LEARNING LEARNING ÙŲ(ÙŲVolume 24 Issue 2 Summer 2017

PromotingEnglish-Major
Students’
Understanding through Active Learning

InterculturalžƏãŅ(ŌĚ®ŃƇ<ļ29>JX?fxqy]wK

Hideo Kojima åé žÒ
Bunkyo University ĚĘÑÙEmail: deokoji@koshigaya.bunkyo.ac.jp

In my presentation at JALT 2016 LD Forum, I shared my work in assisting Englishmajor students to develop intercultural understanding through Active Learning (AL).
Taking into account skills and competencies needed to survive in the 21st century, theCentral Council of Education (2015) expects teachers to develop not only students’ subject
knowledge and skills but also their generic skills. The Japanese Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, and Technology (MEXT) is currently revising the Course of Study,emphasizing the integration of the three elements of true scholastic ability: (a) knowledge
and skills, (b) ability of thinking, judgment, and expression, and (c) attitudes towards selfdirected learning and willingness to collaborate with others. For this innovation in school
education, MEXT (2016) encourages all teachers to implement AL (self-directed andcollaborative learning for problem solving) in the classroom.
AL is now a popular buzzword in Japan. As a teacher educator, I have developed
collaborative, autonomous, and reflective approaches (Kojima, 2012, 2013) where selfdirectedness and collaboration are essential like AL. Although I do not feel that the official
line taken by MEXT is completely appropriate, I am for educational change and haveintroduced AL into my teaching practice.
In line with AL, I would like my first-year English major students to experience flipped
learning in my “Introduction to Intercultural Understanding” class. A flipped classroom
describes a reversal of traditional teaching where “students gain first exposure to newmaterial outside of class, usually via reading or lecture videos, and then use class time todo the harder work of assimilating that knowledge, perhaps through problem-solving,
discussion, or debates” (Brame, 2013, para. 1).
At the beginning of the semester, the students and I discussed the significance ofintercultural understanding in English language education and how to carry out AL andflipped learning effectively. In this study, I aimed to examine to what extent I could help
my students to develop their intercultural understanding through AL in a flipped classroom.
MethodParticipants.
The class involved 32 first-year university students (English majors) in 2016, with lowintermediate to high-intermediate levels of English (STEP, TOEIC). The class met for 90
minutes every week during the first semester. All of them would like to obtain a teaching
license to be an English language teacher in primary or secondary schools after graduation.
Materials.
In order to answer my research question “To what extent could I help my students to promoteintercultural understanding through AL?” I used quantitative and qualitative materials: aquestionnaire to survey the students’ self-evaluation of their learning experiences, their

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LEARNING LEARNING ÙŲ(ÙŲVolume 24 Issue 2 Summer 2017reflective comments on intercultural understanding and AL, as well as my observations
and reflections.
Procedure.
Before class, as flipped learning, the students read the textbook on English language
education and culture (Shiozawa, Yoshikawa, & Ishikawa, 2010) at home, and made areport on their findings. In class, based on individual reports, the students had group
discussions about their findings and questions. They were encouraged to use English indiscussion and to play various roles (chair, recorder, reporter, and monitor). As a facilitatorof group dynamics, I advised them to consider the five key elements of collaborative
learning: positive interdependence, individual accountability, face-to-face promotive
interaction, social skills, and group processing (Johnson, Johnson, & Smith, 1991). Aftergroup work, each group reported the results to the whole class, and then the students
exchanged their ideas freely. They continued their self-directed and collaborative learningwith the same textbook during the semester. Finally, I assigned them short papers to workon various topics of their choice, requiring research and some analytical thought based on
the textbook or their own materials. Two-thirds of the students completed their papers in
English.
Results and Discussion
In order to answer my research question, I analyzed the following quantitative andqualitative data. (I translated the students’ Japanese responses into English.)Summative self-evaluation.
For the end-of-semester course evaluation, students at my university are usually asked
to answer about 15 questions the university made. Then, we teachers are allowed to add
several question items of our own to each course questionnaire. This time, I focused on
the following macro statements in light of intercultural understanding and AL.
Question items.
1. I could recognize the importance of intercultural understanding in English language
education.
2. I could recognize teaching practice to promote intercultural understanding.
3. I could consider the future of English language education in light of intercultural
understanding.
4. I could work on self-directed and collaborative learning positively.
Table 1. Summative Self-Evaluation (N=32)
5Strongly
agree (%)

4
Agree
(%)

3
Neutral(%)

2
Disagree(%)

Question 1

18 (56)

14 (44)001Strongly
disagree(%)
0

Question 2

11 (34)15 (47)6 (19)

00

4.2

Question 3

20 (63)9 (28)

3 (9)

