Reflecting on Kobe University's 2018 Accelerated Course in ...

Prof.TimGreer

SchoolofLanguagesandCommunication

KobeUniversity

[email protected]

March,2019

ReflectingonKobeUniversity's2018

AcceleratedCourseinEnglish(ACE)

1.AnoverviewoftheACEcourse

In2017theSchoolofLanguagesandCommunication(SOLAC)atKobeUniversity

establishedtheAcceleratedCourseinEnglish(ACE)inordertorespondtothe

growingneedsofitsstudents.Itspredecessor,theGlobalEnglishCourse(GEC),

pilotedaconferencemodel(Tapper&Gruba,2000)thatwasplannedand

managedprimarilybythefirst-yearstudentsthemselves,incooperationwith

partnerinstitutionsoverseas.However,thisoptionwasonlyavailabletothe

limitednumberofstudentswhotookpartinthePSAprogram;thosewhodidnot

goabroadwereunabletotakepartinthestudentconference.SincetheACE

programdoesnotincludeastudy-abroadcomponent,thestudentconferenceis

insteadheldhereinKobeandallstudentsarenowabletotakepartbydelivering

apresentationinEnglishattheconference.

TheACEprogramtakesplaceintheFallsemesterofthestudents'first

year(OctobertoJanuary)andinvolvesapproximately200undergraduate

studentsifromacrosstheuniversity'stenfaculties.Studentscanelecttotake

partinthecourseandarechosenaccordingtotheirTOEICIPorTOEFLITP

scores,withthetop5%to15%ofapplicantseligibleforinclusion.Thenumber

ofparticipantsfromeachfacultyislistedinTable1.

ReportonKobeUniversity'sACEprogram,AY2018

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Table1.ACEParticipantsbyFaculty

Faculty NumberofACEstudents

Literature 15

GlobalHumanStudies 55

Law 20

Economics 30

Business 30

Science 15

Medicine 15

HealthSciences 10

Engineering 40

Agriculture 10

MaritimeSciences 10

The2018cohortwasdividedintotenclasses,somemadeupofstudentsfromup

tothreedifferentfaculties.Onaverageeachclasshadaround25students,which

isconsiderablylessthanmostgeneralEnglishclassesatKobeUniversity,where

theaverageisusuallyupwardsof40.AnotherkeyfeatureoftheACEprogramis

thattheinstructorsareallnative-speakersofEnglish,meaningtheclassesare

conductedentirelyinEnglish.Thischallengestheadvancedstudentstopush

theirEnglishabilitiestonewheights.In2018,theinstructorswereEllenRettig-

Miki,TimGreer,GregSholdt,CynthiaQuinnandAlinaAnton.

Thesyllabusiscoordinatedacrossclassesandteam-taughtinorderto

deliveramoreconsistentprogramforallstudents.WhileallKobeUniversity

studentsstudythesubjectsknownasEnglishLiteracyB1/B2andEnglish

CommunicationB1/B2,theACEprogrammapsontothesesubjects.AllACE

studentsusethesametextbook,"InFocus3"(Browne,Culligan&Phillips,2014),

witheachteachercollaboratingtoteachpartofthecontent.Thefocusacrossthe

classesisonfosteringcriticalthinkingskillsandallowingthestudentstodevelop

theiracademicliteracyviaactivetask-basedlearning.


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Earlyoninthecourse,eachstudentchoosesoneofthetopicsfromthe

textbooktoresearchinfurtherdepth,andthisbecomesthethemefortheir

presentationatthestudentconference.Forinstance,ifthetopicfromthe

textbookisgenderequality,astudentmaychoosetonarrowthattopicto

"emergentequalityinRwandanpolitics"or"historicalrootsofthegenderpay

gap".IntheEnglishLiteracyclass,theymustfindandsummarizetwoacademic

articlesthatarerelatedtotheirchosenthemeinQuarter3andthenwritean

academicessayonthattopicduringQuarter4.Theyalsobuildonthesametopic

intheEnglishCommunicationclass,wheretheinstructorhelpstodevelopitinto

aposterpresentation.Inthisway,thestudentsreceivefeedbackfromboth

instructorsandthereisbothcooperationandautonomybuiltintotheprogram.

