Mental state terms are believed to be closely related to the development of Theory of Mind (ToM). This study focuses on mental state verbs (MSVs) and investigates how they are used by Japanese-speaking mother–child dyads compared to their English-speaking counterparts. Analyses of their spontaneous speech from the CHILDES archives show that children’s production of MSVs is greatly influenced by the mothers’ input in both languages and that Japanese MSVs are used less frequently than English MSVs in both the children’s and mothers’ utterances. In addition, the syntactic properties of MSVs show that complements under MSVs tend to be null in Japanese, whereas those in English are more likely to be overtly expressed. This difference observed in the mothers’ input and children’s production can be a contributing factor underlying the developmental delay of ToM in Japanese.

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: Japanese speakers are known to perceive "illusory vowels" within consonant clusters illicit in their language. The present study examines how this perceptual vowel epenthesis is affected by first language (L1) processes (restoration of vowels devoiced through Japanese high vowel devoicing), L1 representations (loanword representations in Japanese speakers' lexicons), and proficiency in English. Design/methodology/approach: The participants judged the presence or absence of a mora (e.g., ム /mu/) in an auditorily presented English word (e.g., homesick). The 40 test items contained a heterosyllabic consonant cluster with four different voicing patterns to examine whether the vowel restoration process is related to vowel epenthesis. Twenty of the test items are frequently used as loanwords in Japanese, meaning that they are stored in the L1 lexicon with a vowel inserted inside the consonant cluster (e.g., /hoomusikku/). The other 20 are low-frequency items that are virtually nonwords for the non-native participants. Data and analysis: The vowel epenthesis rates and reaction times (RTs) were obtained from 14 introductory learners, 15 intermediate learners, and 19 native speakers. Findings/conclusions: The results show the main effects of Voice, Loanword Representation, and Proficiency, as well as the interaction among the three factors. Negative correlations between vowel epenthesis rates and RTs were also observed for the learners. The results indicate differential effects of vowel restoration and loanwords on perceptual epenthesis by learners of different proficiency levels. Originality: The present study was one of the first attempts to test the relation between proficiency and perceptual vowel epenthesis using real English words. Significance/implications: The findings demonstrate the robustness of L1 processes and representations in second language perception while substantiating the existing argument for early vowel epenthesis. They also raise questions regarding the effects of training and the role of native speaker input.

students created a science lesson on the Global Positioning System (GPS) in 2017 using the framework of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) for the Singaporean high school context. GPS is a key component of automatic driving. In recent years, GPS location information has become accurate to within an error margin at the centimeter level. This level of accuracy is expected by the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS, nicknamed "MICHIBIKI") launching in Japan. It is expected that MICHIBIKI will become a 4-satellite constellation in 2018 and a 7-satellite constellation around 2023. From conversations with Singapore counterparts, it was understood that while Singapore school students were familiar with maps and navigation using GPS; however, many might not understand how the GPS on their smartphone works. There are also very few science education research studies on the mechanisms of GPS, even when including the research, which treats GPS as a device (e.g., March 2012). In contrast, Discovery Education is offering STEM for the classroom that features GPS and navigation (Discovery Education, 2013). In this study, a 100-min activity was designed using the STEM model to explain the mechanism of GPS to Singaporean Grade 9-12 students (students aged 14-18). The learning program was conducted at two Singapore schools as part of the TWINCLE program and

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