Japanese Students Research Articles

Comparison of Interdependent and Subjective Happiness between Japanese and Thai College Students: A Research Note

Cross-cultural studies have suggested that happiness in Eastern countries is characterized by a greater extent of relationships and harmony with others than in Western countries; however, happiness levels may differ across Asian countries. A comparison of happiness levels between Japan and Thailand provides a unique opportunity to identify this difference. Thailand has experienced rapid economic growth, going from a low-income to an upper-middle-income country in the span of a single generation. Japan is a high-income country. This study compared levels of interdependent and subjective happiness between Japanese and Thai college students. Participants were 101 Japanese and 157 Thai college students who completed well-established multiple-item scales for interdependent and subjective happiness. The data were collected through online surveys. The level of subjective happiness was significantly higher among Thai college students than their Japanese counterparts, while that of interdependent happiness did not differ. The differences were small based on the effect sizes. These results extend previous findings by using established, multiple-item scales of interdependent and subjective happiness to demonstrate that Thai individuals show higher levels of happiness compared with their Japanese counterparts.

The Prominence of Rhetoric in Japanese University English Oral Communication Courses

Due to a rapidly globalizing world, there has been a recent resurgence in the demand for university graduates entering the workforce who understand and utilize spoken English rhetorical strategies and techniques. These rhetorical skills are necessary in a wide range of fields (e.g., advertising, communication, international relations, politics, psychology, etc.), yet rhetoric rarely features in EFL or ESL curriculums. With the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) in Japan emphasizing the need for English education to specifically foster the development of oral communication skills through the Global Human Resources (GHR) project (2018), there is a definite need for integrating instruction on English rhetorical strategies and techniques into the curricula of higher education. However, explicit rhetorical instruction in EFL and ESL curriculums in Japan almost exclusively focuses on written genres, such as essay writing. The core research question framing this exploratory study is: How prominent is instruction on rhetoric in Japanese university English oral communication courses? This qualitative study firstly examines if rhetoric-based instruction is addressed in a sample of English language oral communication textbooks, before documenting the language learning experiences of ten Japanese university students. An amalgamation of the data reveals a dearth of explicit rhetoric-based instruction in Japanese university English language oral communication courses. The implications of this finding are discussed, and suggestions are then proffered on how to better equip Japanese university graduates with practical English language rhetorical tools so that they may play a more active role in the globalizing world.

Relationship between teacher and student psychological well-being in a Japanese context

ABSTRACT Psychological well-being (PWB) encompasses the positive aspects of mental health, such as hedonic wellbeing (experience of enjoyment and pleasure), eudaimonic wellbeing (experience of self-actualization), and life satisfaction (global evaluation of quality of life). Japanese teachers suffer from poor PWB with a high incidence of mental health problems. Despite the potentially significant impact of poor Japanese teachers’ PWB on their students’ PWB, these associations have remained largely unexplored. The present study investigated if teacher PWB has any relationship with student PWB and if teacher-student relationship, students’ abilities for resilience, and classroom climate mediate the teacher and student PWB relationship, with 46 teachers and 1,256 children aged 8–12 years from Japanese schools. A multilevel mediation analysis revealed an indirect positive relationship between Japanese teacher life satisfaction and Japanese student hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing mediated by students’ abilities for resilience. There was no relationship between teacher and student hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing. Nonetheless, the findings still imply that promoting teacher life satisfaction may contribute to the promotion of student hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing. Future researchers could investigate if a school-based intervention targeted at both Japanese teachers and students would more effectively promote PWB among students than would such interventions aimed only at students.

