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Imafuku, Rintarō, and 今福輪太郎. "Cultural dimensions of Japanese students' participation in PBL tutorials." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2012. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B50533812.
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Problem-based learning (PBL) is a learner-centred approach “that empowers learners to conduct research, integrate theory and practice, and apply knowledge and skills to develop a viable solution to a defined problem” (Savery, 2006, p. 12). Thus, the PBL classes differ pedagogically from traditional teacher-led classes. This learner-centred pedagogy, which was originally developed in medical education at a Canadian university in the late 1960s, was first incorporated into a tertiary-level curriculum in Japan in 1990. Since its initiation, 75 Japanese medical schools (94%) have adopted the PBL approach in their curriculum. Notwithstanding the great interest in using PBL in Japanese medical education, there is little qualitative research on the cultural dimensions of students’ participation in PBL tutorials.
This study explored these issues by providing a close examination of classroom discourse and students’ introspection on their learning in PBL tutorials. In this qualitative case study, nine focal students and 36 of their group members, all of whom were first-year undergraduate students at a Japanese university, were selected as the main research participants. Data were collected over an entire academic year through classroom observations, video-recordings of PBL tutorials and interviews. Analysis of the classroom interactions involved the application of classroom discourse analysis (Eggins & Slade, 1997; Sinclair & Coulthard, 1975; Tsui, 1994). Moreover, interview data were analyzed by following a Grounded Theory approach (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) to provide further insights into their changing thoughts during their ongoing participation.
Grounded in the notion of community of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998), this study examined the cultural dimensions of Japanese students’ participation in PBL tutorials. In particular, it focused on gaining a better understanding of what they actually do in the discussions, identifying factors mediating their participation and examining the relationships between their actual engagement and thoughts in the tutorials. In this study, there was considerable variation amongst the Japanese students in the ways they participated in and responded to PBL practices. Furthermore, this study demonstrated that their participation was mediated by their cultural assumptions, recognition of competence, negotiation of power relations and identity formation as a group member in the social context of PBL tutorials. Therefore, Japanese students cannot simply be categorized into quiet, passive and dependent learners. Rather, their ongoing participation in PBL tutorials is situated in the specific cultural context. The findings suggest that exploring the cultural dimensions of students’ participation and negotiation of identities, power relations and competence provides a broad view of their learning, including their ways of knowing, doing and being a member in a context of student-centered classroom.
This study concluded that the inquiry into Japanese students’ participation contributed to our understanding of the processes of students’ learning and the social and cultural factors mediating their participation in a new classroom community. In particular, the mere adoption of a certain approach of learning will not bring about positive learning outcomes. It should be noted that students’ participation in a new classroom context involves complex, dynamic, social and cultural processes.published_or_final_version
Education
Doctoral
Doctor of Philosophy
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Miyashita, Keiko. "Influence of Computer Use on Attitudes Toward Computers, Motivation to Study, Empathy, and Creativity Among Japanese First- and Second-Grade Children." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1991. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc332523/.
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This study investigated the changes in attitudes of Japanese first and second grade children who were exposed to microcomputers in school. Eight hundred and three first-and second-grade children were selected from six Japanese public schools. Approximately half of the subjects were selected from urban, suburban, and rural schools using computers, while the remaining subjects were from schools not using computers. The Young Children's Computer Inventory was the instrument used for this study. It was derived from a questionnaire originally developed at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, and contained four subscales: Attitudes Toward Computers, Motivation to Study, Empathy, and Creativity. A Japanese language version of the questionnaire was mailed to the principal of each school, where teachers distributed the questionnaires.for the subjects to complete with their parents at home. Ninety-one percent of the students returned completed questionnaires. Demographic information was also collected for each classroom.
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Bossy, Steve. "Academic pressure and impact on Japanese students." Thesis, McGill University, 1996. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=35314.
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This study explores the tremendous pressure Japanese students must endure in the pursuit of academic achievement. It identifies the sources of student's pressure and discusses the cultural, social, and economic conditions that influence a fiercely competitive educational system. The focus of this study is the impact of academic pressures on Japanese students.Japanese education is a single-minded drive for achievement that results in what many refer to as examination hell. The university entrance examination is at the root of the pressures that are placed on students and is the primary mechanism responsible for driving competition. The life-long ramifications of students performance on this examination are far reaching. As a result, the pressures that are exerted upon students to achieve are overwhelming. Mothers, teachers, peers, and society contribute to the pressures that are placed on students to achieve, while many children continue to fall victim to emotional, psychological, and physical harm.
The study provides richly descriptive narrative accounts of student's experiences, thoughts and feelings seen from a student's perspective. The study gives voice to Japanese students and invites them to tell it like it is.
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Watkins, Leah, and n/a. "Culture, values and Japanese tourism behaviour." University of Otago. Department of Marketing, 2006. http://adt.otago.ac.nz./public/adt-NZDU20070205.150926.
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While the role of culture as an influence on consumer behaviour and product/service choice has long been acknowledged, the current literature in marketing offers an incomplete understanding of how and why culture plays its influential role (Overby, Woodruff and Gardial 2005). Research suggests that values provide the link between culture and consumer behaviour and values have been the focus of much research in the social sciences. In particular, values have received significant attention in cross-cultural research, being used to characterise the similarities within and differences across cultures. Values are central to the marketing discipline as they determine value, i.e. what activities, interests, and material goods consumers identify with, enjoy, acquire, or consume (Grunert and Muller 1996). Both directly and indirectly, values drive consumption behaviour.
Typically, values have been assessed and compared through the use of standard measures such as Rokeach�s Value Survey, the List of Values and Schwartz�s Value Survey. Recent literature highlights growing concern over the application of standard measures across cultures and issues of cross-cultural invariance. There is a need for new research into cross-cultural applications of consumer value measures and theoretical models. This thesis critiques the use of Western conceptual paradigms and imposed etics in value research, and, using a Japanese tourism context, seeks a deeper understanding of how culture and values affect tourism consumption and experience.
This thesis offers an empirical test of the cross-cultural applicability of a commonly used values scale in consumer research, the List of Values (Kahle 1983). The findings of this phase of the research extend the literature concerning methodological issues in values research and highlight the limitiations of the LOV as a cross-cultural measure of values. Based on these findings the thesis adopts an alternative, qualitative methodology to investigate the relationship between Japanese culture, values and tourism behaviour in New Zealand. The findings of the second phase of the research contribute to a recent call in the literature for more qualitative research in tourism, and allow the identification and understanding of the key values relevant to Japanese tourism behaviour. The results of Means-End interviews with Japanese visitors reveal the important cultural assumptions informing values and shaping tourism decisions and behaviours for two key groups of Japanese tourists.
The theoretical framework presented in this thesis promotes our understanding of the relationship between cultural beliefs, values, and consumer behaviour. The results of the primary research highlight the importance of cultural and physical history, world-view, self-concept, thought patterns and language in the formation and interpretation of values. The thesis presents a holistic attempt at understanding Japanese culture, values and travel behaviour by examining how these concepts cohere in a logical framework. The thesis argues that, given the inherently cultural nature of values, their interpretation within the context of cultural beliefs is highly important in understanding variability in consumer behaviour across cultures.
