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Addressing Japan's International TOEFL Ranking with an ''English for Liberal Arts'' Curricular Model for Colleges and Universities

Research Project

Project/Area Number 21K00714
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

Allocation TypeMulti-year Fund
Section一般
Review Section Basic Section 02100:Foreign language education-related
Research InstitutionJuntendo University

Principal Investigator

WADDEN Paul  順天堂大学, 国際教養学部, 教授 (00238833)

Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) 小野田 榮  順天堂大学, 国際教養学部, 教授 (00296328)
野村 佑子  順天堂大学, 国際教養学部, 助教 (20712954)
HALE Christopher  国際教養大学, 国際教養学部, 准教授 (40552360)
アメルズフォート マルセル  順天堂大学, 国際教養学部, 先任准教授 (50771341)
城座 沙蘭  国際基督教大学, 教養学部, 助教 (70845114)
FERREIRA Daniel  成蹊大学, 国際教育センター, 講師 (90594094)
吉野 康子  順天堂大学, 国際教養学部, 非常勤講師 (50321435)
今井 純子  順天堂大学, 国際教養学部, 准教授 (00458506)
松本 恵美子  順天堂大学, 国際教養学部, 嘱託教員 (50811080)
マドレー ジョン  順天堂大学, 国際教養学部, 嘱託教員 (10970080)
マーティン マリア・ハナ  順天堂大学, 国際教養学部, 嘱託教員 (30970090)
レイシー ベサニー  順天堂大学, 国際教養学部, 嘱託教員 (80970087)
大津留 ソフィー  順天堂大学, 国際教養学部, 嘱託教員 (90970088)
梅原 洋陽  順天堂大学, 国際教養学部, 嘱託教員 (90829863)
Project Period (FY) 2021-04-01 – 2025-03-31
Project Status Granted (Fiscal Year 2023)
Budget Amount *help
¥4,160,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥960,000)
Fiscal Year 2023: ¥2,210,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥510,000)
Fiscal Year 2022: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000)
Fiscal Year 2021: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000)
KeywordsEnglish for liberal arts / English curriculum / CLIL-based learning / TOEFL / Japan higher education / Liberal Arts / CLIL / English Education
Outline of Research at the Start

This research study posits that the principal reason is that Japanese high school and university curricula focus largely on language skills and do not coherently build basic knowledge and vocabulary in the traditional fields of the liberal arts upon which the TOEFL is based. As action research testing this original hypothesis for the first time, this study will design and implement a Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) curriculum in one of Japan’s newest faculties of liberal arts and measure the outcomes using the TOEFL exam.

Outline of Annual Research Achievements

In accordance with our original plan, in 2023-24 the 6 liberal arts modules (Sociology, Economics, Earth Science, Health and Medicine, Zoology, and Natural History) were used as the core texts across the entire first-year program of 15 classes 4 koma a week for approximately 230 students. These course materials were significantly further developed and refined. Once again the TOEFL outcomes were highly successful. By using liberal arts content to develop students’ academic reading and listening skills instead of commercial communicative textbooks, the TOEFL ITP gain in 2023-24 was 107% greater than for students over the previous six years in the pre-existing curriculum. This was below the TOEFL ITP gain of 2022-23 (140% greater than for students in the new curriculum compared to the historical average) but it strongly corroborated—and exceeded—the results of our 2021-22 pilot study. In that transitional year, 3 of 15 classes using a CLIL approach for 2 koma a week showed a 70% higher TOEFL gain.

Current Status of Research Progress
Current Status of Research Progress

2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.

Reason

The Kakenhi-supported research is proceeding according to its original plan with results that exceed initial expectations. Although Covid slowed the first year of the grant-based research, the research and the implementation of the new liberal arts CIL-based curriculum are currently following the original schedule.

Strategy for Future Research Activity

These outcomes and data seem to strongly support the researchers’ central KAKENHI “Prediction” in 2020 that 4 koma a week of “liberal arts-focused English study during students’ first year will at least double current ITP TOEFL score gains.” One unexpected revelation of the researchers is that AI tools such as ChatGPT can be very useful in modifying content-based materials to fit different instructional levels. The researchers have been reporting their approach, methods, and results in a series of presentations at major language-teaching conferences across Japan (see below) as well as in published articles. By the end of 2024-25 academic year, the researcher hope to share their curricular materials on a common platform to partner with other universities.