Re-Examing the Indonesian Language Pragmatic Abilities of Students Majoring in Hospitality as a Basis for Exploring Students' Intercultural Abilities in Japanese

This research focuses on the intercultural competence of Japanese language students majoring in hospitality at three vocational schools in Yogyakarta. To be able to find out students' intercultural competence, a contrastive analysis method is used regarding politeness strategies in the context of greeting guests, asking the guest's name, asking for general information, rejecting the guest's wishes, asking for something from the guest and confirming. There are three things compared in this research, namely, politeness strategies in Indonesian sentences made by students, politeness strategies in Japanese sentences from native Japanese and the suitability of Indonesian translations into Japanese made by students. Brown and Levenson's face-threatening act (FTA) management theory was used as the theoretical basis for this research. The research results show that politeness strategies in the mother tongue do influence how students translate. In general, there are many similarities in strategies between Indonesian and Japanese regarding politeness strategies in the hospitality context. The similarity of these strategies will make it easier for students to achieve intercultural competence. It is just that a lack of linguistic ability still causes pragmalingustic failure and sociopragmatic failure. Furthermore, the difference in strategy is that the use of bald on record in Indonesian produces a bald on record translation in Japanese, which causes sociopragmatic failure.

Japanese tertiary students’ perceptions of group work with explicit scaffolding

Abstract Over several decades, small group work has been studied in first language (L1) and second or subsequent language (L2) education, including English language learning contexts. Group work has been shown to be beneficial to language learning and general learning. L2 English students from non-student-centred educational backgrounds have limited experience of group work and often have poor attitudes towards it. Student attitudes can affect how well a student performs and engages with group work, so that poor attitudes may prevent them from accessing the full range of benefits of this learning method. Group work is common in English-medium education contexts, including university settings and work settings. Therefore, it is important to ensure that L2 English language students wishing to study or work in English-medium contexts develop a positive attitude towards group work. This can be done through scaffolding. In the present project, scaffolded group work was used in an English writing program for L2 students at a Japanese university. Student perceptions of group work were collected throughout the program to assess the change of attitude over time. Results showed that students’ perceptions of group work changed positively, particularly regarding personal learning and collaborative processes. Implications for language learning are discussed.

Jocular self-deprecation in Japanese initial interactions

Research into conversational humour has found its significant role across a wide range of interactional settings, but to date, only a limited body of studies have investigated the use of conversational humour in initial interactions between interactants who are not previously acquainted. Moreover, no previous studies have investigated the use of conversational humour in Japanese initial interactions, perhaps due to the assumption that humour is only employed in interactions between people with close relationships in Japanese contexts. Preliminary inspections of a dataset of initial interactions in Japanese indicated the prevalence of jocular self-deprecation, where Japanese interactants humorously disparage themselves. Using the framework of interactional pragmatics, this study investigates how jocular self-deprecations are locally situated, co-constructed, and sequentially accomplished in Japanese initial interactions. This empirical study draws on a dataset of twenty face-to-face initial interactions between Japanese university students (approximately 6.5 hours of audio recordings) retrieved from BTSJ Corpus (Usami, 2022). Japanese interactants strategically construct jocular self-deprecations in achieving various relational goals. Given that study on conversational humour in both Japanese settings and initial interactional settings are still scarce, the findings contribute to the variability of this research body, thereby contributing to a broader understanding of the (socio)pragmatics of conversational humour.

Model United Nations: a thematic analysis of Japanese EFL students’ reflections on intercultural communicative competence

Abstract This study investigated Model United Nations (Model UN), a simulation of the United Nations that is adapted for academic purposes and includes elements of discussion, negotiation, presentation, and engagement with global issues and international affairs. When students participate in Model UN, they are referred to as country delegates and represent different countries on different committees. As delegates, they join in discussions on global issues related to such topics as world conflict, international security, human rights, and education. In Model UN, student participants from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, collaborate and interact in a common language (English) spoken differently among participants to deepen their understanding of current world issues. By so doing, they reflect on their intercultural communicative competence summarized as the ability to interact with people from another country and culture in a foreign language. Following a Model UN semester course at a Japanese university and a Model UN conference held in Japan, interview sessions with Model UN student participants were moderated and recorded to understand their learning attitudes and experiences of studying in the Model UN context. The interview data were used to generate themes for thematic analysis. The study concluded that Japanese Model UN student participants’ interactions with other learners of English from different cultural backgrounds allowed them to reflect on their intercultural communicative competence and, thus, be able to develop tolerance towards language-related misunderstandings.

