Japanese Teachers Research Articles

A poetic inquiry into a Japanese pre-service teacher’s English language learning trajectory: Pedagogical and methodological implications for teacher education

This qualitative, case-study research explores the English language learning history of a Japanese pre-service teacher by analysing five English-language poems and a self-reflective essay regarding her experiences of learning the target language. The methodology chosen in this study was a poetic inquiry through which the investigator reconstructed and analysed the writer’s subject position expressed in the actual descriptions of each poem. The self-reflection essay was also thematically analysed to examine how the participant saw and understood her learning experiences. Research findings showed that the poems illustrated here expressed both positive and negative emotions concerning her personally meaningful experiences of learning English as well as presented her identities as a second language (L2) learner and an L2 user. This study also revealed that, from a future English teacher’s viewpoint, she described in the essay some potential problems of teaching English in the classroom in response to her L2 learning experiences. Overall, the task of poetry writing was a meaningful literacy and reflective practice through which the participant was able to reconsider her L2 learning experiences and explore more effective ways to learn English as a life-long learner. In addition, she could benefit from these experiences in her role as a future language teacher.

A Comparative Study of the Teaching English Writing in Senior High Schools in Indonesia and Japan

The aim of this study is to investigate Indonesian and Japanese English teachers’ perspectives about English writing, to examine current techniques in the teaching of writing used by senior high school teachers in Indonesia and Japan, and how to know whether there are some differences and/or similarities between teaching methodologies of English writing in both countries. This study surveyed 44 Indonesian senior high school teachers and 43 Japanese senior high school teachers through a questionnaire and an interview. The findings indicated that the Indonesian and Japanese senior high school teachers have different teaching methodologies for the improvement of students’ abilities in English writing. Lastly, a conclusion is provided, accompanied by limitations of the study and suggestions for further study.

Changing perceptions of English among Japanese teachers in Brussels

Abstract Study abroad (SA) is regarded as a successful way to develop learners' English skills and intercultural understanding, and has also been incorporated into teacher training programs. Against this backdrop, KLF (English as a lingua franca)-oriented research which investigates Japanese pre-service and practicing teachers' evolving views of English propelled by their SA experiences has started to appear. This study, which is set in a nihonjingakkō in Brussels, sought to contribute to this area of research by examining the principal and English teachers' perception of English and its inÁuence on their pedagogy and school's English education policy. Nihonjingakkō is a full-time day school for children of Japanese expatriates, and Japanese teachers are sent from the government of Japan, teach at the appointed schools for several years, and subsequently return to their work in Japan. The article demonstrates that while the school principal and English language teachers appreciated the diversity of English, the school's English education policy and classroom teaching were shaped by native-speakerism ideology and traditional assumptions of Standard English as the only recognized variety. Based on the study's findings, I make suggestions which can advance integration of KLF into KLT in nihonjingakkō and mainstream schools in Japan.

Teachers’ guidance of students’ focus toward lesson objectives: how does a competent teacher make decisions in the key interactions?

In this paper we describe how a teacher makes decisions during interaction with students in order to guide their focus towards the lesson’s objectives that the teacher has in mind. In particular, in the paper we examine how a mathematics teacher’s knowledge connects with the teacher’s noticing skill and interactive action. We present the case of a competent Japanese teacher, Mr. T, during a series of nine lessons on comparing fractions in a fifth-grade classroom. We first look at how Mr. T structured the lessons and interactions to help the students shift their focus from the procedural aspects to the quantitative aspects, when generating their explanations concerning how to compare fractions. Then, we analyze how Mr. T interpreted the students’ responses and made decisions about his interactive actions in the two lessons. The results show that Mr. T structured the entire lessons by repeatedly eliciting students’ ideas and focusing on the object of examination. Detailed analysis of three vignettes shows Mr. T’s constant reference to the lesson objectives when attending to and interpreting the students’ thinking both in verbal and written form. Furthermore, he strove to adjust his initial decisions according to the students’ reactions. These processes of noticing the students’ mathematical thinking were made possible by his extensive content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge; in particular, his knowledge of figural representation had a significant influence on his decision-making.

