2021 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Assessment of a new nursing English curriculum focusing on intercultural competence
| Project/Area Number |
20K00828
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| Research Institution | Chiba University |
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Principal Investigator |
カズノブ ダビッド 千葉大学, 大学院看護学研究科, 助教 (10646657)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
酒井 郁子 千葉大学, 大学院看護学研究科, 教授 (10197767)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
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| Keywords | English language / Nursing education |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
In FY2020, we developed a questionnaire to assess the impact of our newly established nursing English curriculum on the intercultural academic skills of our undergraduate and graduate students. The questionnaire included 111 6-point Likert scale item divided into 4 sections: 1) Self-assessment of individual characteristics, 2) Motivation towards learning English, 3) Communication style (in English or Japanese), and 4) Knowledge, attitudes and practices before and after the English course. The questionnaire was offered to all students at the end of each new course and participation to the survey was elective.
We trialed a version of the intercultural competence questionnaire based on four psychometric scales from the Beliefs Experience and Values Inventory (BEVI). Those four scales were "Self-certitude", "Self-awareness", "Socioemotional convergence", and "Sociocultural openness".
In FY2020 and FY2021, the questionnaire data allowed revisions by a panel of experts upon examining the way students reacted to the survey items. Data showed that some questionnaire items were confusing for students and the expert panel recommended alterations to the phrasing and scope of the questions.
The research outcomes are currently being clarified and the project is now entering its publicization phase.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.
Reason
At the end of fourteen elective language classes, we collected complete, anonymated responses from 50 volunteer undergraduate and graduate students. That dataset was examined to 1) test the validity of the questionnaire items, 2) assess the appropriateness of the psychometric scales for tracking changes in intercultural competence among Japanese nursing students, and 3) estimate the transformative effect of the seven English language courses on students' attitudes towards using English in their nursing carreers.
We can say that participants shared similar psychometric traits: Japanese nursing students felt that they are respectful of other opinions and able to adapt to new ways; they perceive themselves as open-minded but also less prone to assert their ideas ostentaciously. Japanese students, when confronted with international academic patterns of communication in oral and writing, could perceive differences between their ways and those of foreign counterparts.
Due to the COVID-19 situation, prospective international travel was halted and interest in language courses has plummeted. The number of participants in the survey remained lower than we expected.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
In FY2022, we are planning to focus our effort in publishing the results of our pilot study and re-start international exchange initiatives to grow interest in language classes as teaching moves back to classroom environments rather than virtual platforms.
We have already published one article regarding the nature of our new nursing English curriculum and we will now target outlets to maximize the exposure of our findings.
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| Causes of Carryover |
The upcoming spending will be dedicated to purchasing hardware and software for the data analysis of qualitative data as well expenses for the transcription and translation fees related to Japanese text data (responses to open-ended questions in the survey).
Additional spending will be dedicated to travel expenses related to research (international conferences, establishment of collaborative English language programs with partner instructors in foregn countries, visit to international experts in the field of intercultural humility).
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Research Products
(4 results)