Comparative study of means of mathematical communication in Japan, Laos, and Thailand

This comparative study analyzed the similarities and differences in the mathematical communication used by teachers and primary school students in Japanese, Lao, and Thai mathematics classrooms. It adopted a qualitative research design, and the targets were teachers and students in Grades 1 - 6 at a selected school in each of the three countries. The data were collected from one classroom at each grade level from the three schools, so eighteen classrooms were involved in the study. The research tools included video recorders, photo cameras, and a field notes form. The data were analyzed by employing the analytical descriptive method based on Pirie's conceptual framework of the means of mathematical communication (1998). The findings revealed that the means of mathematical communication in the three countries were similar in their use of ordinary, mathematical, verbal, and symbolic language—differences in the means of mathematical communication related to how varied the learning materials were. The Japanese classrooms used the most varied means of mathematical communication, demonstrating all six means, while the Thai classrooms used only 5, and the Lao PDR classrooms used only 4. The Japanese classrooms were shown to be focused on the students' diverse self-solution concepts, while some of the Thai and Lao PDR classrooms were based on question-answer interactions between the teachers and students.

Personal characteristics associated with handwashing behaviour among Japanese university students studying abroad: Prospective observational studies

BackgroundHand hygiene is recommended to travellers to prevent common travel-related illnesses such as diarrhoea and respiratory infection. For effective hygiene promotion interventions, we aimed to identify the personal characteristics associated with handwashing behaviour. MethodsProspective observational studies consisting of pre- and post-travel surveys were conducted among Japanese university students studying abroad between 2016 and 2018 (n = 825; 6–38 travel days). Associations of age, sex, study major, and overseas travel experience with handwashing behaviour (5-point scale) were evaluated using ordinal logistic regression models, with adjustment for destination, travel duration, and psychological factors (risk perception of diarrhoea and concern about hygiene). ResultsAmong the participants in our analysis (n = 629), 28.0 % washed their hands before every meal while abroad. The male sex and no overseas travel experience were associated with decreased frequency of infrequent handwashing, even after adjusting for all potential confounding factors, whereas the study major was not associated. The adjusted odds ratios (95 % confidence intervals) were 0.74 (0.56–0.99) for men vs. women and 0.69 (0.52–0.93) for no overseas travel experience vs. overseas travel experience but not to the current destination. ConclusionsThe lack of overseas travel experience correlated with handwashing frequency in both men and women. In addition to the travel destination, the male sex and no overseas travel experience should be highlighted in pretravel hand hygiene interventions.

Dynamics of depressive states among university students in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic: an interrupted time series analysis

BackgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was reported to have increased depression among university students which was associated with impairments in their campus lives. This study examined changes in depressive states among Japanese university students during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsA secondary data analysis from a factorial randomized controlled trial involving smartphone-based cognitive-behavioral therapy was performed. Six cohorts (N = 1626) underwent an 8-week intervention during the spring or autumn of 2019–2021, with a 9-month follow-up. We evaluated participants’ depressive states weekly using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) during the intervention, with monthly evaluations thereafter. The follow-up periods included Japan’s four states of emergency (SOEs) to control COVID-19. Hypothesizing that SOEs caused a sudden worsening of depressive states, Study 1 compared the cohorts’ PHQ-9 scores, and Study 2 employed time series analysis with a mixed-effects model to estimate identified changes in PHQ-9 scores.ResultsAlthough no changes in depressive states were observed in relation to the SOEs, Study 1 identified sudden increases in PHQ-9 scores at the 28-week evaluation point, which corresponded to the beginning of the new academic year for the three autumn cohorts. In contrast, the three spring cohorts did not exhibit similar changes. Study 2 showed that, for all three autumn cohorts (n = 522), the 0.60-point change was significant (95% CI 0.42–0.78; p < .001) at 28 weeks; that is, when their timeline was interrupted.ConclusionsWhile the results do not indicate any notable impact of the SOEs, they highlight the influence of the new academic year on university students’ mental health during COVID-19.Trial registration UMIN, CTR-000031307. Registered on February 14, 2018.

Association of diagnostic error education and recognition frequency among Japanese medical students: a nationwide cross-sectional study.