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Galloway, Nicola. "An investigation of Japanese university students' attitudes towards English." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2011. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/345128/.
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As a global language, English has spread to the extent that non-native speakers now outnumber native speakers. In the last few decades, a body of research literature has emerged demonstrating the decreasing global relevance of native English speakers, and calling for a re-evaluation of English Language Teaching (ELT) practices, in order to better prepare students for using English as a global lingua franca. However, students’ needs and attitudes towards English and ELT must be fully investigated before curriculum changes can be suggested. Many attitude studies conclude that students favour native varieties of English. However, such research often uses single research methods and very few relate attitude studies to ELT. Further research is required regarding students’ attitudes towards English, the factors influencing these attitudes and how they relate to ELT. Moreover, few studies have investigated these proposals in any depth or explored the impact of course instruction in the global uses of English on students’ attitudes. This thesis is an investigation of Japanese university students’ attitudes towards English and English teachers in relation to the use of English as a lingua franca (ELF). In order to widen the scope of understanding, this research employed a mixture of quantitative and qualitative measures to obtain data about the participants and their attitudes. Thus, questionnaires, interviews and focus groups were used. Following the introduction, chapter two and three provide a literature review. Chapter four outlines the methodology, and the results are presented in chapters five, six and seven. Chapter eight presents a discussion of the results and the implications of this study for teaching English are discussed in chapter nine. The findings suggest that English is seen as a language belonging to native English speakers and those students want to learn native English. However, the results highlighted that a number of factors influence students’ attitudes. The findings also demonstrated that the study of Global Englishes influenced students in a number of ways, including their motivation for learning English, attitudes towards varieties of English and attitudes towards English teachers. It encouraged them to question notions of ‘standard English’, was helpful for future ELF communication and raised their confidence as English speakers. In sum, the findings of this study provide an empirical basis for a re-evaluation of ELT and suggest that Global Englishes Language Teaching is something that should be further investigated.
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Kimber, Larry David. "Japanese junior high school students' attitudes toward English partial immersion." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2008. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.479291.
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Ishikawa, Tomokazu. "A study of Japanese university students' attitudes towards their English." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2015. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/394667/.
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English is currently used as a global lingua franca (ELF), involving people from diverse socio-linguacultural backgrounds (e.g., Jenkins, Cogo and Dewey 2011). However, as a former English teacher, I have observed that many Japanese students see no tangible connection between themselves and ELF. Indeed, they appeared overtly pejorative about their English. To investigate this issue, my research explores two questions: 1) How do Japanese university students orient to Japanese people’s English including their own? and 2) What factors are associated with the students’ orientations, and how do these factors work to form their orientations? People’s orientations to language are theorised as language attitudes; that is, the evaluative concepts directed to a linguistic phenomenon (e.g., Niedzielski and Preston 1999/2003; Preston 2010). To answer the research questions, 95 open-ended email questionnaires from Japanese university students were collected, and analysed through qualitative content analysis (e.g., Miles, Huberman and Saldaña 2014; Schreier 2012, 2014). Also, face-to-face conversational interview data with eighteen Japanese undergraduates was elicited and analysed through the combination of qualitative content analysis and Eggins and Slade’s (1997/2004) speech functions analysis framework. Two sets of negative attitudes became apparent in my participants. The first was the perceived prioritisation of, or a perceived obsession with, ‘correctness’ in ‘standard’ North American and possibly other English as a Native Language (ENL) at the expense of effective communication. The second was a deficit perspective on Japanese-influenced English use, generally without due regard to intelligibility. In addition, it was identified that the coupling of concentration on ENL norms and adherence to North American ENL may be the only way to experience English in Japanese society. Furthermore, based on the interview data, raising ELF awareness has a high potential to alleviate such negative attitudes as expressed by my participants. Implications, mainly in Japanese English education, are offered towards the end.
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Holmberg, Yamada Elin. "Enjoying freedom or priced out of parenthood? : Attitudes to childlessness on Japanese Internet forums." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Umeå centrum för genusstudier (UCGS), 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-161968.
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Declining birth rate in Japan has been acknowledged as a demographic crisis since the 1970s. Higher education and better jobs has given women freedom and alternatives to starting a family, and some say the value of marriage and children has decreased overall. This study explored attitudes towards childlessness on Japanese Internet forums in order to understand why Japan, a country with continually persistent and conservative gender roles, can experience such a drastic population decline. Especially since this phenomenon seems paradoxical in relation to women’s traditional roles in society. This paper has explored how people spoke about childlessness and two major discourses emerged. The attitudes were categorized into a modern versus a traditional discourse on childlessness. Money, conservative gender roles and relationships were identified as important reasons affecting the decision to have children or not. However, only money seemed as a rationale behind childlessness accepted in both discourses.
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Koike, Yuko. "Communicative competence through music in EFL for Japanese middle school students." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 1999. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2564.
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Madueño, Lorvelis Amelia. "Crafting Japanese-ness: An Ethnographic Study of Parents’ Attitudes toward Language Maintenance in a Japanese Community in the United States." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2018. https://scholarworks.uno.edu/honors_theses/111.
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This study documents the attitudes and perspectives toward Japanese language education of seven “newly-arrived” Japanese immigrants, jp. Shin-issei, who are raising bilingual or multilingual children in New Orleans, Louisiana. The participants of this study consisted of six mothers and one father who speak Japanese to their children at home and act as teachers of this language at the Japanese Weekend School of New Orleans, jp. Nyū Orinzu Nihongo Hoshūkō, a supplementary language school. Grounded in ethnographic fieldwork and interviews, this thesis has two interrelated objectives: One is to analyze parents’ attitudes toward Japanese language maintenance and show that although the home remains the crucial site for language education, the Japanese School of New Orleans represents a relevant site for the maintenance of the Japanese language and the indoctrination of Japanese cultural values. The second is to explore how these parents connect the process of teaching at and attending the school to a sentiment of diasporic nationalism. This study calls for a renewed ethnographic focus on often ignored —or known by few— immigrant communities in Louisiana by recognizing the presence of Japanese immigrants in this area, their constant efforts to maintain ties and connections to their home country, and their motivations to do so.
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Miura, Ayaka. "Cultural influences on the acceptability of assistance dogs in Japan and the UK." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.323954.
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Lillge, Yvette. "Differences in nutrient intake between American and Japanese college students : a pilot study." Virtual Press, 1998. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1117107.
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The purpose of this study was to assess the diet and nutrient intake of college students, between the ages of 18 and 25, in Japan and the United States through a 24-item nutrition information questionnaire and 3-day food records.Unlike the Japanese students, American college students met the suggested intake for carbohydrate and protein. Mean intake of dietary cholesterol and percentage of total calories from fat was much higher in Japanese females and both groups of males. Most of the Japanese students met the suggested/ recommended intake for sodium and iron, while only the American males met the recommended intake for iron. Recommended intake for calcium was met by majority of American males. This study showed differences and similarities in dietary intake of macro and selected nutrients exist between genders of two cultures. Thus, nutrition intervention may be needed to improve eating habits and nutrition related diseases in college students.Department of Family and Consumer Sciences
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White, Daniel. "English, and international cross-cultural attitudes in China, Japan and South Korea." Thesis, Northumbria University, 2013. http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/18036/.
