Beginning students of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) usually have two purposes: (1) to learn the academic skills they need to succeed at graduate work and (2) to discover the best ways to teach English to non-native speakers. In this course, students will achieve the first purpose, mastering necessary academic skills, while getting a head start on the second, understanding methods and issues of TESOL study. Academic skills include getting the most out of lectures and research articles, taking notes, accessing library and internet resources, answering essay test questions, giving presentations, and writing papers using proper forms of citation, paraphrasing and bibliographic references.

This course is designed for students who are new to the Master of Science in Education program, who have little or no experience studying in an English-language university, or who are not familiar with formal academic writing style (APA style). For such students, this course is recommended as the first course in the MSEd curriculum. Registrants who are not native speakers of English should have a TOEFL score of at least 550 on the paper-based test or 80 on the internet-based test.

There will be 13 regular class sessions for this course and in addition to the regular class sessions, all the students will be required to attend any one of the two online Distinguished Lecturer Weekend Seminars (only the first three hours of the Saturday public session) scheduled in summer. The professor will provide you with further details about the seminar requirement later in the classroom.

The session 4 on Thursday, May 30 is cancelled. In lieu of this cancelled session, students are required to attend the first three hours public session of one of the two seminars scheduled in summer 2024.

Required Textbook:

• Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (2022). How languages are learned. (5th ed.). Oxford University Press. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

Recommended Textbook:

• American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American psychological association. (7th ed.). Author. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)
• Richards, J. C., & Schmidt, R. (2010). Longman dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics. (4th ed.). Routledge. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

The acquisition of morphology and syntax (i.e., morpho-syntax) has been at the heart of the field of second language acquisition since its modern inception in the 1970s. The reason for this focus is simple: Acquiring these aspects of a foreign language is extremely difficult for most adult foreign language learners given the complexity and abstractness of many morpho-syntactic forms. This course has three main goals. The first goal is to become more familiar with basic aspects of English morpho-syntax (e.g., the syntax of declarative statements, question formation, negation, and embedding) in order to better understand some of the key morpho-syntactic mechanisms used in the English language. The second goal is to become conversant with a wide variety of empirical studies into the acquisition of English morpho-syntax. This body of research includes theoretical investigations of the cognitive mechanisms held responsible for the acquisition of morpho-syntax as well as classroom applications of various pedagogical approaches used to teach particular aspects of English grammar. The third goal is to give course participants an opportunity to conduct a hands-on teaching project in which they use a pedagogical approach that is new to them for teaching one aspect of English morpho-syntax. In this way, the participants can expand the pedagogical techniques available to them. Other course assignments include weekly readings, sentence-diagramming tasks, leading and participating in small group discussions, and a final examination. Participants should read Chapters 1-5 in The Grammar Book before the first class meeting. This course is required for the MSEd degree.

Required Textbook:

• Larsen-Freeman, D., & Celce-Murcia, M. (2015). The grammar book: Form, meaning, and use for English language teachers. (3rd ed.). Heinle Cengage Learning. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

Recommended Textbook:

• American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American psychological association. (7th ed.). Author. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

This course offers an overview of the underlying concepts and skills that are needed for teaching ESL and EFL literacy development at all age and proficiency levels, with a special focus on EFL literacy in the Japanese educational environment. Students will acquire a working knowledge of the current best practices for the teaching of reading and writing in English as a Foreign/Second/Other Language to adults and children. They will also become familiar with the theory behind the various current methods for planning, implementing, and assessing reading and writing instruction for all levels of ESL/EFL students, from pre-literacy to academic skills. Students will also acquire a familiarity with criteria and methods in these fields sufficient to enable them to develop and evaluate teaching methods suited to the local needs of their students, yet clearly motivated by the best research insights. Specific topics will include reading comprehension, vocabulary development, the psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics of reading, the nature of literacy, the writing process, the effectiveness of written feedback, the social and institutional contexts of ESL/EFL reading and writing and reading and writing assessment.

