp

ABSTRACTThis paper briefly examines the use of video in the language-learning classroom. It begins
by looking at the most frequently referenced theories that support the use of video, as well
as examining studies that demonstrate its effectiveness, both in a primary and an auxiliaryrole. It is hypothesized that video can be utilized as an instructional tool that does not
require a teacher to disseminate additional information about the material in order for the
student to still reap benefits. An analysis of previous research and studies into the realm ofvideo-based instruction offers support and criticism of this hypothesis.
KEYWORDS: Video-based language learning instruction, Television and movies ascomprehensible input
1. INTRODUCTION
There are numerous stories of people claiming to learn English at home by watching
television shows like “Friends” (Hunt, 2019). Video offers great benefits as a formof comprehensible input and is frequently used in the language learning classroom
environment. Ranging from materials prepared specifically for learners of English as a
Foreign Language (EFL) to videos authentically produced for the purpose of entertaining
or informing native speakers of a language, Second Language Acquisition (SLA) teachers
have been utilizing video with various pedagogical intents and with varying levels of
success leading to the question: to what extent can it be effectively utilized? Are anecdotal
examples of learners acquiring a language by watching videos supported by positive
results from quantifiable evidence? The goal of the paper is to examine previous SLA
studies that have used a video-based curriculum to analyze why and how the material
was employed and what effect it had on students’ language acquisition. It will gauge
what levels of quantitative evidence exist to lend credence to the idea that a person canlearn a foreign language with only videos to serve in the role of ‘teacher’. In attempting
to determine this, the paper will hopefully shed light on some of the potential pitfalls thatexist as well as the dangers that this pedagogical system would inherently encounter.

109

2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Most studies regarding video’s efficacy are based on similar theoretical underpinnings.
Many proponents of using video in the classroom reference one or more of the following
theories as the fundamental explanation of their practices.
2.1 Stephen Krashen
The primary justification for video’s use is most frequently quoted in the works of Stephen
Krashen (1985), whose basic beliefs surrounding second language acquisition processes
are described in his theories of "comprehensible input" and "affective filter".
2.1.1 The Input Hypothesis
Krashen's Input Hypothesis (1985) suggests that for learners to acquire a language
the most important factor is that there should be significant exposure to the language at
a level slightly beyond their current proficiency. This level, which Krashen calls "i +1", must largely consist of material that the learner will understand in order to provide
sufficient context, yet also include an unspecified amount of new material that will
challenge the learner's capacity to draw conclusions as to what its meaning entails. It
is Krashen’s assertion that given enough comprehensible input, language acquisition isbound to occur, as long as the learner is open to it. In point of fact, input is not only themost important element, but essentially the only one necessary for language acquisition to
occur. Given the numerous amount of video that exists, with proper care, materials can beselected that fit the requisite “i + 1” level.
2.1.2 Affective Filter Hypothesis
The affective filter is another major component in Krashen’s theory of language
acquisition. In order for a learner’s mind to be susceptible to language acquisition, thelearner must have appropriate levels of motivation and stress in the learning environment.
If the learner is subjected to too much anxiety or insufficient levels of desire to acquire
language, then the mind will not become engaged enough to accept the input, no matter
how comprehensible it would appear to be. Video can provide the relaxing environment
necessary for the affective filter to allow for acquisition.
2.2 Motivation
Motivation is not only an essential part of Krashen’s theory, but also appears as an integral
part of other theorists’ work, including Gardner and Lambert (1972) and Dornyei (2001).
In addition to being shown to increase motivation levels, video fosters the growth of two
related learner qualities, autonomy and self-confidence.
2.2.1 Autonomy
Motivated learners often have more involvement in their educational process,an aspect that video use facilitates. They are able to independently work with materials
outside of the classroom, allowing for increased exposure and engagement with the target
language (Lonergan, 1984).
1102.2.2 Confidence
As learners experience the benefits associated with video use, they are typicallyinstilled with increased levels of self-efficacy and the confidence that they can succeed intheir efforts to learn the target language (Kerridge, 1982).
2.3 Listening Comprehension
Many language acquisition theorists and practitioners agree that an important aspect oflanguage learning, and comprehensible input in general, is that students get plenty ofopportunity to practice listening to materials in order to simulate that portion of the input/
output nature of the communicative process.
2.3.1 Playability
Video can be played as many times as desired without a loss of currency.  It canalso be paused, slowed, sped up, and parsed in any number of ways that can be beneficial
to the learner (Tomalin, 1986).
2.3.2 Focus
The screen is a natural draw for the learner’s eyes, and provides a definite focal
point for the eyes (Geddes, 1982). This helps learners stay on task while listening/watching.
2.3.3 Paralinguistic Features and Other Visual Aids
Visual clues from the speakers including gesture, facial expressions, and evenposture and speaker proximity can aid learners in their interpretation of what is being
conveyed (Geddes, 1982). The camera can also serve as a “spotlight” to draw the viewer’seyes to supportive visual information. This can aid in comprehension as long as the visuals
do not distract students or detract from the message (Tomalin, 1986).
2.3.4 Subtitles
Subtitles can provide a positive impact for language acquisition by making videobased information more comprehensible (Grimmer, 1982). Katchen (2003) explores
subtitle use in her study at National Tsing Hua University on the effectiveness of using
video for intermediate and advanced-level English learners. She refers to a 1998 study
by McNeill that indicated that while students who used L1 captions scored better oncomprehension tests, both L1 and L2 versions provided positive results for increased
comprehension. She notes that students who used L2 captioning tested better at vocabularyacquisition and that “while L1 captions aided comprehension, these students could also
ignore the audio input of English.”
2.4 Context and Authenticity
The principles of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) ascribe to the necessity ofthe student understanding not just the denotative meanings of the language, but also themore obtuse and variable connotative manners in which language is used. Situational
authenticity is an important principle of CLT theory. Video offers a wide variety of111

entertaining, realistic “slices of life” to appeal to a number of different sensibilities (Allan,1985). It reveals how different language is utilized to achieve similar goals depending
upon variables such as formality, and the speaker’s familiarity with the listener. As thenumerous varieties of “World Englishes” display, ‘culture’ is another element that canaffect what a speaker says, or how they choose to say it. Video can authentically display
how to use language in specific settings (Lonergan, 1984) and it also can provide learners
an opportunity to observe the target L2 culture in the classroom in a way that would
typically be unattainable (Tschirner, 2001).
3. POTENTIAL PROBLEMS
There are a number of issues that have been pointed out by theorists and practitioners ofvideo use that should be paid attention to.
3.1 Authentic Versus Contrived Materials
An important distinction exists between contrived videos, those that have been specifically
produced for use in an SLA environment, and authentic materials, which can ostensibly be
defined as everything else.
Contrived videos typically lack an ability to engage their audience and run the riskof being boring unless they are narrative in nature and have extraordinary effort placedon their production values (South, Gabbitas & Merrill, 2008). Engagement, which is an
important element of Krashen’s affective filter, is helpful for sustaining learner motivation,suggesting that contrived videos, although beneficial for targeting specific language
elements and providing teachers with relevant tasks and exercises, are less desirable thanauthentic materials unless they are exceedingly well-produced. However if the videos are
too visually entertaining or relaxing there is a risk that the lack of an overt demand for
active listening skills will detract from the learning process (Lonergan, 1984).
A related concern is that the use of authentic materials, which have not been
specifically designed for foreign language learners, may require substantial teacher
preparation. Although many contrived materials offer pre-prepared exercises to accompany
the video, teachers using authentic sources might have to prepare appropriately sizedvideo selections and accompanying exercises that can address whatever target language isbeing studied.
3.2 Additional Issues
Ariew (1987) rightfully points out that video is by nature a one-way medium that lacks
communicative interaction; however Tomalin (1986) suggests that there are ways to make“interactive” contrived materials that challenge the learner with tasks.
A more pressing issue may be that non-contextualized visuals can lead to confuse
or distract the viewer from the language (Tomalin, 1986). Most importantly, many theorists
will attest that the use of video is an aid at best, and cannot serve as a methodology or a
replacement for the teacher (Geddes, 1982; Kerridge, 1982; Lonergan, 1984; Tomalin,1986). It should be noted, however, that this position appears to be merely a widely
accepted assumption, as no evidence is given as to why these opinions exist.
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4. STUDIES IN VIDEO-BASED LEARNING
There are a number of studies regarding the usefulness of video as a teaching mechanism.
This section examines a few of the most pertinent, viewed in terms of the amount ofimportance that video proffers to the educational methods, from least to most.
4.1 Video as an Auxiliary Teaching Aid
The most common technique is to use video as a form of teaching aid. This is in line withthe common thinking that it can be used only to assist a teacher, not take the place of one.
The following studies show unqualified support for video in these circumstances.
4.1.1 German in New Zealand
Antonie Alm (2008) presents her work at the University of Otago utilizing Germansoap operas as the primary source of language input and cultural contact for her students.
Although proficiency gains are not tested for, results indicate a definite improvement inlearner motivation levels.
4.1.2 Spanish in Florida
In 1991, a group of local teachers addressed the possibilities of utilizing video inthe classrooms (Darst, 1991). This pedagogical examination also utilized heavy amountsof teacher-prepared language integration techniques to accompany the video input, but
came to the conclusions that “grammar indeed can be taught just as effectively with video
materials, given the proper preparation, as can vocabulary and usage… any aspect ofSpanish language acquisition can be taught efficiently with video materials of natural,authentic Spanish” (p. 1089).
4.1.3 French at the University of Colorado, Denver
A 1988 study done by Jeanne Manning claims to use video as a primary text.
Although the French newscasts shown in class are apparently the major source of input thatthe students were provided, there are also large amounts of teacher provided preparationand integration activities, including a student produced video. Although the study was
small in scope and scale, the participants’ “improvement in fluency in French was easily
observable” (p. 460).
4.1.4 English in Taiwan and Turkey
Of the studies classified as “Auxiliary” use of video in the classroom, Katchen’s(2003) and Bal-Gezegin’s (2014) studies come closest to inclusion in the next group of“Primary”. Katchen does not really mention how much additional teaching is done byother sources, but reference is made to the teacher preparing additional materials andadministering tests. The assumption is that the teacher is still active in this setting.
Although precise gains are not measured, the conclusion is reached that DVD film can beused for a language course’s input material.
In a study involving pre-intermediate university students learning English at auniversity in Turkey, Bal-Gezegin explored the quantitative and qualitative differences
113between students learning practical English phrases via video and audio-only methodologies(Bal-Gezegin, 2014). It is unclear if these phrases are introduced or reinforced by othermethods, hence the inclusion of this study in this section for video as an auxiliary teachingaid. Video-based learners not only displayed significantly higher levels of acquisition
and retention than students who were only provided with audio input, but reported fewer
comprehension issues and increased levels of enjoyment and motivation, leading to theconclusion “that use of video might lead better vocabulary learning in language classrooms
when compared to the use of audio material only” (p. 456).
4.2 Video as a Primary Source of Input
In the following studies, the primacy of video takes a much more noticeable role. In fact,
there is no teacher disseminating information to the students, and all language learning isdone specifically through the medium of video.
4.2.1 Video Storybooks
This study, run by Verhallen and Bus (2009) in the Netherlands, compares theeffectiveness of using video to disseminate a storybook versus a standard static pictureformat. The determination is reached that video is more effective than standard books at
capturing young L2 learners’ attention, resulting in net positive language gains.
4.2.2 Children’s Television Workshop
Although this 1988 study by Rice and Woodsmall was performed with L1 children,
it still indicated a remarkable ability for children (3 and 5 year olds) to acquire language
from nothing more than video viewing. If language acquisition is possible for L1, thenit is not a large step to assume that the same possibility holds true for L2 as long as thesurrounding input is comprehensible and provides suitable context.
5. DISCUSSION
There are numerous studies and theoretical examples that extoll the benefits of using
video in a language-learning classroom; although a recurring theme appearing in most ofthese studies is that video is best utilized as an auxiliary aid in the language classroom,and cannot be used as a pedagogical method that replaces the teacher. However there
is not a suitable explanation provided in the literature as to why this is true, and it runs
counter to the professions of EFL learners who claim they have successfully acquired alanguage solely by watching videos. Krahsen’s Input Hypothesis (1985) and the studies
run by Bal-Gezegin (2014), Verhallen and Bus (2009) and Rice and Woodsmall (1988)
attest that at the very least there are a minimal amount of gains that can be attained bylanguage learners without the presence of a teacher.
Of course there are certain output related issues that video is incapable of addressing,as well as other roles that a teacher traditionally fills. It cannot answer learner’s questions
or pinpoint specific weak spots and customize a lesson plan accordingly. However given
the evidence, it is possible that there is some validity to the hypothesis that video possesses
the ability to serve as an effective conveyor of language input at levels significant enough114

