A Study of a Method of English Teaching for Speech Activities in Junior High School: Focusing on Lesson Practice "Let's Introduce Things to Others"

本研究の目的は，「聞くこと，話すこと，読むこと，書くこと」のうち，「スピーチ活動を通して話すこと」の力をつけるための通教科的能力を提案することと，教科の本質に根ざした資質・能力を目標として位置付けた授業実践を行い，その学習効果を明らかにすることである。話す力をつけるために，ペアや班の活動で他者と学び合う場面を設定しながら，言語活動の充実を図った。その学習の効果を見るために，生徒のワークシートの記述とアンケート調査，ならびに授業観察を分析した。その結果，他者と関わって学習することを通して，学習者自身がその学習効果を実感していることがワークシート等の記述やアンケート調査から分かった。The purpose of this study is to propose a teaching method to make students acquire the ability to "speak through speech activities" using four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Additionally, this study aims to reveal the effects of lesson practice focusing on making students acquire the skill to understand the nature of English as a subject In order to make students acquire speaking skill, this study carried out language activities by setting situations to learn English with others through pair work or group work activities. Then, this study analyzed students' work sheets, a questionnaire, and classroom observations to see how language activities affected their speaking skills. Findings of this study reveal that students tend to feel effects of language activities on their speaking skills through their worksheets and the questionnaire

Management of Volunteer Activities among Elderly Persons

Purpose: Volunteer activities in Japan may be expected to result in a variety of effects on health conditions and social contributions of the elderly depending on the degree of their activity participation. This study aims to identify differences in the health conditions and social contributions of the elderly in relation to the degree of volunteer activity participation, and determine what effective support can be provided for these elderly persons. Further, focusing on the differences in the level of activity of the elderly persons in volunteer activities, we discuss the effect of management through SWOT analysis from the perspectives suggested by the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), which is a performance management tool. Participants and Methods: The participants are elderly persons participating in volunteer activities, living in municipal housing owned by the Kumamoto prefecture in Japan. We classified the participants into an active group who contributed to the raising of funds for activities, and a non-active group. We conducted group interviews with the volunteers, organized interview data on the thoughts of the two groups according to the five perspectives of the balanced score card (BSC) management tool: (1) learning and development, (2) participants, (3) financial matters, (4) process of conducting activities, and (5) social contributions, and conducted a Strength-Weakness-OpportunityThreat (SWOT) analysis. In the SWOT analysis internal factors are distinguished into strengths and weaknesses, and external factors into opportunities and threats. Combining the internal and external factors, problems were extracted from the perspective of a positive strategy (S+O: strength + opportunity), a differentiation strategy (S+T: strength L threat), a stepwise strategy (W+O: weakness + opportunity), and a defensive strategy (W+T: weakness + threat). Then, we confirmed the main results by identifying the major factors in success to achieve salient aims, activity goals, and specific measures from the five perspectives provided by the BSC. Results: When comparing thestrengths of the two groups, the active group showed the following characteristics in the information collecting: more variety in the collected information (perspective of learning and development), ease of obtaining information of potential volunteers (perspective of participants), knowledge of how to raise funds (perspective of financial matters), and being physically more active and knowledgeable of the local community (perspective of social contributions).From the perspective of the process of conducting activities, both groups place importance on the relations among people. For weaknesses, and from the perspective of learning and development, the active group had difficulty in maintaining their motivation, and from the perspective of financial matters this group had difficulties in securing funds. From the perspective of social contributions, the non-active group depended on the active members. From the perspective of participants, both groups experienced a decline in physical function with age, and from the perspective of the process of activities there was a possibility that family or individual circumstances make it difficult to participate in all activities. In the SWOT analysis, combining the internal and external factors, we evaluated the directionality of volunteer activities from the five perspectives of the BSC. From the perspective of learning and development, regardless of the differences in the level of activity of the elderly persons in the volunteer activities, the volunteer members conducted a signature-collecting campaign to call for continuing volunteer activities for residents among those in their surroundings, and this made it possible to continue volunteer activities. From the perspective of the process of conducting activities, regardless of the differences in the level of activity of the elderly persons in the volunteer activities, the volunteer members became active in making remarks, and started to assume roles voluntarily. From the perspective of financial matters, the volunteer members were able to obtain donations for volunteer activities from neighboring establishments, as well as financial support from the social welfare council, by applying for subsidies for activities. From the perspective of participants, the number of new members increased through word of mouth spread by the existing membership. From the perspective of social cost, there was a remark that “I would like my schedule to be full of enjoyable events so that I become too busy to go to the hospital”, and in fact some members did reduce the frequency of hospital visitsDiscussion: Participants in this study are members of a volunteer group of elderly persons voluntarily formed in a regional city in Kumamoto prefecture where the elderly population accounts for 25.7% and is expected to increase. It appears that there is a self- and mutual- help relationship between active and non-active members where non-active members rely on the active members who assist the non-active members to be in harmony with the volunteer activities led by the active members, and that this relationship helps maintain independent lives. For the strengths, active members were able to collect more information from the perspective of learning and development, and contributed more through physical activity from the perspective of social contributions. It can be inferred that physically more active elderly persons are in a situation where they remain able to use their cognitive functions to collect information. For the weaknesses, the active members experienced loss of motivation. This may be due to the possibility that active members feel it a burden to assist non-active members. We wish to conduct further studies to understand how to maintain and improve motivation. The results of the SWOT analysis from the perspectives suggested by the BSC showed that there are differences in health conditions and social contributions of the elderly depending on the participation in volunteer activities, and what types of support from health services can be expected to be effective. This study evaluated the achievements of the volunteer activity goals of elderly persons by identifying the details of volunteer activities and quantifying the goals. The elderly members began to seek for new ideas to achieve better results when they were convinced that there were favorable results of their activities. This suggests that the PDCA cycle in volunteer activities may work by effecting empowerment in the process of BSC.