Required Textbook:

• Chen, X., Dronjic, V., & Helms-Park, R.(Eds.). (2015). Reading in a second language: Cognitive and psycholinguistic issues. Routledge. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)
• Ferris, D. R., & Hedgcock, J. S. (2014). Teaching L2 composition: Purpose, process, and practice. (3rd ed.). Routledge. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)
• Lems, K., Miller, L. D., & Soro, T. M. (2017). Building literacy with English language learners: Insights from linguistics. (2nd ed.). Guilford. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

Recommended Textbook:

• Grabe, W. (2009). Reading in a second language: Moving from theory to practice. Cambridge University Press. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)
• American Psychological Association. (2020). Concise guide to APA style. (7th ed.). Author. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

This course will explore, with breadth and depth, the state of the art in second language teaching pedagogy. The issues covered will be: the history of the field; theories of language learning and the principles connecting these theories to effective classroom practice (e.g., input, output, form-focused instruction, content- and task-based instruction); teaching the 4 skills, motivation, strategies-based instruction, assessment, form vs. function focused teaching, the role of the first language, and the evaluation of methods and materials. Other critical issues include the roles that culture, and personality play in learning/teaching, assessment, and syllabus/curriculum writing. These issues will be covered by reading current articles from the ESL/EFL literature, as well as the textbooks. Students will produce lesson plans, a course syllabus, and a teaching philosophy. Active participation in discussion and frequent short papers are required. By the end of this course, students will be able to:

1. 1. Express and defend the strategies, methods, and activities s/he wants to use as a teacher.
2. 2. Describe the role(s) of the teacher in language learning.
3. 3. Understand and appropriately employ the technical terminology of the field.
4. 4. Discuss and write about the methods and the major issues that presently define second/foreign language teaching.
5. 5. Design effective lesson plans and syllabi suited to multiple pedagogical contexts.
6. 6. Apply theoretical principles to classroom practice.

Required Textbook:

• Brown, H. D., & Lee, H. (2015). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy. (4th ed.). Pearson Education. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)
• Dörnyei, Z. (2001). Motivational strategies in the language classroom. Cambridge University Press. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

Recommended Textbook:

• American Psychological Association. (2020). Concise guide to APA style. (7th ed.). Author. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

This course will present a broad overview of various research methods currently used in applied linguistics and educational psychology with a view toward assisting teachers in becoming better informed consumers of research, as well as establishing a foundation for actively conducting research in the future. By the end of the course, students will attain a general understanding of the roles of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research protocols currently employed in SLA research. In addition to the textbook topics, students will critically read example research articles in order to gain familiarity with the presentation of research results and to evaluate the validity and appropriateness of the methods employed. Topics to be covered include the purposes and limitations of different research designs, methods of data collection, reliability and validity of quantitative variables, assumptions underlying statistical analyses, sampling and probability, and the coding and interpretation of qualitative data. Quantitative analysis techniques such as descriptive statistics, correlation, t-tests, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) will be introduced and practiced using the free JASP software package and supplied data sets. Students are expected to bring their Windows or Macintosh laptop computer to class for doing data analysis.

Required Textbook:

• Mackey, A. & Gass, S. M. (2022). Second language research: Methodology and design. (3rd ed.). Routledge. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

Recommended Textbook:

• American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American psychological association. (7th ed.). Author. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

Beginning students of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) usually have two purposes: (1) to learn the academic skills they need to succeed at graduate work and (2) to discover the best ways to teach English to non-native speakers. In this course, students will achieve the first purpose, mastering necessary academic skills, while getting a head start on the second, understanding methods and issues of TESOL study. Academic skills include getting the most out of lectures and research articles, taking notes, accessing library and internet resources, answering essay test questions, giving presentations, and writing papers using proper forms of citation, paraphrasing and bibliographic references.

This course is designed for students who are new to the Master of Science in Education program, who have little or no experience studying in an English-language university, or who are not familiar with formal academic writing style (APA style). For such students, this course is recommended as the first course in the MSEd curriculum. Registrants who are not native speakers of English should have a TOEFL score of at least 550 on the paper-based test or 80 on the internet-based test.

There will be 13 regular class sessions for this course and in addition to the regular class sessions, all the students will be required to attend any one of the two online Distinguished Lecturer Weekend Seminars (only the first three hours of the Saturday public session) scheduled in summer. The professor will provide you with further details about the seminar requirement later in the classroom.

The session 4 on Thursday, May 30 is cancelled. In lieu of this cancelled session, students are required to attend the first three hours public session of one of the two seminars scheduled in summer 2024.

Required Textbook:

• Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (2022). How languages are learned. (5th ed.). Oxford University Press. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

Recommended Textbook:

• American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American psychological association. (7th ed.). Author. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)
• Richards, J. C., & Schmidt, R. (2010). Longman dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics. (4th ed.). Routledge. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

The primary purpose of this course is to introduce students to the basics of English phonetics and phonology, with an emphasis on areas of interest to language teachers. The course objectives are to: (1) introduce the basic concepts of phonetics and phonology; (2) provide practice in transcribing and analyzing the sound systems of native speakers and learners of English; (3) consider the place of pronunciation teaching in a foreign language curriculum and instructional approaches; (4) examine methods of assessing pronunciation; and (5) look at the relationship between pronunciation and other language skills. Students will complete a number of weekly assignments, take a mid-term examination and final examination, and conduct a project in which the speech of an English language learner is analyzed, a particular aspect of the English sound system is taught, and the results reported.