0

0

4.5

Question 4

12 (38)19 (59)

1 (3)

0

0

4.3

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Mean
x̅
4.6

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LEARNING LEARNING ÙŲ(ÙŲVolume 24 Issue 2 Summer 2017

Students’ ratings in response to each statement were marked on a five-point scale. Table
1 shows that the majority of the students were in agreement with the positive aspects of
their learning experiences in my class. The mean scores of the four questions were all over4.0. The question that the students claimed to have the strongest agreement with was
Question 1 (x̅ = 4.6), which stressed the importance of intercultural understanding in
English language education. They enhanced their intercultural understanding in light ofvarious issues: language and culture, intercultural communication, international
understanding, language policy, the Japanese and English, and teaching culture in language
classrooms.
As for Question 2, six students’ responses were “neutral.” This might suggest that it
was rather difficult for them to imagine integrating intercultural understanding withpractical teaching methods and materials. First-year students have not done any teachingpracticums yet. Moreover, in high schools, many students mentioned that they had studied
English only to pass entrance examinations mostly through translation, grammar drills, androte memorization of words and phrases. In other words, they had had limited prior
opportunities to develop their intercultural awareness within the exam-driven
memorization-focused preparatory system for university entrance exams.
Concerning intercultural understanding, 91% of the students agreed that they could
consider the future of English language education (Question 3). They understood the close
connection between language and culture, and would like to teach English in the future,taking this into consideration.
Regarding AL (Question 4), almost all the students agreed that they could work on AL
positively. Their positive attitudes towards AL would help them to understand theeducational effect of AL on learner development and how to implement AL in their futureclassrooms.
Students’ reflections on intercultural understanding.
In their short research papers, the students also reflected on their intercultural
understanding more deeply from general perspectives. They critically commented onJapanese people’s general tendencies and today’s English education in Japan. Theircomments are briefly summarized as follows:• Japanese people tend to emphasize only English and lack multicultural perspectives. We
need to accept different cultures and different values.
• English teachers should help students to develop intercultural competence, which makes it
possible for students to communicate with people from diverse cultural backgrounds.
• Teaching materials should be designed to promote students’ intercultural understanding andautonomous growth as whole persons.
• It is necessary for Japanese students to have more opportunities or experiences to promote
their intercultural understanding inside and outside Japan.
• The languages offered in educational institutions should be diversified, taking sociolinguistic
or sociocultural differences into account.
• Japanese people should develop their original Japanese English to communicate with native
or non-native speakers and to express their ideas and values more effectively.

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LEARNING LEARNING ÙŲ(ÙŲVolume 24 Issue 2 Summer 2017

Most of the students criticized exam-oriented English language instruction in Japan.
Considering the close relationship between language and culture, they pointed out thesignificance of teaching with a multicultural perspective and developing interculturalcompetence. They also mentioned that as teachers in the future they expected to redesignteaching materials so that teachers could foster students’ autonomous growth as whole
persons as well as their intercultural understanding.
With regard to intercultural experiences, the students enjoyed exchanging different
information with each other. They would like to enhance intercultural understanding in avariety of contexts inside and outside Japan. Most of them also expressed an interest in
studying abroad in the near future.
Worrying about the domination of one language over all others, the majority of thestudents agreed that a variety of foreign languages should be offered in Japanese
educational institutions. Today, English is spoken by more non-native than native speakers.
Some of the students claimed that they wanted to develop original Japanese English tocommunicate with both native and non-native speakers.
Students’ reflections on Active Learning.
For further application of AL to my university classes, I needed to analyze the students’reflective comments on AL. Thus, as an open-ended question, I asked them what they
thought about AL. Only one student preferred knowledge-based instruction to AL partly
because he lacked confidence in his English knowledge and skills. In contrast, all the otherstudents’ responses were positive as follows:• Through flipped learning before class, I could raise my intercultural awareness. This was agood preparatory stage for group work in the classroom.
• AL helped me to consider the contents of the textbook critically and to enhance bothintercultural understanding and technical knowledge through positive interdependence.
• I enjoyed listening to different groups and sharing different ideas about a variety of topics
in the textbook.
• As a teacher trainee, I need to develop teacher-learner autonomy through self-directed andcollaborative learning.
• I would like to improve my pedagogical skills so that I can apply AL to my English
language classes in the future.
Many students thought of flipped learning as an essential preparatory stage to support
AL in the classroom, through which they raised their intercultural awareness. They were
not used to this type of self-regulated learning, but they gradually understood how toengage in this stage for themselves.
As for AL, the students worked on group activities designed to provide them with adeeper understanding of the topic at hand. Classroom activities were followed by someform of whole-class synthesis facilitated by me, such as discussion or a mini-lecture. Thisapproach seemed to enhance the students’ abilities to work in a team, to consider the topicsof the textbook critically, to make decisions and solve problems, to plan, organize, andprioritize work, to communicate verbally with each other, and to obtain and process
information. Structured discussion and debates allowed the students to examine different
perspectives of a controversial issue and to formulate effective arguments to support a
stance.