Scaffolding in an Elementary-level Japanese Language Classroom Question-Answer Interactions

Abstract This study examined how Japanese instructors utilize scaffolding strategies during classroom teaching. By closely investigating the question-answer interaction that occurred in an elementary-level Japanese class through Conversation Analysis (CA), this study categorized four types of scaffolding strategies utilized by the Japanese instructors: partial answer, asking further questions, gestures, and giving more information. Findings also uncovered how Japanese teachers utilized these specific scaffolding tactics when students encountered difficulties in the language classroom. Then, this study discussed a more generalized frame of scaffolding strategies in question-answer interaction in the Japanese language classroom. Finally, the conclusion indicated the pedagogical implication of scaffolding strategies in Japanese language teacher education.

Multimodal knowledge building in a Japanese secondary English as a foreign language class

Multimodal analysis examines how different modes, such as space, gesture, and language, instantiate meaning together. In this paper, a Systemic Functional-Multimodal Discourse Analysis demonstrates how teachers enact their pedagogy with their students across modes through what is represented experientially, how relationships between people are construed interpersonally, and how coherent texts are realized textually. This paper is a preliminary study of classroom data from a larger project looking at the multimodal pedagogy of Japanese secondary school teachers of English through the paired lenses of Systemic Functional-Multimodal Discourse Analysis and Legitimation Code Theory. It demonstrates how methods from these perspectives may be productively combined. How this teacher builds cumulative knowledge multimodally can be uncovered through the analysis of pedagogic register (Rose, 2018) and exchange (Berry, 1981; Martin and Rose, 2007), as well as classroom space and representing and textual action (Amundrud, 2017; Martin and Zappavigna, 2019). How both gesture and dialogic exchange between the teacher and students modulate the contextual relation of the knowledge construed in class is also explored via semantic gravity, which looks at how closely connected knowledge practices are to their context (Maton, 2014). As a preliminary study, the paper closes with limitations and future directions for this pedagogic multimodality research.

A Study on the Improvement of Students' Subjectivity in Japanese Translation Course in Colleges and Universities

The Japanese translation course in colleges and universities has gradually become an important part of the overall teaching plan, but many Japanese teachers in colleges and universities have not really mastered the methods to improve students' practical translation ability. In the process of teaching practice, Japanese teachers in colleges and universities should effectively analyze the intrinsic educational value of the Japanese discipline, and the main goal of the teaching method is to improve students' comprehensive translation and application ability of Japanese. Improving students' subjectivity in the process of translation can strengthen their translation experience and make their Japanese translation level fully improved.

Japanese teachers’ agency and elements

Japanese teachers’ agency and elements

Incorporating Awareness of English as a Lingua Franca into Teacher Education for Secondary School Japanese Teachers of English

This article discusses the obstacles and potential solutions for the incorporation and increased awareness of English as a lingua franca (ELF) into teacher education programs for secondary school Japanese teachers of English (JTEs). While a nationally standardized “Core Curriculum” (CC) for secondary school JTEs’ learning guidelines and models in teacher education reflects relatively positive attitudes towards ELF, the integration of an ELF perspective into teacher education programs is considered a low priority. Recent literature explores the barriers to ELF-aware curriculum design and suggests that teachers carry out ELF-based action research, both to promote teachers’ critical awareness of ELF and to gain insights that will encourage a wider transformative approach to their beliefs. The authors here conclude that for a more effective and innovative ELF-aware curriculum implementation, it is important to consider the broader context of the current landscape of English use and language teaching. この論文は、中等教育に携わる日本人英語教師のための教師教育プログラムに、国際共通語としての英語(ELF)の理念を取り入れ認識を深めてもらうことへの障壁と、それに対する解決策を論じる。中等教育に携わる日本人英語教師の教師教育における学習ガイドラインおよびモデルである全国共通「コア・カリキュラム」では、ELFに対して比較的前向きな見解を示している。一方で、ELFの観点を教師教育プログラムに取り入れることは優先順位が低いと考えられている。最近の文献では、ELFを意識したカリキュラム考案の障壁が調査されており、教師がELFに基づいたアクション・リサーチを行うことを提案している。それにより、教師が批判的な視点でELFを捉えることを促し、また、教師の信念をより大きく変革するアプローチを促進するための洞察が得られるであろう。結論として、ELFを意識した教師教育プログラムをより効果的かつ革新的に実施するためには、現在の英語の使用状況や言語教育に関して幅広く見ていくことが重要である。

