James Bury

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN SELF-PERCEPTIONS OF ABILITY, CONFIDENCE, AND PERCEPTIONS OF DIFFICULTY: PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR THE LANGUAGE CLASSROOM

With the Japanese government aiming to increase the proportion of foreign students attending Japanese universities to 10 percent by 2020, it is important to understand the different perceptions students have. This paper reports on a comparison between students from Confucian heritage culture (CHC) countries and students from non-Confucian Heritage Culture countries. The study found significant differences in the non-CHC students’ self-assessments of English language ability and in their confidence in using English, while no differences were found in perceptions of course difficulty or in final grades. The report briefly discusses some of the pedagogical implications of teaching classes with mixed cultural traditions.

Undergraduate students’ perceptions of the importance of English in the tourism and hospitality industry

ABSTRACT Educators commonly promote English as beneficial to future employability, but students’ perceptions of the importance of English in the tourism and hospitality industry are often not considered. It is important that students’ perceptions are examined as gaining better insights could allow more positive attitudes to both English and the industry being fostered. This study investigated the perceptions of students (n = 71) enrolled at a university in Japan and found no statistically significant differences based on gender, country of origin, year of study, work experience, or future work intentions. However, it was indicated that communicative competence, confidence, English listening, and English speaking were the factors perceived to be most important by the students. Consequently, it is suggested that tourism and hospitality courses should incorporate components that focus mainly on these skills, but not to the detriment of English reading and writing, which were also perceived as important.