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The findings of language attitude studies amongst learners of English have consistently demonstrated that native speakers of English are accorded higher evaluations in terms of status/prestige, whereas non-native speakers of English are often rated high in terms of social attractiveness/solidarity. For the majority of language attitude studies, the inclusion of native speakers of English in speech evaluation experiments has served as useful for investigating the complex attitudes towards English speech among English language learners. However, over the past two decades there has been a growing argument that the unprecedented spread of English language learning has led to questions over the ownership of the English language and the functions for its study, with many arguing that English is no longer learned primarily to communicate with native speakers of English, but as a means to communicate between those that do not share the same first language. Despite this, few studies have focused solely on attitudes held by English language learners in the expanding circle towards one another. Moreover, informants in language attitudes studies amongst English language learners have often been limited to informants of homogenous national groups, thus making direct comparisons between the multitudes of language attitude studies across national groups difficult.
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Okada, Hanako. "Somewhere "In Between": Languages and Identities of Three Japanese International School Students." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2009. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/35794.
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CITE/Language ArtsEd.D.
This study is a situated qualitative investigation of the multiple languages and identities of three Japanese international school students in Japan. These students had no foreign heritage or experience living outside Japan, but had been educated completely in English-medium international schools since kindergarten. In effect, they had been socialized into another culture and language without leaving Japan--a relatively monolingual and monocultural country. The participants' complex linguistic situations and identities were investigated using narrative inquiry over a period of 19 months. Their narratives, gathered primarily by interviews, were supplemented by observations, interviews of those close to them, and other data sources. Using postmodernist-influenced concepts as analytical lenses, I was able to bring to light the students' complex views on language and identity emerging from their unique linguistic and cultural experiences. The students in this study revealed that one does not necessarily belong to a single dominant culture or have a single "first language." These students felt most comfortable with their multiple cultures and languages in a 'third space' (Bhabha, 1994), and they actively took part in creating their own hybrid cultures, languages, and identities. The students' hybrid languages and identities were nurtured and secure within the international school community. However, once outside this community, the students realized the complexities within themselves, requiring that they learn to negotiate their identities, as identity crucially involves location and relationships with others. When they were able to visualize their futures as bilingual/bicultural individuals, their identities became somewhat clearer and less contested. At that point, they felt that their linguistic and cultural hybridity was not entirely an obstacle, but something that they could also use to their advantage. It was when they had to make either-or choices between cultures, languages, and identities that they felt troubled or deficient. Through their narratives, the participants revealed the extent to which static categories and monolithic notions of language and culture were imposed upon them, and how these affected their understanding and perceptions of themselves. In conclusion, I interrogate such static views and urge researchers, educators, and bilingual/bicultural individuals to view languages and identities in more complex ways.
Temple University--Theses
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Yoshida, Reiko. "Political economy, transnationalism, and identity : students at the Montreal Hoshuko." Thesis, McGill University, 2001. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=33950.
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This thesis examines the identity of the students at the Montreal Hoshuko and the factors that affect the way in which they identify themselves as Japanese, drawing upon a framework of political economy and concepts of globalization and transnationalism. It also explores how Japanese identity is changing in this globalized world. The fieldwork demonstrates that the identity of the Hoshuko students is somewhat commoditized based on Japanese popular culture such as Pokemon. It suggests that increasing communication and contact with external forces has changed and will further change the way Japanese people understand their own culture, identity, and themselves. It is argued that identities are not fixed or frozen in time; rather, they should be understood as flexible and a process shaped by history, a given context, and multiple external factors, and that a more fluid understanding of Japanese culture and identity is needed in a globalized, transnationalized world.
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Kawano, Marika Suzuki. "The development of Japanese identity among middle school students in Japan from the perspectives of the state and students /." Diss., Restricted to subscribing institutions, 2009. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1971495771&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=1564&RQT=309&VName=PQD.
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Ozawa, Michiyo. "Japanese Students' Perception of Their Language Learning Strategies." PDXScholar, 1996. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/5160.
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Students' use of language learning strategies (LLSs) is affected by their educational backgrounds and academic requirements, and so are their attitudes toward language learning. This study investigates Japanese students' perception of their English LLSs in different language environments: Japan and the United States. A group of 43 Japanese students from Otemae College participated in a cultural study program at Portland State University. The group consisted of 28 students who studied for two terms (ST Group) and 15 students who studied for three terms (LT Group). In this study, a combination of a self-assessment questionnaire, dialogue journals, and a card-ranking activity was employed. The self-assessment questionnaire, SILL (Rebecca Oxford's Strategy Inventory for Language Learning), was administered at different times during the learning period for identification of students' English LLSs in Japan (Ll) and in the United States (L2). The SILL provided this study with quantitative data; whereas, dialogue journals and the card ranking activity supplied qualitative data that more insightfully indicated students' perception of language learning, learning experiences, and insight into the students themselves. Dialogue journals allowed students to record their positive and negative experiences in the L2 related to language learning, emotions, concerns, problems, and questions. The students' LLSs increased in frequency and variety of use when the language environment changed from the Ll to the L2. The LLSs of the LT Group continued to improve during an additional term in the L2. Conversely, the LLS use by the ST Group regressed after only four months back in the Ll (except Affective and Social Strategies). The results of the SILL indicated direct strategies were adjusted according to English learning experience in a different learning environment. Three administrations of the SILL, dialogue journals, and the card ranking activity gave students opportunities to review the process of their English learning. This process functioned in raising students' awareness of language learning from cognitive, psychological, social, and cultural perspectives. Such conceptual development of metalinguistic awareness of the language and culture helped the students recognize their language learning experiences in the L2 as the process of human development.
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Seki, Taeko. "Attitudes to and motivation for learning English in Japan." Thesis, University of Stirling, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/60.
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The aim of this research is to determine Japanese first-year university students’ attitudes to and motivation for learning English. A successful English-language education system is crucial for Japan, under great pressure to internationalise during her most prolonged recession ever. To help make the education system successful, knowledge of learners’ attitudes and motivation is essential. Chapter 1 discusses Japan as a stage for English-language education. Japan is identified as uniquely homogenous and insular. Internationalisation of industry and a drop in the college-age population forcing universities to compete for students are identified as recent phenomena driving reform in the English-language education system. Chapter 2 describes the roughly 130-year history of Japanese English-language education from first contact to the present day. Changes in the English-language education policies of successive Japanese governments are discussed through examination of the Ministry of Education ‘Course of Study’ guidelines. Chapter 3 surveys the theoretical literature on attitudes and motivation in foreign and second language learning. Significant and relevant empirical research from Japan and other countries is reviewed. Chapter 4 determines an approach to the main research question through a number of subsidiary questions, using the theoretical framework from Chapter 3. A detailed research design (methods, schedule, and data collection procedures) is drawn up and discussed. Chapter 5 presents and analyses the findings of the two questionnaires which form the main data collection method. The computer program SPSS is used in analysis. Chapter 6 presents and analyses the findings of the two group interviews and two individual interviews by categorising and descriptive explanation. Chapter 7, the final chapter, reviews the research process and answers the subsidiary and main research questions. Key themes are that Japanese students are highly motivated to learn English for communication, and that the English classes currently offered at universities do not meet the demands of Japanese students. These answers and themes are used as the basis for some recommendations for English-language education in Japan.
