Date: 5/21, Sunday 10:00-12:00pm (with lunch afterwards)
Location: Matsumoto M-Wing
Fee: Free for JALT members, 500 yen for non-members
Registration: https://forms.gle/LUfuLfXqYmwkZGHf6
ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING FOR JAPANESE ENGINEERS in A GLOBALIZED MARKETPLACE
A Case Study Investigating English As A Foreign Language (EFL) Pedagogy And Intercultural Communication (ICC)
Abstract
* This Nagano JALT presentation is focused on the pre-service education and training of Japanese learners of English, enabling them to meet the challenges of a globalized marketplace, one in which English has become the lingua franca for global business.
** The education of future business leaders in such a globalized marketplace requires effective intercultural communication skills, in addition to the more orthodox “four skills” approach to Japanese tertiary EFL.
*** This presentation is focused on 2 fundamental research questions:
i.) To what extent does the TOEIC measure intercultural competence?
ii.) What adjustments are required in the current TOEIC Preparation course syllabus to provide pre-service engineers with opportunities to develop intercultural sensitivity?
**** Utilizing the results of a survey of one class of textile engineering students, this presentation will empirically document the adequacy and efficacy of the widely utilized Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), a diagnostic instrument that is mandatory for English language learners in several Japanese universities.
**** The TOEIC has primarily focused on the mechanics of English language syntax, at the expense of intercultural communication (ICC) skills. The latter are widely acknowledged as a key component of “international communication,” which the TOEIC purports to measure- as evidenced by its very name!
Introduction
* This Nagano JALT presentation is empirical, based on a case study of Japanese university students training to become managers and business leaders in a globalized marketplace.
** Specifically, this presentation will examine the connections between intercultural competence and English language proficiency as measured by the TOEIC, using one class of sophomore engineers in a national Japanese university.
*** This presentation is based on a research methodology that is both quantitative and qualitative, as described in the Literature Survey.
**** The overall aim of this case study was to assess the ICC competency of the twenty-six textile engineering students in the selected sample, relative to their English listening and reading proficiency, as measured by the TOEIC.
***** The research project investigated the extent to which the widely utilized Test of English for International Communication, the TOEIC, would accurately assess students’ intercultural competence, using the TOEIC Preparation course curriculum document on offer at the engineering faculty of the university.
Bio
Sean Mehmet’s primary research interest involves uncovering how the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity can be used to identify connections between EFL learners' intercultural sensitivity and their foreign language proficiency. He’s contributed to “Beyond Binaries in Education Research” (Routledge, 2011), and “Echoes: Ethics and Issues of Voice in Education” (Sense Publishers, 2014).