The Co-construction of Modern Sino-Japanese Knowledge Systems from Eastern Learning

Abstract: Eastern Learning (Dongxue ), which is an important part of modern new learning, refers to the Western natural science and socio-political thought that was assimilated by Japan from the end of 19th century to the beginning of 20th century. From the end of Ming Dynasty to the period before and after the revolution of 1911, China’s intake of new learning went through four stages. In the first three stages, a large number of Western books translated into Chinese were also introduced into Japan, which became the basic literature and language medium of Japanese Dutch studies, English Studies and later the whole foreign studies. At the beginning of the 20th century, exiles, students studying in Japan and Japanese teachers introduced Eastern Learning into China, which had a profound impact on China’s modernization process. Eastern Learning is a new learning system with East Asian characteristics constructed by China and Japan in the process of Western Learning (Xixue ) spreading to the East.

«Добрые и мудрые друзья», дзэнтисики, в японской буддийской мысли

The purpose of the article is to consider one of the aspects of the understanding of friendship in Buddhist thought (according to Japanese sources) in comparison with the meaning given to the concept of friendship in Christian thought. In Ja­panese Buddhism, the term zenchishiki (Skt. kalyāṇa mitra) means a “good and wise friend” in general, and in a narrower sense, someone who helps the dying person meet death with the right thoughts. The tasks of a friend at his deathbed partly coincide with “care for the sick”, partly opposed to it. Zenchishiki main­tains the proper mood of the dying at the hour of death; if in the case of caring for the sick, it is a matter of bodily suffering that can be weakened, then in the case of zenchishiki, it is about suffering that cannot be canceled; in the first case, the stronger takes care of the weak; in the second, two mortals are on an equal footing, although one had to die before the other. The Japanese instructions for death hour rituals formalized the role of zenchishiki to a large extent, and its original meaning was lost. The question of friendship at the hour of death, of good and bad friends, is again discussed in essence by Kamo no Chōmei in Hosshinshū (1210s). He shows zenchishiki at work, gives examples of how peo­ple choose their friends for the hour of death, talks about the experience of friendship or enmity of a person with himself: relationships with other people are built on this experience, and this experience itself changes under their influence.

An Article Review on Teaching English in English, ‘in principle’: The National Language Curriculum for Japanese Senior High Schools

This paper reviews the article written by Gregory Paul Glasgow entitled “Teaching English in English, ‘in principle’: The national language curriculum for Japanese senior high schools” published in 2014. This paper aims to examine the author’ findings on teachers’ perception of new course of study by proposing some theoretical frameworks of communicative language teaching and the planned behavior analysis perspective to support the discussion. The article author raised the issue of Japanese English teachers’ perceptions towards the recently launched national foreign language curriculum for Japanese senior high schools including a provision of English classes to be conducted in English. The author tried to clear the issue by revealing how Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) interpreted the new initiative to conduct ‘English classes in English’ in Japanese senior higher schools and the relationship between official policy expectation and JTEs’ perceived new initiative in policy implementation.

Through the teacher’s lens: Evaluation of the project-based curricula of Philippine and Japanese science high schools

Specialized science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) high schools provide intensive learning experiences for advanced learners. At the core of these STEM schools is a project-based (research) curriculum that aims to foster research culture among learners, creating critical thinkers and problem-solvers, preparing them to be globally competitive STEM professionals in the future. The Philippine STEM junior high schools system and Japan’s Super Science High (SSH) are amongst implementers of the project-based (research) curricula. Hence, this paper sought to conduct a critical review of these project-based curricula through quantitative analysis of Filipino and Japanese teachers’ perceptions of its effectiveness along the four dimensions of Tyler’s Objective-centered Model for curricular evaluation. Findings show similarities and significant differences in the perception of the project-based curricula' effectiveness between Filipino and Japanese teachers along the four dimensions of Tyler’s Objective-centered Model: (1) learning objectives; (2) learning experiences; (3) organization of learning experiences; and (4) evaluation methods.

