Atomi University (跡見学園女子大学, Atomi gakuen joshi daigaku) is a private women's college in Niiza, Saitama, Japan, established in 1965. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1875..
This paper explores the problem of reconciling our identity as part of Nature with our own personal identity through a close reading of Conrad's Nostromo. It, therefore, examines the characters in the novel in relation to Nature. Nostromo reveals the basic characteristics of Nature as constant change in its opening chapter, and goes on to narrate and dramatize events that illustrate how each character responds to this situation in forming their own personal identity. The characters in this novel are depicted as part of Nature, and as such they themselves embody Nature and share its characteristics of constant change. However, a close reading of the text reveals that the characters are more likely to form their personal identity in emotional defiance to Nature rather than in compliance to it. They choose to act so that they can justify their emotions and sustain their illusion of their independence from changing conditions, and, as a result, they create irony for themselves. The problem of reconciling our identity as part of Nature with our personal identity not only involves the characters but also the present-day reader.
Sakai and Takagi (2009) argue that Japanese students are very keen to achieve high scores in exams, which often determine their future and, therefore, they study outside of class, as well as in class to acquire adequate English proficiency. Accordingly, Japanese students need to take responsibility for their own learning to succeed in an exam-oriented culture. Thus, students’ success in language tests is related to learner autonomy. During the process of autonomous learning, students have more opportunities of experiencing significance, personal relevance, emotional engagement, and internalization. The purpose of this mixed methods study is to examine how Japanese students of English as a foreign language (EFL) perceive their own roles in autonomous language learning as well as their teachers' roles, how effectively they can make decisions while learning a foreign language, and what they do to acquire EFL outside the classroom settings. Quantitative data were collected and analysed from 148 college students who completed an online questionnaire. In addition, interviews were conducted with some of the participants. Students at higher levels of English as a foreign language assumed a greater share of responsibility for their education and were more driven than those at the intermediate level. Therefore, the study clearly demonstrates the necessity of incorporating autonomous learning into L2 language instruction.