to render the position of teacher unnecessary.
6. CONCLUSION
Although anecdotal evidence has existed for quite some time regarding video’s
effectiveness at promoting language acquisition when used as a primary source of input,
there has been a dearth of empirical evidence supporting this belief. However, it is clearthat there are situations where certain amounts of language acquisition for children isattainable, prompting the question: just how far can video take a learner without the aid ofa teacher? Answering that question conclusively requires further verifiable, quantitative
research at hitherto unexplored control levels.
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Ariew, R. (1987). Integrating video and CALL in the curriculum: The role of the
ACTFL Guidelines. Modern Media in Foreign Language Education: Theory and
Implementation. The ACTFL Foreign Language Education Series, 41-66.
Bal-Gezegin, B (2014). An investigation of using video vs. audio for teaching
vocabulary. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 143(2014), 450 – 457.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.07.516
Darst, D. H. (1991). Spanish video materials in the classroom. Hispania, 74(4), 10871090. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/343773
Dornyei, Z. (2001). Teaching and researching motivation: Applied linguistics in action.
Essex: Pearson.
Gardner, R. C., & Lambert, W. E. (1972). Attitudes and motivation in second language
learning. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
Geddes, M. (1982). “Talking heads” and study skills programmes. In M. Geddes, &G. Sturtridge (Eds.), Video in the Language Classroom (pp. 62-68). Oxford:
Heinemann Educational Books.
Grimmer, C. (1992). Supertext English language subtitles: A boon for English language
learners. EA Journal, 10(1), 66-75.
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Hunt, E. (2019, August 9). How Friends taught the world to speak English - from Jurgen
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Katchen, J. E. (2003). Teaching a listening and speaking course with DVD films: Can
it be done? In H. C. Liou, J. E. Katchen, & H. Wang (Eds.), Lingua Tsing Hua(pp. 221-236). Taipei: Crane. Retrieved from http://mx.nthu.edu.tw/~Katchen/professional/festschrift.htm
Kerridge, D. (1982). The use of video films. In M. Geddes, & G. Sturtridge (Eds.),
Video in the Language Classroom (pp. 107-121). Oxford: Heinemann Educational
Books.
Krashen, S. D. (1985). The input hypothesis: Issues and implications. London:
Longman.
Lonergan, J. (1984). Video in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Manning, J. L. (1988). Using TV/video as primary text in a foreign language classroom
at the University of Colorado, Denver. Foreign Language Annals, 21(5), 455-461.
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Rice, M., & Woodsmall, L. (1988). Lessons from television: Children's wordlearning when viewing. Child Development, 59(2), 420-429. http://dx.doi.
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South, J. B., Gabbitas, B., & Merrill, P.F. (2008). Designing video narratives
to contextualize content for ESL learners: A design process case study.
Interactive Learning Environments, 16(3), 231-243. http://dx.doi.
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Tschirner, E. (2001). Language acquisition in the classroom: The role of digital video.
Computer Assisted Language Learning, 14(3), 305-319. http://dx.doi.org/10.1076/
call.14.3.305.5796
Tomalin, B. (1986). Video, TV and radio in the English class: An introductory guide.
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Online, 1(1), 172-196. Retrieved from https://www.pedocs.de/volltexte/2011/4561/
pdf/JERO_2009_1_Verhallen_Bus_Video_Storybook_Reading_S172_D_A.pdf
116

117

118

JSPS Kakenhi Report on Developing Resources
for Teaching and Assessing Communication
Strategies in ELF-informed Pedagogy: An
Empirical Approach Based on Learners'
Communicative Capability
Blagoja Dimoski, ディモスキ・ ブラゴヤ

Center for English as a Lingua Franca, Tamagawa University, Japanbdimoski@lit.tamagawa.ac.jp

Satomi Kuroshima, 黒嶋 智美

Center for English as a Lingua Franca, Tamagawa University, Japanskuroshi@lab.tamagawa.ac.jp

Tricia Okada, 岡田 トリシャ

Center for English as a Lingua Franca, Tamagawa University, Japan
tokada@lit.tamagawa.ac.jp

Rasami Chaikul, チャイクル・ ラサミ

Center for English as a Lingua Franca, Tamagawa University, Japanrasami.chaikul@lab.tamagawa.ac.jp

Yuri Jody Yujobo, 祐乗坊由利ジョディー

Center for English as a Lingua Franca, Tamagawa University, Japanyujobo@lit.tamagawa.ac.jp

ABSTRACTThe current paper reports on the authors’ JSPS Kakenhi research activities and achievements,
which is approaching the end of its second year of this four-year project. The project wasborn from our desire to better understand our students’ communicative strengths and thechallenges they experience as users of English as a lingua franca (ELF) in nonacademic
settings. These insights, it is hoped, will enable us to better address our students’ needs bothin the classroom and ultimately beyond. Specifically in this report, we outline (1) the aims ofour project, (2) the theoretical background, (3) the strides we have taken in collecting data,and (4) the knowledge we have gained from analyzing the data thus far. We end the reportwith a discussion of our future directions and ultimate goals.
KEYWORDS: ELF, Communicative strategies, ELF-informed pedagogy, ELF corpus,
ELF modules
1191. INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Project
The current four-year Kakenhi research project aims to develop a corpus of communication
strategies (CSs) employed by Japanese university students in spoken and written
interactions in English as a lingua franca (ELF) contexts. Insights gained from the corpus
will guide our development of ELF-informed pedagogical resources consisting of thefollowing components: (1) Raising language awareness: Introduction to ELF-informed
pedagogy; (2) Teaching materials to develop CSs in spoken communication throughexplicit and implicit training; (3) Teaching materials to develop written communication
through explicit and implicit training; (4) ELF-informed rubrics to assess both spoken andwritten communication; and (5) Integrating ELF into an existing course/program.
To determine the efficacy of the resources we develop, each of the components
outlined above will be trialed using a mixed-methods approach and relevant findings will
be presented and published. The end-goal of this project is to make all the resources wecreate accessible to other educators and researchers via a website and printed materials,
which to the best of our knowledge, does not exist currently.
1.2 The Members
All the researchers in our team have previous experience in their assigned roles for thecurrent project. They have also demonstrated their effectiveness in collaborative researchthrough their participation in previous group-projects. Because we all belong to the same
institution, being in close proximity enables us to work together in person on a regularbasis. Also, our ELF-oriented work environment provides a vast and valuable sourceof potential participants for our research. Moreover, the required ELF classes we teachalso provide unique opportunities to trial the materials we develop. Considering all thesefactors, we are confident in the feasibility of our study and in our ability to fulfill all our
research objectives.
2. BACKGROUND
According to Graddol (2003), the number of non-native users of English worldwide
vastly exceeds that of native speakers. What is more, this disparity is only expected to
grow. In more practical terms, this phenomenon brings with it the reality that our students
are more than likely to encounter English as a lingua franca (ELF) with other non-native
speakers from outer or expanding-circles with whom they do not share a common first
language (Seidlhofer, 2011). Although communication in ELF settings is typically ad hoc
and variable, the efficacy of such interactions is high. This success is due, in large part,to interlocutors mutually co-constructing meaning through a process of adaptation andaccommodation and being creative with the language, as opposed to strict adherence to‘native-speaker’ linguistic norms and conventions (Seidlhofer, 2011; Björkman, 2014).
Since CSs play a significant role in the success of such interactions, ELF researchers(Björkman, 2010; Kaur, 2014) call for opportunities in class for learners to use CSs
proactively as a means of developing their ability to co-construct and negotiate meaning120