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Wendt, Staci Jean. "Self-Efficacy and Drinking with Friends: An Investigation into the Drinking Behaviors of Japanese College Students." PDXScholar, 2011. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/293.
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Recent studies have documented an alarming rate of alcohol use in Japan (Eisenback-Stangl et al., 2005; Milne, 2003; Shimizu, 2000). Indeed, permissive social and cultural norms for alcohol use exist within Japanese culture (Shimizu, 1990, 2000). Japanese college-students may be at further risk due to their developmental time period, where increases in alcohol use are typically seen. Furthermore, drinking habits formed during this time period may be difficult to alter later in life (Frone, 2003). Thus, social, developmental, and cultural factors exist to influence drinking among Japanese college students. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the drinking behaviors of Japanese college students and possible proximal predictors of use. Specifically, given the importance of social relationships and interactions to interdependent cultures, such as Japan, the occurrence of negative social interactions may be influential in predicting subsequent drinking, as individuals may increase drinking in order to adhere to the social norms and to make amends. Hypothesis testing confirmed a significant and positive relationship between negative social events and drinking with others. Furthermore, the expected physical, social and emotional outcomes of alcohol consumption (alcohol outcome expectancies) have been shown to predict alcohol use among U.S. samples (e.g., Goldman, 1994), however, daily fluctuations in the desirability of alcohol outcome expectancies has not been previously investigated in a Japanese sample. Given the importance of fluctuations in desirability of alcohol outcome expectancies among U.S. samples (Armeli et al., 2005), this dissertation investigated daily fluctuations in the desirability of expected outcomes and alcohol use. Support for this relationship was found; on days with individuals experienced increases in the desirability of alcohol outcome expectancies, individuals drank more with others. Support for the hypothesis that increases in daily negative social events would predict increases in the desirability of alcohol outcome expectancies was not found. Finally, this dissertation investigated two types of self-efficacy (drinking refusal self-efficacy and social self-efficacy) as stable factors of drinking. Drinking refusal self-efficacy significantly and negatively predicted drinking with others; marginal support for drinking refusal self-efficacy as a moderator of the relationship between negative social events and drinking with others was found. Social self-efficacy significantly and positively predicted drinking with others. No support was found for social self-efficacy as a moderating variable in the relationship between negative social events and drinking with others. In sum, using data that was previously collected via daily process methodology, this dissertation investigated the relationships between daily negative social interactions, daily desirability of alcohol outcome expectancies, and drinking refusal and social self-efficacy as moderators of alcohol consumption. Support was found for five of the seven hypothesized relationships.
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Ito, Daisuke. "College Students' Prejudiced Attitudes toward Homosexuals: A Comparative Analysis in Japan and the United States." unrestricted, 2007. http://etd.gsu.edu/theses/available/etd-08032007-123056/.
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Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2007.Dawn Baunach, committee chair; Elisabeth Burgess, Toshimasa Kii, committee members. Electronic text (152 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed October 10, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 116-130).
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Kobayashi, Yoko. "Japanese social influences on academic high school students' attitudes toward long-term English learning." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2000. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape3/PQDD_0015/NQ53707.pdf.
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Jones, Waller F. (Waller Finley). "Japanese Attitudes Toward Prisoners of War: Feudal Resurgence in Kokutai No Hongi." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1990. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc504570/.
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During World War II, the Japanese earned the reputation for cruelty toward their prisoners which surpassed the treatment accorded to POWs held by Germany and Italy. The conduct exhibited by the Japanese soldier was the result of a combination of ancient social and religious traditions made manifest by twentieth century documents. Through constant inculcation of ancient myths nurtured by a national religion, the Japanese believed that their holy mission was world domination. Believing themselves to be of divine origin, they treated all other races as inferior; therefore, the POWs suffered cruelties as sub-humans. The Japanese inflicted punishment and torture in the name of their emperor, believing that they did so through divine instruction. This study reveals how they arrived at this conviction.
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Kono, Nariyo. "American Students' Expectations of Teachers in the Japanese Language Classroom." PDXScholar, 1995. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/5261.
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The Japanese as a foreign language classroom in the United States is full of information about the target culture and cross-cultural interaction between American students and Japanese instructors. This cross-cultural interaction promotes culture learning but sometimes produces potential conflicts due to American students and Japanese instructors having different expectations of each other. The purpose of this study was to investigate student expectations of their Japanese teachers and to explore similarities and differences among Japanese and American expectations. The research questions addressed were 1) What do American students expect of their Japanese teachers in the Japanese language classroom? Do their expectations have any distinctive features?, and 2) What do Japanese teachers expect of themselves in the Japanese language classroom? Do their expectations have any distinctive features? The data was gathered in the two Japanese programs at universities in the Northwest. This exploratory study used both the quantitative and descriptive research methods. There were three primary data analysis procedures: multidimensional scaling analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis, and rank-order analysis. These multidimensional and hierarchical clustering analyses explored the underlying structure of the concept of what makes a good Japanese language teacher. The rank-order analysis revealed which beliefs were most important for different groups' judgments of who is a good teacher. In addition, the results of these analyses were discussed with the subjects through interviews. The results suggested a major similarity and also some culture differences. Both Americans and Japanese seemed to share a very basic framework about what makes a good teacher, which contained three domains: Classroom management, Interaction and Personality. However, some of the results seemed to reflect a difference between the role-specific aspects of Japanese society and the individualistic elements of American society. In addition, the rank-order analysis seemed to reveal a difference between the two schools.
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Hotta, Muneo. "Intercultural communication competence and intercultural adjustment of Japanese business sojourners and their spouses." PDXScholar, 1991. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/4268.
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The purpose of this thesis was to examine the relationship among intercultural communication competence, attitudes toward the U.S. culture, and linguistic skills in English for Japanese business sojourners and their spouses living in the United States.
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Kanekatsu, Nozomi. "Pragmatic performance of English immersion students in Japan : politeness in second language requests." Thesis, McGill University, 2007. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=97823.
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This study investigates L2 pragmatic performance of EFL learners in an English immersion program in Japan. More specifically, the study examines whether the leamers are able to express appropriate politeness when making a request in English. Participants were 28 Japanese-Ll English immersion students and 4 native speakers of English at high school level (Grades 10, 11 and 12). Data collection was completed using role-play tasks, entailing the use of polite requests to a person of higher status, to elicit speech samples from participant dyads. Classroom observations, interviews, and a written questionnaire, involving 10 teachers and 42 students, were also conducted in order to better understand the L2 oral production data.Cette étude s'intéresse à la performance pragmatique en langue seconde (L2) d'étudiants en anglais langue étrangère (ALE) dans un programme d'immersion anglaise au Japon. Plus spécifiquement, l'étude examine si les étudiants sont capables d'exprimer la politesse appropriée en faisant une demande en anglais. Les participants étaient 28 étudiants japonais de l'immersion anglais et quatre étudiants de langue maternelle anglaise de niveau lycée (niveaux 10, 11 et 12). La collecte de données a été accomplie en utilisant des jeux de rôle, qui nécessitaient l'utilisation de demandes polies à une personne d'un statut plus élevé, pour obtenir des échantillons de discours des dyades de participants. Des observations en salle de classe, des entrevues, et un questionnaire écrit, faisant participer dix professeurs et 42 étudiants, ont également été menés afin de mieux comprendre les données de production orales de L2.
