Program in Linguistics

Watanabe Yoshinori

  (渡部 良典)

Profile Information

Affiliation
Professor, Graduate School of Languages and Linguistics, Master's (Doctoral) Program in Linguistics, Sophia University
Degree
MA in Linguistics for ELT(The University of Lancaster)
PhD in Linguistics(The University of Lancaster)
英語教育学修士(ランカスター大学)
言語学博士(ランカスター大学)

Contact information
yjwatanagmail.com
Researcher number
20167183
J-GLOBAL ID
200901045240142475
researchmap Member ID
1000294933

Washback effects of language testing on instruction
Effects of university entrance examinations on instructions
Washback effects of language assessment on learner motivation
Psychological factors influencing a foreign language learning
Psychological processes of reading English as a foreign language
External factors influencing the use of language learning strategies
Development of teacher certificate examinations
Exploring English teacher competence

In the past quarter-century, I have been investigating various issues relating to foreign language learning and teaching. Most of the research sites where I have been conducting research involve my own classroom with the target of observations being my own teaching and my students. It is virtually impossible, then, to separate my research from my teaching. It would not make sense to do so. My long-standing research or educational interests have been in the role of language assessment and testing in innovating in teaching English as a foreign language. In the process of investigating the issue further, out of curiosity as well as out of necessity, I have become interested in various other related topics, including classroom language development, the role of assessment in motivating language learners, language learning strategies, amongst others. In my own teaching at university, I emphasize the importance of students learning by experiment. By experiment here I mean a type of learning where students learn by getting involved in a variety of activities and tasks, such as oral presentation, micro-teaching and peer-instructions, which are followed by a form of assessing the effectiveness of that experience by the students’ own monitoring. In so doing, I am particularly interested in the role of recall and visualization techniques in checking comprehension.

(Subject of research)
Effects of Criterion-Referenced Assessment on Learners' Motivation
Develpment of a diagnostic assessment system for teachears of English as a Foreign Language


Papers

 45

Misc.

 9
  • Keisuke Kubota, Yuichiro Yokouchi, Rie Koizumi
    Language Assessment Quarterly, 19(3) 314-334, May 27, 2022  Peer-reviewedInvited
    This is an interview article with Randolph H. Thrasher and Yoshinori Watanabe, leading experts on language assessment in Japan. Randolph H. Thrasher is professor emeritus at Okinawa Christian University, Japan, and International Christian University, Japan. He has made numerous significant contributions to spreading and supporting the field of language assessment. Yoshinori Watanabe is a professor at Sophia University, Graduate School of Language and Linguistics, Japan. He is also a renowned figure in language assessment and testing domestically and internationally. We interviewed them to deepen insights into various aspects of language assessment in Japan, as well as in the world. This interview was conducted in March 2021 via e-mail because of the global COVID-19 pandemic. In answering our questions for this interview, Professor Thrasher and Watanabe wrote about their own early lives and careers and their fruitful experiences with Japan Language Testing Association (JLTA), shared their passionate beliefs about language assessment and testing from domestic and international perspectives, and offered hopeful messages to young researchers. 本稿は, 日本における言語テスティング分野を開拓し, 国際的にも活躍するRandolph H. Thrasher名誉教授 (沖縄キリスト教学院大学・国際基督教大学) と渡部良典教授 (上智大学大学院) へのインタビュー記事である。Thrasher名誉教授は第2代の, 渡部教授は現在, 第4代の日本言語テスト学会 (JLTA) 会長として学会を牽引している。両名は, 言語テスティング分野の学術的発展への貢献のみにとどまらず, 得られた研究成果を社会に還元し, 国際社会の外国語教育発展に貢献してきた, まさに日本を代表する言語テスティング研究者と言える。JLTA発足時からのメンバーである両名は, その中心として, 国際言語テスト学会 (ILTA) における活動をはじめ, 国際的にも長年活躍されている。その両名から, これまでのキャリア, JLTAでの貴重な経験, 国内および国際的な観点からの言語テスティングへの知見, 言語テスティングに対する情熱と信念, そしてこれからの言語テスティングの分野を担う若手研究者に対するメッセージをいただいた。.
  • Yoshinori Watanabe
    The Journal of Asia TEFL, 18(4) 1523-1525, Dec, 2021  InvitedLead author

Books and Other Publications

 16

Presentations

 26

Research Projects

 9

Other

 34