effectively.
In stark contrast, views in mainstream ELT remain, by and large, oriented toward
an English-speaking Western TESOL paradigm (Holliday, 2005), in which any deviationfrom such norms are regarded as ‘errors’; something to be penalized. Even though ELF
researchers have made great strides in demonstrating the relevance of ELF, further progressis needed in the way of developing practical ELF-informed teaching and assessment
materials for classroom learning.
It is significant to note, however, that discussion of CSs in ELF research has
focused primarily on adult ELF users (see Björkman, 2014; Burch, 2014; Cogo & Dewey,
2012; Kaur, 2016; Mauranen, 2012) in spoken interactions. Furthermore, as Choi andJeon (2016) state, “ELF pedagogy has been mostly discussed at only a conceptual leveland pedagogical research is scarce” (p. 1). Therefore, the current research will focus on
ELF CSs used by university students in both spoken and written communication for ELT
purposes.
This project is unique in several ways. First, there is currently no corpus (that weare aware of) based on Japanese university students’ spoken and written communication
in authentic ELF non-academic settings specifically. Hence, the proposed corpus will
provide new and vital data, for Japanese contexts. Second, because of a shortage ofteaching and assessment materials in ELF-informed pedagogy, the online resources wedevelop will also be unique. For all the above reasons, we firmly believe our projectaddresses, and hopefully will resolve, some of the current challenges we face in ELFinformed pedagogy, such as those highlighted by Toh (2016) and Robertson (2017).
3. ACTIVITIES & ACHIEVEMENTS
3.1 Data Collection
As of the second year of this study, a total of 36 participants comprised of 18 students fromour university and 18 overseas participants were recruited for online video conversations
with Japanese students and interviews with researchers (see Table 1). Approximately 400
minutes, consisting of twenty conversations using online video-conferencing software(i.e., Zoom), were audio and video recorded. Another 500-600 minutes of recorded postinterviews with the participants were also collected. Written consent forms were signed
and obtained from each participant prior to their participation.

121

Table 1
Online video conversation participants: Chronologically from 2018 to 2019
Participant &*Proficiency of
Pair
Nationality
Background
GenderSpoken English
J1-MaleF1-MaleJ2-MaleF2-MaleJ3-Female
F3-MaleJ4-Male
F4-MaleJ5-Female
F5-Female
J6-Female
F6-MaleJ7-Female
F7-Female
J8-MaleF8-Female
J9-Female
F9-MaleJapanese
Taiwanese
Japanese
Taiwanese
Japanese
Thai
Japanese
Thai
Japanese
Thai
Japanese
Taiwanese
Japanese
BrazilianJapanese
BrazilianJapanese
Brazilian

10

J10-Male
F10-MaleJapanese
Filipino11

J11-Male
F11-Female

Japanese
Filipino

University student
University student

J12-Male
F12-Female
J13-Female
F13-Female
J14-Male
F14-Female
J15-Male
F15-Male
J16-Male
F16-Male
J17-Female
F17-Female
J18-Male
F18-MaleJ19-Female
F19-Male
J20-Female
F20-Female

Japanese
Filipino
Japanese
MexicanJapanese
Malaysian
Japanese
Macedonian
Japanese
Macedonian
Japanese
BrazilianJapanese
BrazilianJapanese
Filipino
Japanese
ChineseUniversity student
University student
University student
Graduate student
University student
University student
University student
University student
University student
High school student
University student
Language teacher
University student
Graduate student
University student
Call center executive
University student
University student

1

2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

Note: *Self-evaluated; J = Japanese; F = Foreigner

122

University student
Industrial designer
University student
Product designer
University student
English teacher
University student
English lecturer
University student
English teacher
University student
Industrial designer
Graduate student
English teacher
University student
English teacher
University student
Teacher
Graduate student
Management
consultant

Beginner
Intermediate
Intermediate
Upper-intermediate
Beginner
Advanced
Upper-intermediate
Advanced*
Elementary
Advanced
Beginner
Beginner / Intermediate
Intermediate
Advanced
Beginner
Advanced
Beginner
Advanced
Intermediate
Advanced
Beginner
Intermediate / Upperintermediate
Intermediate
Upper-intermediate
Beginner
Advanced
Intermediate
Intermediate
Beginner
Advanced
Beginner
Advanced
Elementary
Advanced
Beginner
C2 (CEFR)
Elementary
Advanced
Beginner
Upper-intermediate3.2 Presentations
Since the commencement of this project, our team has made a total of eight presentations,both domestically and internationally, in relation to our project. In the following, we
provide the relevant details and highlights of each presentation.
•

Blagoja Dimoski (2018). Training for, simulating, and assessing ELF-type interactionsin the classroom. The 11th International Conference of English as a Lingua Franca.
King’s College, London. United Kingdom. July 4, 2018.
In this talk, the author presented three pedagogical approaches he designed todevelop students’ communicative capability. Specifically, the materials related to (a) the
explicit teaching of CSs, (b) the implicit teaching of CSs through pro-active listening(PAL) comprehension, and (c) the use of role plays to simulate ELF interactions andassess students’ ability to co-construct meaning, was presented within a framework. The
author also provided student-feedback, as well as his own reflections, concerning theapproaches and materials presented.
•

Tricia Okada (2018). Migrant voices of Filipinos teaching English in Japan. 4th
Philippine Studies Conference in Japan. Hiroshima University. Hiroshima. November
17, 2018.
This presentation examined how Filipinos of diverse backgrounds teaching English
language develop their teacher identity and how their migration is relevant to ELF.
•

Blagoja Dimoski, Satomi Kuroshima, Tricia Okada, Rasami Chaikul, & Yuri Jody
Yujobo (2019). The initial stages of developing resources for teaching and assessing
communication strategies in ELF-informed pedagogy. 8th Waseda ELF International
Workshop & Symposium. Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan. January 28, 2019.
At this workshop, we introduced a summary of our research project on Japanese
students’ communication strategies in ELF interactions using three online ELF
conversations we recorded and analyzed. We focused on two types of strategies: otherrepetition and gestures. The participants displayed their orientation to the norm of how
ordinary actions are accomplished (e.g., answering questions); thereby, they were able
to produce meaningful actions with the exploitation of various encoding resources. The
results have been confirmed with the participants’ reflections obtained from the pre- andpost-task interviews.
•

Blagoja Dimoski, Tricia Okada, Satomi Kuroshima, Rasami Chaikul, & Yuri Jody
Yujobo (2019). Conforming to native speaker norms?: An initial investigationof Japanese learners’ communicative capability in ELF interactions. The 12th
International Conference of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF 12). The University of
Antioquia. Medellin, Colombia. July 5, 2019.
This presentation discussed preliminary findings by introducing communication
strategies effectively used to negotiate meaning and mutual understanding in ELF
interactions. In preparation for ELF 12, we coded six conversations with varied fluency
based on Björkman (2014) and other studies on ELF communication strategies. Our results123show high frequency for both Japanese and foreign speakers in the use of strategies topursue mutual understanding, e.g., clarification requests, non-verbal resources, but different
frequency in an appeal for assistance, comprehension checks. The difference is implicatedby their level of proficiency - i.e., some strategies require more linguistic control, suchas comprehension check, repetition. Also, foreign speakers have more frequently used
the strategies for enhancing communicative clarity, i.e., repetition and paraphrasing, thanJapanese interlocutors. Overall, compared to foreign speakers, Japanese speakers haveused the limited variety of communication strategies to achieve mutual understanding sothat the progression of the interaction meets a minimal disruption.
In spite of the linguistic challenges, the Japanese interlocutors co-construct andnegotiate in ELF interactions by taking advantage of communication strategies (CS)to achieve mutual understanding. Based on the transcription coding, the most utilizedinteractional CSs from highest to lowest were backchanneling, non-linguistic means,clarification request, appeal for assistance, and repetition. The identified CSs to enhanceclarity and listening comprehension were repetition, self-initiated repair, rephrasing,and lexical insertion. Code-switching, translanguaging, and let it pass were interactional
resources used effectively to keep the conversation going. Our findings and analysis imply
that to achieve greater communicative capability, we need to raise ELF awareness andpromote explicit teaching of CS as well as international communication knowledge.
•

Blagoja Dimoski, Satomi Kuroshima, Rasami Chaikul, & Yuri Jody Yujobo (2019).
ELF型学習モジュール: ELFコミュニケーションのために  Preparing learners for
ELF encounters through ELF-aware pedagogical modules. JACET Summer Seminar.
Tamagawa University. Tokyo, Japan. August 22, 2019.
We showcased our original ELF-aware modules: communication strategies,
intercultural communication, critical literacy, and 21st-century skills through projectbased learning. Each presentation introduced the teaching materials we developed anddiscussed tips and ideas for adaptation to one’s own language classes.
•

Blagoja Dimoski, Satomi Kuroshima, & Rasami Chaikul (2019). ‘Borderless’
online ELF spoken interactions: Participants’ views and perspectives through‘accommodation’ strategies. The 58th JACET International Convention. Nagoya
Institute of Technology. Nagoya, Japan. August 29, 2019.
We presented our preliminary findings on translanguaging and transculturality
phenomena observed in our data. Through detailed analyses of our corpus of online
ELF conversations, we were able to show how the participants displayed orientation andsensitivity to the owner of a named cultural domain of knowledge and experience. In
particular, in their interactions, the knowledge and experience of the named culture havebeen intertwined with the locally contingent action formation, for instance, by using a
Japanese term (e.g., “neko”) to inform Japanese interlocutors of their daily life, or viceversa. The participants are able to convey an affiliative stance through claiming to havesuch knowledge and experience. In this way, we demonstrated that the phenomenon oftranslanguaging and transculturality can be described as a means not only for mutual
intelligibility but also for affiliative and accommodative interactional moves, which can
124promote their ELF communication.
•