EXAMINING FACE-THREATENING ACT OF JAPANESE ADVERB YATTO

Abstract In intercultural communications, we can anticipate the occurrence of unintended face-threatening acts (FTA) which leads to miscommunication. This study discusses the possible FTA by the speaker who does not intend to threaten the interlocutor’s positive and negative face by using one of the Japanese temporal adverbs, yatto. This adverb expresses the speaker’s evaluative meaning, is achieved through various obstacles and the effect takes a long time to achieve. In addition, the word yatto also implies an achievement that is attained by either barely sufficient abilities or because of an immediate deadline. Therefore, when being used to talk about the interlocutor's or the other person’s action, it can threaten his/her face. It is necessary to clarify the possibility of threatening other people's positive and negative faces even though it is unintentional because Japanese teachers and learners are mostly unaware of it. Many of them associate the word yatto as akhirnya in Bahasa Indonesia or finally in English, which does not contain the speaker’s evaluative meaning. Accordingly, the subject of this study is to clarify the conditions of use when the word yatto becomes an FTA. To clarify the problem, this study uses descriptive and qualitative methods and employs the theory of politeness, especially the theory of face-threatening acts (FTA) by Brown and Levinson (1987). Inspired by Kamio (1990)’s notion of the territory of information, there are three types of the territory of information for the yatto adverb; (a) the information that falls to the territory of the speaker, (b) to both of the speaker’s and the interlocutor’s or the other person’s, and (c) to the interlocutor. As the main finding of the research, the factor causing FTA for positive and negative faces, namely FTA which occurs when the speaker talks about the action, falls to (c) the third territory. In the case of the benefactive -tekureru or -temorau forms used together, the meaning appreciating the actions of the interlocutor or the third person, it works as positive politeness to them as an agent. On the contrary, expressing thanks threaten the speaker's negative face.

Formation of Identities through Diaspora: A Postcolonial Reading of Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie

This research study aims at an exploration of framing identities of Hiroko Tanaka, a Japanese teacher, in the text Burnt Shadow by Pakistani novelist Kamila Shamsie, as a result of her experience of diaspora. This research study also focuses upon the discussion of how diaspora plays its due role in changing the identity of the main character. Theoretical insights from Stuart Hall's notion of 'De-centralization of identity is taken as a theoretical framework. In modern society, the point has been negotiated that in possessing multiple identities, the identity of the main protagonist, is fluid, non-fixed, and evolving, since identity formation in modern society is a process constantly being refashioned and redesigned in contemporary discourse. To strengthen the main argument, Homi K Bhahbha’s concept of Unhomliness is also taken as a supporting theory. Hence, the text will highlight the struggle of one of Shamsie's characters with her hyphenated identity. This study concludes that diasporic experiences are responsible for Hiroko Tankaka’s non-fixed identity and fixed identity is unavoidable in modern society. This research study is qualitative in design and descriptive in nature, contributing to identity literature within Pakistani literature.

Japanese teachers’ mental readiness for online teaching of mathematics following unexpected school closures

Teaching mathematics online has been highlighted as one of the solutions to the current crisis for education caused by the COVID-19 virus pandemic and subsequent school closures. However, we do not know what attitudes and experience teachers have towards online teaching. The aim of this study was to gain insights into how Japanese teachers were mentally prepared to tackle online teaching, in particular, when they faced a sudden, unexpected and challenging situation caused by factors beyond their control. Data was gathered from 207 elementary/junior high Japanese teachers using a survey in April 2020. Most participants held relatively positive attitudes towards the use of online teaching of mathematics. Their sense of crisis was very high, and they were anxious about, (a) how to actually make their teaching interactive and (b) how to deal with unexpected technical issues. Their readiness might be explained by their attitudes towards online teaching, the knowledge and time available, and support for making online teaching more interactive for students. We also identified teachers who were ready for such sudden changes and had some ideas to make mathematics lessons interactive with online teaching.

Facilitating Preschool Children’s Mathematics Development in China, Japan, and the United States: Is the Classroom Library Considered?

