柴田 直哉

Theme-based instruction (TBI) is one of the models of content-based instruction, in which learners study topics that are interesting and relevant to them (Brinton & Snow, 2017; Snow & Brinton, 2023). Although this approach is well-known in many English-as-a-second/foreign-language (ES/FL) educational contexts (Brown & Lee, 2015; Curtis, 2017; Yugandhar, 2016), research on the effects of TBI on students’ writing performance is still scarce (Ostovar-Namaghi & Nakhaee, 2019). To address this research issue, the authors conducted a one-shot model of a quantitative study with 86 first-year university students in Japan over a 15-week semester. The course covered four thematic units. The authors collected students’ perceptions of each theme before learning the unit content and their pre-/post-timed writing papers about each theme. The Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were conducted to analyze their writing samples from two perspectives (the number of tokens and syntactic complexity). Regardless of assigned themes, statistical test results revealed that the number of word tokens increased significantly, whereas syntactic complexity did not. Based on these findings, TBI does not appear to be a practical approach for facilitating learners' writing abilities to use grammatically complex sentences. Hence, other teaching approaches need to be explored and integrated with TBI when syntactic complexity development is a teaching and learning objective in writing courses.

Theme-based instruction (TBI) has been prevalent as one type of effective language teaching pedagogy in various English as a-second/foreign-language-teaching contexts, including Japan. Although some research studies on the effectiveness of TBI on second language learners’ language learning have been conducted, the effects of instruction on second language writers’ writing abilities, including lexical diversity (LD), have not been fully revealed. Therefore, this research paper aims to explore the effectiveness of TBI on 45 Japanese university students’ LD in writing based on their LD scores in their essays and drafts that were analysed with text inspector (2019), Friedman tests with Bayes factors and Conover post hoc comparisons followed by the Bonferroni correction. In addition, the participants’ learning reflection notes coded thematically are considered to further investigate the effectiveness of TBI. Findings indicated that, regardless of the assigned themes, the participants developed their LD statistically significantly. Furthermore, students’ reflection notes also illustrated that topic familiarity and sociocultural scaffolding provided by the teacher-researcher, their classmates, and materials played an important role in their LD development in writing. At the end of the research paper, limitations to address will be considered for future research.

This illustrative case study aims to explore the use of turn-taking and negotiation of meaning between two low-intermediate female Japanese university students and consider pedagogical implications. After a voice-recorded online conversation between the participants via Zoom was transcribed by an online automatic transcription tool and the researcher, a conversation analysis was conducted based on Wong and Waring (2021). The findings illustrated that the participants utilised various negotiation strategies, especially confirmation check, clarification requests, and comprehension check, to elicit more information about the interlocutor and shift from one conversation topic to another. Furthermore, their first language communicative beliefs might play an important role in their use of negotiation and turn-taking. Therefore, language teachers may need to provide learners with many opportunities to learn and use various negotiation strategies in meaning-driven interactive activities whilst appreciating the learners’ first language communication cultures.

In order to develop communication skills in English as a foreign language (EFL), learners and instructors are generally expected to use English as the main language and avoid speaking Japanese in English classes in principle (MEXT, 2014). In tertiary educational contexts, as many English classes are taught by teachers from other countries, the main language used in the class is likely to be English. However, codeswitching frequently occurs in bilingual and multilingual contexts (Jenkins, 2015). Therefore, codeswitching can be found even in classes with ostensibly English-only instruction. Possible factors need to be explored because it is essential to understand the sociocultural factors within the foreign language classroom that underline codeswitching and this will aid educators in realising the positive use of the first language in specific situations. This paper uses a descriptive case study involving 20 first-year university students in order to explore the factors underlying codeswitching in two 90-minute ‘English-only instruction’ classes, by analysing class observations and voice-recorded classroom data. Results illustrated that both students and the instructor changed their codes for particular purposes. Therefore, codeswitching can have an effective role in having longer conversations between students and disciplining students in English classes. 中等教育と高等教育を含め、英語のみで行う授業の概念の普及により、学習者と指導者は原則英語を主要な言語として用い、日本語の使用を避ける必要があると考えられている。しかしながら、コードスイッチングは第二言語環境もしくは多言語環境下で頻繁に起きるものである(Jenkins,2015)。従って英語のみで行う授業内でおいてもコードスイッチングは見られ、その要因を調査する必要がある。本研究では主に大学での授業見学と録音資料を用いて 2 回の 90 分授業内に起きるコードスイッチングの要因を調査した。結果として、学習者たちと指導者の両方が特定の目的をもってコードスイッチングを使用した。以上のことからコードスイッチングは学生間の会話を長くすることと授業内において学生たちを指導する際に効果的な役割を担っていることが分かった。