Rasami Chaikul (2019). Engaging in diversity and transcultural exchanges in online
English as a lingua franca (ELF) communication. The 5th VietTESOL International
Convention. University of Foreign Languages - Hue University, Hue City, Vietnam.
October 11, 2019.
This presentation provided an overview of transcultural exchanges seen in online
communication between Japanese university students and non-native English speakers
from the expanding circle. Significant findings were discussed along with insights into thecharacteristics of communication strategies used during ELF interactions and transcultural
exchanges.
•

Yuri Jody Yujobo (2019). Blending English as a lingua franca and interdisciplinary
STEAM education. The 16th Annual CamTESOL. Institute of Technology ofCambodia. Phnom Penh, Cambodia. February 8, 2019.
The focus of this presentation was to introduce how research findings could betransferred into a creation of ELF-aware pedagogical modules.
3.3 Publication
Based on the findings from our initial round of data collection, our paper, titled ‘The
Initial Stages of Developing Resources for Teaching Communication Strategies in ELFinformed Pedagogy’, was peer-reviewed and published in the 8th volume of the Waseda
Working Papers in ELF (Dimoski, Kuroshima, Okada, Chaikul, & Yujobo, 2019).
In this study, we analyzed the spoken interactions of three Tamagawa University
students with their foreign interlocutors (i.e., two in Taiwan and one in Thailand) using
online video-conferencing software. Our findings showed that, despite our students’relatively low (self-assessed) level of English proficiency (i.e., from beginner tointermediate), they were able to make effective use of various communication strategies
to co-construct and negotiate meaning during their twenty-minute conversations. Ourfindings thus preliminarily confirm that they are able to employ the norms of how an
ordinary interaction works (i.e., how the sequence of actions is organized).
In addition, we observed that our university students struggled to cope with nonunderstanding in interactions, as well as their self-reported lack of confidence in theircommunicative capability. Therefore, pedagogical interventions, whether through explicit
or implicit means, can address these issues in the classroom and may be of benefit.
4. FUTURE DIRECTIONSIn the 2020 academic year, we will begin our second round of data collection by
expanding our investigation to writing in ELF contexts. This will include a new phase ofdata collection of written texts (i.e., real-time messaging) in ELF settings. Data on ELF
writing will be collected with the collaboration between our university students in Japanand ELF learners and users from different countries especially those from the outer circle.
Based on the data of written communication in ELF, we will begin coding for the written
125

data using the CSs and framework to create an original corpus of ELF-informed written
communication. The ELF corpus can be a rich resource for researchers on authentic dataof ELF spoken and written communication.
During the latter half of 2020 and 2021, our focus entails transferring our analysisof students’ CS use to developing appropriate teaching and assessment materials which
combine explicit and implicit teaching of CSs. The researchers plan to do extensive
trials in our university English language classrooms and collect feedback using a mixedmethods approach.
Moreover, one of our final studies is to develop approaches to ELF-informed
assessment. For this purpose, we will stage a series of ELF-informed assessment workshops
for both pre-service and in-service teachers, as well as people who are interested in the
topic, in order to explore and further understand attitudes toward non-traditional styleassessment. Data and feedback will be collected and analyzed for further development of
ELF-informed assessment tools. We hope this workshop will create a better understandingof approaches to ELF assessment (e.g., the creation of ELF-informed rubrics) to solve thedifficulties at hand.
This will lead us into our final project, an ELF-informed website where the
ELF pedagogical modules take form as online resources for educators and complete an
original ELF corpus on specific CSs used in spoken and written ELF communications.
The website will be made available to the public to implement the ELF-informed modules
into their curriculum. The website will be trialed by other ELF practitioners for feedback
to improve the website. The researchers will present the process and development of these
online resources at conferences and in publications.
Acknowledgments
This report is part of an ELF research project supported by JSPS Kakenhi Grant Number
18K00753.
REFERENCES
Björkman, B. (2010). So you think you can ELF: English as a lingua franca as themedium of instruction. Hermes - Journal of Language and Communication
Studies, 45, 77-96.
Björkman, B. (2014). An analysis of polyadic English as a lingua franca (ELF) speech:
A communicative strategies framework. Journal of Pragmatics, 66, 122-138.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2014.03.001
Burch, A. R. (2014). Pursuing information: A conversation analytic perspective on
communication strategies. Language Learning, 64(3), 651-684.
https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12064
Choi, K., & Jeon Y. J. (2016, February). Suggestion on teachers’ beliefs research on
126teaching English as a lingua franca. Paper presented at the 2016 International
Conference on Platform Technology and Service (PlatCon), Jeju, South Korea.
Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1109/PlatCon.2016.7456828
Cogo, A., & Dewey, M. (2012). Analysing English as a lingua franca: A Corpus-driven
Investigation. London: Continuum.
Dimoski, B., Kuroshima, S., Okada, T., Chaikul, R., & Yujobo, Y. J. (2019). The initialstages of developing resources for teaching communication strategies in
ELF-informed pedagogy. In K. Murata, T. Ishikawa, & M. Konakahara (Eds.),
Waseda Working Papers in ELF, Vol. 8, 105-128. Tokyo: ELF Research Group
Waseda.
Graddol, D. (2003). The decline of the native speaker. In G. Anderman, & M. Rogers(Eds.), Translation today: Trends and perspectives (152-167). Clevedon, UK:
Multilingual Matters.
Holliday, A. R. (2005). The struggle to teach English as an international language.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kaur, J. (2014). Teaching the effective use of ELF: Insights from research into ELF
pragmatics. WASEDA Working Papers in ELF (English as a Lingua Franca), 3,
158-168.
Kaur, J. (2016). Using pragmatic strategies for effective ELF communication: Relevanceto classroom practice. In K. Murata (Ed.), Exploring ELF in Japanese academic
and business contexts: Conceptualization, research and pedagogic implications(pp. 241-254). Oxon, England: Routledge.
Mauranen, A. (2012). Exploring ELF: Academic English shaped by non-native speakers.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Robertson, C. E. (2017). Pedagogical concerns and approaches to EAP writing
instruction within an ELF program. The Center for ELF Journal, 3, 21-26.
Seidlhofer, B. (2011). Understanding English as a lingua franca. Oxford, UK: Oxford
University Press.
Toh, G. (2016). Doing justice to an English as a lingua franca paradigm. Journal of
English as a Lingua Franca, 5(2), 355-367.

127

128

A Report on Faculty Development and Research at
the Center for English as a Lingua Franca 2019
ELF センター 2019 FDと研究活動レポート
Rasami Chaikul, ラサミ・チャイクル
Center for English as a Lingua Franca, Tamagawa University, Japanrasami.chaikul@lab.tamagawa.ac.jp
Brett Milliner, ミリナー・ブレット
Center for English as a Lingua Franca, Tamagawa University, Japan
milliner@lit.tamagawa.ac.jp

ABSTRACTThe Center for English as a Lingua Franca (CELF) at Tamagawa University is a uniqueprogram whereby 56 teachers from diverse backgrounds enrich a learning environment
where students can experience the use of English as a Lingua Franca. CELF Faculty
Development (FD) aims to promote a better understanding of ELF in ELT, reinforce
effective teaching methodologies, support teachers’ professional development andpromote inclusion in its diversity. Throughout the 2019 academic year, 21 FD workshops,
lectures, discussions and special events on 38 occasions were held in the Spring andFall semester. In this report, we describe in detail our faculty development activities,
present the research achievements of our faculty members, and reveal the results from a
FD survey of CELF faculty.
KEYWORDS: English as a lingua franca, ELF, Faculty development, Teacher
development, ELF research
1. INTRODUCTION
The Center for English as a Lingua Franca (CELF) provides English as a Lingua Franca(ELF) classes as a required ‘foreign’ language course to all students at Tamagawa
University. In the 2019 academic year, we offer ELF classes to more than 2000 students
from all colleges at our university. Regardless of geographical background, the number of
non-native speakers of English who use English as an international lingua franca aroundthe globe outnumber native speakers. It is therefore crucial that 21st century citizens
understand and be aware of the use of English as a lingua franca.
At our ELF Center, approximately 56 qualified teachers from diverse countriesof origin (Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany,
India, Ireland, Macedonia, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Thailand, UK, USA,129

and Vietnam) and native languages were hired by virtue of their teaching qualifications
and professional experience. The linguistic and cultural diversity these teachers bringis a valuable resource to enhance our students' awareness of ELF. The main purposeof the various types of CELF Faculty Development (FD) activities is to enhance theunderstanding and awareness of ELF teaching, assessment and classroom management
while providing a platform for our teachers to share ideas, methodologies and research,promote professional development, and strengthen professional networks. In 2019,
CELF held 21 FD lectures, workshops, demonstrations and discussions. In the following
sections, we report on our FD and professional development initiatives as well as theacademic achievements of CELF.
1. THE 2019 CELF-ELTAMA FORUM FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING
The 2019 CELF-ELTama Forum for English Language Teaching was a collaborative
effort between CELF and ELTama and was held on Friday 23 August, 2019.
The event offered a rich opportunity for CELF teachers to present and discuss
their ELF-aware classroom practices, ELF-related research and methodologies, alongwith current students and alumni from the Graduate School of Humanities who share
their English teaching techniques, research and expertise. A total of 11 presentations andreports were given by CELF faculty and part-time teachers (details, see Table 1 below).
This reciprocal event attracted approximately 80 participants.
Table 1
CELF talks at the 2019 CELF-ELTama Forum for English Language Teaching
Type of Talk & Title
Presentation (CELF Research Report)
Epistemological division in writing pedagogy:
ELF-awareness militates against conduit ideology
Presentation (CELF Research Report)
Designing inquiry-based materials to raise ELFinformed glocal awareness beyond 21st century skills
Presentation (CELF Research Report)
Conforming to native speaker norms? An initialinvestigation of Japanese learners’ communicative
capability in ELF interactions
Presentation (CELF Research Report)
Accommodating the construction of request turn to thetiming of compliance: In case of an immediate request
in Japanese service encounters
Presentation (CELF Concurrent Sessions)
Effectiveness of explicit instruction in reading strategies for beginner-level students