Diagnostic errors pose a significant risk to patient safety and have substantial medical and economic consequences. Despite their importance, diagnostic error education is currently lacking in standard pre-graduate curricula. This study aimed to investigate the incidence of diagnostic errors and the frequency of recognition among medical students in Japan. A pilot survey was conducted immediately after the General Medicine In-Training Examination (GM-ITE), a comprehensive post-graduation test, administered to new residents right after graduation from medical school. The survey assessed whether they received education on diagnostic errors during their formal undergraduate medical education and whether they recognized diagnostic errors during their clinical training. Of the 564 examinees, 421 participated in the study. The majority of participants (63.9 %) reported receiving education on diagnostic errors, and 15.7 % recognized diagnostic errors during their clinical training. Significantly, those who received education on diagnostic errors had a higher rate of recognizing such errors compared to those who did not (19.7 vs. 8.6 %; p=0.0017). These findings suggest that the recognition rate of diagnostic errors increases with improved literacy indiagnostic error education. This highlights the importance of incorporating diagnostic error education into medical curricula to develop effective strategies to prevent and manage diagnostic errors, and thereby enhance medical and patient safety. However, this study did not examine the specific educational content of the errors or the details of the recognition, necessitating further investigation in the future.

The validation of two L2 self-efficacy instruments using Rasch analysis

This study seeks to validate two instruments designed to measure second and foreign language speaking self-efficacy. One-hundred and ninety first- and second-year Japanese university students participated in this study. Analyses based on the Rasch model focused on key aspects of validity based the work of Wolf and Smith (2007) as well as Messick's validation framework. Findings indicated that (1) the instruments displayed high item and person reliability and separation, (2) there was a sufficient spread of items considering the variable response levels, though some redundancies occurred in the items and the final step in the Likert scale for one instrument was beyond the level of endorsement for the participants in the current study, (3) the vast majority of items showed an excellent fit with the Rasch model, (4) the rating scales matched all criteria for optimal functioning proposed by Linacre, (5) the items displayed an acceptable degree of unidimensionality, and (6) the items showed a high degree of measurement invariance. Teachers and researchers may take advantage of the two validated instruments to gage L2 learners’ self-efficacy.

Knowledge of common cancers among new-entry health science students in Japan and Vietnam

BackgroundThe incidence and mortality rates of cancer are rapidly increasing worldwide. This study aimed to assess the knowledge of common cancers among new-entry health science students in Japan and Vietnam, thereby providing insights for implementing appropriate medical educational interventions.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted among new-entry health science students at Hiroshima University, Japan, and the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. A printed predesigned questionnaire consisting of eleven questions was distributed to the participants during the freshmen health screening at the beginning of the academic year to assess their knowledge of cancer.ResultsA total of 2,748 new-entry health science students participated in the study, including 394 (14.3%) Japanese students and 2,354 (85.7%) Vietnamese students. Most cancer knowledge levels in Japanese students were significantly higher than those in Vietnamese students (p < 0.001), except for human papillomavirus (HPV) infection awareness. For this understanding, only 14.8% of Japanese students selected the correct answer, which was significantly lower than the 22.4% of Vietnamese students (p = 0.001). Both the Japanese and Vietnamese students had limited knowledge regarding the connection between HPV infection and cancer and the link between estrogen–progestogen menopausal therapy and breast cancer. Additionally, female students had better knowledge about breast, skin, and endometrial cancers than male students.ConclusionsJapanese students generally exhibited higher levels of cancer knowledge than Vietnamese students, except for HPV infection recognition. Both groups had limited knowledge regarding the connection between HPV infection and cancer and the relationship between estrogen–progestogen menopausal therapy and breast cancer.