The two studies examined in this paper compare the different mathematical opportunities provided in preschool classrooms in China, Japan, and the United States, with an emphasis on mathematical-themed books in classroom libraries. Study one presents the results of an online survey to examining the content of preschool classroom libraries in China (N = 134), Japan (N = 168), and the United States (N = 291). Study two presents data obtained from semi-structured interviews of teachers in China (N = 8), Japan (N = 8), and the United States (N = 8). The interviews examined teacher perceptions of how they teach mathematics, the importance of teaching mathematics, and the use of the classroom library as a venue for mathematics. Study one results indicated that teachers from all three countries encourage classroom library use; however, teachers from China reported more mathematics storybooks than their Japanese or United States counterparts. Study two results indicated that teachers from all three countries viewed mathematics as important and provided various mathematics learning opportunities to children throughout the school day. Chinese teachers reported providing the most mathematics learning opportunities using whole group instruction, mathematics centers, and free play. Japanese teachers reported few whole group forms of instruction other than circle time but reported providing opportunities for using mathematics during free play and other embedded activities. United States teachers indicated that mathematics learning occurred using whole group instruction and mathematics centers.

Teacher Preparation, Motivation, and Self-Efficacy: A Comparative Study of New Teachers in Japan and the United States

Using the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018, this study examines U.S. and Japanese new teachers’ initial teacher preparation (ITP), feelings of preparedness, motivations, and self-efficacy. The analysis of 355 U.S. and 433 Japanese new secondary teachers provided several findings. First, ITP in the U.S. more often included teaching in mixed-ability and multicultural settings, cross-curricular skills, and technology than Japan, and U.S. teachers felt more prepared than Japanese teachers in every category of preparation. Second, Japanese teachers were more likely to declare teaching as their first career choice and reportedly scored significantly higher on motivations to become a teacher of personal utility value, while U.S. new teachers scored higher on social utility value. Third, there were no significant differences in self-efficacy between U.S. and Japanese new teachers. This study contributes to the gap of large-scale, comparative literature between the U.S. and Japanese initial teacher preparation. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.

Japanese physical education teachers’ workplace learning at middle schools in urban city school districts

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to describe and explain Japanese middle school physical education teacher workplace experiences at urban city school districts. Participants were seven middle school physical education teachers (five males and two females) teaching physical education and coaching athletic teams in Japanese middle schools. Data sources included semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Three themes emerged from the data: (a) teachers’ commitment and dedication to students and schools, (b) the conflicting roles of teaching and coaching, and (c) difficulty of organising physical education professional development. The findings suggest that school districts need to overcome role conflicts in teaching and coaching students in middle school settings; to increase teacher intrinsic motivation for professional competencies; and to support collaboration between physical education teachers and school principals to meet students’ needs in physical education and on athletic teams, while keeping the workload and psychological health of the teachers at the forefront.

A survey of mental health literacy in Japanese high school teachers

BackgroundSchool teachers are well-positioned to recognize mental health problems in their students and to help them seek appropriate help. Therefore, teachers need to have high levels of mental health literacy (MHL). In East Asia, however, few studies have examined MHL levels in teachers. In this study, MHL levels were investigated in Japanese teachers.MethodsTeachers (n = 665) from 27 Japanese high schools answered a self-administered questionnaire which assessed (a) knowledge about mental health/illnesses, (b) correct recognition of specific illnesses (depression, schizophrenia and panic disorder), (c) confidence in helping students with depressive symptoms, and (d) confidence in teaching mental health knowledge to students.ResultsThe average proportion of correct answers to the knowledge questions (n = 20) was 58.1%. The proportion of those who correctly answered about the presence of a sharp increase of mental illnesses in adolescence was 51.7%. Few teachers correctly answered about the life-time prevalences of major mental illness in general (21.9%), depression (37.8%) and schizophrenia (19.8%). Depression, schizophrenia and panic disorder in vignette were correctly recognized by 54.1, 35.3 and 78.0% of teachers, respectively. Correct recognition was significantly lower in male than in female teachers. Only a small proportion of teachers had confidence in helping depressed students (19.9%) and in teaching mental health knowledge to students (11.1%).ConclusionsMHL in Japanese high school teachers appears to be low. Education programs should be developed and implemented to improve teacher MHL with the aim of helping them to support students suffering from mental health problems.