130

Author(s)Paul McBride
Yuri Jody Yujobo
Blagoja Dimoski, Rasami
Chaikul, Yuri Jody Yujobo& Tricia Okada
Satomi Kuroshima

Sachi Oshima

Presentation (CELF Concurrent Sessions)
Using video in the language learning classroom
Presentation (CELF Concurrent Sessions)
Towards EMI: A sample workshop on cognitive
psychology
Presentation (CELF Concurrent Sessions)
Listening strategy training for ELF learners
Presentation (CELF Concurrent Sessions)
Cross-cultural quizzes in the ELF classroom
Presentation (CELF Concurrent Sessions)
Listening portfolio: A combination of extensive andintensive listening
Presentation (CELF Report)
CELF Report

Drew Larson
Tomokazu Ishikawa
Brett Milliner & Blagoja
DimoskiMarinette Ishizaki
Hoa Bao Lai
Rasami Chaikul &Brett Milliner

Following a short introductory talk by Dr. Tomokazu Ishikawa, the featured
plenary invited speaker, Dr. Will Baker (University of Southampton) gave a presentation
on “Global Englishes and transcultural communication: Rethinking competences andpedagogy for ELT” and a workshop on “Exploring interculturality and transculturalcommunication in ELT practices” via video conference. The successful workshop was
led by Dr. Ayako Suzuki and Dr. Ishikawa. This joint plenary was co-sponsored by Dr.
Ishikawa’ s JSPS Kakenhi Grant (No.19K20794) and supported by JACET ELF SIG.

Figure 1. Dr. Tomokazu Ishikawa at CELF-ELTama Forum for English Language Teaching1312. ELF WORKSHOPS & TRAINING FOR CELF TEACHERS
CELF Faculty Development (FD) staged various teacher’s Professional Development(PD) and FD events for CELF teachers and administrative staff throughout the academic
year. Most CELF FD workshops, lectures and training sessions were held at least twice
each month to encourage teachers to engage in professional development. Most eventswere held at the end of the teaching day, while others took place during the teachers’ lunch
break. A short report on each type of event is provided below.
2.1 CELF Teacher Orientation
The CELF carried out Teacher Orientations each semester. In 2019 these orientations were
held on March 25 in the Spring and September 17 in the Fall semester. In each teacher
orientation a general briefing on the ELF program, the textbooks and materials used in
the program, the CELF Tutor Service, class management, and technology orientation
were provided in the morning session. The afternoon session focussed on: a program
description, explanations about the academic calendar, faculty development, important
information on class management and grading, extensive reading, the orientation of ELF
students, and a campus tour.

Figure 2. Dr. Masaki Oda, CELF Director, delivers a welcome speech at the CELF teacher
orientation on March 25, 2019

2.2 M-reader and Extensive Reading FD Workshop
The Center for English as a Lingua Franca (CELF) opened its very first Faculty
Development (FD) of the 2019 academic year with an M-reader workshop on April 17
and 19. This was a hands-on event aimed at helping teachers use the M-reader program tokeep a record of their students’ extensive reading.
2.3 Blackboard CMS Training
At Tamagawa University the Blackboard course management system (CMS) is132

implemented and hosts all of CELF teaching resources and administrative information.
To help CELF faculty to actively use this learning portal, CELF FD held four Blackboard
training sessions twice each semester on April 22- 23 in the Spring and October 15-16 in
the Fall. Each workshop focused on managing classroom assignments, assessing students’performance, and computer assisted learning.

Figure 3. CELF FD workshop on the Blackboard course management system (CMS) andUnitama (universal support system for Tamagawa University)

2.4 ELF Lectures
To raise awareness and understanding of ELF-informed pedagogy, a variety of FD
workshops and lectures were arranged in AY 2019.
2.4.1 ELF Lecture on ELF Policies
On May 14, 2019, Dr. Ayako Suzuki from the Department of English Language
Education gave a presentation as a part of the CELF FD Special Lecture session on “ELF
policies in Japanese formal education and possibilities of ELF.”

Figure 4. Special lecture session by Associate Professor Ayako Suzuki
133

2.4.2 ELF Special Lecture on Multilingual Franca (EMF) AwarenessDr. Tomokazu Ishikawa gave two Lectures on “English as a Multilingual Franca(EMF) awareness” on June 21 and 24, 2019. The presentations focused on ELF-awarenesswithin multilingualism. The lectures concluded with Dr. Ishikawa’s suggestions for the
future of ELF research and pedagogy.  
2.4.3 ELF Assessment Workshop
Two interactive workshops on “Assessment and Unitama FD” by Rasami Chaikul
and CELF Associate Director, Paul McBride were held on July 22 and 23, 2019. These
workshops focused on enhancing CELF teachers’ understanding of the ELF programassessment guides and how to use Unitama (universal support system for Tamagawa
University) during grading.

Figure 5. CELF FD Assessment and Unitama Workshops by Associate Professor PaulMcBride2.4.4 Lunchtime Meeting and Informal Discussions for CELF Teachers
Rasami Chaikul, Associate Director Paul McBride and full-time faculty, Blagoja
Dimoski, Jody Yujobo and Satomi Kuroshima, moderated six lunchtime meetings andinformal discussion sessions for CELF teachers on July 29 - 30, 2019 and January 20,
21, 22 and 24, 2020. These FDs focused on assisting teachers with their questions andconcerns, sharing teaching ideas and discussing any issues relating to the ELF classroom.
Some of the issues discussed included conducting process writing, dealing with student’s
difficulties, grading criteria and related issues, and ELF research.  
2.5 ELF Class Observations and ELF Module Demonstration
As part of campus-wide University FD/SD (Staff Development) Class Observation event,
the CELF opened up 14 classes taught by full-time faculty on July 8, 9, 10 and 12 in the
Spring and 7 classes in the fall on October 7, 8, and 9. All feedback from the part-timeteachers and office personnel who attended the class observations was positive.
134

A total of 12 ELF module demonstrations were conducted by CELF as a part of the Cosmos
Fair on November 9 and 10. The objectives of ELF Cosmos were to share the conceptof ELF as a foundation of university language teaching and to promote CELF teaching,research, and professional development. Approximately 190 teachers, graduates, students
and general audience members attended these modules during the Cosmos Fair period.
For more information, see: https://www.tamagawa.ac.jp/celf/news/detail_019.html

Figure 6. ELF Module demonstrations at Cosmos fair on November 9-10, 2019

2.6 Guest Speakers and Visiting Scholars
The center welcomed two prominent scholars in the field of English as a Lingua Francaand language education in 2019.
2.6.1 CELF FD Special Lecture #1
The Center for English as a Lingua Franca (CELF) welcomed Prof. Safnil Arsyad
and his colleagues and graduate students from the University of Bengkulu, Indonesia on
July 9, 2019. A presentation on “Struggling for international publication: The potential
rhetorical problems for Indonesian scholars in social sciences and humanities whenwriting in English” was given by Prof. Safnil and the opening address was delivered by
CELF Director Prof. Masaki Oda.

Figure 7. Professor Safnil Arsyad, colleagues and graduate students from the Universityof Bengkulu, Indonesia visit CELF
135

2.6.2 CELF FD Special Lecture #2
A special lecture on “Towards cross-fertilization of English as a lingua franca and study
abroad” was given by Dr. Daisuke Kimura, of the University of Tokyo, on November
6, 2019. The lecture presented an analysis of Japanese students who studied English in
Thailand.

Figure 8. CELF FD Special Lecture on “Towards cross-fertilization of English as a lingua
franca and study abroad” by Dr. Daisuke Kimura

2.6.3 CELF FD Special Lecture and Visiting Scholar
Dr. Masaki Oda, Director of the Center for English as a Lingua Franca (CELF),
gave a presentation on “Applied linguistics beyond ELT: A diachronic view”. At this talkthe CELF also welcomed Dr. Donna Brinton, former Associate Director of the Center for
World Languages at UCLA to participate in a post-talk discussion on December 10.

Figure 9. CELF Director Dr. Masaki Oda’s lecture and special guest Dr. Donna Brinton,
former Associate Director of the Center for World Languages at UCLA on December 10,
2019

2.7 CELF Collaborative FD
A special collaborative meeting between the Center for English as a Lingua Franca (CELF)

136

and the English program at Utsunomiya University (EPUU) took place on November 20,
2019. CELF’s Director Prof. Masaki Oda welcomed Prof. Chieko Mimura, the Directorof EPUU, and her team to Tamagawa University’s CELF with a view to exchanging
knowledge and ideas for curriculum, program, and professional development on bothsides.

Figure 10. CELF Collaborative FD with Utsunomiya University on November 20, 2019

2.8 CELF Professional Development Research Seminar
To promote lifelong learning among CELF teachers, CELF FD aimed to provide aplatform for CELF teachers to share their research and teaching techniques with others in
the program. Four presentations on three topics were given at these events on January 7
and 8, 2020.
On both occasions, CELF full-time faculty Brett Milliner and Blagoja Dimoskipresented a research report on “Explicit listening strategy training for lower-proficiency
learners: Is it worthwhile?.” In addition, Marcin Wrobel shared his ideas on “Ethicalissues regarding the usage of machine translation in the setting of Japanese university” on
the first day, and Drew Larson presented teaching practice ideas on “Video-based learning
exercises for the classroom” on the second day of this research seminar.