Required Textbook:

• Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D.M., & Goodwin, J.M. (2010). Teaching pronunciation: A course book and reference guide. (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)
• Avery. P., & Ehrlich. S. (Eds.). (1992). Teaching American English pronunciation. Oxford University Press. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

Recommended Textbook:

• American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American psychological association. (7th ed.). Author. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

The first major purpose of this course is to give students the skills they need to develop and design language courses for all skill areas, with a special focus on materials design and assessment practices. The second purpose is to familiarize students with the states of the art in meaning-driven teaching methods (i.e., Task-, Project-, Theme-, and Content-based teaching) while respecting the importance of traditional grammar and vocabulary teaching to EFL audiences. These general principles form a framework within which students are introduced to the principles of cognitive linguistics that are relevant to teaching (e.g., construction and cognitive grammar, construal, and embodied meaning and metaphor). Students will learn to integrate their own situated observations with research findings to generate topically relevant material for any age group that meets the criteria laid out by any curriculum they follow. This material (lesson and task plans, texts, recordings, etc.) will support the teaching of the four skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) as well as the linguistic competencies of English. That is, students will leave the class able to employ the principles of meaning-based linguistics and pedagogy to create motivating learning experiences that are flexible enough to fluidly switch between form and function foci. Course requirements include completing weekly readings, contributing to group discussions, completing a final examination and course projects, and compiling a teaching portfolio.

Required Textbook:

• Nunan, D. (2004). Task-based language teaching. Cambridge University Press. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)
• Willis, J., & Willis, D. (2007). Doing task-based teaching. Oxford University Press. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)
• Littlemore, J. (2009). Applying cognitive linguistics to second language learning and teaching. Palgrave Macmillan. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)
• Deheane, S. (2020). How we learn: The new science of education and the brain. Penguin Books. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

Recommended Textbook:

• American Psychological Association (2020). Concise guide to APA style. (7th ed.). Author. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

Successful intercultural communication in the future is an implicit goal of most foreign language learning and teaching around the world. Intercultural communication in the present, with widely varying success, is what goes on every day in Japan between non-Japanese language teachers and their Japanese students and colleagues. This course will investigate the factors that influence the success of interactions between people who differ saliently in cultural backgrounds. It will broaden the notion of what communicative competence for our students involves and provide directions for seeking more rewarding relationships in our own intercultural personal and professional contexts.

Two contrasting but complementary approaches to developing intercultural communicative competence and intercultural citizenship will be highlighted in the course. These will provide frameworks to discuss: intercultural pragmatics, politeness, and communication styles; identity and self-concept in communication; ethnocentrism, stereotyping, and ‘othering’; influences of language and culture on cognition; intercultural adaptation, relationships, and conflicts; influences of institutions and media, both traditional and social. Supplementary readings will focus on intercultural communication in Japan and involving Japanese outside of Japan. Another rich source of learning will be the instructor’s and participants’ own experiences and reflections, including the sharing of classroom materials aimed at facilitating intercultural competence.

Course requirements include participation in in-class and online discussions, one or two oral presentations, and an “Autobiography of Intercultural Encounters,” a brief writing task used by the Council of Europe for intercultural training. The form of the final project will be negotiable, but the default choice will be a mini-ethnography structured or adapted from suggestions sketched out by Holliday, Hyde, & Kuhn in the final “Exploration” section of the course textbook.

Required Textbook:

• Holliday, A., Hyde, M., & Kullman, J. (2021). Intercultural communication: An advanced resource book for students. (4th ed.). Routledge. (Buy on Amazon.co.jp New Tab / Buy on Amazon.com New Tab)

Students are required to register for this course in the semester they take the MSEd Comprehensive Examination. This course is a Pass/Fail course. If the student is taking the January Comprehensive Exam, the student must register for this course in the spring semester. If the student is taking the May Comprehensive Exam, the student must register for this course in the summer semester.

PhD students are required to take two 3-credit Research Apprenticeship courses.

If you wish to take an apprenticeship course, you first need to write a 300-400-word abstract of your proposed project (unless you are assisting a professor with one of his or her studies). This abstract should include basic information such as (a) the gaps in the literature you are addressing, (b) the purpose(s) of the study, (c) specific research questions, and (d) your methodology, including information about the participants, instruments, procedures, and the analyses you will perform. You will then need to send the abstract to the advisor you wish to work with (Consult the list of Apprenticeship advisors on the registration form to see who is available), and if the advisor approves your plan, you can then register for the course with that advisor.