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Yonemoto, Kazuhiro. "Languages and identities : voices of repatriated students from China." Thesis, McGill University, 2007. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=100221.
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In this inquiry, I examine how six repatriated students from China perceive their experiences in Japanese schools and in Japanese second language education. I focus on their voices and perspectives gained through audio-taped interviews. Employing Pierce's (1995) concept of investment and Rampton's (1990) concepts of language expertise, affiliation, and inheritance, I focus on how these adolescent students perceive the relationship between languages and identities and how their experiences affect their ways of looking at themselves. The data I collected through interviews in Japan supports the views that identity is multiple and fluid, and languages are profoundly and intricately related with learners' identity construction. Depending on their particular contexts in which they situate themselves, they hold distinct views on the relationship between languages and identities. I address how the particular context in Japan's educational system may influence their ways of looking at themselves. The study confirms that teachers need to examine our students' identities and frames of reference, values and beliefs.
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Beirowski, Karin. "Cultural influences on attitudes toward aggression : a comparison between Spanish, Japanese and South African students." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/53341.
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Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The primary aim of the present study was to examine whether the culture of a society influences the way in which people justify certain aggressive behaviours in certain situations. A total of 756 students from Spain, Japan and South Africa participated in completing the CAMA, a measure of justification of aggression. The results showed that there were significant differences within the countries. There were differences in the levels of acceptance of certain acts between these countries. Further fmdings also indicated that there was a difference between the males of the countries and between the females of these countries. It was found that cultural influences and the norms within these countries bring about differences in justification of aggression in different situations. There were also some general trends of acceptance, with direct and indirect verbal acts e.g. sarcasm, hindering and shouting being more acceptable than physical acts such as hitting, killing and torture. It is hoped that the present findings of this research will make members of society more aware of their responsibility to help reduce aggressive acts by teaching and reinforcing norms against it. It is also hoped that the international community will gain better insight into the fact that South-Africa faces unique challenges because of the political and social changes in the country.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die primêre doel van die huidige studie was om vas te stelof 'n samelewing se kultuur 'n rol speel by die regverdiging van sekere aggressiewe gedrag in bepaalde omstandighede. 'n Totaal van 756 studente van Spanje, Japan en Suid Afrika het die CAMA vraelys voltooi. Die vraelys meet die regverdiging van aggressie in sekere omstandighede. Betekenisvolle verskille is tussen die lande gevind. Daar is ook betekenisvolle verskille tussen die mans van die drie lande asook tussen die vrouens van die drie lande gevind. Daar is gevind dat kulturele verskille en die norme binne 'n samelewing meebring dat daar verskille is in die mate waarin samelewings sekere aggressiewe gedrag aanvaarbaar vind in sekere situasies. Daar was ook 'n groter algemene aanvaarbaarheid van verbale aggressie bv. sarkasme, verhindering en skreeu as fisiese aggressie soos slaan, om dood te maak en marteling. Hopelik maak hierdie navorsing mense meer bewus van elkeen in die samelewing se verantwoordelikheid om die norme teen geweld te versterk asook om die norme aan hulle nageslagte oor te dra. Verder sal die internasionale gemeenskap hopelik beter insig kry oor die unieke uitdagings wat Suid-Afrika bied as gevolg van die politieke en sosiale veranderinge in die land.
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Atta, Takeshi. "Computer-based instruction in English as a foreign language for Japanese secondary students." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 1998. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/1447.
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Hattori, Toyoko. "Intercultural confrontation styles of culturally homophilous and culturally heterophilous Japanese and U.S. college students." PDXScholar, 1992. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/4326.
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This study focuses on confrontational behavior patterns exhibited by Japanese and U.S. college students in the Portland Metropolitan area. Four questions are addressed: 1) is there a difference Japanese and U.S. confrontation styles? 2) do Japanese use differing confrontation styles depending upon whom they are interacting with? 3) do U.S. individuals use differing confrontation styles depending upon whom they are interacting with? and 4) is there a significant gender difference between Japanese and U.S. confrontation styles? In addition, correlations between the Japanese and U.S. reported confrontation styles and their demographic data are examined.
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Masuda, Akihiko. "Attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help: A cross-national study between American and Japanese college students." Scholarly Commons, 1999. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/2620.
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The purpose of the study is to measure the difference in attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help between American and Japanese college students and to identify possible predictors associated with the attitudinal differences. Three hundred American and 300 Japanese participants completed a survey questionnaire. The study demonstrated the degree of difference between Japanese and American undergraduate students, and analyzed whether, or how, the variables of nationality, sex, past experience with the profession of psychology (direct experience), knowing a close person who previously sought professional psychological help, and internal health locus of control were related to attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. The present study found Japanese participants to be less likely to have favorable attitudes toward mental health services than American participants. Female participants had greater positive help-seeking attitudes than male participants in the United States. Sex was not found to be a predictor among the Japanese participants. Past experience of seeking professional psychological help and knowing a close person who had sought professional psychological help were found to be predictors of help-seeking attitudes in both Japan and the United States.
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Katayama, Akemi. "Correction of Classroom Oral Errors: Preferences among University Students of English in Japan." PDXScholar, 1996. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/5282.
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Correction of oral errors in foreign or second language classrooms has been an issue of great concern. Although the literature on error correction is abundant, the studies on student reaction to this pedagogical practice are few. This study investigated the preferences for correction of classroom oral errors among university students of English in Japan. Data were collected from anonymous questionnaires. The study examined the students' attitudes toward the views about correction of oral errors which have been controversial among foreign and second language educators. The study also investigated the students' preferences for correction of different types of oral errors (e.g., grammatical errors) and particular types of correction as well. The results showed that the students had a strong positive agreement regarding teacher correction of oral errors. They showed a tendency toward agreement concerning peer correction, and a slight tendency toward agreement regarding selective error correction. Concerning overcorrection of errors, they showed a tendency toward disagreement. There was no significant difference among the different levels of oral English proficiency. The students had positive attitudes toward the correction of all five types of errors listed in the questionnaire: grammatical errors, phonological errors, and errors regarding vocabulary, pragmatics, and discourse. Pragmatic errors received the strongest preference. A significant difference among the proficiency levels was observed in only preference for correction of discourse errors. Preferred methods of error correction were: 1) the teacher gives the student a hint which might enable the student to notice the error and selfcorrect, 2) the teacher explains why the response is incorrect, 3) the teacher points out the error, and provides the correct response, and 4) the teacher presents the correct response or part of the response. The methods disliked were: 1) the teacher ignores the student's errors and 2) the teacher repeats the original question asked of the student. A significant difference among the groups was observed in preference for only one error correction method: the teacher presents the correct response or part of the response.
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Fujita, Kyoko. "Roles of native and non-native teachers in English education in Japan : teachers' and students' perceptions." Thesis, McGill University, 2005. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=98923.
