Weaving the Web into Content-Based
Second Language Learning in a Japanese University

Sally Rehorick & David Rehorick

In a previous article in Réflexions ("Reflections on Second Language Education in Japan", May 1998), Sally Rehorick characterized the typical pattern for learning English as a second language in Japan in the following way: "rote memorization of grammatical facts with little or no emphasis on using the language for communication." The authors taught for two years at the Miyazaki International College (MIC) in southern Japan, a small liberal arts institution established in 1994. MIC represents an experiment in Japanese higher education which endeavors to provide its students, the vast majority of whom are Japanese, with an education to prepare them for the increasing internationalization in Japan. Emphasis is placed on critical thinking while studying liberal arts subjects through the medium of the English language. The English language level of most incoming students is very low (the average TOEFL score is around 360 to 380, which places the students at about a high novice to low intermediate level). This content-based language learning, familiar in Canada through school immersion programs and in university programs such as the sheltered courses at the University of Ottawa, is quite unique in Japan. The purposes of this article are first, to describe briefly the curriculum design and teaching model at MIC and second, to give some examples of how the use of computer technologies and the World Wide Web are integrated into the college curriculum and individual courses.

An Integrated curriculum design
and teaching model
There is one faculty at MIC: the Faculty of Comparative Culture. The courses are those that might typically be found in any university or college in North America offering a program in liberal arts: economics, history, art history, sociology, political science, psychology and English literature. There are also a few course offerings in science and information science. In order to maintain a global perspective, the curriculum focuses on the theme of the environment. Thus all the discipline areas listed above have a course linking the area with environmental themes. For example, Art History and Environmental Issues examines the effects of pollution on the preservation of art monuments; Sociology and Environmental Issues contains a thematic unit on the environment as a source of fear, and human response to natural disasters such as the Great Hanshin Earthquake in Kobe in 1995.

All content classes in the first two years are co-taught by a discipline specialist and a language faculty member. This integrative team-teaching model requires extensive collaboration between the two faculty members who must meet regularly to design the course syllabus, to plan classes and to evaluate student progress. In contrast to other team- teaching models, the MIC faculty partners teach together at the same time in the same classroom. The key objective is to make individual classes a seamless blend of content and language objectives and, in most cases, the casual observer would not know which faculty member is the discipline specialist and which the language instructor. In direct contrast to the passive learning model of most Japanese schools (particularly at the middle and high school levels) and universities, MIC's courses are based on the principles of active learning. Students are taught skills in problem-solving, investigation, group research, and making presentations. Thus traditional lectures are kept to a minimum in favour of cooperative group learning and individual projects.

Computer technologies inside
and outside the classrooms at MIC
High on the list of competencies required of an MIC graduate are the skills involved in becoming computer literate. Contrary to what we had believed before arriving at MIC, Japanese schools are not equipped with modern computer equipment nor does the curriculum require computer skills for graduation. Thus, unless they have personal computers at home, first year students at MIC arrive with little prior knowledge. MIC is equipped with three state-of-the-art computer classrooms with both IBM and Macintosh computers. One of the classrooms is used for individual student work while the other two are principally used during classes. In addition, all regular classes have wall connections for computers and instructors can make use of rolling carts equipped with the necessary computer and display equipment. In student lounges and hallway areas, there are connections for students who bring their own laptop computers to MIC. Most of the instructors of first and second year classes hold at least two of the six weekly class hours in the computer classrooms. The instructors' console computer is connected directly to an overhead projector so that students can follow demonstrations and instructions easily.

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Réflexions, The Journal of the Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers - November 1998

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