Figure 11. CELF Professional Development Research Seminar presenters; Drew Larson(left) and Marcin Wrobel (right)
1372.9 CELF FD Round Table Discussion
Tamagawa celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2019, to mark this occasion, CELF hosted
an FD round table on “The history of Tamagawa and Tamagawa’s ELT (The memoirof Mr. Kuniyoshi Obara and his zenjin education).” Honorary speakers were CELF
Director, Prof. Masaki Oda and Ms. Mari Watanabe (Tamagawa graduate, CELF office).
The philosophy of Tamagawa’s zenjin (whole person) education and experiences of being
educated by Tamagawa Gakuen’s founder, Mr. Kuniyoshi Obara were shared. The roundtable concluded with a reflection and discussion of Tamagawa’s English language teaching
and learning.

Figure 12. Professor. Masaki Oda (CELF Director, Tamagawa University) and Ms. Mari
Watanabe (Tamagawa graduate, CELF office) lead the CELF FD round table on “Thehistory of Tamagawa and Tamagawa’s ELT (The memoir of Mr. Kuniyoshi Obara and his
Zenjin Education)” on February 10, 2020

3. CELF FD SURVEY RESULTS
CELF FD implements a variety of faculty development programs aimed at raising
ELF-awareness, helping teachers to implement ELF-informed pedagogy in addition topromoting professional development through the sharing of contemporary research. The
CELF staged a variety of FD initiatives in 2019. To audit the efficacy of these initiatives
and learn how they can be improved, a CELF FD survey was distributed among CELF
teachers during lunchtime meetings and discussions, and 52% (29/56) of teachers
responded.
The first item on the survey asked teachers to respond to five likert-scale items
relating to their satisfaction with the CELF FD training and support they received as
CELF teachers. A total of 96% (27/29) of teachers expressed satisfaction with the CELF
FD training and support received (Figure 13).

138

Figure 13. Results for Q1 (n= 29)

The CELF FD survey also revealed 86% (25/29) agreed that the CELF FD had an impact
on their professional development, with 27% (8/29) strongly agreeing. Only two teachers
gave a neutral answer and one teacher disagreed with the statement (See Figure 14).

Figure 14. Results for Q2 (n= 29)

Item 3 in the CELF FD survey asked teachers to choose the FD event(s) they found most139

interesting or beneficial to them. While 89% (28/29) of the teachers stated that the CELF
teacher orientation was beneficial, a further 11% mentioned that it was interesting. A small
majority of teachers (59%) found the Blackboard and Unitama workshops which were
provided four times in the year, beneficial and 33% said the question was not applicableto them. This may be due to the duration of each teacher’s participation in the CELF as
those who had been teaching in the program longer may have a better understanding of theBlackboard and Unitama systems in general. The M-reader workshop and CELF-ELTama
Forum were rated as beneficial (50% of respondents), while 32% of teachers found the
CELF FD assessment workshop the most interesting FD activity (n=25). In the section
inviting open-ended comments, one teacher mentioned that the “feedback received fromspeaking with tenured professors was highly beneficial.”
The survey asked CELF teachers to choose the item they felt was most beneficial
to them (Figure 15). Teachers were asked to mark their preferred level on a five-point
Likert scale. They could also skip items if they felt they were not relevant to them. The
results revealed that 96% (27/28) of them agree that CELF FD helped deepen theirunderstanding of the ELF program. Of the teachers who took the survey, 86% (22/28)
believed it helped deepen their understanding of ELF pedagogy and 85% reported thatthe program had helped them improve their teaching techniques and skills. A total of 24
teachers (89%) said that CELF FD helped them understand extensive reading, graded
readers and M-Reader more deeply, while 71% (20/28) reported that FD helped themdevelop their research ideas and skills. Perhaps the most remarkable result was that 93%(26/28) of faculty felt that the CELF FD program helped teachers develop better relations
with colleagues.

Figure 15. Summary of results displaying the teachers’ opinions on the benefits of CELF
FD in SurveyMonkey.
140

Item 6 in the CELF FD survey asked teachers what kind of FD event(s) they would liketo see in the future. Three teachers mentioned that they would like to see FD workshops
where teachers demonstrate and share their teaching ideas and practices. Other teachers
stated FD activities which relate to English skills such as speaking (3) and process writing(2).  
4. CELF RESEARCH ACHIEVEMENTS
In 2019, the full-time faculty in the CELF actively engaged with the academic communityand continued to make strides with their independent and collaborative research. In thissection, we share some of those research achievements.  
4.1 Academic Presentations
In 2019, CELF faculty made a combined total of 38 presentations at international anddomestic conferences.
4.1.1 Domestic Presentations
The CELF made 17 presentations across Japan in 2019. These consisted of aninvited workshop and panel presentations, numerous paper and poster presentations (seeTable 2). Of particular note, Blagoja Dimoski and Yuri Jody Yujobo were invited panelists
at the Aichi University Forum.
Table 2
Summary of CELF faculty’s domestic presentations (n＝17)
Location

Type, Title, & Event

Author(s)KobePresentation
A review of explicit listening strategy training
JALT PanSIG 2019 Conference

Brett Milliner &Blagoja Dimoski

Tokyo

Presentation
医療記録を「読むこと」の会話分析[Conversation analysis on ‘reading’ themedical records]
第45回日本保健医療社会学会 [45thAnnual Meeting of the Japanese Society of
Health and Medical Sociology]

Satomi Kuroshima

Tokyo

Presentation
ELF型学習モジュール: ELFコミュニケー
ションのために [Preparing learners for ELF
encounters through ELF-aware pedagogicalmodules]
The 2nd JACET Joint Summer Seminar

Yuri Jody Yujobo,
Blagoja Dimoski,
Satomi Kuroshima &Rasami Chaikul
141

142

Tokyo

Presentation
多言語主義における国際語としての英語
The 2nd JACET Joint Summer Seminar

Tomokazu Ishikawa

Tokyo

Presentation
Doing justice to ELF in ELT2019 ELF-ELTama ForumTomokazu Ishikawa

Tokyo

Presentation
Towards EMI: A sample workshop on
cognitive psychology
2019 ELF-ELTama ForumTomokazu Ishikawa

Tokyo

Presentation
Listening strategy training for ELF Learners
2019 ELF-ELTama Forum

Brett Milliner &Blagoja Dimoski

NagoyaInvited talk
Developing inquiry-based ELF-awareteaching materials and assessments for
tomorrow’s global citizens
Forum of The Institute for Research in
Humanities and Social Sciences, Aichi
University (IRHSA)

Yuri Jody Yujobo

NagoyaInvited talk
Teaching and assessment materials forcommunicative capability in ELF-aware
classrooms and beyond
Forum of The Institute for Research in
Humanities and Social Sciences, Aichi
University (IRHSA)

Blagoja Dimoski

NagoyaPresentation
The efficacy of explicit listening strategy
training
JALT 2019

Brett Milliner & Blagoja
DimoskiTokyo

Invited talk
How multilingual ELF scenarios are?
The 1st JACET ELF SIG International
Workshop

Tomokazu Ishikawa

NagoyaPresentation
English as a multilingua franca in ELT:
Beyond ideological monolingualism
58th JACET International Convention

Tomokazu Ishikawa

NagoyaPresentation‘Borderless’ online ELF spoken interactions:
Participants’ views and perspectives through‘accommodation’ strategies
58th JACET International Convention

Blagoja Dimoski, Satomi
Kuroshima & Rasami
ChaikulNagoyaPlenary Symposium
Applied linguistics today
58th JACET International Convention

Tokyo

Plenary Symposium
応用言語学の言語語横断的（Translingua)
連携の可能性(Translingual collaboration in applied
linguistics)
2nd JAAL in JACET

Masaki Oda, Paul Kei
Matsuda & Daniel Perrin(Moderated by Chitose
Asaoka)Tokyo

Poster
The Language Policy SIG research report
2nd JAAL in JACET

Presentation
English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) and
Language Education Policy in Thailand
Kanazawa 「タイの言語教育政策における国際共通語にとしての英語」
JACET Language Policy SIG’s 2019 Special
Research Meeting

Masaki Oda

Rasami Chaikul & Mimura
ChiekoRasami Chaikul

4.1.2 International Presentations
In the 2019 academic year CELF faculty presented their individual and collaborative
research projects at a range of international conferences, including South America, Europe,Asia, Oceania, and North America. In total, 21 international presentations were madeduring this period (see Table 3). Among them, individual and group presentations weremade by Paul McBride, Rasami Chaikul, Masaki Oda and Yuri Jody Yujobo at the Asia
TEFL conference in Bangkok, while Blagoja Dimoski, Tomokazu Ishikawa and Tricia
Okada presented at the ELF12 conference in Medellín, Columbia.

143

Table 3
Summary of CELF faculty’s international presentations (n＝21)
Location

Author(s)Bangkok,ThailandPresentation
Designing inquiry-based materials to raise
ELF-informed glocal awareness beyond
21st century skills
17th Asia TEFL International Conference

Yuri Jody Yojobo

Bangkok,Thailand

Assessing English as a Lingua Franca in a
Plurilingual and Transcultural Era.
17th Asia TEFL International Conference

Rasami Chaikul &Kahoko Matsumoto

Bangkok,Thailand

Symposium
Epistemological division in writing
pedagogy: ELF-awareness militatesagainst conduit ideology. In F. Hamied(Chair). ELT Diversity in response to
ELF.
17th Asia TEFL International Conference

Fuad Abdul Hamied(Moderator)
Participants: Masaki Oda,
Paul McBride &Ju Seong Lee

Bangkok,Thailand

Colloquium
Willy Renandya, Jason Loh,
Tips for publishing your first journalMarie Alina Yeo,
Utami Widati, Masaki Oda &articleSupakorn Phoocharoensil
17th Asia TEFL International Conference

Medellín,Columbia

Medellín,Columbia

Alberta,Canada144

Type, Title, & Event

Presentation
Conforming to native speaker norms?: An
initial investigation of Japanese learners’communicative capability in ELF
interactions
ELF12
Presentation
ELF awareness from a monolingual
fiction to the multilingual reality
ELF12
Poster
Referent re-introduction in bilingual
narratives: Is it more vulnerable to crosslinguistic influence?
The 12th International Symposium on
Bilingualism