Studentsalsoreadaboutarangeofimportantsocialissuessuchasfree

trade,nuclearpowerandwaterscarcity,researchingthemandactively


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discussingtheminEnglishwiththeirpeers.Thisgiveseachstudentabase

knowledgeofthecoreissues.Theprogramculminatesinthestudentconference

attheendofQuarter4,afull-dayprogramwherealltenACEclassescome

togethertopresenttheirfindingsinEnglish.

Thisreportwillexaminethestudents'reflectionsonthe2018ACEclasses

inordertoimprovefutureiterationsoftheprogram.Anonlinesurveywas

conductedinclasstowardtheendoftheprogram(January,2019),andthe

reportanalyzesthestudents'evaluationofthetwoclasses(Sections2and3)as

wellastheconferenceandtheACEprogramingeneral(Section4).Areasof

concernandfutureimprovementswillbenotedinSection5.

2.StudentfeedbackontheACEEnglishLiteracy(B1,B2)class

Webeginbyexaminingthestudents'feedbackontheEnglishLiteracyclasses,

wherethefocuswasonreadingandwriting.Thesurveywasconductedin

EnglishviaGoogleformdocuments.Ofthe200students,160responseswere

recordedforthissectionofthesurvey.Firstly,thestudentswereaskedto

evaluatetheirownlevelofeffortduringthetwoLiteracyclasses.Asshownin

Figure2.1,theygenerallyratedtheirperformancehighly,with93%ofthe

studentsrankingthemselvesassatisfactoryorhigher.Anecdotalevidenceduring

classbackedthisup,sincetheinstructorsalsospokehighlyofthestudents'

performanceintheseclasses.

Figure2.1TheStudents'EvaluationoftheirOwnEffortduringtheEnglishLiteracyClass

Thestudents'evaluationsoftheinstructorswerelikewisehighintheseclasses

(Figure2.2).Themajorityfeltthattheinstructorswereeffectiveteacherswho

wereavailableandhelpfulandprovidedfeedbackinatimelymanner.Theyalso


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feltthatthewaytheinstructorsspokewaseasytofollow,whichisanimportant

considerationinanEnglish-mediumEFLclass.Overall,itseemsthatthe

instructorsintheseclasseshavebeendoinganexcellentjob.Unfortunately,due

tothecompletionoftheircontracts,twoofthekeyteachingstaffwillleaveatthe

endofthe2018academicyear,sowefaceanupwardchallengewiththe2019

cohortintrainingnewinstructorstotakeovertheseclasses.

Figure2.2TheStudents'EvaluationoftheirLiteracyInstructor

Thestudentswerealsoaskedtoconsidertheirimpressionsofthecourse

content.AsshowninFigure2.3,theygenerallyagreedthattheirwritingabilityin

Englishhadimprovedthroughouttheprogram(84%),andmostalsofeltthatthe

contentcoveredintheACELiteracyclasseswouldbeusefuliftheyweretostudy

overseasinthefuture(81%).

Figure2.3TheStudents'EvaluationoftheEnglishLiteracyCourseContent


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Likewise,79%oftheACEstudentsacknowledgedthattheyhadgainedabetter

abilitytostructureanacademicpaperinEnglish,whichwasoneofthekeyaims

oftheprogram.Thehighestrankeditemonthissectionofthesurvey,shownin

thefourthgraphinFigure2.3,was,"Classesthatincludethissortofwriting

componentshouldbeessentialforKobeUniversitystudentsinthefuture".One

hundredandforty-twoofthe160studentsagreedwiththisstatement,

demonstratingtheirrecognitionofthevalueoflearningtothinkandwrite

criticallyinEnglishinordertoparticipateininternationalacademicdiscourse.

Inparticular,thesortsofacademicwritingskillsthattheylistedas

importantincluded;

• summarizingarticles

• writingpersuasively

• expressingtheiropinionlogically

• recognizingthestructureofacademicarticles

• APAcitation,and

• understandingandusingacademicexpressions

ManyalsoappreciatedtheuseofonlinecollaborativeplatformslikeGoogle+so

thattheycoulddiscussandcorrecttheirwritingwiththeinstructorandother

classmembers.

