We conducted a randomized experiment targeting 322 Japanese high school students to examine the impacts of a newly developed English-language learning program. The treated students were offered an opportunity to communicate for 25 minutes with English-speaking Filipino teachers via Skype several times a week over a 5-month period as an extracurricular activity. The results show that the Skype program increased the interest of the treated students in an international vocation and in foreign affairs. However, the students did not improve their English communication abilities, as measured by standardized tests, probably because of the program's low utilization rate. Further investigation showed that the utilization rate was particularly low among students demonstrating a tendency to procrastinate. These results suggest the importance of maintaining students’ motivation to keep using such information and communication technology-assisted learning programs if they are not already incorporated into the existing curriculum. Having procrastinators self-regulate may be especially crucial.

This study explores the effects of various motivational variables operating within 44 English classes on 1-year-long gains in the English reading proficiency of 1,149 Japanese university students. The study adds new knowledge to the recent outcomes of second language (L2) motivational studies in 3 major ways. First, the explanatory variables include the participants’ own motivation as well as the class norms (ethos) shared by class members, some of which (e.g., career aspirations) were not directly related to their L2 learning. Second, multi-level modeling enabled a simultaneous analysis of L2 proficiency growth over 1 year at both the individual and the class levels. Third, its explanatory sequential mixed methods design (Cresswell,) demonstrated how the participants’ own accounts help to explain the initial quantitative results in ways the researchers’ outsider speculations could not. The statistical results indicate that the 44 classes grew in L2 reading abilities at significantly different rates over the year and that these differences can be explained by the students’ perceptions of their classmates’ normative career aspirations (among other predictors). These results suggest that being surrounded by classmates with high career aspirations may lead to higher motivation to study the L2 even if students are not highly motivated in the beginning.

In the present study I describe the 150-year history of school-based English language assessment in Japan. The history is divided into four major periods according to the purposes of English language education set by the government in the different periods: (1) 1860 to 1945, when English was first introduced and taught in schools mainly for elite classes; (2) 1945 to 1970, when English became part of the compulsory education for the first time; (3) 1970 to 1990 when English began to be regarded as the most effective means to communicate with foreign people in the rapidly shrinking world; and (4) 1990 to the present, when several innovative policies have been introduced into classroom measurement systems. I describe how assessment practices for English education at schools ill each of these periods were and still are affected by various factors, including political, economic, and demographic changes in society, as well as academic paradigm shifts in the fields of education and applied linguistics.

This study was a comparison of the changes in English writing behavior of 7 Japanese university students (the study-abroad group) who spent 4 to 9 months in English-speaking countries with those of 6 counterparts majoring in British and American studies (the at-home group) who remained in Japan. The study aimed at confirming the results of Sasaki (2004), who investigated similar students' English-writing behavior over 3.5 years. After a 1-year observation period, (a) both groups improved their general English proficiency
(b) only those in the study-abroad group improved their second language (L2) writing ability and fluency
(c) unlike Sasaki's participants, the study-abroad group made more local plans and the at-home group fewer
(d) at the end of the study, both groups translated their ideas into the L2 as often as they did at the beginning of the study
and (e) only the study-abroad group became more motivated to write better L2 compositions. © 2007 The Modern Language Journal.

The present study investigated the changes in Japanese students' English writing behaviors over a 3.5-year period using multiple data sources including written texts, videotaped writing behaviors, and stimulated-recall protocols. Data from student interviews supplemented the analyses. Because 6 (henceforth, English as a second language [ESL] students) out of the 11 participants spent 2 to 8 months in English-speaking environments, the study was also able to examine the effects of such overseas experiences. The results revealed that over the observation period (a) both the English as a foreign language (EFL, remaining in Japan) and the ESL students improved their English proficiency, English composition quality/fluency, and confidence in English writing; (b) the ESL students' overseas experiences were helpful for improving their writing strategy use and motivation to write better compositions; and (c) neither group's abilities or skills became like those of the EFL experts studied in Sasaki (2002).

The present study investigated EFL learners' writing processes using multiple data sources including their written texts, videotaped pausing behaviors while writing, stimulated recall protocols, and analytic scores given to the written texts. Methodologically, the study adopted a research scheme that has been successfully used for building models of Japanese L1 writing. Three paired groups of Japanese EFL writers (experts vs. novices, more- vs. less-skilled student writers, novices before and after 6 months of instruction) were compared in terms of writing fluency, quality/complexity of their written texts, their pausing behaviors while writing, and their strategy use. The results revealed that (a) before starting to write, the experts spent a longer time planning a detailed overall organization, whereas the novices spent a shorter time, making a less global plan
(b) once the experts had made their global plan, they did not stop and think as frequently as the novices
(c) L2 proficiency appeared to explain part of the difference in strategy use between the experts and novices
and (d) after 6 months of instruction, novices had begun to use some of the expert writers' strategies. It was also speculated that the experts' global planning was a manifestation of writing expertise that cannot be acquired over a short period of time.

The present study developed an analytic rating scale for Japanese university students' first language (L1) expository writing. Research proceeded in four stages. In Stage 1, we devised a questionnaire to investigate Japanese L1 teachers' criteria for evaluating expository writing. A total of 102 teachers responded to the questionnaire, and rated the 35 related descriptions according to their importance. In Stage 2, based on the questionnaire results, we either eliminated or reorganized these 35 descriptions under six analytic criteria: 1) Clarity of the theme
2) Appeal to the readers
3) Expression
4) Organization
5) Knowledge of language forms
and 6) Social awareness. Then, in Stage 3, we attempted to investigate possible weighting of these six criteria. We asked 106 teachers to rate two to four compositions with varied profiles using both a holistic scale and the obtained analytic scale. The results showed that the explanatory power of each criterion can vary from composition to composition, and thus we concluded that the six criteria should have equal weighting. Finally, in Stage 4, we pilot-tested the obtained scale using a new set of 69 compositions. The results indicate that the present scale is both valid and reliable, and that it is superior to a traditional analytic scale in capturing such composition qualities as appeal to the readers and social awareness. © 1999 Arnold.