Intervention of industry education integration on students’ burnout in Japanese learning

Background Learning burnout refers to the behavioural states of boredom, frustration and depression that occur when students are not interested in learning behaviours but are unable to avoid them. It is influenced by learning attitudes, motivation and methods, and personality traits. Differences in language learning habits and the difficulty of learning Japanese vocabulary make students show more negative emotions when learning Japanese online and offline. Therefore, the study proposes a new way of teaching based on the perspective of industry-teaching integration to help improve the situation of learning burnout.Subjects and MethodsThis study takes Japanese language students with burnout as the research object. The subjects were divided into a teaching improvement group (regular classroom + industry-teaching integration mode) and a teaching routine group (regular teaching mode). The improvement group is a combination of Japanese language learning and social field practice projects. Data were collected on students’ burnout and emotions in the two teaching modes with the help of the Scale for the Evaluation of Mental Health (SCL-90) and the Learning Burnout Scale for University Students (LBUS).ResultsAfter the experimental intervention, there was a statistically significant difference in the burnout scale scores of the two groups of students (P&lt;0.05), and the improved teaching model (regular classroom + industry-teaching integration mode) effectively alleviated the students’ burnout in Japanese language learning.ConclusionsThe teaching mode under the perspective of industry-teaching integration can effectively combine classroom teaching with professional practice, improve students’ learning burnout, and realize the regulation of their mental health.

Determinants of Understanding of Labor Laws: Evidence from Japanese University Students

AbstractThis study investigates Japanese university students’ knowledge of labor laws using test theory and analyzes the determinants of understanding of labor laws. The college enrollment rate in recent years in Japan is over 50% of secondary education graduates, and as a result, college graduates are no longer considered elite employees. Rather, almost all graduates are merely ordinary workers. For that reason, students need to learn about their employment rights before obtaining initial employment to protect themselves and their future careers. However, there are few studies regarding Japanese university students’ knowledge of labor laws. This study, therefore, investigates their labor laws knowledge based on latent rank theory and analyzes the determinants by econometric analysis. Empirical results show that the average of correctly answered questions regarding Japanese labor laws is about 50%. I can view this record as not being positive because subjects start their job-hunting process with less than an ideal amount of legal knowledge. This research also confirms that there are positive correlations between some independent variables (for example, field of study, the number of credits regarding career education, experience with exploitive labor, and the number of friends who are older than a given subject) and the rank of labor law knowledge. This implies that education and experience regarding career development while enrolled in university correlates with better understanding of labor laws.

Teaching GBL Principles to Japanese Students of Education in an EFL Setting

A growing body of evidence shows that game-based learning (GBL) has become an invaluable tool for educators. Despite this fact, Japanese teacher training programs routinely ignore its inclusion. Aiming to address this issue, an innovative content language and integrated learning (CLIL) curriculum was developed in order to teach Japanese students of education the basics of GBL within their English communication classes. This paper presents a comprehensive account of the curriculum's development, the rationale behind it, and explores preliminary evidence regarding students' attitudes towards using GBL principles in their prospective teaching careers following course completion. A total of 147 students with English communication classes were included in the study, ranging from Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) levels B2 to C1. Although exploratory in nature, early evidence suggests that after having undergone the course, students recognized the value of GBL principles and considered them useful for their future careers as educators. From an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) perspective, instructors observed that the method of teaching described herein fostered a livelier, more enthusiastic, and interactive learning environment compared to traditional EFL classrooms. These findings imply that GBL and game design principles might be useful to include in teacher-training programs, both in Japan and elsewhere.

Association of personality traits with dental visit procrastination by Japanese university students

BackgroundProcrastination is a psychological trait that causes individuals to put off doing things that need to be done. It has recently shown to result in the worsening of symptoms due to delays in seeking medical care. However, it is not clear how perception of dental disease influences dental visits. This study examined the associations of procrastination and personality traits with delayed dental visits for both acute and chronic conditions.MethodsOf 599 university students queried, the data of 549 subjects (mean age 19.7 years) were analyzed. A general procrastination scale (GPS), the Big Five personality traits, and oral hygiene habits were used for analysis. The participants were asked about illness awareness conditions related to dental disease, perception of pain in the oral region due to acute oral symptoms and chronic symptoms. The participants were asked the number of days until they decided that treatment was required. Based on the bimodal shape of the distribution, those who answered at least eight days for acute or chronic conditions were classified as the procrastination (P) group and the others as the non-procrastination (Non-P) group.ResultsSignificant differences in GPS scores were found between the groups for both acute and chronic conditions, with significant differences in the Big Five traits of extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism for an acute condition and extraversion, openness, and neuroticism for a chronic condition. There were no significant differences regarding oral hygiene habits between the groups for either condition. Next, using a Bayesian network, the probabilistic causal relations among procrastination, the Big Five traits, and delays in dental visits for both acute and chronic conditions were analyzed. Among the Big Five traits, conscientiousness and neuroticism were directly related to GPS score. Interestingly, agreeableness was directly related to delays in dental visits only for an acute condition and showed a negative effect, while dental student status had a positive effect on delays in dental visits.ConclusionsThe results showed that procrastination and dentistry department are factors that directly influence delays in dental visits, while agreeableness, a Big Five trait, has a negative effect on individuals with an acute condition.