Ontheotherhand,therewerealsosomeareastheyfeltcouldbefurther

improved.Manywantedmoreopportunitiestowrite,andthisissomethingthat

instructorscouldincorporateintofutureprogramsviaadditionalnon-graded

homeworktasks.Othersfeltthatthetopicsfromthetextbookaloneweretoo

limitingandwantedthefreedomtowriteaboutsomethingthatwascompletely

unrelatedtothosetopics.Thistooissomethingthatcouldbenegotiatedwiththe

instructoratanearlypointinthecourse.SomefeltthattheEnglishLiteracyclass

wasnotasactiveastheCommunicationclassandwantedmoreopportunitiesto

talkwithotherclassmembers.Thisissomewhatinevitablegiventhenatureof

thefocusonreadingandwriting,butitissomethingweshouldbeawareofin

futureACEclasses,andaimtoaccommodatemoreinteractionintotheLiteracy

classesaswell.Onthewholethough,thestudentsweresatisfiedwiththecourse

asitisandwereunabletolistanysuggestedimprovements.


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3.StudentfeedbackontheACEEnglishCommunication(B1,B2)class

ThestudentswerealsoaskedabouttheirimpressionsoftheEnglish

Communicationclassesviaasimilaronlinesurvey.Thistimetherewere165

responses.Overalltheirself-evaluationswerelowerthanintheLiteracyclasses

(Figure3.1),buttheirimpressionsoftheinstructorswerebetter(Figure3.2).

Thatsaid,theirratingsforbothclassesremainhigh.

Figure3.1.TheStudents'EvaluationoftheirOwnEffortduringtheEnglish

CommunicationClass

AsshowninFigure3.2,thevastmajorityofthestudentsagreedwitheachofthe

fourcomponents,ratingtheinstructorsparticularlywellinregardtothe

effectivenessoftheirteachingapproach(92%),theiravailability(88%),and

theirintelligibility(88%).

Figure3.2.TheStudents'EvaluationoftheirCommunicationInstructor


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Studentsatisfactionwasalsohighwithregardstotheirlanguageimprovement

intheCommunicationclass.AsshowninFigure3.3,theygenerallyagreedthat

theirspeakingabilityhadimprovedoverthecourseofthesemester(78%),and

theyfeltthatcontentofthecoursewouldbeofuseinastudy-abroadcontext

(81%).NinetypercentoftheparticipantsindicatedthattheirEnglish

presentationskillshadimproved,andasimilarpercentageagreedthatthese

sortsofpresentationskillsshouldcontinuetobetaughtatKobeUniversityinthe

future.Allinall,thesurveyindicatesthatthestudentsaresatisfiedwiththe

EnglishCommunicationcomponentoftheACEclassaswell.

Figure3.3.TheStudents'EvaluationoftheCommunicationClassContent

Aspectsofthecoursethattheparticipantslistedasparticularlyusefulor

valuableincluded;

• learninghowtogiveaposterpresentation

• participatingingroupdiscussions

• receivingfeedbackfrombothpeersandinstructors

• havingtheopportunitytospeakwitharangeofdifferentstudents

• beingpartofan"allEnglish"environment

• learninghowtousePowerPointandGoogleScholar

Onthewhole,thestudents'commentsindicatedthattheyweresatisfiedwiththe

Communicationclasses.

WhenaskedfortheirsuggestionsforimprovingtheCommunicationclass,

therewereafewrecurringthemes.Somefeltthattheclassneededtohavemore

listeningactivities.Sincethetextbookdoesnotfeaturemanyofthesesortsof

exercises,thisissomethingthattheinstructorswillhavetobemorecognizantof


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infutureclasses,perhapsaugmentingthetextbookthroughtheuseoffreely

availablelisteningresourcesonYouTube,Netflixorsimilaronlinesites.Some

instructorshavealreadybeenaddingthesesortsofvideostotheirclasses,using

themasanopportunityforstudentstosummarizeanddiscussvideosrelatedto

theweek'stheme.

