Speaker
Description
This presentation reports on a classroom activity designed for a group of 24 Japanese first year university students majoring in English (B1 level). As part of a unit on humor, students participated in an online interview with a psychologist who researches humor. The activity aimed to create an authentic communicative experience by enabling students to interact with a non-native English-speaking professional and to examine the motivational impact of such tasks. Students first generated potential interview questions, from which one per student was selected and organized to create a coherent flow. During the interview, some students introduced the class and guided each stage of the session, and individual students asked their questions.
Following the activity, students completed a questionnaire evaluating their experience. Reported benefits included learning new content, exposure to and comprehension of “real English,” and a heightened sense of intercultural awareness. Many students expressed increased motivation to continue studying English and interest in participating in similar activities in the future. Challenges centered primarily on nervousness and stress during real-time interaction. The presentation discusses these findings and reflects on how authentic tasks can support motivation, confidence, and intercultural competence in EFL classrooms with limited opportunities for genuine communication.
| Presentation location | In person (Kumamoto) |
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