S C I E NC E C H AL L E N G E

A NOVEL L ANGUAGE LEARN ING PRO JECT AT KO CH I NAT IO NAL COLLEGE OF TECH NOLO GY

Mike Sharpe

KOCHI

Kochi….?

• Contextual background

• Rationales, planning and design

• Classroom schedule

• Outcomes - feedback, preliminary course evaluation and issues

• Proposed modifications for 2014

• Conclusions

• Q & A

O U T L I N E

C O L L E G E S O F T E C H N O LO GY ( 高等専門学校 , KO U T O S E N M O N G A K KO )

• Established from 1962 to provide general and professional education for students from age 15 - 20

• 63 Colleges

National (55)

Public (5)

Private (3)

• 58 engineering schools, 5 mercantile marine studies schools

• (2013) ~ 60,000 students (including 3000 advanced course students)

• Curriculum that emphasizes scientific experiments, workshop

training and practical manufacturing skills.

Institute of National Colleges of Technology mission statement

“to foster practical and creative engineers.”

Hidefumi Kobatake, President

Doctoral course

Masters course

2 year advanced course at kosen or transfer to university

to complete undergraduate degree (40%) or employment

(60%)

5 year regular course

C O U R S E O F S T U D I E S

Est: April 1963

No. of pupils: 1,400

Departments:

• Mechanical Engineering

• Electrical Engineering and Information Science

• Materials Science and Engineering

• Environmental, Civil Engineering and Architecture

• Intergrated Arts and Sciences

• Advanced Course (established April 2000)

KCT mission statement - “to cultivate practical engineers to meet the demands of a new era.”

Hideo Funabashi, President

VO C AT I O N A L E D U C AT I O N AT KC T ( D E P. O F M E C H. E N G )

1st year:

Emphasis on practical manufacturing principles and practices

• Project: Ornithopter

• Engine disassembly/reassembly

• Project: Sterling engine

• Electricity and Power

• Basic mechanics

• Electricity and light

• Project: Make and program an autonomous robot

2nd/3rd Year

• Technical design/drawing

• 2D and 3D Computer Aided Design

4th/5th Year

Shift to theoretical engineering and application of engineering principles

CORE L ANGUAGE EDUCAT ION AT KCT

• Organised by Department of English (Intergrated Arts and Sciences)

• Students have 2hrs of English instruction per week

• English I, II and III. Focus on EGP and grammar/translation

• Extensive reading/listening and communicative skills courses (English Expression) introduced ‘to improve English comprehension and expression’.

• All students expected to take TOEIC test before graduating, and achieve a score of >400

1ST YEAR TEXTBOOKS

• 2013. Dept. of Mech. Eng. decides to organise a new ‘ESP’ English course to act as a supplement to regular language curriculum

• April 2013: Teaching begins

R E CE NT DE VE LOPME NT S I N L ANGU AGE E D U CAT I ON AT KCT

RAT I O N AL E S• Widely acknowledged need for general improvements in communicative

competence among Japanese engineers, both for work and research purposes.

• Need is for productive skills, particularly speaking, and not the passive skills that are the focus of tests such as the TOEIC. (Anthony et al, 2010)

• Why?

• For national interest

• Japanese Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME) For Japan to remain competitive in the global marketplace, and an ‘engine for economic growth and international competitiveness there is a pressing need for greater internationalization within the domestic engineering community.’ (Japanese Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME)/Yamamoto, 2006:3)

• Improved language skills will help to advance Japanese engineering, its workforce, and also the domestic economy, in multiple contexts (Iino, 2002; Ohashi, 2004; Okada, 2010)

• For professional development

• Okamoto et al. (2009 study on software engineering). English is ‘the lingua franca’ (Okamoto et al, 2009: 251) for professional communication, and the ‘de facto’ (ibid) medium of work. Consequently, programmers who cannot use English might find themselves disadvantaged in their professional career.

• Asahi Shimbun (2013) reports on instances where Japanese companies have recruited foreign workers with English skills over non-English speaking Japanese. (http://ajw.asahi.com/article/economy/business/AJ201310120051

RAT I O N AL E S

• Why?

• For the advancement of Japanese science and engineering

• All of the international engineering journals are published in English (Nunan, 2003; le Madeleine, 2007),

• Many international engineering conferences are now conducted in English.

• Crossover to using English will open a conduit for ‘the international exchange and transfer of technology’ for the enrichment of intra-communal discourse between Japanese scientists and their peers in other countries. (JSME International Journal, 2000)

• The number of Japanese-only basic science journals has declined, while the number published in English has risen. Domestic science society meeting are being increasingly conducted in English. ‘Japanese is slowly being eliminated from Japan’s primary scientific content’ (Le Madeleine, 2007).