Studentsalsopointedouttheneedforsmallerclasssizes,whichofcourse

wouldbepreferable,althoughnotentirelypractical.Atpresenttherelatively

smallnumberofstudentsintheACEclass(approximately25)isstillmuchbetter

thanthatintheregularEnglishclasses,whichcontain40to44onaverage.Other

studentsalsoexpressedadesirefortheACEclassestogoforlonger,eitherby

commencinginthesecondquarterorextendingintothesecondyear.Fora

varietyofpracticalreasonsthistooisnotfeasible,althoughitdoesspeaktothe

highvaluetheyplacedonthecourseanditscontent.

Finally,somestudentssaidtheywouldappreciatemorefrequent

opportunitiestopresentinclass.Thisissomethingthatinstructorscould

accommodatebyintroducingshorterpresentationsondifferenttopicsthat

wouldnotnecessarilyhavetobedeliveredinfrontofthewholeclass;theycould,

forexample,consistofashortpairedpresentationdeliveredinfrontofasmall

groupofclassmates,andthereforecouldbedevelopedanddeliveredwithinthe

same90-minuteslot.Theinstructorswilltakethisandotherstudentsuggestions

intoaccountastheycontinuetodeveloptheprogram.

4.TheACEstudentconference

Thethirdandfinalsectionofthesurveyaskedthestudentsfortheirfeedbackon

thestudentconferenceandoverallimpressionsoftheACEprogram.Therewere

146respondentsinthissection.

AsoutlinedinFigure4.1,studentsatisfactionwiththeconferencewas

alsohigh.Forthemostparttheyagreedthatthetimingtowardstheendofthe

fourthquarterwasappropriate,althoughintheircommentssomealsosuggested

otherpossiblewaystoholdit:onaweekdayorafterthefourthquarterexams,

forinstance.WeaimtoholdtheconferenceonthefinalSaturdayofJanuaryso

thatthelargestnumberofstudentscanparticipate.Itisdifficulttoholditona


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weekdaybecausestudentsarecommittedtootherclasses,whileafterexamsis

notfeasibleeitherduetoextra-curricularactivities,intensiveclassesandthe

like.OneotherpossibilitymightbetoholditaweekortwoearlierontheAdult's

Daypublicholiday,butsomestudentswouldnotbeabletoattendbecausethey

wereinvolvedinthatfestivalandthatwouldalsoleavethemlesstimeto

prepare.Intheend,itisdifficulttofindatimethatsuitseveryone,andwemay

justhavetomakedowiththetimingasitis.

Figure4.1StudentFeedbackontheACEConference

Manystudentsexpressedtheirsatisfactionwithpresentingattheconferencevia

theposterpresentationformat.Thiswassomethingthatwechangedfromthe

previousyear'sconference,inwhichweheldamixofbothpostersandoral

presentations.Duetothelimitationsofthevenue(CentennialHall),atthe

inauguraleventinAY2017wewereforcedtosplittheconferenceintotwo

sections,locatingtheoralpresentationsinD-block.Duetothedistance,thistook

timeandmanyofthestudentsdidnotattendtheoralpresentations.Keeping

everyonetogetherintheonevenueprovedtobemuchmoresuccessful.

Moreover,theposterformatholdsanumberofadvantagesforEFLstudents;

allowingthemtodiscusstheirworkmorefreelywithasmalleraudiencereduces

nervesandfacilitatesgenuineinteraction.

Nonethelesswewereinterestedtoknowifthestudentswouldprefer

tohavemoreoralpresentationsinthefuture.Asshowninthethirdgraphin

Figure4.1,thatnotiondidhavesomeagreement,butalsohadahighernumber

ofrespondentswhodisagreedthananyoftheothersurveyitemstheywere

given.Althoughwecanneverpleaseeveryone,futureACEstudentconferences


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willprobablyremainwiththesameposterpresentationformatandtiming,for

bothpracticalandpedagogicalreasons.

