Written by leading English-language educators in Japan, this Handbook provides an in-depth guide for the new generation of teachers at Japanese universities. In clear, accessible prose, it offers practical and detailed advice on effective classroom pedagogy, student motivation, learning styles, classroom culture, national language policy, career opportunities, departmental politics, administrative mindset, and institutional identity. Its four sections—The setting, The courses, The classroom, and The workplace—examine issues faced by university language teachers as well as challenges confronted by the increasing number of scholars teaching English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) courses. Firmly grounded in contemporary teaching method and theory, the Handbook’s 23 chapters also acknowledge the influence of diverse movements such as World Englishes, global issues, gender, and positive psychology. Its three appendices contain information on organizations, books, journals, and websites particularly useful for Japanese university educators; explanation of types and rankings of schools; ways to learn more about individual institutions for job-hunting; and detailed information on the structure (and Japanese titles) of faculty and non-teaching staff at the typical university. This Handbook is an invaluable resource for anyone teaching, or aspiring to teach, at a Japanese university.

This book shows how English language instructors in Japan explored the questions and issues which most closely affected them and their students in the language learning process. Each of the teacher-researchers had a puzzle. After reviewing existing literature, each writer found a way to adjust their practice, and in these chapters, they report on the results. Topics include educational technology, learner autonomy, feedback, and novel approaches to listening, reading and writing instruction. Although the contributors are working in Japan, classroom practitioners from the wider international language teaching community can benefit from the practical teaching approaches and accessible descriptions of practitioner research to be found in this book. A secondary audience of educational managers and teacher trainers will also find value in chapters which outline the ways in which an environment conducive to practitioner research can be facilitated.

Includes biblographical references and index.

This book examines a wide range of innovations in language learning and teaching in Japan. Each of the chapters describes the impetus for a change or new development in a particular context, from early childhood to adult learning, details its implementation and provides an evaluation of its success. In doing so, they provide a comprehensive overview of best practice in innovating language education from teaching practice in formal classroom settings, to self-directed learning beyond the classroom, and offer recommendations to enhance language education in Japan and beyond. The book will be of interest to scholars of applied linguistics and language development, and in particular to those involved in managing change in language education that attempts to mediate between global trends and local needs.

Ernesto Macaro brings together a wealth of research on the rapidly expanding phenomenon of English Medium Instruction. Against a backdrop of theory, policy documents, and examples of practice, he weaves together research in both secondary and tertiary education, with a particular focus on the key stakeholders involved in EMI: the teachers and the students. Whilst acknowledging that the momentum of EMI is unlikely to be diminished, and identifying its potential benefits, the author raises questions about the ways it has been introduced and developed, and explores how we can arrive at a true cost–benefit analysis of its future impact. “This state-of-the-art monograph presents a wide-ranging, multi-perspectival yet coherent overview of research, policy, and practice of English Medium Instruction around the globe. It gives a thorough, in-depth, and thought-provoking treatment of an educational phenomenon that is spreading on an unprecedented scale.” Guangwei Hu, National Institute of Education, Singapore Additional online resources are available at www.oup.com/elt/teacher/emi Ernesto Macaro is Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Oxford and is the founding Director of the Centre for Research and Development on English Medium Instruction at the university. Oxford Applied Linguistics Series Advisers: Anne Burns and Diane Larsen-Freeman

An important contribution to the emerging body of research-based knowledge about English grammar, this volume presents empirical studies along with syntheses and overviews of previous and ongoing work on the teaching and learning of grammar for learners of English as a second/foreign language. It explores a variety of approaches, including form-focused instruction, content and language integration, corpus-based lexicogrammatical approaches, and social perspectives on grammar instruction. Nine chapter authors are Priority Research Grant or Doctoral Dissertation Grant awardees from The International Research Foundation for English Language Education (TIRF), and four overview chapters are written by well-known experts in English language education. Each research chapter addresses issues that motivated the research, the context of the research, data collection and analysis, findings and discussion, and implications for practice, policy, and future research. The TIRF-sponsored research was made possible by a generous gift from Betty Azar. This book honors her contributions to the field and recognizes her generosity in collaborating with TIRF to support research on English grammar. Teaching and Learning English Grammar is the second volume in the Global Research on Teaching and Learning English Series, co-published by Routledge and TIRF.

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is a transformative and powerful approach to language education and has had a significant impact on educational pedagogy in recent years. Despite burgeoning literature on the efficacy and implementation of CLIL, there remains a gap between CLIL and English Language Teaching (ELT). Many practitioners wonder how they can ‘do CLIL’ if their main classes are focused on English as a Foreign Language (EFL). This volume addresses these concerns by examining the experiences of various CLIL practitioners in the EFL context of Japan. Chapters outline the CLIL methodology, the differences in ‘hard CLIL’ (subject led) and ‘soft CLIL’ (language-oriented) before focusing on the EFL interpretations of soft-CLIL. Although the distinction of hard CLIL and soft CLIL has been mentioned in several publications, this is the first book-length exploration of this issue, featuring chapters examining expectations, challenges, material support, implementation, and even motivation in CLIL classrooms. All of this culminates in a review of the potential and future of CLIL in EFL contexts, paving the way for more widespread and well informed implementation of CLIL all over the world.

Provides a ground-breaking attempt to unite discussions on the pedagogical implications of the global spread of English, and lobby for change.

Benjamin dismantles Americans' preconceived notions of the Japanese education system "Gail R. Benjamin reaches beyond predictable images of authoritarian Japanese educators and automaton schoolchildren to show the advantages and disadvantages of a system remarkably different from the American one..."—The New York Times Book Review Americans regard the Japanese educational system and the lives of Japanese children with a mixture of awe and indignance. We respect a system that produces higher literacy rates and superior math skills, but we reject the excesses of a system that leaves children with little free time and few outlets for creativity and self-expression. In Japanese Lessons, Gail R. Benjamin recounts her experiences as a American parent with two children in a Japanese elementary school. An anthropologist, Benjamin successfully weds the roles of observer and parent, illuminating the strengths of the Japanese system and suggesting ways in which Americans might learn from it. With an anthropologist's keen eye, Benjamin takes us through a full year in a Japanese public elementary school, bringing us into the classroom with its comforting structure, lively participation, varied teaching styles, and non-authoritarian teachers. We follow the children on class trips and Sports Days and through the rigors of summer vacation homework. We share the experiences of her young son and daughter as they react to Japanese schools, friends, and teachers. Through Benjamin we learn what it means to be a mother in Japan--how minute details, such as the way mothers prepare lunches for children, reflect cultural understandings of family and education.

Reflection on Multiliterate Lives is a collection of personal accounts, in narrative and interview format, of the formative literacy experiences of highly successful second language users, all of who are professional academics. Representing fourteen countries in origin, the contributors, well-known specialists in language teaching as well as a variety of other fields in the social and physical sciences, recount in their own words past and present struggles and successes as learners of language and of much else.