Exploring a language learning history can help researchers, teachers, and students to reveal and understand various individual difference factors which positively or negatively influence language learning activities and strategy use. In this paper, I examined my English language learning history and delved into challenges and factors to overcome them and activate my autonomy. Based on the analysis of my learning history, three main themes were indicated: a) motivational shifts and goal-setting theory, b) learning beliefs and goal setting, and c) the relationship between learning strategy use and teachers’ influence. Furthermore, my learning history also illustrated that I tended to change all these features through both successful and unsuccessful experiences. Among them, goal-setting seems to be the most significant factor for me to study the target language. With clear learning objectives, I overcame many challenges and sustained high motivation by utilising various types of learning strategies and having positive learner beliefs. Accordingly, noticeable relationships among motivation, learner belief, and learning strategy use were revealed through my learning history log.

Although teaching reflection diaries (TRDs) are prevalent tools for teacher training, TRDs are rarely used in Japanese secondary educational settings. In order to delve into the effects of TRDs on teaching development, this illustrative case study was conducted with two female teachers (one novice, and one experienced) at a Japanese private senior high school. The research findings demonstrated that both in-service teachers perceived TRDs as beneficial tools for understanding their strengths and weaknesses. TRDs and class observations illustrated that the novice teacher raised their self-confidence in teaching and gradually changed their teaching activities. On the other hand, the experienced teacher held firm teaching beliefs based on their successful teaching experiences and were sometimes less willing to experiment with different approaches. However, they changed their teaching approaches when they lost balance between their class preparation and other duties. Accordingly, although teachers’ firm beliefs and successful experiences may sometimes become possible hindrances from using TRDs effectively, TRDs can be useful tools to train and help teachers realise their strengths and weaknesses.

Content-based instruction (CBI) is “the integration of language teaching aims with content instruction” (Snow, 2014, p. 439). Although CBI has prevailed as one approach to developing a curriculum integrating four language skills in ESL and EFL settings (e.g., Cumming & Lyster, 2016; Donato, 2016), it is rarely implemented in Japanese secondary educational contexts. Furthermore, although the number of studies on EFL writing in secondary contexts is increasing, research on EFL essay writing in such settings has seldom been conducted in Japan. Therefore, based on data gathered from surveys and essay assignments, this study explored the effects of CBI on the writing of 105 beginner learners at a private senior high school in central Japan for 9 months. The research findings showed that the participants improved their writing abilities through CBI, regarding the number of tokens used and the increase of supporting sentences. 内容中心教授法は内容指導と言語教育の統合である（Snow, 2014, p. 439）。第2外国語、外国語教育の環境において、同教授法は4技能を統合する外国語教育カリキュラムとして普及してきているが（例：Cumming & Lyster, 2016; Donato, 2016）、日本の中等教育現場ではあまり実施されていない。加えて、中等教育現場での外国語ライティングの研究は増加してきているが、そのような環境においてのエッセイライティングの研究は日本ではほとんど行われていない。従って、本研究では，私学高等学校に在籍する105名の初学者を対象に、9カ月間アンケートとエッセイ課題を通して、内容中心教授法のライティング能力に対しての効果を検証した。結果として、内容中心教授法を通して，学習者たちは使用語数及び補足文の増加においてライティング能力を向上させた。

<jats:p>Learner beliefs are “the beliefs that language learners have about what is involved in learning a language, how to learn it and their own language-learning ability” (Ellis &amp; Shintani, 2014, p. 340). Although learner beliefs are considered as one of the most influential factors in utilising language strategies, and (de)activating motivation as well as autonomy, the clear relationships between learner beliefs and engagement in learning has rarely been investigated or indicated (Ellis &amp; Shintani, 2014). In this illustrative case study, qualitative research utilising a survey with 12 open-ended questions and semi-structured interviews were conducted with two first-year students (one successful learner and one less-successful learner) at a Japanese private high school in the 2017 school year. The researcher aimed to explore the effects of learner beliefs about language learning on their out-of-class learning. Results indicated that although both learners had similar learning beliefs, their engagement in out-of-class learning and their use of learning strategies differed. Therefore, in this case study, learner beliefs and their engagement in the out-of-class learning did not demonstrate a direct relationship.</jats:p>