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This study explores issues related to native and non-native English speaking teachers in the context of Japanese English education, specifically in public junior high school settings in relatively rural areas of Japan. The study mainly asks Japanese teachers of English, assistant language teachers employed in the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme, and students about their perceptions of the roles of native and non-native teachers in their English classrooms. These stakeholders seem to have preconceived assumptions about the roles of native and non-native teachers. These include native teachers as opportunity providers and motivators and non-native teachers as facilitators. These fixed roles in the stakeholders' perceptions of the roles of native and non-native teachers may prevent them from expanding their possibilities and may reinforce the existing distinction between native and non-native speakers. Implications for policy makers and stakeholders include the need to adopt a perspective of English as an international language into the goals of Japanese English education to value collaborative teaching and reconceptualize the roles of Japanese English teachers and assistant language teachers in classrooms.
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Seijas, Octavio L. "Mental Health Support Services for International Students in Japanese Universities: A Multiple-case Study of Five Universities in Japan." Thesis, Boston College, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:108965.
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Thesis advisor: Hans de WitThis study looks at how services for mental health, a growing crisis on college campuses worldwide, are being provided and promoted to international students, a portion of the student body that faces additional mental health challenges, in Japan, a country where the culture historically stigmatizes mental health. Using the theories of comprehensive internationalization and cross-cultural adjustment to guide a series of semi-structured interviews, data was collected from international office members, counseling office members, and professors of higher education from five Japanese universities and compiled into five case studies which were then categorically and comparatively analyzed. The study found international offices provided a variety of services and activities aimed at easing cross-cultural adjustment but could improve collaboration with counseling offices. Counseling offices were found to be lacking specialized services and promotion to international students. Furthermore, although perceptions of mental health are improving, advocacy was found to be near non-existent
Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2020
Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education
Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education
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Kano, Noriko. "The Relationships of Text Structure and Signaling in the Foreign Language Reading of Female Junior College Students in Japan." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1994. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc279288/.
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The effects of top-level text structure and signaling on the reading recall of Japanese female junior college students studying English as a foreign language were investigated in this study. One hundred thirty-two subjects were selected from a private female junior college in Tokyo. The students were divided into three groups—high, average, and low reading comprehension levels—based on the results of the Test of Reading Comprehension. The instrument used to measure students' recall ability was developed from expository passages taken from a biology textbook. The passages were rearranged to show identifiable top-level structure, collection of description, causation, problem/solution, or comparison. Each passage was divided into two versions: a with-signaling version, in which top-level structure was explicitly stated by signaling words or phrases, and a without-signaling version, where signaling words or phrases were omitted. After the students were stratified on reading comprehension, they were assigned to eight different versions of text—two of each of the four top-level text structures, one with- and one without-signaling. In the recall test, students were instructed to read the text and to remember as much as they could.
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McKenzie, Robert M. "A quantitative study of the attitudes of Japanese learners towards varieties of English speech : aspects of the sociolinguistics of English in Japan." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/1519.
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Language attitude studies focussing specifically on native speaker perceptions of varieties of English speech have demonstrated consistently that standard varieties tend to be evaluated positively in terms of competence/ status whilst non-standard varieties are generally rated higher in terms of social attractiveness/ solidarity. However, the great majority of studies which have investigated non-native attitudes have tended to measure evaluations of ‘the English language’, conceptualised as a single entity, thus ignoring the substantial regional and social variation within the language. This is somewhat surprising considering the importance of attitudes towards language variation in the study of second language acquisition and in sociolinguistics. More specifically, there is a dearth of in-depth quantitative attitude research in Japan concentrating specifically on social evaluations of varieties of English, as the limited number of previous studies conducted amongst Japanese learners have either been qualitative in design or too small in scale. Moreover, the findings of these studies have been somewhat inconclusive. The present quantitative study, employing a range of innovative direct and indirect techniques of attitude measurement, investigated the perceptions of 558 Japanese university students of six varieties of English speech. The results obtained suggest that Japanese learners are able to differentiate between speech varieties within a single language of which they are not native speakers and hold different and often complex attitudes towards (a) standard/ non-standard and (b) native/ non-native varieties of English speech. For instance, the learners rated both the standard and non-standard varieties of inner circle speech more highly than varieties of expanding circle English in terms of prestige. In contrast, it was found that the learners expressed higher levels of solidarity with the Japanese speaker of heavily-accented English and intriguingly, with speakers of non-standard varieties of UK and US English than with speakers of standard varieties of inner circle English. Moreover, differences in the Japanese students’ gender, level of self-perceived competence in English, level of exposure to English and attitudes towards varieties of Japanese all had significant main effects on perceptions of varieties of English speech. However, the regional provenance of the informants was not found to be significant in determining their language attitudes. The results also imply that Japanese learners retain representations of varieties of English speech and draw upon this resource, whether consciously or unconsciously, in order to identify and evaluate (speakers of) these speech varieties. The findings are discussed in relation to the pedagogical and language planning implications for the choice of linguistic model in English language teaching both inside and outwith Japan and in terms of the methodological importance of the study for potential future attitudinal research in this area.
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Watanabe, Miwako. "A cross-cultural comparison of attitudes toward persons with disabilities: college students in Japan and the United States." Thesis, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/6937.
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Three factors were compared with regard to attitudes toward people with disabilities: (1) culture, (2) amount of contact, and (3) type of relationship. Participants included 111 college students majoring in Social Work or Psychology in the U.S. and 118 college students majoring in Social Policy and Administration in Japan. The Attitudes Towards Disabled Persons Scale (ATDP) (Yuker & Block, 1986) was used to measure attitudes. No significant relationships were found between attitudes toward people with disabilities and culture, nor the amount of contact. A significant relationship was found between the type of relationship and attitudes toward people with disabilities among students in the U.S., particularly among those who had a positive relationship with close friends. The implications for future training are discussed.ix, 55 leaves
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Graetz, Lynda Janette. "Cultural and sex differences in aggression : a comparison between Spanish, Japanese and South African students." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/52176.
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Thesis (MA)- University of Stellenbosch, 2001.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The primary aim of the study was to investigate cultural and sex differences on different dimensions of aggression as measured by the Expagg Questionnaire (Expagg) and the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ). Both inventories were administered to a sample (N=910) of students from Spain, Japan and South Africa. The results indicated that culture is indeed more predictive of aggression than sex. As expected, the study also revealed that it's influence is not uniform on all the dimensions of aggression investigated. The South African sample revealed the only significant sex difference on the Expagg. The males showed more distinct instrumental representations of aggression than the females, where aggression is seen as a means to reach a desired goal and thus as an effort to gain control. Inter-culturally the main finding was that the South African males and females held predominantly more expressive representations of aggression compared with the other cultures. This indicates that aggression is viewed as an expression of negative feelings and thus as a loss of control. On the Aggression Questionnaire only the South African and Spanish males reported more physical aggression than the females. Cross-culturally the most distinct finding was the overall lower levels of self-reported aggression of the South African females. A discussion of these significant results addressed social, cultural and political factors which may account for the differences. The study provided the prospect of an enhanced cross-cultural understanding of aggression.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die primêre doel van die studie was om kulturele en geslagsverskille te bepaal ten opsigte van verskillende dimensies van aggressie soos gemeet deur die Expagg Questionnaire (Expagg) en die Aggression Questionnaire (AQ). Die vraelyste is op 'n groep (N=910) studente van Spanje, Japan en Suid Afrika toegepas. Die resultate het getoon dat kultuur inderdaad 'n beter voorspeller van aggressie is as geslag. Die resultate het, soos verwag, aangedui dat die invloed van kultuur nie eenvormig inwerk op alle dimensies van aggressie nie. Die Suid-Afrikaanse groep het die enigste beduidende geslagsverskille getoon op die Expagg. Die mans se laer Espagg-tellings dui op instrumentele oortuigings ten opsigte van aggressie~ Aggressie word dus beskou as 'n poging om 'n verlangde doelwit te bereik en word ervaar as 'n poging om kontrole te verkry. Die vernaamste kruis-kulturele bevinding was dat die Suid-Afrikaanse groep beduidend hoër tellings as die ander kulture op die Expagg behaal het. Dit dui op ekspressiewe oortuigings ten opsigte van aggressie waar aggressie beskou word as die uitdrukking van negatiewe gevoelens en as 'n verlies van kontrole. Die Suid-Afrikaanse en Spaanse mans het hoër vlakke van fisiese aggressie as die vrouens op die Aggression Questionnaire behaal. Die mees uitstaande bevinding by die kruis-kulturele vergelyking was die algehele laer vlakke van selfgerapporteerde aggressie by die Suid-Afrikaanse vrouens. Die beduidende resultate is aan hand van sosiale, kulturele en politieke faktore bespreek. Die studie het In bydrae gelewer tot In beter kruis-kulturele begrip van aggressie.