RAT I O N AL E S

Prof. Shigenori Akamatsu, KCT Department of Mechanical Engineering:

• L2 program at KCT is not fully addressing the need to improve communicative competence among junior engineers.

• Should be increased opportunities for interaction in L2 between instructor and learners

• L2 teaching methods should try to promote interest in English from an early age

• The L2 classroom should be an environment for enjoyable language learning

• Main challenge for L2 program is how to bridge the gap between the proficiency of students when they enter the program at age 15 and the levels of proficiency required for future work and study contexts

S C I E NC E C H A L L E N G E - K E Y S Y L L A B U S D E S I G N PA RAM E T E R S

• Suitable for mixed groups of ten 1st year mechanical and electrical engineering students

• Based on practical, science-based project related to dynamics

• Achievable in three 100 minutes sessions

• Inclusive of opportunities for practicing all four macro-skills, in particular opportunities for spoken instructor/student interactions.

• Course content delivered entirely in English

S C I E NC E C H A L L E N G E - S Y L L AB U S O U T L I N E

Task:

• Students design and build a ball launcher in small groups of 2-4.

• Test and modify the machine.

• Write a report about the project.

Schedule:

Session 1: Introduction, design brief and brainstorming

Session 2: Construction, testing, and competition

Session 3: Report writing

SE SS I ON 1

Kochi College of Technology

Science English Course 2013

Teacher: Michael Sharpe

Goals of this course:

Practice listening to and reading instructions.

Practice using the English grammar commonly used in science reports. (Future, Past)

Practice the English sentence structures commonly used in science reports. (Description; Sequence; Cause and Effect)

Learn the structure of an experimental report.

To carry out a dynamics experiment and report the results in English.

Schedule: 3 x 90mins lessons

Lesson 1: Introduction and explanation. Explanation of problem and research objectives.Brainstorming, design and construction.

Lesson 2: Finalise construction.Perform experiment.

Lesson 3: Write report and submit to teacher

I NTRODUCT IO N

• Explanation of course language learning goals (i.e focus on speaking)

• Explanation of project goals (i.e

• Background and practical demonstration of basic scientific principles (torsion, kinetic and potential energy)

• Design hints and tips (need for strength, stability and importance of correct trajectory), again with practical demonstration

SE SS I ON 1

BRA I NS T OR MI NG AND DES I G N

Student groups preview materials, plan design, and begin construction

Note* Japanese Dep. of Mech. faculty member in attendance for L1 language support)

SE SS I ON 2

CONST R U CT I ON , T E ST I NG AND MOD I F I CAT I ON AND COMPE T I T I ON

SE SS I ON 3

R E P O RT W R I T I N G

Students complete 200-300 word project description/analysis based on the framework of a basic experimental/research report

• Section I: Introduction

• Section II: Methodology

• Section III: Results

• Section IV: Conclusion

R E P ORT W R I T I N G G U I D E

SE SS I ON 3

R E P O RT S A M P L E S ( T RAN S C R I B E D F R O M O R I G I N A L S )

Example of student’s written report:

Introduction“Our group consisted of three electrical engineering students. Our objective was to build a machine capable of launching a ball over a one-metre high barrier.

Design and constructionTo begin our group discussed the design together. Next we sketched the design on paper. To build our machine, we used ten 30cm wood sticks, 15 cable ties, a 30 x 30cm pice of fibre board, some tape, glue and many rubber bands.

To construct our machine, first we made a base from fibre board. Next we made a frame. First we made two triangle shapes using wood sticks and cable ties. Then we joined the two frames together using cable ties. Then we attached the frame to the base. Finally we made a throwing arm and we attached the arm to the frame and added some rubber bands.

ResultsWhen we tested our machine it did not have enough power. We fixed the problem by adding some more rubber bands. In the competition we launched the ball a maximum distance of 8m.

ConclusionOur design had enough strength and stability, but did not have enough power. Our team should have used more rubber bands. These results show that the most important part of a catapult design is power.

Example of student’s written report:

Introduction“Our group consisted of two electrical engineering students and one mechanical engineering student. Our objective was to design and make a catapult that was able to launch a ball over a one metre high barrier.

Design and constructionTo begin our group talked about the design together. After that we planned the catapult design together. Finally we drew the catapult design on paper. To build our catapult, we assembled some 30cm wood sticks, a lot of rubber bands, a styrene board, and cable ties. First we made two triangular frames with six 30cm wood sticks. Next we attached two triangular pieces together using cable ties and seven 30cm wood sticks. Next we fixed two 30cm wood sticks on the topside of the frame using rubber bands. Next we made a arm using three 30cm wood sticks and cable ties, and fixed it to the frame with rubber bands. Next we fixed tray made of styrene board. Finally we attached it to the frame with rubber bands.

