Aaron C. Sponseller (Osaka Jogakuin University), Zeinab Shekarabi (a graduate student at Hiroshima University)

In the first talk, Aaron Sponseller will share the findings of a study conducted with a group of Japanese sojourners (N = 46) who spent two weeks in Australia. He will argue that program administrators who engage students in study tours abroad should broaden their approach to assessing whether the study tours are successful or unsuccessful.

In the second talk, Zeinab Shekarabi will explain about the effect of critical thinking ability under different planning conditions on Japanese language learners’ argumentative essays. Results concerning
the role of critical thinking and problem-solving ability as well as planning conditions to
improve the quality of second language argumentative essay writing will be shared.