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Asakura, Naomi. "Language Policy and Bilingual Education for Immigrant Students at Public Schools in Japan." PDXScholar, 2015. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/2519.
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This thesis discusses the current Japanese language (nihongo) education for immigrant students at public schools in Japan and provides recommendations through the study of language policy and the comparison of bilingual education in the United States. The current situation of a decreasing birth rate and increasing aging population in Japan has led to the acceptance of more foreign workers. Due to this change, language education in Japan has increasing development. The focus of chapter 1 is on the theories of language policy. This paper particularly focuses on the ideas of Wright (2004), Neustupný (2006), Spolsky (2004), and Cooper (1989), and discusses similarities and differences between them. By applying these theories to language policy in Japan, chapter 1 shows how language policy changed throughout Japanese history. Chapter 2 discusses the current environment surrounding immigrant students. It includes a description not only of the expanding population of foreign students, but also the history of Japanese language education and the laws related to it. This chapter also presents the present movement of language policy in Japan and how the movement affects Japanese language education for language minority students. Chapter 3 compares bilingual education in the United States to bilingual education in Japan, and makes three suggestions to improve Japanese language education at public schools in Japan, particularly addressing the classification of language levels for immigrant students, teaching styles, and the limitation of qualified bilingual teachers.
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XU, Guangxing, and 光興 徐. "<原著>帰国留学生の対日イメージと態度に関する研究." 名古屋大学教育学部, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/2237/3995.
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Lindberg, Sabina. "なぜ日本語Naze nihongo? : A Study of the Variables Affecting Senior High School Students’ Choice to Study Japanese." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för pedagogik, didaktik och utbildningsstudier, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-242958.
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In recent years Japanese has become an increasingly popular language choice among students in senior high school in Sweden, but very little research has been conducted as to why this trend has emerged. This study aims to investigate the variables affecting senior high school students’ choice to study Japanese and to proceed with it in institutions of higher education, as well as to delineate any gender-specific and socioeconomic discrepancies amongst them based on Bourdieu’s sociology of education. In addition, it strives to shed light on the students’ attitudes toward Japan and the Japanese culture. The empirical data of the study consists of a survey collection of 112 respondents from 4 senior high schools in Stockholm, Uppsala and Västerås. The results indicate that interest in Japanese popular culture, mainly anime and manga, is the main incentive for learning Japanese and that this interest is commenced many years prior to the instruction. The prospect of traveling, studying and working in Japan, as well as to engage further in their interest in the Japanese culture, appears to be what motivates further and higher education in Japanese. The attitudes toward Japan and the Japanese culture are generally positive and the negative opinions expressed mainly derive from cultural difference. The students in the study are predominantly female who carry a strong cultural capital that stems from a middle class family and household of higher education. Hopefully, this study will contribute to the research field of Japanese language learning and inspire others to broaden the discipline.
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Shand, George. "Culture and the self : a comparison of attitudes to study among English and Japanese students in state secondary education." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2012. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10019997/.
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Apple, Matthew Thomas. "The Big Five Personality Traits and Foreign Language Speaking Confidence among Japanese EFL Students." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2011. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/127286.
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CITE/Language ArtsEd.D.
This research examined the relationships between the Big Five human personality traits, favorable social conditions, and foreign language classroom speaking confidence. Four research questions were investigated concerning the validity of the Big Five for a Japanese university sample, the composition of Foreign Language Classroom Speaking Confidence, the degree to which the Big Five influenced Foreign Language Classroom Speaking Confidence, and the degree to which perceptions of classroom climate affect Foreign Language Classroom Speaking Confidence. The first stage of the research involved three pilot studies that led to the revision of the Big Five Factor Marker questionnaire and the creation of a new instrument for measuring foreign language classroom speaking confidence that included both cognitive and social factors as theorized in mainstream social anxiety research. The second stage of the research involved the collection and analysis of data from 1,081 participants studying English in 12 universities throughout Japan. Data were analyzed using a triangulation of Rasch analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in order to verify the construct validity of the eleven hypothesized constructs. Following validation of the measurement model, the latent variables were placed into a structural regression model, which was tested by using half of the data set as a calibration sample and confirmed by using the second half of the data set as a validation sample. The results of the study indicated the following: (a) four of the five hypothesized Big Five personality traits were valid for the Japanese sample; (b) Foreign Language Classroom Speaking Confidence comprised three measurement variables, Foreign Language Classroom Speaking Anxiety, Perceived Foreign Language Speaking Self-Competence, and Desire to Speak English; (c) Emotional Stability and Imagination directly influenced Foreign Language Classroom Speaking Confidence, and; (d) Current English Classroom Perception and Perceived Social Value of Speaking English directly influenced Foreign Language Classroom Speaking Confidence. The findings thus demonstrated a link between personality, positive classroom atmosphere, and foreign language classroom speaking confidence. The implications of the findings included the possibility that foreign language anxiety is not situation-specific as theorized, and that improved social relations within the foreign language classroom might help reduce speaking anxiety.
Temple University--Theses
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Haswell, Christopher. "Asian students of English at an International University in Japan : a study of attitudes to the use and study of English." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2014. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/7430/.
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International university education is now a significant and growing part of tertiary education worldwide. In the Asia Pacific region, internationalization is viewed as a lifeline for universities to secure their long-term survival in an increasingly competitive education market. The use of English as a global and academic lingua franca is connected to both international student interaction and institutional outreach. This thesis reports the findings of a large-scale research project investigating attitudes towards the English language of university students from Japan, Korea and China studying at an international university in Japan. The context for this study is Japan’s most internationalized university, an institution in which greater interest has been engendered by recent governmental and sector efforts to increase the internationalization of all Japanese universities. Previous research has focused on a single population’s attitudes about the study of the English language, utility value of the language, or preferred English variety. My study compares students’ views about these issues with the attitudes of their counterparts studying at non-international, domestic universities in their home countries (China, Korea). More than 800 students from six universities in three countries participated in this research into linguistic attitudes, a study supported qualitatively by focus group-style interviews. This research found that the internationalization of tertiary education in Japan has affected students’ attitudes towards English language use. At the same time, despite exposure to different varieties of English on a campus where almost half of the students come from overseas, the students from the international university continued to view American English and British English as their preferred performance targets. Chinese and Korean students studying abroad at the international university acknowledged Asian English varieties, but also reported these varieties as causing problems. Internationalized study environments do not appear to change the status of well-established standard varieties as preferred performance models.