Blagoja Dimoski,
Satomi Kuroshima,
Tricia Okada,
Rasami Chaikul &Yuri Jody Yujobo

Tomokazu Ishikawa

Satomi Mishina-Mori,
Yuki Nakano &Yuri Jody Yujobo

Taichung,TaiwanWorkshop
Using Google’s G Suite® to manage an
extensive listening program
4th Extensive Reading World Congress

Brett Milliner

Taichung,
TaiwanPresentation
Developing listening fluency: Explicit
listening strategy training versus extensive
listening
4th Extensive Reading World Congress

Brett Milliner &Blagoja Dimoski

Chania,GreecePresentation
Conceptual transfer in connecting eventsin Japanese-English bilingual teenagers’
narratives
International Symposium on Monolingualand Bilingual Speech 2019 (ISMBS)

Satomi Mishina-Mori,
Yuki Nagai &Yuri Jody Yujobo

Panel Discussion
Accommodating the construction ofrequest turn toHong Kong, the timing of compliance:
In case of an immediate request in
China
Japanese service encounters
The 16th International Pragmatics
Conference (IPrA)

Satomi Kuroshima

Panel Discussion
Dealing with surgical uncertainty:
Acknowledging, accounting, andMannheim, calibrating for the procedures of surgical
Germany operations
The 2019 Conference of the International
Institute for Ethnomethodology andConversation Analysis (IIEMCA)

Satomi Kuroshima

New York,
USA

Presentation
Members’ evaluation methods formeasuring radioactive dose
114th Annual Meeting of American
Sociological Association (ASA)

Vancouver,
CanadaPanel Discussion
Trans Asia Pacific: Changing queer
climates
American Anthropological Association(AAA)

Satomi Kuroshima &Tomone Komiya

Tricia Okada

145

Presentation
Engaging in diversity and transcultural
exchanges in online English as a lingua
Hue, Vietnam
franca (ELF) communication
VietTESOL International Convention(VietTESOL)

Rasami Chaikul

Presentation
Society 5.0 and the shifts in English
education in higher education in JapanThe 5th IAFOR International Conferenceon Education (ICEE)

Yuri Jody Yujobo

Presentation
What is ESTEAM education? Blending
Phnom Penh,of ELF with interdisciplinary STEAM
Cambodia
education
The 16th Annual CamTESOL Conference

Yuri Jody Yujobo

Honolulu,
Hawaii

146

Medan,
Indonesia

Presentation
English language program as amulticultural organization
The 66th TEFLIN International
Conference

Masaki Oda

Bengkulu,
Indonesia

Invited Presentation
Issues in preservice and in-service
training for teachers in Japan
University of Bengkulu, Graduate Schoolof Education Special Lecture

Masaki Oda

Bengkulu,
Indonesia

Invited Presentation
Designing qualitative research projects in
English language teaching
University of Bengkulu, Graduate Schoolof Education Special Lecture

Masaki Oda

Bali,
Indonesia

Presentation
English as a lingua franca and criticalpedagogy: A transformative approach to
English language teaching in a Japanese
university
15th Annual Education and Development
Conference [EDC 2020]

Rasami Chaikul

4.2 Academic Publications
In 2019, the CELF faculty published their research in books (as chapters), journals,
conference proceedings, and in other forms. We wish to congratulate Dr. Tomokazu
Ishikawa and Paul McBride for publishing their article, Doing justice to ELF in ELT:
Comments on Toh (2016) in the Journal of English as a Lingua Franca. Also, Yuri Jody
Yujobo, Tricia Okada, Ethel Ogane and former CELF faculty member, Dr. Takanori
Sato for their article, Communication strategies employed by low-proficiency users:
Possibilities for ELF-informed pedagogy, in the same journal. Dr. Tomokazu Ishikawa
also published an article titled EMF awareness in L1-shared classrooms in the highly
respected ELT Journal, a chapter in the Waseda Working Papers in ELF, and he wrote achapter in an exciting new book English as a lingua franca in Japan: Towards multilingual
practices. The ELF Center’s director, Dr. Masaki Oda also wrote a chapter in this booktitled Learning English because of the Olympics?: A critical inquiry.
Table 4
Summary of publications by CELF faculty (n＝20)
Type (〇=Peer-reviewed) & Reference

Article〇Milliner, B. (2019). Comparing extensive reading to extensive
reading-while-listening on smartphones: Impacts on listening andreading performance for beginning students. The Reading Matrix,
19(1), 1-19. Retrieved from http://www.readingmatrix.com/files/2081br6g10.pdf

Author(s)Brett Milliner

ArticleChaikul, R., & Milliner, B. (2019). A report on faculty development
and research at
the Center for English as a Lingua Franca. The Center for English
as a Lingua Franca Journal, 5, 54-82. Retrieved from http://hdl.
handle.net/11078/1363

Rasami Chaikul&
Brett Milliner

Article〇Ishikawa, T., & Jenkins, J. (2019). What is ELF? Introductory
questions and answers for ELT professionals. The Center for
English as a Lingua Franca Journal, 5, 1-10. Retrieved from: http://
hdl.handle.net/11078/1359

Tomokazu
Ishikawa &Jenifer Jenkins

Article〇Dimoski, B., & Milliner, B. (2019). Three bottom-up listening
training ideas for the English as a lingua franca classroom. The
Center for English as a Lingua Franca Journal, 5, 36-53. Retrieved
from http://hdl.handle.net/11078/1362

Blagoja Dimoski& Brett Milliner

147

Article〇
Yujobo, Y. J. (2019). Reconceptualizing ‘Global Jinzai’ from a(B)ELF Perspective. The Center for English as a Lingua Franca
Journal, 5, 11-22. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11078/1360

Yuri Jody Yujobo

Article〇Sato, T., Yujobo, Y. J., Okada, T., & Ogane, E. (2019).
Communication strategies employed by low-proficiency users:
Possibilities for ELF-informed pedagogy. Journal of English as a
Lingua Franca, 8(1), 9-35. https://doi.org/10.1515/jelf-2019-2003

Takanori Sato,
Yuri Jody Yujobo,
Tricia Okada &Ethel Ogane

Article〇Ishikawa, T., & McBride, P. (2019). Doing justice to ELF in ELT:
Comments on Toh (2016). Journal of English as a Lingua Franca
8(2), 333-345. https://doi.org/10.1515/jelf-2019-2026

Tomokazu
Ishikawa &Paul McBride

Edited book & chapter〇
Murata, K., Ishikawa, T., & Konakahara, M. (2020). Introduction:
ELF and Applied Linguistics - Broadening a perspective. In K.
Murata, T. Ishikawa, & M. Konakahara (Eds.), Waseda Working
Papers in ELF (vol. 8), 1-12. Tokyo: ELF Research Group, Waseda
University.

Kumiko Murata,
Tomokazu
Ishikawa &Mayu
Konakahara

Chapter〇
Ishikawa, T. (2020). Complexity of English as a multilingua franca:
Place of monolingual standard English. In M. Konakahara, & K.
Tsuchiya (Eds.), English as a lingua franca in Japan: Towards
multilingual practices (pp. 91-109). Basingstoke: Palgrave
Macmillan.

Tomokazu
Ishikawa

Article〇Cote, T., & Milliner, B. (2019). Digital literacies and study abroad:A review of Japanese students in Australia. CALL-EJ, 20(3), 44-61.

Travis Cote &Brett Milliner

Article〇Milliner, B., & Dimoski, B. (2019). Explicit listening strategy
training for ELF learners. The Journal of Asia TEFL, 16(3), 833858. http://dx.doi.org/10.18823/asiatefl.2019.16.3.5.833.

Brett Milliner &Blagoja Dimoski

Editorial
Milliner, B., Okuyama, L., Okuyama, Y. , Hayashi, G., Bower,
C., Sato, A., & Gildart, S. (2019). Yokohama JALT MyShare2018[Specialissue]. AccentsAsia, 11(2),1-32.

Brett Milliner

Article〇Ishikawa, T. (2020). EMF awareness in L1-shared classrooms. ELT
Journal.

Tomokazu
Ishikawa

148

Article〇
Dimoski, B., Kuroshima, S., Okada, T., Chaikul, R., & Yujobo, Y.
J. (2019). The initial stages of developing resources for teachingcommunication strategies in ELF-informed pedagogy. Waseda
Working Papers in ELF, 8, 105-128.

Blagoja Dimoski,
SatomiKuroshima,
Tricia Okada,
Rasami Chaikul& Yuri Jody
YujoboArticle〇Mishina-Mori, S., Nakano, Y., & Yujobo, Y. J. (2019). Conceptual
transfer in connecting events in Japanese-English bilingual
teenagers’ narratives. In E. Babatsouli (Ed.), Proceedings of theInternational Symposium on Monolingual and Bilingual Speech2019 (pp. 80-85). Chania, Greece: ISMBS.

Satomi MishinaMori,
Yuki Nakano &Yuri Jody Yujobo

Chapter〇
Milliner, B., & Barr, B. (2020). Computer assisted language tests
and learner mindsets. In M. Freiermuth & N. Zarrinabidi (Eds.),
Technology and the psychology of second language learners andusers. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.

