Competency Enhancement in a PBL COIL Class and its Background Factors (From the Perspective of Communication Strategies)

Abstract

This paper reports on the growth of competencies of the participants in the Nanzan University COIL class, “International Industry-Government-Academia Alliance PBL C,” in terms of communication strategies (CS). 17 Nanzan University students and 23 Tianjin Normal University students collaborated online for the inter-university project in groups for 8 weeks. They collaborated in Japanese to solve an actual problem that an affiliated company of Toyota Motors had. To explore behavioral changes of Nanzan students during the collaboration, 16 of the students took the JAOS Study Abroad Impact Test before and after the 8-week project. No significant differences were found in the four fundamental skills for global participation: Communication, Global Problem Solving, Global Initiative, and Global Behavior. On the other hand, a t-test showed a significant difference in the average scores of listening ability before and after the project (t(15)=−2.66, p=0.018). A questionnaire on CS was carried out in order to explore the background factors for the gain in listening ability. It was found that Nanzan students, recognizing themselves as a language host, frequently used CS such as back-channel feedback and request of information to make their Japanese communication smoother and more interactive while reducing the worries and anxieties that Tianjin students may have had.