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Mason, Thomas J. Jr. "An Analysis of the Decline in Long-Term Study Abroad Participation Among Students at Elite U.S. Universities, with a Focus on Japan." The Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1556805857911929.
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Takeuchi, Mito. "A Case Study of “Othering” in Japanese Schools: Rhetoric and Reality." View abstract, 2009. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3371593.
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Scott, Camille R. "“Outside People”: Treatment, Language Acquisition, Identity, and the Foreign Student Experience in Japan." Ohio University Honors Tutorial College / OhioLINK, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ouhonors1400619243.
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Jackson, Janett Kajic. "Through drama to cross cultural understanding : ... the use of drama methodology in the development of positive attitudes towards Japanese culture by a select group of Australian Year Seven students studying aspects of Kabuki theatre /." Title page, contents and introduction only, 1993. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09AR/09arj128.pdf.
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Ishida, Etsuko. "Worldminded attitudes of Japanese college students in Japan and in the United States." Thesis, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/1957/37930.
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This study focused on the worldminded attitudes of
Japanese college students in Japan and in the United States.
The effects of studying abroad and the change in attitudes
between Japanese college male students and female students
were examined in terms of worldmindedness, which is defined
as a frame of reference, or value orientation, favoring a
worldview of the problems of humanity, with mankind rather
than nationals of a particular country as the primary reference
group. In this study worldminded attitudes are defined
as attitudes about religion, immigration, government, economics,
patriotism, race, education and war.
This study tested the hypotheses that worldmindedness
scores would increase as a result of the study program in
the United States, and that Japanese women would score
higher worldmindedness scores than would Japanese men.
The data were collected from Japanese students who
studied at Oregon State University for five months, and
those who had not studied abroad before. The results
revealed that woridmindedness scores increased as a result
of the study in the United States, supporting the first
hypothesis. While female students began their foreign study
significantly more worldminded than their male counterparts,
only the males changed significantly. Paradoxically, the
females who did not study abroad scored more worilmindedness
than the females who did. However, the sample size for
females was very small (N=18).
Generalizations drawn from the experimental group data
are limited by the low completion rate: the data were collected
during the last two weeks of a five-month period at
Oregon State University, and only 40 percent of the questionnaire
were completed. Therefore, those who had adopted
more worldminded position might have been over represented.
A replication of the study could insure against partial
data. Also, it would be important to know if Japanese
students revert back to their less worldminded views after
returning to Japan. Longitudinal studies could resolve this
issue.Graduation date: 1991
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Vincenti, James J. "The Japanese university club and the hierarchical notion of gender role reproduction." Thesis, 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/8811.
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Although traditional depictions of gender in ancient
Japanese mythology continue to help define gender in
Japanese culture, such recent litigation as the Equal
Employment Opportunity Act and the Childcare Leave Act
signal change in these roles. This study explores the
relationship between the Japanese hierarchical social
structure and the parameters of the gender territories of
women and men in a university club.
Employing a single case (embedded) design, this study
utilized the networks of former members (students who began
their studies from 1953 to 1989) of Oendan (the "Cheering
Club") at a private university in central Japan. Oendan's
two sections, Leader-bu for men and Cheerleader-bu for
women, have utterly different atmospheres. Leader-bu
stresses daily rigorous and physically punishing practices
in a highly disciplined atmosphere, whereas Cheerleader-bu
more closely resembles its North American counterpart. To
fully examine the differences between the two sections, I
divided the case into three stages: (a) an historical
analysis, (b) a survey, and (c) personal interviews.
The results reflect an attitude that a perceived
difference in physical strength and a strong sense of
"tradition" inhibit true equality between the genders. Although most men may acquiesce in gender equality in an
abstract sense, they also understand that, in reality, this
is impossible because of the physical differences between
the sexes. Leader-bu members continue to reinforce the
importance of tradition year after year because they believe
that they are benefiting, both personally and socially, from
traditional beliefs and customs. Although victims of this
belief system, they feel compelled to reproduce it. In
reproducing it, however, they also must suffer from the lack
of freedom that accompanies it.
50
Watanabe, Kumiko. "Meanings attributed to the furisode by Japanese college students living in Japan and in the U.S.A." Thesis, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/1957/33632.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of the study was to interpret and compare the meanings attributed to furisode by selected female Japanese college students living in Japan and living in the
U.S.A. The furisode is a type of kimono worn on formal occasions by young Japanese women. Face-to-face interviews were conducted in this exploratory study to further understand meanings attributed to the furisode by Japanese college students. A symbolic interactionist perspective was employed to understand the meanings which participants attached to the furisode. A purposive sample of two groups of Japanese college students were investigated: seven female Japanese college students living in Japan and seven female Japanese college students living abroad. The college students were recruited at a university in eastern Japan and at a university in western U.S.A. The semi-structured questions asked during the interviews captured participants' experiences and memories related to the furisode, its meanings, and participants' demographic characteristics.
The findings revealed that there were no particular differences in the meanings attached to the furisode by the college students in this sample living in Japan and living abroad. Emergent themes were classified into three groups: 1) symbolic themes related to culture: formal wear, age or youth, marital status, entrance into adulthood, national costume of Japan, a costume or kimono related to culture and tradition, a traditional
costume, a dress that represents conformity to other girls, a dress that represents ideal
cultural images of a wearer; 2) themes related to individual perceptions: a dress that enhances the spiritual and mental state of the mind of a wearer, a dress that makes a wearer feel pleased or happy, a dress that represents a valuable experience, a dress that reflects feelings or moods of perceivers, a dress or kimono which is valuable, a dress or kimono seen as an heirloom, a dress or kimono that represents the individuality or personality of a wearer, a dress regarded as a memento ; and 3) themes associated with the furisode itself: A dress or kimono with increased costs for preservation and maintenance, a dress or kimono that restricts the movement or activity of a wearer, a dress or kimono that takes time and labor in preparing for wear, and a dress or kimono that is rarely worn in everyday life. The study also found the sources of information for participants in both countries were a mother, a grandmother, the mass media such as TV, magazines, and a book, leaflets to promote the sale of the furisode, clerks at a kimono shop, staff at a beauty salon who had a participant put on the furisode, friends at school, friends outside the university, and neighbors. Further, the themes that emerged from the interviews also illustrated that symbolic meanings attached to the furisode were communicated meaningfully between a wearer and a perceiver in Japan.
Based on the results from this study, the furisode appears to be a cultural symbol for which shared meanings are attributed. Future research may analyze the relationships among meanings, demographic variables such as age, and other variables that influence the attitudes toward or perceptions of the furisode, such as practicing Japanese traditional arts and the wearing of other Japanese traditional costumes.Graduation date: 1999