This course is for those PhD students who have passed the Preliminary Examination and working on their dissertation proposal.

The PhD students are required to take Culminating Courses (6 semester hours overall, minimum 2 semester hours of EDUC 9999). Culminating Courses: Preliminary Preparation Course (EDUC 9994), Dissertation Proposal Design Course (EDUC 9998) and Doctor of Education Dissertation Course (EDUC 9999).

Minimum 2 credit hours of EDUC 9999 are required for the PhD students.

Students wishing to register for this course should obtain permission from the professor and complete the registration process during the registration period.

Cognitive Diversity in Language Learning, Teaching and Assessment by Dr. Judit Kormos, Lancaster University, U.K., will be conducted by 3-hour online Zoom sessions for four days: Saturday, May 11, Sunday, May 12, Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19 from 18:00 to 21:00 (JST).  Students taking this seminar for credit must attend all four days. The students can add/drop this seminar course by 22:00 on Saturday, May 11.

The pre sign-up (or course registration for those who are taking this seminar for credit) is required for anybody attending the public session on Saturday, May 11 from 18:00 to 21:00. The sign-up process must be completed through the "Distinguished Lecturer Series Seminar Sign-Up Form" that is available on TUJ Grad Ed website. The sign-up deadline is Friday, May 10 at 12:00. The public session Zoom link will be provided to those people who completed the online sign-up (or course registration) process by 18:00 on Friday, May 10. The zoom link for the remaining sessions will be provided to the creditors and auditors between 13:00 to 14:00 on Sunday, May 12.

Language learners can vary along a wide range of cognitive, affective, social, educational, and contextual dimensions. Second language acquisition research has long acknowledged the importance of cognitive factors in the effective learning of additional languages but cognitive diversity among learners is rarely considered from the perspective of inclusion and access in our field.

This seminar aims to increase awareness of cognitive diversity and its impact on learning and teaching another language. The course will provide relevant theoretical background to help students understand the concepts of working memory and foundational first language skills (e.g. phonological awareness) that can account for variable outcomes in language learning and that can be indicative of specific learning differences such as dyslexia.  We will also learn about the underlying principles of inclusive language teaching methods that cater for the needs of students with different cognitive profiles. We will also evaluate resources used in teaching languages to students with learning difficulties and design language teaching tasks that meet the needs of students with different ability profiles. The seminar will equip participants with relevant skills and knowledge to design and administer language tests that offer fair opportunities for everyone to display their second language skills.

Learning Vocabulary in a Second Language: A Focus on Processing and Instruction by Dr. Ana Pellicer-Sanchez, University College London, IOE, U.K.,will be conducted by 3-hour online Zoom sessions for four days: Saturday, June 22, Sunday, June 23, Saturday, June 29 and Sunday, June 30 from 18:00 to 21:00 (JST).  Students taking this seminar for credit must attend all four days. The students can add/drop this seminar course by 22:00 on Saturday, June 22.

The pre sign-up (or course registration for those who are taking this seminar for credit) is required for anybody attending the public session on Saturday, June 22 from 18:00 to 21:00. The sign-up process must be completed through the "Distinguished Lecturer Series Seminar Sign-Up Form" that is available on TUJ Grad Ed website. The sign-up deadline is Friday, June 21 at 12:00. The public session Zoom link will be provided to those people who completed the online sign-up (or course registration) process by 18:00 on Friday, June 21. The zoom link for the remaining sessions will be provided to the creditors and auditors between 13:00 to 14:00 on Sunday, June 23.

Vocabulary is an essential component of second language (L2) proficiency and crucial for achieving successful communication, which explains the current, prominent role of vocabulary studies in research on language learning and teaching. The aim of this seminar is to introduce participants to the study of vocabulary and to achieve a better understanding of how L2 learners process novel vocabulary in different learning conditions and of the most effective approaches to teach vocabulary.

The first part of the seminar will start with an introduction of the different components involved in vocabulary knowledge and the main approaches to second language vocabulary learning. The session will then focus on learning vocabulary from written input, and on the relationship between vocabulary and reading. It will provide an overview of empirical findings on the benefits of reading for vocabulary development, as well as of the role of vocabulary knowledge in reading. The seminar will then explore vocabulary learning from other modes of input, including multimodal exposure. We will also discuss factors affecting vocabulary learning and will focus on the learning and teaching of formulaic language, as one aspect of lexical competence that has been shown to be difficult for learners. The last part of the seminar will apply the knowledge gained throughout the previous sessions to the analysis of vocabulary learning conditions and activities through hands-on exercises.