Listening & Speaking, Reading & Writing: Improving Four English Language Skills through the Eclectic Approach of International Educators in Japan

This paper elaborates on the language teaching experiences of four international educators working in Japan. With diverse nationalities and backgrounds, and as language learners themselves, these professionals’ eclectic approach is the result of many years of teaching within a multilingual and multicultural environment. It is argued that alternative forms of teaching might influence student’s motivation towards speaking, listening, reading and writing in an L2 (second/foreign language). In addition, the authors provide a few suggestions of activities that might contribute to successful outcomes in the English language education in Japan, which presently strives for communicative language teaching practices.研究ノー

Family Background and Economic Outcomes in Japan

There has been increasing concern about the influence of elements of family background on children’s future outcomes in Japan. This paper empirically examines the long-term impact of family background, including sibling composition and parental attributes, and reveals how these elements of Japanese women’s family backgrounds affect their educational attainment and investment, labor market outcomes, family formation, and spousal characteristics.sibling composition, family background, intergenerational correlations, family formation, assortative mating

Robotic devices and ICT in long-term care in Japan: Their potential and limitations from a workplace perspective

In light of its rapidly aging society, Japan is pressured to full-heartedly address the labor shortage in long-term care. Among the various policy options currently in discussion, government agencies and business sector representatives agree that robotic devices and information and communication technology (ICT) constitute a suitable countermeasure. However, during our research in Japan in 2019, we found that robotic devices and ICT are only reluctantly being introduced into long-term care facilities. Based on our field visits and interviews as well as supplementary document research, this paper discusses the potential that facility managers ascribe to robotic devices and ICT when it comes to alleviating the labor shortage in the long-term care institutions they run. Of particular interest is the question to what degree the usage of robotic devices and ICT could reduce the physical hardships and mental stress that staff in long-term caregiving experience. This paper will further our understanding of the labor situation in long-term care facilities and contribute to the research field of robotic devices and ICT in Japan’s labor market

The relationship between World Heritage Sites and school trips in Japan

This paper investigates the involvement of WHSs in school trips in Japan. Japan has 16 WHSs and some of them have been visited well by school trips. “Shuugaku ryokou” is a unique concept to Japanese school trips. It aims to learn something significant as human beings and contains at least one night stay. The research was conducted by the review of the past relat-ed studies, examination of the websites of WHSs and their related agencies, and the visits to WHSs. The research shows that several cultural WHSs have been established as school trip des-tinations and the information about their history and value are available at their websites and/or on site. Most of them; however, are not especially for school trips and shuugaku ryokou. More-over, not WHSs but tourist association, prefectural government or judicial foundation takes a leading role in the provision of the resources and activities especially for shuugaku ryokou

Demotivation of English Language Learners in Highly Competitive University Preparatory High Schools in Japan : Based on Interviews of University Students

本研究は，日本の進学校の高校生にとって，英語学習への動機を減退させる要因は何か，また，それらの要因や動機減退経験を進学校出身の大学生はどのように認識しているかを探索的に捉え，多様な動機減退経験の過程をモデル化することが目的である。進学校出身の国立大学生3名にインタビュー調査を実施し，高校での動機減退経験の詳しい状況や認識を質的な研究で分析した。分析方法はM-GTA（木下，2003）を採用し，事例数や具体数を研究目的と相関的に決定するためにSCQRM（西條，2007，2008）をメタ理論として用い，概念モデルを作成した。研究結果から，「上位層に合わせた授業」「教師の態度」「文法訳読式の指導」「難解なテスト」「難易度の高い大量の課題」が動機減退の要因であることが明らかとなった。高校1年時から「上位層に合わせた授業」についていけない生徒は，学習内容や課題の量と難易度が難しくなるにつれて無力感を抱くこと，さらに状況が改善されない場合は長期的に英語学習への動機を失うことが明らかとなった

Participation in the Setouchi Triennale and the Health of Residents in Naoshima: A Cross-Sectional Study

Arts festivals have become increasingly popular in various parts of Japan in recent years. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between arts festival activities participation at the Setouchi Triennale and the health of residents in the town of Naoshima. This was a cross-sectional study. Questionnaires were distributed to all residents of Naoshima who were 20 years old or older (n=2,588). We analyzed responses from 708 people. The associations between arts festival activities participation and health (measured by self-rated health) were analyzed using logistic regression analysis as the primary outcome. Kessler’s psychological distress scale scores were also analyzed in the same manner as the primary outcome. The participating group had an adjusted odds ratio of 1.86 (95% confidence interval: 1.03-3.33) for higher self-rated health compared with those who did not participate. Kessler’s psychological distress scale results showed that the participating group had an adjusted odds ratio of 3.23 (95% confidence interval: 1.19-8.81) for lower psychological distress compared with those who did not participate. In conclusion, arts festival activities participation was associated with higher self-rated health and lower psychological distress. However, caution must be taken in regard to generalizability and causality when interpreting these results

Ripensare il successo scolastico a partire dal vissuto degli studenti

L’articolo presenta i principali risultati di una ricerca sul benessere/disagio e le percezioni del contesto scolastico di studenti di scuola secondaria di primo grado. Il campione è di convenienza e prende in considerazione quasi 4500 studenti. A partire da un’analisi del quadro teorico che evidenzia la necessità di considerare le condizioni di benessere come parte del successo scolastico, in quanto comprendono sentimenti di soddisfazione e motivazione, orientano l’apprendimento e aumentano la perfomance, vengono descritti il disegno di ricerca e gli strumenti utilizzati. Si è deciso di utilizzare un approccio mixedmethod attraverso sia la sottomissione di due questionari precedentemente validati, sia la conduzione di alcuni focus group. Il contributo mira a mostrare solo parte dei risultati ottenuti prediligendo gli elementi di coerenza tra i risultati quantitativi e quelli qualitativi. L’analisi e l’interpretazione dei dati offre degli spunti utili per una rivisitazione della costruzione del contesto scolastico e della vita di classe fornendo un focus sugli elementi di maggiore criticità emersi.The paper presents the main results of a study on wellbeing/disaffection and the perception of the school context among lower secondary school students. The convenience sample studied comprises almost 4,500 students. Starting with an analysis of the theoretical framework that points to the need of considering wellbeing conditions as an element of educational success because they include feelings of satisfaction and motivation and because they orient learning and increase performance, we describe the research plan and the tools used. A mixed-method was chosen consisting in the administration of two previously validated questionnaires and in the conduction of several focus groups. The aim of the paper is to illustrate only a part of the results obtained, favouring the elements of coherence between the quantitative and the qualitative results. Data analysis and interpretation offer conclusions that are useful towards a revisitation of the construction of the school and life context in the classroom, providing insight on the most problematic elements emerging from the study