ResultsWhen we tested our catapult was too weak. The problem was the power of rubber bands. So we solved the weakness by adding more rubber bands and changing position of rubber bands. Our catapult launched the ball a maximum distance of 6m.

ConclusionOur design had enough power but the arm was too weak. Our team should have strengthened the frame and arm. The results indicate that the most important part of a catapult design is the strength of the frame.”

I N S T R U C T O R - L E AR N E R F E E D B AC K

• Direct feedback on each report

• Students graded on percentage basis.

Report grading criteria

1. Length

2. Accuracy

3. Creativity (writing out of the box)

Overall assessment criteria

1. Report score

2. Class participation

• (Results from student questionnaire pending)

Feedback from students:

• “This lesson was very interesting. Thank you for exciting lesson.”

• “I was very excited in this Science Challenge.”

• “I enjoyed very much. Thank you.

• “This English lesson is fun. Thank you.”

• “I enjoyed this Science

Challenge.”

• (Results from Eng. faculty questionnaire pending)

Feedback from engineering faculty:

• Positive feedback from all those connected with the projects, the president, and also interest from other departments in organising similar courses for their students.

• Discussions already underway to expand program for 2014

E VALU AT IO N

ST U D E N T - INS TRU C TO R F E E D BAC K E N G IN E E R IN G FAC U LT Y- I NST RU C TO R F E E D BAC K

• ✓ Course design provides excellent opportunities for instructor-learner interaction.

• ✓ Participants seem to enjoy participating in the course.

• ✓ Participants have opportunity for whole text writing.

• ✓ Plans to expand in 2014 and beyond

E VALU AT I O N T O W H AT E XT E N T H AVE C O U R S E O B J EC T I VE S B E E N M E T ?

E VALU AT I O N T O W H AT E XT E N T H AVE C O U R S E O B J EC T I VE S B E E N M E T ?

• ✗ Some participants still hesitant to communicate in English

• ✗ Construction phase too long - an end rather than means?

• ✗ Methodology (group project) tends exclude some participants

• ✗ Some conflicts with English department vis a vis professional territory

P L A NN E D M O D I F I C AT I O N S F O R 2 0 1 4

• Choice of several projects

• Limit construction time

• Students do mini-presentation in final session

C O N C LU S I O N S

• KCT needs to offer all students more opportunities to develop spoken language skills as part of their professional development.

• Need for a comprehensive vocational language program from 1st to 5th year.

• Disparity between actual competence when students enter program and target competence dictates that developing vocational language skills at KCT must be a linear process, beginning with a ‘semi-ESP’ course focused on ‘common-core skills’ (Dudley-Evans, 1997:6). This basic scientific language can act as the initial bridging point between what KCT students can do with English at the point of commencing their studies, and what they eventually need to be able to do with English as qualified engineers.

• Importance and value of cooperation between language instructors and content-area instructors.

W E B R E S O U RC E S F O R P RAC T I C AL S C I E NC E P R O J E C T S

• www.nasaexplores.com

• www.sciencebob.

• www.education.com/science-fair/

• www.sciencebuddies.org/

• www.all-science-fair-projects.com/

• sciencefair.math.iit.edu/projects/

C I TAT I O N S

Dudley-Evans, T. (1997). An overview of ESP in the 1990s. in Orr. T (ed). Proceedings of the Japan Conference on English for Specific Purposes. 5-11. University of Aizu, Fukushima.

Madeleine, Bonnie Lee La. (2007). Lost in Translation. Nature (special report). 445 (1): 454-455

Nunan, D. (2003). The impact of English as a global language on educational policies and practices in the Asia Pacific region. TESOL Quarterly. 37 (4): 589-613

Ohashi, H. (2004). Establishing Engineering Profession in Japan – Accreditation, Professional Qualification and CPD. 3rd ASEE International Colloqium on Engineering Education, Bejing, 2004.

Okada, H. (2010). Toward the globalization of JSCE. Foreword to Civil Engineering, JSCE. (JSCE)

Okamoto, K., Yamamoto, E., Dan, H., Fuyuki, M. (2007). Consolidative ESP. pp1-6. In Proceedings of the 2007 Professional Communication Conference, (IPCC 2007). IEEE International.

Okamoto, K., Yasumuro, Y., Yamamoto, E., Fuyuki, M. (2009). From a language learner to a language user. Pp: 250-257 in Language for Professional Communication: Research, Practice & Training. Edited by Bhatia, V.K., Cheng, W., Du-Babcock, B., Lung, J. Asia-Pacific LSP and Professional Communication Association, Hong Kong

The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers. English website: http://www.jsme.or.jp/English/

Japan Times forum on English education. (2009) ‘Engineers must have English skills to succeed’. 5. 10. 2009. Japan Times