Brett Milliner &Blair Barr

Chapter〇Oda, M. (2020). Learning English because of the Olympics?: A
Critical Inquiry. In M. Konakahara, & K. Tsuchiya (Eds.), English asa lingua franca in Japan: Towards multilingual practices (pp. 301311). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Masaki Oda

Chapter〇Oda, M. (2019). Behind the sand castle: Implementing English
language teaching policies in Japan. In X. Gao (Ed.), Second
Handbook of English Language Teaching (pp.1-21). Switzerland:
Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58542-0_4-1

Masaki Oda

Chapter
佐野富士子、小田寛人編『授業力アップのための英語教師必携自己啓発マニュアル』東京：開拓社、2019年。ISBN 978-47589-1355-3

Masaki Oda

Chapter〇Oda, M. (2020). Groundless beliefs: Language learners and media
discourse. In S. Madya, W. A. Renandya, M. Oda, D. Sukiyadi,
A. Triastuti, Ashadi, E. Andriyanti, & N. Hidayanto P.S.P (eds.),
English Linguistics, Literature, and Language Teaching in a
Changing Era (pp. 14-19). London: Routledge. https://doi.
org/10.1201/9780429021039

Masaki Oda

149

4.3 Contributions to Academic Societies
CELF faculty continue to engage as volunteers for a variety of academic organizations.
Faculty fulfilled 46 voluntary roles (compared to 24 in 2017 - see Milliner & Dimoski,
2018; and 41 in 2018 - see Chaikul & Milliner, 2019) in domestic and international
academic societies. Table 5 lists the variety of roles fulfilled.
Table 5
Summary of contributions by CELF faculty to academic societies in 2019 (n=46)
Asia TEFL

Society

JACET
Journal of Language and
Identity in Education

Position

Vice President for Membership
Vice President & Director of
Academic Affairs

Name

Masaki Oda
Masaki Oda

Editorial Board Member

Masaki Oda

Reviewer

Masaki Oda

Reviewer

Masaki Oda

Advisory Committee Member

Masaki Oda

Lingua Pedagogia (Universitas
Negeri Yogyakarta)

Reviewer

Masaki Oda

Editorial Board Member

Masaki Oda

University of Southern
Queensland

Reviewer

Masaki Oda

Ph.D. External Examiner

Masaki Oda

JACET Seminar Committee

Steering Committee Member

Paul McBride

JACET ELF SIG

Contributor to SIG Website

Paul McBride

JACET Seminar Committee

Steering Committee Member

Critical Inquiry of Language
Studies
Asian Englishes

AILA Language Policy
Research Network
TEFLIN Journal

TESOL Quarterly

JACET Kanto Journal
JACET Kanto Journal

The International Academic
Forum, Journal of Language
Learning

150

Journal Editor
Journal Editor

Reviewer

Paul McBride
Mitsuko Imai

Mitsuko Imai

Andrew
Leichsenring

JALT Post Conference
Publication
The Language Teacher (JALT)
Proceedings of the fourth
Extensive Reading World
Congress
The Journal of Extensive
Reading
JALT CALL

JALT Yokohama

Accents Asia Journal
JACET Seminar Committee

Copy Editor
Copy Editor & Proofreader

Andrew
Leichsenring

Copy Editor

Brett Milliner

Copy Editor

Brett Milliner

Treasurer

Brett Milliner

Special Issue Editor

Brett Milliner

Publications Chair

Steering Committee Member

Journal of Pragmatics

Reviewer

The Japanese Association ofSociolinguistic Sciences

Treasurer

The Japanese Association ofSociolinguistic Sciences
JACET Seminar Committee

JACET Academic Exchange
Committee
Englishes in Practice (DeGruyter)

Journal of English as a Lingua
FrancaInternational Journal of Applied
Linguistics
Language and Intercultural
Communication

Journal of Multilingual andMulticultural Development

Andrew
Leichsenring

Reviewer
Associate Chair & Steering
Committee Member

Steering Committee Member(AILA & JAAL in JACET
Coordinator)
Editorial Board Member
Reviewer
Reviewer
Reviewer
Reviewer

Brett Milliner
SatomiKuroshima
SatomiKuroshima

SatomiKuroshima
SatomiKuroshima
Tomokazu
Ishikawa

Tomokazu
Ishikawa
Tomokazu
Ishikawa
Tomokazu
Ishikawa
Tomokazu
Ishikawa
Tomokazu
Ishikawa
Tomokazu
Ishikawa
151

JAAL in JACET
JACET ELF SIG

Steering Committee Member(Academic Exchange)

Steering Committee Member;
Public Relations Committee Chair;
Membership Administration
Committee Vice Chair

JACET ELF SIG Journal

Reviewer

JACET Journal

Reviewer

JACET Kanto Journal

Reviewer

JACET

Scientific Committee Member

1st JACET ELF SIG
International Workshop

Organizing Committee Member

ELF International Conference
SeriesFIEP JAPANJACET Summer Seminar
Committee
JACET Summer Seminar
Committee

New Crown Textbook Series(Sanseido Co. Ltd)

Working Committee Member

Tomokazu
Ishikawa
Tomokazu
Ishikawa
Tomokazu
Ishikawa

Tomokazu
Ishikawa

Tomokazu
Ishikawa

Tomokazu
Ishikawa

Tomokazu
Ishikawa

Tomokazu
Ishikawa

Board Member & Public Relations
Rasami Chaikul
Chair
Steering Committee Member

Rasami Chaikul

Steering Committee Member

Yuri Jody Yujobo

Proofreader

Yuri Jody Yujobo

4.4 Research Grants Received by CELF Faculty
Reported in Table 6 below, members of CELF faculty are involved in a total of 12 research
projects funded by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research through the Japan Society for the
Promotion of Science (JSPS Kakenhi). We want to congratulate Dr. Tomokazu Ishikawa(co-investigator) for securing a new grant for a project researching the realities of theuse of ELF in multilingual business settings and implications for the development of
global human resources, and also, Yuri Jody Yujobo (co-investigator) for a project which
evaluates the development of Japanese-English simultaneous and late successive bilingual
discourse skills of International Baccalaureate students. We also salute our queen of grantapplications, Dr. Satomi Kuroshima who secured another grant in 2019 titled: Conversation
analysis of the internal exposure test result consultation (primary-investigator). We lookforward to seeing what fruits each of these research projects bear.

152

Table 6
Summary of research grants received by CELF faculty in 2019 (n=12)
Grant
JSPS
Kakenhi
JSPS
KakenhiType

LengthProject

Grant-in Aid
04-04同時バイリンガルナラテ
for Scientific2016~03- ィヴにおける言語間相互
Research
31-2020 作用の研究(C)

Grant-in Aid
04-01「ネイティブスピーカー
for Scientific2018-03- 主義」後の大学英語教育
Research
31-2022 プログラムの開発(C)

Recipient
Yuri Jody Yujobo(Co-Investigator)
Masaki Oda(Principal
Investigator)

JSPS
KakenhiGrant-in-Aid
04-01原発避難からの帰還地域
for Scientific2017~03- における希望と不安の社
Research
31-2020 会論理(C)

Satomi Kuroshima(Co-investigator)

JSPS
KakenhiGrant-in-Aid
04-01for Scientific2017~03Research
31-2021(A)

Satomi Kuroshima(Co-investigator)

JSPS
KakenhiBlagoja Dimoski(Principal
Developing resources for
Investigator)
teaching and assessing
Grant-in-Aid&
communication strategies
04-01for Scientific2018~03- in ELF-informed pedagogy: Satomi Kuroshima,
Research
31-2022 An empirical approach based Yuri Jody Yujobo,(C)
Tricia Okada,on learners’ communicative
Rasami Chaikul
competence(Co-investigators)

JSPS
Kakenhi
JSPS
Kakenhi

日常場面と特定場面の日
本語会話コーパスの構築と言語・相互行為研究の新展開

Grant-in-Aid
04-01英語授業内活動におけるfor Scientific2018~03- 認識性交渉の会話分析とResearch
31-2022 タスクデザインの提案(C)

Grant-in-Aid 04-01若者の就労支援活動におfor Scientific 2018~03ける相互行為の分析
Research (C) 31-2021

Satomi Kuroshima(Co-investigator)
Satomi Kuroshima(Co-investigator)

153

JSPS
Kakenhi

単一言語的環境下での多言語グローバル社会に向Grant-in-Aid
08-24けた英語及び異文化教育
for Research
2018~03- [English and transcultural
Activity
31-2020 education towards aStart-up
multilingual global society ina ‘monolingual’ context]

Tomokazu
Ishikawa(Principal
Investigator)

JSPS
Kakenhi

多言語ビジネス環境での共通語としての英語使用実態調査とグローバル人
Grant-in-Aid
04-01材育成教育 [Research on
for Scientific2019~03- the realities of the use of
Research
31-2023 ELF in multilingual business(B)settings and implications forthe development of global
human resources]

Tomokazu
Ishikawa(Co-Investigator)

JSPS
Kakenhi

日英継続バイリンガルの談話能力の発達ー
国際バカロレア校生
Grant-in-Aid
徒のナラティヴ研究04-01for Scientific
Development of Japanese2019~03Research
English simultaneous and31-2022(C)late successive bilingual
discourse skills- Narrative
study on international
baccalaureate students

Jody Yuri Yujobo(Co-Investigator)

JSPS
KakenhiGrant-in-Aid
04-01for Scientific2019~03Research
31-2023(C)

内部被曝検査通知における医療従事者と来Satomi Kuroshima
院者の相互行為分析(Principal(Conversation analysis of theinvestigator)
internal exposure test result
consultation)

JSPS
KakenhiGrant-in-Aid
07-18for Scientific2018~03Research
31-2022(C)

性同一性障害の診断を例にした精神医学的診察の会話分析(Conversation
analysis of psychiatricconsultation on “Gender
Identity Disorder”)

154

Satomi Kuroshima(Co-investigator)

5. CONCLUDING REMARKS AND PLANS FOR 2020
In this document, we shared reports on the various faculty development lectures andworkshops staged throughout the 2019 academic year. We hope that these initiatives
promoted a fluid exchange of ideas between our diverse faculty and contributed to their
growth as teaching professionals. The CELF is also very proud of its research achievements
2019, which we hope will transfer to better teaching in the CELF in 2020.
REFERENCES
Chaikul, R., & Milliner, B. (2019). A report on faculty development and research at
the Center for English as a Lingua Franca. The Center for English as a Lingua
Franca Journal, 5, 54-82. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11078/1363
Milliner, B., & Dimoski, B. (2018). A report on faculty development and research at theCenter for English as a Lingua Franca. The Center for English as a Lingua Franca
Journal, 4, 56-81. Retrieved from http://www.tamagawa.ac.jp/celf/research/pdf/
celf_journal_final4_06.pdf

155