Unconventional Usage of Gender-Based Japanese Sentence-Final Particles: A Study of wa and no in Youth Conversations

Japanese society’s traditional gender norms are reflected by sentence-final particles (SFPs) in daily conversation. However, recently, Japanese young people have started to use gendered SFPs in “unclassical” ways. This study mainly examines the usage of the so-called “female” SFPs wa and no by male speakers. In total, 68 cases of wa (43 by male speakers and 25 by female speakers) and 84 cases of no (47 by male speakers and 37 by female speakers) usage were collected from casual conversations of Japanese college students in TalkBank, a public linguistic database. This study demonstrates that the “female” SFPs wa and no are used more frequently by male speakers than by female speakers. Different from the female speakers’ usage to soften the utterances and enhance conversational rapport, wa and no used by male speakers perform other functions. In particular, wa directly indexes self-centeredness, serving the speaker to express emotion, share personal ideas, or perform speech acts such as teasing or amae in a self-focused way, while no directly indexes truthfulness, which allows the speaker to share a story in a vivid tone, reconfirm the speaker’s prior statement, or provide the speaker’s explanation/reasoning in an assertive tone. This study suggests that the new, unconventional gender-based usages of SFPs reveal the social changes in gender dynamics in modern Japanese society, which should not be overlooked in language education.

Does contextual information within a sentence affect the relationship between word level intelligibility and the Functional Load principle among ELF users? A preliminary study

ABSTRACT The Functional Load (FL) principle predicts that a high FL phonemic substitution lowers the intelligbility more than a low FL phonemic substitution. However, as yet no study has comprehensively investigated whether contextual information could attenuate any loss of intelligibility due to FL phonemic substitutions. As such, this study investigates the triangular relationship among the FL principle, word level intelligibility, and contextual information within a sentence. A Chinese speaker of English recorded sentences with more and with less contextual information that also had words with no FL substitutions, low FL substitutions, and high FL substitutions. Japanese university students transcribed the missing words from each sentence. The central hypothesis of this study is that missing words with more contextual information within their sentences will be more intelligible than missing words with less contextual information, regardless of any FL substitution. The results supported some of the hypotheses of this study, but not all.

The Changes in Menstrual and Menstrual-Related Symptoms among Japanese Female University Students: A Prospective Cohort Study from Three Months to Nine Months after Admission.

Menstrual and menstrual-related symptoms can significantly impact an individual's physical and psychological health. Understanding how these symptoms evolve over time is crucial to provide appropriate support and healthcare services to young women. This study aimed to investigate changes in menstrual and menstrual-related symptoms among first-year female university students. A prospective longitudinal design was used to compare the symptom profiles between two time points (three and nine months after admission). Out of 100 female university students, 30 responses were analyzed. Data on menstrual and menstrual-related symptoms were collected using standardized questionnaires focusing on menstrual status and the Menstrual Distress Questionnaire (MDQ); no notable changes occurred between the time points. Approximately half reported having irregular menstruation during the three time periods. Among the sub-scales, premenstrual "impaired concentration" showed a tendency to be lower, whereas menstrual "water retention" tended to be higher in timepoint 2 compared to timepoint 1. "Distractible" was found to be significantly lower in timepoint 2 compared to timepoint 1. There was a significant association between a sleep duration of <7 h and worsened MDQ scores. These findings may underscore the importance of providing comprehensive lifestyle and menstrual education to new university students, along with access to appropriate medical care.