Abstract
We planned a panel entitled“Consideration of the gaps between career consciousness and career support for international students, as reported by international students at Japanese-language schools, two-year colleges and universities,”and presented as a panel with discussion at the 4th annual meeting of the Association for Language and Cultural Education in March 2018. In this reserch, based on annual meeting results, as well as research on the situation from the vantage point of language educators, we report the present situations of these gaps at Japanese language schools, two-year colleges and fouryear universities (Tokyo metropolitan area and local regions) and point out problem areas. First, from self-reportings of actual international students, we introduce how students assessed their careers and conducted themselves, and from languagage educators, we report on the gaps between the ideal career supports that international students require and the actual career supports that are being provided. Then, in order to close these“gaps,” we offer the information that language educators shared in the panel discussion that is designed to engage both international students and educational institutions and improve the situation. In the end, based on the above research, we point out possible future issues in order to reduce these“gaps.”