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LEARNING LEARNING ÙŲ(ÙŲVolume 24 Issue 2 Summer 2017

The students’ professional consciousness also seemed to be raised through AL. As
teacher trainees, they will be more involved in various pre-service teacher education
programs. They are expected to develop teacher-learner autonomy throughout their
university lives, and to improve their technical knowledge, pedagogical skills, interpersonal
skills, as well as personal qualities. These programs will help them to promote theirprofessional growth and to carry out AL in the classroom more effectively.
Conclusion
In this study, I have examined to what extent I could help English-major students topromote intercultural understanding through AL. By analyzing quantitative and qualitative
data, I found that the first-year English majors tended to raise their intercultural andprofessional consciousness as teacher-learners, who are expected to continue learning how
to teach.
The majority of the students recognized the significance of intercultural understanding
in English language education. They claimed that language and culture should be taught
simultaneously and interactively. They also criticized exam-oriented instruction and thedomination of English over all others in Japan. The specific textbook we used was rather
difficult, but very useful for them to enhance intercultural understanding from various
viewpoints. This would motivate them to consider 21st century skills and competencies,
the integration of the three elements of scholastic ability, and the growth of school-age
students as whole persons.
The social context of teaching and learning could be a key mechanism for how AL
produced the positive effects on the students’ experiences and on their learning outcomes.
AL created opportunities for the students to act as a teacher, such as reciprocal teachingand peer learning. Each student occupied an instructor-like role with respect to his/her
fellow students. I hope that my students will continue to learn autonomously andcollaboratively, keeping in mind that the importance of relationships among students andbetween instructor and student is potentially meaningful for AL.
Innovation in English language teaching should be promoted from primary throughtertiary levels of education. Thus, considering the different teaching contexts in different
institutions, we teacher educators should collaborate with each other and promote
innovation in pre- and in-service teacher education, critically exploring different issues
around AL and learner autonomy.
References
Brame, C. J. (2013). Flipping the classroom. Vanderbilt University, Center for Teaching.
Retrievedfrom
http://cft.vanderbilt-edu//cft/guides-sub-pages/flipping-theclassroom/
Central Council of Education (2015). ƕľęŃ [Summary of issues]. Retrieved fromhttp://www.mext.go.jp/component/b_menu/shingi/toushin/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2
015/12/11/1361110.pdf
Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Smith, K. A. (1991). Active learning: Cooperation in thecollege classroom. Edina, MN: Interaction Book Company.
Kojima, H. (2012). Positive interdependence for teacher and learner autonomy: The caseof the CARTA program. In K. Irie & A. Stewart (Eds.), Realizing autonomy: Practice andreflection in language education contexts (pp. 167-181). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Kojima, H. (2013). Developing autonomy in EFL learning and teaching: A portfolio
program under collaborative and reflective supervision. In M. Menegale (Ed.),

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LEARNING LEARNING ÙŲ(ÙŲVolume 24 Issue 2 Summer 2017

Autonomy in language learning: Getting learners actively involved (pp. 60-70). Canterbury:
IATEFL.
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, and Technology (MEXT) (2016). ĲĥÙŲčä
ƄǁŢ'¼:/#(áƘ(/$2[Summary of issues for the new
Course of Study]. Retrieved fromhttp://www.mext.go.jp/component/b_menu/shingi/toushin/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2
016/09/09/1377021_1_1_11_1.pdf
Shiozawa, T., Yoshikawa, H., & Ishikawa Y. (2010). žƏĘŸ$Ě®:ŌĚ®ƷNjo] L y P p w Ź © ( ǃ ĉ /English education and culture: Developing crosscultural communicative competence. Tokyo: Taishukan Publishing Company.

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LEARNING LEARNING ÙŲ(ÙŲVolume 24 Issue 2 Summer 2017