Otherinitiativesthatwereintroducedthisyearincludedthe

introductionofinternationalstudentTAsasaudiencemembers.Thisgavethe

ACEstudentsgreateropportunitiestointeractwithexpertEnglishspeakers

duringtheirpresentationsaswellasinformallyattheconference.However,one

unexpectedcriticismofthiscamefromthoseACEstudentswhowereontheSite

Committee.Asastudent-runconference,variouscommitteesmadeupoftheACE

studentsorganizedandmanagedtheconference.Inthesurveyonestudentfrom

thesitecommitteecommentedthattheyalsoshouldbepaid(liketheTAs)to

attendbecausetheywereworkingattheconference.Again,thisisdifficultto

address,butitmaybeworthimpressingonthemthedifferencebetweentheTAs

andthestudentsthemselves.Therewerealsoacoupleofcriticismsofthevoting

system(forBestPresentation),andtheprocessshouldbereassessedforAY2019

inordertoensureitsfairnessandtransparency.

Anotherstudentmentionedthepossibilityofincludinga(plenary)

guestspeakerfromoutsidetheACEcourse.ThisissomethingwedidinAY2017,

butchangeditinfavorofthreebriefplenarypresentationsfromtheACE

studentsthemselves.Thispointisonethatitisnegotiableandwewillcarefully

considerthataspectoftheprogramfortheAY2019conference.

Finally,thestudentswereaskedtogiveanoverallevaluationofthe

ACEprogram,includingboththeclassesandthestudentconference.Their

ratingsaredisplayedinFigure4.2from1(verygood)to5(verypoor).Weare


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pleasedtoreportthatthevastmajorityoftheparticipantsratedtheprogram

highly.

Figure4.2TheStudents'OverallImpressionoftheACEProgram

TheaspectsofthecoursethatstoodoutmostfortheACEstudentswerethe

"passionatenativespeakingteachers","discussingsocialissuesinEnglish",the

practicalyetacademicnatureoftheclasses,andtheopportunitiestointeract

withawidevarietyofpeople.Thislastpointisperhapsbestreflectedinthe

studentconferencecapstoneevent,inwhichthestudentsmustdiscusstheir

researchwithpeersfromotherfaculties.Formanyofthem,itwasthefirsttime

forthemtospeakwithstudentsfromdifferentacademicbackgroundsandthey

seemedtoenjoythechanceforagenuineexchangeofopinionsontopicsthat

theyhaddevelopedoverthecourseofthesemester.Thisinitselfgetstothe

essenceofcommunication--interactingforareason,notjustasataskoran

exercise.Inthissense,theACEstudentconferencegivesthemashort"study

abroad"experiencebycreatingasimulatedEnglish-mediumenvironmenthere

inJapan.Howeverbriefitmaybe,itcouldbesaidthatthestudentconference

ultimatelygivesmore"bangforthebuck",byallowingalltheACEstudentsto

takepartforalmostnocost.Thiscomparesfavorablytoitspredecessorinthe

PSAprogram,inwhichonlyasmallnumberoftheoverallcohorttookpartinthe

conference,andatmuchgreaterpersonalexpense.


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Figure4.3InterestinFutureStudyAbroad

Thefinalquestioninthesurveysimplyaskedstudentsabouttheirdesireto

studyabroadinthefuture.AsshowninFigure4.3above,thevastmajorityof

studentsACEstudents(90%)expressedinterestinfollowinguptheprogram

withsomesortofstudyabroadprograminthefutureThisisperhapsthey

greatesttestimonytothesuccessoftheACEprogramwithinKobeUniverity's

objectivetofosteraglobaloutlookamongitsgraduates.

References

Browne,C.,Culligan,B.,&Phillips,J.(2014).Infocus:Student'sbook3.Singapore:

CambridgeUniversityPress.

Tapper,J.,&Gruba,P.(2000).Usinga‘conference’modeltoteach

communicationskillsinacommunicationacrossthecurriculum

program.LanguageandLearningacrosstheDisciplines,4(1),55-65.


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iTherewere250slotsallocatedtothecourse,butforavarietyofreasons,only200were

eventuallyfilled.Thisissomethingthatneedsfurtherinvestigation,butonepossible

factoristhatsomestudentswhowereoriginallyselectedfortheACEclassintheSpring

semesterwerelaterabletogainexemptionforthesesubjectsaftertheyachieveda

higherTOEFLorTOEICscore.

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