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

Abstract

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.