An Empirical Study of the Factors Contributing to Japanese Junior High School Students' Listening Ability in English

The aim of the present paper is to ascertain the relationship between the listening skill and the other language (sub) skills of Japanese EFL learners at the junior high school level. The study of listening skill in second/ foreign language learning has traditionally focused on the roles of individual linguistic units, e.g. phonemes, words, grammatical structures and in the belief that the development of those elements would eventually lead to the enhancement of the overall listening skill, teaching listening comprehension has been considered the training of these linguistic units. Recently, however, the roles of the listener's background world knowledge, expectations, the situation and context have been brought to the attention of Second/ Foreign Language (SL/FL hereafter) research and it was found that a lack of subordinate skills can be compensated by the learner's world knowledge. In other words, greater importance has been attached to the multiple perspectives in building up the listening ability. However, behind these single skill acquisition studies, little attention has been paid to a multiple relationship between different language skills; for instance, between listening and speaking. How is the development of listening skill related to other language skills such as speaking or reading? Furthermore, most SL/FL studies are targeted to adolescent or adult SL/FL learners; in contrast, very few studies of this kind have been carried out in the initial stage of SL/FL learning, that is, at the junior high school level. Therefore, using a statistical procedure, the present authors tried to identify some variables, language skills and linguistic factors, which are more likely to influence the development of listening skill at an early stage of SL/FL learning

An Integrated Approach to Developing Japanese Students' English Presentation and Discussion Skills

We examined the types of difficulties that Japanese high school students have in English presentation and discussion activities. We conducted factor analysis (principal factor method with promax rotation) on the survey data, which was divided into four stages: (1) the presentation preparation stage; (2) the presentation stage; (3) the listening stage; and (4) the discussion stage. The results showed that students had difficulty with the following skills during each of the four stages: (1) "effective ways of providing information," "revision," and "collaborative work" during the presentation preparation stage; (2) "basic presentation skills," "handling questions," and "audience management" during the presentation stage ; (3) "active interaction" and "active understanding" during the listening stage; and (4) "overcoming communication anxiety," "adaptation to classroom activities," "problem solving approach," and "self-relativization" during the discussion stage

An Integrated Approach to Developing Japanese Students' English Presentation and Discussion Skills

We examined the types of difficulties that Japanese high school students have in English presentation and discussion activities. We conducted factor analysis (principal factor method with promax rotation) on the survey data, which was divided into four stages: (1) the presentation preparation stage; (2) the presentation stage; (3) the listening stage; and (4) the discussion stage. The results showed that students had difficulty with the following skills during each of the four stages: (1) "effective ways of providing information," "revision," and "collaborative work" during the presentation preparation stage; (2) "basic presentation skills," "handling questions," and "audience management" during the presentation stage ; (3) "active interaction" and "active understanding' during the listening stage; and (4) "overcoming communication anxiety," "adaptation to classroom activities," "problem solving approach," and "self-relativization" during the discussion stage

Practice for the Development of 21st-Century Academic Achievement by Subject between Cooperation in Junior High School : Through the Global Educational Exchange by Means of English and Art