Reader Response to “Promoting English-Major Students’
Intercultural Understanding through Active Learning”
Shinobu Nakamura
Musashi UniversityOn seeing the title “Promoting English-Major Students’ Intercultural
Understanding through Active Learning,” I thought the article would
focus on how Kojima Sensei educates his English major students who
would study abroad in the future about intercultural awareness. However, as I
finished reading this article, I noticed that he was trying to promote intercultural
understanding to the students who are in the teacher-training course. Kojima
Sensei was concerned not only with teaching intercultural understanding
through Active Learning (AL), but also with conveying to his teaching license
course students the importance of learner autonomy through carrying hisclasses out using an AL method. As an English teacher at a university in Japan,
I am familiar with AL. Since my higher education was earned in the UnitedStates, I had realized that teacher-centered learning is not effective anymore,
especially in foreign language classes. I myself prefer teaching my language
classes more student-centered and allocating more time for students to discusswith their peers. However, I have never managed to run a well-organized
Active Learning class as the author of this article did, so I was able to learn agood example of how to carry it out such as giving each student in the groupa role in discussions.
As explained in the procedure section of this article, students do the reading
assignment at home and write a report on their findings and questions. Then, ingroups, they share what they found and talk about their questions with eachother. Each group reports what they discussed in the group to the entire class.
And finally, students exchange their opinions freely as a class. It seems a very
autonomous classroom to me because of the author’s clear and repetitive
instruction. Kojima Sensei is not only successful implementing his teaching
method, but his students also react very positively to his teaching content andstyle. For example, some of the students stated that they would like to apply AL
into their teaching when they start teaching English. However, Kojima Sensei
doesn’t mention how he integrated intercultural understanding into teachingpractice. He states that his students’ reaction to questionnaire item 2— “I could
recognize teaching practice to promote intercultural understanding —wasrather neutral.
I myself sometimes refer to how I was taught in schools when I havedifficulties teaching in classes. How people were taught greatly influences theway they teach. Therefore, promoting the importance of implementing
intercultural understanding and AL in language classes in the early stage ofEnglish teacher education and changing teacher trainees’ mind of improving
the way they were taught English in junior and high school could have a lasting
impact on future English education in Japan. Although the participantsreceived their English education in a rather traditional way in public schools,
they are fortunate to have these kinds of opportunities to learn and experience
new ways of teaching and learning. Now that the participants have beenSpecial Issue: Reflective Writing on Learner Development

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LEARNING LEARNING ÙŲ(ÙŲVolume 24 Issue 2 Summer 2017

exposed to a new way of teaching, I would like to see how these students
preserve the teaching/learning method they acquired through Kojima Sensei’sclass and utilize it in the future teacher training courses or in their own English
classes they will teach in the future.

Reader Response to “Promoting English-Major Students’
Intercultural Understanding through Active Learning”
Dominic Edsall
University College London,
Institute of Education, LondonAs Hideo Kojima mentions, Active Learning (AL) is the current buzzword inJapanese education and Kojima offers a definition covering a verylarge area of pedagogy: self-directed and collaborative learning witha focus on problem solving. Whenever I hear the term “Active Learning,” I am
reminded of a poster for a recent conference in Kyushu about AL in thephysical sciences. The poster showed a photo of a group of teachers sitting in
fixed rows of seating listening intently to a professor. The irony of the photo is
the passive way in which we as teachers often learn about AL, and this mirrors
the irony of MEXT dictating that teachers should teach students to work
collaboratively and with self-direction.
Like the teachers in the photo, many of us who attempt to implement AL
have to work around physical and social barriers within the classroom, such as
those rows of bolted down seats in the photo, student and teacher
expectations, and the exam-orientated education system here in Japan.
Kojima mentions this last barrier as being an important factor in student
reflections on AL and the flipped classroom. In my own teaching, I have foundthat students are not inclined to prepare for a lesson and I think many teachers
hesitate to flip their classrooms because of this, so I would like to know more
about how to prepare students for this shift in focus from homework being proofof knowledge acquisition to being self-directed knowledge exploration.
Other reflections included student recognition that as future teachers theyneeded to understand and develop approaches to AL and student autonomy.
As experienced teachers who have worked in the real world, I am sure we haveall met (or been) teachers who just pay lip-service to AL. In the extremely busy
working lives of teachers in the Japan, many find themselves teaching in waysthat they do not prefer for the simple reason that they are too busy to
overcome all the barriers. How might these ideal methods be adapted for such
everyday high school realities? Initially, teachers and teacher educators need
to work together on making AL more accessible as an everyday teaching
method, thereby bridging the divide between theory and real practice.
The final question that I want to raise relates to the one student who did notprefer AL. Was his preference really just because of a lack of confidence? Associal animals, we all like to say what is expected of us—what pleases ourSpecial Issue: Reflective Writing on Learner Development

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LEARNING LEARNING ÙŲ(ÙŲVolume 24 Issue 2 Summer 2017teachers. I wonder if this specific student stated a lack of confidence in his skills
because he did not want to be seen as being critical of his teacher. There issomething reassuring in fixed answers that are obtained by a specific method.
This question goes to the very heart of Active Learning because AL requires acertain level of discomfort and risk-taking, which are keys components ofproblem solving and self-direction. This one student might provide a wealth offurther information by being a rare outlier in the data and is worth exploring
further.

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