Reframing English Language Education in Japan
Reframing English Language Education in Japan
Keywords: Sociocultural theory, Zone of Proximal development, English education curriculum, English Education in Japan
Miguel Mantero
University of Alabama
Yuko Iwai
University of Alabama
Bio Data
Miguel Mantero earned his Ph.D. in Multicultural and Multilingual Education from The Florida State University. He received his BA in Anthropology and his M.Ed. in Foreign Language Education from The University of Georgia. Among Dr. Mantero’s many interests are cognition and second language acquisition, language teacher identity and education, and the use of literature to enhance second language learning. Dr. Mantero currently teaches in the Second Language Acquisition and Teaching program in the College of Education at the University of Alabama. He is the author of the book: The reasons we speak: Cognition and discourse in the second language classroom ,and his work has appeared in such journals as Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, Foreign Language Annals, Academic Exchange Quarterly, and Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation. He is currently completing his second book on discourse and identity in second language education to be published by Information Age Publishing.
Ms. Yuko Iwai was EFL teacher in Japan for 7 years before moving to the United States to pursue her graduate degree in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching – ESL at the University of Alabama. Among Ms. Iwai’s many interests are language and policy issues in Japan and in the United States as well as curriculum development in bilingual education
This article explores how English Education in Japan should be planned and performed from the sociocultural perspective and is based on the belief that mediation plays a significant role for human development and learning. This paper supports the idea that (with the consideration of sociocultural theory) teaching should not only focus on the development of linguistic knowledge but also help to foster students’ abilities to learn and think independently as their awareness of identity, culture, and society develop and expand in formal classroom settings.
Category: Main Editions, Volume 7 Issue 2
