Authorship：Lead author   Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

This study examines whether technology-based performance tasks can mediate communicating in English and enhance language learner engagement. This study investigated how low-proficiency Japanese English-language learners could change their attitude toward communicating in their target language by completing a performance task that involved making and presenting a digital portfolio, requiring linguistic and contextual self-mediation. The study adopted a questionnaire with two types of questions: one type was scored on a three-point Likert scale and the other included open-ended questions about the performance task; the questionnaire was completed by 33 and 28 students in the first and second semesters, respectively. Data from the open-ended questions were analyzed qualitatively from a phenomenological perspective. Students’ comments showed that they positively engaged in the performance task throughout the two semesters by reflecting on themselves as English learners, with some difficulty mediating in their first and second languages.

DOI： https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241240544

Authorship：Lead author   Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (bulletin of university, research institution)  

This paper investigated the changes in attitudes towards the use of digital technology for learning of English among Japanese university students. It seeks to uncover their mindsets related to the study of English via digital technology amid the COVID-19 state of emergency in Japan to clarify the effectiveness and opportunities occurring within such learning methods. As a part of this study, 214 first-year Japanese university students responded to a questionnaire related to learning English through digital technology - once at the end of the first semester and once at the end of the second semester. The findings suggested that most participants had experienced a positive change in attitudes towards learning English through the use of digital technology over the two semesters, with many students indicating that they believe digital technology can enhance both their motivation to learn as well as their proficiency in English. However, the results also revealed that a majority of the students still had a preference for learning English using paper-based materials - perhaps the legacy of their formative experiences of learning English. Nevertheless, the study indicated that learning English through digital technology can enhance non-cognitive skills such as motivation or self-regulation and that these enhanced cognitive skills can in turn lead to enhanced English proficiency.

Authorship：Lead author   Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (bulletin of university, research institution)  

This paper examines the ways in which English language assessments at the secondary school level influence Japanese English-language learners’ beliefs about and attitudes toward learning English. This paper presents a qualitative analysis of experiences in learning process focusing on assessments of cognitive skills (academic achievement assessed mainly by conventional paper-pencil or language skill tests) and non-cognitive skills (including self-regulation, self-esteem, motivation, and diligence) through “learning” history interviews on English learning. The participants were seventeen Japanese university students who had primarily learned English in Japan. All of the participants stated that although their cognitive skills were assessed through standardized or language skill tests, their non-cognitive abilities were never assessed in their English classes. This suggests that their beliefs regarding English were formed according to when and how they started to learn English; their attitudes toward learning English may be a result of these beliefs. This may explain the gap between students’ self from belief about English learning and the reality of English education in formal schools.

Authorship：Lead author   Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (bulletin of university, research institution)  

This literature review discusses how Japanese-speaking English learners develop the motivation to continue learning English. More specifically, as suggested in Toyoshima (2007), the form of these students’ motivation can be influenced by their early learning experiences. Thus, this paper suggests that learners’ motivation should be formed in the early stage of learning and is influenced by different factors; this can be seen in the “Extended Model of Language Learning Motivation” (Heinzmann 2013). This model consists of five elements: ethnolinguistic vitality, self-concept, language attitudes, language learning beliefs, and anxiety about language learning. The main argument is that these elements influence motivation formation in the process of learning English in Japan. Finally, the discussion will also suggest the practice of primary English education at Japanese elementary schools.

Authorship：Lead author   Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

Total pages：190   Responsible for pages：129-144   Language：Japanese Book type：Scholarly book

With the introduction of elementary school English language studies, we propose an assessment of learning that is appropriate for elementary schools. True "understanding" should be assessed, and it is important to plan curriculum design, assessment methods, and classroom activities to achieve this.

Total pages：263   Responsible for pages：20-38   Language：Japanese Book type：Scholarly book

This book describes the practice of elementary English education and elementary foreign language activities at Tsuda College since 2001, as well as the theoretical background. The section in charge of this project is "Background of Elementary English Introduction and Practice," which also proposes changes in teaching methods in the history of English education in Japan, the background of the introduction of English in elementary schools, what communicative competence is, and what kind of English we should aim for.