Report

(3 results)
  • 2023 Research-status Report
  • 2022 Research-status Report
  • 2021 Research-status Report
  • Research Products

    (13 results)

All 2024 2023

All Journal Article (7 results) Presentation (6 results)

  • [Journal Article] Transforming University English with CLIL Curricula: An In-Depth Case Study. Forthcoming 2024.2023

    • Author(s)
      Paul Wadden, Cris Carl Hale, Saran Shiroza, Sophie Otsuru, and Maria Hannah Martin
    • Journal Title

      JALT2023 Postconference Publication Paper.

      Volume: -

    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
  • [Journal Article] Liberal Arts, TOEFL, and First-Year English Curriculum Reform: A Project in Progress.2023

    • Author(s)
      Paul Wadden, Sakae Onoda , Marcel Van Amelsvoort
    • Journal Title

      順天堂大学国際教養学部紀要 順天堂グローバル教養論集

      Volume: 8 Pages: 33-46

    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
  • [Journal Article] Building Essential Vocabulary in First-Year University English.2023

    • Author(s)
      aul Wadden, Sakae Onoda, Marcel Van Amelsvoort, Toru Toyama, and Hirokai Umehara.
    • Journal Title

      順天堂大学国際教養学部紀要 順天堂グローバル教養論集

      Volume: 8

    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
  • [Journal Article] Liberal Arts, First-Year English, and TOEFL: An Illustrative Case for Curricular Reform at Japanese Universities.2023

    • Author(s)
      Paul Wadden
    • Journal Title

      順天堂大学国際教養学部紀要 順天堂グローバル教養論集

      Volume: 6 Pages: 1-10

    • NAID

      40022578896

    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
  • [Journal Article] Building Essential Vocabulary in First-Year University English2023

    • Author(s)
      Paul Wadden, Sakae Onoda, Marcel Van Amelsvoort, Toru Toyama, and Hiroaki Umehara.
    • Journal Title

      順天堂大学国際教養学部紀要 順天堂グローバル教養論集

      Volume: 8 Pages: 47-55

    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
  • [Journal Article] Liberal Arts, TOEFL, and First-Year English Curriculum Reform: A Project in Progress2023

    • Author(s)
      Paul WADDEN
    • Journal Title

      順天堂グローバル教養論集

      Volume: 8 Pages: 33-46

    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report
  • [Journal Article] Building Essential Vocabulary in First-Year University English,2023

    • Author(s)
      Paul WADDEN , Sakae ONODA , Marcel VAN AMELSVOORT , Toru TOYAMA , Hiroaki UMEHARA
    • Journal Title

      順天堂グローバル教養論集

      Volume: 8 Pages: 47-55

    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] Creating and Modulating Course Content Using AI Tools2024

    • Author(s)
      Paul Wadden, Sophie Otsuru and Istvan Zardai
    • Organizer
      5th International Symposium on Academic Writing and Critical Thinking
    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] Transformative CLIL Approaches for University Curricula.2023

    • Author(s)
      Paul Wadden, Sophie Otsuru, Maria Hannah Martin, Saran Shiroza, and Chris Carl Hale
    • Organizer
      Japan Association of Language Teachers (JALT) 49th Annual International Conference on Language Teaching and Learning.
    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] Using Extensive Reading to Support Content in a University CLIL Curriculum.2023

    • Author(s)
      Marcel Van Amelsvoort and Paul Wadden.
    • Organizer
      Extensive Reading Foundation 6th World Congress
    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] Looking Forward: The Case for Adopting CLIL Curricula in Japanese Higher Ed2023

    • Author(s)
      Paul Wadden, JP Mudryj, Emiko Matsumoto, and Chris Carl Hale
    • Organizer
      PanSIG Conference
    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] English for Liberal Arts and TOEFL: A New Curriculum for Universities.2023

    • Author(s)
      Paul Wadden, Marcel Van Amelsvoort, Sakai Onoda, and Chris Carl Hale
    • Organizer
      Japan Association of Language Teachers (JALT) 48th Annual International Conference on Language Teaching and Learning. November 14th.
    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] (Re)imagining Language Learning: Liberal Arts and TOEFL in Japanese Higher Education.2023

    • Author(s)
      Paul Wadden, Bethany Lacy, JP Mudryj, Maria Hannah Martin, and Chris Carl Hale
    • Organizer
      anSIG Conference
    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report

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Published: 2021-04-28   Modified: 2024-12-25  

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