Matsunuma Mitsuyasu

The first purpose of the present study was to investigate whether Japanese learners understood the usage of the passive voice in English. A preliminary study with 42 university students showed that the students did not have a sufficient understanding of the English passive voice. Based on those results, a new instructional method for teaching the passive voice was prepared, based on psychological theory. The new method was taught to 2 high school classes (n=68 students), while students in 2 other classes (n=67 students) were taught the passive voice by the method generally used in Japanese high school English classes. The new method was different from the traditional one as follows: (a) students were forced to realize that their knowledge about the passive voice was insufficient, (b) differences between the structure of English and Japanese sentences were explained, and (c) the method showed the students what experts were thinking while solving problems about the passive voice, so that the students could learn how to solve those problems. All participants were trained for an hour, and then took 2 posttests. On both tests, the 2 classes receiving the new instructional method performed better than the classes taught in the traditional way.

This study examined why some high achievers on the course final exam were unsuccessful on the proficiency exam in English. We hypothesized that the learning motives and learning behaviors (learning strategy, learning time) had different effects on the outcomes of the exams. First, the relation between the variables was investigated using structural equation modeling. Second, the learning behaviors of students who got good marks on both exams were compared with students who did well only on the course final exam. The results were as follows. (a)Learning motives influenced test performance via learning behaviors. (b)Content-attached motives influenced all variables concerning learning behaviors. (c)Content-detached motives influenced all variables concerning learning behaviors that were related only to the course final exam. (d)The students who got good marks on both exams performed the learning behaviors that were useful on the proficiency exam more frequently than the students who did well only on the course final exam.

The first purpose of the present study was to investigate whether Japanese learners of English understood the usage of the coordinate conjunction "and". Participants were 78 male tenth-grade students. The results showed that they did not understand it sufficiently. Based on those results, instruction utilizing the theory of educational psychology was proposed to rectify this situation. The proposed instruction was different from that generally given in English classes in Japan in the following ways: (a) The students were presented with English sentences that they could not translate into Japanese correctly unless they understood the usage of coordinate conjunctions, (b) the student received instruction utilizing an organization strategy, and (c) the students were taught how to use underlining for solving problems about the coordinate conjunction. After this intervention, the students came to understand the usage of the coordinate conjunction.

The present study examined whether instruction using an organization strategy and a learning strategy utilizing a figure in solving problems in the present perfect tense would improve students' learning of that tense. High school students in the 2 experimental group classes (N=78) received instruction using an organization strategy, and were taught how to utilize a figure in solving problems about the present perfect tense. Students in the 2 control classes (N=80) received instruction in the way that it is generally given in high school English classes in Japan. All participants were trained for 2 hours, and then took 2 posttests. The results were as follows : (1) the experimental group performed better than the control group on both posttests, (2) the students who utilized the figure to solve the problems perceived the strategy as more useful, and performed better, than the students who did not, and (3) after the intervention, the students in the experimental classes were more motivated to learn English grammar, and more interested in the class than were the students in the control classes.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relation between test anxiety, self-efficacy, self-regulated learning, and test performance, in order to be able to develop methods for remedial intervention. The hypotheses were as follows : (1) self-regulated learning has a direct effect on test performance, (2) self-regulated learning influences test performance indirectly via constructs concerning test anxiety, and (3) self-regulated learning influences test performance indirectly via constructs concerning self-efficacy. Participants in the study were 4^<th> graders (37 boys, 45 girls). Data were collected from the students' performance on an actual classroom arithmetic examination. The relation between the variables was investigated by means of structural equation modeling (SEM). The results indicated that self-regulated learning did not have a direct effect on test performance nor an indirect effect via constructs concerning test anxiety, but influenced test performance indirectly via constructs concerning self-efficacy.