本研究は中学校の英語科・美術科の教科担任がグローバル教育の意識を持って，単元・題材を接続させ，連続性のある指導をすることにより，生徒に習得した知識・技能を地域社会へ向けた実践に活用させ，21世紀型学力へ通じる通教科的な実践力の育成の在り方を明らかにすることを目的とする。広島大学附属三原中学校の１，２年生を対象に授業実践を行い，外部評価者としてアメリカのアートリンク担当者やショートステイ家族に協力を依頼した。結果としては，生徒たちは美術作品を描いたり，鑑賞したりすることによって，気づいたよさや美しさを外国の方に伝える方法を考えて実践している様子が見られた。The aim of this study was to improve students’ communication skills. We worked with English teachers and art teachers to develop a curriculum through practice force leading to 21st century academic achievement. We targeted the teaching practice to grades seven and eight in Mihara Junior High School in Japan, and cooperated with both the Art Link in America and short-stay family as external evaluators. As a result, the students could express their impressions to people in foreign countries

Undifferentiated Sarcoma of the Salivary Gland in a Mongolian Gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus)

A subcutaneous mass was found in the lower ventral neck region of a 55-week-old male Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus). Histopathologically, the mass involved salivary glands and featured diffuse proliferation of pleomorphic neoplastic cells with large necrotic foci. The lesion was well demarcated from the surrounding tissue, although invasive growth to fibrous septa was occasionally observed. The neoplastic cells were mainly arranged in irregular sheets with severe cellular atypia, round to oval nuclei and varying amounts of eosinophilic cytoplasm. Mitotic figures and multinucleated giant cells were frequent. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that the neoplastic cells were strongly positive for vimentin and S-100 and negative for NSE, cytokeratin, α-SMA, c-kit, factor VIII, CD34, α-1-antitrypsin, lysozyme and MSR-A. Based on the results, the mass was diagnosed as an undifferentiated sarcoma of the salivary gland. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of such a tumor in Mongolian gerbils

Maternal Knowledge Associated with the Prevalence of Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation Among Pregnant Women in Muntinlupa, Philippines : A Cross-Sectional Study

Purpose: The World Health Organization advocates that all pregnant women in areas where anemia is prevalent receive supplements of iron and folic acid. However, owing to a myriad of factors, the uptake of iron and folic acid supplementation (IFAS) is still low in many countries. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the prevalence of IFAS and its associated factors among pregnant women. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at a hospital in Muntinlupa, Philippines, between March and August 2019 among 280 pregnant women. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select participants. Data were collected using interviewer-administered questionnaires. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were employed to identify factors associated with the prevalence of IFAS among pregnant women. Results: Among 280 pregnant women, a majority (85.6%, n= 238) took IFAS during pregnancy. Among the respondents, 128 (45.9%) women had knowledge about signs and symptoms of anemia, 126 (45.3%) had knowledge of the benefits associated with IFAS, and 42 (15.4%) had knowledge about side effects associated with IFAS. The main sources of information about IFAS were health care providers (41.8%), followed by community health workers (CHWs) (14.6%). Maternal knowledge concerning IFAS benefits (OR =  2.50, CI =  1.04– 5.97, p=0.04) was positively associated with the prevalence of IFAS. Conclusion: Maternal knowledge about the benefits of taking IFAS was significantly associated with the prevalence of IFAS among pregnant women in Muntinlupa, Philippines. There is a pressing need to improve health education on the benefits of IFAS among pregnant women to increase its prevalence. This emphasizes the necessity of increased involvement of health care providers and CHWs to increase women’s knowledge of IFAS benefits and support them through pregnancy

Amphiphilic peptide-tagged N-cadherin forms radial glial-like fibers that enhance neuronal migration in injured brain and promote sensorimotor recovery

The mammalian brain has very limited ability to regenerate lost neurons and recover function after injury. Promoting the migration of young neurons (neuroblasts) derived from endogenous neural stem cells using biomaterials is a new and promising approach to aid recovery of the brain after injury. However, the delivery of sufficient neuroblasts to distant injured sites is a major challenge because of the limited number of scaffold cells that are available to guide neuroblast migration. To address this issue, we have developed an amphiphilic peptide [(RADA)3-(RADG)] (mRADA)-tagged N-cadherin extracellular domain (Ncad-mRADA), which can remain in mRADA hydrogels and be injected into deep brain tissue to facilitate neuroblast migration. Migrating neuroblasts directly contacted the fiber-like Ncad-mRADA hydrogel and efficiently migrated toward an injured site in the striatum, a deep brain area. Furthermore, application of Ncad-mRADA to neonatal cortical brain injury efficiently promoted neuronal regeneration and functional recovery. These results demonstrate that self- assembling Ncad-mRADA peptides mimic both the function and structure of endogenous scaffold cells and provide a novel strategy for regenerative therapy