Total pages：250   Responsible for pages：75-108   Language：Japanese Book type：Scholarly book

This is translation of "The Point of Words: Children's Understanding of Metaphor and Irony". It is said that children acquire metaphors and irony in the process of language acquisition from preschool age and above, and the factors that constrain understanding in this process are discussed.

Event date： 2024.3.11 - 2024.3.13

Language：English   Presentation type：Oral presentation (general)  

Venue：Singapore   Country：Singapore  

This study examines how attitudes towards learning English with digital technologies affect motivation to learn, and how these attitudes develop within an English language course. In Japan, the use of digital technologies in primary and secondary education was limited prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. This raised the question of how university students, accustomed to an ‘analogue’ English learning environment, would respond to a ‘digital’ learning experience and how this would affect their motivation. The study, conducted in 2021, used a questionnaire with Likert scale and open-ended questions to assess language learning motivation and the use of digital technology in English learning. Statistical analysis was applied to numerical data, while content analysis was used to examine descriptive responses. The results showed that attitudes towards learning English with digital technologies significantly influenced various aspects of motivation and the learning process. This implies that learners with positive attitudes towards digital English learning are more likely to develop sustained motivation. Interestingly, many students who initially expressed negative attitudes later embraced digital learning, mainly because they experienced its benefits, such as improved English proficiency. In practice, English teachers should be skillful in incorporating digital technologies into their teaching and keep abreast of developments. Students with initial reservations about digital learning may need time to recognise its positive effects. Teachers should therefore acknowledge these reservations and anticipate possible changes in mindsets.

Event date： 2023.6.2 - 2023.6.4

Language：English   Presentation type：Oral presentation (general)  

Venue：Kumamoto   Country：Japan  

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become more common to make use of digital technology in the Japanese English language classroom. In this study, we investigated how students actually feel about the use of technologies in the classroom and whether one year of English language learning utilizing such digital technologies as part of a university course impacted on their attitudes toward such methods of learning. Our results revealed no significant change in the students' attitudes toward learning English using digital technologies. However, what was apparent was that students had different attitudes to the use of digital technologies depending on their English proficiency. Students with lower English proficiencies were more positive about learning English with digital technologies while students with higher English proficiencies appeared to prefer paper-based learning materials. We surmised that lower English proficiency students found digital technologies less intimidating and stimulating while higher English proficiency students preferred traditional paper-based methods as a result of experiencing a certain level of success with this style of learning at junior and senior high school. They had higher expectations for so-called “analog learning”. Finally, we looked at what implications these conclusions had for our lower-level and higher-level English CALL classes.

Event date： 2022.7.25 - 2022.7.27

Language：English   Presentation type：Oral presentation (invited, special)  

Venue：Paris   Country：France  

In this presentation, I will discuss the process and results of three-year study. The theme of the research was how factors that form motivation to learn English change when digital technology is used to facilitate English language learning. When I began this research, the penetration rate of digital devices in Japanese school education was low, and the same was true for English education. Therefore, we hypothesized that if students experienced English learning through the use of CALL systems and Internet applications at university, their attitudes and motivations toward English learning would change. The study period was two academic years from 2019 to 2020, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the teaching and learning style was changed and the conditions for the pilot study in 2019 differed from the ones in 2020, when the main study was planned, so the study period was extended to 2021, resulting in a three-year study.
The participants of the present study were Japanese learners registered in English classes using CALL system at a university. The research method consisted of a questionnaire with a 4 Likert-Scale for each motivational factor and 4 Likert- scale and open-ended questions about learning English through the use of digital technology. The same questions about motivational factors were asked at the end of the first semester and at the end of the second semester, whereas the questions about digital technology were different to fit the time of the year. The data was analyzed statistically and qualitatively. The results were almost identical for the 2019 pilot study and the 2021 main study face-to-face, but the results for the second study in 2020, when the classes were taught almost entirely remotely, showed different results. In this speech, I will discuss the results and implication for the future practice.

Event date： 2021.3.15 - 2021.3.17

Language：English   Presentation type：Oral presentation (general)  

Venue：Singapore   Country：Singapore  

Event date： 2019.8.7 - 2019.8.9

Language：English   Presentation type：Oral presentation (general)  

Venue：Tokyo   Country：Japan  

Type：Scientific advice/Review 

Type：Peer review