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Preparation for university entrance tests now forms a significant part of international English language pedagogy, with considerable numbers of learners aiming to study abroad requiring supportive instruction. This important learning stage underpins subsequent experiences and requires further investigation, if later challenges faced by international university students are to be understood. This paper's Japan-based research included observing an entire intensive IELTS preparation course (N = 12 students) over a five-week period. Additionally, two instructors and seven learners were interviewed, and forty homework essays collected. Pedagogical approaches, participant perspectives and the test preparation process itself are described in depth. Thematic analysis of qualitative data indicated three key findings. First, a think-plan-write essay model may improve students' performance under timed test conditions, if supported by classroom exercises on lexis, grammar and structure. Second, introducing unfamiliar academic writing structures using model answers and increasing test knowledge (particularly using simplified rubrics) helped clarify expectations of western-style writing. Third, test preparation should be broader than increasing score gains alone; introducing academic writing is a justified and viable objective of preparation courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plagiarism in academic writing is known to be an issue of concern for educators, administrators, and students alike. Using self-reporting studies and plagiarism detection software, previous research has established that plagiarism in university-level academic writing is relatively common amongst the work of L1 and particularly L2 writers and that paraphrasing and the various definitions of what constitutes plagiarism are notable challenges. However, previous research has been limited in the plagiarism detection systems used to evaluate student writing and has shed little light on their accuracy. This study seeks to contribute to scholarship on plagiarism by both measuring potential plagiarism in the writing of students at a university in Japan and assessing the accuracy of two plagiarism detection systems, Google Classroom and Grammarly. It was found that student writing was slightly less likely to feature content which may be deemed plagiarized, and the total amount of such content as a percentage of the total was notably low. The accuracy of the two systems differed greatly, with the Google Classroom version being more reliable in terms of generating fewer false positives and having more potential to be used as a self-editing or learning tool for students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The action-oriented approach (AoA) is a powerful basis to inform teaching, learning, and assessment in the classroom that identifies learners as social agents and focuses on language learning through language use. This paper answers the call for developments that help teachers teach and learners learn in an AoA-informed way. We argue that cognitive discourse functions (CDFs) align with AoA, helping to develop learner thinking by focusing on the learners' use of language. We complement our conceptual discussion referring to the process of developing a self- and peer-assessment tool informed by AoA and CDFs and the initial application of this tool in an advanced academic writing course in a Japanese university with B1 and B2 level students. We discuss how this tool can guide learners' understanding of their writing process and fosters learners' responsibility for deciding how they mobilize their linguistic resources to express particular language functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Report writing in class provides basic training for academic writing. However, report writing education in medical schools in Japan has rarely been reported and no teaching strategy has been established for it., Methods: This study developed a report writing program using peer review for first-year medical students consisting of two 120-minute classes. The goal of being able to write reports appropriately was established and presented to students at the beginning of the program. In session 1, students decided on a topic, gathered information, and structured their report. In session 2, students' written reports were peer reviewed. The reports were improved based on the peer reviews. The responses of the pre- and post-program questionnaires were evaluated to determine the program's effectiveness. The other reports that were assigned one month after the program were used as comparison with the reports of students who did not participate. Furthermore, the long-term effects of the program were also evaluated by comparing the results of students from the previous year who did not participate in the program with those of program participants six months after the program., Results: A total of 106 students completed the questionnaire evaluation. The program was rated as being acceptable for the students. Self-assessment of report writing significantly improved after the program. The report scores of program participants (n = 99) were significantly higher overall and in all domains than were those of non-participants (n = 99). The self-assessment of students who participated (n = 96) was significantly higher than that of non-participants (n = 109). No difference was observed for students' sense of burden in report writing., Conclusions: The report writing skills of medical students can be improved by clearly establishing the goals of report writing and practicing the basic skills of report writing step-by-step. Moreover, the use of peer review may enhance the effectiveness of learning opportunities for report writing., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

In this article, the book review editor of Monumenta Nipponica, a Japanese studies journal based in Tokyo, describes the satisfactions and frustrations of the job and provides a nuts-and-bolts view of how he does it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about the types of academic texts published in Japanese journals-except for ronbun (the Japanese scholarly article or paper). This paper sheds some light on the issue by reporting results of an analysis of documents from 88 journals on J-Stage (Japan Science and Technology Information Aggregator, Electronic), a freeaccess, multidisciplinary, electronic collection of Japanese academic publications. The first step in the process was to find frequent designations in the documents, which were considered clues to chief types of texts. The next step was to describe how Japanese journals conceive the types previously identified. This was done by collecting, translating, and summarizing explanatory excerpts about them. The results may serve as points of departure for including Japanese academic writing in the teaching of Japanese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective use of outside source texts is one of the key components of successful academic writing. This study aims at clarifying Japanese university EFL students' citation behaviors in producing argumentative writing. Twenty-six Japanese university EFL students wrote an argumentative essay. Their essays were analyzed quantitatively by six measures: languages of sources, credibility of sources, kinds of sources, citation strategies, references in essays, and reference lists in essays. The results of the analysis revealed that the students tended to (1) rely on Japanese, rather than English, sources; (2) distinguish credible from non-credible sources; (3) favor books and online materials as sources; (4) use data as well as direct quotations and verbatim translations as citation strategies; (5) properly cite sources in their own essays; and (6) list sources in a reference section. A qualitative sample analysis was conducted to examine actual instances of both effective and ineffective citation practices manifested by a student writer. The study suggests that it is necessary to integrate four language skills into writing instruction, to understand each student's citation behavior from the developmental perspective, and to prepare more precise guidelines for the use of online materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]