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Successes and Struggles of Japanese High School Students in Learning English as a Foreign Language: A Multiple Case Study

Author Affiliations

  • 1University of the Immaculate Conception Davao City, Philippines

Res. J. Language and Literature Sci., Volume 7, Issue (2), Pages 20-31, May,19 (2020)

Abstract

This article identifies the successes and struggles of high school students in learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL). It adopts the qualitative case study approach and the information was transcribed using Thematic Analysis. The findings showed that students had undergone successes in EFL learning such as: Eagerness to learn the language, developing personal learning strategies, finding opportunities for extended learning, boosting self-confidence, relishing classroom activities, teacher's support satisfaction, macro skills improvement, efficacy for test preparation, bridging the gap with native speakers and enjoying the classroom environment. On the contrary, findings also revealed that students experienced struggles such as: Finding inadequacy in assessment style, lack of self-confidence, feeling anxious when using English, realizing teacher's lapses, viewing instructional materials as meaningless, unfavorable opinion on large-sized classes, finding apathy in writing journals and intimidation over better performing classmates.Finally, several major issues are discussedalong with pedagogical implications.

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