The present study examined how a new topic was introduced, maintained, and changed in the Japanese-English interlanguage data of a 45 minute interview between a native and a non-native speaker of English. Retrospective accounts recorded after the interview were used to complement the interlanguage data. In order to achieve a more comprehensive perspective of the interlanguage, the function and distribution of certain topic marking devices in the present data were compared with those of equivalent devices in both native Japanese and English data. Results indicate that, although the topic marking system of the interlanguage shared some features with the first and second languages, it maintained features independent of these languages. Furthermore, the interlanguage data confirmed to two language universal hypotheses of Givon's (1984) topic continuity hierarchy and Du Bois' (1987) preferred argument structure. Possible causes for some unique features observed in the interlanguage were also discussed.

This study investigated factors that might influence Japanese university students' expository writing in English. We examined 70 students of low- to high-intermediate English proficiency along a variety of dimensions, namely, second language (L2) proficiency, first language (L1) writing ability, writing strategies in L1 and L2, metaknowledge of L2 expository writing, past writing experiences, and instructional background. We considered these multiple factors as possible explanatory variables for L2 writing.
Quantitative analysis revealed that (a) students' L2 proficiency, L1 writing ability, and metaknowledge were all significant in explaining the L2 writing ability variance; (b) among these 3 independent variables, L2 proficiency explained the largest portion (52%) of the L2 writing ability variance, L1 writing ability the second largest (18%), and metaknowledge the smallest (11%); and (c) there mere significant-correlations among these independent variables. Qualitative analysis indicated that good writers were significantly different from weak writers in that good writers (a) paid more attention to overall organization while writing in L1 and L2; (b) wrote more fluently in LI and L2; (c) exhibited greater confidence in L2 writing for academic purposes; and (d) had regularly written more than one English paragraph while in high school. There was no significant difference between good and weak writers for other writing strategies and experiences. On the basis of these results, we propose an explanatory model for EFL writing ability.

The present study investigated the relationship between Japanese students' English L2 expository writing and several factors that might influence the quality of the writing product. Nineteen Japanese university students provided both quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative analysis showed that the students' L2 proficiency and L1 writing ability accounted for a large proportion of variances in L2 writing quality. The finding that L1 writing ability was highly correlated with L2 writing ability is important because it suggests the existence of composing competence across L1 and L2 even for EFL students. There was also a significant interaction between this composing competence and L2 proficiency. Qualitative analysis suggested that the students' composing competence was related to: (a) use of several good writers' strategies, (b) writing fluency, and (c) confidence in writing. Furthermore, probably due to the input-poor EFL environment, the amount of self-initiated L2 writing experiences seemed to ploy an important role in determining students' L2 writing quality. © 1994.

The present protocol analysis supplements Sasaki's (1993) study, which used structural equation modeling to investigate the relationships among measures of second language proficiency (SLP), foreign language aptitude, and two types of intelligence (verbal intelligence and reasoning). In the present study, 6 participants randomly selected from the same subject pool took different types of SLP tests, a foreign language aptitude battery, and an intelligence test. The researcher attempted (a) to test Bachman and Palmer's (1982) hypothesis that a general SLP factor is related to the amount of information processing required for solving a given item, (b) to compare cognitive processes and strategies employed for different types of aptitude/intelligence tests, and (c) to compare the quality and quantity of test-taking processes employed by students with different levels of SLP.

The present study investigated the relationships among measures of second language proficiency (SLP), foreign language aptitude, and two types of intelligence (verbal intelligence and reasoning). The research had two objectives: (a) to examine the factor structure of several different SLP test scores; and (b) to investigate the relationship between a general SLP factor (G-SLP) and a hypothetical general cognitive factor (G-COG) that was assumed to influence foreign language aptitude, verbal intelligence, and reasoning. Several competing hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. Participants consisted of 160 Japanese college students studying English as a foreign language.
The results supported two models of SLP: one in which several specific trait factors were highly correlated with each other, and another in which these specific trait factors were connected to a higher-order G-SLP factor. Because there were only three first-order specific factors, these two models could not be distinguished from each other. Further investigation suggested that G-SLP and G-COG were not identical, but mutually correlated (r=0.65). This relationship implies that students' SLP and cognitive abilities were influenced by two distinct, but mutually correlated factors. More than half the G-SLP variance (58%) could not be explained by the G-COG factor. Several suggestions for further studies are presented.

This paper compares two approximation techniques for detecting differential item functioning (DIF) in an English as a second language (ESL) placement test when the group sizes are too small to use other possible methods (e.g., the three parameter item response theory method). An application of the Angoff delta- plot method (Angoff and Ford, 1973) utilizing the one parameter Rasch model adopted in Chen and Henning (1985), and Scheuneman's chi-square method (Scheuneman, 1979) were chosen because they are among the few methods appropriate for a sample size smaller than 100. Two linguistically and culturally diverse groups (Chinese and Spanish speaking) served as the subjects of this study. The results reveal that there was only marginal overlap between DIF items detected by Chen and Henning's method and Scheuneman's method
the former detected fewer DIF items with less variety than the latter. Moreover, Chen and Henning's method tended to detect easier items with smaller differ ences in p-value between the two groups whereas Scheuneman's method tended to detect items with the opposite features. Implications of these results are discussed. © 1991, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.